Bryan Appleyard takes a look at the artists who died in 2007 for The Times, and says a few infuriating things about the state of comtemporary filmmaking in the process. The thrust of the piece is a bit of Summer 2007 nostalgia: “The deaths of Antonioni and Bergman drew painful attention to the lack of great European auteurs.” Post-colonial angst is SO exhausting, but let’s engage with it anyway, shall we?
In assessing the year’s disappointments, Appleyard lumps Quentin Tarantino in with Francis Ford Coppola and Philip Roth as artists “who did not die but, somehow, faded.” He dismisses Tarantino on the grounds that Kill Bill was “dismal” (although, both critically and commercially, it was undeniably successful, at least in the States). Death Proof also gets an unrealistic drubbing. In calling Tarantino’s half of Grindhouse “not so much a film as an act of pathological self-indulgence [which] convinced even some of his most devoted fans that the game was up,” Appleyard ignores the fact that Death Proof, which beat out films like Sweeney Todd, The Lives of Others and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead in indieWIRE’s comprehensive 2007 critics poll, is widely considered to be the chunk of Grindhouse that could actually stand on its own.
When Appleyard moves on to consider candidates for The New Film Auteur (with a straight face, as if there’s going to be an election, or maybe a competition show on Bravo), his logic betrays even more personal bias.
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I guess Harvey hasn’t totally given up on the idea of flogging Death Proof and Planet Terror as separate films just quite yet. Robert Rodriguez’ zombie-centric half of Grindhouse has been slotted to screen at Europe’s largest open-air venue at the Locarno Film Festival next month.
Speaking of Harvey flogging, the Weinstein Company has acquired North American rights to Make it Happen, after brokering sales of international rights to other parties at Berlin and Cannes. The film, which was penned by the guy who brought you Save the Last Dance and Step Up, tracks an aspiring dancer who moves to Chicago and becomes a stripper. So, basically, it’s a remake of Flashdance.
Variety has confirmed that Kevin Spacey will be back as Lex Luthor in the next installment of Bryan Singer’s Superman franchise. In the piece, Spacey also vociferously refutes rumors that recently claimed he was retiring from movies. “In no way did I use the word retirement. Someone else pulled that out of thin air. It’s false, there’s not a lick of truth to it.”
***Brian Grazer has hired Rush Hour auteur Brett Ratner to direct Playboy, a drama about the life and times of Hugh Hefner. It’s the third stab at a Hef biopic, after several drafts by Oliver Stone and a musical version (!) proposed by 8 Mile’s Scott Silver failed to pass muster. According to Variety, Ratner got the job by sending Grazer a Playboy pinball machine.
***Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to sign at least one two bills aimed at luring movie production back to California with tax incentives.
***ReelzChannel, a new movie-centric cable network, has picked up ten episodes of What I Learned About (Blank) From The Movies, a Best Week Ever-esque series in which “comedians comment on those ‘valuable life lessons’ hidden inside” classic films.
***The Weinstein Company’s quest to turn Tarantino’s half of Grindhouse into an overseas hit has failed. The extended cut of Death Proof has earned just $10 million in four weeks across ten European markets. Variety adds insult to injury by noting that “French patrons were much more interested in maintaining support for Shrek the Third in its second frame.”
