Hazel Motes

Did he speak at all about Django Lives!, the project with Franco Nero that he is writing (and was at one point directing)?

majorjoe23

Wait, do you mean he knew zero Spanish? Because as far as I know he grew up speaking English.

Inhumans99

If only Alligator could have been an option, but he only had a hand in the screenplay. I just realized that I have seen more John Sayles films than I thought I have, Brother From Another Planet (for a film class), Lone Star (for a film class), and The Secret Of Roan Inish (in the theater). That is actually a lot for me, especially from one acclaimed director as I am not mr independent film guy. The Secret Of Roan Inish is just wonderfully sublime.

dex14

Do you mean zero Spanish?

DWilson

I generally enjoy Sayles films to different degrees, though the last few I had to catch on DVD. I remember "Men With Guns" as being an excruciating slog in the theater (just an absolute bore, though perhaps it was a combination of the length and the subtitles), while "Lone Star" was one of those rare films where I really enjoyed the journey it went on and genuinely satisfied with it's conclusion.

It's been a surprise and a disappointment that "City of Hope" has never found a place on home video, presented in it's proper OAR.

Ky-Fi

He didn't mention that one specifically. He mostly talked about the movie we had just seen, but he did mention that that's how he usually finances his own movies: by writing screenplays for other people.

He did talk a lot about how difficult it is for him to shoot his movies on such a low budget, while still working with professional actors. He said Go for Sisters cost about 1 million, and he shot the whole thing in 19 days, I think he said. He had problems keeping the crew together, because he wasn't paying much--he said there was a lot of turnover and some continuity problems. He said it's often a case that better-known actors just like the part and want to work with him, and he's gotten good at adjusting his shooting schedule to accommodate them so they're not waiting around the set for days and days.

He also mentioned how Edward James Olmos loves working at the really fast pace of Sayles's style of low-budget film making, and was a great mentor for the younger actors who weren't used to it.

It was interesting how he said he doesn't let actors ad-lib or change the dialogue when it comes time to film. He said he wrote it that way for a reason, and that's what he wants them to say. Sometimes if a line ends up being a tongue-twister for the actor or something, they'll work out the new line together a week or so ahead of time--but he doesn't let them do it at the last minute.

It was interesting hearing his approach.

E Unit

Crap typo, sorry. Yes, meant to say he knew zero Espaņol when he wrote the screenplay. I remember when he was talking about it, he wrote the script when he had a free moment, like when cooking dinner. He had a Spanish dictionary and his script next to one another writing it that way.

Ky-Fi

Yeah, his ear for the tone and speech of other cultures is really amazing. In this movie, the main characters were all black and latino, and a good deal of the movie is set in Mexico.

One other funny comment--someone in the crowd asked him why he had trouble getting funding when he had such an established career and was so well-known. He said "Well--that's not always a good thing. To some degree, I'm "well-known" for making movies that are NOT going to generate millions of dollars in profit."

Why So Blu?

He is one of the highest paid screenwriter/script doctors in the business.

inri222

Ridley Scott should give him a call.

clckworang

I was at that screening as well! I remember him talking about the language barrier.

E Unit

Ha, nice! I was the projectionist for the screening.

creekdipper

I periodically email Criterion re: their "request a title" appeal asking for Matewan. Hey, it worked for One-Eyed Jacks.

Be great to see a nice transfer along with essay(s), bonus features, etc.

Films that don't exist on DVD or only in bad transfers or public domain (Matewan, Two Women, The Big Sky) deserve to be rescued and given their due.

Tabletopjoe

Would love Criterion to release City Of Hope. It's such an underrated film.