Question of the Day
Is there a worse director in Hollywood to take over the reins of X-Men 3 than Brett Ratner?
And what will Salma Hayek play?
May 6, 2024
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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
I can honestly say that no. There is no worse choice. Why is Fox so intent on getting this out as fast as they can? Why the competition with Singer? If they want to beat Singer than take your time, find a perfect script, find the right director and go from there.
sheesh, everyone picks on ratner
why shouldn’t we pick on him? whats he ever done? they had so much good will built up after x men 1 and 2.
It’s a sad day when Fox can’t get anyone to direct their prized franchise. Chris Tucker has been cast as Wolverine and Jackie Chan as Beast.
pick on the person picking Ratner then, if he’s even inappropriate versus what’s out there.
Ratner didn’t pick it, someone had to offer it to him.
Can he be worse than Wolfgang Pederson, Lee Tamahori, Joel Schumacher or Ang lee (great drama director NOT great comic/action director)? I think not.
Is DOug Liman available?
Why would Ratner turn it down? I’m just saying hes a talentless hack who obviously has real good relations with the studio heads cause he churns his movies out quick and at the budgeted amount. Thats fine and dandy for studios. Terrible for X Men fans. Go watch Red Dragon and then watch Michael Mann’s Manhunter if you don’t think directors have talent and vision and effect a movie.
Oh, there’s a much, MUCH worse choice, and all it takes to bring it to mind is three letters:
McG.
Ratner may not be Singer, but next to McG, he’s Spielberg. Or Lucas on a good day. Heck, Lucas on a bad day.
Give Warners credit. They dumped Ratner and McG and the others and waited until they got it right with Singer. Hey Fox, was Paul Anderson busy?
The guy has yet to make a bomb, right? I mean…picking him for X-3 is like hedging your bets. I don’t like Ratner…don’t get me wrong. But I doubt he’s going to screw anything up.
I just did an IMDB search on him…my bad. He has several bombs under his belt.
Is Salma Hayek really in X-3 or was that a poke at BEFORE THE SUNSET or whatever it was called?
“Go watch Red Dragon and then watch Michael Mann’s Manhunter if you don’t think directors have talent and vision and effect a movie.”
If I don’t think a director’s talent and vision will have an effect on a movie? Why would I not think that?
Manhunter was a great ceepy movie and I think michael mann is great, one of my favorite directors. For X3, do you think Michael Mann would be willing to do it?
There are many good directors who want nothing to do with movies based on comics. and unfortunately many that do want to do those types of movies suck at being comic-to-movie directors as a few named above.
and I defintely wouldn’t want Kevin Smith to do it, I don;t care how many comics he reads.
Sure, Ratner is a safe choice and not all that surprising. I suppose you can’t blame Fox for going with him, especially on short notice. But my interest in X3 just diminished significantly (I really like the first two). Ratner is one of the worst fucking directors alive. A complete hack on every level.
When the studios make choices like Ratner on films like these, then the predictions Poland made in his THB column today deserve to happen.
We should all be happy because Ratner hasn’t made a bomb yet? You got to be kidding me. What happend to getting the best director we could for this? Now we settle for a guy who hasn’t had a “bomb”? Ask the people who put money into After the Sunset and Red Dragon if they were bombs or not.
Ratner isn’t even a safe choice. What are they hoping for? He is pissed he got passed over for Supes and is feeling a rivalry and wants to beat the crap out of Warners and Singer? That’s what it seems like to me.
I don’t consider myself a Brett Ratner “fan” by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s not a “horrible” director – just a bland one. I’ve seen each of his films, and while I’ve certainly never been blown away, I’ve never walked away thinking any of them was a piece of shit (and I do think “Red Dragon” is underrated, and certainly ten times better than the esteemed Ridley Scott’s “Hannibal”). I’m only disappointed because I wanted to see somebody with a little more edge in charge of “X3” (and Ratner is so edgeless he’s practically a circle).
As for worse directors, there are a ton: Joel Schumacher, McG, Paul W.S. Anderson, Simon West, Roland Emmerich, Tim Story, Shawn Levy, Adam Shankman, Steve Carr, John Woo, Tom Shadyac, Uwe Boll, Peter Segal, Renny Harlin, Jan de Bont, etc.
X Men 3 doesn’t need a bland director. They need a risk taker. Someone who will bring more to the script and characters than a bland studio hack.
Fox is going to regret this decision and regret not waiting until it was prefect. Rushing never helped a movie.
1. Woody Allen
2. Hal Hartley
3. Vincent Gallo
4. J
Who are 5 guys that would never, ever direct a comic book movie?
The five most prententious directors in history???
I worked for the company that made “After the Sunset”, and trust me, for how much it cost and how much they paid this guy…it is considered a bomb.
I second that Ratner maybe bland an innocuous. McG is enfuriatingly awful. Here’s a bold idea:
James Cameron. good with effects and human stories. of course, it’ll take 12 years to give the baby his bottle and get the budget he wants.
I have never seen a Ratner movie that I was like “Man, that was a great movie”. Such a disappointment to X Men fans.
Yeah…as someone who holds X-Men 2 as the pinnacle of comic films, I can’t help but disappointed in the choice of Ratner. It really is an insult to those of us who do love those films. Would it really have killed Fox to wait a year for Singer to take another stab at it? The embarrassment of a Ratner will not be undone for ages.
The other thing to remember is what collaborators will also not be on board since Singer has left. Namely the composer and Chris MacQuarrie, the script doctor. Ratner will bring his hack squad with him.
John Woo > Jan de Bont > Hal Hartley > My Dog > Ratner
This job should have went to Christopher McQuarrie, John McTiernan, or David Fincher. They all know Fox Productions like the back of their hand, and could deliver a REAL MOVIE, not just Product #X73455sssD.
Warner Bros. didn’t gain Singer, Fox just lost him because of their terrible handling of all the stages of production on the last movies. Now they’ve learned nothing from Warner Bros. AGAIN. Sad, sad, sad.
Fincher would have been a terrific out of the box choice. Didn’t he almost get Spiderman?
If we’re to believe AICN, 2 MAJOR characters die in X-3 so there’s your “risk taking.”
Fincher has been attached to a billion projects now. It has gotten to the point where someone has to get him at gunpoint to commit.
On another quick note, the negative Mr. & Ms. Smith / Batman Begins reviews in the New Yorker by David Denby…
http://www.newyorker.com/critics/cinema/articles/050613crci_cinema
Bring up the same point Mr. Poland JUST MADE about the past years Box Office, but gets it WRONG exactly like the New York Times. At least we know where the New Yorker gets their facts from.
The reviews also don’t make much sense either, saying the films were aimed only at 12-year olds, and then calling them “too dark” at the same time. Huh!?!
I know Alfonso Cuaron wouldn’t have made it because he wants to do something more Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, but I would have loved him to do it. Brett has definetely no vision as a director but if Salmita Mamacita buenita Hayek was on it (even as beast) I am the first one in the theater.
If they’re using the script they have now, then its a HUGE risk.
Superman had R. Lester. Batman had J. Schumacher. And now it seems that X-Men has B. Ratner.
Lovely.
I’ll certainly wait until I see X3 before making any non-snarky judgements, but I still think this is a terrible choice for the series. I hope Ratner proves me wrong by delivering a damn good movie.
But c’mon. Aside from our silly “wish list” directors (Fincher doing X3?? That would be so cool.), there seems to be plenty of action-centric filmmakers who could do a better job than Ratner: John Moore, Doug Liman, Paul Greengrass, Jonathan Mostow, Zack Snyder, Peter Berg.
This is a movie that’s clearly going to be directed by committee, so it really doesn’t matter all that much. So if that’s the case, why not hire someone like Rob Bowman, John Hensleigh, or Mark S. Johnson? Or they could’ve thrown the job to Dan Harris! Is Steve Norrington working on anything right now? 😉
But Ratner has proven himself profitable (for the most part, I suppose) and he’s a self-professed comics geek, so right now I’m 85% skeptical, 10% hopeful, and 5% sick of the whole damn story already.
Arc,
What was the last movie that Denby actually liked?
Meanwhile Ebert said on his show this past weekend that ‘Batman Begins’ is one of the year’s best films. You can’t ask for a better mainstream endorsement than that.
I wouldn’t be calling Doug Liman a run of the mill director. He’s a proven director. The only movie Denby has liked in the past 40 years has been The Godfather.
These “Fox should just wait” arguments are a bit hollow when you’re talking about a movie like “X3.” All of the actors have already cleared space in their schedules, and getting that many people to align themselves again wouldn’t be able to just happen again in six months or a year. I’m not saying there weren’t better choices than Ratner, but it’s not like they could just wait around for Singer (or whoever).
I don’t know much about this Denby cat, but The New Yorker has been on a roll with negative reviews lately. They’re becoming the new Village Voice! 😀
Paul Greengrass is already on Watchmen. Peter Berg is working on Splinter Cell, but still would’ve been a great choice. Doug Liman CANNOT (for the life of him) work on the schedule this movie demands. To have a BLADE-type Steve Norrington back in the business would’ve been a miracle, but LXG destroyed all hope. Good suggestions.
Just thought of one:
Gore Verbinski. Of course we all know he’s busy for the next couple of years.
hell, i’m curious what the Wachowski brothers would have done with the first x-men, which came out a year after The Matrix.
I remember when all of these comic book adaptations came about. That all the studios involved, as well as Avi, made it a point to hype the director’s of each of these films as being PERFECT for them. They hyped Spidey, Dardevil, The HULK, and the X-Men with this type of press. Always focusing on the importance of the director and they would be the reason the films were good. I guess, for some, it did not work that way. Yet, that’s how it has been hyped until Fantastic Four. Avi and Marvel must have been happy with Tim Story’s work on the flick, and realized you really do not need a SPECIAL director for a comic book film. Which easily plays into their decision with Schuler-Donner to hire Ratner. Which plays into their plans now with directors. Of course, if the producer do their job in pre-production, then this flick should direct himself. Of course, it would require an X-Men film to have a budget, but that big of a production should run itself.
it’s too bad Norrington can’t do it. LXG wasn’t the worst and may be Sean Connery’s messing around and unfortunately is blamed on Norrington. i just loved the first Blade.
Roger Christian did the best gothic/comic book style short I have ever seen (Black Angel) that came with the original EMpire Strikes Back VHS. But then he had Battlfield Earth. Ugh. Christian really understands special effects too in a story context.
Wonder if Fox would trust Norrington/Christian to co-direct. heh heh
If you don’t have the right director, you must wait. It is worth too much in the long run if this movie isn’t right. We’re talking sequels, merchandising, future sales. If the director isn’t perfect, you run the risk of ruining a franchise.
From what McWeeney reported over at AICN. IT seems Avi and Schuler-Donner wanted Vaughn to be more in line with their thinking than his own. So you do not have to wait to make this film. If the Producers and the Studio are just going to make the film they want to make. I just feel that picked up a director they can control. Who also comes in on budget. Then in post, the producers make the film they want to make. It happens all the time.
I wonder how many people will try to organize a boycott around this film. What sucks is that many of us are attatched to these characters and want to know what happens to them, regardless of how fucked up it gets. It’s easy to refuse to see Fantastic Four; although I’m a big fan of the comic, I won’t go because it looks like shit and I have nothing invested in it already
The real problem with X-Men wasn’t Singer’s departure, it was the loss of the screenwriters. I love what Singer did but ideally you want the same guys guiding the plot, the characters, and their dialogue.
Hopefully Ratner will mess this thing up big time and get booted.
The person who said Brett is better than John Woo needs an eye exam. Woo may be a shadow of his former self but he ain’t a hack. I’m not a Roland Emmerich fan but I would put him higher as well.
Not going to argue Renny Harlin or Jan De Bont though.
Fox missed a golden opportunity, here. The coolest choice would have been Danny Boyle. After 28 Days Later and Millions, he has proven that he can master any genre and the longrunning relationship with Fox was already there. I think he could have knocked it out of the park.
That said, any hack director is capable of a great entertainment – Curtis Hanson, Rob Cohen, F. Gary Gray, Gore Verbinski, you name it. So I am willing to give Ratner the benefit of the doubt, though I have not been impressed by ANY of his films.
But I think back to many years ago, when I heard all this early buzz of a great film from the director of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and The River Wild, two more awful thrillers I cannot think of. Curtis Hanson blew everybody away with LA Confidential, which despite the acclaim, was, in essense, a true genre thriller.
I don’t know, I loved the first X films and maybe I am just kidding myself. I really hope this film works.
It is a shame that Fox is on the verge of killing a great franchise.
Geoff, I think Curtis Hanson has shed himself on any “hack” label by now. Following “L.A. Confidential” with “Wonder Boys” (an even better film, IMO) and “8 Mile” was no small feat.
Lazarus, the point I was making about Ratner is that I have yet to walk out of one of his movies saying, “Man, that was a piece of shit!”
I did walk out of “Mission: Impossible 2,” “Broken Arrow” and “Windtalkers” saying that.
Denby did like ‘Crash’…take that as you want.
Danny Boyle would have been an inspired choice…I think ‘Millions’ is still the best audience pleasing film of the year (although after watching ‘Cinderella Man’ again that opinion is slowly changing)…Oh well…
…maybe Ratner will pull a miracle out of his ass…we’ll see.
I posted this elsewhere but thought I’d throw it in here…
Why doesn’t Fox make 2-3 seperate X-Men movies focusing on characters…then after a year or 2, pull together a Team X-Men movie?? Like…make a Wolverine movie and a seperate Nightcrawler/ & Storm team movie and then say…a Magneto or “Team Magneto” film. (These are all just top of my head examples). They could make this franchise unlike any other and consistently milk money from all of us 2-3 times a year. THEN…every 4 years or something make a BIG “the gangs all here” X-Men movie. That would not only be really fun and cool, it would also be alot like the comic series and would also make X-Men the biggest franchise of all time.
I’m so glab John Massey put Peter Segal on that list of horrible directors. It makes me shudder everytime I think of his movies.
But, I sorta wish Jonathan Mostow was in the running because he can direct action well and if he has to he can deliver a stellar sucker punch.
“I wonder how many people will try to organize a boycott around this film.”
PATHETIC BORING LOSERS WHO HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN WHINGE!!!!!
That’s who.
“Denby did like ‘Crash’…take that as you want.”
I honestly can not believe that people are now using “Crash” as a barometre of someone’s taste. Seriously, I don’t care if people didn’t like it (hate even) but to say others liking it is a measure of them, then, well… you need to see some more movies are realise that there is much worse than “Crash”
The End.
(Rush Hour 2 is sorta alright (ZHANG!!) but the original isn’t and neither is Red Dragon – complete waste of a great cast there.)
john woo is an american hack. the x men franchise is a big thing for fox. why they tossing it down the tubes?
I don’t think anyone will boycott the film. I just think Fox is hurting a profitable franchise in the long run. Coming off a comic book classic and with the cast they assembled and this is the best director they could get? Didn’t anyone learn from how generic and unexciting Red Dragon was?
I would like to meet the people who will boycott this film. I would love to say Ratner will surprise but we all know I’d be lying.
spiderman has raimi, batman has nolan, superman has singer, hulk got ang lee and x men gets ratner? who gets the short end? this is in daredevil range
I’ll tell you who would be worse (though not by much).
Stephen Sommers.
Thank the Lord “X-MEN” isn’t a Universal property. or the mutants would be fighting mummies instead of Morlocks.
At least The Mummy was entertaining. Rush Hour?
Yes, there is a worse choice. The veneer of glossy shit himself, McG.
I would only be nervous about Ratner if he decides to radically change the X-Men vision that Brian Singer established with the first two movies. If he follows Singer’s themes, and just focuses on telling the story, he’ll be fine.
Ratner is more of an uninspiring choice than a bad one.
aww I liked Rush Hour okay, it wasn’t supposed to be anything heavy. Yes put McG on the much worse list.
Rush Hour1 & 2 is Fine Art compared to CA & Full throttle.
mcg, ratner, pitof, mark steven johnson
all hacks
I wonder what Sommers will do with “when worlds collide”.
isn’t he doing flash gordon?
don’t know if Flash Gordon deal thing is concluded (is it?)with Universal as originally was discussed but I think SOmmers maybe has the rights. haven’t heard anything(but not paying attn about it either). Spam dooley if he’s around lately may know as long as he’s still using Garnier Fructis.
Spam Dooley hasn’t been the same since they moved him from janitorial of cafeteria to hallways.
Sommers is developing Flash Gordon. It will be his picture right after When Worlds Collide.
Dave, seriously, put a stop to these poker, craps, backgammon spam stuff. It is more annoying than Spam Dooley thinking he knows the industry.
I thought they already made a big screen version of “Flash Gordon.” It was called “Star Wars” or summat.
Yeah, I think we can say there are plenty of worse directors than Ratner.
“spiderman has raimi, batman has nolan, superman has singer, hulk got ang lee and x men gets ratner? who gets the short end? this is in daredevil range”
er, incase you forgot, X-Men already had Singer… TWICE.
It would have been extremely hard to regroup the actors and everyone they had for this movie if they waited another 5 months or however long to find a new director. These guys have gotta make a living…
Speaking of pretentious one-named directors, what the hell happened to Tarsem? I actually thought “The Cell” was a damn fine movie.
Any question of “Is there a worse director…” not ending with Uwe Boll can be answered with Uwe Boll.
Oh dear god, I had erased Uwe Boll from my mind!!! I have only seen his “House of the Dead” and, whoa… so bad. Not even remotely so-bad-it’s-good.
And, yeah, as I made perfectly clear in the Jennifer Lopez argument of a few weeks back, I really liked The Cell. That was one helluva visually amazing movie.
still can’t get over how uninspired a choice ratner is
The actors have contracts and deals. You think Hugh Jackman is leaving this role because he’d have to wait 5 months for a top notch director? You crazy.
It looks like the super hero pendulum is swinging back to Warners with Batman and Superman.
I kinda like Ratner.
(runs for the tall grass)
What do you like about him and his movies?
He must have liked the great storytelling, the fantastic camera work, the way he works with talent, and the entertaining stories put upon on film by Bret.
Denby liked Crash and loved Upside of anger.. FYI
From joefitz84: “If they’re using the script they have now, then its a HUGE risk.”
Care to elaborate?
The script they have now will alienate a lot of fans. I am not going to spoil it since thats not the right thing to do. Lets just say a few main characters die early and the story has more holes than Catwoman. They’re making a mistake by rushing this into production.
I wonder who and how they kill off. I’m guessing definately not Wolverine. And Professor X. Rogue? Cyclops? Storm?
why are they rushing this into production? the competition with singer that bad for them?
Fox must be out for blood with Singer and how he left them to do Superman. Maybe they think Ratner is feeling the same way and they both want to stick it to Warners and Superman.
If he signs Jackie Chan then I am out. Officially out, I say!
I would like to see Chris Tucker be given a chance to stretch. Let him play Gambit. Let the fellow Brothers get into this superhero game.
Hey, if “Fantastic Four” does well, why not drop Torch and The Thing into “X3” as guest stars? (Both franchises are Fox products, right?) And maybe Daredevil could pop up in a cameo. Come on, people, let’s make this movie truly Marvelous.
u know i could actually see them going in that direction since ratner is on board. i’ll shudder now
Leydon, you might give them ideas. But do you really want to see Benny A in anymore super hero movies??? I don’t.
Give me some Tucker. Make Ice Cube Beast while your at it. Halle Berry needs someone fine to be with in these movies
Nah, if we’re going to go black with Beast, I want to see Harold Perrineau. I’ve been a fan of that guy since “Smoke.”
He is killa on Lost. You know what? I caught a young him in King Of NY on IFC last night. Lookin real young.
Don’t forget Oz. Augustus Hill was a great character on a great show.
Also: Harry co-starred in “Romeo + Juliet”
what about the matrix sequels? ok we’ll forget those ever happend
BTW: Speaking of acting, as much as I like Famke Janssen as a super hero, I wish she’d get some more meaty dramatic parts in non-genre films. She was terrific in “Monument Avenue” (which, not incidentally, has Denis Leary’s greatest performance to date)and I’ve always felt she was just one great role away from major stardom.
Her meatiest role has been on Nip/Tuck. She did a pretty solid job there too. Surpassed my expectations.
It really does seem like they are rushing this because they have a wild hair up their ass about Warners/Singer/Whatever. They’re letting their pride and ego cloud their better judgement on what is arguably Fox’s only real franchise anymore. They blew their wad on their Alien/Predator franchises, FF is going to tank. What else do they have?
Who over their is really calling the shots on these choices? I don’t belive it’s the producers. I want to know so I can pay attention next year when they get fired for this.
I haven’t read the script, but friends are echoing Joefitz’s sentiment. I think I have more of a problem with that than Ratner at this point.
What great emotionally retarded decisions to gamble a franchise on.
I’m not going to give away who bites the dust but any fan will be disappointed in it.
Shuler-Donner can’t get fired by Warners. They owe her for way too many hits. here is the thing. Warners needs a hit. They’ll say it to they’re blue in the face that they’re 110% behind the script and the director and yadda yadda but its BS. They just want to stick it to Singer. The personal conflicts may cost us a great franchise and will cost Fox plenty of cash.
Famke Jansen is one of the hottest actresses working today.
And the fact that she can actually act gives her more of a thumbs up for me.
Why appeal to good sense? He obviously left those when he voted for Nader.
Mark: You must have taken a break at a crack house because that last comment is totally fucked up. Who’s been appealing to good sense here? Who voted for Nader? I think managing all those fake identities on so many pages here has finally caught up with you.
I hope they don’t get rid of Halle. Shes been the only piece of eye candy for me. Anan Paquin (sp?) doesn’t float my boat.
Apparently this Blau fella has some serious issues as they say. He must be pissed they passed over Chris Tucker too. I feel you brother.
You voted for Nader, Blau? Now I am doubly ashamed to have three letters the same as you.
Even Nader is embarrassed Blau voted for him. These ultra Libs are they’re best.
Wouldn’t you be running from the hills and trying to tear down everyone who you don’t agree with if you pulled the lever for Nader? Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt.
Who here voted for Nader? What the fuck are you maniac chimps talking about? Does anything come out of these Republicans’ mouths that isn’t out-and-out bullshit?
SHUT THE FUCK UP!
This thread was going perfectly mediocre and then you guys had to start up with your stupid fuckin political bullshit. NOBODY CARES!!! Get it?
Sheesh.
That being said, Halle Berry is the worst thing about the X-Men movies. Plus, didn’t she want more money and a bigger part? Axe her I say!
I second that Camel. Cant we all just get along? Wow. Mary-Alice was on a Gilmore Girls episode. That Mary Kay Place gets around. Back on point, you cant kill Storm. Storm easily ranks in the TOP FIVE of important Mutants in the comic continuity. Outside of Chuck, Mags, Phoenix, and Emma Frost after her. If they kill her off. They have just gone and f’ed up the entire X-Men continuity because they cant recast an actress. IF only that Drew McWeeney would get a proper friggin computer and post that script review. The bastard.
They fucked up the character of Storm as soon as she said “Do you know what happens to a toad when struck by lightnight. Same as everything else” or whatever it was. LAME (just like Halle, so I suppose it fits)
if they kill anyone i just see them killing off storm cause halles now too big a star and where has her character gone? good thing she got rid of that terrible accent though
I’m not committed to the comic and origin stories so I don’t know how this all plays out in the long run and what it means to the characters. But to kill off multiple main stars is a risky thing to do even with all the characters they have to play with. But if it fits in with the movie and story I won’t complain. Unless its Hugh.
Please don’t kill Halle. Please don’t. I’m beggin ya Bret Ratner.
I’m guessing that was the opposite of the argument that Chris Tucker was doing in the script meeting on Rush Hour 3. Begging to be paid and killed off in Act 1.
A lot of fans will be disappointed. Its clear. Only thing you can do now is hope and pray for lightning in a bottle.
batman is going to clean up next week. he advanced word is great on it. i’m wondering how the fantastic four will be
The decline of Hollywood continues: Quentin Tarantino is reportedly attached to direct “Beverly Hills Cop 4”.
This the same source that said he was directing Friday the 13th? I know he wants to work with Eddie Murphy though.
I’d be really be into anything QT does. Whether its original or a new take on a franchise. Anyone see the CSi episode he did? Don’t really catch that show much but that episode was great tv.
Supposedly Murphy is in Inglorious Bastards, if QT ever gets around to actually making that movie.
got some cast for that thing if it ever gets off the ground. madsen, roth, murphy, travolta, sandler. i would think buscemi has to have a role in that production
I think Willis, too.
Supposedly, the original script to Inglorious is over 300 pages long. They’re thinking of pulling a Kill Bill and making it two flicks.
I just hope he makes the damn thing, two movies or not. My boy Madsen needs a good role.
No one wants to mess with QT’s writing and no one has the cajones to make him cut anything. This might be his thing. The two movies in one.
If any director has earned the right to edit himself and not be given notes by a studio its Quentin T. I hope this gets made. Sounds really great. Like The Dirty Dozen. A classic.
They made a great choice breaking up Bill into 2 movies. Even thought that second one was a little light in terms of action and story. It had Sam Jackson so its not all bad.
As to why I like Ranter: I’m not going to make any claims that he’s the next Howard Hawks, but compared to McG, Bay, West, Pitof, et al, he at least makes films that don’t give you a headache (literally and figuratively). He has good casts, shoots and cuts his films cleanly, and generally turns out a slick, entertaining product. For example, AFTER THE SUNSET I found a fine old-fashioned romp with gorgeous stars in a gorgeous setting having a whale of a good time and sharing that sense of fun with us. You sure as hell can’t say that about an unwatchable piece of excrement like ELEKTRA.
“Gimme a shot of Jack. If it’s good enough for Frank, it’s good enough for me.”
“Frank who?”
yeah i think i must be the only other person who doesn’t think Ratner belongs in the godawful list.
maybe people don’t see enough movies or have short memories of sheer awful since there many worse guys and gals that could get a big franchise project and flush it down the toilet.
if Ratner was to do an anais nin story maybe I’d worry.
I have seen all Ratners movies. Hes an average director. Hes not good enough in my book to be doing a franchise and a story like X Men.
Lota: C’mon, you’re just dying to see Ratner’s take on “Spy in the House of Love.” (With title song by Was [Not Was].)
Very well said, Brotherhood. Ratner gets a bum rap as an “awful” director, when he is at worst uninspiring and bland. And I think he might be improving – “Red Dragon” was his best yet, and not nearly as bad as some make it out to be (I rather enjoyed it). Am I disappointed he’s doing “X3” over somebody more visionary? Sure. But like you said, it’s not McG.
“I’m guessing that was the opposite of the argument that Chris Tucker was doing in the script meeting on Rush Hour 3. Begging to be paid and killed off in Act 1.”
All I have to say is… huh?
And, yeah, Brett Ratner is a perfectly competant director. Rush Hour 2 is a legitimately good movie I think and I think if he can at least put that energy into X3 then I’ll be happy. But it all comes down to the screenplay.
Although I’m sure the Ratner haters will instantly say it was a horrible decision to do everything in the movie even though it was the writers who came up with it.
The director is ultimately responsible for everything in his/her movie. Just because the writers wrote it, the director still is the one with the taste or lack thereof to go ahead and shoot it.
ur way more optimistic than most, camel. especially considering u think rush hour 2 is a good movie.
I admit, I am biased in my hatred of Ratner. When he dissed Manhunter and Michael Mann in EW (as well as other places) before the release of Red Dragon, that was it for me. I could hardly believe what I was reading. Though there definitely are worse directors out there, I honestly don’t think that he’s made a good movie yet. Red Dragon gets by because of the cast, not anything Ratner did.
Manhunter just blows away anything Red dragon does. Might be the most worthless remake of all time. Waste of talent and time on that.
There is just no comparison between Michael Mann and Bret Ratner. It is like comparing Citizen Kane to Son in Law. Seeing how he handled that big budget production, who gave him the reins to this important franchise?
Ratner would have turned Heat into a Pacino-Deniro buddy comedy.
Look, everyone knows that RED DRAGON was made solely so they could squeeze a few more bucks out of Hopkins’ portrayal before he got too old for the part; there were no other Lecter books left, so all they could do was remake MANHUNTER (which, in truth, was not a BO success went it came out in ’86). My point is: that movie was going to be made come hell or high water, and if it hadn’t been Ratner, it would’ve been someone else, and there’s a good chance it might’ve turned out a lot worse.
That’s “when it came out,” of course. Sheesh, too early in the morning.
Manhunter might not have been a box office but its still a movie that holds up today and has become a cult classic. Any remake is always about money and doing a new Red Dragon wasn’t a bad idea. Just think they could have gotten a little more creative with their choices. Ed Norton was horribly miscast. And hes a pretty damn good actor. They needed some older and haunted. But the movie gave out no thrills, no chills, and was just a flat out bore. Ratner has to take a lot of blame.
Thomas Harris is writing a new novel. A prequel showing how Hannibal came to be that killing machine. Wonde rif Tony hopkins will be back?
Aren’t they already filming the movie? Behind the Mask right? Peter Webber is directing I believe. I agree joefitz. I love Norton, but he was miscast, and Red Dragon is a bore.
i thought nic cage would have been a better will graham. or someone like sean penn. norton hair piece was laughable
Nobody cast as Will Graham in a “Manhunter” remake could have matched William Petersen. Nobody. Just remember that one line he has after he’s gotten his wife and son out of harm’s way, and he’s steeling himself for the final smackdown with Dollarhyde: “It’s just you and me now, sport.” That is when you know — you just KNOW — that sucka is goin’ down!
Petersen does kick ass in Manhunter, as well as To Live and Die in LA. Those are two of my all-time favorite 80s flicks. He used to be one cool dude.
A few semesters back, I gave my Art of Filmmaking students an optional extra-credit assignment: A term paper comparing and contrasting “Manhunter” and “Red Dragon.” To my hsame, every student who took the option preferred “Red Dragon.” “Manhunter” was considered “too slow,” “dated,” “too ’80s,” etc. By the way, at least one person claimed anyone who preferred “Manhunter” had to be “a snob.” So for all folks who like to throw that term around as an insult on this blog: Remember, what’s snobbishness to one person is discerning taste to another.
Call me a snob since I prefer the Mann version of that story. It just moves with energy the new one doesn’t have.
goes without saying that petersen is the best graham. tough to find the guy who can do that today. who can pull that off. especially in live and die in la. he hasn’t lost his cool either on csi. its why its the best one of the three csi’s.
I didn’t care for either one of those.
And the Lambs still creeps me out especially when the bad guy starts cross dressing. Grossss
i thought hannibal was pure garbage. the movie and the book
Still can’t really believe how bad a follow up to the classic Silence Hannibal was. It tainted a great movie and an even better book.
Hi guys. I thought Hannibal the book was mediocre, but Hannibal the movie was one of Ridley Scott’s best, and in some ways better than Silence.
Okay, Bob, maybe not a legitimately GOOD movie, but I found it legitimately ENTERTAINING and some people (not necessarily you, Bob) can’t find entertainment in some things that others do.
…is that a crime?
“The director is ultimately responsible for everything in his/her movie. Just because the writers wrote it, the director still is the one with the taste or lack thereof to go ahead and shoot it.”
But then if Ratner through out this supposedly risky script then he’d have his haters saying he’s destroying the writer’s vision or some shit.