Tony the Tigger
Well-Known Member
My turn for an essay, as things converged before me in the last few days.
1. I heard parts of a long interview with Kevin Costner, probably rerun from several months ago. He kind of brought me back to Earth talking about filmmaking as I suspected/had always heard it was done vs. the often cynical accusations made here.
One thing that struck me was in post-production for The Bodyguard: test audiences were not reacting great, and Costner was in a room with the studio people watching it, and the studio said basically oh well, guess that’s as good as that’s going to get - but Costner knew it was missing about 15 minutes of story. The studio argued it was already too long. So, he personally worked through the night, cutting 10 seconds here and 15 seconds there, to decrease the run time while adding needed story back in. That was the version that was successful.
It came down to one person.
2. I finally saw Joker 2, having heard all kinds of criticisms. I don’t think that film was bad at all. I don’t consider it “a musical” a la Grease, but I understand it wasn’t what bro-nation expected.
I think Joker 2 could have used a touch like Kevin Costner’s to trim the bloat - the slower or unnecessary moments. That could have made the difference in its pacing and reception. Side note: I thought Gaga was excellent.
The larger point is there are so many things that can go wrong in making a hit movie. It can come down to the will of one person, and the power of any one director or actor at that moment in their career. It’s somebody’s pet project, but they won’t get their way on every point, or an unlimited budget.
It’s very easy to see how a project can get jumbled, and then run out of money to make it perfect, and you just have to release it to get something back.
Business is not idealistic. There will always be push and pull between the creatives and the bean counters. You need both, like Walt & Roy.
If not for the studio reeling Costner in, The Bodyguard may have been 15 minutes longer and not as good. If not for Costner, it may have been released with a confusing storyline and been an embarrassment for him and Whitney.
1. I heard parts of a long interview with Kevin Costner, probably rerun from several months ago. He kind of brought me back to Earth talking about filmmaking as I suspected/had always heard it was done vs. the often cynical accusations made here.
One thing that struck me was in post-production for The Bodyguard: test audiences were not reacting great, and Costner was in a room with the studio people watching it, and the studio said basically oh well, guess that’s as good as that’s going to get - but Costner knew it was missing about 15 minutes of story. The studio argued it was already too long. So, he personally worked through the night, cutting 10 seconds here and 15 seconds there, to decrease the run time while adding needed story back in. That was the version that was successful.
It came down to one person.
2. I finally saw Joker 2, having heard all kinds of criticisms. I don’t think that film was bad at all. I don’t consider it “a musical” a la Grease, but I understand it wasn’t what bro-nation expected.
I think Joker 2 could have used a touch like Kevin Costner’s to trim the bloat - the slower or unnecessary moments. That could have made the difference in its pacing and reception. Side note: I thought Gaga was excellent.
The larger point is there are so many things that can go wrong in making a hit movie. It can come down to the will of one person, and the power of any one director or actor at that moment in their career. It’s somebody’s pet project, but they won’t get their way on every point, or an unlimited budget.
It’s very easy to see how a project can get jumbled, and then run out of money to make it perfect, and you just have to release it to get something back.
Business is not idealistic. There will always be push and pull between the creatives and the bean counters. You need both, like Walt & Roy.
If not for the studio reeling Costner in, The Bodyguard may have been 15 minutes longer and not as good. If not for Costner, it may have been released with a confusing storyline and been an embarrassment for him and Whitney.
