love and mercy movie

[Micha]

Yes, I'm a psychologist. I'm doing most of my posting here on my phone so that's why my last post was a bit short. Using the phone now as well but hopefully I can make some time to elaborate later.

Thank you very much in advance!

[chrs_mrgn]

John Cusack did an AMA on Reddit about 4 hours ago (it's actually still going on as he is still on there answering people's questions at a pretty rapid rate).

I got on and posted a question, didn't think he would answer but it turns out he did! So I asked what it was like to work with Brian and being on the set of Love & Mercy

majic all around.. he such a wonderful man.. really hjonered to get to know him and his wife.. very excited about the film

Yeah it's not much but still pretty cool. I guess he was in a rush haha.

Also, I realized that Bill Pohlad was the producer of 12 Years A Slave which was all over the Oscars this year so that makes me even more excited for this movie.

[Shady]

This movie has a ridiculous amount of brilliant people involved, it should be incredible but I doubt it will.

[Lowbacca]

This movie has a ridiculous amount of brilliant people involved [...]

Indeed it has!

[...] it should be incredible but I doubt it will.

I bet it won't be anything we imagine it to be right now. I'm pretty sure they are trying new stuff and taking risks in about every department - not only storytelling-wise. I have a feeling it'll be great. It might not be every die-hard fan's cup of coffee, though.

[rab2591]

John Cusack did an AMA on Reddit about 4 hours ago (it's actually still going on as he is still on there answering people's questions at a pretty rapid rate).

I got on and posted a question, didn't think he would answer but it turns out he did! So I asked what it was like to work with Brian and being on the set of Love & Mercy

majic all around.. he such a wonderful man.. really hjonered to get to know him and his wife.. very excited about the film

Yeah it's not much but still pretty cool. I guess he was in a rush haha.

Also, I realized that Bill Pohlad was the producer of 12 Years A Slave which was all over the Oscars this year so that makes me even more excited for this movie.

Thanks for asking him about it! I arrived to the thread 2 hours after he started the AMA, I assumed he was already gone...terrible assumption.

I'm starting to have high hopes for this movie. And, if it does come out in the fall, I'm sure we'll get a trailer mid-summer.

[Niko]

Agreed ^

Hope its something that really had care put into it. I dont care how they tell the story, as long as its fair to each member and does not skip over too much, I will be happy.
Anyone know when the jump from young Brian to old Brian will occur? My guess is at the demise of Smile, but they could as far as Holland.

[Lowbacca]

Agreed ^

Hope its something that really had care put into it. I dont care how they tell the story, as long as its fair to each member and does not skip over too much, I will be happy.
Anyone know when the jump from young Brian to old Brian will occur? My guess is at the demise of Smile, but they could as far as Holland.

My bet would be on a frame narrative with Cusack's 80s Brian (or an even older Brian). Everything else would be flashbacks, reminiscences, remembrances. That's roughly what has formed in my mind, judging from everything we've heard and seen.

[Alex]

We already have a decent BW biopic, this new one won't hold a candle to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_1mxNtLCK0

[Lowbacca]

We already have a decent BW biopic, this new one won't hold a candle to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_1mxNtLCK0

Great flick.

[Shady]

This movie has a ridiculous amount of brilliant people involved [...]

Indeed it has!

[...] it should be incredible but I doubt it will.

I bet it won't be anything we imagine it to be right now. I'm pretty sure they are trying new stuff and taking risks in about every department - not only storytelling-wise. I have a feeling it'll be great. It might not be every die-hard fan's cup of coffee, though.

The pictures from the set made it look terrible, I lost faith in the project at that point. I hope to be pleasantly surprised

[Lowbacca]

This movie has a ridiculous amount of brilliant people involved [...]

Indeed it has!

[...] it should be incredible but I doubt it will.

I bet it won't be anything we imagine it to be right now. I'm pretty sure they are trying new stuff and taking risks in about every department - not only storytelling-wise. I have a feeling it'll be great. It might not be every die-hard fan's cup of coffee, though.

The pictures from the set made it look terrible, I lost faith in the project at that point. I hope to be pleasantly surprised

Are you referring to the '62/'63 beach photos and/or the Brian & Melinda images? Both looked 'okay' to me.


You can hardly ever draw 'conclusions' to the finished product from set photos. They are merely static snapshots of something that will be in motion in the final film, after months of post-production. It's impossible to anticipate the actors' performances, editing, lighting, etc.

[The Heartical Don]

Landy's drugs very obviously did brain damage to Brian...

I'm not being a jerk, I'm not being disagreeable, and I'm not singling you out, but...

Do you or any other posters know what drugs Landy gave to Brian in the 1980's that caused permanent damage or had side effects that still affect him today, 25 years later. I'm asking to obtain knowledge, to learn more about the Landy period, not to be argumentative.

Indeed, 'schizo-affective disorder' has been put forward by relevant sources over the last ten years or so. But it is also true that in mental disorders, very rarely, if ever, things are black or white (like in: you have caught the flu or not, you have appendicitis or not). It is almost always about gradual scales and co-morbidities. So diagnosis is a tricky business.

I don't know what Landy (or better: the doctors in his team, he had a few IIRC, I recall one Murray Susser, for instance) prescribed to Brian. I have a slight hunch that not only were the doses too high, but also that (presumably with intent) pretty old-fashioned meds were given, with harsher outcomes and more side effects. Perhaps Peter Reum knows more about this. The stories about tardive dyskinesia and eventually life-threatening results make me think that not really the most state-of-the-art stuff was handed to Brian.

[Imperator]

I believe we've been told his diagnosis, haven't we?  But I can't remember.  Schizo affective?  Bipolar?  Cyclothymic? 

Interestingly enough, a certain researcher has taken the time to publish a psychological analysis of Brian and the conclusion it came to was all three. Take of it as you will.

http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stefano_Belli/publication/223533269_A_psychobiographical_analysis_of_Brian_Douglas_Wilson_Creativity_drugs_and_models_of_schizophrenic_and_affective_disorders/links/02e7e51647cd5413b4000000

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I can't read it...says I have to register, and it won't let me progress...

[Loaf]

I believe we've been told his diagnosis, haven't we?  But I can't remember.  Schizo affective?  Bipolar?  Cyclothymic? 

Interestingly enough, a certain researcher has taken the time to publish a psychological analysis of Brian and the conclusion it came to was all three. Take of it as you will.

http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stefano_Belli/publication/223533269_A_psychobiographical_analysis_of_Brian_Douglas_Wilson_Creativity_drugs_and_models_of_schizophrenic_and_affective_disorders/links/02e7e51647cd5413b4000000

That "certain researcher" wouldn't be you by any chance, would it?

And BW's lyrics are described as "unremarkable or even poor"! Aww.... i don't think the author is a fan of BB Love You.

[Seaside Woman]

My expectation levels for most things related to Brian at this point are zero so I'm not going to be disappointed.

I don't expect this film to be mediocre. It'll either fall by the wayside or do a Juno and be the unexpected hit of the decade in which case I'll pull myself out of this torper and start whooping.

[Peter Reum]

I am a little taken aback by the author of this published paper doing a diagnosis without ever talking to or meeting with the subject of his research paper and running a computer program to yield a diagnosis. Call me old fashioned, but one should at least have spent some clinical time with the patient before  publishing. That said, his references are quite solid.