comment #1

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

Nice to see that Roman was able to get something artistically useful out of having to deal with the those annoying repercussions of having drugged & anal sodomized a 13 year old and then fled the country to avoid the consequences. To hell with those with bedrock moral convictions - there's art to be made!

comment #2

Marty Melville says ...

"To hell with those with bedrock moral convictions - there's art to be made!"

Exactly.

comment #3

Travis Crabtree says ...

"The Ghost Writer has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 79%. Who are the naysayers? "

I don't know, but let's find out who they are and ridicule them! We can call them names and question their judgement and make broad assumptions about their character and then taunt them for being puritanical knuckle-draggers!

You know, because they have a different, less-enlightened opinion than we do.

comment #4

Chinaski94 says ...

Ditto to what Deathtongue and Travis already said.

comment #5

LexG says ...

It's a good thing that apparently no films ever have starred an actor who ever had sex with a jailbait fan, had a soundtrack cut by a band or rapper that had engaged in underage groupies and sold dope to kids when they were coming up, never had a gaffer who smacked his wife, an actor/actress who killed someone in a drunk-driving accident, a grip who was a deadbeat dad and defaulted on child support... We'd never talk about movies on HE.

That's not a defense of Polanski, but I'm sure every single movie you ever watch and every movie you love (and certainly almost every record you own) comes courtesy of at least some people on the crew whose exploits would probably shame fucking Caligula.

If you think you don't own a single CD or have never downloaded a track by a band that hasn't abused women (or much worse) or taxed underage chicks, you are sorely delusional.

But I guess when it's some '70s dino-rock bad pulling a train on teenage girls, it's "Rock and roll, dude!"

comment #6

Chinaski94 says ...

Lex,

Here's what bothers me. And let me say, I haven't boycotted the films of Polanski but I don't give him a pass either.

But if it was an average guy in suburbia that did what Polanski did, people would want him to do his time, be on a sex offender list the rest of his life, and have probation requirements, such as staying away from teenage girls.

But since he's a talented director, people just act like it's okay. Like, well we would want to put him away but fuck, he made Chinatown.

Instead of doing time, I think he's been living in Paris and fucking that hot chick from Bitter Moon, making films, and probably having a hell of a good time.

If he had gone to prison and been raped a few times I'd feel better about the whole thing.

comment #7

LexG says ...

All fair, I'm not mounting some defense here, the crime is inexcusable, so I'm just making observations and sort of devil's advocating...

It's natural that emotions about it have come flooding back since the case came back in the news in the last few months, but circa, say, 1986 or 1995 or 2005, was anyone this fire-and-brimstone about the guy?

I don't remember people picketing *Oliver Twist* or the Breitbart crew's 1986 equivalents rallying that by allowing "Pirates" to see the light of a movie screen it was an indictment of Hollywood's failing values. While, yes, I know logically that the PASSAGE OF TIME doesn't excuse jack or shit...

When I see in the Times that the LAPD finally caught up with some old Redd Foxx-looking sadsack in South LA who shot up a liquor store in 1969, and they drag this beaten-down old man old in chains, yes, justice is served and the families might have some closure.... but I don't know, I don't get some FUCK YEAH! moment of catharsis or any sense of security that it's safer to walk the streets at night.

comment #8

mtgilchrist says ...

respectfully, chinaski, or you can not care about the connection between one and the other. i make no defense of polanski's personal offenses, but unless he's making a movie about a dude molesting a girl (and i'm generalizing) a movie has nothing to do with the man. that said, i reviewed the film and there are parallels to his life in more litigious ways, but is it a good movie? or do you enjoy it? then the exterior context doesn't matter.

comment #9

Ray DeRousse says ...

If people are "carrying Martin Scorsese's water" for Shutter Island, then they are most certainly doing the same thing for Polanski in regards to this film. A lot of people want Polanski to hit a home run here due to his recent troubles (mr. Wells, for instance), but he didn't in reality. The film is a mess. Cattrall is horrible (nice accent!), and Ewan has never recovered from his Obi Wan Kenobi impersonation, staring into space and lifelessly reciting lines.

comment #10

Dances with Smurfs says ...

I visit this site because many times Jeff latches on to movies I would not have heard about otherwise. (I also visit because of Jeff's "problem" with overweight people. The Jack Goes Boating thread and the ensuing comments were gold. But I digress.) A lot of times this borders on obsession, but for the most part that is okay. I am glad Jeff pushed The Hurt Locker because that is a great film that I would not heard about otherwise. In this case I have a feeling that even if The Ghost Writer is bad Jeff will promote the hell out of it as a big middle finger to the "pitchfork" crowd. Putting everything else aside, my main problem with Polanski is that he fled the country and has never done the time for his crime. He is acting like he is the first person to get screwed over by the justice system. It is not right but it happens all the time. Life is not fair. Get over it. Then on top of that there are the Polanski defenders that say he has suffered enough or has already "done" his time by being forced to live abroad. Look I wouldn't want to live in France, but I am sure it is better then being in jail. Never going to jail and directing movies doesn't sound like much of a punishment to me.

comment #11

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

Really, am I the only person who can separate the concepts of "Polanski should do time" and "Polanski's new movie is good"? Doesn't seem that hard to me, and I'm a knuckledragging mouthbreathing O'Reilly watcher for Chrissake.

comment #12

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

"...had sex with a jailbait fan...

It's statements like these that make me wonder how much denial those in the tank for Polanski are in (not saying Lex is, but others like Ms Rape-Rape Goldberg are). The reason several of us keep repeating that he drugged and anally raped a 13 year old is because he drugged and anally raped a 13 who repeated asked him to stop.

So, rest assured Lex, this isn't the same as you lusting after the underaged hotties in SUPERBAD or some WB show.

"...1986 or 1995 or 2005, was anyone this fire-and-brimstone about the guy..."

Speaking solely for myself but suspect many others are in the same boat, the difference is that the scales finally fell from our eyes and the true, morally indefensible tale emerged after years of Polanski friends white washing it.

I used to be in the tank myself, erroneously believing that this was one of those "hey, it was the 70's" things. A wild drug fueled party at Jack's pad with 16 year old jail bait that had snuck in, which is how it was summarized by the media years later (hey, what can I say, I was dealing with middle school and trying to get into 13 year old girl's pants myself at the time). Yet, one of the consequences of this round was that ALL the established facts of the case became known - most importantly that he plead guilty to what she claimed in her grand jury testimony.

Which she to this day has not retracted. Those who like to protest that the victim wants this to go away conveniently ignore this elephant in the room - she has not retracted her grand jury testimony and Polanski has NEVER issued a denial about the drugs, knowing her age and her protests.

There's an ocean of difference between flouting societal rules about acceptable behavior and violating some basic do-not-pass-go, do-not-collect-$200 rules of life.

Don't like them called "morals" because of religious association? Fine call them basic human fucking rights. And I'd think we could all pretty much agree that murder and raping a child are no exception areas.

Because raping someone is very akin to murder as it destroys a part of someone forever. And if you do that in a society that allows for "artistic license" in both what you create and how you live your life, then I say we have the right and duty to revoke said license.

Especially if you show no remorse for the act, only how it's affected the way you've had to live your life to avoid the responsibility for it.

comment #13

Travis Crabtree says ...

Ray DeRousee with the win!

comment #14

ZayTonday says ...

Saw this last night and holy shit it is awesome. IMO it definitely is right up there with Polanski's best. Everything is just so well done and there are some great shots in it that are just dripping with subtext in that classic Polanski style. The acting was top notch and the script definitely was on point. Had this been released last year it'd definitely be in the running for Best Picture right now.

comment #15

ZayTonday says ...

Also, regarding Kim Catrall's accent: Yeah it was pretty bad, probably the movie's only flaw. There was nothing wrong with Ewan and how exactly is he impersonating Obi-Wan? Ray is simply bringing his Star Wars baggage into the theater with him.

comment #16

mccool says ...

If the guy was gonna serve 45 days or whatever, really, what's the point of making him do it 30 years later? Let's move on...

What's really disgusting, however, was the moral indignation expressed by the likes of Wells, whoopi, et al, towards a plea deal being reneged upon, as if that crime against Polanski should absolve him of his heinousness.

comment #17

ZayTonday says ...

Holy fuck people, some of you sound like a broken record with all this outrage. Let's talk about the movie here, goddammit.

comment #18

George Prager says ...

Kurt Loder? That guy is still around? Kind of like asking Tabitha Soren what she thinks of Scott Brown.

comment #19

Travis Crabtree says ...

"This is MTV News for September 12, 2001. I'm Tabitha Soren. Today, many people are wondering how the terrorist attacks of yesterday will effect the upcoming Coolio tour...."

comment #20

ZayTonday says ...

Oh the other thing that bothered me about this movie was the obvious overdubbing of curse words to get the PG-13 rating. "Sodding"? Really?

comment #21

lipranzer says ...

Zaytonday - yeah, I mentioned that in another thread. If I wanted to watch a movie made suitable for network TV, I would have watched it on network TV.

As far as Polanski goes, let me try this one more time - if the judge had acted properly in the first place, do you even think we'd be having this argument 30 years later?

comment #22

Gatrios2011 says ...

I wonder if the Jeffster would feel the same about Polanski if it was his 13 year old son's anus dripping with Roman's cum. "Jett, think of the great movies he's made, you just can't press charges. Anyway, if Polanski pays enough I can finally buy those movie stills of naked Vinessa Shaw"

comment #23

taikwan says ...

gatrios
How many times are you going to post this attempt at yellow journalism?

This is the 3rd or 4th time, rigth?

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comment #25

boston terrier says ...

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comment #26

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