5 Directors you hate. Period.

Christopher Nolan
Michael Bay

STEVEN SPIELBERG

JAMES CAMERON










(And others will join them - perhaps PTA?)

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Sorry, but whatever anyone's problems with Nolan are (and I know everyone round here seems to hate him), the claim that Nolan's Batman is "Homoerotic Closeted Batman" made me laugh out loud. Nolan's Batman's primary motivation for all three of Nolan's films is to get laid. He retires from being Batman when the girl he has a crush on dies. Then the instant Marion Cotillard shows up in the rain at his house he shags her. And then concocts an elaborate heroic faked death so that he can go bang Anne Hathaway in Italy for the rest of his life.

Obviously he's over-compensating and is in denial ;)

Well, I like Nolan's Batman films. Okay, I haven't seen the latest one yet, but I enjoyed the first two, especially Dark Knight, so I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Let the stoning commence ;)

I've got far more time for James Cameron than I have George Lucas. They seem fairly similar in a way - they create universes for their stories to live in - but Cameron is far more intelligent about it than Lucas.

Ravenstone wrote:

I've got far more time for James Cameron than I have George Lucas. They seem fairly similar in a way - they create universes for their stories to live in - but Cameron is far more intelligent about it than Lucas.

Cameron is a master storyteller and his films have all maintained an astonishingly high level of quality, whereas Lucas seems to have struck gold a couple times but hasn't produced anything of quality since the early 80s. The best thing with Lucas' name attached to it (The Empire Strikes Back) was arguably made great by everyone else who was involved with it, and not Lucas.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Christopher Nolan and Christopher Neame are secretly related.

I think John Castle secretly fathered them both, but the mother must have been lighter-haired.

The only Cameron movies I like are TERMINATOR and ALIENS, from when he knew how to do more with less, rather than his current movies that are over-stuffed with nothing at all.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

The only Cameron movies I like are TERMINATOR and ALIENS, from when he knew how to do more with less, rather than his current movies that are over-stuffed with nothing at all.

Aliens, Titanic and Avatar are his 3 masterpieces.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

The only Cameron movies I like are TERMINATOR and ALIENS, from when he knew how to do more with less, rather than his current movies that are over-stuffed with nothing at all.

This. I do enjoy TRUE LIES though, despite it being ridiculously long.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

The only Cameron movies I like are TERMINATOR and ALIENS, from when he knew how to do more with less, rather than his current movies that are over-stuffed with nothing at all.

It's something of a guilty pleasure, but every 3 or 4 years I wind up watching T2 again, and instead of skipping to the FX scenes, I actually see the whole thing all over again. But other than that, I agree with your choices re: Cameron. .

I like to look at the backgrounds of Titanic, but I hate the actual film itself. Tagging a fictitious romance onto the tragedy just feels cheap and nasty to me. There are so many true stores for Titanic that could fuel a plot line without nicking Romeo and Juliet and sticking it on a boat, with extra ice.

RE: T2. I only ever watch the longer cuts. Is the theatrical cut better, as with ALIENS?

With that movie, I just can't get over how they ruin the whole idea of having a shapeshifting villain Terminator who could be anyone or anything at any time (he can be the fucking floor!!!) by having him attack John Conner with a huge semi in the LA river. So much for subtly and suspense. Then he pulls a Darth Maul and disappears for an hour.

Still a watchable movie, though.

I just marvel at how the Cameron who could take a B-movie budget, make it look like gold, and then get a huge return on investment (TERMINATOR, ALIENS) became the Cameron who directs sprawling, over-budget, over-scedule, messes with no story (THE ABYSS, TRUE LIES, AVATAR)

The White Tuxedo wrote:

RE: T2. I only ever watch the longer cuts. Is the theatrical cut better, as with ALIENS?
.

I've only seen the longer cut once, so I'm not sure which is better. In fact, I can't even remember what was added. Was it the Kyle Reese dream? I'm pretty sure the chromed-over Washington DC future ending isn't on any version, it is just an extra, right?

My memories of T2 are mainly that I was shocked & embarrassed about getting all misty at the end. Shoot, I'm proud that MAGNFICENT 7 can do that to me, but getting all choked up over T2 seems roughly equivalent to becoming weepy-eyed at the end of BACKDRAFT when Kurt Russell looks over and says, "That's my BROTHER." (only saw it the one time 20 years ago and it still makes me laugh to think about how bad that was.)

F/S - Whenever I think back on ABYSS, I remember that the genesis was a story Cameron devised in highschool. Then I think about the same story as Besson tells it about 5th ELEMENT, and it makes me think that nobody learns anything in high school!

I think there is a good hunk of okay stuff in ABYSS, but it all has to do with the realworld aspect, not the SF element, which feels wrong like some unpleasant drunk lady you've just met trying to french you.

trevanian wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

RE: T2. I only ever watch the longer cuts. Is the theatrical cut better, as with ALIENS?
.

I've only seen the longer cut once, so I'm not sure which is better. In fact, I can't even remember what was added. Was it the Kyle Reese dream? I'm pretty sure the chromed-over Washington DC future ending isn't on any version, it is just an extra, right?

I have the DVD with the happy ending version as an easter egg, as in you can watch the movie with that ending. It also adds in another scene or two beyond what's in the extended version.

Joel Schumacher - George Clooney is such a gent to take the blame for Batman & Robin tanking, but we all know where the real blame lay. The writing was on the wall in Batman Forever (in dayglo colours).

Paul Veerhoven - for Total Recall, Showgirls and Starship Troopers especially.

Sylvester Stallone - from Staying Alive to Rambo 4 & The Expendables ("I explode heads now - exploding heads are cool!").

Jay Roach - the first Austin Powers OK, but Shagged and Goldmember?!

Sam Peckinpah - mindless bloody violence on the screen to make a statement about midless bloody violence in the real world - thanks, Sam, and thanks especially for inspiring Paul Veerhoven.

Quote :

Sam Peckinpah - mindless bloody violence

There's nothing mindless about violence in Peckinpah's cinema. That's a dangerous misunderstanding that Tarantino and others of his generation (though I wouldn't count Verhoeven) took to heart, if they even have one.

I'd put Verhoeven as a generation before Tarantino, but I agree that Peckinpah is not about mindless violence. There's a ton of directors one could point fingers to on that, but don't point to Peckinpah.

And I'm a Verhoeven fan.

Dunno if Ive posted it in this thread, but Kevin Smith rubs me the wrong way.

Back to Peckinpah, THE WILD BUNCH gets all the attention. Watch RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY. It's the furthest thing from mindless violence.

Okay, I seem to have it nerve here, and I have to admit that after seeing Cross of Iron and The Wild bunch, I haven't been interested in exposing myself to Straw Dogs or anything else of Pekinpah's, so I suppose I'm not really qualified to condemn him.

Although I always get a laugh out of Monty Python's version of 'Salad Days' as directed by ol' Sam.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Back to Peckinpah, THE WILD BUNCH gets all the attention. Watch RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY. It's the furthest thing from mindless violence.

I also recommend JUNIOR BONNER. Very gentle film and possibly McQueen's finest performance.

Largo's Shark wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Back to Peckinpah, THE WILD BUNCH gets all the attention. Watch RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY. It's the furthest thing from mindless violence.

I also recommend JUNIOR BONNER. Very gentle film and possibly McQueen's finest performance.

I like the film. More Joe Don Baker, too.

AMC Hornet wrote:

Okay, I seem to have it nerve here, and I have to admit that after seeing Cross of Iron and The Wild bunch, I haven't been interested in exposing myself to Straw Dogs or anything else of Pekinpah's, so I suppose I'm not really qualified to condemn him.

Although I always get a laugh out of Monty Python's version of 'Salad Days' as directed by ol' Sam.

I like the piano bit.

I'd say check out RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY. It's a sorta last-of-the-old/first-of-the-new kinda Western. THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE is also interesting, very offbeat.

Though BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA may not be to your liking.