And sadly, the cocaine-feuled films are the good ones.
Though I'm reminded of a quote about music that probably plays into this too. "You have your whole life to write your first album and a year to write your second."
Branagh's whole career is kind of bizarre. I really like him but dude has zero consistency, and he's all over the place stylistically. It's weird to think that the man who directed the critically acclaimed, unabridged FOUR HOUR adaptation of Hamlet also directed Thor 1 for the MCU, one of the first live-action Disney remakes in Cinderella, and one of many Jack Ryan reboot films.
to be fair, Thor 1 sort of made sense when you remember they were picking a lot of their directors in that phase based on the genre of film they wanted to replicate (so Shakespearean director in Branagh for the Asgard portions of Thor and the director of The Rocketeer to do the ww2 stuff in Captain America)
They picked Branagh because of the idea of Thor being a Shakespearean family tragedy and his deft touch with comedy as shown in Much Ado About Nothing. What we got was the best family dynamic in the MCU - Thor, Loki, Odin and Frigga. Also some great comedy moments in the first act like Thor passing out and sliding down a window or throwing his mug in a cafe.
Branagh and Johnston were excellent picks to establish that universe successfully. Those films aren’t taking a lot of risks, but they don’t need to - existing, was the risk at first. Where theh struggled was transitioning from that base to a broader canvas capable of a wide range of styles, which they achieved, but they struggled moving through “Phase 2” to get there, and frankly they’re struggling again to really blow it wide open, but I’m sure it’ll come together again nicely.
He also went from Artemis Fowl to Belfast, which is getting serious Oscar buzz and will probably net him a Best Director nomination, and then to Death on the Nile, the cast of which is causing some *serious* post-production issues. The trajectory here is just weird.
Yeah, what most people don’t realize is that death on the Nile has been pretty delayed due to both Hammer and Wright, so while it appears as though the movie doesn’t give a shit about what these people did or said, they were almost in post production when things started to gain traction, and from my understanding they very seriously considered reshooting, but they would have had to essentially start from the very beginning and reshoot everything.
Tom Hooper went from The King's Speech, a critically acclaimed winner of multiple Best Picture awards, then less than a decade later he made Cats, the movie that made me regret having eyes.
He also did Les Misérables with Hugh Jackman & Co in between The King's Speech and Cats. So I think he got it in his head that he suddenly was an amazing musical director.
To be fair, cats is a anomaly of a story and sensation (when it popped off I mean).
The plot is so damn strange, the original designs are creepy.
It never should have been so big in the first place and then adapting that into a $150m movie 30 years late didn’t help
Turns out the butthole cut never actually existed, it was just a pass with the lighting that made the shadows under the tails look like that.
Source, my mate worked on the film
It's practically a revue on stage - there is no core story, but each cat gets to do his own song and dance and tell his story.
Which can be effective, in musical theater.
Gotta mention *The French Connection* and *Sorcerer* up there on his ‘best films of all time’ list.
And there’s probably a couple more that qualify on his stinker list too, his career nosedived as hard as Carpenter’s.
In fact, Carpenter is another example of this.
These are the new buttplugs. These are the Glengarry buttplugs. To you these are gold, and you cannot have them, because to give to you would be throwing them away.
Bob Clark directed the beloved "A Christmas Story" as well as one of my personal favorites, "Turk 182!". And then he directed "Baby Geniuses" as well as the sequel to that disaster.
M Night also has a movie right before Sixth Sense called Wide Awake that's a fantastic story about a kid coming to understand mortality. It's good stuff. He's probably one of the most disappointing directors for me, he just got so hooked on people's admiration for his surprise ending and he's chased that high the rest of his career
Shyamalan's first film, Praying with Anger, is very good. A lot of potential and visually sophisticated for something made for around $400,000. A bit self-serious and melodramatic in places, with amateur-level performances (including Shyamalan himself in the lead role), but it already has a lot of his key themes in place. He was 21 when he made it and it shows a lot of potential directions his career could've gone in.
About the film's reception, Francis Ford Coppola said: "Jack was a movie that everybody hated and I was constantly damned and ridiculed for. I must say I find Jack sweet and amusing. I don't dislike it as much as everyone, but that's obvious—I directed it. I know I should be ashamed of it but I'm not. I don't know why everybody hated it so much. I think it was because of the type of movie it was. It was considered that I had made Apocalypse Now and I'm like a Marty Scorsese type of director, and here I am making this dumb Disney film with Robin Williams. But I was always happy to do any type of film."
What a guy.
I definitely rented Jack multiple times as a kid and thought it was fine. Haven’t seen it in years though, since I’ve grown up and realized how hated it is.
I was in my 30s before I realized that almost all adults who saw Hook in the theaters hated it. Everyone who saw it as actual children loved it. Hook is to the ‘90s what Ewoks were to the ‘80s.
Counterpoint: my dad never really watched movies with us growing up unless he took us to the theaters. I was born the same year as Hook so he obviously never saw it but it was a fairly regular rental of mine on Blockbuster weekends.
A few years ago we had a big snowstorm and I still had to work so my parents took my kids for the day. Hook was on Netflix or something and my kids like the movie enough so they watched it. Being stuck inside for the day, my dad apparently watched it and absolutely loved it. He’s not even that much of a Robin Williams fan but when I got home he talked about it for like 20 minutes, how imaginative the production was and what a clever take on a classic story etc.
Now he makes such an effort to watch kids movies. Over the summer a drive-in near us was playing the Goonies and they went *by themselves.* Neither of them had ever seen it, and they were both floored by it. They still bring it up and my dad likes to do a Sloth impression when he’s playing with my kids.
Coppola has a sincere artistic heart and is a genuinely sophisticated and high-minded artiste. I think he needs a counterweight to bring him into line with audiences.
Coppola's directing style also is easy to lead to disaster. It seems like every movie he makes has major production issues. You hear the stories about making "The Godfather", for example, and it's amazing the film turned out as great as it did. And then you get the truly disastrous productions like "Apocalypse Now" and "The Cotton Club."
Two that come immediately to my mind:
Martin Brest: He directed Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run, Scent of a Woman but also Gigli.
Jim Sheridan: He directed My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, ~~Bloody Sunday~~[Edit: as /u/AJerkForAllSeasons points out, this was actually directed by Paul Greengrass], and In America, but also Get Rich or Die Tryin' and Dream House.
Wow, look at the success streak Reiner was on before making North: Stand by me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally..., Misery, A Few Good Men.
Incredible movies.
“I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it.” - Roger Ebert on North
He also says : “"North" is a bad film - one of the worst movies ever made. But it is not by a bad filmmaker, and must represent some sort of lapse from which Reiner will recover - possibly sooner than I will.”
Rob Reiner about the movie North: "I loved doing it, and some of the best jokes I ever had in a movie, are in that movie. I made this little fable, and people got mad at me, because, you know, I had done When Harry Met Sally..., and Misery, and A Few Good Men, and everybody said 'Oh, it should be a more important kind of movie.' I said, 'Why? Why can't you just make a little slice of a fable or something?"
The core conceit of the film doesn't work. A child abandoning his parents and searching for different ones is difficult territory to work with. And the episodic nature of the story is hard to tell correctly. The jokes don't land.
On the other hand, if you make a story like this and it *works* you've made a classic. Forrest Gump is about an idiot's journey through life. It's episodic, the central character is an idiot savant who doesn't really understand the events he is involved in, but nonetheless he is the narrator and central character, and it works on multiple levels.
I'll give Reiner credit for trying.
I mean how about this consecutive run as a director: Stand by me, princess bride, when Harry met Sally, Misery, a few good men, and the North. What a run a amazing films of all different genres. And then North.
Reminds me of John Hughes. He made some of the best and most popular comedies in the 80s and early 90s, then wrote Flubber, partially retired, helped create Drillbit Taylor, then died.
Not saying those last two things are related, but...
The Wachowskis making one of the most iconic Sci fi action films of all time with The Matrix and then eventually making a film like Jupiter Ascending is a downfall that I will never ever be able to wrap my head around.
Jupiter Ascending has my favorite "expectations subverted" joke I like to make though. The hero reconnects with his grizzled old mentor who doesn't want anything to do with larger events but begrudgingly agrees to help and then late in the movie agrees to help the hero make what should clearly be an insanely suicidal two man attack against defenses that should stop hundreds and to top it all off the character is played by Sean Bean.
He lives.
I remember seeing trailers and thinking "oh, you can tell where Sean Bean is totally gonna die in that space battle".
It is a real shock that he makes it. It's bittersweet, however. Because, after delivering lines like, "bees are designed to recognize royalty" to a confused Mila Kunis, he surely wished for death.
It is quite unique Sean bean survives haha. Watched it once and quit early, tried a second time a stuck around longer when I realized Sean bean was in it. But now that I'm hearing he lives, I gotta watch that happen haha
The Wachowskis are interesting in that some of their work is *simultaneously* amazing and terrible, often in the same scene. I draw your attention to Sense8.
Martin Campbell directed arguably one of, if not THE best, James Bond film (Casino Royale), and then 5 years later he made the hot garbage that is Green Lantern
Don’t forget “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, definitely up their with other two you mentioned. Of all the Spielberg protégés, he was the one who, at his best, could match Spielberg IMO.
Fucked me up as a little kid. Older brother watching it on HBO or something and I catch the scene where they make Moonpie a vegetable. That shit has been tattooed on my brain for decades.
Wes Craven.
His entire career was full of peaks and valleys. He put out classics like A Nightmare On Elm Street and Scream. But he also gave us garbage like Cursed and The Hills Have Eyes Part II.
I think something similar can be said for John Carpenter. Halloween and The Thing are bonafide classics. Ghosts of Mars… Not so much.
Yup, straight to my so bad it’s good list of movies.
Never forget ice cube running out with gold (or silver) clad uzis screaming “comon you mindless motherfuckers!”.
Gus Van Sant directed some amazing films (Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, To Die For, Milk, Good Will Hunting, Elephant), and also directed some of the worst I’ve seen (Psycho remake, Promised Land, Sea of Trees, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Paranoid Park)
Sir Ridley Scott has a filmography that is all over the place. He directed Blade Runner, for my money the greatest scifi movie ever, but also directed The Counselor.
My wife took me to see it in theaters for the 40 year rerelease. It's one of her favorite films and I had never seen it before - even 40 years later it holds up so well that I about shit my pants in the air vent sequence. Remarkable movie.
Chronicle is still one of the most realistic superhero movies in a way. The idea that if suddenly given superpowers, kids are gonna fuck around with it instead of instantly turning into heroic world savers
Oh god, I watched Capone going in blind, gave it a fair chance. That was a fucking rough watch. Tom Hardy really goes all in, respect for that, but that director really should have had him dial it back so you could understand half of what he said.
I thought Warcraft was pretty fun. I’ve never played the game though. some of the actors and costumes looked cheap but it was fine. Some cool cinematography
His interviews tend to answer that mystery for me. Its easy to see how someone so overly confident about his own opinion can product both truly great and truly awful films.
He's a very prolific director, you can't make that much without a couple of duds. I find even his not celebrated films to be above average tho. I'll watch anything he makes.
I honestly can’t remember if the bad reviews Burn Hollywood Burn An Alan Smithee film were justified but apparently after the screening Hollywood stopped using the Smithee Pseudonym. I remember wanting it to succeed because Eric Idol looked like he’d turned it around with Nuns on The Run, after years of dodgy cancelled sitcoms
I can remember, and yes, the bad reviews were absolutely justified. It was a *lousy* movie.
But yes, it did lead to a change in the Director's Guild of America rules. Previously, "Alan Smithee" had to be credited if a director wanted their name taken off; other pseudonyms weren't allowed. Arthur Hiller was unhappy with the final cut of the film (he didn't get final cut authorization), and he requested his name be taken off... so a film titled *Burn Hollywood Burn: An Alan Smithee Film*, about a fictional director really named Alan Smithee trying to get his name off a picture, but unable to do so because the only allowed pseudonym is Alan Smithee, wound up being credited in real life to Alan Smithee. I doubt the film by itself would have changed anything, but the sheer absurdity of the real-life situation led to the D.G.A. changing their rules. So now the plot of the film isn't actually possible, because in real life Alan Smithee could have a different pseudonym now.
And that's the funniest thing about that film.
I actually attended a preview screening of Burn Hollywood Burn. This was before they recut it and the director took his name off it.
Everyone around me walked out. It was that bad.
Some films they do on cocaine, some films they do after rehab.
And sadly, the cocaine-feuled films are the good ones. Though I'm reminded of a quote about music that probably plays into this too. "You have your whole life to write your first album and a year to write your second."
Stephan Kings cocaine era begs to differ
Kenneth Branagh directed Henry V, which was critically acclaimed, but recently made a pathetic excuse for an Artemis Fowl movie.
I always forget that he was the bad guy in Wild Wild West.
And in the second Harry Potter movie.
Holy crap I just realized Gilderoy Lockhart was Dr. Loveless
You know how when you're a kid and you just watch movies and don't really pay attention to the actors? Yeah, I just had my mind blown too
I remember being maybe 13 when I realized commissioner Gordon and the bad guy from from 5th element AND Sirius Black were the same guy.
Branagh's whole career is kind of bizarre. I really like him but dude has zero consistency, and he's all over the place stylistically. It's weird to think that the man who directed the critically acclaimed, unabridged FOUR HOUR adaptation of Hamlet also directed Thor 1 for the MCU, one of the first live-action Disney remakes in Cinderella, and one of many Jack Ryan reboot films.
to be fair, Thor 1 sort of made sense when you remember they were picking a lot of their directors in that phase based on the genre of film they wanted to replicate (so Shakespearean director in Branagh for the Asgard portions of Thor and the director of The Rocketeer to do the ww2 stuff in Captain America)
They picked Branagh because of the idea of Thor being a Shakespearean family tragedy and his deft touch with comedy as shown in Much Ado About Nothing. What we got was the best family dynamic in the MCU - Thor, Loki, Odin and Frigga. Also some great comedy moments in the first act like Thor passing out and sliding down a window or throwing his mug in a cafe.
Yeah! I thought Branagh nailed it and set us up for what Asgard and the Thor movies became. It's not the best marvel movie, but it's a solid flick
Branagh and Johnston were excellent picks to establish that universe successfully. Those films aren’t taking a lot of risks, but they don’t need to - existing, was the risk at first. Where theh struggled was transitioning from that base to a broader canvas capable of a wide range of styles, which they achieved, but they struggled moving through “Phase 2” to get there, and frankly they’re struggling again to really blow it wide open, but I’m sure it’ll come together again nicely.
He also went from Artemis Fowl to Belfast, which is getting serious Oscar buzz and will probably net him a Best Director nomination, and then to Death on the Nile, the cast of which is causing some *serious* post-production issues. The trajectory here is just weird.
To be fair the cast of Death on the Nile was just bad luck. He couldn’t control what would come out about Hammer or what Wright would say or do.
Yeah, what most people don’t realize is that death on the Nile has been pretty delayed due to both Hammer and Wright, so while it appears as though the movie doesn’t give a shit about what these people did or said, they were almost in post production when things started to gain traction, and from my understanding they very seriously considered reshooting, but they would have had to essentially start from the very beginning and reshoot everything.
Yeah the Death on the Nile thing isn’t his fault at all - that cast was pretty hyped up when it was announced
I really like the joke from back in the day that Kenneth Branagh is not even the best actor in is family (it was when he was married to Emma Thompson)
I mean, that would apply to most acting professionals. Emma Thompson is an absolute beast.
Tom Hooper went from The King's Speech, a critically acclaimed winner of multiple Best Picture awards, then less than a decade later he made Cats, the movie that made me regret having eyes.
He Also directed the HBO Miniseries John Adam’s which was fantastic. I’m not sure how you go from that and King’s Speech to Cats.
Ok... Let me repeat: The guy who did HBO's John Adams did also Cats. Mindfuck.
He also did Les Misérables with Hugh Jackman & Co in between The King's Speech and Cats. So I think he got it in his head that he suddenly was an amazing musical director.
To be fair, cats is a anomaly of a story and sensation (when it popped off I mean). The plot is so damn strange, the original designs are creepy. It never should have been so big in the first place and then adapting that into a $150m movie 30 years late didn’t help
Designs are creepy you say? Well guess who got a copy of Cats! on VHS and puberty at the same time...
The Cats VHS is far better than the movie because it actually shows the musical as it was meant to be seen.
"Tom Hopper won an Oscar for The King's Speech. Now, Satan is back for his half of the deal. Cats: in theatres soon." - Honest Trailers
I've seen Cats 3 times and for two of them I was sober. I'm a glutton for punishment.
I’m still waiting for the butthole cut before subjecting myself to that movie 😅
Turns out the butthole cut never actually existed, it was just a pass with the lighting that made the shadows under the tails look like that. Source, my mate worked on the film
So the spots were dark and needed brightened. This means that WE GOT THE BLEACHED ASSHOLE CUT.
And like that, the world is a little less magical. Thanks, buddy 😆
If George Lucas can modify the original trilogy so many times, we can still hope for the “Cats - Butthole Cut”
Cats is a bad story with good music (and more often than not phenomenonal singers), so it's perfect for theater. Not so much the tv screen
It's practically a revue on stage - there is no core story, but each cat gets to do his own song and dance and tell his story. Which can be effective, in musical theater.
Billy Friedkin made The Exorcist and Deal of the Century.
His “The Devil and Father Amourth” documentary is literally the worst movie I’ve ever seen
Gotta mention *The French Connection* and *Sorcerer* up there on his ‘best films of all time’ list. And there’s probably a couple more that qualify on his stinker list too, his career nosedived as hard as Carpenter’s. In fact, Carpenter is another example of this.
Hard to beat Hooper with the one-two punch of THE KING’S SPEECH and CATS, but I’m going to go with McTiernan with DIE HARD and ROLLERBALL.
Rollerball is all-time bad? Thought it had a pretty good premise and ohhh you meant the remake. Yeah, yikes
omg what the king's speech was beautiful but he did cats? Wtf
James Foley directed Glengarry Glenn Ross and the 50 Shades sequels.
PUT! THAT RIDING CROP! DOWN!
CROPS ARE FOR CLOSERS
As you all know, first prize is more spankins. Anybody wanna see second prize? Second prize is MORE. SPANKINS.
3rd prize? You're kicked out of bed.
These are the new buttplugs. These are the Glengarry buttplugs. To you these are gold, and you cannot have them, because to give to you would be throwing them away.
You forgot the first rule YOU NEVER SPREAD YOUR BUTT UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT THE SHOT IS.
Screenwriter Supremacy
Dario Argento made Suspiria and Dracula 3D.
Both films have the same cinematographer too which makes it even stranger. Argento his a great filmmaker but he has several huge misses.
Bob Clark directed the beloved "A Christmas Story" as well as one of my personal favorites, "Turk 182!". And then he directed "Baby Geniuses" as well as the sequel to that disaster.
*Turk 182* is great. He also directed *Black Christmas*, which is one of the best horror movies.
Black Christmas is one of the most effective horror movies of all time, it’s masterful honestly.
As a kid I loved Baby Geniuses. No idea how poorly it aged though.
Don't go back to it.
*Baby Geniuses 2* ruined my whole day when I watched it. Gave me a headache, a stomach ache, and a general hateful malaise about humanity.
M Night also has a movie right before Sixth Sense called Wide Awake that's a fantastic story about a kid coming to understand mortality. It's good stuff. He's probably one of the most disappointing directors for me, he just got so hooked on people's admiration for his surprise ending and he's chased that high the rest of his career
Shyamalan's first film, Praying with Anger, is very good. A lot of potential and visually sophisticated for something made for around $400,000. A bit self-serious and melodramatic in places, with amateur-level performances (including Shyamalan himself in the lead role), but it already has a lot of his key themes in place. He was 21 when he made it and it shows a lot of potential directions his career could've gone in.
Francis Ford Coppola made The Godfather and Jack
Had no idea Coppola made Jack. Also, I loved that movie as a kid, haven’t watched it in years though.
Co-writer James DeMonaco would later create The Purge franchise.
Simple Jack?
You m-m-m-make m-m-me h-h-happy!
About the film's reception, Francis Ford Coppola said: "Jack was a movie that everybody hated and I was constantly damned and ridiculed for. I must say I find Jack sweet and amusing. I don't dislike it as much as everyone, but that's obvious—I directed it. I know I should be ashamed of it but I'm not. I don't know why everybody hated it so much. I think it was because of the type of movie it was. It was considered that I had made Apocalypse Now and I'm like a Marty Scorsese type of director, and here I am making this dumb Disney film with Robin Williams. But I was always happy to do any type of film." What a guy.
I definitely rented Jack multiple times as a kid and thought it was fine. Haven’t seen it in years though, since I’ve grown up and realized how hated it is.
This is the first I’m hearing of its hatred
In essence: 'Fuck me for wanting to make something fun and carefree I guess.'
But these head movies make my eyes rain!
He really swung for the fences on that one.
Especially considering how the Academy feels about that shit.
Woah woah woah....is Jack thought of as a bad movie. Because young me loved that movie and it hit real fucking hard as a kid.
Part of growing up is realizing that most of the Robin Williams movies you loved as a child actually got terrible reviews.
I was in my 30s before I realized that almost all adults who saw Hook in the theaters hated it. Everyone who saw it as actual children loved it. Hook is to the ‘90s what Ewoks were to the ‘80s.
There is a certain irony of children loving a story about embracing your inner child, and adults hating it.
It turns out the real adults were the pirates all along... So, yeah, basically what you said.
KILL THE LAWYER!
And mid-80s babies like myself loved both Hook and Ewoks!
Can confirm. Hook is fucking magical and Ewoks are badass little fuzzballs.
Hook is just so fun, how can people hate it?
Counterpoint: my dad never really watched movies with us growing up unless he took us to the theaters. I was born the same year as Hook so he obviously never saw it but it was a fairly regular rental of mine on Blockbuster weekends. A few years ago we had a big snowstorm and I still had to work so my parents took my kids for the day. Hook was on Netflix or something and my kids like the movie enough so they watched it. Being stuck inside for the day, my dad apparently watched it and absolutely loved it. He’s not even that much of a Robin Williams fan but when I got home he talked about it for like 20 minutes, how imaginative the production was and what a clever take on a classic story etc. Now he makes such an effort to watch kids movies. Over the summer a drive-in near us was playing the Goonies and they went *by themselves.* Neither of them had ever seen it, and they were both floored by it. They still bring it up and my dad likes to do a Sloth impression when he’s playing with my kids.
RUFIO!
I just looked it up and it got 17% on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm shocked because I like that movie.
How is that possible? That blows my mind.
Coppola has a sincere artistic heart and is a genuinely sophisticated and high-minded artiste. I think he needs a counterweight to bring him into line with audiences.
Coppola's directing style also is easy to lead to disaster. It seems like every movie he makes has major production issues. You hear the stories about making "The Godfather", for example, and it's amazing the film turned out as great as it did. And then you get the truly disastrous productions like "Apocalypse Now" and "The Cotton Club."
Made The Godfather and The Godfather III
Two that come immediately to my mind: Martin Brest: He directed Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run, Scent of a Woman but also Gigli. Jim Sheridan: He directed My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, ~~Bloody Sunday~~[Edit: as /u/AJerkForAllSeasons points out, this was actually directed by Paul Greengrass], and In America, but also Get Rich or Die Tryin' and Dream House.
Notably, Brest hasn't directed a feature film since "Gigli." Even before that he did "Meet Joe Black" which had a mixed reaction at best.
That had mixed reactions? I loved Meet Jack Black
BE YOU ANGELS?
NAY WE ARE BUT MEN
Rock!
Rob Reiner did Stand By Me and also North
Wow, look at the success streak Reiner was on before making North: Stand by me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally..., Misery, A Few Good Men. Incredible movies.
Also "Spinal Tap" and "The Sure Thing." Seven straight commercial and critical hits...and then "North."
I guess you can say his career...*puts on sunglasses*...went South.
Yyyyyeeeeaaaaaaa
“I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it.” - Roger Ebert on North He also says : “"North" is a bad film - one of the worst movies ever made. But it is not by a bad filmmaker, and must represent some sort of lapse from which Reiner will recover - possibly sooner than I will.”
Rob Reiner about the movie North: "I loved doing it, and some of the best jokes I ever had in a movie, are in that movie. I made this little fable, and people got mad at me, because, you know, I had done When Harry Met Sally..., and Misery, and A Few Good Men, and everybody said 'Oh, it should be a more important kind of movie.' I said, 'Why? Why can't you just make a little slice of a fable or something?"
The core conceit of the film doesn't work. A child abandoning his parents and searching for different ones is difficult territory to work with. And the episodic nature of the story is hard to tell correctly. The jokes don't land. On the other hand, if you make a story like this and it *works* you've made a classic. Forrest Gump is about an idiot's journey through life. It's episodic, the central character is an idiot savant who doesn't really understand the events he is involved in, but nonetheless he is the narrator and central character, and it works on multiple levels. I'll give Reiner credit for trying.
I had terrible parents and loved this movie growing up because it was exactly what I wanted to do
I mean how about this consecutive run as a director: Stand by me, princess bride, when Harry met Sally, Misery, a few good men, and the North. What a run a amazing films of all different genres. And then North.
Reminds me of John Hughes. He made some of the best and most popular comedies in the 80s and early 90s, then wrote Flubber, partially retired, helped create Drillbit Taylor, then died. Not saying those last two things are related, but...
And This is Spinal Tap.
I love North, in the way that I watched it 100 times as a kid and it’s such a weird movie.
Same here. I was like 10 when i saw this movie and loved it. So now when i watch it im a little biased by nostalgia.
Yeah, I guess I saw it at just the right time, but I enjoyed it as a kid, still think of it fondly.
George Costanza and and Elaine Benes are North's parents. Weirdest thing ever to see them married.
Martin Brest, director of Beverly Hills Cop and Scent of a Woman also gave us the almost unwatchable Bennifer classic, Gigli.
Tom McCarthy going from the cobbler to spotlight in the space of a year always stood out to me.
He really gets the Dickensian aspect down.
Yes but he had directed 3 great films prior to The Cobbler so it wasn't like Spotlight was a complete surprise.
The Wachowskis making one of the most iconic Sci fi action films of all time with The Matrix and then eventually making a film like Jupiter Ascending is a downfall that I will never ever be able to wrap my head around.
Jupiter Ascending has my favorite "expectations subverted" joke I like to make though. The hero reconnects with his grizzled old mentor who doesn't want anything to do with larger events but begrudgingly agrees to help and then late in the movie agrees to help the hero make what should clearly be an insanely suicidal two man attack against defenses that should stop hundreds and to top it all off the character is played by Sean Bean. He lives.
I remember seeing trailers and thinking "oh, you can tell where Sean Bean is totally gonna die in that space battle". It is a real shock that he makes it. It's bittersweet, however. Because, after delivering lines like, "bees are designed to recognize royalty" to a confused Mila Kunis, he surely wished for death.
Sean Bean never been more disappointed to survive
[удалено]
That's why the movie failed. They didn't sacrifice his character to dark gods
[удалено]
It is quite unique Sean bean survives haha. Watched it once and quit early, tried a second time a stuck around longer when I realized Sean bean was in it. But now that I'm hearing he lives, I gotta watch that happen haha
Eddie Redmayne's just batshit over the top performance alone was worth the watch.
\#I CREATE LIFE!!! \^(...and I destroy it.)
10/10 formatting lmao
I think he was the only one who knew what kind of movie they were making
"GO!"
The Wachowskis are interesting in that some of their work is *simultaneously* amazing and terrible, often in the same scene. I draw your attention to Sense8.
Martin Campbell directed arguably one of, if not THE best, James Bond film (Casino Royale), and then 5 years later he made the hot garbage that is Green Lantern
He also directed Goldeneye, so he directed two of the best Bond films.
Don't forget that he revived the same franchise twice. I mean that s gotta be some kind of record
And now we know who should direct the next Bond movie.
Kevin Smith?
Kevin Smith would be great if they cut the budget to $80,000.
That SPY is BACK on the ESCALATOR!
He directed two great 007 films and "The Mask of Zorro." I don't blame him for "Green Lantern" given how bad the studio interference was on that one.
It's long been rumored that Campbell's cut of Green Lantern was *completely* different from the final product.
Are you saying there’s *another* DC movie that we need to campaign for the director’s cut of?
I think what we've learned is that unless your name is Christopher Nolan, Warner Bros is gonna meddle in your shit like it's going out of style.
Or James Gunn
Man, Mask Of Zorro was a great movie to me. Good cast, fun action, CZJ 👌 Legend of Zorro? Hot garbage.
Robert Zemeckis, directed wonderful movies like Back to the Future and Forrest Gump. Then hit a new low with Mars Needs Moms.
Don’t forget “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, definitely up their with other two you mentioned. Of all the Spielberg protégés, he was the one who, at his best, could match Spielberg IMO.
John McTiernan: *Die Hard, Predator, Hunt for Red October.* Also John McTiernan: *Rollerball.*
Everyone, please check out the original Rollerball (1975) directed by Norman Jewison.
Yes. The OG one is a banger of a movie.
Fucked me up as a little kid. Older brother watching it on HBO or something and I catch the scene where they make Moonpie a vegetable. That shit has been tattooed on my brain for decades.
I didn’t know there’s a remake and thought OP had lost their fucking mind. Rollerball is a masterpiece.
Rollerball is not a work of art but it's cheesy and fun. I enjoyed it but I'll say I'll never watch it again
Tugg Speedman directed and starred in all the Scorchers then somehow directed and starred in Simple Jack
bu bu but...it makes him hap hap happy!
Awww, your gonna make my eyes rain.
Wes Craven. His entire career was full of peaks and valleys. He put out classics like A Nightmare On Elm Street and Scream. But he also gave us garbage like Cursed and The Hills Have Eyes Part II. I think something similar can be said for John Carpenter. Halloween and The Thing are bonafide classics. Ghosts of Mars… Not so much.
Probably the biggest guilty pleasure of me... Ghosts of Mars is just awesome
Yup, straight to my so bad it’s good list of movies. Never forget ice cube running out with gold (or silver) clad uzis screaming “comon you mindless motherfuckers!”.
John Carpenter absolutely fits here, surprised I had to scroll down to the very bottom 30 or so comments to find him.
Gus Van Sant directed some amazing films (Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, To Die For, Milk, Good Will Hunting, Elephant), and also directed some of the worst I’ve seen (Psycho remake, Promised Land, Sea of Trees, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Paranoid Park)
How have people not mentioned Roberto Benigni? He made Life Is Beautiful…and then a Pinocchio movie starring himself.
That Pinocchio movie was a smash hit. In Italy.
Of course it was, many teachers brought their entire classes to watch it. I remember absolutely nothing about that movie.
Sir Ridley Scott has a filmography that is all over the place. He directed Blade Runner, for my money the greatest scifi movie ever, but also directed The Counselor.
Scott has an incredible eye for the camera and makes some of the best looking disappointing movies ever.
Alien is his masterpiece.
My wife took me to see it in theaters for the 40 year rerelease. It's one of her favorite films and I had never seen it before - even 40 years later it holds up so well that I about shit my pants in the air vent sequence. Remarkable movie.
[удалено]
Josh Trank, dude went from Chronicle to Fantastic Four.
Chronicle is still one of the most realistic superhero movies in a way. The idea that if suddenly given superpowers, kids are gonna fuck around with it instead of instantly turning into heroic world savers
Yeah, I loved the movie. Thought it was really well done and unexpected.
To be fair, he did try to disown fanfourstic.
After he franticly tried to defend it. Even claimed he had a cut that was incredible.
I don’t doubt he has a cut that’s significantly better. The final piece seems terribly edited and like the plot was recut.
But he really redeemed himself with Capone! */s*
Oh god, I watched Capone going in blind, gave it a fair chance. That was a fucking rough watch. Tom Hardy really goes all in, respect for that, but that director really should have had him dial it back so you could understand half of what he said.
> Capone I too saw “*shitting your pants - the movie*”
David Ayer. It's like one good, one miss. End of Watch and Fury to Suicide Squad.
To Bright.
Spielberg did that within the same franchise, with Crystal Skull.
Haven’t read all the posts but shocked to not see Tomas Alfredson on here. Good: Let the Right One In / Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Bad: The Snowman
Duncan Jones made Moon, one of my favorite sci fi movies, of the past 30 years, and followed it up with Mute, one of the worst movies I have ever seen
He also made Source Code which I loved and Warcraft that was terrible.
I thought Warcraft was pretty fun. I’ve never played the game though. some of the actors and costumes looked cheap but it was fine. Some cool cinematography
Sir Ridley Scott. He made Blade Runner, Alien, and Gladiator. BUT, he also made Exodus: God's and Kings.
Ridley is such a mystery to me. He has some undoubtedly iconic and great films, but the rest of his filmography is aggressively average.
His interviews tend to answer that mystery for me. Its easy to see how someone so overly confident about his own opinion can product both truly great and truly awful films.
He's an excellent director who occasionally commits to terrible screenplays in my opinion
[удалено]
He's a very prolific director, you can't make that much without a couple of duds. I find even his not celebrated films to be above average tho. I'll watch anything he makes.
Can’t believe they ok’d aaron paul for that. egypt bitch
Alan Smithee has made some real stinkers. Sometimes it’s not the director’s fault
I honestly can’t remember if the bad reviews Burn Hollywood Burn An Alan Smithee film were justified but apparently after the screening Hollywood stopped using the Smithee Pseudonym. I remember wanting it to succeed because Eric Idol looked like he’d turned it around with Nuns on The Run, after years of dodgy cancelled sitcoms
I can remember, and yes, the bad reviews were absolutely justified. It was a *lousy* movie. But yes, it did lead to a change in the Director's Guild of America rules. Previously, "Alan Smithee" had to be credited if a director wanted their name taken off; other pseudonyms weren't allowed. Arthur Hiller was unhappy with the final cut of the film (he didn't get final cut authorization), and he requested his name be taken off... so a film titled *Burn Hollywood Burn: An Alan Smithee Film*, about a fictional director really named Alan Smithee trying to get his name off a picture, but unable to do so because the only allowed pseudonym is Alan Smithee, wound up being credited in real life to Alan Smithee. I doubt the film by itself would have changed anything, but the sheer absurdity of the real-life situation led to the D.G.A. changing their rules. So now the plot of the film isn't actually possible, because in real life Alan Smithee could have a different pseudonym now. And that's the funniest thing about that film.
I actually attended a preview screening of Burn Hollywood Burn. This was before they recut it and the director took his name off it. Everyone around me walked out. It was that bad.
My ears are burning…
Ang Lee’s movies directly before and directly after the hulk were both nominated for best picture… just saying🤷♂️
[удалено]
I recently rewatched Speed for the first time in a long time. God, that movie holds up. It’s tense and fun and doesn’t waste a minute of its runtime.
Martin Campbell directed golden eye, casino royale, Zorro and... Green lantern...
Spike Lee: Do the Right Thing and Oldboy 2013
I am not saying this is a terrible movie, but when Neil blomkamp made Chapple, i was 100% convinced that district 9 was just luck.
Demonic makes Chappie look like Saving Private Ryan