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Topic:
The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #1: The tyranny of the opening weekend box office
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ClassicMovieLover
Registered:
Dec '07
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Date Posted:
2/13 3:18pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #17: Movie piracy
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Zaz posted:
Who was this person and what grudge did he have against Elaine May? She'd made only one previous movie, I think.
It wasn't just a professional grudge; for the most part it was personal. May was/is a
screenwriter and has been active in the business since the fifties, starting out as an
actress. Ishtar was her fourth and final movie as a director.
JohnWesleyDowney posted:
ClassicMovieLover posted:
Regarding Ishtar and Beatty: Ishtar is one of the most underrated movies of all time.
It wasn't a conflict between the new head of studio and Beatty, but a grudge he had
on a personal level with director Elaine May as well as making an example out of
the budget thing for future productions to alter the politics of his predecessor.
Ishtar topped the box office for 2 weeks and had favorable reviews at first. When
the killing of the movie started from within the studio who'd financed it, suddenly
the tone of the reviews changed. It was a personal vendetta and the fact that he
could use the blown up budget to introduce his new production policy was a bonus.
The rumors about Beatty's ego being the biggest of Hollywood are just that: rumors.
He can't even hold a candle to the likes of Jackie Gleason, Jerry Lewis, Burt Reynolds
and plenty more.
I'm assuming the executive you're talking about is the infamous David Putnam who was a terrible choice to run a movie studio. Hollywood ate him alive. I read a book about Putnam's tenure at Columbia and it was a nightmare. He made CHARIOTS OF FIRE as a producer, but Hollywood regarded him as an outsider who wanted to change their entrenched ways. If he'd kept his mouth shut and gone about his business of changing the way things were done, he might have succeeded. Instead he gave constant speeches and interviews where he basically poked a sharp stick in the eyes of the Hollywood establishment (major directors, big stars, the powerful talent agencies) so they couldn't wait to run him out of town. Lesson learned. If you want to do things different in Hollywood, move quietly behind the scenes. Ishtar was just one casualty of Putnam's folly.
Beatty's ego is legendary, but you're right about the vendetta.
Yes, it was Putnam and May wasn't the only person he sabotaged in the business.
I'm not saying Beatty doesn't have a big ego (who doesn't in Hollywood?). I'm
saying that the size of his ego pales in comparison to those of the guys I
mentioned, and many other - much lesser - stars/talents.
If you've ever had the chance to witness Beatty and, for instance, Don Johnson
when they think nobody's watching, you'd be shocked to see the difference.
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
2/18 9:22am
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #17: Movie piracy
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16. The horror that was the making of the American classic Apocalypse Now.
With Martin Sheen suffering a heart attack and Francis Ford Coppola pouring in his own money to finish the film, the production was a prolonged struggle during which Coppola lost 100 pounds (and almost his marriage) over 238 days of drug-fueled filmmaking, but somehow he came home with a masterpiece.
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KnightWriter
Title:
Administrator Emeritus
Registered:
Nov '01
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Date Posted:
2/18 9:27am
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #16: The horror that was the making of Apocalypse Now
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It was Peter Jackson before Peter Jackson.
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darthdrago
Registered:
Dec '03
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Date Posted:
2/18 10:31am
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #16: The horror that was the making of Apocalypse Now
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Coppola's wife Eleanor made a documentary out of the experience (Hearts of Darkness: a Filmmaker's Apocalypse) that turned out to be even better than the film itself.
I say this perfectly qualifies as a "disaster" since Coppola's career basically jumped the shark after this film. He never regained the cred he earned himself from his `70s output.
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solojones
Registered:
Sep '00
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Date Posted:
2/18 10:51am
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #16: The horror that was the making of Apocalypse Now
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Apocalypse Now is one of my favourite films, and I've heard some of the stuff that went on but I have yet to see or read Hearts of Darkness. It's in my Netflix queue.
Good thing Martin Sheen had a brother who sounded just like him, huh? 
-sj loves kevin spacey
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severian28
Registered:
Apr '04
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Date Posted:
2/18 12:43pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #16: The horror that was the making of Apocalypse Now
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its only considered a disaster in that it forever altered - for better or worse and most agree worse - the film making genius of Coppola, who was way ahead of schedule in becoming THE water mark of American directors - something Scorcese, Spielberg, and Eastwood became. Coppola didnt maintain the brilliance and edge whereas the other three became even more daring, especially in their passion projects. their subjects became more radical, they themselves became more questioning as they became older. Coppolas' career is the classic human story of a person burning out because he tried to understand too much of lifes mysteries at one time. Eastwood, Spielberg, and Scorsese had measured careers, putting there egos in check as younger men with the studios, doing the best they could to see a bigger picture for their careers. and all three heavily, heavily inspired by Coppola, ironically enough. Lucas, too - VERY influenced by early Coppola. Georges' ego and ambition were vindicated whereas Coppola's got lost in a jungle. Francis is almost universally recognized as the one director that had the most raw, abundant, and natural filmmaking talent out of all the many gifted people that came out of the mid sixties - late seventies American golden age - the same talent that rules dominantly today. dont ever, ever underestimate the impact that the Godfather I & II had on American filmmakers. and Coppola did maintain his aesthetic brilliance throughout . Godfather III and Dracula are beautifully filmed. and who knows? he may come out with a late life opus, one in which lifes lessons learned are displayed by Mr. Coppola. its been done.
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The_Face
Title: Fan Fic Manager, now with more real butter flavor
Registered:
Feb '03
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Date Posted:
2/18 1:19pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #16: The horror that was the making of Apocalypse Now
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Well the upside is we got a terrific Animaniacs spoof. 
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General_Dodonna
Registered:
Feb '05
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Date Posted:
2/18 3:12pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #16: The horror that was the making of Apocalypse Now
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The biggest disaster of all is Coppola's woeful litigation against Photoplay and the BFI over rights to Abel Gance's silent masterpiece NAPOLEON. To sum: All of us are being deprived the joys of the expanded and restored cut of NAPOLEON because of Coppola's megalomanical desire to only see the film distributed with the score provided by his late father Carmine Coppola. I don't know what happened, but somewhere along the line the man began to hate cinema.
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"A film is difficult to explain because it is easy to understand." - Christian Metz
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JohnWesleyDowney
Registered:
Jan '04
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Date Posted:
2/18 7:28pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #16: The horror that was the making of Apocalypse Now
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The documentary Eleanor Coppola did on that film is one of the most educational movies about making a movie I've ever seen. I'm amazed Coppola LIVED through the making of that film.
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How many movies do you think Industrial Light and Magic has worked on? WRONG. http://www.ilm.com/ilm_services.html "Films fulfill an unconscious spiritual desire that human beings have to share a common memory." - Martin Scorcese
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General_Dodonna
Registered:
Feb '05
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Date Posted:
2/18 8:11pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #16: The horror that was the making of Apocalypse Now
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Let's give credit where it's due. Eleanor Coppola only shot the footage used in the documentary. HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE was directed and edited by Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper.
Also: It seems like Francis doesn't like to give credit where it's due, because these two poor dudes got totally snubbed on the recent DVD release of the documentary.
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Hammurabi
Registered:
Jan '07
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Date Posted:
2/18 8:53pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #16: The horror that was the making of Apocalypse Now
- Date Edited:
2/18 8:53pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Hammurabi
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KnightWriter posted:
It was Peter Jackson before Peter Jackson.
To be fair, Peter Jackson only lost fifty-some pounds, and he looks all the better for it:
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JohnWesleyDowney
Registered:
Jan '04
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Date Posted:
2/18 9:14pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #16: The horror that was the making of Apocalypse Now
- Date Edited:
2/18 9:16pm (2 edits total)
Edited By:
JohnWesleyDowney
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General_Dodonna posted:
Let's give credit where it's due. Eleanor Coppola only shot the footage used in the documentary. HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE was directed and edited by Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper.
Also: It seems like Francis doesn't like to give credit where it's due, because these two poor dudes got totally snubbed on the recent DVD release of the documentary.
Well, it was awful nice of her to shoot the footage so those guys would have something to work on! 
Regarding credit, Coppola did something similar on THE CONVERSATION. Walter Murch had a tremendous effect on that film, there's so much in that Coppola film that relates to sound and editing and Murch's sound and editing background is at the forefront of the film.
Notice where he put Murch's credit. Coppola gave it as little prominence as possible.
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How many movies do you think Industrial Light and Magic has worked on? WRONG. http://www.ilm.com/ilm_services.html "Films fulfill an unconscious spiritual desire that human beings have to share a common memory." - Martin Scorcese
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
2/18 10:13pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #16: The horror that was the making of Apocalypse Now
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Coppola probably didn't have a great career after "Apocolypse" because of (rumoured) manic depressive problems. Certainly his behaviour on the film suggest it. The other problem was his doing double duty as a writer. His films fell into a baleful pattern. He'd start shooting before the script was finished; the script would fall apart en route, he'd have to refinance during shooting to finish, etc. Sub-plots included a murder of some of the minor financiers on "The Cotton Club".
Coppola was the last director that could handle unrestricted freedom, which he got after the Godfathers.
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severian28
Registered:
Apr '04
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Date Posted:
2/20 10:12am
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #16: The horror that was the making of Apocalypse Now
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Coppola was the last director that could handle unrestricted freedom, which he got after the Godfathers.
thats pretty much it in a nutshell. rumors are that that is exactly what the studios are giving Cameron for Avalon. he wont be spending any of the studio bigs fortune's on globe trotting but one can just imagine the literal 100's of millions Cameron will spend on pioneering technology alone, never mind the actual shots.
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" Bring the sled " - Al Swearengen
" Dying all the time. Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind. Aint life unkind? " - The Rolling Stones
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Spiderfan
Registered:
Mar '04
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Date Posted:
2/20 2:36pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #16: The horror that was the making of Apocalypse Now
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Hammurabi posted:
To be fair, Peter Jackson only lost fifty-some pounds, and he looks all the better for it:
I dunno...he looks kinda sick honestly. 
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