tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post7072408231217329021..comments2024-02-27T10:53:43.331-05:00Comments on Big Media Vandalism: Righteous Megalomania: Creative Executive for HireSteven Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10533736956366847765noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post-83847147259183245222010-12-06T02:24:22.397-05:002010-12-06T02:24:22.397-05:00I really like the idea of a Max who ages more natu...I really like the idea of a Max who ages more naturally than pretty much every other action hero out there. If that's what you're going for, then count me in on wanting to see that. I remember when "Rocky Balboa" was close to release, I mentioned to someone that I wouldn't mind seeing a Rocky movie that doesn't end with him fighting someone. Their response was, "What else can he do?" Of course, the original "Rocky" only had about two fights in it, and the rest of the movie focused mainly on character drama. So I understand the annoyance at seeing a sixtyish Indiana Jones jumping around and throwing down like he was still in his thirties, and the desire to see these characters continue on with this ridiculous level of physical prowess tends to raise the question of why people liked these characters so much in the first place. Anyone can write an ass-kicker. If Max's physical abilities are believably limited by his age, then I can understand the need for the Stryker and the hyena. You sound really passionate about this, so the question now is, will Hollywood listen?Daxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post-60445166208527947622010-12-05T04:52:14.465-05:002010-12-05T04:52:14.465-05:00Dax, Ho'wood's problem isn't in making...Dax, Ho'wood's problem isn't in making things bigger; it's that they've forgotten how to tell SCREEN stories at any scale. It isn't that they don't have good source material; it's that there's rarely any real style, grace or heart anymore. The other day I was watching Peckinpah's Convoy, a much-ridiculed trucker epic from my childhood. I am continually surprised at how well it holds up each time I check in with it, versus similar action movies of today. B-movie crude as it is in its blue collar boys vs. smokey plot, it glides across the screen like a dream. Peckinpah's camera simply adores these redneck and soul brother caricatures as living personages, practically glowing from within. Spider Mike, Widow Woman, Pig Pen and Rubber Duck are luminous beings, silly as they are. The film is a cartoon, yes, but quite lived-in and warm-blooded in the way it regards this band of oddballs-- their solidarity, infighting, separations and reunions.<br /><br />That's what makes something like Star Wars so great and timeless: It's about friends and loved ones, together, apart, and together again. Joseph Campbell tells us about the hero's journey, but in the great modern trilogies that use Campbell as a springboard (Star Wars, Mad Max, Matrix), the drama of friends thrown together and torn apart (and yet acting in spiritual concert across time and space-- whoa) is just as crucial to our rapturous investment as a Hero's Rise.<br /><br />So we should bring Max back because he is our friend, period. We don't need any especially clever or heroic role for him to fill this time around. We just need to believe that he has lived his life all this time without us. He doesn't have to prove anything to us. That's the mistake Lucas and Spielberg made with Indy 4. Indy could have been more of a Sherlock Holmes problem-solver figure this time around, as befits his age and wisdom. He was already getting tired and sore twenty years ago-- why the hell would he go around leaping from trees in his 60's?<br /><br />Ho'wood simply has trouble imagining that audiences would pay to see Indy or Max or Shaft or any seasoned action hero doing anything but the acrobatics he performed in his youth. THAT'S the failure of imagination I'm talking about, not a failure to come up with some uniquely convoluted rube goldberg plot tchotchke.<br /><br />It's a failure to understand the relationship audiences have enjoyed with certain beloved characters. This relationship is the bedrock of those franchises that endure as something deeper than Avatar box office receipts. At the heart of it is a kind of nostalgia and sentimentality that today's stone-cold-killer action filmmakers avoid like the plague.<br /><br />As for the African stuff, that's easy. And that's not my job. I'm the executive, remember? My screenwriters will knock that one out of the park. Max's role doesn't need to be primary for it to be a Mad Max flick. The other great secret of the trilogy is that the second lead is always Miller's "visual music" montage style. If we have that, we have 50% of the Maxiness.<br /><br />As for "expert" opinions, there are none, Dax. We're all jerk-offs, internet or otherwise, Ho'wood-employed or unemployed. The only meaningful dividing line is between those who jerk with ardor, attentiveness and abandon (triple-A!) and those who do it according to formulas, market research, complex algorithms, fear...Steven Boonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10533736956366847765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post-24258375864996629012010-12-05T03:21:22.619-05:002010-12-05T03:21:22.619-05:00Jeez, I don't know. First off is the idea of ...Jeez, I don't know. First off is the idea of how this Max is depicted. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for having Mel Gibson back in the role, it's really the idea of how what you've written about him feels in line with the Hollywood thought process of sequels being the same, but bigger, no Bigger, no BIGGER. A lot of this feels like you're simply trying to remake "Mad Max 2," but even more "badass" this time. Instead of driving a V8, he drives a Stryker, instead of having a dog, he has a hyena (barely tamed), instead of hanging around with a Feral Kid, he hangs around with a hot twenty-something Feral Girl.<br /><br />I like the idea of the African civilization built upon the ashes of the previous civilization who once undermined them. You mention a "neo-tribal conflict." By this, am I to assume that there are two or more civilizations at odds with one another? I think the ideas you present here are interesting and full of potential, but you would naturally need to flesh them out more to give one a better understanding of what you're going for. To be honest, though, the African "neo-tribal conflict" sounds like it could be a standalone movie, and leave Max out of it altogether. As much as I'd love to see a new Mad Max movie that's on par with the first two, I'm just not sure Max needs to be involved here. If mishandled, Max's presence could even look like pandering, like the inclusion of that Myers character in "Hellboy," or having Tom Cruise in "The Last Samurai."<br /><br />I understand the love for "Mad Max 2." Although I think it's somewhat debatable, I understand why "Mad Max 2" is considered the best of the Mad Max movies. But one of the reasons I personally love that movie is because it doesn't fall into the sequel trap of being a remake in a sequel's clothing. Although there's still "Max vs. bikers" action sequences, the movie still manages to evolve the story and expand the world established in the original, rather than repeat it. And much of what you've written unfortunately feels like repetition. I think you should focus on developing this post-apocalyptic African society (or societies) and the indigenous characters first. If you really feel that this needs to be a Mad Max movie, then make sure that Max is more than just a badass tour guide, and actually brings something of value to the story without undermining and/or overshadowing the other characters.<br /><br />For what it's worth, I'm hardly an expert on what works in movies. I have no idea how to make "classics." I really am just some Internet jerk-off and can only offer an opinion on whether or not these feel like good ideas to me. All that said, good or bad, "Fury Road" will probably never happen anyway.Daxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post-60554268047982590852010-11-18T00:07:12.873-05:002010-11-18T00:07:12.873-05:00Odie, you can be the S.C. Pictures lion, but inste...Odie, you can be the S.C. Pictures lion, but instead of growling, you must deliver the Shadow Henderson line.Steven Boonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10533736956366847765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post-30818318558948692842010-11-18T00:05:02.825-05:002010-11-18T00:05:02.825-05:00"want to be in your first triage unit, pls.&q..."want to be in your first triage unit, pls."<br /><br />Kid, you got the job. Yes, The Expendables could have been something. It's Stallone's third blown chance at a True Grit of his own (after his visually botoxed Old Rocky and Old Rambo flicks).Steven Boonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10533736956366847765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post-65408312274210555962010-11-18T00:00:19.689-05:002010-11-18T00:00:19.689-05:00I just want to be featured in the circle of the S....I just want to be featured in the circle of the S.C. Boone Pictures logo.odienatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10926978706604468636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post-27347747381334046332010-11-17T19:14:14.556-05:002010-11-17T19:14:14.556-05:00my god i read this and thought maybe i had wrote i...my god i read this and thought maybe i had wrote it. we are kindred spirits. its like this "expendables" movie. the script I have for the aging action heroes that unite to save a situation is way more comical and classic than this dud turned out to be. I want to be in your first triage unit, pls.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post-88142421677334043752010-11-17T12:29:34.765-05:002010-11-17T12:29:34.765-05:00I'd love to see this movie! We need more ideas...I'd love to see this movie! We need more ideas like this instead of the (for the most part) junk that fills theaters today.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post-29672354697856323282010-11-17T11:49:04.639-05:002010-11-17T11:49:04.639-05:00Fucking brilliant.
If only...Fucking brilliant.<br /><br />If only...Fred Sanfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14897398837200178433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post-35972739487613070892010-11-17T10:37:34.750-05:002010-11-17T10:37:34.750-05:00Mandrill - factcheck: Wagner died decades before t...Mandrill - factcheck: Wagner died decades before the Nazis existed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner He was merely *beloved* by Nazis.Mack Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02091116680997600674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post-13245938860884569612010-11-17T09:56:17.548-05:002010-11-17T09:56:17.548-05:00it's a great ideait's a great ideaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post-55062365181535323892010-11-17T09:55:47.483-05:002010-11-17T09:55:47.483-05:00You're a hero. At least for this post.You're a hero. At least for this post.anthonyhttp://www.anthonygoes.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169925.post-88642161457826770822010-11-17T09:45:59.054-05:002010-11-17T09:45:59.054-05:00That. Is. Awesome!
I want to see this Mad Max fil...That. Is. Awesome!<br /><br />I want to see this Mad Max film. ~I don't care if Mel is a psychopathic racist misogynist as long as the film is good (Just like millions of people don't seem to care that Wagner was a Nazi, the music is good so who gives a s**t?)This would be an epic movie. I wish you luck in getting it picked upMandrillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03968818764660945524noreply@blogger.com