Jump to content

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles


Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...

Why do I keep flashing back to my rant about giant robot movies. A multi-million dollar movie remake about irradiated turtles that are trained as samurai by an Asian sewer rat. Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick, David Lean, Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa. Robert Altman, Charlie Chaplin, Federico Fellini,Howard Hawks, Ella Kazan, Michael Curtiz, Sergei M. Eisenstein, George Roy Hill, F.W. Murnau, James Whale, John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, John Huston, Sidney Lumet, Samuel Fuller, Hal Ashby, Victor Fleming,Josef von Sternberg, Frank Capra, Billy Wilder, William Wyler, Walt Disney, Fritz Lang, Robert Wiene, Roberto Rossellini, Otto Preminger, Ingmar Bergman,Nicholas Ray, George Stevens, Jean Renoir, Leo McCarey, Cecil B. Demille, Busby Berkeley, Goerge Cukor,Stanley Kramer, John Hughes, Erich von Stroheim, Ernst Lubitsch, Sergio Leone,Joseph Mankiewicz, Vincente Minnelli, od Browning, John Cassavetes, Arthur Penn,Anthony Mann, Michelangelo Antonioni,Terence Fisher, Robert Bresson, D.W. Griffith, Preston Sturges, Georges Méliès and Edwin S. freakin' Porter are SPINNING in their collective graves and the ONLY reason that Spielberg,Lucas, Tarantino, Scorsese, Coppola, Stone, Lynch, Scott, Nolen, Truffaut, Cameron, Carpenter, Cronenberg, Cravin, Raimi and Jean-Luc freakin' Godard are NOT spinning collectively in their grave is they're not DEAD YET!! Is this what we've come to? A remake of a cartoon inspired radioactive travesty? Al I can say is "Oy Vey" which translated from Yiddish to "Woe is me".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why do I keep flashing back to my rant about giant robot movies. A multi-million dollar movie remake about irradiated turtles that are trained as samurai by an Asian sewer rat. Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick, David Lean, Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa. Robert Altman, Charlie Chaplin, Federico Fellini,Howard Hawks, Ella Kazan, Michael Curtiz, Sergei M. Eisenstein, George Roy Hill, F.W. Murnau, James Whale, John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, John Huston, Sidney Lumet, Samuel Fuller, Hal Ashby, Victor Fleming,Josef von Sternberg, Frank Capra, Billy Wilder, William Wyler, Walt Disney, Fritz Lang, Robert Wiene, Roberto Rossellini, Otto Preminger, Ingmar Bergman,Nicholas Ray, George Stevens, Jean Renoir, Leo McCarey, Cecil B. Demille, Busby Berkeley, Goerge Cukor,Stanley Kramer, John Hughes, Erich von Stroheim, Ernst Lubitsch, Sergio Leone,Joseph Mankiewicz, Vincente Minnelli, od Browning, John Cassavetes, Arthur Penn,Anthony Mann, Michelangelo Antonioni,Terence Fisher, Robert Bresson, D.W. Griffith, Preston Sturges, Georges Méliès and Edwin S. freakin' Porter are SPINNING in their collective graves and the ONLY reason that Spielberg,Lucas, Tarantino, Scorsese, Coppola, Stone, Lynch, Scott, Nolen, Truffaut, Cameron, Carpenter, Cronenberg, Cravin, Raimi and Jean-Luc freakin' Godard are NOT spinning collectively in their grave is they're not DEAD YET!! Is this what we've come to? A remake of a cartoon inspired radioactive travesty? Al I can say is "Oy Vey" which translated from Yiddish to "Woe is me".

No offense, but what's with all the negativity? I understand if you're from an older generation, but most 30-40+ year olds as well as the younger generation (that I just so happen to hail from) remember coming home from school and plopping down in front of their televisions and watching Transformers, G.I. Joe, and TMNT among a whole other slew of things. You shouldn't act as if you are superior to the material or anyone who admires it because all you will get in return is scorn. Edited by Reuel Gomez
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

There should be room for all kinds of entertainment, low and high-brow. I don't have a problem with kid's toys and Saturday morning cartoons being turned into movies, but I have a problem if studios spend so much money on them that they become the majority of what gets made, to the detriment of other kinds of movies, like ones for adults. If spending 200-mil on "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" keeps the studio from greenlighting several dramas with moderate budgets, then it's a problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There should be room for all kinds of entertainment, low and high-brow. I don't have a problem with kid's toys and Saturday morning cartoons being turned into movies, but I have a problem if studios spend so much money on them that they become the majority of what gets made, to the detriment of other kinds of movies, like ones for adults. If spending 200-mil on "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" keeps the studio from greenlighting several dramas with moderate budgets, then it's a problem.

But aren't those the ones that make the most money? Why should the studios sacrifice a big money maker like that for the sake of being different if money is at stake.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why do I keep flashing back to my rant about giant robot movies. A multi-million dollar movie remake about irradiated turtles that are trained as samurai by an Asian sewer rat. Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick, David Lean, Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa. Robert Altman, Charlie Chaplin, Federico Fellini,Howard Hawks, Ella Kazan, Michael Curtiz, Sergei M. Eisenstein, George Roy Hill, F.W. Murnau, James Whale, John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, John Huston, Sidney Lumet, Samuel Fuller, Hal Ashby, Victor Fleming,Josef von Sternberg, Frank Capra, Billy Wilder, William Wyler, Walt Disney, Fritz Lang, Robert Wiene, Roberto Rossellini, Otto Preminger, Ingmar Bergman,Nicholas Ray, George Stevens, Jean Renoir, Leo McCarey, Cecil B. Demille, Busby Berkeley, Goerge Cukor,Stanley Kramer, John Hughes, Erich von Stroheim, Ernst Lubitsch, Sergio Leone,Joseph Mankiewicz, Vincente Minnelli, od Browning, John Cassavetes, Arthur Penn,Anthony Mann, Michelangelo Antonioni,Terence Fisher, Robert Bresson, D.W. Griffith, Preston Sturges, Georges Méliès and Edwin S. freakin' Porter are SPINNING in their collective graves and the ONLY reason that Spielberg,Lucas, Tarantino, Scorsese, Coppola, Stone, Lynch, Scott, Nolen, Truffaut, Cameron, Carpenter, Cronenberg, Cravin, Raimi and Jean-Luc freakin' Godard are NOT spinning collectively in their grave is they're not DEAD YET!! Is this what we've come to? A remake of a cartoon inspired radioactive travesty? Al I can say is "Oy Vey" which translated from Yiddish to "Woe is me".

 

I don't understand this rant - it's not like many of these people weren't involved in films that were terrible (or bad for other reasons including extreme racism and sexism). One of Orson Welles last acting roles was Unicron in the transformers animated movie. Walt Disney may well have been an Anti-Semite and has produced a series of racial parodies in his kids movies. D. W Griffith directed birth of a nation - possibly the most racist movie ever made. Spieberg was the Exec Producer of the live action transformers movie - a remake of a cartoon about giant robots!

 

I fail to see why these guys would be rolling in their graves. I bet many of them would have taken the job if it were offered.

 

Also, apologies for being pedantic but the Yiddish quote is 'Oy vey ist mir' - 'Oh woe am I'. Oy vey literally means oh woe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

But aren't those the ones that make the most money? Why should the studios sacrifice a big money maker like that for the sake of being different if money is at stake.

Sure they make more money and they have the most international appeal. But they also lose the most money when they fail, so basically the studios are playing a high stakes poker game. A little balance, diversity, and fiscal responsibility would be nice. And a number of these tent pole movies don't necessarily have a long shelf life, people see them once and forget about them.

 

I like big-budget extravaganzas as much as the next guy -- I just stepped out of Target with my blu-ray of "Star Trek Into Darkness" -- but just watching those sorts of movies is like only eating hamburgers your whole life.

 

Yesterday I saw Wong Kar Wai's "The Grandmaster" and it satisfies both the craving for visual spectacle and the craving to see drama and character... That makes it more interesting to me than a "Transformers" movie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sure they make more money and they have the most international appeal. But they also lose the most money when they fail, so basically the studios are playing a high stakes poker game. A little balance, diversity, and fiscal responsibility would be nice. And a number of these tent pole movies don't necessarily have a long shelf life, people see them once and forget about them.

 

I like big-budget extravaganzas as much as the next guy -- I just stepped out of Target with my blu-ray of "Star Trek Into Darkness" -- but just watching those sorts of movies is like only eating hamburgers your whole life.

 

Yesterday I saw Wong Kar Wai's "The Grandmaster" and it satisfies both the craving for visual spectacle and the craving to see drama and character... That makes it more interesting to me than a "Transformers" movie.

True. I guess I'm just so attached to the big-budgets flicks that I don't really give anything else a chance. I think the only other two films I saw this year outside of the big-budget spectacles were Silver Linings Playbook, Pain & Gain, and Now You See Me.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No offense, but what's with all the negativity? I understand if you're from an older generation, but most 30-40+ year olds as well as the younger generation (that I just so happen to hail from) remember coming home from school and plopping down in front of their televisions and watching Transformers, G.I. Joe, and TMNT among a whole other slew of things. You shouldn't act as if you are superior to the material or anyone who admires it because all you will get in return is scorn.

You wanta know what my problem is? I'm allergic to stupidity. I have a fierce hated of the dumbing down to the lowest common denominator of American entertainment. I find it insultive to be so starved for intellectual stimulation that the level of film making I am willing to watch borders an the edge of retardation. David actually put it well as he often does. It's fine to see a stupid movie every once in a while for fun but scarfing down Micky D's everyday ruins your health and in the case of cinema, rots your brain. AND $200,000,000 BUCKS for a cartoon movie REMAKE???!!! ARE YOU KIDDDDING ME?? The last really smart, really good film I saw was "The Social Network" . It cost $40,000,000 and it was nominated for Best Picture! The King's Speech which was also VERY GOOD and won that year cost freakin' a mere $15,000,000,BUT let's talk apples to apples, Action adventure, MY specialty, Live Free or Die Hard! Cost $110,000,000 the best of the series and one of the best action flicks of all time, The Dark Knight, cost $185,000,000

one of the greatest performances in the history of the genre! BTW, I/m NOT that old and I've SEEN the cartoon, it was cute....NOT TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR cute, but cute. The guys I mentioned up here are REAL film makers. Drivel like these Saturday morning cartoon turned movie film fiascoes insults the integrity of their art.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I don't understand this rant - it's not like many of these people weren't involved in films that were terrible (or bad for other reasons including extreme racism and sexism). One of Orson Welles last acting roles was Unicron in the transformers animated movie. Walt Disney may well have been an Anti-Semite and has produced a series of racial parodies in his kids movies. D. W Griffith directed birth of a nation - possibly the most racist movie ever made. Spieberg was the Exec Producer of the live action transformers movie - a remake of a cartoon about giant robots!

 

I fail to see why these guys would be rolling in their graves. I bet many of them would have taken the job if it were offered.

 

Also, apologies for being pedantic but the Yiddish quote is 'Oy vey ist mir' - 'Oh woe am I'. Oy vey literally means oh woe.

Yeah well Orson had been trough a Hell of a lot by that time and I'm PRETTY SURE, it wasn't his first choice for the last role he'd take. Disney dealt with studio heads of the 1920. That might have had something to do with his antisemitism. DW, was a guy born in Kentucky in 1875. Birth of a Nation was made in 1915......given these facts, he was a bigot SURPRISES you? My point is, these people made GREAT FILMS, INCLUDING Birth of a Nation, despite it's obvious racism and bigotry, which no one condones nowadays except idiots. It was the artistry of it's expression that made it great. The film was the blockbuster of it's era. You could say the same about Triumph of the Will. It was a PURELY EVIL film but a great film from a film making perceptive. I know Spielberg executive produced the Transformers. My only answer to that is he knows what will make money in the film industry and if you're head of your own studio, that's kinda the priority. As far giant robot feature films made from Saturday morning cartoons, it's probably the "best" I suppose. I liked Megan Fox in it....but honestly, that was more because of the way she looks. I really didn't care whether she could act or not.

 

Thanks for the Yiddish lesson though,I apologize for the mistranslation. It's not my native language, I just like it. It expresses in a way, that can't quite be achieved by any other means. I also like Italian and French, BUT I digress. My point is, I can forgive many things, but a REMAKE of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ESPECIALLY ONE THAT COSTS TWO HUNDRED MILLION U.S. FREAKIN' DOLLARS.....is UNFORGIVABLE!.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

James, I'm genuinely curious: is it the money you have the issue with, or the content?

 

The reason I ask is because on your website, the first thing I saw was for a film called "The Hunted" which, based solely on the poster, looks to be an indie horror/monster story. So I could see your distaste for mega-millions budgets, but don't understand your disagreement with (specifically) TMNT.

 

-j

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a problem with the content. I have a problem with Michael Bay. He's raping my childhood for a quick buck.

 

The first two Ninja Turtles movies were brilliant. New Line brought in the experts. Golden Harvest did the martial arts work (they're actually doing those moves in 80 lbs suits), and Henson did the puppetry. The story was darker than the cartoon was, but was based on the comics. I watched them a few days ago. They're better now that I'm an adult. It was probably the second great comic book movie series (After Superman).

 

I have little hope for the new one.

 

I love the old Transformers movie. It's light on the writing but it was fun. Bah weep grah-ha weep ninibahn! It had Orson Welles! I didn't even know who Orson Welles was the first time I saw it, but he was awesome.

The new one...even John Turturro couldn't save it from being lousy.

 

I understand why Hollywood makes these movies. They are low risk/high reward. Guaranteed to make money. You know who's to blame? The audience.

 

Take it from the man himself:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtLr-UUUVI8

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As long as it makes top dollar it's good for the studios. Maximize the profits, it's in the very nature of capitalism, after all. If the audience pays for intelligent entertainment, good. If the great majority prefer Adam Sandler flicks, 3D roller-coasters, superhero sequels and things of that kind, then "fast-food movies" will continue to dominate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

James, I'm genuinely curious: is it the money you have the issue with, or the content?

 

The reason I ask is because on your website, the first thing I saw was for a film called "The Hunted" which, based solely on the poster, looks to be an indie horror/monster story. So I could see your distaste for mega-millions budgets, but don't understand your disagreement with (specifically) TMNT.

 

-j

I actually don't have disdain for mega-buck features. I think some are incredible. I just have a thing about expanding pathetic paper thin concepts with no substance into mega-million features that are boring and stupid in execution and drain funding from better, less financial driven projects, that might take a little longer to make their money. Some of these smaller projects which did get made, for example Gravity and The Conjouring, come to mind as the potential for what could have been had more funding been available.. There are notable exceptions like the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, although I don't remember what the budget was so it may one fit into the mega-bucks category. As for my project, The Hunted, It's low budget action horror film, but with all due modesty, it's different then any monster movie you've seen. The screen grabs are from the sizzle reel we put together. At this point in my career, it's where I'm at however,when I get to a point where I might be considered for helming a mega-buck feature, if the story is compelling and the cast ans crew are good, I'd hire on in a New York second. The only obsicles I could see whold be I usually write my own projects and I'm leery of studios as I tend to dislike compromise when it comes to my vision particularly when it comes to my own work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...