One way or another, they get everyone.
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posted by William @ 7/25/2008 4:53 PM
These were not ideologically outsider filmmakers to begin with. These directors were 'indie' because they didn't have the money to construct the spectacles they wanted in the first place. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with that or what they are making- but I don't see any of these filmmakers as taking any jarring career turns just because they had do-it-yourself roots.
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posted by Wiley @ 7/25/2008 6:09 PM
I don't know, the original Robocop was pretty edgy for its time. It was Verhoeven's first real American success and I can see why Aronofsky would be attracted to it. And it's not the first big budget film that he's been attached to. Remember he was in line to do Batman Begins at one point.
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posted by Scott Macaulay @ 7/25/2008 6:26 PM
The Fountain was the writing on the wall for Aronofsky. Between the money spent on the original version that fell apart and the version finally made, that was $70M minimum. And it didn't even tank, it just farted. He needs to make something that makes money now. Period.
The issue isn't whether or not these directors started indie, it's what you do once you've hit it big within the system that counts.
Both Nolan and Singer have shown no real desire to use their clout to do unconventional work. Steven Soderbergh, on the other hand, has made a consistent point of continued experimentation.
Don't forget, it was Spartacus that funded Stanley Kubrick's canon...
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posted by @ 7/25/2008 7:43 PM
That's a topic I was hoping someone would bring up, Anonymous. Who out of this group is going to use their clout to stray from the Hollywood coin and make something unconventional?
Do any of these guys still have the drive? Aronofsky I believe will still do it.
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posted by Jason Guerrasio @ 7/25/2008 8:49 PM
I should probably add that I am a big fan of the original Robocop, and I don't think Aronofsky has the sense of humor to do an adaptation in the same perversely funny spirit. He takes himself too seriously. Robocop was also such a great satire of the time it was made, how can you even really have Robocop without the atmosphere of the 80's?
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posted by Wiley @ 7/27/2008 6:16 PM
Wiley - It's funny you bring this up because I saw Robocop a few weeks ago and I couldn't believe how over the top violent it was but in a tongue and cheek way. I guess so much time has passed since I first saw it I was taken off guard.
I don't see these filmmakers as sell-outs. The comment I made above was half-joking. It's more like they're taking their talents and vision to the next level with other talented people and more often than not bleeding edge technology. The truth is if it is exploitable, Hollywood will exploit it. That's no big secret. That includes talented.
Aronofsky is an interesting choice and I don't really see him bringing back that 80's feel. I mean, what's the point? I think that would be redundant and too obvious a choice, I think Aronofsky is smarter than that. I do believe him to be different than the others mentioned though. He's kind of an outsider in a sense. He makes these big, ambitious films but they have this hand-made quality to them, especially The Fountain.
I'm not big on remakes because they have come to be just an excuse to basically print money if there's a bankable cache but I am looking forward to Aronofsky's version.
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posted by William @ 7/27/2008 8:33 PM
Even if we lose the 80's bent of the film, to lose the humor, and more importantly to lose the pointed cultural satire of it would be to lose the movie. Which is largely what the rash of remakes we are seeing have done. They take the surface trappings of the movie, plot, bits of trivia and set dressing, and they lose the meat of the movie. I fully expect an Aronofsky Robocop not to be about anything, i.e. to be some preachy metaphysical pondering on what it means to be human and zzzzzzzz.
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posted by Wiley @ 7/28/2008 11:05 AM
"Both Nolan and Singer have shown no real desire to use their clout to do unconventional work."
Anonymous - Singer is directing The Mayor of Castro Street which I think is a far cry from Superman.
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posted by William @ 7/28/2008 3:25 PM
Singer isn't directing jack. Van Sant beat him to it with Milk.
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posted by @ 7/29/2008 12:11 AM
I know Van Sant had the jump on that project, just wasn't sure if the project was dead for Singer.
I think Singer's work lacks soul (Superman was pretty shallow) and maybe the Milk project was a chance for him to get into something more personal. Oh well.
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posted by William @ 7/29/2008 3:16 AM
