Marc Forster: getting away with it

I was just trying to think of somebody who sounded out of left field for a big studio action pic is all.

Fleischer did manage to swing between those poles for awhile, didn't he? I mean you had COMPULSION and STRANGLER along with the more mainstream hit-oriented stuff.

Recently I've gotten it into my head that the guy who wrote & directed THE STATION AGENT and THE VISITOR needs to get into mainstream studio filmmaking while retaining his own sensibilities.

Thomas McCarthy?

I actually liked World War Z...the special effects with the doomed airliner were much better in Z than in Solace. Heard a sequel is in the cards.



With that said, and its success at the BO...it's not a stinker in my book. And this is coming from someone who though she'd never touch a Forster film or enjoy a Brad Pitt movie again. Mind you, Solace is still unbearable to watch...

Some terrible editing in that clip.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Some terrible editing in that clip.

It's a trailer...  

I might check it out on rental, since I've heard some good things about it.

I've heard nothing good about it, even in the so-called 'thumbs up' reviews.

Largo's Shark wrote:

I've heard nothing good about it, even in the so-called 'thumbs up' reviews.

It's at least worth a rental on blu-ray, so open up that fucking wallet and let some fresh air inside  

I do quite enjoy QOS as well as WWZ, among other things because of the editing. I like the rough edge and leftfieldedness it gives those films.

boldfinger wrote:

I do quite enjoy QOS as well as WWZ, among other things because of the editing. I like the rough edge and leftfieldedness it gives those films.

I would suggest that the editing of WWZ is both more appropriate and better oriented than it was for QoS although it still suffers by its blanket application to all action, there is no diversity in approach or style and the action as a result rapidly feels very samey and distant.

Interesting career retrospective/interview in this week's Empire.

Here's the Bond bit:

Quote :

So after that, Quantum Of Solace must've seemed like a walk in the park.
Not quite a walk in the park (laughs). Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson are great producers producers, the best I've ever worked with - fantastic. So you have a well-oiled machine and you're in such good hands, even though you don't have a script (laughs). It makes it easier, even when you only have half a script. That was the problem there. You had Casino Royale, which came from the best book by Ian Fleming, and three or four years to develop the script. You have Skyfall, another three years to develop a script. We were in the middle - 'Here, three months, make a movie.' And as a director you can only do as much as you have on the page.

In that case, why did you take it on?
Because I believed the script would come. But it never did! (Laughs). At one point I felt like pulling out but I didn't. Barbara and Michael and Eon wanted to make the movie and I thought we'd pull it off.

Are you happy with the end result?
I am, actually. Barbara and Michael wanted something to follow on immediately after Casino Royale, so I see it more as a '70s revenge thriller: lots of action, very fast paced.

Apparently Daniel Craig was a big fan of yours and he recommended you to Barbara Broccoli.
That could be true. I really wanted to work with Daniel. I have a lot of respect for him and he's fantastic as an actor.

Best Bond ever?
Yeah, he is incredible.

Did you also want to direct a Bond movie? It's quite a notch on your belt.
There was a lot of press about how difficult it was to shoot World War Z, but Kite Runner was much more dramatic
Yeah, that was another thing. When do you get an opportunity like that? And if you turn it down once, they're not going to come back (Laughs). They wanted me to do Skyfall but after Quantum I was so tired that doing another Bond just seemed too exhausting.

Do you regret that now, having seen the movie?
I don't regret it, but Skyfall had such a good script. I wish, in retrospect, we'd had a better script on Quantum.

http://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=1803

Quote :

What first made you want to become a filmmaker?
My parents took me to see Apocalypse Now when I was fifteen. I was so blown away by it that I said to them, 'I'm going to be a filmmaker.' They said 'Oh, it's just a phase, you'll grow out of it.' But I didn't, and when I finished high school I met this guy who became kind of a benefactor. He said, 'Okay, I'll pay for your first year of film school, and if you have any talent I'll keep paying.'

Largo's Shark wrote:

Must be screwing the right people.

Guess I was right.

Funny about his remarks on the script, given that Purvis & Wade already had a draft that was near completed but he rejected it in favor of hiring Haggis to write up a new one, and then the writers strike happened.