After D’s birthday, the A train arrived to take us home. [Silent]

Click here to watch the video.

Here are some snippets from a Terry Gilliam interview up at BBC News.

Don’t complain to him about movie piracy….

Battle-scarred Gilliam looks to future

By Neil Smith
BBC News entertainment reporter in Bangkok

Spend five minutes in the company of Terry Gilliam and he is bound to spend at least one of them chuckling madly at the insanity of the film business and life in general.

It is good to find him in so ebullient a mood, as the last few years have given him very little to laugh about.

His long-gestating Don Quixote project starring Johnny Depp collapsed in 2001 following a series of on-set catastrophes.

And his last film, fairy-tale fantasy The Brothers Grimm, opened to negative reviews and lacklustre box office after a troubled production that saw him clash repeatedly with his producers, Miramax founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein.

…

Having had the Weinsteins looking over his shoulder throughout The Brothers Grimm, the director can speak from bitter experience.

He said that after disagreeing with them on everything from casting Samantha Morton in the lead female role to a prosthetic bump on Matt Damon’s nose, Gilliam eventually cut off contact with them altogether.

The result was another chaotic shoot from a director with a history of strained relations with “the money people”.

“I always start with the best intentions, but then the money disappears. The chaos results from not having enough time and money.”

Perhaps this explains why he has little sympathy for the Hollywood studios’ current drive against DVD piracy.

“It’s hard for me to worry about the studios losing money. I’m not very sympathetic to their money problems, because they certainly haven’t been sympathetic to mine.

“When you look at one of their accounting sheets you realise you’re never going to see a penny, so if someone wants to rip them off that’s fine with me.

“If you’re going to pirate, though, make sure the quality’s good. Have some respect for what you’re pirating!”

….

The full interview is here.

That reminds me. A while back, the Onion did a funny little parody of Gilliam’s usual filmmaking woes –

Terry Gilliam Barbecue Plagued By Production Delays

September 8, 2004 | Issue 40•36

LONDON—A backyard barbecue hosted by director Terry Gilliam was postponed again Sunday due to production delays. “I had a special grill flown in from Fiji, but it took three weeks to figure out how to light it,” Gilliam said of the 20-foot, volcano-shaped propane grill he’d deemed integral to the Tiki-themed event. “Then, just when I had the menu hammered out, Johnny [Depp] got sick, and I had to push the date back again. See, the whole thing was for his birthday in June.” In spite of the continued delays, party guest Elvis Mitchell predicted that the event will be “visually stunning” and “fun.”

The Official William Shatner DVD Club

This discovery is simply too good not to share. It seems that the great William Shatner has decided to share his lifelong love of fantastic cinema by creating his very own DVD club. Why rent when you can own for a nominal fee?

Here’s his mission statement —

As a lifelong and passionate movie fan, I have often thought it unfortunate that some of the very best movies go unnoticed by the fans who would appreciate those films the most. I created this DVD club so that people who share my love of Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror can discover these unheralded gems.

I have personally selected a collection of great films with compelling, original stories, well-written and acted scripts, and the intangible qualities that separate a memorable film from the pack. Because I wanted my collection to be accessible to all fans, I struck special deals with studios to ensure that I could offer my collection affordably. As a result, members will be able to own each DVD in my collection for about the cost of a rental at the local video store.

There is nothing quite as exhilarating as discovering a sci-fi, fantasy or horror classic-to-be that has gone unnoticed by the general movie watching population – I hope you will join me in this discovery of great movies!

It’s actually a pretty good idea, although I can’t vouch for its execution here. I have no idea what films he might be recommending….

POST SCRIPT ~ Well, I snooped around a bit and found the following titles listed as a sampling: Ginger Snaps, Immortal, and Dragon Storm

Not exactly awe-inspiring, but, apparently, you have to sign up in order to “enjoy expert selections from the William Shatner DVD Club.”

Aye, Aye, Captain!

M in the small hours after New Year’s Eve 2006. [Silent]

Click here to watch the video.

Herzog helped Phoenix from car wreckage

Thursday February 2, 03:35 PM

Oscar-nominee Joaquin Phoenix was rescued from his car wreck last week by German cult director Werner Herzog.

The 31-year-old Walk The Line star overturned his car on a canyon road above Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood after his brakes failed and he collided with another vehicle.

Phoenix was saved because he was wearing his seat-belt, but has revealed he was helped from the wreckage by the 63-year-old, who has a home nearby.

The actor says, “I remember this knocking on the passenger window. There was this German voice saying, ‘Just relax.’ There’s the airbag, I can’t see and I’m saying, ‘I’m fine. I am relaxed. Finally, I rolled down the window and this head pops inside. And he said, ‘No, you’re not.’

“And suddenly I said to myself, ‘That’s Werner Herzog!’ There’s something so calming and beautiful about Werner Herzog’s voice. I felt completely fine and safe. I climbed out. I got out of the car and I said, ‘Thank you,’ and he was gone.”