edited by Jonathan Doyle

Mafioso (The Criterion Collection, 3.18.2008) Nino Badalamenti is a supervisor in a car manufacturing plant who hasn't taken a vacation in over two years. On his way out the door to visit his beloved childhood hometown of Sicily -- with his blonde wife and daughters -- Nino is handed a package by his boss and asked to deliver it to a powerful and influential Sicilian gangster named Don Vincenzo. Once in Sicily, Nino has a hoot seeing friends and family, but his wife has trouble fitting in and is unfairly dismissed as a snob by Nino's family. Even more worrisome, Nino finds himself entangled in an intricate web of secret mafioso dealings and is eventually sent on an unexpectedly... elaborate errand. (continued)

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Tom DeSanto on "Transformers"

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"The studios are so dependent on pre-existing brands, they're not allowing anything new into the pipeline. They want to know what was the video game or what was the comic book. It's shortsighted. But what's being missed is the next generation of new stuff. Because nostalgia is creative death." -- Transformers producer Tom DeSanto, speaking to N.Y. Times reporter David Halbfinger.

Halbfinger mentions that DeSanto's partner, Don Murphy, is "widely reviled by executives at Paramount and DreamWorks for allowing his personal website (donmurphy.net) to be used by Transformers fans to attack the two studios, and the movieâ€™s lead producer, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, in vicious personal terms. (They called him Scorponok, after one of the evil robot characters in the movie.)"

Here's a portion of a poem that an anonymous poster left on Murphy's site last March:

"The film is what it is and that's all that it is
Most trufans will want to take a long whiz
And though valiant and Brave Tom Ian and Don slaved
Fact is Goodman gave the keys to the Kingdom to Bayed.

"If you hate the dumb story
And realize the characters are a worry
And wonder how Bay could screwup so bad
Remember the missive that Sugarboy brought you
It wasn't just Michael but Goodman too!"

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 30, 2007 at 10:03 AM

comment #1

BurmaShave says ...

Well I'm sure we'll be hearing from Don shortly.

Posted by BurmaShave at June 30, 2007 10:41 AM

comment #2

George Prager says ...

I have some suggestions:

GNIP-GNOP: THE MOVIE
STAY ALIVE: THE MOVIE
CHUTES AND LADDERS: THE MOVIE
TOSS ACROSS: THE MOVIE
OPERATION: THE MOVIE
SORRY! THE MOVIE
BIG JIM: THE MOVIE
CANDYLAND: THE MOVIE

Posted by George Prager at June 30, 2007 11:09 AM

comment #3

MAGGA says ...

I agree completely that nostalgia is creative death, but Transformers was brilliant anyway. The nostalgic ideals apply just as much to critics who love to give thumbs-up to any movie that reminds them of the seventies or classic Hollywood. Hopefully this will all change in the next ten years, now that everyone has digital cameras and Final Cut at home. The same thing that has happened to music, which is that the most famous artists create derivative shite that tries to approximate the sixties and the seventies or some form of established modern ideal like most popular rap and soul music while every city in every country in the world has artists that create wonderful music which can be discovered through effort, will hopefully happen to movies. Mainstream movies will bore like always, and lazy journalists will complain (not talking abou Jeff now), but cineastes will have a lot to look foward to. The technical level might be reduced, but storytelling and experimentation will hopefully reach new levels. At least that is my hope.

Posted by MAGGA at June 30, 2007 11:18 AM

comment #4

George Prager says ...

Sounds like defining deviancy down, MAGGA. I hate "artists."

Anyway here is a list of some great books that should be made into movies.

Pnin- Nabakov
Jernigan – David Gates
The Last Good Kiss – James Crumley
Tapping the Source - Kem Nunn
Platform - Michel Houellebecq

Posted by George Prager at June 30, 2007 11:21 AM

comment #5

christian says ...

i just wish the studios who have the resources to make dreams alive would stop listening to the idiot marketing people who are not only in charge, but are clueless. imagine trying to sell STAR WARS today...

Posted by christian at June 30, 2007 11:21 AM

comment #6

cjKennedy says ...

Wait, De Santo is lamenting nostalgia while basing a career on it? What am I misunderstanding and why is it making my head hurt?

Posted by cjKennedy at June 30, 2007 11:27 AM

comment #7

christian says ...

yes, i don't get this quote either.

Posted by christian at June 30, 2007 11:34 AM

comment #8

George Prager says ...

He's conflicted. He's a tortured soul. What he's trying to say is that if everything is nostalgia, there will be nothing new, no new original product to be nostalgic about in the future. I myself prefer the '80s-'50s over the '70s-'50s.

Posted by George Prager at June 30, 2007 11:40 AM

comment #9

Pelham123 says ...

My take on that quote is that Desanto is, to a certain extent, treading water with these older ("nostalgic") properties until either he has the power or the studios finally wake up to the need for new, riskier projects. Of course, since the article notes he's closing on a house in Beachwood Canyon, he's treading water on a float made of $$$.

Posted by Pelham123 at June 30, 2007 11:41 AM

comment #10

jeffmcm says ...

Is that a photo of DeSanto? It sure doesn't match my mental image of Murphy, which is that he looks like Don Simpson...now.

Posted by jeffmcm at June 30, 2007 11:48 AM

comment #11

cjKennedy says ...

Don't you actually have to have a soul in order for it to be tortured? I kid. Whatever his participation on the first couple of X-Men movies, they came out alright. Just seemed like a weird comment. Like Hugh Hefner crying about selling sex.

Posted by cjKennedy at June 30, 2007 11:49 AM

comment #12

BurmaShave says ...

I like this story much better pretending that the old man to the right is Don Murphy.

Posted by BurmaShave at June 30, 2007 11:50 AM

comment #13

MAGGA says ...

I hate "artists" too, but I like artists and was referring to musical acts, which are generally termed artists, no? Anyway, my point is that all this cheap new technology can take power away from the studios, at least for people who want something other than making the latest summer tentpole, which can only be a good thing, in my opinion. Music has never been more interesting than right now, and the same can happen to movies as soon as we see "the good old days" as just another source of inspiration, and not the mould to create from. And as I said, this applies to the "arists" as much as the "hacks"

Posted by MAGGA at June 30, 2007 11:53 AM

comment #14

MAGGA says ...

Posted by MAGGA at June 30, 2007 11:53 AM

comment #15

MAGGA says ...

Posted by MAGGA at June 30, 2007 11:53 AM

comment #16

George Prager says ...

Music is different because you can sit in your kitchen and record a CD. But you could make an album in your kitchen 80 years ago. I think people like movies that cost a lot to make and require the efforts of hundreds of people.

Posted by George Prager at June 30, 2007 12:03 PM

comment #17

Ogami Itto says ...

"imagine trying to sell STAR WARS today..."

A big, dumb s/fx movie with stuff blowin' up (and laser swords) that appeals primarily to 10-year-olds? Somehow I don't think that would be a tough sell today....

Posted by Ogami Itto at June 30, 2007 12:07 PM

comment #18

corey3rd says ...

because Transformers was so close to being the Citizen Kane Jr. of toy movies?

This is decorative toilet paper - no matter how much greatness the "artist" put in the drawings on the roll, it's ultimately just going to end up against my ass.

Posted by corey3rd at June 30, 2007 12:10 PM

comment #19

cjKennedy says ...

That's ok Corey because Mssrs. Murphy, De Santo, et al. will be wiping their's with $100 bills.

Posted by cjKennedy at June 30, 2007 12:23 PM

comment #20

erniesouchak says ...

Nostalgia is creative death? Tell that to Wong Kar-wai, who'd have no career without it.

Posted by erniesouchak at June 30, 2007 12:25 PM

comment #21

EDouglas says ...

I want Eli Roth to direct "Operation: the Movie"

Posted by EDouglas at June 30, 2007 12:56 PM

comment #22

T.Holly says ...

Ed, enjoyed the link. http://www.donmurphy.net/board/showthread.php?t=20698

Burmashove, good one on the the pic. You're not going to believe this, but I think it looks like a composite shot of Tony when he walks into the diner and the old man crossing in his first POV.

Posted by T.Holly at June 30, 2007 01:56 PM

comment #23

MickTravis says ...

George, "word" on the suggestion for shooting "The Last Good Kiss."

Although I think (were I given the choice) I'd slightly rather see the Milo books adapted. "Wrong Case" and "Dancing Bear," if they could be done and still retain their air of melancholy.

Nick Nolte was to be in a Crumley book back when they first got their Vintage buzz, but that's long since faded away. If he went into "Syriana" mode again, Clooney would make a good Milo.

Posted by MickTravis at June 30, 2007 02:31 PM

comment #24

George Prager says ...

I'll have to read the Milo books.
Another book that should be done is Cutter and Bone.
Cutter's Way is great but the book has a lot of good stuff in it. You could make a longer, better movie that is truer to the book.

Posted by George Prager at June 30, 2007 03:03 PM

comment #25

MickTravis says ...

Yeah, check out "The Wrong Case." I'm not much of a fan of the latter Crumley books, in which Milo and Shugrue often hang out together.

"Cutter's Way" is worth seeing just for Heard's so-intense-it's-almost-painful performance. But I've never been able to get around the scene where he suddenly appears on horseback....

Posted by MickTravis at June 30, 2007 03:12 PM

comment #26

Hickenlooper says ...

Don Murphy made personal attacks and told lies about me which I never understood. It saddened me. I thought we had been friends. It was just weird weird weird.

Posted by Hickenlooper at June 30, 2007 03:47 PM

comment #27

Moneypenny says ...

I've had the pleasure of working in the same office as Murphy and I can tell you... he's a complete psycho. I'm hoping he'll be receiving his just dues soon by getting his ass kicked out of Hollywood.

Posted by Moneypenny at June 30, 2007 04:10 PM

comment #28

jeffmcm says ...

Hey Hickenlooper: are you implying that "Spam Dooley" was indeed Don Murphy, as many suspected?

Posted by jeffmcm at June 30, 2007 04:56 PM

comment #29

corey3rd says ...

My one experience with Don Murphy was enough. I showed up for Jane and his divorce party in NYC. It's easy to see this guy as screwing over a pal in order to boost his ego.

I don't think Don has to wipe his ass with $100 since he probably uses his letterhead and calls them "producer's notes." That pretty much sums up what he did to the source material on NBK, From Hell and LXG.

Posted by corey3rd at June 30, 2007 06:20 PM

comment #30

Don Murphy says ...

Why so many anonymous lies and hate?

Jeff McDouche- I have NO trouble using my own name thank you.

Corey3rd- I was never married to Jane. We never had a divorce party. What could you be confusing it with- or lying about?

Moneypenny- if you have seriously worked with me in the same office, PLEASE tell me who you are. This should be a winner. Show me the guts you seem to want to show others. Otherwise, I call you liar.

And what is with all the links that go nowhere?

Jeff I know your place is the hang for the people out there on the edge - that is why I like it! But make sense people!

Posted by Don Murphy at June 30, 2007 06:33 PM

comment #31

corey3rd says ...

Don,

It was the Permanent Midnight party - which a few people had quietly nicknamed the divorce party since you and Jane were busting up the partnership.

Posted by corey3rd at June 30, 2007 06:55 PM

comment #32

Don Murphy says ...

Ahhhh.... partnership had ended 3 months before bro, so only an idiot would have called it that.

Posted by Don Murphy at June 30, 2007 06:59 PM

comment #33

corey3rd says ...

Don,
You are still as charming and wonderful as that night. Thanks for reminding me that I'm an idiot since you made me feel like an idiot for buying a ticket to League of Excruciating Gentlemen. Maybe I should reconfirm my idiot status with a ticket to Transformers?

Posted by corey3rd at June 30, 2007 07:16 PM

comment #34

BurmaShave says ...

Don, you're responsible for THE LEAGUE? That's not cool, bro.

What do you think TRANSFORMERS Oscar chances are, besides Best Picture, Best Director, and technical? Is Megan Fox this year's Helen Mirren? Seems pretty inevitable to me.

Is Optimus going lead or supporting?

Posted by BurmaShave at June 30, 2007 07:39 PM

comment #35

Hallick says ...

"'Cutter's Way' is worth seeing just for Heard's so-intense-it's-almost-painful performance. But I've never been able to get around the scene where he suddenly appears on horseback...."

Anybody looking at John Heard's work today (his work and his paunch) wouldn't even recognize the napalm this guy was burning back then. It's kind of heart-sickening to see his bloated husk eking out a living now. Heard used to be just as intense and fascinating as Richard Dreyfuss.

I love the horseback sequence myself, even though I could never quite give a pass to why he charged headlong at the side of a house instead of steering around it. And that bizarre, double track score still runs through my head years after I first heard it.

Posted by Hallick at June 30, 2007 09:26 PM

comment #36

Moneypenny says ...

Dearest Don,

Show you the guts I seem to want to show others?

So... based on that, I should KEEP the alias?

As for identifying myself to you... nahh. Don't want to give you the pleasure. But... I'll give you this hint and then you'll no longer be able to call me a "liar"-- remember the pleasant office atmosphere you created in that large brown building on the corner of Santa Monica and 2nd? Top floor?

Ahhh I've missed the screaming for years...

Posted by Moneypenny at June 30, 2007 09:38 PM

comment #37

D.Z. says ...

ernie: "Nostalgia is creative death? Tell that to Wong Kar-wai, who'd have no career without it."

Yeah, why can't he make original films like Grindhouse?

Posted by D.Z. at June 30, 2007 10:29 PM

comment #38

christian says ...

sigh.

Posted by christian at June 30, 2007 11:44 PM

comment #39

cjKennedy says ...

I first discovered John Heard in Heaven Help Us which wasn't great, but I was 15 or 16 and I thought he was pretty good. It was only a little later I saw Cutter's Way. He had a decent bit lately in Sweet Land but the most memorable thing I can think of was Sopranos and friggin' Prison Break. I always thought he was capable of more.

Posted by cjKennedy at July 1, 2007 02:25 AM

comment #40