Month: May 2011

The Visionary’s Toolbox – The Long Tracking Shot

Posted on by HakSnider33

Touch of Evil

Touch of Evil (1958, dir. Orson Welles)

by HakSnider33
One of the trademarks of the hack filmmaker is the way that they often bombard you with a dizzying array of MTV-style short takes. Such rapid-fire ADD sequences may be used to mask a multitude of film-making sins, including poor fight choreography and mediocre shot composition. This visual style only requires the hack director to worry about coverage, as the footage will be handed over to a professional editor to “make the magic happen”. Conversely, a true visionary filmmaker possesses the confidence to let the action in front of the camera speak for itself.
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The worst kind of hack is a money-losing hack

Posted on by Late Night

Patrick Lussier: Hacking in 3D? (Note the now-obligatory eye logo; et tu Comic con?)

Did you see DRIVE ANGRY (in 3D!)?  Probably not.  Turns out almost no one “turned out” for the cool car + sexygirl redneck revenge fantasy.  Box Office Mojo dissed it like this:

Drive Angry was the biggest loser this week, debuting all the way down in ninth place with just $6.9 million. That’s the worst nationwide opening in the modern 3D era and the lowest-grossing start for star Nicolas Cage since The Weather Man in 2005. When adjusting for ticket price inflation and 3D premiums, it’s essentially neck-and-neck with Racing with the Moon from 1984 as Cage’s least-attended start ever.

Here it is, months later Memorial Day weekend, and the movie has only grossed $10.7 million. The audience has spoken. How much of this blame shall we lay on director Patrick Lussier?  Take a look at the clip below, and then consider that he also wrote and edited the film.   I say it’s all on him.

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Is ‘X-Men: First Class’ Director Vaughn the New Comic Book Adaptation King?

Posted on by HakSnider33

Matthew Vaughn

Does Vaughn have the X-factor?

by HakSnider33
English filmmaker Matthew Vaughn first burst on to the international film scene as a producer of his friend Guy Ritchie’s breakthrough films LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS and SNATCH.  He then made to transition into directing with the 2004 film LAYER CAKE, which starred Daniel Craig and Sienna Miller.   Layer Cake, a stylish British gangster film based on a hit novel, not only established Craig as a superstar (and the new 007), it turned Vaughn into a hot commodity in Hollywood.

His next two films, STARDUST and KICK-ASS, were adaptations of popular graphic novels.  The 2010 Kick-Ass was an independently financed film that Lions Gate placed high hopes on after footage from the film stole the show at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con.   Unfortunately, the film underperformed badly at the box office as the marketing campaign for this R-rated film failed miserably.   However, his work on the film impressed 20th Century Fox enough to select him to be Bryan Singer’s replacement as director of the upcoming X-MEN:  FIRST CLASS, which opens nationwide on June 3rd.  Does Vaughn have the chops to resuscitate an X-Men film franchise that has suffered nearly mortal wounds due to pathetic films directed by hack filmmakers such as Brett Ratner (X-MEN:  THE LAST STAND) and Gavin Hood (X-MEN ORIGINS:  WOLVERINE)?

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13 Assassins Director Miike – Too Prolific to be a Visionary?

Posted on by HakSnider33

Takeshi Miike

Takeshi Miike - Hardest Working Man in Show Business

Japanese director Takeshi Miike’s latest film, 13 ASSASSINS, a big budget remake of a 1963 classic samurai film, has been receiving a lot of hype due to its current simultaneous theatrical and VOD release by Magnolia.  Starring, top acting talent such as Koji Yakusho (SHALL WE DANCE, BABEL) and Yūsuke Iseya (MEMORIES OF MATSUKO), it has already been positioned for top awards since its premiere at the 2010 Venice Film Festival.   However, Miike first made his mark directing straight-to-video Japanese “V-Cinema” exploitation films, churning numerous films each year, including an insane 15 films in 2001 and 2002 alone.  Read More

Lars Von Trier: Visionary or Nazi?

Posted on by Late Night

Von Trier: "Persona non grata?"

Or both?  As Roman Polanski easily proved, visionary film makers can certainly be evil.  Or at least devilishly provocative like Von Trier, who was physically kicked out of the Cannes Festival (though his new film, MELANCHOLIA, remains in competition) for “joking” about being a Nazi. Read More

Thin Line Between Homage and Unoriginality

Posted on by HakSnider33

Zach Snyder

Mr Unoriginality Zach Snyder

by HakSnider33
In the year 2011, it has become very difficult to stay original as filmmaker.  Everything has been done before, so it is really difficult for director to come up something that feels fresh.  Often, the next big thing may end up just becoming a trendy short-lived gimmick such as the Matrix bullet time camera or the Saving Private Ryan strobe light battle scene effect, unless your name is Ridley Scott in which case ripping off Private Ryan becomes a way of life.   However, there is a way to redo ideas that have been done before in a stylish way, which reinvigorates the referenced material so much that the resulting end product feels like a classy homage or a new scene altogether.  Read More

Neill Blomkamp

Posted on by HakSnider33

Neill Blomkamp

Neill Blomkamp

Director Neill Blomkamp made a huge impact on the world of cinema in 2009 with his Oscar-nominated feature debut, DISTRICT 9.  How did Blomkamp go from being a virtual unknown to directing a science fiction blockbuster produced by Peter Jackon?  Well, it was a series of short films, including ALIVE IN JOBURG, the short mockumentary that ‘District 9’ is based upon and TETRA VAAL, a mock commercial for a real-life “Robocop”, that got him noticed. Read More

Who Handles a Superhero Best – Visionary or Hack?

Posted on by Mr Ridley

Kenneth Branagh, the filmmaker behind this summer's adaption of "Thor"

Summer is here and that means it’s time for popcorn fare.  This summer brings more than a few attempts to launch, re-launch (or continue) adaptions of some of our favorite superheroes.

This is big business, but can any of this summer’s interpretations hold a candle to modern day superhero classics, like Richard Donner’s “Superman” or more recently, Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight?” Read More