So what do you guys think about Curtis Hanson?
In my opinion L.A. CONFIDENTIAL and THE WONDERBOYS were masterpieces. THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, BAD INFLUENCE, BEDROOM WINDOW and 8 MILE were also great!
Spike
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL!!!!!!!!!!! :-D
Watching it on my laptop in school as we speak actually!!!!!!
And now for the coherent thought.....
He is hands down one of my fave directors. And that script is just fucking fantastic. Just a perfect script in my opinion.....
I think he's a good, workmanlike director, and the quality of the films he makes ride squarely on the quality of the scripts. I haven't studied them in-depth, but I can't see a great deal of continuation between the worldviews in his movies - or the visual philosophies. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but as a shameless fan of the idea of auteurs, it means that I could never love him as a director as much as I could those who manage to stamp a little of themesleves into every picture. I love Wonderboys, but it seems to have little to do with 8 Mile, or River Wild, or LA Confidential for that matter. I could be wrong...
Being varied isn't a bad thing - it's interesting. But Ang Lee, for example, is a recent director who - although he has made movies in very different genres - still manages to keep something of himself in each one (specifically, I think, through the way he shoots nature) - Hanson isn't, I don't believe...
Curtis Hanson Developing Crimson Petal at Columbia
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Curtis Hanson is in final talks to develop and direct Columbia Pictures' big-screen adaptation of Michael Faber's novel The Crimson Petal and the White for producer Laura Ziskin. The project is being developed as a starring vehicle for Kirsten Dunst, but no deal is in place with the actress.
Set in London during the 1860s, the story centers on a 19-year-old prostitute named Sugar. Her yearning for a better life begins to become a reality when she finds herself the secret mistress of a member of a powerful London family.
No writer has yet come on board to adapt the novel, but a scribe is expected shortly and will work closely with Hanson to develop the script.
i agree that a prostitute would be the ideal role for dunst, but the accent and attitude might wind up embarrasing as hell. or maybe i just hate the phrase "starring vehicle".
Hansen is great. I loooove 'L.A.Confidential'. 'River Wild' is under-rated. He did a better job with '8 Mile' than its simple script deserved. Can't say I'm looking forward to this 'Crimson' film, though.
Anyone notice his cameo in 'Adaptation'? (or is this a dumb question)
I think he's a good director, but Children is right... the films aren't very personal. I liked River Wild and thoroughly loved L.A. Confidential and Wonder Boys.
Speaking of Wonder Boys, anyone know if that other Chabon book, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, is going to be made into a movie? I heard Scott Rudin (Wonder Boys producer, also The Hours, he digs the literary thing) was producing, but haven't heard a director. MacGuffin?
Quote from: godardianSpeaking of Wonder Boys, anyone know if that other Chabon book, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, is going to be made into a movie? I heard Scott Ruding (Wonder Boys producer, also The Hours, he digs the literary thing) was producing, but haven't heard a director. MacGuffin?
In an interview with Apple.com, Michael Chabon, who's writing the screenplay for Kavalier & Clay, talked about working with Rudin. "This has been a very positive experience. I'm working with just one person, the producer, Scott Rudin. He's very intelligent and very committed to this book. He's also very demanding, but always in an intelligent and reasonable way."
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Michael Chabon told an audience at one of his readings on his Summerland book tour that Stephen Daldry (The Hours) has replaced Sydney Pollack as director.
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Hot off the anticipated success of THE HOURS, producer Scott Rudin and director Stephen Daldry are set to reteam to adapt Michael Chabon's novel THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY. Chabon, currently writing THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN for Sony, won a Pulitzer Prize for his work on that novel. KAVALIER follows two young Jewish cousins who use their own post-WWII experiences to create comic-books in their bedrooms. Daldry and Rudin are also working on an adaptation of Jonathan Franzen's THE CORRECTIONS, best known for being the book/author who snubbed the Oprah book group. Daldry would begin filming KAVALIER next and CORRECTIONS shortly thereafter. Rudin, who recently left his post on the Jim Carrey LEMONY SNICKET adaptation, would produce both.
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Review of the screenplay here. (http://www.coronaproductions.com/films/loosethread/020719.html)
Oooh... Corrections and Kavalier are two of my favorite books read in recent years... hope they do something respectable with the films, but that they're not TOO "respectable," i.e. a bit more exciting than The Hours. Daldry has yet to convince me.
Kavalier and Clay is really an amazing book... can't really imagine how they could pull it off as a movie... but perhaps we shall see.
Quote from: punchdrunk23L.A. CONFIDENTIAL!!!!!!!!!!! :-D
Officer Bud White....bad mutha that guy is! One of my favs as well....
I loved Wonder Boys! One of my favs, and it's actually the only Curtis Hanson movie I've seen. I'll look into renting 8 Mile and LA Confidential....
Definitely a cool director...Confidential and WB are really really cool. He also did make 8 mile watchable and a better film that it was supposed to be. River Wild is on my Netflix...sounds fun.
i hated LA CONFIDENTIAL. i should have mentioned that in the confessions thread. just because a movie captures a style of a certain era doesn't necessarily mean its good filmmaking. i mean it ended with the most over the top banal shoot out i have ever seen. no one in this movie was likeable or even enjoyable.
I agree with you that this was true in the beginning of the film....but didn't that change for you at all towards the end? Can you say you weren't rooting for them at the end???
Just curious. :)
Wonder Boys is my favorite film by Hanson. It is sharp, focused and rewarding to share new things with each viewing.
I loved L.A. Confidential on first viewing, but then I read the book it was based on and to put it simply, very dissapointed with the movie though still liking it. Not the movie's fault, because the book is so massive and rewarding.
I realize 8 Mile was generally looked upon as a good film, but I think it is a lot more interesting than a lot of people have said or analyzed in relation to where the persona/drive of the character and human being that Eminem hides in/beneath.
~rougerum
Quote from: sexterossai hated LA CONFIDENTIAL. i should have mentioned that in the confessions thread. just because a movie captures a style of a certain era doesn't necessarily mean its good filmmaking. i mean it ended with the most over the top banal shoot out i have ever seen. no one in this movie was likeable or even enjoyable.
This movie fired on all cylinders. It had the perfect script, acting , pacing, and score...It was the BEST film of 97, hands down. Everybody around here raves about A Clockwork Orange, but I don't think Alex was a likeable character. Just an example.
Quote from: DerekQuote from: sexterossai hated LA CONFIDENTIAL. i should have mentioned that in the confessions thread. just because a movie captures a style of a certain era doesn't necessarily mean its good filmmaking. i mean it ended with the most over the top banal shoot out i have ever seen. no one in this movie was likeable or even enjoyable.
This movie fired on all cylinders. It had the perfect script, acting , pacing, and score...It was the BEST film of 97, hands down. Everybody around here raves about A Clockwork Orange, but I don't think Alex was a likeable character. Just an example.
Likeable characters are a dime a dozen. Complex,
interesting characters (likeable or unlikeable), on the other hand...
Nicholas Meyer Penning The Crimson Petal
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Columbia Pictures has tapped The Human Stain writer Nicholas Meyer to pen the big-screen adaptation of Michel Faber's novel The Crimson Petal and the White.
The project, which is being directed by Curtis Hanson and produced by Laura Ziskin, is being developed as a starring vehicle for Kirsten Dunst, though no deal is in place.
Set in London during the 1860s, the story centers on a 19-year-old prostitute named Sugar. Her yearning for a better life begins to become a reality when she finds herself the secret mistress of a member of a powerful London family.
Quote from: MacGuffina starring vehicle for Kirsten Dunst
...:(
Quote from: MacGuffinthough no deal is in place.
.... :)
Toni Collette Slips on Shoes
Source: Variety
Toni Collette will star opposite Cameron Diaz in the Fox 2000 adaptation of the bestseller In Her Shoes, which begins shooting next month. Collette will play a straitlaced attorney who is forced to house her underemployed party girl of a sister (Diaz).
Curtis Hanson will direct the romantic comedy, which Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich) adapted from Jennifer Weiner's novel. Ridley Scott and Tony Scott's Scott Free will produce the film.
i liked wonder boys so much that i forgive him for the tradgedy that is 8 mile...LAME Lame lame. I really need to buy wonder boys on dvd..i am looking forward to whatever he puts out next.
Quote from: zerocool41i forgive him for the tradgedy that is 8 mile...LAME Lame lame.
....i liked 8 mile......its a good looking(i.e. cinematography)....film....w/ solid acting...and story....it=f iwa by a less skilled director.......umm... lets say .....
... :idea: McG....then it would have been sh*tty.....
but wonder boys is flat out awesome........way underrated........
i just watched 8 MILE last night..... that is all.
it's good.
The Shoes Fit Shirley MacLaine
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Shirley MacLaine will star opposite Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette in the sibling comedy In Her Shoes. The Hollywood Reporter says the 20th Century Fox film starts shooting February 9 in Los Angeles with Curtis Hanson (8 Mile) at the helm.
The story centers on the rivalry between an irresponsible and sometimes-employed party girl (Diaz) and her older sister, an ambitious attorney (Collette). The two move in together and ultimately find a connection they never thought was there.
MacLaine will play their grandmother, with Mark Feuerstein (Good Morning, Miami) also joining the cast as the love interest of Collette's character.
The story is based on Jennifer Weiner's comic novel, which was adapted by Oscar-nominated Erin Brockovich screenwriter Susannah Grant. MacLaine next stars in Miramax's Carolina.
this sounds boring, but i like hanson. i just heard yesterday that they are filming this movie here in stinktown for a week or two.
I gotta say I admire Hansen's versatility. All his films are so different. He doesn't have any trademarks, doesn't use the same actors over & over (though I actually like when directors do that), he doesn't have a set style that is recognisable from film to film. He does a tough 'in da hood' drama and then does a Cameron Diaz comedy. I find that funny. Its good to see a director that tries his hand at literally anything.
Oh and I really like '8 Mile'. A slow, realistic urban drama yet still one of the hippest films I've seen in ages.
'Lucky' Strike for Bana with Warners
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Eric Bana is getting lucky with "Lucky You."
The Australian star has been cast in the lead role of Huck Cheever in the Warner Bros. Pictures project, which Curtis Hanson ("L.A. Confidential," "8 Mile") is set to direct. Production is to begin early next year in Las Vegas.
Set in the world of high-stakes professional poker, "Lucky" is based on an original screenplay by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Eric Roth ("Forest Gump"), with additional writing by Hanson.
Bana most recently starred as Hector opposite Brad Pitt in Warners' "Troy." He is set to star in Steven Spielberg's chronicle of the 1972 Munich Olympics, "Vengeance."
Bana's other credits include "The Hulk" for director Ang Lee and "Black Hawk Down" for Ridley Scott. Bana was introduced to international audiences when he played the title role of Mark "Chopper" Read in the Australian feature "Chopper," which premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.
'Lucky' draw for Barrymore
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Drew Barrymore is getting lucky. The actress has signed on to star opposite Eric Bana in "Lucky You," which Curtis Hanson is directing for Warner Bros. Pictures. Set in the world of high-stakes professional poker, the dramedy-love story is based on an original screenplay by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Eric Roth ("Forrest Gump"), with additional writing by Hanson, who also will produce with Carol Fenelon and Denise Di Novi. Warners is handling worldwide distribution. Barrymore will play a struggling singer who meets a professional poker player (Bana) as he deals with his estranged father. Village Roadshow is co-financing the film, which is scheduled to begin shooting in March in Las Vegas
Duvall gets 'Lucky' break as father
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Academy Award winner Robert Duvall will play Eric Bana's father and poker opponent in "Lucky You," a drama Curtis Hanson is directing for Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures. "Lucky" follows a professional poker player (Bana) who gets a lesson in life from a struggling singer (the already cast Drew Barrymore) as he collides with his estranged father (Duvall) at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. The film is set to begin shooting on location in Las Vegas on March 23. It's scheduled for a December release. Hanson, Carol Fenelon and Denise Di Novi are producing from a script by Eric Roth and Hanson.
Quote from: MacGuffinDuvall gets 'Lucky' break as father
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Academy Award winner Robert Duvall will play Eric Bana's father and poker opponent in "Lucky You," a drama Curtis Hanson is directing for Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures. "Lucky" follows a professional poker player (Bana) who gets a lesson in life from a struggling singer (the already cast Drew Barrymore) as he collides with his estranged father (Duvall) at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. The film is set to begin shooting on location in Las Vegas on March 23. It's scheduled for a December release. Hanson, Carol Fenelon and Denise Di Novi are producing from a script by Eric Roth and Hanson.
I just got very excited.
Hanson migrates to TV
'8 mile' director inks deal with CBS
Source: Variety
Curtis Hanson has become the latest filmmaker to join the migration to network television.
Helmer of "8 Mile" and "L.A. Confidential" has inked a multiyear overall deal with CBS Paramount Network Television. He and producing partner Carol Fenelon will create, develop and produce shows in all genres for the studio via their Deuce Three Prods. banner.
Hanson joins a slew of feature talent that has set up shop in TV land over the past few years, including Jerry Bruckheimer, Mark Gordon, Joe Roth and David Mamet.
CBS Par prexy David Stapf said he looked forward to collaborating with Hanson and Fenelon.
"Curtis Hanson's extraordinary visual style and storytelling ability make him a highly regarded and sought-after filmmaker," Stapf said. "We are excited that he wants to bring his unique talents to television."
Hanson said television will open up new creative opportunities for Deuce Three.
"There are characters and situations I've long wanted to explore in a format not limited by the constraints of a two- hour running time," he said. "For Carol and me, this venture is the perfect fusion of that desire and the opportunity to accomplish it with partners we greatly respect."
Hanson's next feature is "Lucky You," a poker drama starring Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore that's set to open May 4. Project was developed with Fenelon for Warner Bros. under the Deuce Three banner.
Company is in development on adaptations of the George Pelecanos novel "Right as Rain" for Warners and Michel Faber's "The Crimson Petal and the White" at Sony. They're also working on nonfiction bird-watching saga "The Big Year" at DreamWorks.
Curtis Hanson circling 'Gemini Man'
David Benioff wrote Jerry Bruckheimer thriller
Source: Variety
Curtis Hanson is negotiating with Disney to direct "Gemini Man," an action thriller that will be produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.
David Benioff wrote the most recent draft of the script.
An NSA agent tries to retire and is targeted for death. He discovers that his assassin is a younger cloned version of himself.
Mike Stenson and Chad Oman will be executive producers with Don Murphy.
The director best known for "Wonder Boys" and "L.A. Confidential" will be taking on his first cloning tale. He is also looking to end a development process that dates back nearly a decade. Darren Lemke originated the project, and drafts were subsequently penned by the likes of Jonathan Hensleigh.
I LOVE 'LA Confidential' with a huge passion because I love ellroy and kevin spacey is in it and he's magnificent in it. I haven't read the books in ages so I need to go through all of ellroys books and plow through them. 'Wonder boys' was great too. That film really did have Robert Downey Jr. at his most mischieviest. 'The hand that rocks the cradle' I haven't seen in a long time. '8 Mile' was solid, yet a bit too formulaic. 'In her shoes' was embaressing and 'Lucky you' I haven't seen yet.
'Gemini Man' could be fantastic fare, if done right.
Curtis Hanson to Direct Jay Moriarty
Source: Production Weekly
Curtis Hanson will direct Jay Moriarity, based on the true adventures of the surfing wonderboy. Production Weekly says that Sean Penn in talks to play his mentor Rick "Frosty" Hesson.
While still a teenager, Moriarity took on the waves at Northern California surfing jewel Maverick's, where the winter swells pull in waves five stories tall. He had prodded wise surfing elder Frosty Hesson to prepare him, and after finally relenting, the local legend put Moriarity through a program of intense physical training.
Moriarity died a day before his 23rd birthday in a free-diving accident.