Tweets From 2019 : Edward James Olmos Shares Memories Of Blade Runner

Looks like we may be hitting on a theme this month...

Last night, a near-regular ritual took on a whole new dimension when cinema favorite, Edward James Olmos joined up with film worker & maker, Marty Sader to pull off a MovieNightTweet celebration of Ridley Scott's science fiction landmark, Blade Runner. Which is to say that over the course of the week, Mr. Olmos advertised via Twitter for all to sync up their copies of the film (preferrably the Director's Cut, or Final Cut if around) to 5pm PST in order to follow him, and other followers as he took us back to 2019, Los Angeles and provided insights not mentioned on any previous documentary, or commentary. And what we got was a truly enjoyable, interactive experience where he not only provided some interesting tidbits about making the now legendary troubled shoot, but also answered the occasional question.

And those who know me, know that Blade Runner, from design, to cast, to execution remains one of my personal pillars of cinema, so this was a huge treat.

Among some of the more memorable quotes from the evening:

Regarding the scene in Bryant(M. Emmet Walsh)'s office as Gaff watches Deckard (Harrison Ford) do his best to not take the job of hunting Roy Batty(Rutger Hauer) & Company. A little about the soon to be consistent origami motif..

edwardjolmos

"ridley made me sit in the scene thus came the origami piece...."

"had to do something with my time while in the scene so I made the chicken.... "

And then he added further about the ones he DID make..

"Yep all but the unicorn"

He also mentioned how much input he had into the costume and look of the mysterious character, Gaff.

"i did all my own design of hair skin eyes language and most of my clothing... "

And then he made mention of his diminutive, yet well-endowed co-star.

"I hope everyone noticed the little hard on that the stick man had...."

He also mentioned his deep admiration for the films DP, Jordan Cronenweth.

And speaking of impressive visual moments, his admission regarding JF Sebastian's home..

"welcome to a nightmare.... sebastians house..."

"..when I saw it the first time it freaked me out..."

Also made mention of Daryl Hannah's breakthrough performance, and regarded her as one of "Ridley's Girls", which he mentions that as of this time, there are six. Personally, I'm curious as to who the other five are.


And then regarding the classic rooftop confrontation between Deckard and a dying Roy..A little about Hauer's iconic performance..


"what rutger just did feeling the rain with his eyes closed and then moving ducking into the room is what I call imagination"

And finally, regarding Gaff's final line. (this is easily my favorite of the night)

"I gave ridley a chance to cut that last line but he ended up using it..."

All in all, a terrific night, and a wonderful way to revisit a longtime favorite.


Thanks again to @onenotemule & @edwardjolmos for making it happen. Hopefully more events will be under way soon!