Word on "Water"
"I'd go easy on the sympathy angle for Night," a guy has advised me. "I've seen Lady in the Water and it's an utterly fascinating portrait of a man's fragile, out-of-control ego. As a story, it's worthless. As a director, Night used to be able to create a sense of apprehension with the best of them. Now, he can't even summon that." Hold up...I didn't say anything about the film, or my support or sympathy for it. I said I respect Michael Bamberger's book about Night, and Night's courage in exposing himself so nakedly. "[Disney chief] Nina Jacobson nailed everything wrong with the movie and Night did nothing to fix it," my correspondent continues. "When you cast yourself as a writer whose 'great thoughts' will be 'the seeds of change,' that a young man will hear these great thoughts and become president and lead a great reform, then you are setting yourself up for ridicule. And when you make the movie's bad guy a film critic, a man who would be 'so arrogant as to assume the intent of others,' you are setting yourself up for a stake-burning. But then, he will be able to delude himself that the critics have it out for them because he dared to agitate them. And I say all this as someone who wanted to like the movie. God knows Hollywood needs original voices telling original stories. But, clearly, Night needs to listen to other voices besides the ones rattling around in his head."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 10, 2006 at 10:44 PM
comment #1
gh says ...
off topic
but can someone post a link to Wells McConaughey is the anti-Christ "king of the empties" piece. I have searched the site high and low and am unable to find it.
Was it removed?
Posted by gh at July 10, 2006 11:19 PM
comment #2
larry says ...
Michael Bamberger makes a total fool of himself, and Night comes out looking like an asshole in the book.
Posted by larry at July 10, 2006 11:19 PM
comment #3
JF says ...
Interesting - looks like the "King of the Empties" piece *was* removed. Why, Jeff...outside pressure?
Posted by JF at July 11, 2006 12:08 AM
comment #4
Pinko Punko says ...
It looks like a lot of "word" items are intact from the swtich over to the new place, but I can't tell if all the regular posts are there. Things get lost. Why would Jeff burn the piece, there are references to it all over?
Posted by Pinko Punko at July 11, 2006 1:00 AM
comment #5
Steve C. says ...
It's sad to see that my prediction after UNBREAKABLE is becoming more true with each film Night makes: that as a writer he shot his wad with his first films and each one after will get progressively thinner.
Just as Tim Burton is a mediocre filmmaker but a fantastic production designer, Night is a very decent (and could so easily be great) director who instead wants to be a writer.
Perhaps we should make the box office for LADY IN THE WATER an intervention: everyone stay home and perhaps he'll finally take the big step of directing something he didn't write or conceive. Come back in 5 - 10 years when he's experience enough of life to perhaps write something truly interesting.
Posted by Steve C. at July 11, 2006 1:36 AM
comment #6
Daniel Zelter says ...
Burton was a good filmmaker once. He just stopped caring around the time Mars Attacks came out. Blame it on that self-aware crap which pervaded the decade around that time, but his films stopped being about the fantasy, and started being about the social commentary behind the fantasy, which is when I stopped showing interest. I still saw the Charlie remake, but only because of Depp, which is probably the same reason most people saw it. Anyway, even if Lady in the Water's a hit, it's not gonna be a good year for Warners after the double whammy from Poseidon and Superman Returns.
Posted by Daniel Zelter at July 11, 2006 2:24 AM
comment #7
Pauly says ...
The 6th sense was good, but a little overrated, Unbreakable was very good and underrated, but I think his ego went out of control after that. Signs was a movie I should have loved, but he kept using the same formula of the cute precocious kid that's more like a depressed adult...and it started pissing me off. The scene in Signs when the kid is screaming in the field, Mel goes to him asking what's wrong, then the kid grabs Mels face and turns it toward the crop circle (they did the same type of scene in Jurassic park and I hated it then too)...I was ready to puke, felt like I'd just been Shyamalan'd. Then he put himself into the movie, badly acting the scene where he gives away a key point (the water thing)...maybe he could get Julia Roberts to star with him in Runaway Ego.
Now with the commercials for Lady he's using the whispering kid voice and I'm ready to scream every time I hear it. Night is over and I'm ready for the morning (lol, sorry that was dumb).
Posted by Pauly at July 11, 2006 5:33 AM
comment #8
Colin says ...
Here's the McConaughey piece:
http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archives/2006/03/marquee_value.php
Posted by Colin at July 11, 2006 6:14 AM
comment #9
Chris says ...
I wouldn't lump Burton and Night together too much. ... Big Fish was an outstanding film.
Posted by Chris at July 11, 2006 8:15 AM
comment #10
oddDuck says ...
offtopic, but gotta say that the McConaughey ant-christ piece reads even better the second time. it's so entertaining that i bet even McConaughey would get a kick out of it.
Posted by oddDuck at July 11, 2006 8:18 AM
comment #11
JF says ...
ah, thanks Colin. it was older than I thought
Posted by JF at July 11, 2006 12:22 PM