Bret Easton Ellis Page 2

The Canyons, Paul Schrader's newly released erotic thriller funded partly by a Kickstarter campaign has been released. During May and June the film raised $159,015, far surpassing its goal of $100,000 in funding. The budget for the film was $250,000 and the actors were reportedly just paid $100 a day with a wardrobe supplied by American Apparel.

However, the storm of disparaging critical reception upon its release has shown that just because a film is crowd funded, it shouldn't give the film a special allowance to be praised.

Continue reading: How Crowdfunding, American Apparel Made Lindsay Lohan's 'The Canyons'

Lindsay Lohan has received a semi-positive review for her new movie The Canyons, written by American Psycho novelist Bret Easton Ellis. Essentially, the movie has been slaughtered by critics though one man - Scott Foundas of Variety.com - found something worth praising.

"The guerrilla shoot seems to have reinvigorated Schrader, and the result is his most stylish picture in years, probably since Auto Focus," wrote Foundas, who went on to gush about the performance of Lohan, even comparing her to Oscar winning actor Marlon Brando. 

'The major exception is Lohan, who gives one of those performances, like Marlon Brando's in "Last Tango in Paris," that comes across as some uncanny conflagration of drama and autobiography.

Continue reading: Lindsay Lohan Compared To Marlon Brando. She Is Really, Really Happy.

Lindsay Lohan stopped by The Late Show With David Letterman on Tuesday night (April 9 2013) and attention quickly turned to her court-ordered trip to rehab, which The Canyons actress described as a "blessing." Letterman peppered the 26-year-old star with questions about the rehabilitation process, though Lohan was seemingly prepared and took everything in good humor.

"How long will you be in rehab?" he asked. She answered "three months." "How many times have you been in rehab?" he added. "Several," Lohan replied."And how will this time be different?  What are they rehabbing, first of all?  What is on their list?  What are they going to work on when you walk through the door?" Letterman probed. "I'm the happiest when I'm working and the healthiest," Lohan responded, "And I think this an opportunity for me to, you know, focus on what I love in life.  And I don't think it's a bad thing.  I think it's a blessing . and not a curse.Now you sound like Dr. Phil," she quipped.

Lohan will spend three months in rehabilitation, starting on May 2, 2013, as part of a plea deal that allowed her to avoid jail in her trial over allegedly lying to police over a road traffic accident. In addition, she will do 30 days of community labor and pay an undisclosed fine. Oh, and there's 18 months of psychological therapy. The actress will be "locked" in the facility, which basically means she isn't able to go home once she enters. Scary stuff, huh?

Continue reading: Lindsay Lohan Talks Rehab With David Letterman (Video, Photos)

The Canyons is going to be a weird one. Definitely. Having been written by the latter half of the 20th century's most controversial writer, Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho), and starring Lindsay Lohan alongside pornstar James Deen, it couldn't be anything other than weird. New reports about Lindsay's lack of professionalism and drunkenness on set seem to confirm our expectations and fears.

The New York Times' Stephen Rodrick has written in detail about the making of The Canyons, and has shed a great amount of light on the kind of trouble Lohan brought to set, despite that "The actress will get $100 a day and an equal share of the profits, but no vote in decision-making." and that, "This last clause is nonnegotiable." 

In an eleven page account, we learn that Lohan had been fired, and refused to do a 'four way sex scene' that was allegedly included in her contract. Lohan missed the first read through of the script, so the director, Paul Shrader (Taxi Driver) sacked her. Of course, they reconciled and carried on after she found his hotel room and broke down in tears explaining that she had been out until the early hours of the morning and then took a 'sleeping pill'. 

Continue reading: Lindsay Lohan: 'Porn Actors' And Her 'Demented Smile' In The Canyons

Having not released any decent literature for nigh on a decade (Lunar Park was average and The Canyons, a screenplay, is yet to see the light of day), Bret Easton Ellis has descended into pits of bitterness over recent months. When he was denied the pleasure of writing the 50 Shades of Grey film adaptation, in place of Kelly Marcel, who he derided the choice and Marcel, culminating in his utterance of "ARGH!"

This time around he took to Twitter again to give a back handed compliment to the Zero Dark Thirty direction, and only female director to have ever won an Academy Award, Kathryn Bigelow:

"Zero Dark Thirty" might win critics awards but "Silver Linings Playbook" will win the Best Picture Oscar. This is how it always happens...

— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) December 6, 2012

Continue reading: Bitter Bret Easton Ellis, Are Kathryn Bigelow's Movies "OK Junk"?

Bret Easton Ellis has gotten himself into yet another spot of bother on Twitter. Not content with upsetting Matt Bomer recently, now Ellis has targeted his vitriol at the Oscar-winning movie director Kathryn Bigelow. It’s amazing how much hatred you can shake up in the space of 140 characters, now, isn’t it? Ellis started off by posting a message on his Twitter feed last night (December 5, 2012) about Bigelow’s latest movie Zero Dark Thirty, saying that it “might win critics awards but Silver Linings Playbook will win the Best Picture Oscar. This is how it always happens...”

Now – that tweet alone wouldn’t have ben so bad, surely; a nice even-handed approach to his Oscars predictions. Ellis being Ellis, though, couldn’t (or wouldn’t) leave things there and said “Kathryn Bigelow would be considered a mildly interesting filmmaker if she was a man but since she's a very hot woman she's really overrated…” and then made things worse by saying “Kathryn Bigelow: Strange Days, K-19 The Widowmaker, Blue Steel, The Hurt Locker. Are we talking about visionary filmmaking or just OK junk?” Unkind words, indeed from Bret, there, about the only female to ever have won an Oscar for Best Director.

This isn’t the first time that Ellis has caused a stink on Twitter, either. Not so long ago, he blasted rumours that Matt Bomer would be playing the lead in Fifty Shades of Grey, because he was gay. Er… that’s why they call it acting, Ellis… Geez. Let’s hope Bigelow gets the last laugh and lands an Oscar, eh?

Lindsay Lohan's October is just going from bad to worse as her father attempts to stage an intervention, attempting to have her put in the control of a conservatorship.

A conservatorship is a legal term for passing over one's legal power to someone else, when deemed unfit to control oneself. Britney Spears famously is currently under a conservatorship, headed by her lawyer, father and fiancée, after her infamous mental and emotional breakdown a few years ago. Lindsay's father, Michael Lohan, decided that after last week's domestic incident with her mother (Dina), in which police were called to a fight between the mother and daughter, and Lindsay accused Dina of taking cocaine, it was the right time to intervene. He accused Lindsay of being "substance abuser... who is hanging with the wrong group of people, including [her mother]." and cited these as reasons for the intervention that he attempted, and failed, this weekend (20th/21st Oct 2012).

According to TMZ, although Michael thinks the conservatorship is necessary, he isn't willing to step up into that responsibility. Lindsay's siblings also reportedly claimed that the entire thing was a publicity stunt by Michael. This claim is backed up by Lindsays publicist who told Entertainment Weekly: "It's apparent Michael continues to be very focused on getting publicity for himself, Lindsay's team is in no way aligned with him or his actions." We have to wonder, therefore, if her own father doesn't approve of his daughter spending time with her own mother, while her father is unwilling to take responsibility for her, and indeed use her for publicity- where is the young star supposed to turn in times of need? And, more importantly, from whom is she supposed to learn those perpetually important moral lessons? We don't deem a conservatorship to be needed at all, but some good parenting certainly wouldn't go amiss. Where's Supernanny when you need her?

Continue reading: Lindsay Lohan Vs. Her Father: Is A Conservatorship Really Necessary?

The Hollywood Gossip referred to Bret Easton Ellis as 'increasingly unhinged' in a report about his Twitter abuse of the Fifty Shades of Grey film writer of choice, as Kelly Marcel. Firstly, that writer has clearly never read 'American Psycho'- there are few pieces of literature that come across as more unhinged, yet it's Ellis's structure and almost poetic refrain that prove him to be an excellent writer, rather than an 'unhinged' madman- unlike the protagonist from his most famous novel. Secondly, you can hardly blame him. Ellis is a veteran of depraved grit, into which Fifty Shades of Grey can happily be placed. Marcel is somewhat tame in comparison.

Ellis has been very open about his interest in penning the script for the film adaptation of the best selling book since the very beginning. He met with the producers, and even tweeted at the time that he felt it went well. However, his use of Twitter has, over the past couple of days, been increased which seems to have led to all our war between himself and Dan Brunetti, one of the two producers of the film, who replied to his Tweet “Kelly Marcel?!? KELLY MARCEL?!? Kelly Marcel is WRITING the script for 'Fifty Shades of Grey'?!? THIS is the movie they want to make? ARGH" by saying “Really, Bret? The day you release that 'trailer'. School film? You're losing it...”

Danetti refers to Ellis's trailer to 'The Canyons' starring Lindsey Lohan and adult film star James Deen. The trailer is reminiscent of the style employed by Tarantino for Death Proof and Planet Terror, but perhaps Danetti missed that, or was simply blinded by his own rage with Ellis' criticism.

Continue reading: Bret Easton Ellis' 50 Shades Of Fury

The Canyons trailer was released on Tuesday (October 9, 2012), giving movie fans the first look at Lindsay Lohan and co-star James Deen in Bret Easton Ellis' grungy exploitation drama

The film has already garnered its fair share of controversy, partly for its content, but also for the fact that Mr Deen is best known for his day job, as an adult movie star. The trailer presents the film as a sort of cheap 1980s B-movie, though this is undoubtedly screenwriter Easton Ellis' and director Paul Schrader's intention. Plastered with taglines including "Where the sex is as cheap as the budget," the trailer is by no means a thing of beauty, though we're guessing this thing might just work. "This is not an adult film," adult star Deen told Animal NY earlier this year. "We are not trying to arouse people. If someone does get aroused, well, it happens. [...] It's not graphic sex for the sake of graphic sex. In the script you don't see anything like, 'You see [Lindsay's character] turn around and flash her boobs!"

The Canyons is yet to get an official release date and it's likely that several more trailers will hit the web in the coming weeks.

The Fifty Shades of Grey movie screenplay writer has been announced, and it appears as though Bret Easton Ellis is less than pleased with the choice. The Psycho writer took to the micro-blogging site, Twitter, to convey his dismay, reports E!

"Kelly Marcel?!? KELLY MARCEL?!? Kelly Marcel is WRITING the script for 'Fifty Shades of Grey'?!? THIS is the movie they want to make? ARGH," he tweeted, before posting: "Kelly Marcel: the creator of (gulp) 'Terra Nova' and a Mary Poppins bio-pic has been blessed by EL James and no one can stop her. Dear God." It sounds like someone is incredibly bitter at the decision. Fifty Shades producer Dana Brunetti got involved in the tweet-feud, by saying, "@BretEastonEllis Really, Bret? The day you release that 'trailer'. School film? You're losing it...," This started a bit of a war, with fans of both sides tweeting their support/insults. "Shoot me now," Brunetti added, in reference to another tweeter's assumption: "I can only deduce that @DanaBrunetti is the EP / Producer of The Canyons. #AnyPressIsGoodPress."

Anyway, this all culminated in a silly argument, regrettable tweets and a Lindsay Lohan name drop or two. In other Fifty Shades new, or gossip we should say, is recently named Sexiest Woman Alive actress Mila Kunis; the Family Guy voice of Meg has been mooted strongly for a role in the upcoming adaptation.

2012 is full of grand adaptations of major works of the literary canon, Anna Karenina, The Great Gatsby and The Hobbit to name but a few. However, the one to be most talked about of late is in the very earliest stages of production: Fifty Shades of Grey. Ryan Gosling is favourite to play title character Christian Grey by fans, but author E.L. James told Ryan Seacrest that any rumours of Gosling starring are “misreported”.