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What is with the big headed directors?

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Thegodzero polycounter lvl 18
I have been seeing this more any more lately, movies where the director is the writer too. This never is a good thing, every time they do that the movies suck major balls. I also notice that they only do this with existing IP's like games cartoons, and comics. It pisses me off because they kill the IP's potential for a long time.

If a studio has the rights to a IP that is hugely popular wouldn't it make more sense to get a good director and writer so that you can milk the property while its still hot with good movies.

Any of you who like preacher and are eagerly awaiting the HBO show, don't, its being written and directed by the guy who did ghost rider.

end rant.

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  • TomDunne
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    TomDunne polycounter lvl 18
    Francis Ford Coppola co-wrote the screenplays for Godfather 1 and 2.

    Peter Jackson wrote the screenplays for the LotR trilogy with his wife.

    Chris Nolan worked on the Batman Begins screenplay.

    James Cameron wrote Terminator 1 & 2, inspired by Harlan Ellison scripts for Outer Limits.

    Quentin Tarantino has written all of his screenplays, two of which (Res Dogs, Jackie Brown) are adaptations.

    end rebuttal. smile.gif
  • Jesse Moody
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    Jesse Moody polycounter lvl 17
    yeah i gotta say that Verm posted some pretty damn good examples to counter your statement.

    What movies were you thinking of TGZ?
  • Thegodzero
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    Thegodzero polycounter lvl 18
    Co-wrote means you have someone else's eyes on it too keeping you from being big headed.
    Terminator 1 & 2 had a co writer too and Godfather 1 & 2 were off books and he was helped by the writer.
    Quentin Tarantino you can tell he writes all his shit because he loves to write long ass dialogs. (not a big fan of his work BTW)
  • KeyserSoze
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    KeyserSoze polycounter lvl 18
    [ QUOTE ]
    Francis Ford Coppola co-wrote the screenplays for Godfather 1 and 2.

    Peter Jackson wrote the screenplays for the LotR trilogy with his wife.

    Chris Nolan worked on the Batman Begins screenplay.

    James Cameron wrote Terminator 1 & 2, inspired by Harlan Ellison scripts for Outer Limits.

    Quentin Tarantino has written all of his screenplays, two of which (Res Dogs, Jackie Brown) are adaptations.

    end rebuttal. smile.gif

    [/ QUOTE ]

    I would also add:

    Terry Gilliam wrote the screen adaptation for and directed Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

    Terry Gilliam wrote and directed Brazil.

    Guy Richie wrote and directed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.

    The Coen brothers both write and direct all of their movies.
  • blankslatejoe
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    blankslatejoe polycounter lvl 18
    dont be toooo bitter..the director-writer combo has been around forever...sometimes they work for better movies than you'd otherwise see. What about directors-writers like Cameron, Lucas (well, for what he's worth anyway), the wachowski (sp) bros, zach braff, tarentino, Jim Jarmusch, Paul Schrader, fellini,..heck even kurosawa worked on a lot of his own writing.

    the lines all blur in hollywood, and sometimes it works for better.

    unfortunately people like Paul Anderson and Mark S. Johnson keep getting handed the writer/director role. ick.


    EDIT: doh, spent too long working on my reply--other peoples lists are better. How couldI forget the coen bros and gilliam!!
  • Thegodzero
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    Thegodzero polycounter lvl 18
    I guess i can't blame it on the director being the writer but solely on the director sucking balls and also being the writer. The things i was referencing too i noticed some also had writers, all be it TV and bad movie writers. So i guess i can't blame it all on the directors, but don't they get to approve of the script?
  • MoP
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    MoP polycounter lvl 18
    Yeah, I was gonna mention the Coen brothers too... then again IMHO they've never made a bad movie.
  • blankslatejoe
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    blankslatejoe polycounter lvl 18
    TGZ, yeah, scripts get approved, then rewritten, then rewritten again when a producer decides the main characters need to 'surf' down a staircase or through a street on scrap metal somewhere, then rewritten again as the special effects budget falls through, the rewritten again when a VC decides he wont fund a scene unless a cute small dog is thrown in, then rewritten again when the deadline is moved up by 6 months, then rewritten again for no particular reason.

    The modern film is not a step-by-step-by-step process, everything overlaps and is all over the place and its a wonder films even get finished. But with films like FF making 200 million, what's to make studios even WANT to get things more orderly?..these crappy movies are still making enough money to not be considered flops.
  • obson
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    obson polycounter lvl 17
    Wes Anderson is another one. His movies always seem really thoroughly thought out, from the characters and their quirks to the sets and costume design. The Royal Tennenbaums being a good example.
  • Vermeulen
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    Vermeulen polycounter lvl 18
    Don't you hate massive collaboration movies?
    These days the big budget movies are usually formed by committee, with no original idea ever getting through.
    Good movies are always one persons sole vision. It's almost impossible to have a group or committee ever create something original, they never take the risks and the ideas get lost in all the compromising.

    I can understand what your talking about though, and I think thats more just some directors not listening to their audience or any suggestions. With something like The Fountain, the director can go so into it he loses what it's like to actually see it from an audience prospective over 2 hours, it becomes too personal and complex. Or with the wachowski brothers, where once they had total control there was no one to tell them what worked and what didn't.
  • skankerzero
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    Don't forget Richard Guest, he writes and co writes all his stuff, and it's fantastic. (Best in Show, Spinal Tap, etc.)
  • blankslatejoe
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    blankslatejoe polycounter lvl 18
    i think you mean christopher guest skanker--he is badass indeed.
  • Richard Kain
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    Richard Kain polycounter lvl 18
    Didn't Clint Eastwood write and direct a film that was pretty good? I could be wrong about that, but I think I remember hearing about it somewhere. I'm pretty sure it was a good movie too...hmmmm...I'll have to look it up.
  • skankerzero
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    oh whoops, my bad... my mind must have replaced names in the time it took for me to switch from imdb and here.
  • Josh_Singh
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    Josh_Singh polycounter lvl 18
    Richard Kain, are you thinking of Unforgiven? The saint of killers in preacher was based on William Munny from unforgiven. Preacher owns just getting into it, It's my fave right now.
    Can't wait for the Preacher series. I actually saw Ghost rider the other night. Wasn't that bad really, Can't stand Cage, and Eva Mendez sucks, I wish it was darker and meaner too. But I liked the Old west stuff should have just been about the old west rider, but I digress.
  • Michael Knubben
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    Richard Kain could also mean Mystic River, i think, which was a pretty good movie.
    Another example of writer/director in one: Michel Gondry. Not everyones cup of tea i'll admit, but he's made two very fine movies that i enjoyed thoroughly, and i'll assume his older ones aren't too shabby either.
  • warby
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    warby polycounter lvl 18
    couldn't disagree more if somethings is written and directed by the same person ... it usually tells me that there is someone at the work WHO REALLY CARES and the end result is awesome

    Cameron aranofski nolan etc...


    let me just go through my favorite 30 movies of all times and see if the conditions are meat. ..

    01. fight club "nope"
    02. leon "check"
    03. blade runner "nope"
    04. end of evangelion "check"
    05. brazil "check"
    06. memento "check"
    07. city of god "nope"
    08. requiem for a dream "check"
    09. amelie "check"
    10. princess mononoke "check"
    11. se7en "nope"
    12. akira "check"
    13. a very long engagement "nope"
    14. terminator 2 "check"
    15. saving private ryan "nope"
    16. v for vendetta "nope"
    17. city of lost children "check"
    18. casino "nope"
    19. spirited away "check"
    20. equilibrium "check"
    21. cube "check"
    22. lock stock and 2 smoking barrels "check"
    23. 12 monkeys "nope"
    24. porco rosso "check"
    25. goodfellas "check"
    26. pi "check"
    27. ghost in the shell "nope"
    28. the matrix "check"
    29. aliens "check"
    30. heat "check"

    2 out of 3 my favorite movies are written and directed by the same person
  • jaalto
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    jaalto polycounter lvl 13
    btw blankslatejoe, offtopic..

    Is that avatar you have Indiana Jones? smile.gif
  • blankslatejoe
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    blankslatejoe polycounter lvl 18
    smile.gif yup --temple of doom
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