Somone mentioned Jar Jar already, and we've had many threads about this in the past, but I'd like to give old George an extra kick in the pants for not letting John Milius write those prequels, the way he really would have loved to do. The 1977 episode was nominated for Best Screenplay. That time he had the youthful wisdom to get his film school friends Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz to help with the writing.
And they went on to help him so well on Indiana Jones and The Toilet Of Doom and Howard The Turkey....
The casting of Gerard Butler as The Phantom in Phantom of the Opera as well as his pissy hardly disfigured makeup.
Appealing to a younger audience? C'mon. The guy had no gravitas for the role.
And besides I wanted to see Michael Crawford do it. Christine thinks The Phantom is the ghost of her father - Michael would have been perfect for the role, even forgetting he had a much better voice.
Francis Ford Coppola casting his daughter, Sofia, in GODFATHER III. She later salvaged her career becoming a director and getting an Oscar nomination for LOST IN TRANSLATION.
Probably the worst casting mistake in modern filmmaking. She ruined already a mediocre film.
Having 'Von Ryan' shot down without quite reaching his 'Express'.The feel bad ending spoiled what could have been a perennially classic adventure movie.
I disagree. Von Ryan's death was perfect, making the character more heroic by his sacrifice. I don't think I would have enjoyed the film as much if he had escaped.
Other perfect deaths in film: William Holden in Bridge on the River Kwai David McCallum in The Great Escape Ryan O'Neal in The Wild Rovers Mickey Rourke in Prayer for the Dying Sean Connery in Tarzan's Greatest Adventure Willem Dafoe in Platoon Robert Shaw in Jaws James Coburn in Duck, You Sucker Kirk Douglas in The Vikings Dennis Hopper in True Romance
No, no, no, no! Sometimes, the death is so very, very wrong: Tony Curtis in Taras Bulba Natalie Wood in This Property Is Condemned Suzanne Pleshette in The Birds Kirk Douglas in The Fury Franka Potente in The Bourne Supremacy Tom Hanks in Saving Pvt. Ryan
To cover the fee demanded by Sean Connery, the producers of "Diamonds Are Forever" drastically cut the special effects budget.
No pity for them on this one. They should've spent Connery's salary on special effects and kept Lazenby (holds nose and sticks fingers in ears) or hired Roger Moore.
Francis Ford Coppola casting his daughter, Sofia, in GODFATHER III. She later salvaged her career becoming a director and getting an Oscar nomination for LOST IN TRANSLATION.
Probably the worst casting mistake in modern filmmaking. She ruined already a mediocre film.
Excellent choice.
I guess I'm all alone on this one, but her presence didn't ruin III for me at all. Her awkwardness with acting fit the coltishness of Mary Corleone quite well. It's actually as a director in her own right where I think Sofia is overrated!
I guess I'm all alone on this one, but her presence didn't ruin III for me at all. Her awkwardness with acting fit the coltishness of Mary Corleone quite well.
Nope. You're not alone. I think she did okay, too. Sometimes the untrained actor is the least "actorly".
Nope-just pointing out that their screenwriting 'skills' left a lot to be desired!
I must admit I've never heard they were involved with Star Wars but given the lengthy genesis of the original, I think the world and his wife had input into it-I know I've read Spielberg and DePalma had suggestions about it.
Again, I've never heard Milius wanted to be involved in the prequels, but lots of other uncredited writers were, including Carrie Fisher and Tom Stoppard.
None of them were able to stop the more juvenile elements creeping in, which you have to lay at George's doorstep-he was too jaded and just viewed the whole exercise as a money making machine with all the ancillary merchandising deals-he just didn't seem to CARE so much about the prequels.
That is why I'm quite glad he's taken a step back over the forthcoming films-I know some here don't like Abrams but at least he has the strength to do things his way and will hopefully make more of the new batch.
Oh, and I've never seen American Graffiti-I've tried a couple of times to watch it but something sucks me right back out of it-perhaps because it's subject matter isn't really of interest to me-I have the same problem with Thelma and Louise.
