Where the Bad Directors Are...

By the numbers is what Execs really want, don't let them fool you...

Ok, let's talk film. This is total comedy film fans. Total comedy. Where the Wild Things Are, the book by Maruice Sendak. The new film is By Spike Jonze. Yet, Partick Goldstein of the LA Times writes here that the film has been pushed back from an October 2008 release date to an indefinite release date. The reason? Well early test screening with kids have had them literally run out of the theater with frightened screaming. They think it is scary. What is Spike Jonze vision? Well it appears according to this article that he did not want to use CGI. He used people in Animal suits with animated faces. he also used puppets on strings. It turned out to be awful. Now let's take a look at a few quotes from the Warner's exec here first. I will show you how out of touch these execs are as if you didn't know already. Well, maybe it's just PR. Maybe I am being to harsh. I mean if a project fails, you have to expect execs out there covering their butt with PR. I understand that. Here is the PR.

"We've given him more money and, even more importantly, more time for him to work on the film," Horn said. "We'd like to find a common ground that represents Spike's vision but still offers a film that really delivers for a broad-based audience. We obviously still have a challenge on our hands. But I wouldn't call it a problem, simply a challenge. No one wants to turn this into a bland, sanitized studio movie. This is a very special piece of material and we're just trying to get it right."

"But I would not call it a problem", he says? Ok, you are all savvy Hollywood players. I think you can see through this like a newly cleaned, large window. When Horn says "Very special piece of material" and the word "Challenge" twice, this says to me the film is Handicapped. Something is very wrong. He said it. This is actually really bad PR. Horn is essentially calling this project "retarded". Look it's there. "Very special"..."Challenged"..Twice!

But like I said that is expected. PR is indispensable when you're going down in flames. Horn's project is in flames and he is calling it special. Fine. Save your butt Horn. You're not fooling anyone. The real problem I have with this article is Goldstein himself. He is stepping out in front of the material and saying that Warner Bros hires artistic directors to do big projects. Artistic directors? Aren't all directors artistic? Well according to Goldstein, no. He calls Chris Columbus a paint by numbers director in the same article. Here is the thing with this. Like any construction project, a studio goes with the lowest bidder.

It's not secret. A studio exec has an idea and whoever the lowest bidder is with the biggest name, they will hire. I have a problem with calling the Studios artistic. They are not where near artistic. Actually, I can tell you right now that Alan Horn here of Warner Bros. had no idea what he was getting into. He thought he was hiring a "quirky" director like Tim Burton. Did he even do research into Spike Jonze? I don't think so. If he has seen Being John Malkovich or Adaption, he would know he made a big mistake. Spike is a loon. He is a bad director. Those two films were bad. They were not good. They got labeled under the title of "quirky, independent film" but they in essence were bad. We know what Independent film is anyway. It is bad film that is given that title in order to be forgivable. What? It didn't appeal to all audiences? Well it's independent! That's what it is.

Well Goldstein is giving this Horn exec too much credit. He went with a big name and low bidder and he got stuck footing a bad film. Another quote here, by Horn, "We try to take a few shots," he said. "Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. The jury is still out on this one. But we remain confident that Spike is going to figure things out and at the end of the day we'll have an artistically compelling movie."

"Artistically compelling"? It's a kid's movie Horn. It's Where the Wild Things Are. It's a kid's book. Since when is a kid's film compelling? It's absurd. Horn stepped in it here and he has taken the film off of the release schedule. He is using really bad PR to cover it up. AND Mr. Goldstein, please do not think these execs are thinking creatively. They are not. They are looking for fresh, big names with low salaries. This is the truth. And Goldstein here is saying that this is artistic. If Horn was thinking artistically, he would have story boarded the film himself and found a director that shares his vision. Execs are not artistic. They are number's people.

Moving on...So there are a few negative reviews for the Dark Knight. They are few and far between, but they are there. A few reviewers have said that the film is too overstuffed and too long. Well I think the same can be said with Braveheart or the Godfather. I cannot completely argue this cause I have not seen it. I am going Saturday night to see it in IMAX in Irvine. So after then I could comment. But I do know that a few reporters/reviewers like to say negative things just to say them. I have heard negative things about American Beauty and Toy Story two of the most loved movies ever. Reviewers say negative things just to hear themselves. Especially that New Yorker guy. My advice, don't listen to OVERSTUFFED or TOO LONG. That is total knit picking. Its gonna be an unbelievable piece and no one reporter will stop us from thinking that. I know film fans, a lot of senseless babbling, I will try to do better tomorrow. Until Tomorrow! Let's talk film!