comment #1

AH says ...

Mr. Wells, should you go around trusting Finke's claims without corroborating them first?

comment #2

VoiceOfReason says ...

Jeff,

Ordinarily I agree with your thoughts. But 'Jesse James', really? I was at a Guild screening and fell asleep 25 minutes in. I woke up at the 45-minute mark, to find a chorus of snores around me.

Afterwards I spoke with a respected filmmaker who's words were: Yeah, I enjoy Terrence Malick's work.

What say you?

comment #3

T. Holly says ...

I missed that Guild screening, are there more?

comment #4

colby says ...

I was watching The New World again over the weekend and noticed that Andrew Dominik was thanked in the credits. Does anyone know what he would have done with the film (or Malick) to receive this acknowledgement? Just sparked my curiosity.

comment #5

T. Holly says ...

I don't know Colby, but I got a great Colby walkman DVD player that I'm really digging walking around with.

I think it's hilarious how Nikki puts this story out late on Friday, and then (as I imagine it), crawls up in bed for the weekend. I guess things went from bad to worse with the sweet emails and phone calls, and then the hammer got dropped. But, I only thought about her late Friday post once this weekend until now, and that was when Wells ran the Beowulf story. Ian swears the film isn't watered down except for some swearing coming out of the film. I thought, "what would Robinov do? Does Paramount have the same credo?" Otakuhouse, I'm still waiting for you answer in that thread.

comment #6

rgmax99 says ...

Warner Bros. is not only dropping the ball with JJ -- which, obviously, hasn't opened in my market -- but also with MICHAEL CLAYTON. WB didn't even place an ad in our major market newspaper for it.

And why would they even think about re-releasing 2001 in 2008?

They have absolutely no clue...

comment #7

corey3rd says ...

i fell asleep 14 minutes into Last American Werewolf in Tokyo.

Maybe it's his favorite film for events that transpired out of camera range?

Michael Clayton tanked because people don't have a clue what it's about other than a bunch of people in suits confusing the crap out of each other. Most of that call that "work." There was no sizzle sold on that steak outside of "see George Clooney act!" You gotta bait a hook with a wiggling worm.

comment #8

RoyBatty says ...

You would think by this time, I would be inured of shoot-from-the-hip, knee-jerk logic like using one film to bash the tastes of an industry professional from Wells. Yet here's another déclaration provocateur that questions the writer's intelligence more than his subject.

Film, as I repeat ad nauseum, is a very personal, subjective art form. People respond to it based on long laundry list of prejudices. Considering that the film was made at Warner's under Horn probably has a lot to do with it.

And the phrasing is "one of his favorite." Until there's a fuller list, seems pretty foolhardy to question his tastes over one film that could very well be on a list of 100 favorites.

comment #9

iamjoe says ...

I agree with rgmax99, Warner Bros cannot market a movie that doesn't have a cereal box tie in of late, and even then they are messing it up.
Jesse James should at least have more awareness if not the box office. And the excellent Micheal Clayton should be hitting it out of the park. Bad, bad, and bad, Warners.

comment #10

gruver1 says ...

Wells to Roy Batty: "One of his favorites" is NOT the phrase, goddammit -- it's "one of his favorite films of ALL TIME." That's like putting in the relative sphere of "Sunrise," Some Like It Hot," "Au Hasard Balthazar," "The Godfather," etc. Give me a break.

comment #11

RoyBatty says ...

Give ME a break, it's the same difference. Plus, he didn't say "It's one of the greatest films of all time" but HIS favorite.

An easy analogy for me and I would guess MANY on this blog is the fact that on a personal best list I would have STAR WARS much higher than EMPIRE STRIKES BACK - simply because that was the film that first really hooked me at a certain age. EMPIRE is the much better film, but for me personally doesn't have the same impact.

Again, considering that Horn probably had involvement in bringing the film to the screen and was pleased with the results has a lot to do with his appraisal of it.

And "Au Hasard Balthazar" is very overrated piece of cinema.

comment #12

RoyBatty says ...

Give ME a break, it's the same difference. Plus, he didn't say "It's one of the greatest films of all time" but HIS favorite.

An easy analogy for me and I would guess MANY on this blog is the fact that on a personal best list I would have STAR WARS much higher than EMPIRE STRIKES BACK - simply because that was the film that first really hooked me at a certain age. EMPIRE is the much better film, but for me personally doesn't have the same impact.

Again, considering that Horn probably had involvement in bringing the film to the screen and was pleased with the results has a lot to do with his appraisal of it.

And "Au Hasard Balthazar" is very overrated piece of cinema.

comment #13

themutilator says ...

Damn, I was just going to say the same thing.

Favorite is different than best. I KNOW my favorite movie is not THE BEST movie ever made.

comment #14

TheJeff says ...

"And the phrasing is "one of his favorite." Until there's a fuller list, seems pretty foolhardy to question his tastes over one film that could very well be on a list of 100 favorites."

I would question the taste and judgment of someone who put THE LAST SAMURAI in a list of their 1,000 favorite films. It's perfectly reasonable to call Robinov's judgment into question since he potentially has the power to determine which movies Warner will and will not make. I would certainly prefer someone whose taste ventured beyond the middlebrow to be in such a position.

comment #15

AndrewMallet says ...

Tom Cruise does have great hair - is that enough?

I spit on anyone who says THE LAST SAMURAI is even watchable. movie is vomit. I would fight Ed Zwick if I saw him.

comment #16

T. Holly says ...

I don't even think it's one of Tom Cruise's favorite movies of all time, but you know who loves it? Dr. Rey, the smoldering Brazilian plastic surgeon on "Dr. 90210" who relaxes in the operating room swinging nunchuks and likes to escape his nagging wife and ugly kids into his real-world karate/samurai fantasy life. Except this season, he's back to banging his wife, so his karate is suffering.

There's no accounting for taste, and then there's just bad taste.

comment #17

soap-and-water says ...

just when i was hoping that mallet guy would get banned he works his way into my heart with a single post.
get a sublime mental image of him and zwick throwing clumsy punches at one another outside a Hollywood bar.

comment #18

otakuhouse says ...

I don't know about Fink's latest post. Maybe Horn considers it one of his favorite movies because of his experience being involved in its production and has fond memories of it. My girlfriend defends a horrible feature she worked on all the time because her experience working on it was wonderful. He can hardly be considered objective about the thing.

Fink's post about this weekend bo is more evidence of her shrill inane glee in people failing - the only thing she really seems to care about. She pillorizes Clooney for Clayton's financial performance and tosses off some rejoinders about why people don't realize he isn't worth it, while mentioning its one of the best reveiwed movies of the year. Instead of seeing that Clooney chooses challenging and smart material box office be damned, she seems to be setting up the day she can say "I used to tell everyone, George Clooney isn't worth it!" in an elle magazine piece.

Speaking of which, another movie with horrible marketing. I love me a smart movie but fuck if I had any idea what it was about other than great actors and white collar professionals going apeshit after seeing the trailer.

comment #19

jeffmcm says ...

There are probagly about a million young dudes out there who think the same thing about The Last Samurai. Actionman? LexG?

And Some Like It Hot is a good movie but it's not a best-of-all-time either. It's not even in the top tier of Billy Wilder movies (The Apartment, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard).

comment #20

Terry McCarty says ...

oaktuhouse wrote:
Fink's post about this weekend bo is more evidence of her shrill inane glee in people failing - the only thing she really seems to care about. She pillorizes Clooney for Clayton's financial performance and tosses off some rejoinders about why people don't realize he isn't worth it, while mentioning its one of the best reveiwed movies of the year...

I said it before and will say it again:
If you work for a NEW TIMES publication, you are likely mandated to write in a pugnacious style. Which explains why Nikki is one of the few columnists to be carried over from the pre-NEW TIMES regime at L.A. WEEKLY.

comment #21

Terry McCarty says ...

A comment about Nikki's Robinov/Alan Horn article: given that Horn was prominent at Castle Rock--and given that Rob Reiner is still a favored director at WB--it shouldn't be all that shocking that Horn prefers his big studio product MOR.

comment #22

Spacesheik says ...

THE LAST SAMURAI!

The flick climaxed with an army of experienced Samurai getting slaughtered (including veteran Ken Watanabe) and the only survivor happens to be Tom Cruise who...

...even gets to pontificate the Emperor of Japan at the closing about the evils of imperialism!

Gimme a fucking break.

If that's Robinov's favorite film, he deserves to get lambasted by Finke.

comment #23

T. S. Idiot says ...

Are there any studio execs with good taste or who are knowledgeable about film history?

comment #24

Andrew says ...

"Instead of seeing that Clooney chooses challenging and smart material box office be damned, she seems to be setting up the day she can say "I used to tell everyone, George Clooney isn't worth it!"

Why is that surprising? She's not a critic or pretending to be one. She's not even a film lover. That's her schtick, and probably the reason people keep reading her column.

comment #25

arch451 says ...

arch451 to VoiceOfReason: I saw Jesse James last Saturday and I'm still thinking about it because it is such a powerful film. I'm sorry you didn't see all of it. The direction, alone, was enough to keep me riveted. And the acting was exceptional, even if you didn't like the screenplay, which I loved.

comment #26

otakuhouse says ...

because, andrew, fink's high horse is all about how idiotic the movie business is. how you can take that thesis without considering qualitative arguments...

comment #27

DarthCorleone says ...

This made me laugh, too, Jeff. That still immediately brought to mind your old rant about Tom character's immortality in the final scene and the "Werewolves of London" Color Of Money reference you tied into it. Thanks.

comment #28

maria says ...

AndrewMallet, you spit on me I shit on you!

I LOVE THE LAST SAMURAI AND AM PROUD OF IT

YOU are so full of yourself you lazy bashers! do this movie that I can laugh.
I love movies, you love to criticize because you have no talent, what a frustration, I can understand.

comment #29

maria says ...

AndrewMallet, you spit on me I shit on you!

I LOVE THE LAST SAMURAI AND AM PROUD OF IT

YOU are so full of yourself you lazy bashers! do this movie that I can laugh.
I love movies, you love to criticize because you have no talent, what a frustration, I can understand.