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The Pool Movies That Ruined a Generation's Greatest Directors

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Aaron Altman
07/31/09

In reply to Everything Un-Ravaged, Everthing Un-Burned in Hollywood
I'll make the call: Moneyball will be the next Titanic.

Oh wait, did you think I meant Titanic, as in the embattled James Cameron feature that went way over budget and was almost certainly DOA from all of the bad press leaking from the set every day? No no, I meant the actual ship.
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bittergreen
07/15/09

In reply to The Pool Movies That Ruined a Generation's Greatest Directors
I was going to say something swarthy, but these new comments make my web browser cry.

So what is Tarantino's Pool movie? Jackie Brown?

And why the dichotomy between Kill Bill Vol. 1. and 2. I hated vol. 1 when I saw it. Schlocky and empty. But Vol. 2 was so "Wow!" Emotional, Kick-Ass and heartbreaking, all in one.
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ChickyOnly
07/15/09

@bittergreen: Yeah, I'd like the waspiness of this site to turn into something a little swarthier, too.
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Edited by ChickyOnly at 07/15/09 2:59 PM ChickyOnly was starred ChickyOnly was unstarred

Mark Graham
07/15/09

In reply to The Pool Movies That Ruined a Generation's Greatest Directors
Don't want to pile on, but I think you missed the context of the quote. That swimming pool line was actually in reference to some of the lower moments in the careers of the auteurs who came of age in the 1970s: F.F. Coppola, Bogdanovich, DePalma, Billy Friedkin, etc. (who are all now in the 60s).
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Natasha VC
07/15/09

@Mark Graham:

Hey Mark! I get the reference and what I'm arguing is that we (as in The Youngs) didn't need to wait that long to watch a new group of directors hit their low point. And the one's I highlighted, I don't feel, have really come back from that low.

And yeah, De Palma and Friedkin peaked and then plummeted so maybe there's nothing different or special about the the way these directors have sunk. But it still sucks to watch.
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Edited by Natasha VC at 07/16/09 1:47 AM Natasha VC was starred Natasha VC was unstarred

Mark Graham
07/15/09

@NatashaVC: If I were running the videostore that Otis works at in KICKING AND SCREAMING, I would've filed all of those (save for THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE and LUCKY YOU) under "Interesting Failures," not "Pool Movies."

I still feel like C. Hanson has a few good movies in him; I just hope he finds them. It's been a long time since WONDER BOYS (though 8 MILE was fairly dece).
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DaeSu
07/15/09

In reply to The Pool Movies That Ruined a Generation's Greatest Directors
Akira Kurosawa made both "Kagemusha" and "Ran" in his 70s. Tarantino ran out of interesting ideas before he hit 40.
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FormerEnglishMajor
07/15/09

@DaeSu: Tarantino wishes his best ideas were even half of what Kurosawa's were at any age.
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Natasha VC
07/15/09

@DaeSu:

Serious questions: How many times have you watched an Akira Kurosawa film?
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DaeSu
07/15/09

@Natasha VC: I've watched about 20 of his films, and own nine of them. (Oh, and I've watched those multiple times.)
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Phyllis Nefler
07/16/09

@Natasha VC: Who?
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Natasha VC
07/16/09

@Phyllis Nefler:

The Katie Bakes Scale of Movie Acceptability.
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Midwesterner in NYC
07/15/09

In reply to The Pool Movies That Ruined a Generation's Greatest Directors
You didn't like Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married? To be honest, I didn't. But I'm the only person I know that didn't seem to absolutely love it.
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VoxPopuli
07/15/09

@Midwesterner in NYC: I thought it was dumb. If I had been at that TweeFest they called a wedding, my eyes would never stop rolling.
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Natasha VC
07/16/09

@VoxPopuli:

How do I give two gold stars?
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PaisleyPajamas
07/15/09

In reply to The Pool Movies That Ruined a Generation's Greatest Directors
Moral of The Story: We should not pay directors. Keep them poor, starving and uncompromising and the quality of movies will improve.

Wait a second...
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BullfightsOnAcid
07/15/09

In reply to The Pool Movies That Ruined a Generation's Greatest Directors
Michael Bay's pool consists of every single ocean on earth.
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Iwillnotauditionforastar
07/15/09

@BullfightsOnAcid: A veritable Water World!
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FormerEnglishMajor
07/15/09

In reply to The Pool Movies That Ruined a Generation's Greatest Directors
You'll do schlock to maintain your lifestyle? You don't want to work past 50? Color me surprised. And hey - you can play this game with actors too (unless Meryl Streep was unable to fully flesh out her character in The Devil Wears Prada)
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bess marvin, girl detective
07/15/09

In reply to The Pool Movies That Ruined a Generation's Greatest Directors
how can "the good german" be considered a pool movie? its genre alone barred it from making a huge profit. that and george clooney
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Edited by bess marvin, girl detective at 07/15/09 1:17 PM

La Mareada
07/15/09

@bess marvin, girl detective: I thought I was the one and only person whoever saw The Good German. And it was on cable.

Obviously Soderbergh's "Pool Movies" are Oceans 11, 12, and 13.
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bess marvin, girl detective
07/15/09

@La Mareada: don't forget "the mexican". you know they were hoping for 100 mil based on julia and brad alone.
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Natasha VC
07/15/09

@bess marvin, girl detective:

I had totally forgotten about that! Do you think Brad will only make Serious Movies now?
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Natasha VC
07/15/09

@bess marvin, girl detective:

Because it was a pretty cynical star vehicle.
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otterface
07/15/09

@bess marvin, girl detective: Soderbergh didn't make "The Mexican". That was Gore Verbinski.
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bess marvin, girl detective
07/15/09

@otterface: my mistake. my dementia is getting the best of me.
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bess marvin, girl detective
07/15/09

@NatashaVC: i hope not. he's a better comedic actor than anything
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Imran J. Khan
07/15/09

In reply to The Pool Movies That Ruined a Generation's Greatest Directors
Didn't The Hulk come way before brokeback mountain? Does chronology not matter?
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Iwillnotauditionforastar
07/15/09

@Imran J. Khan: Which Hulk? The leaked, the bad, or the campy?
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Iwillnotauditionforastar
07/15/09

@Iwillnotauditionforastar: Are you talking about the Jonas Brothers?
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Natasha VC
07/15/09

@Imran J. Khan:

Chronology does matter. Ang made 'Ride with the Devil' and the 'Ice Storm' which were flawed but ultimately riskier movies. Then he made the Hulk, which, you know is, well, you know.
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otterface
07/15/09

@NatashaVC: Right. And since "The Hulk", he's churned out formulaic studio action films like "Brokeback Mountain" and "Lust, Caution", which I think we can all agree were safe movies made purely for the money and in no way risky.
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Natasha VC
07/15/09

@otterface:

Good point. I don't maybe he's always been a mediocre storyteller with a luscious eye. I just really loved 'Crouching Tiger' and when Hulk came out, I felt sad. It's a sad thing, no? When some one you were excited about turns out not to be very exciting at all?
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Edited by Natasha VC at 07/16/09 1:52 AM Natasha VC was starred Natasha VC was unstarred

jerusalemcricket
07/15/09

@NatashaVC: So you weren't at all excited by Brokeback Mountain? Or Zodiac? Or Che, which is pretty much the exact opposite of a "pool movie"? The point of Tarantino's quote is that he doesn't want to be an auteur who becomes a total hack. All of the directors you've listed have made some subpar movies, but it's a little soon to write them off as hacks, or simply doing movies for a paycheck, especially when half have done some of their best work after their supposed "pool movies'.

Ban me if you must, but this was an ill-thought post, neither accurate nor amusing. Oh, and your comment typos are killing me.
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otterface
07/15/09

@NatashaVC: That certainly is a sad thing. But it's not what happened, at least with me, on "The Hulk". I didn't come out of it thinking, "Well, I guess, on the basis of this one movie, Ang Lee isn't very exciting at all." I came out of it thinking, "Well, maybe his next one will be better." Which it was -- in fact, it's probably my favorite of his movies. Ditto for Fincher and "Zodiac". Some directors do become hacks. But your examples are way off-base.
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Natasha VC
07/16/09

@jerusalemcricket:

Awww I', just glad u read my commentz
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Natasha VC
07/16/09

@otterface:

Oh, c'mon! Why do people get so defensive about millionaires?! Each one of those trailers illustrates a piece of hackery.

I did like Zodiac though, but only because I have a thing for husky midwesiterns. RUFFALO.
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otterface
07/16/09

@Natasha VC: Sorry, you can't switch in midstream from arguing "these movies represent major downward turning points in these directors' careers" to "these particular movies are hacky". And as for the argument, "Hey, it's OK to make half-assed arguments about movies! What're you getting so bent out of shape about? The people who make them are millionaires!" -- that's just embarrassing. I don't think any of us are trying to defend David Fincher's hurt feelings -- I'm not sticking up for the filmmakers, so much as I'm sticking up for their movies.

Now, you're entitled to your opinions on these movies -- if you think "Philadelphia" and "Traffic" were great movies, then fine. We have different tastes. But when the examples you present don't even make chronological sense -- as when you laud "Che" and "Brokeback", which were made *after* their directors' supposed "pool movies" -- or when your argument relies on a highly dubious assumption about the motivations behind making a particular movie -- ie., that "The Good German", a black-and-white movie shot in the style of a '40s melodrama was seen as a commercial safe bet -- then I think maybe writing about film might not be your strongest suit.

Still, agreed on Ruffalo.
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Foster Kamer
07/16/09

@jerusalemcricket: Honestly? It was a well-thought post, and the evidence of that are the 100+ comments on it: the points are arguable, and it's a fun read to engage in. This is what the new comments system is for: bringing an awesome debate into the fold, and throwing the rest of it in the compost. Don't be a bummer. Or a typo-capo.
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ConAir34
07/15/09

In reply to The Pool Movies That Ruined a Generation's Greatest Directors
The only saving grace for Rodriguez about the "Spy Kids" franchise was that he pretty much said it he wanted to make something his kids could watch and he wanted to play with Green Screen technology.

I actually don't mind those movies. My kids like them and more Ricardo Montalbán is always a good thing.
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Natasha VC
07/16/09

@ConAir34:

What about YOUR FABULOUS NAME?

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Phyllis Nefler
07/16/09

@Natasha VC: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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