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Avi Arad called us Idiots
Quote:
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com)- Marvel CEO Avi Arad has just finished a lengthy discussion on the dangers of Internet rumor-mongering and the evils of reviewing unfinished projects, which perfectly segues into the excitable mogul's feelings about online reaction to the selection of Brett Ratner to direct the next "X-Men" film.
"Idiots," he says plainly, before continuing. "Idiots."
Ratner, best known for relentless self-promotion and the blockbuster "Rush Hour" films, became a last-minute fill-in director on "X-Men 3" after original director Matthew Vaughn bailed last month to spend more time with his family. From the second Ratner's name entered the equation, netizens from Aint-It-Cool-News to IMDB messageboards began spewing outrage, sadness and resignation, jotting off open letters to imaginary executives at Fox and launching purely hypothetical petitions to enlist a new director. Arad, who was close to hiring Ratner several times previously, is just confused by all the vitriol.
"Did you see 'Red Dragon?' Did you see that?" Arad asks, referring to Ratner's reasonably well-reviewed Hannibal Lecter remake. "And you saw 'Family Man,' which is totally different, a very emotional story. Then, you have two giant comedies. What are they thinking? This is a great filmmaker. Do you know how much experience this guy has? Let alone his new Jessica Simpson video? This guy knows what he's doing."
Although Arad can't find positive words for "Money Talks" or "After the Sunset," he's certainly effusive about his new employee. Fans, though, aren't as certain. Although few details from the sequel have come forth since Ratner's introduction, rumors of the addition of a new hooker mutant who may or may not be little-used character Stacy X have produced reactions from confusion -- several new characters including Beast and Juggernaut already need to be introduced -- to general disgust. Arad won't confirm or deny any specific changes, but he says that Ratner has, indeed, already left his fingerprints all over the script, originally written by Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg.
"Brett Ratner came onto this thing and from the get-go, you felt experience," notes Arad. "He's made lots of changes in the script that are very good, because he's thinking picture, not words. He's very cinematic."
Arad doesn't really sound concerned. He's been through the same thing before.
"Tell me a director they didn't go after," he challenges. "Maybe the only guy who got away with it was Sam [Raimi]. When Bryan [Singer] came on board the first time? Oh boy."
Working in Arad's favor is the overwhelming fan community support for the first two "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" films, as well as the fact that all four films have reached blockbuster status.
"So far, so good," he chuckles. "Give us a little break. Not much, just a little bit."
Production on "X-Men 3" is slated to begin in August, as Fox has already claimed Memorial Day 2006 for its premiere.
Sounds to me like he's come to believe his own hype. And as far as Singer and Raimi go, I really don't remember any of this kind of outrage at any cavalier treatment the subject matter was getting by the filmmakers involved. And of course Ratface's previous projects certainly stand up there with the previous efforts of X-Men and Spider-Man's directors. I mean Rush Hour and Red Dragon? They must make pieces of hackneyed material like THE USUAL SUSPECTS and THE EVIL DEAD seem like they were directed by self-important morons that lucked the hell out, right? Someone needs to take Avi to a comic book convention, tie him down, and force him to speak with the fans he's calling idiots for about 12 hours so THEY can tell him what they liked and what they thought worked about the previous movies. Not some hollywood sleaze who measures creativity with a crayon, his feet, and how uncomfortably large his wallet is at the end of the day in his pocket as a gauge of success.
Fuck you very much, Mr. Arad. I'm underwhelmed.
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Re: Avi Arad called us Idiots
Not usually a good idea to insult the people who support his business.
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LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com)- Marvel CEO Avi Arad has just finished a lengthy discussion on the dangers of Internet rumor-mongering and the evils of reviewing unfinished projects, which perfectly segues into the excitable mogul's feelings about online reaction to the selection of Brett Ratner to direct the next "X-Men" film.
"Idiots," he says plainly, before continuing. "Idiots."
Ratner, best known for relentless self-promotion and the blockbuster "Rush Hour" films, became a last-minute fill-in director on "X-Men 3" after original director Matthew Vaughn bailed last month to spend more time with his family. From the second Ratner's name entered the equation, netizens from Aint-It-Cool-News to IMDB messageboards began spewing outrage, sadness and resignation, jotting off open letters to imaginary executives at Fox and launching purely hypothetical petitions to enlist a new director. Arad, who was close to hiring Ratner several times previously, is just confused by all the vitriol.
"Did you see 'Red Dragon?' Did you see that?" Arad asks, referring to Ratner's reasonably well-reviewed Hannibal Lecter remake. "And you saw 'Family Man,' which is totally different, a very emotional story. Then, you have two giant comedies. What are they thinking? This is a great filmmaker. Do you know how much experience this guy has? Let alone his new Jessica Simpson video? This guy knows what he's doing."
Although Arad can't find positive words for "Money Talks" or "After the Sunset," he's certainly effusive about his new employee. Fans, though, aren't as certain. Although few details from the sequel have come forth since Ratner's introduction, rumors of the addition of a new hooker mutant who may or may not be little-used character Stacy X have produced reactions from confusion -- several new characters including Beast and Juggernaut already need to be introduced -- to general disgust. Arad won't confirm or deny any specific changes, but he says that Ratner has, indeed, already left his fingerprints all over the script, originally written by Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg.
"Brett Ratner came onto this thing and from the get-go, you felt experience," notes Arad. "He's made lots of changes in the script that are very good, because he's thinking picture, not words. He's very cinematic."
Arad doesn't really sound concerned. He's been through the same thing before.
"Tell me a director they didn't go after," he challenges. "Maybe the only guy who got away with it was Sam [Raimi]. When Bryan [Singer] came on board the first time? Oh boy."
Working in Arad's favor is the overwhelming fan community support for the first two "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" films, as well as the fact that all four films have reached blockbuster status.
"So far, so good," he chuckles. "Give us a little break. Not much, just a little bit."
Production on "X-Men 3" is slated to begin in August, as Fox has already claimed Memorial Day 2006 for its premiere.
Yeah, the fans must be crazy to question the credentials of the guy that directed Rush Hour, Money Talks, and After the Sunset. That's a Scorsese-like resume there.
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Re: Avi Arad called us Idiots
Quote:
Originally Posted by GabeLogan
He's not really insulting the people who support his business, he is insulting the haters who dawg the flicks before they even come out.
Sure. Who do they think they are having opinions about what they'd want to see or not see. The nerve of them.
__________________
I feel remarkably unburdened with the need to explain, justify or defend anything I say, feel or do online to any self-entitled anonymous snarkwit who feels I owe their point of view a form of cogent argument or debate. Life is too short to stress myself arguing with strangers over minutiae. Ya don't like it, ignore me and go read something else. -WinterRose
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