Bret Easton Ellis Is Live Tweeting His Viewing of 'The Canyons'

Sometimes, live tweeting can be a deeply sensitive enterprise, as when NPR host Scott Simon tweeted from the bedside of his dying mother. But it can also be a thoroughly frivolous affair, as novelist-turned-screenwriter Bret Easton Ellis demonstrated on Friday night, when he live tweeted his viewing of The Canyons, the movie staring troubled starlet Lindsay Lohan and untroubled porn star James Deen.

Part of this is surely promotional, as The Canyons opens tonight in limited release. Ellis, who has half a million Twitter followers, can surely drum up some interest through the micro-blogging service. Then again, as I have noted elsewhere, Ellis is a problematic tweeter who made deeply problematic statements about Rutgers student Tyler Clementi's suicide. He also used Twitter to insult the legacy of David Foster Wallace.

The Canyons, directed by Paul Schrader of Taxi Driver fame, has had a difficult path to the silver screen, as a rather incredible story in The New York Times Magazine amply demonstrated. Still, this is Ellis's night, and we will let his tweets speak for themselves. Here are some of his finest dispatches, from earliest to most recent:

Paul Schrader. Bret Easton Ellis. Live Tweeting THE CANYONS. Tonight: August 2nd. 10PM EST/7PM PST... pic.twitter.com/zvyFYS9qd9

— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) August 2, 2013

Coldness. Amorality. Deadness. Vicious and Unsympathetic Characters. Endless Nudity. Violence. I like these things in movies... #thecanyons

— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) August 3, 2013

James plays such a great L.A. douchebag. #thecanyons

— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) August 3, 2013

"I was pretty wasted in those days so anything's possible." Yes, this was an autobiographical script. #thecanyons

— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) August 3, 2013

I am hemorrhaging followers as I tweet about The Canyons. #thecanyons

— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) August 3, 2013

"Suck me off right now. I know you want it." We approached American Apparel to do a T-shirt line with that bit of dialogue. #thecanyons

— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) August 3, 2013

I must admit that as a writer I have been often attracted by the dramatic device of using roofies as a plot point. #thecanyons

— Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis) August 3, 2013

And there's much, much more on Ellis's feed, though he's threatening to delete the Canyons tweets. Enjoy. Maybe watch the movie, too.