-----Original Message-----
>From: Frederick Zackel <
fzackel@wcnet.org>
>Sent: Feb 18, 2007 7:30 AM
>To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: RARA-AVIS: Raines Is Chandler
Homage
>
>(I have this sniggering desire to throw gasoline on
the fire.)
>
> 25-JANUARY-07
>
>Graham Yost, creator and executive producer of the
upcoming NBC drama
>Raines, told SCI FI Wire that the series is heavily
influenced by the work
>of classic noir novelist Raymond Chandler,
particularly The Long Goodbye.
>
>"My love of Los Angeles does come from the fact that
I grew up in Toronto
>and visited L.A. occasionally, but really got to know
it through Chandler,"
>Yost said at the Television Critics Association press
tour in Pasadena,
>Calif. "And, truly, doing Raines was my sort of
[chance] to actually write
>something that had at least a flavor of Chandler and
has a character who is
>self-aware about that. He loves Chandler, too, and
that's part of his
>story."
>
>In addition to Chandler's writings, Yost also
referenced various film
>adaptations, especially Robert Altman's 1972 film
based on The Long Goodbye.
>
>"What Altman did with Long Goodbye was to take
Chandler and put it in 1972,"
>he said. "And it felt like a 1972 film, and yet
Elliott Gould still was this
>classic hard-boiled detective. So it was still noir,
but it was 1972. And we
>wanted to do that for 2006, 2007. And I hope we've
done it. We've learned
>more and more about it as we went along."
>
>Jeff Goldblum stars in the series as detective
Michael Raines, a homicide
>investigator who begins seeing and hearing murder
victims as he's working on
>their cases.
>
>In a press conference, Goldblum said that he has
always been a fan of
>Chandler's work and spoke with Yost about the noir
inspiration as soon as he
>signed on to the project.
>
>"Because of this, I watched The Long Goodbye again,"
he said. "When we first
>talked about it, [Graham] even said, 'You know, what
we want sort of maybe
>in tone-we don't want to copy anything-but look at
Long Goodbye again. I
>said, 'I've seen it many times.'"
>
>Goldblum added that he found the character to be one
of the most interesting
>he's every played.
>
>"I had one of the best times I've ever had in my
whole life," he said.
>"That's true. This cast, everybody is so great. And
meeting with Graham, he
>was so great, and Frank, I wanted to work with them.
I loved the idea. I
>loved the script and I loved that character. And The
Long Goodbye. ... We
>find out that he pretends not to care and is
indifferent, but is wildly
>romantic and vulnerable and cares deeply and is
idealistic, in fact. There
>was something about this character like that that I
kind of fell in love
>with."
>
>Raines premieres March 15 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. -Cindy
White
>
>Happy Presidents' Day
>
>Fred Zackel
>Cocaine & Blue Eyes
>Point Blank Press
Dr. Z! You know how to stir it up!
As I think I mentioned here many months ago, part of this
pilot was shot at High Tower in homage to Altman's The Long
Goodbye. The actual apartment we use as an office proved too
small for their needs so they just shot exteriors, then built
sets for the interiors. They used our office as video
village, so everyone huddled in the place as a command
center. And I became tour guide for The Long Goodbye
museum.
A large number of the cast and crew - including Yost and
Goldblum - came to me on the second day of shooting and said
that they had gone home the night before and revisited The
Long Goodbye on DVD due to the effects of being at the
location. They all seemed to love the film and were really
excited to be at the spot where it all began.
Speaking of which - I'm still getting the occasional note
from rare birds about today's party and I'm about to leave
for the Liquor store, so I will be offline for the duration.
Anyone else who wants to come, the directions are easy: get
to the corner of Camrose and High Tower (near the Hollywood
Bowl). Park. Walk up to the high tower. Take the elevator to
the top. The party will be at the noisy apartment to the
right.
The number down there is 323 883 0817 if you get lost.
Please, no crank calls from The League of Altman
Despisers.
TL
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 18 Feb 2007 EST