Daniel Robert Epstein: Roger Avary

I like Roger Avary. I do. I just hold a deap-seated hatred for Bret Easton Ellis. He tries too hard to Get the Point Across and Make a Statement.

i didn't know what to expect from Rules of Attraction. I knew it was dark, but I didn't know it was an Ellis book originally. I really enjoyed it, despite the hollow feeling it gave me. The DVD is really nice, a lot of extra features that are actually worth your time watching. The 'Anatomy of a Scene' featurette is worth the rental on its own.

Great interview. I love this place. Everything that I find interesting in one easy to remember URL.

Rule was one of those movies where I was not prepared for. I knew from my roommate that is was dark but the rape sequence was very disturbing. I was more bothered by that and could not get it out of my head the rest of the movie. I had major aggression towards the characters. This was also the first time that I enjoyed James Van Der Beek’s acting. He did so much justice to that part that I actually like him as a actor now. I know it was just a movie but Avary did such a great job of bringing the reality into it. I am a guy who was ashamed to be a male at the end of the movie. Dark does not begin to describe this movie. But I keep watching it again and again because the movie hits a nerve. I have sense made all my friends watch this movie. I hope to see more films like this from Avary in the future.

I knew very much what I was in for when I went to see "Rules," trusting Roger with the material. He didn't disappoint. I actually got quite a bit of joy out of the way the film was marketed. I loved being in a theatre full of people hating the fact that this was most definately not "American Pie." Roger is very cool, and even answered an email I sent him once concerning his adaption of "Glamorama." Ellis' worlds are endlessly fascinating to me, and I love the fact Roger is willing to try to translate his literary techniques. So succesfully to. I really hope he does Glamorama, I want to help. :-)

After I saw the movie, I described it to my friend as a mixture between "The Great Gadsby" and the movie "Reality Bites". I love his vision of achieving the plotline of the book, and in a lot of ways it helped me get a better feel for the chronology of the book.
I eagerly await the day Beowulf hits production. That would be the cult film to blow away all cult films.

RULES OF ATTRACTION was such an incredible film, I'm surprised it was made at all. I actually auditioned for a role in RULES back in 2001, and didn't make it. Flash forward one year, and I went to see it in the movie theatre, planning on hating it and talking shit about it to everyone. Surprise, I ended up loving it, better than KILLING ZOE, actually, and bought the DVD recently. Can't wait for RA's next film.

I want to see Avary do a Glamorama film adaptation so, so bad. It's a great novel that would lend itself well to the stylized choices he made in Rules of Attractions. I only hope the recent terroists bombings in London won't make the movie studios nervous.