UPSTREAM COLOR, a new film from Shane Carruth (Primer)

I don't know about cinemas, but Primer was screening on Mubi just a few weeks ago.

I wonder, sadly, if his recent sudden release of the Modern Ocean script and various other things that he'd previously hidden away for years was some kind of pre-emptive attempt at distraction, or positive self-publicity, before any bad stuff came out.

wow that Variety article was stomach-turning

Sickened by this. I can forgive arrogance or eccentricity in artists, but not willful cruelty or stalking.

I suspect some substance abuse issues, and if that's the case I hope for his sake he has an intervention (and stays away from AS). I liked his movies, they were engaging puzzles or awkwardly affecting, and had a unique eye and voice. But he's off my list.

Fuck this guy

He's still tweeting a lot and it's an absolute horror show.

#respectTheArt

kind of upset I even pasted this in here now, you just know that his whole fucked-up game in putting the order in a random photo on his twitter was to get people to notice it and have the attention fuck with Amy Seimetz. Disgusted.

I followed him on twitter when he started leaking all sorts of unreleased stuff. Now he seems to be having some sort of breakdown. He's currently quoting lyrics from the new Taylor Swift.

what's his twitter handle? i searched and did not find anything that looked like the right one.

he has taken over the upstream color account

With you I serve. pic.twitter.com/2Th5PvOGOO

— Upstream Color (@UpstreamColor) July 29, 2020

he's going on about a mouse in his house?

he does not see to be doing well

yeah not even saying this to be make him seem more sympathetic or anything but he seems to have either really cracked or is doing an excellent job of making it seem that way

He’s another good example of the sort of person whose main outlet is seeking attention and is prone to sudden reversals of favor in relationships and a propensity to feeling persecuted.

Lol.

Trying to picture Hitchcock being kicked off as director after an 'incident' and acting out on his own twitter.

the literal only upside of this is finding out that Seimetz has a new movie and it looks sick

https://www.indiewire.com/2020/07/amy-seimetz-abuse-allegations-shane-carruth-1234576617

it seems like she's hooked in with Benson/Moorhead and possibly the Coatwolf people now which is neat to me

and as others mentioned I can't recommend Girlfriend Experience s1, which she co-wrote/directed with Lodge Kerrigan, highly enough. (fair warning that Carruth briefly cameos as...a dead-eyed psychotic sex pest :/)

Go with what you know.

Anyway all these years I've heard 'these films are incredible, you've got to see them' and thought "Okay one day" but I did hear a very indirect rumor a couple of years ago via a Twitter friend that he was at the least pretty shitty and thought "Hm, maybe not." After all these past few days I shrugged and finally just read the Wikipedia summaries and hopefully I won't think of the guy much again. Life's too short.

I screened Upstream Color to/with different friends and the reactions were always delightful. no ugliness on Carruth's part will diminish the specialness of those experiences. but as brad said the nature of the situation and the fact that the movie is almost entirely an intimate Carruth/Seimetz two-hander makes a rewatch very difficult to imagine. and certainly I would never again be an evangelist for it as I was then even if I'm more flexible on the art/artist issue than some/most.

yes it's truly an amazing film. it's too bad it's tainted now due to his fucking shitty behaviour.

Anyway

Shane Carruth, the director of independent films “Upstream Color” and “Primer,” was arrested last week at the home of his ex-girlfriend on allegations of domestic assault. https://t.co/6kCVq1sRgd pic.twitter.com/oFfT6TF2rH

— Variety (@Variety) January 19, 2022

Ugh!! This guy is SO awful — makes me wonder how he made it as far as he did.

being awful probably helped 🤮

So unusual for awful people to be successful in film.

valuable insight jimbeaux

xp you have a pretty rangey definition of “successful in film”

It doesn't ALWAYS hold true, but given this and several other recently documented cases, there's definitely reason to be, shall we say, hesitant about men whose art involves 'the brutal exploitation and torture of a woman', as Forks put it way upthread long before anyone suspected a thing about him. Waving those red flags where everyone can see 'em

xp Yeah, I stretched it for purposes of the joke, but otoh Primer is still pretty fucking good.