DIRECTOR LARRY CHARLES GIVES ANOTHER UPDATE ON MOTLEY CRUE’S THE DIRT MOVIE
Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 11:21am by Axl Rosenberg
So who watched the debate last night? Pretty early on I decided I was gonna take a bong rip every time Sarah Palin used the word “maverick,” and about 120 seconds later I was higher than I’ve ever been, which is saying something. So… thanks Sarah Palin!
Speaking of mavericks, you should all know who Larry Charles is – and not just because he has a fantastic beard. He was/is an executive producer and writer for such shows as Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage, has directed the Borat feature film (And the Bill Maher-hosted documentary Religulous, which just opened today. I haven’t seen it yet but I hear it’s as hilarious as Borat and twice as incendiary.). Charles was also slated to helm the feature film version of The Dirt, the autobiography of mavericks Motley Crüe – but now Charles says that ain’t happening. That’s old news, but Charles’ insight into why the movie isn’t getting made right now is actually pretty fuckin’ cool. He tells Coming Soon:
“…Motley Crüe is a crappy band but [author and maverick Neil Strauss] wrote a really epic book about them. It’s really fascinating. What’s good about it is how hardcore it is. They’ve killed people, they’ve hurt people, they’ve crippled people, they’ve done all kinds of crazy things. You’d have to show that for real and I think there was a little bit of reticence [on the part of the studio] about doing that ultimately. But for me, I would do it if it could be done the proper way. If it’s going to be sanitized then they don’t need me to do it. They could find somebody else to do that.”
It’s great to see that Charles “gets it,” as the saying goes, and he speaks to the heart of the problem with screenwriter Rich Wilkes’ (that maverick of xXx and Jerky Boys infamy) adaption of the source material: it’s tame and one-dimensional, like that terrible VH1 made-for-TV Def Leppard biopic.
Hopefully someone will have the balls to let Charles make this movie the way it should be made. In the meantime, we’re better off with it never getting made at all.
-AR










Is it just me, or does Sarah Palin sound like the mom from “Bobby’s World”?
Larry Charles fucking ruuuuules. This COULD BE a really tremendous film adaptation of a really tremendous book (regardless of how you feel about Motley’s music), but they’re just going to end up sanding it down with some McG type youngin’ right out of NYU or UCLA who will toe the line and make it something to further the Motley Brand. (see KISS-enomics 101)
Vince Neilstein’s self portrait in 30 years?
i think Fred Durst should direct “The Dirt”, w/ Louie Anderson as Vince Neil and Ice Cube as Tommy Lee
I think just about everything I’ve ever seen w/ Charles’ name attached has been on par with the Coen Brothers’ portfolio. Maybe he’s really just intelligent enough to know that this movie would suck beyond sucking.
more importantly, he acknowledges how shitty a band they were/are