POP ART: Episode 11, Adaptation/Sunset Blvd.

“Audiences don't know somebody sits down and writes a picture; they think the actors make it up as they go along.” The quarantine is giving you a lot of time to write and work on your art. But are you? Sounds like the perfect time for the next episode of Pop Art, the podcast where the guest chooses a movie from pop culture and I, in turn, choose a film from the more art/classic side of cinema that has a connection to it. My guest, filmmaker Josh Kim, chose the whimsical, idiosyncratic movie Adaptation written by Charlie and Donald Kaufman, while I chose the film noir Billy Wilder classic Sunset Blvd. (the movie that shows the real tinsel behind the fake tinsel of Hollywood), both about screenwriters in crisis. And we cover such topics as: What does it say about screenwriters? Which is the better film? Why did Charlie Kaufman think his career was over? What was the original opening for Sunset Blvd. and how did they achieve the shot used now? Who else was considered for the various roles? Who or what is an H.B. Warner? And what is the connection to Rebel Without a Cause? Finally, remember, it’s the pictures that got small. Next up: Die Hard/District B13.