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#1
10-20-2006, 09:21 PM
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Stevie mention Re: Running w/Scissors
http://www.planetout.com/entertainme...ment/popcornq/
"Running With Scissors" author Augusten Burroughs speaks by Loren King "Running With Scissors" author Augusten Burroughs belongs to a select group of writers who are actually happy with the film version of their books. While author horror stories of altered endings, jettisoned characters and banishment from sets are legion, Burroughs' experience is as positive as that of fellow gay writer Michael Cunningham, who professed to love the screen version of his bestseller "The Hours." Burroughs took time from promoting his new collection of essays, "Possible Side Effects," to stump for "Running With Scissors," including attending the Hollywood premiere, and to chat with PlanetOut about the screen version. "So often writers run around apologizing for and distancing themselves from the film. But I have no reservations about this movie," says Burroughs. whose bestselling memoir was adapted for the screen by "Nip/Tuck" creator Ryan Murphy. Burroughs, 41, who lives with partner Dennis in western Massachusetts (where he grew up and which serves as the setting for his book) is so enthusiastic, in fact, that he's already planning his first trip to the Oscars. "It's weird to say, but I can feel it happening," he says, predicting nominations for Annette Bening, who plays Augusten's mother, deluded poet Deirdre, and for Jill Clayburgh, who plays kibble-munching Agnes Finch, wife of shrink Dr. Finch (Brian Cox) who treats Deirdre and adopts Augusten. Burroughs loves all the players in the film's all-star cast, but reserves the most praise for Clayburgh, the veteran actress whose supporting role in "Running With Scissors" marks her return to the big screen. "She's the heart of the movie. If you saw her in person, she's fit and healthy and beautiful. She's got perfect posture; she's very limber," he says. "Her performance reminded me of Hilary Swank's in 'Boys Don't Cry.' It's that kind of transformation." Burroughs wasn't always so eager to see his dark and funny book make the transition. He says he met with Murphy strictly as a courtesy. "I planned to say no. But Ryan was so persistent. And he understood the book in ways that surprised me. We have similar backgrounds, similar mothers." After talking extensively with Murphy, Burroughs says, "My gut instinct said to do it. I was blown away by his integrity and virtuosity. He was so protective of me; he included me in all decisions -- from casting to wardrobe to props." When the film was finished, though, Burroughs was surprised by his own reaction to it. "It was surreal to see my life on screen," he says. "It was like a home movie, except that everyone is just more attractive. I was surprised that I as moved as I was, after I'd lived it and then written about it." Bening is winning critical raves for her tour de force as Deirdre, the fame-seeking, Valium-popping mother whose affair with a woman, Fern (Kristen Chenoweth), is just one of many behavior twists and turns that send young Augusten (Joseph Cross) reeling. Burroughs, who remains estranged from his mother, says the strength of Bening's performance is that she doesn't demonize Deirdre, even though she abandons her only child to a life of squalor with the bizarre Dr. Finch and his eccentric family. "True mental illness shows in the eyes, and Annette got it without ever going over the top. Her acting is invisible," says Burroughs. "Annette never met Deirdre; she never even saw a picture of her, and yet she nails her. It's haunting. "The thing that I love so much about the movie is that there are no villains. Even when their behavior is horrendous, you can't hate them." Also humanized is one of the memoir's more controversial characters, Neil Bookman, the troubled gay man who is a patient of Dr. Finch and who engages in a sexual relationship with the teenage Augusten. Burroughs calls Joseph Fiennes "an intense and fearless actor" for even taking on the role of a pederast, let alone bringing complexity and sympathy to Bookman. Burroughs met several times with Joseph Cross, the young actor who plays him in "Running with Scissors" (they appear onscreen together in the film's credits). "There was no need for him to study me, since he's playing me at a much younger age," says Burroughs. "But I answered his questions. I told him things that weren't in the book; events and information that might help him. It's not an imitation, but it's an accurate portrayal." Members of the Finch family (Dr. Finch died several years ago) have, since the book's publication, disputed the memoir's characterization of them, even as others have vouched for its accuracy. Burroughs has not been in touch with them for years, so he says he has no idea whether any of them plan to see the film. Since his father (played by Alec Baldwin in the movie) is dead, Burroughs' sole connection to his past is his older brother, who suffers from Asperger's syndrome. Burroughs says he returned to western Massachusetts to be closer to his brother and nephew, and that his brother plans to see the film under less frenzied conditions in Hartford, Conn., rather than at a big premiere. Burroughs plans to write another memoir, this one about his father. and is in the early stages of developing an as-yet-untitled original series for Showtime. Since the film doesn't contain all the scenes that Burroughs chronicled in his book, is there anything he misses from the screen version? "It's a shocking and probably boring lack of regret," he admits. "I'm happy with what Ryan chose to emphasize and put in there." After a bit more prodding, he concedes that the one thing missing is Stevie Nicks -- whose music figures prominently in the book -- on the film's otherwise-perfect '70s soundtrack. "I like that the soundtrack isn't full of songs we're all sick of. But I do wish Stevie Nicks had been in there," hesay. Finally, a writer's gripe, albeit a tiny one. 
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#3
10-20-2006, 11:53 PM
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__________________
Help defeat the Federal Marriage Amendment! http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/actioncenter/advocacy/ravenofrhiann-137836
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#4
10-22-2006, 06:50 PM
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Running with Scissors is one of the movies I'm more looking forward. I didn't read the book but the story and the cast look great (I would even stand Gewyneth Paltrow...). To know that Stevie's music had a major part in the book makes it even more interesting.
Romy
__________________
Non vogliate negar l'esperienza di retro al sol, del mondo sanza gente Considerate la vostra semenza fatti non foste a viver come bruti ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza ~ Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia, Inferno Canto XXVI
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#5
10-23-2006, 04:51 PM
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#6
10-23-2006, 06:00 PM
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By the way, the movie soundtrack is really fantastic, here's the track listing:  Romy
__________________
Non vogliate negar l'esperienza di retro al sol, del mondo sanza gente Considerate la vostra semenza fatti non foste a viver come bruti ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza ~ Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia, Inferno Canto XXVI
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#9
10-23-2006, 08:48 PM
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what's your favorite version? like, who sings your favorite version?
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#10
10-23-2006, 09:02 PM
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#12
10-24-2006, 08:44 AM
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#13
10-24-2006, 10:34 AM
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The author is going to be here Thursday night at our local bookstore...I wanted to go, but I leave to Atlantic City to see The Rolling Stones that night...
~Alex
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~Alex 
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#14
10-24-2006, 04:35 PM
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I hope that didn't happen because if it did, someone should be fired! lol. Thanks for the track listing. I can't wait to see the movie and read the book.
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