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Post by CrazySting on Oct 31, 2013 20:37:34 GMT -5
Thanks to the book, I think we can probably rule out the "Tommy is a drug king pin and The Room was some sort of money laundering-scheme" theory.
From what Sestero says the guy's money seems to be involved real-estate and he is a legitimate businessman.
Now how exactly someone as eccentric, erratic and ultimately rather clueless as he is managed to get so successful in the first place is a whole other question.
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Post by Raskovnik on Oct 31, 2013 20:45:20 GMT -5
Tommy is a business savant.
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Post by CrazySting on Oct 31, 2013 20:56:49 GMT -5
Tommy is a business savant. Maybe he was a really sharp guy who made millions....then he got into a car accident (I've heard something about him getting in an "accident" of some sort in the '90s) and ended up, like, brain damaged as a result. Hence his current behavior.
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Post by SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman on Nov 8, 2013 6:01:09 GMT -5
So, I really wanted to read this book, but I figured it would be more enjoyable if I actually saw the movie first, which I have now finally done, and it's just as baffling as I have been told, although I probably didn't find it as hilarious as most people did... I would describe it as... stunning rather than funny, though to be fair I saw many clips and reviews which basically spoiled all the "best" bits for me before actually seeing it, so odds are I would have had more laughs out of it had I not seen those. But yeah, there is no denying this is a unique work. And I do mean unique, I don't think I ever saw such a misguided and unlikely attempt at telling a story, and I don't think I ever will, and I saw Zardoz, although it did give me a feeling very similar to Zardoz, making me wonder through the whole thing how it ever made sense in the creator's mind, how they never realized how utterly bizarre and incomprehensible it is as, to both the film and Wiseau's credit, this is clearly a very genuine attempt to make something deep and clever and not just some random crap thrown together by some pretentious hack in the hope that other people would pull an analysis out of their ass. There was definitely a goal here, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it was and how Wiseau never realized by how much he had missed the mark (no pun intended). And now I have started reading the book. I am only about 20 pages in and I am already baffled by what I'm reading. I can't believe it's possible but Wiseau is even weirder than his film. Everything Sestero describes is so strange, from Wiseau's fashion senses to his balls when bluffing his way to a free meal at a fancy and expensive restaurant, the fact that his bluff WORKS, his mysterious past he refuses to talk about... you know what, at this point, I can almost believe he's serious and telling the truth when claiming to be a vampire, because that's the only way I can explain how he manages to have such a successful life with such a non-existent understanding of human behaviour, interactions and facial structure. Also, Sestero is a very good writer. He makes some clever jokes, the stories and anecdotes he recalls are interesting to read and it's overall very enjoyable. I don't think I've ever read a non-fiction book that made me want to know what happens next so bad. Tommy is a business savant. Maybe he was a really sharp guy who made millions....then he got into a car accident (I've heard something about him getting in an "accident" of some sort in the '90s) and ended up, like, brain damaged as a result. Hence his current behavior. Sestero does mention that Wiseau drives absurdly slowly... hm, could it be that Wiseau is still traumatized from an accident and is now overly careful?
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Post by Alexander The So-so on Nov 8, 2013 11:16:14 GMT -5
I loved the stores about Tommy's weird behavior. I don't buy the story about his origin that's given towards the end. To me, Tommy Wiseau is living proof that the movie "Men In Black" is actually real, and space aliens really are secretly living among us in disguise. His strange physical appearance reflects the fact that he got a cheap, crappy human costume when he landed on this planet and the MiB cleared him. His extreme social strangeness and awkwardness, combined with the weird dialogue and character actions in his movie, reflects the fact that he's an extraterrestrial immigrant who has a half-understanding of universal human cultural norms regarding social interaction, and learned about them only through pop culture and TV. His secretiveness and paranoia are self-explanatory, in this regard.
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Post by CrazySting on Nov 9, 2013 2:12:32 GMT -5
Even if we accept the "brain damaged from the car accident" theory, which I do, there are still questions:
Why hasn't anyone ever come forward to say that they knew him before The Room blew up huge? Old business associates, family, etc. The guy apparently managed to build a million-dollar empire in the '80s and '90s, but never managed to make an impression on anyone?
Why aren't there health workers/doctors/social workers around, since the guy clearly has issues and I can't see a hospital releasing a guy with significant brain damage, no questions asked.
Despite acting like an idiot for the most part, he somehow managed to figure out what hotel Sestero was staying at in Romania, even though Sestero specifically says he never told him.
How did he managed to get a valid driver's license with a false birth date?
What was the deal with the old lady he kept talking on the phone at night to?
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Post by wallabylikeyou on Nov 9, 2013 3:37:24 GMT -5
This book is amazing. Whether Tommy's origin is all true or not, the part where he was selling the toy birds and changed his name to Wiseau as in 'oiseau' blow my mind, that was some 'I Am Lord Voldemort' shit.
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Post by wallabylikeyou on Nov 9, 2013 3:42:21 GMT -5
Also I've never laughed harder at something written down than when I read Tommy's spontaneous desire for a car to fly off the roof and for Johnny to be a vampire.
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Post by Rumble McSkirmish on Nov 9, 2013 8:21:24 GMT -5
Got the book a few days ago, some of my personal favorite stories from the book.
- Finding out the "Oh Hai Mark" scene on the roof took 34 takes.
- The flying car/vampire requests.
- Tommy's extreme patriotism on set. Which does make the story of about his past in the last half of the book a little more plausible with the whole living the American dream deal.
- Seeing the Nostalgia Critic was somewhat right about the Flower Shop scene. IE they literally shot there on the spur of the moment.
- Running through three Director's of photography during production.
- Finding out the random guy who showed up at the end was in fact going to be the character of Peter, but by that time he had already left production.
All in all a very good read and a good cautionary tale about how passion can be taken too far.
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Post by SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman on Nov 9, 2013 11:52:08 GMT -5
All in all a very good read and a good cautionary tale about how passion can be taken too far. I don't know, man. In the end, The Room did become a huge success watched by millions across the globe and Wiseau is no doubt making a ton of money from DVD sales, TV broadcasts and constant theatre showings. I'd say his passion paid off eventually. One thing, though: am I the only one who really doesn't get why people always associate spoons with this movie? Of all things, I don't find spoons to have received an unwarranted amount of attention.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Nov 9, 2013 15:31:16 GMT -5
All in all a very good read and a good cautionary tale about how passion can be taken too far. I don't know, man. In the end, The Room did become a huge success watched by millions across the globe and Wiseau is no doubt making a ton of money from DVD sales, TV broadcasts and constant theatre showings. I'd say his passion paid off eventually. One thing, though: am I the only one who really doesn't get why people always associate spoons with this movie? Of all things, I don't find spoons to have received an unwarranted amount of attention. The Rocky Horror kind of crowd who goes to screening will reach for any excuse to throw objects, and I guess they can't all toss TVs.
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Post by Kash Flagg on Nov 9, 2013 15:45:42 GMT -5
Well there are pictures of spoons in the place.
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Post by SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman on Nov 9, 2013 16:14:58 GMT -5
Well there are pictures of spoons in the place. I honestly didn't notice.
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Post by CrazySting on Nov 10, 2013 0:14:32 GMT -5
All in all a very good read and a good cautionary tale about how passion can be taken too far. I don't know, man. In the end, The Room did become a huge success watched by millions across the globe and Wiseau is no doubt making a ton of money from DVD sales, TV broadcasts and constant theatre showings. I'd say his passion paid off eventually. One thing, though: am I the only one who really doesn't get why people always associate spoons with this movie? Of all things, I don't find spoons to have received an unwarranted amount of attention. He has made money with The Room, but he already had money. And now he's a laughing stock, who has even his best friend turning on and writing a scathing book.
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Vampiro138
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Post by Vampiro138 on Nov 10, 2013 1:21:30 GMT -5
I don't know, man. In the end, The Room did become a huge success watched by millions across the globe and Wiseau is no doubt making a ton of money from DVD sales, TV broadcasts and constant theatre showings. I'd say his passion paid off eventually. One thing, though: am I the only one who really doesn't get why people always associate spoons with this movie? Of all things, I don't find spoons to have received an unwarranted amount of attention. He has made money with The Room, but he already had money. And now he's a laughing stock, who has even his best friend turning on and writing a scathing book. tommy's been at the book events...dont think its turning on a friend if said friend keeps showing up with you...
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Post by CrazySting on Nov 10, 2013 3:02:30 GMT -5
Pretty sure that's just because he hasn't read it yet. (With his limited English skills, he might not be able to, anyway)
I know Tommy probably WAS a pain in the ass to deal with, but by Sestero's own admission, the guy gave him a place to live for several years and paid him a small fortune to be in The Room.
And Sestero shows his gratitude by writing a book that continually points out how creepy, pathetic and awful he is?
With friends like that...
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Post by Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster on Nov 10, 2013 3:55:03 GMT -5
All in all a very good read and a good cautionary tale about how passion can be taken too far. I don't know, man. In the end, The Room did become a huge success watched by millions across the globe and Wiseau is no doubt making a ton of money from DVD sales, TV broadcasts and constant theatre showings. I'd say his passion paid off eventually. Though you could argue Wiseau got luckly with the Room as it could of easily been just another terrible film that was soon forgotten by anyone who ever watched it.
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BigJerichool222
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Post by BigJerichool222 on Nov 10, 2013 4:08:15 GMT -5
(With his limited English skills, he might not be able to, anyway) He....he wrote The Room...
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dav
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Post by dav on Nov 10, 2013 4:43:38 GMT -5
(With his limited English skills, he might not be able to, anyway) He....he wrote The Room... Not helping your point there...
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Post by Rumble McSkirmish on Nov 10, 2013 9:22:22 GMT -5
Actually what I meant about going to far with your passions was the mental and psychological toll it can take on a person. Those parts of the book about talking Tommy's depression, paranoia and control freak nature both before and during the shooting of the film were at times kind of uncomfortable to read through.
And yes while The Room has become the very definition of a modern cult classic it certainly didn't happen over night.
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