You are given the power of greenlight and hiring decision omnipotence at a major studio for one year:- Who do you ensure snags a meaty role for a major comeback.
- which director do you offer final cut to, to entice them to work.
- What kind of films do you fast track?
Answer in the comments. Don't be shy.
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22 comments:
1. I would immediately offer Dame Julie Andrews the big, meaty comeback role. Even though she has the problems with her singing voice, she is still a talented actress and comedienne who hasn't had the attention-grabbing roles like her other counterparts (most notably the Dames Judi Dench and Helen Mirren).
2. Fernando Meirelles would be to director I would give almost anything to just to get him to work for my studio. "City of God" and "The Constant Gardener" are two of the most visually gorgeous films I've ever seen that has powerhouse acting on equal footing with the visuals.
3. My studio would make more 30's-style screwball comedies, original film musicals and maybe even a couple of modern-day silent films.
silent films! i love your chutzpah
1) Michelle Pfeiffer
2) Baz Luhrmann
3) musicals. good ones.
1. Comeback? Molly Shannon was never quite famous enough to qualify. Kathleen Turner is doing alright for herself in TV and stage work. Not to be trite: but how about Lisa Kudrow? She's totally got it. Or I'd dig Joan Cusack out of her cell phone commercial rut.
2. I'd like to encourage Todd Solondz, but as much as I love him, I'm afraid of him having final cut. John Waters would be good, but he's already working. Let's go with John Cameron Mitchell, David O. Russell or Don Roos.
3. I'm gonna have to agree with musicals. Both original and stage adaptations.
1. It would easily be Faye Dunaway and Mia Farrow were probably the two of the best working actresses of the 1970s and 1980s, respectively.
2. Johnathan Glazer, hands down. Birth has been by far one of the most interesting and compelling films of the new millenium, and he hasn't been able to have any output since then because of its panning.
3. ???
1. I would immediately offer Vanessa Redgrave the big, meaty comeback role.
2. David Fincher.
3. Documentaries.
I really want Shelley Duvall to work more. I don't even have any idea what she looks like nowadays...
Plus, she's never been Oscar-nominated, so if she does anything as good as The Shining or 3 Women, etc. maybe the Academy could give her an apology nomination.
well one would hope they would but they probably didn't lose any sleep over skipping her work in 3 women, however brilliant it is.
not their cuppa and all that.
but yeah. great choice. so deserving for 3 women.
1. Christopher Walken. Not that he ever disappeared, but why is he fooling around playing lunatics in silly comedies when he is capable of acting of The Deer Hunter calibre? I'd definitely send him more challenging roles.
2. Paul Thomas Anderson. Whatever makes him work faster. (alt. Terrence Malick for the same reason)
3. Crazy, ballsy, divisive auteur kind of films. The A Scanner Darkly, Inland Empire, The Fountain kind. If you have something interesting and original to say and know how to say it - bam, greenlight!
(which is also why I would suck at this job)
1. Meg Ryan.
2. Susanne Bier
3. Movies that don't insult my intelligence.
1. Liv Ullmann. Give that woman her Oscar.
2. I'd give final cut to Malick, Cuaron, and Del Toro. Someone had a rumor that he (the latter) was going to direct 'The Wolfman' set for Thanksgiving '08. Turns out it was Mark Romanek instead... and while I do love me my creepy Robin in "One Hour Photo", getting Del Toro to do wolfie with the other DT, (Benicio), would've just been huge for ANYONE.
3. Mikadzuki said it better than I ever could.
1. GLENN CLOSE. I haven't seen her achieve greatness since Dangerous Liaisons, and boy was that true greatness. I know she may be doing the Sunset Blvd. musical next, but what the hell, there are never too many roles for great actresses.
2. I side more with screenwriter auteurism than director auteurism, so I'd sidestep the poll to say CHARLIE KAUFMAN.
3. Films made up of shorter films combined, a la Paris Je T'Aime, Sin City, etc. Bonus points if each segment is written/directed by a different auteur.
Mika, Terrance Malick already does have final cut so that's not gonna make him work faster.
1. Sigourney Weaver or Liza Minnelli.
2. Barbra Streisand. No, really.
3. Same as others. Musicals. Good ones.
(btw, Rolf de Heer's (Ten Canoes) latest film Dr Plonk is a black and white silent film about a mad scientist in 1908 who thinks the world will end in 100 years if he doesn't travel to the future to stop it. It's released here around June (I think). Should be interesting.)
Ann-Margret. Either the aging sexpot glam role of a lifetime....or possibly an emotional heart-wrenching "Who Will Love My Children?" de-glam. She needs one more chance.
She needs a good director. Possibly Peter Bogdanovich...Roman Polanski. They could do it for her.
Enough of Meryl Streep already...what about Ann-Margret, Jill Clayburgh, Kathleen Turner, etc. Share the love a little, Meryl.
John Patrick Shanley script.
1. Tim Roth (where did he go?), Gillian Anderson (so effective in the smaller roles we've seen her in recently - someone give her something real... that isn't TV), Linus Roache (see what Nathaniel says repeatedly.... he was awesome in Priest and wonderful in Wings of the Dove).
2. Those indie directors who are on the cusp of a true masterpiece (Lynne Ramsay, Michael Winterbottom, Francois Ozon, Samira Makhmalabaf, Jonathan Glazer) and foreign directors who deserve a crack at a bigger market (Susan Bier is a good choice).
3. I don't know what type of movies I'd make, but I do know I'd hire a marketing team that understands how to create effective strategies to get difficult films seen.
1. Alison Elliot, Angela Bassett, Anne Heche, Elisabeth Shue, Joan Cusack, Juliette Lewis, Martha Plimpton, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mercedes Ruehl, and/or Rosie Perez.
(This is a 10-way tie -- well, not really, but there are so many solid actresses who just don't get enough good work and deserve a proper comeback, especially Bassett and Shue.)
2. How about Adrian Lyne, Jane Campion, Jonathan Glazer, or P.J. Hogan? Such unique and underated filmakers.
3. I'd put a moritorium biopics and remakes in favor of *original* characters and material! I'd bring back those smart, quality romantic comedies of yore -- or even just from the '80s (a la 'Broadcast News,' 'Moonstruck,' 'Tootsie,' etc.)
Marco
1. Elisabeth Shue. The insulting failure of the Academy to show any close up reaction shots of her this year proved that she's been completely forgotten. She has the skill, now give her the role.
2. I'd give final cut approval to Jane Campion. Intelligent enough to know what to do with it. And heck, she could direct Elisabeth to the kind of award-baiting comeback role.
3. A return to the daring and challenging of 70s American masterworks. Endings that feel emotionally and tonally faithful rather than just 'happy' (e.g. The Conversation, Chinatown... and even more recently Se7en).
Rob
1. Since we get to be omnipotent here, I'd drag Deborah Kerr, Cyd Charisse and Olivia de Havilland out of retirement, and let the three legends (particularly Kerr, who never won competitively, and Charisse, who was never even nominated), make a play for Oscar in a film directed by...
2. Roman Polanski (not sure if he gets final cut on his projects or not, but I think he could make a very interesting movie with these three grand dames). I'd also give final cut to P.J. Hogan, Alfonso Cuaron, and Anthony Minghella.
3. A gay love triangle story starring Alessandro Nivola, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Takeshi Kaneshiro.
mikadzuki---
yeah but we need more execs who are bad at their job if we ever want the 70s to come back ;)
nellhaus---
interesting choice. I agree that Meg Ryan doesn't get a fair rap. don't get the hate for her at all...
beau ---
del toro & deltoro. just the poster credits alone would be so cool
colin ---
glenn needs to quit TV. i'm not sure what happened to her with movies. a lot of older actresses are getting second runs why not her?
kamikaze ---
this is the gayest response in the whole thing and i love you for it.
raaj & rerun---
sharing the wealth. i can tell this will be a theme this year. there are certainly several big names that are getting VERY hoggy with the roles. not sure what's going on with casting... is it that one talent agency is taking over?
arkaan ---
jonathan glazer. yes!
marco ---
smart romantic comedies? You're dreaming big ;) i don't think they know what those are. but isn't it weird that the decade that's most often reviled for movies (the 80s) had so many quality romcoms?
rob --
and i'm heartened to see ELISABETH SHUE's name pop up repeatedly.
john t --
like a whales of august thing, huh? although that didn't get far with Oscar.
as for the gay love triangle with Nivola, Kaneshiro & Bernal: you're just flirting with me now, right? or trying to give me a coronary.
1: Demi Moore. A thriller, a comedy, and a serious picture. I say we start with a redo of The Eyes of Laura Mars...
2: Assuming Cuaron was booked... A queer indie or three: Haynes, John Cameron Mitchell, and Cheryle Dunye.
3: Musicals (o'course) & dialogue driven ensemble comedies for people born before 1990. And my studio would provide back-up financing (if necessary) for JT's love triangle epic. Plus, every movie I greenlight would have to have at least 3 substantial roles for women over 40.
Can't believe no one has mentioned:
1) Winona Ryder
2) Baz Luhrman
3) Traditonal animation (a la 'Beauty and the Beast')
M
M, traditional animation is coming back! Yay!
"this is the gayest response in the whole thing and i love you for it."
...:/
LOL. Seriously. How amazing would it be to see Barbra Streisand (or hell, ANY woman) to get up on stage at the Oscars to accept the Best Director prize. After all the barriers they seemed to have broken down in the last decade (indie films, racial brick walls, etc) the female director is one of the last remaining ones. I want to see that wall come down in the next decade.
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