On the Road

Saw it last night at the Lucas Ranch. I thought they did a great job adapting it to the screen. Everyone is in it. But not to the point that it becomes distracting. Q&A afterward with the directory (lovely guy) and two of the actors: Kristen Steward (a bit dim, or maybe just nervous) and hunky Garrett Hedlund. Lot's of nudity, and more gay stuff than I remember being in the book. But Salles said he relied on a first draft of the book more than the published version.

• Really, there is gay subtext in the book? I haven't read it, that's why i ask.

• What's the Lucas Ranch?

• Lucas Ranch George Lucas' Marin Ranch? Or the place near Chrissie Field?

• How was the scene where Garrett Hedlund fucked Steve Buscemi in the ass?

• Lol

• Do you know if Jack Kerouac had sex with a man?

• Lucas Ranch in Nicasia. I was surprised by the Steve Buscemi scene. I don't remember that being in the book. But there was also stuff between Dean and Sal, and Dean and Carlo. Al.so, on full frontal of Dean (Garrett Hedlund).

• [quote]Really, there is gay subtext in the book? I haven't read it, that's why i ask. There isn't any, but I think the screenwriter did a bit of editorializing with bits and pieces of the real lives of Kerouac and his crew.

• They worked from the original manuscript rather than the book, which apparently was edited down and cleaned up before being published (judging from the Q&A after the screening).

• It's *Nicasio*.

• Kerouac wrote it on a 3 week meth binge. One of the most overrated, narcissistic books ever.

• R11, a friend of mine finds it also very overrated. So, you are not the only one and people who read it should not trust only the critics but their own opinion and taste as well.

• That's not full frontal nudity--that's typing.

  Truman Raspberry Compote

• [quote] Do you know if Jack Kerouac had sex with a man? Yes. Old news

• Lol, ok.

• Do some research r15. It's been well known for decades.

• R16 Fine!

  Despondent

• Bella Swan's doing the two pole pull while topless.I hope someone's there to catch that nice Mormon lady when she gets the news.

• [quote]One of the most overrated, narcissistic books ever. Agreed. I love books, I love literature, but for the life of me I've never been able to understand why this novel is considered such a big fucking deal.

• I also was a little disappointed in the book. I thought it rambled. But I've only read it recently. Probably when it was first written it seemed a lot more daring and groundbreaking. But I do think Dean is an iconic character: The failed genius. Also, a lot of the writing has that Beat Generation free verse style going for it.

• So, does Garrett Hedlund do full frontal or not?

• R21, yes. Just once at the beginning.

• On the road was huge, because it showed a different side of America after World War II. It was the beginning of the counter culture and no one else was writing about it outside this very small group of people. Kerouac later became very conservative, eschewing the counterculture of the 60's.

• R18 : What is a two pole pull?

• She gives two men a handjob at the same time, R24. This movie has been a critical and commercial flop since it premiered at Cannes 7 months ago.

• I went through a brief Kerouac phase but abandoned all things beat as juvenile before I was out of college. I think older people like Johnny Depp who cherish those glorified typing tests into their 40s suffer from arrested development.

• Shots of Garrett naked.

  http://www.omgblog.com/2012/11/omg_hes_naked_garrett_hedlund.php%23.UMTIgXcZ-So

• I liked Carolyn Cassady's book better than anything I've read by the male beats. The beat romanticizing of all things Eastern is shallow and one understands why the women's movement of the 70s happened. Overall I find most of the hip lit from the 50s and 60s doesn't hold up that well today. I think the reason we still hear their names is because some of them like Kerouac were photogenic, and it's fun to read the behind-the-scenes dirt about them and their buds at Naropa. Much more fun than reading their actual work. Naropa related: Stephen Butterfield's The Double Mirror: A Skeptical Journey into Buddhist Tantra is a fascinating look into the cult around Chogyam Trungpa.