Smokin' Joe Carnahan: WHITE JAZZ VS. LA CONFIDENTIAL 2

WHITE JAZZ VS. LA CONFIDENTIAL 2

03/01/2007 at 08:06 AM

Guys:

By now you may have read in the trades that there's some activity
on the Ellroy front vis-a-vis a proposed 'LA CONFIDENTIAL 2' that
would star both Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce. I had heard about this
a few months back as we had just closed our deal for WHITE JAZZ.
Ellroy and I actually spoke about it because they had asked him back
into the loop to work on that script. As far as I know, they are pushing
ahead and have asked us to change the Exley character's name in
WHITE JAZZ as New Regency apparently has the right.

Those familiar with the book also know that 'The Dud' Dudley Smith is
also featured prominently in it. We took the original LA CONFIDENTIAL into
account when writing WHITE JAZZ so we opted to remove him from the story.
Now that Exley looks like he's out, it will really eliminate any incidental characters
from WHITE JAZZ and allow it to be a stand alone and not dependant on the prior
characters.

WHITE JAZZ is still the last book in the quartet and while I wish everyone well
on LA CONFIDENTIAL 2, I hope they bring some heavy sh*t to the table because
my younger brother Matt wrote an absolute knockdown, drag-out version of
WHITE JAZZ. I'm not throwing down any type of gauntlet here. I have the utmost
respect for Hanson and Helgeland. The original is fantastic.

Stylistically, they will be WILDLY divergent, that I can promise. Clooney as Dave
Klein is going to rock a 1958 LA that you have never and will never, see again.

Comments

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	Posted by: Justin 03/01/2007 at 09:56 AM
Damn, I was so excited when you said Guy might play Exley in White Jazz. I know the flick'll rock anyway. Are you going to keep the Exley type character and switch a few things around or rewrite that all together?

Posted by: Kevin 03/01/2007 at 10:35 AM

L.A. Confidential 2?! Why?! Will it be Hanson and Helgeland again? Well, best of luck to them I suppose. I'd prefer to see Clooney with Pierce in White Jazz but then again I am happier than a priest in boys' choir practice that Ellroy will get the treatment he deserves, and his novels require, in the form of a film from you and NOT De Palma again. Love De Palma but despised his take on The Black Dahlia.

So Bunny Lake must be close to gearing up for principal photography, right? Best of luck with the shoot, Joe.

Also, any specific DP in mind for White Jazz? So many questions to ask you about that production.

Take Care,
Kevin

ps Did or have you considered shooting White Jazz in B&W like the old Warner crime noir flicks of the past or would that hinder your chances of bringing in more of an audience? Curious.

Posted by: Jonathan 03/01/2007 at 04:51 PM

I can't lie, Joe. It's a bad move in my eyes, but I know it's not something you have control over...

The bad move is them making LA Confidential 2 in the first place. White Jazz is the novel's "sequel" and it should stay that way. Having Guy Pearce in this (considering he'd even come back - he's said how he's not a big fan of doing sequels) would have been amazing. Still, I'm looking forward to this, especially with Clooney on board as a badass Humphrey Bogart, of sorts.

Lastly, LA Confidential is a masterpiece and one of the best films of the 90s. If your movie doesn't get to be the "official" sequel like it should, then they better damn well make their sequel one hell of a movie, or I'm going to be pissed!

Posted by: Kenny 03/01/2007 at 05:59 PM

Clooney? Fuck, yeah! I would love to see that guy kick some ass in a way that he hasn't since From Dusk Till Dawn. Now I'm really fuckin' stoked.

What's with the Black Dahlia dissing, Kevin? I loved that movie, and I'm having trouble understanding where the hate comes from. I thought it was a great mix of old-school pacing, great Zsigmond visuals, and De Palma crazy-excess stylings.

Posted by: muzzleflash 03/02/2007 at 03:38 AM

Hmmm...another bad idea in the long string of bad ideas that come from the anus that studio executives consider their brain. And nice title, too! Did they pull that one out of one of those study groups they depend on so much? Those executives probably couldn't take a piss without having a group decision about it.

But I guess it's just a way for them to sell 10th anniversary DVDs for the first film and have it tied into the second film's promotion. yeah, that's always a good reason to make a movie, PR for a DVD (or vice versa).

Kick their ass, Joe. Really.

Posted by: Kevin 03/02/2007 at 06:59 AM

Kenny,
Don't get me wrong, technically, The Black Dahlia is a brilliant film. I went to a test screening of this flick last February and could not be more excited to see De Palma delve back into this genre. Convinced myself that even if I wasn't pleased 100% with the film, I would give it another chance once it hit DVD. Well during the unspooling of the screening when I found myself laughing at the unintentionally hysterical performance Hilary Swank gave and that deer in the headlights performance Scarlett Johansson gave I couldn't help but wonder what De Palma was thinking about. Personally I would have rather seen Fincher tackle it like he was suppose to or even someone like James Foley who directed After Dark, My Sweet. De Palma was an inspired choice but in my opinion, I wish they would have chosen to go with another filmmaker. He is a master filmmaker and I don't like to feel he is just going through the motions just because he hasn't been visible to the public eye recently.

Thought Hartnett was okay and really thought the film had a lot of fat around the edges. To be honest with you though I thought the best performance in the film came from Mia Kirshner, hands down.

This is my opinion Kenny and I wish I could have enjoyed it as much as you did but alas I couldn't. Agree with you on the pacing and the camera work though but not much else.

Take Care,
Kevin

Posted by: Drew Douglas 03/02/2007 at 09:20 AM

I am not familiar with the books in any way, and it has been forever since I have seen LA Confidential.

I'll have to go back and watch it, as well as look into these novels.

Posted by: Drew Douglas 03/02/2007 at 09:24 AM

Also, Joe, are you going to post official disc specs of the Smokin' Aces DVD?

I've seen the cover art and read there is an alternate ending and over twenty minutes of deleted material. Just wondering what else is going to be on it.

Can't wait to see the film again.

-Drew-

	Posted by: Erika 03/02/2007 at 11:58 AM
I cant wait for White Jazz! It's going to rock especially with George Clooney in it!!

	Posted by: Stephen 03/02/2007 at 07:25 PM
Hey Joe, what movies are you looking to for inspiration while you're formulating White Jazz? What movies were you looking to when you and your bro wrote the screenplay? I'd be very interested to know, especially after seeing how the Coen Bros. work affected Smokin' Aces.