Xixax Film Forum

Okay, I know that most of you really hate Brett Ratner and I don't know why. But I really enjoy his work.
"Rush Hour 1+2" were fantastic entertainment, "Money Talks" was cool and "Family Man" very entertaining. And finally Ratner showed us with "Red Dragon" that he can also be a very serious director.
And I think he's very likeable, too. He's very funny and entertaining on audio-commentarys or Making-Of-documentarys.
And to me it seems that he's a real perfectionist.
I like him.

And you guys?

here we go again

The feelings on him have been already expressed, at length, in these forums:

http://xixax.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1886

http://xixax.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=167

http://xixax.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1980

theres some news i posted over there today, if youre interested in what he's up to next...

http://xixax.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1886&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30
down towards the bottom

Quote from: SpikeI like him.

And you guys?

i try to like him but then i get kicked in the face and called a mainstreem whore. :: sinks crying down in the chair, press' play and watches airforce 1 ::

I want to stuff Rattner up Chris Tucker's ass!

Quote from: Phil Marlowe

Quote from: SpikeI like him.

And you guys?

i try to like him but then i get kicked in the face and called a mainstreem whore. :: sinks crying down in the chair, press' play and watches airforce 1 ::

you have a point, he really has not done anything wrong.

but the PTA Obsession is a bit much, but fuckin a they are both the same age and well its kinda natural for him to feel that way, every generation has had there own pta / ratner deal

give him time, but this i will say he is not as great as mcG

mcG i hope will be the king of the summer action genra, i would love to see him do a cool heist flick

i'd like to see him do a heist flick about orchids. that'd be hot.

Quote from: bonanzatazi'd like to see him do a heist flick about orchids. that'd be hot.

Technology Vs. Horse:  A McG Film.

Quote from: AlguienEstolamiPantalonesyou have a point, he really has not done anything wrong.

but the PTA Obsession is a bit much, but fuckin a they are both the same age and well its kinda natural for him to feel that way, every generation has had there own pta / ratner deal

give him time, but this i will say he is not as great as mcG

mcG i hope will be the king of the summer action genra, i would love to see him do a cool heist flick

i dunno about rattner. i   dont really have that much of an opinion on him cuz i've only seen two of his movies wich are rush hour wich was annoying but pretty entertaining and red dragon wich i thought was good.

as a person he's propably one huge pile of monkeys ass but i find it funny like hell how so many people take his quotes so seriously and starts to obligatory hate his movies before they even see them.

Quote from: Ravi

Quote from: bonanzatazi'd like to see him do a heist flick about orchids. that'd be hot.

Technology Vs. Horse:  A McG Film.

how rather snobby of you to compare mcG with donald kaufman, mcg has much better hair and he gets to do for a living something you would kill to do

Quote from: AlguienEstolamiPantalones

Quote from: Ravi

Quote from: bonanzatazi'd like to see him do a heist flick about orchids. that'd be hot.

Technology Vs. Horse:  A McG Film.

how rather snobby of you to compare mcG with donald kaufman, mcg has much better hair and he gets to do for a living something you would kill to do

:?:  :?:  :?:

NOW who can't take a joke

Quote from: tremoloslothNOW who can't take a joke

i took it and bouned back with a hairstyle joke , so its realllly inside

Everything is apples

Quote from: tremoloslothEverything is apples

unless it oranges, even then its all the same

mambo king, if you did your research, you'd see i'm a fan of charlie's angels.


DON'T FUCK WITH ME OR I'LL KILL YOU!!!

Quote from: bonanzatazmambo king, if you did your research, you'd see i'm a fan of charlie's angels.


DON'T FUCK WITH ME OR I'LL KILL YOU!!!

did i say you didnt like him ?? i was talking to ravi, he said that thing about man vrs horses, i thought that was a pun towards MCg being a hack

kill me ohh no !!!

oh yeah, well...

you post too damn much.

i'll see you later tonight

Quote from: bonanzatazoh yeah, well...

you post too damn much.

i'll see you later tonight

damn nigga, the mambo revoultion aint gonna start its self now is it .......

I feel odlly dissed now, see i am not as heartless as my kinagardten spelling teacher said i was  

Quote from: AlguienEstolamiPantalones

Quote from: bonanzatazoh yeah, well...

you post too damn much.

i'll see you later tonight

damn nigga, the mambo revoultion aint gonna start its self now is it .......

I feel odlly dissed now, see i am not as heartless as my kinagardten spelling teacher said i was  

When is this mambo-thing gonna happen. I've been dancing all day! This morning I was dancing in the street, and everybody thought I was either gay or completely nuts. Am I the only one who gives a damn about this revolution? Join the dance!!!!  :shock:

Quote from: Sigur RósWhen is this mambo-thing gonna happen. I've been dancing all day! This morning I was dancing in the street, and everybody thought I was either gay or completely nuts. Am I the only one who gives a damn about this revolution? Join the dance!!!!  :shock:

Quote from: Phil Marlowemy suspisions were right. their plans are diabolical.

Quote from: Phil Marlowe

Quote from: Sigur RósWhen is this mambo-thing gonna happen. I've been dancing all day! This morning I was dancing in the street, and everybody thought I was either gay or completely nuts. Am I the only one who gives a damn about this revolution? Join the dance!!!!  :shock:

Quote from: Phil Marlowemy suspisions were right. their plans are diabolical.

when it happens, you will know by the trail of disco lights ..........

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmembers.fortunecity.com%2Fthemodernage%2Fnightmare.jpg&hash=ba0591eb9fc9771d90fe27c283d1741c11aa6c17)

Brett Ratner Goes in After the Sunset
Source: Production Weekly Tuesday, August 5, 2003

Brett Ratner has been brought in to direct New Line's After the Sunset, taking over from helmer John Stockwell, who dropped out last month due to creative differences. The film will start shooting in The Virgin Islands this October.

The movie begins where most heist movies end -- with a master thief (Pierce Brosnan) sailing off to an island paradise after his last big score. However, when his lifelong nemesis, a FBI agent (Woody Harrelson), shows up to make sure the thief is really retired, a new cat-and-mouse game of friendship, suspicion and thievery begins. Salma Hayek plays Brosnan's girlfriend.

The film is based on a Paul Zbyszewski spec script which Craig Rosenberg was recently hired to rewrite.

Quote from: themodernage02
Paul Zbyszewski

http://www.theonion.com/onion2816/vowels2816.html

Don Cheadle Rides Into Sunset at New Line
Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Don Cheadle has been cast opposite Pierce Brosnan and Woody Harrelson in New Line Cinema's caper drama After the Sunset a project that reunites him with director Brett Ratner. Production is scheduled to begin later this month.

The story begins with a master thief (Brosnan) sailing off to an island paradise after his last big score. However, when his lifelong nemesis (Harrelson) shows up to make sure the thief is really retired, a new cat-and-mouse game of friendship, suspicion and thievery begins.

Cheadle will play a crime kingpin in the Caribbean who tries to lure Brosnan out of retirement.

when did ratner direct cheadle?

The Family Man.

~rougerum

Quote from: bonanzatazwhen did ratner direct cheadle?

"Family Man" (played the Angel) and "Rush Hour 2" (played the owner of the restaurant)

pta-wannabe

you know what... if cheadle likes him enough to be in three of his movies and i have nothing against any of his movies (except for money talks. that just made me mad for some reason), then i don't see why ratner gets bashed all the time. he doesn't deserve any love, but he doesn't deserve hate.


ooh, i just took us to page three!

i dont hate him. but i like this whole pro-pta anti-ratner thing we have going. its funny.

yeah.  well i just think its funny that while off making his "rush hour trilogy" he would even compare himself to pta.

i don't know brett ratner, but this sort of scares me:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imdb.com%2FPhotos%2FEvents%2F1476%2FBrettRatne_Grani_564308_400.jpg&hash=31981ca34da0d3580dffd7959d43017989ceb343)

first attempt at posting a pic, hope it worked.

From Entertainment Weekly:

"I've read that [Martin] Scorsese got $6 million for Gangs Of New York, and I felt guilty 'cause I make more than him and he's way more talented than I am," says Brett Ratner, one of the few directors who churn out hits (Rush Hour, Red Dragon) and pocket up to $7 million per film. In fact, Scorsese's fee wound up lower: Because of Gangs' spiraling budget, he and star Leonardo DiCaprio each agreed to return about $3 million in salary to cover cost overruns.

Quote from: Entertainment Weekly[Martin] Scorsese

i'm really glad they clarified that for us, otherwise i would be totally lost.

i heard they found [bret] ratner dead in the back of a car. theyre tracking the owner of said car through its license plate as we speak

Quote from: MacGuffinFrom Entertainment Weekly:

"I've read that [Martin] Scorsese got $6 million for Gangs Of New York, and I felt guilty 'cause I make more than him and he's way more talented than I am," says Brett Ratner, one of the few directors who churn out hits (Rush Hour, Red Dragon) and pocket up to $7 million per film. In fact, Scorsese's fee wound up lower: Because of Gangs' spiraling budget, he and star Leonardo DiCaprio each agreed to return about $3 million in salary to cover cost overruns.

I don't know what was the more sickening thing tonight:

(1) Reading this Ratner anecdote

(2) Having to watch Yanni perform the national anthem at the World Series.

(3) Having to type "Yanni" in the previous sentence.

:(

shut the fuck up and tell me how much you bench or i swear to god...

Quote from: Cecilshut the fuck up and tell me how much you bench or i swear to god...

Well, if that's how you're going to be I won't tell.

But I do want you to hear this poem I wrote: "I love you, you love me. Going down the sugar tree. We'll go down the sugar tree, and see lots of bees: playing, playing. But the bees won't sting, because you love me."

That's it.

Cedric the Entertainer & Brett Ratner Team on Traces
Source: Variety

Cedric the Entertainer will team with Brett Ratner on the action-comedy Traces at New Line Cinema. Cedric will produce and likely star in the film, to be produced by Ratner.

Robert Adetuyi's script is the story of a software custodian who suffers amnesia after a car accident. He must regain his memory when he finds himself pursued by mysterious people who seem to want him dead.

Ratner began production Monday on another New Line feature, After the Sunset, starring Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson.

ok... what the fuck is this?
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0339169/

Quote from: bonanzatazok... what the fuck is this?
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0339169/

Mother of God!  :shock:

Ratner...Euro-trash...

I don't dig him cuz he's pretentious in a turn-off-ish way, y'knowhudImean?

RATNER IS THE DEVIL!!  :twisted:

Brett Ratner Directing Josiah's Canon
Source: Variety

Brett Ratner has committed to direct Josiah's Canon for 20th Century Fox. The bank caper film could start shooting as early as next summer in New York and on location in Europe. Ratner will film after completing his current project, After the Sunset, starring Pierce Brosnan.

Originally written by scribe Jeff King with a most recent draft by Phil Alden Robinson, "Canon" is a dramatic heist story about a Holocaust survivor who leads the world's foremost team of bank robbers. The criminal mastermind sets his sights on an supposedly impenetrable bank in Switzerland, which holds special appeal: It purportedly houses gelt deposited by Jews prior to the Holocaust.

Ratner is also attached to helm the action-comedy Traces for New Line, though no start date has been specified for that Cedric the Entertainer project.

A Holocaust survivor turned robber...sounds sickeningly bad.

Quote from: Gamblor du JourA Holocaust survivor turned robber...sounds sickeningly bad.

How can a Brett Ratner film be bad?  It's not possible.

mans a true genius, he is

way better than that pt barnum or whatever the shit

Brett Ratner interviews Michael Jackson in the new issue of Interview.  it doesnt get much weirder than that.

"Michael and I have shared many a day, week, and month together.  Our relationship is based on our love of films.  We have watched many films together and our personal favorite that we enjoy most is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!"

Quote from: themodernage02Brett Ratner interviews Michael Jackson in the new issue of Interview.  it doesnt get much weirder than that.

"Michael and I have shared many a day, week, and month together.  Our relationship is based on our love of films.  We have watched many films together and our personal favorite that we enjoy most is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!"

hahahahaha................................... baahahha.

poor mj.

Quote from: themodernage02Brett Ratner interviews Michael Jackson in the new issue of Interview.  it doesnt get much weirder than that.

"Michael and I have shared many a day, week, and month together.  Our relationship is based on our love of films.  We have watched many films together and our personal favorite that we enjoy most is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!"

That's the funniest thing I've read in...probably forever.

SET VISIT: AFTER THE SUNSET
Source: CHUD

I'd never met Ratner, the helmer of the first two Rush Hour movies (a third is on the way - "I think it's going to happen next," Ratner enthused.  "I'm really excited."), Red Dragon, Money Talks and Family Man, but I'd heard he had a bigger-than-life personality and judging from the fact that Chris Tucker made the leap from Money Talks to Rush Hour and Don Cheadle (Family Man) and Ed Norton (Red Dragon) both have cameos in After the Sunset, it seems like people like working with Ratner more than once.

Having spent much of the afternoon and into the evening on one of his wild and crazy, party atmosphere-like sets, now I know why. That's not to say a movie wasn't being made, but you cannot deny that not only did everybody look like they were having fun, visitors showed up right and left (including Serena Williams), stars set to cameo for an hour stayed for three (Shaq) and people just seemed to be really enjoying making this movie.

Where was this fun set?  The Great Western Forum, longtime home of the Los Angeles Lakers (who are now housed in the Staples Center), down in Inglewood.  While no, Pierce Brosnan, who plays Max Burdette and his co-stars, Salma Hayek (his wife, Lola) and Woody Harrelson (who plays a dogged FBI agent looking to bust Brosnan) weren't on set, we instead got Shaquille O'Neal, Gary Payton ("Gary's a great guy, but I'd never met him," Ratner enthused.  "I knew Shaq and knowing Shaq kind of brings you into the Lakers world.") and Karl Malone of the Lakers, Chris Penn as a rowdy drunk in the audience and a crowd of 575 screaming extras playing Laker and Clipper fans.  After the Sunset actually begins in Los Angeles with the scene we were seeing being shot (though we were there on Day 55 of 63 - most of the movie was shot over the winter in the Bahamas), a sequence where Brosnan goes after a big diamond in the midst of a Lakers game at Staples (the GWF was doubling for Staples).  The crew (many action sequences shot by second unit director Conrad Palmisano – a longtime stunt coordinator who has done second unit and stunts on movies like Peter Pan, First Blood, Lethal Weapon 4 and Rush Hour 2) had used five cameras to shoot the Lakers vs. Clippers game on January 17th at the Staples Center and now they were shooting close-ups with cameras on the court as well as action going on in the crowd ("Koppelman and Levien, who I brought in to re-write the script - they wrote Rounders - they're major Lakers fans," Ratner said).

What we saw being shot the most was a quick race to the basket by Gary Payton, who commits an offensive foul and immediately starts yelling at the referee about it, as does Shaquille O'Neal and Karl Malone.  Shaq is suited up in the movie (albeit on the bench), but Malone - currently on the disabled list for the Lakers - was outfitted in all black on the bench.  

On top of the Lakers being mad at the call, suddenly in the audience, a drunken fellow in a Karl Malone jersey, handlebar mustache and black cowboy hat starts yelling at the ref as well, coming out into the aisle (spilling his popcorn on someone in front of him - though the actor, Chris Penn, suggested later to Brett to spill tobacco juice on him, a truly inspired gross-out note) and getting even more abusive.  Finally, security guards have to restrain him and take him away.  In the movie, this "diversion" causes the FBI agents - including Harrelson - who have been watching Brosnan to momentarily look away, which is all the time Brosnan needs to get away - a getaway that eventually finds him and his girl in, used guessed it, the Bahamas.

Naturally, shooting this took many an hour and we followed around the cameras and tucked ourselves behind the video monitors watching as Ratner, his D.P. (Oscar-nominated cinematographer Dante Spinotti who has shot films like The Insider, L.A. Confidential, Heat and many others) and producers such as Beau Flynn (whose lovely wife, actress Marley Shelton showed up later to hang out - my very first on-set interview was with Shelton on the set of Valentine up in Vancouver) and other execs stared at three different monitors as each take rolled.  After every take, Ratner would leap up and race over to the various actors calling out changes and then race back in a hurry to get the next shots off as Shaquille O'Neal - who showed up as a favor to Ratner (when Ratner was doing Superman, Shaq would call him up as Shaq is a big Superman fan - "He kept calling me up every day begging to be in the movie!" Ratner enthused) - had to get going.  So, understandably, we in the tiny assembled press corps hung out a bit waiting to get a few moments of Ratner's time as, well, a movie was being made and Shaq, Payton and Malone had to be shot out as quick as possible.

Which, of course, meant we got to see a lot of the basketball action going on, watched Payton improv various insults at the ref, and got to see Shaq even, in a funny improv moment, shoot the finger on camera at the ref.  It was a big lark of a day filled with basketball, multiple cameras, and watching Chris Penn improv similarly derogatory insult lines at the ref from the bleachers ("You're as blind as a snake!" he proclaimed in a thick hick accent).

After Shaq was finally shot out and took off, we got a few minutes to chat with Ratner himself as the crew was setting up for a reverse angle and the extras were moved to be in the background for that.

S.J.R.: So, can you give us a set-up of what we're seeing today?

Ratner: We're seeing the scene that's the opening of the movie where Pierce Brosnan is creating...the whole way he works is that he sets up a diversion, he sets up an alibi and this is his alibi.  Chris Penn is part of his team here and he's not really a hick, he's Irish - in the movie, his character is an Irish guy.  And he's setting up a diversion so that during the heist, he can say he was here at the game.  So, this is the scene we're shooting and we're just capturing a real game.

S.J.R.: When did After the Sunset first come onto your radar?

Ratner: After the Sunset came...I don't remember!  I had a three-picture deal at New Line and I owed them one more picture.  Toby Emmerich came to me and said, 'I want to show you this script.  There was another director on it and he left and we really want to make this movie with you,' and I said, 'Okay, I'll read it.'  And I loved it and I'm here.  That's how it happened, basically.   Oh, and Rush Hour wasn't ready.  I was hoping to do Rush Hour next, but the script wasn't ready, so I said that I'd go do this.

S.J.R.: How'd the shoot in the Bahamas go?  I heard there was a lot of rain...

Ratner: Ah, the rain was crazy!  I wanted it to be better, but it was out of your control - certain things are out of your control.  You go with it - if it rains then, 'Hey, it's a rain scene!'  So, we made it work.  But it was beautiful shooting there.  It was fun being away on an island.  Everyone bonds and it's a great cast of characters.  Pierce Brosnan is the complete opposite of Woody Harrelson.  Salma Hayek, Don Cheadle - such a great [cast].  Then we come to L.A. and get guys like Chris Penn.  We've got a lot of interesting characters in this movie.

S.J.R.: Will you talk a little about the character Pierce plays?  Obviously, it has a little something in common with the thief he played in Thomas Crown, so will you talk about how this is different and what he's been like to work with?

Ratner: I was excited about doing this because I'm a huge fan of Bond.  I wanted to do a Bond movie so bad.  I did it really mainly not only because Toby asked me and I loved the script, but because Pierce Brosnan - when I was doing Rush Hour 2 - flew to Vegas to ask me to do Bond.  I wanted to do the next Bond - Bond 20.  He said, 'The only problem is, I have no say in it!'  I said, 'So, why are you here?'  He said, 'Because I just would love for you to do it.'  I never forgot that and when I read the script, I thought, 'Wow, this is such an interesting choice for Pierce because it's something he's never done before.'  It still has elements of who he's played in other movies because he's a diamond thief, but it's got a tremendous amount of humor, it's got a tremendous amount of heart.  It's a really smart film.  It's not just about the action.  There's actually not a lot of action in the film.  It's more what I would say a 'caper' film.  It's really about the relationship between the characters.  Hopefully, you even forget about the diamond getting stolen and you care more about the relationships between the characters and what happens to them.  My favorite director is Hal Ashby.  I love movies where you care about the characters, you care about the relationships between the characters and everybody has a specific purpose.  It's not just flat.

S.J.R.: We've seen a lot of heist movies lately - one after another - by saying this is a character piece, how will this differ from those?

Ratner: It is different.  The Italian Job has huge action in it.  This doesn't have a lot of action in it at all.  It's more of a character-driven movie, which made it interesting for me because just do a big action heist was not something I was excited about doing.  Toby's pitch was that this movie starts where the jewel thief retires.  Usually they end on the beach.  This one starts on the beach, so it's an interesting twist.  I like to challenge myself to do different types of movies.  After I did Rush Hour, all I got offered were movies like Rush Hour - buddy-comedies.  I was like, 'I want to try something different!' so that's why I did The Family Man and then that's why I did Red Dragon and that's why I'm doing this.  It's more of a challenge for me.  Can I do a movie like this and get the tone right?  If it's too broad, you don't care about the characters.  If it's too serious, it's just a dramatic film and you don't care.

S.J.R.: Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek don't seem the most likely of pairings - what are they like together on screen?

Ratner: They have incredible chemistry.  I was shocked.  

S.J.R.: Were they attached to the picture before you came on?

Ratner: They were actually.  I've only done that on one movie, which was Money Talks where I was hired a week before the movie started shooting.  This movie, I was hired eight weeks before the movie started shooting.  I didn't actually develop it, but I did change the script completely.  Once I came on, I completely changed the script.

S.J.R.: Did you already know [Hayek] because of working with Norton?

Ratner: Yes, Salma and I are very good friends because I did a movie with Edward when they were a couple.  And I knew her years before that, so she called me and said, 'You've gotta do the movie!  You've gotta do the movie!'  

S.J.R.: Will you talk about the casting of Woody Harrelson?  We've seen him do a lot of comedy and other bits here and there, but as this is a character role, why Harrelson?

Ratner: He's just a great actor.  He's just awesome.  I love working with him.  He can do anything.  He can do comedy, he can do drama.  He's just one of those actors who is just such a unique individual and he's the opposite of Pierce Brosnan.  They could not be from two further places in the world.  They're just completely opposite.

S.J.R.: So, who has more comedy - Woody or Pierce?

Ratner: Pierce is somewhat straighter - he's the straight man.  In a comedy, there always has to be one - Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.  So yeah, Pierce is more of a straight man, but the comedy comes from the situation, not jokes like a broad comedy where there's one-liners.  You might see jokes in the trailer, but the truth is, that's not what the movie is.  It's really about the relationships.  It's definitely a movie you will laugh at and you'll really care about the characters.  It's funny as hell, but based on the situations, not because of the jokes.

S.J.R.: After working on Superman for so long, did you feel any frustrations coming off of that or did you just want to put it behind you and go right into the next project?

Ratner: I just like to pick my projects with some thought.  I don't like to rush into things.  I like to think it out because each movie, hopefully, lasts forever, so I put a lot of thought into it.  I wish I was making Superman.  It would've been cool.

S.J.R.: It's obviously something still of a miasma over there - do you still care or do you just put it behind you?

Ratner: Superman?  I don't...once I'm off a movie, I'm off a movie.  I'm not worried about the politics of that movie.  It's not my business.  It's Warner Brothers' business.

Following After the Sunset, Ratner has a number of projects lined up as a director, but also as a producer with his Rat Entertainment production company.  These include, "A movie called Josiah's Canon, which is a bank robbery film," explained Ratner.  "Money Talks 2, I'm producing with Chris Tucker.  I'm producing a film called Santa's Slay that my assistant is directing - David Steinem.  It's a $5 million movie.  I'm doing a TV show based on my life called Be Chai [S.J.R. Note: Could be B.Chi or Beechai - not certain, actually] for Fox, which is cool.  Samurai Jack, I'm developing."

S.J.R.: Rat obviously has a number of projects lined up not only for you to direct, but also to produce.  Was this always the plan for you?

Ratner: Yeah.  I get more joy out of producing movies. [S.J.R. Note: At this moment, a partner of Ratner's came up and started listing other projects Ratner was taking on] I'm doing Hong Kong Phooey with Alcon and Warner Brothers.  The Photograph at Lions Gate.  I have as much joy producing...I mean, my assistant is now directing a movie.  He has his own assistant.  He was my assistant a few months ago.  I enjoy helping filmmakers make their dreams come true, really.  I get more joy out of being on the set of a film I'm producing than I do directing.  Even though I love directing and I'll never stop directing, it's so much fun when I don't have to actually direct.

S.J.R.: What makes it a 'Brett Ratner movie' - directing versus producing?

Ratner: Because I can only direct one film a year, that's the problem.  If I could direct five a year, believe me, if anybody would be doing it, it would be me.  I produce movies that I love the subject matter of.  If a writer/director is really passionate about something, I'll try to help that person get their vision on the big screen.  Making movies is my passion.  It's the only thing I know how to do.

S.J.R.: Will you be going into horror? [A Rat Entertainment, a giant framed poster of Rosemary's Baby greets visitors]

Ratner: Yeah, my assistant is directing a horror film.

S.J.R.: That's Santa's Slay? [S.J.R. Note: I didn't know the spelling at the time and thought it was "sleigh"]

Ratner: Yeah, Santa's Slay - S-L-A-Y.  Santa is the son of Satan.  

S.J.R.: When you took on this project, you mentioned you brought on new writers.  What kind of direction did you take it in?  What makes this a 'Brett Ratner movie?'

Ratner: By putting more heart into it.  By making it funnier.  Making it a little hipper, not corny.  

Quote from: MacGuffinRatner: Yeah, my assistant is directing a horror film.

S.J.R.: That's Santa's Slay? [S.J.R. Note: I didn't know the spelling at the time and thought it was "sleigh"]

Ratner: Yeah, Santa's Slay - S-L-A-Y.  Santa is the son of Satan.

they stole that from Ernest Saves Christmas,  theres a movie inside the movie called Santa's Christmas Slay that involves that same misunderstanding as a gag.

Chris Tucker Eyes Money Talks 2 & Rush Hour 3
Source: Variety

New Line has begun to develop Money Talks 2 for Chris Tucker. Variety says if Tucker does that film and Rush Hour 3, his sequel price is $20 million against 20% of gross for each film.

The studio is looking to hire a writer and has already begun courting Charlie Sheen to return as Tucker's co-star. Brett Ratner, who directed the original 1997 Money Talks before twice re-teaming with Tucker on the "Rush Hour" films, might direct the Money Talks sequel.

The sequel development is surprising, adds the trade, because Tucker hasn't acted in three years, since Rush Hour 2 was released in 2001. New Line is about to hire John Rogers (Catwoman) to do a rewrite on Rush Hour 3 to set the film in a single location and bring the budget down to an acceptable level.

Ratner, who just finished the New Line's After the Sunset, had expected to do Rush Hour 3 as his next movie, with a fall start eyed. The budget complexities also have him eyeing Josiah's Canon at Fox.

They should call it 2 Money 2 Talks.  No one's ever done anything like that before.

And I thought Chris Tucker was doing charity work in Africa or something?

Quote from: themodernage02

Quote from: MacGuffinRatner: Yeah, my assistant is directing a horror film.

S.J.R.: That's Santa's Slay? [S.J.R. Note: I didn't know the spelling at the time and thought it was "sleigh"]

Ratner: Yeah, Santa's Slay - S-L-A-Y.  Santa is the son of Satan.

they stole that from Ernest Saves Christmas,  theres a movie inside the movie called Santa's Christmas Slay that involves that same misunderstanding as a gag.

Which, btw, is shooting in my town right now. Oh yeah. That's the high quality of production we get here in Alberta...

maybe they should just save money and film them both at the same time as Rush Hour III: Money Talks Too.  it could star charlie sheen AND jackie chan and chris tucker could be the comic center of it all!

Quote from: themodernage02maybe they should just save money and film them both at the same time as Rush Hour III: Money Talks Too.  it could star charlie sheen AND jackie chan and chris tucker could be the comic center of it all!

Anything that has Charlie Sheen and Jackie Chan in the same movie is pure brilliance in my book.

Best idea ever.

Production Starts on Bill Goldberg's Santa Slay
Source: MDP Worldwide Entertainment

MDP Worldwide Entertainment, Inc. announced today that principal photography is underway on its new film, Santa's Slay. MDP is co-producing Santa's Slay along with Brett Ratner ("Rush Hour" series). Santa's Slay is an action infused horror-comedy that casts everyone's favorite holiday figure, Santa, in an entirely new and sinister light.

WWE wrestling star Bill Goldberg (Looney Tunes: Back in Action) plays the devilish Santa Claus, alongside up-and-coming young stars Douglas Smith (State's Evidence, Sleepover) and Emilie de Ravin (Roswell), and veteran character actors Robert Culp, Saul Rubinek, and Dave Thomas. This edgy horror comedy marks the directorial debut of David Steiman, who also wrote the original screenplay. The film is currently shooting on location in Alberta, Canada.

"MDP Worldwide is very excited to be working with Brett Ratner," stated Sammy Lee, Vice Chairman of the Board for MDP Worldwide. "Brett has an incredible track record for choosing great projects with strong commercial appeal, and we expect our collaboration on Santa's Slay to result in a film that will be innovative, edgy, and perfectly aimed at the tastes of today's moviegoers."

"Santa's Slay is one of the most innovative, freshest scripts I've read in the horror genre," said Brett Ratner. "It contains mythology, suspense, and humor. There is no one better than David Steiman, the creative mind behind Santa's Slay, to bring this exciting project to the screen."

In Santa's Slay, Santa Claus (Goldberg) turns out to actually be the son of Satan, and not the harmless old fellow we know and love. Santa's bad side has only been kept in check because of an ancient pact with an angel. Now, on Christmas Eve, the truce expires, and Santa is suddenly free to wreak mayhem. Teenager Nicholas Yuleson (Smith) discovers the terrifying truth about Santa from his grandfather (Culp), and it's up to him to stop Santa's deadly rampage in their small town of Hell. With the help of his spunky girlfriend Mac (de Ravin), Nicholas must take on Santa and his Viking Hell Deer, in order to try to restore peace on Earth for another thousand years.

Quote from: MacGuffin"MDP Worldwide is very excited to be working with Brett Ratner," stated Sammy Lee, Vice Chairman of the Board for MDP Worldwide. "Brett has an incredible track record for choosing great projects with strong commercial appeal, and we expect our collaboration on Santa's Slay to result in a film that will be innovative, edgy, and perfectly aimed at the tastes of today's moviegoers."

I stopped reading just about there.

Quote from: Withnail

Quote from: MacGuffin"MDP Worldwide is very excited to be working with Brett Ratner," stated Sammy Lee, Vice Chairman of the Board for MDP Worldwide. "Brett has an incredible track record for choosing great projects with strong commercial appeal, and we expect our collaboration on Santa's Slay to result in a film that will be innovative, edgy, and perfectly aimed at the tastes of today's moviegoers."

I stopped reading just about there.

Haha, yes, the words "innovative and edgy" usually aren't used in the same sentence with "aimed at the tastes of today's moviegoers".... unless for comic effect.

Quote from: MacGuffin
"MDP Worldwide is very excited to be working with Brett Ratner," stated Sammy Lee, Vice Chairman of the Board for MDP Worldwide. "Brett has an incredible track record for choosing great projects with strong commercial appeal, and we expect our collaboration on Santa's Slay to result in a film that will be innovative, edgy, and perfectly aimed at the tastes of today's moviegoers."

Ratner adding crime caper to Columbia slate
Source: Hollywood Reporter

It's director Brett Ratner's turn in the development spotlight. Ratner, who last helmed 2002's "Red Dragon," has signed on to direct his second project in as many days for Columbia Pictures.

Ratner is reteaming with producer Michael De Luca, who oversaw the director's "Money Talks" and "Rush Hour" during his tenure at New Line Cinema. Ratner's newest project is known as the untitled Lisa Schrager pitch. Ratner will also produce through his Rat Entertainment shingle with Rat partner Jay Stern. Matt Tolmach and Andrea Giannetti are overseeing for the studio.

Schrager's tale revolves around a female crew operating in Miami's organized crime scene who come up with a plan to take down their boss and free the way to move up within the crime family.

Ratner also has come on board a second feature at Columbia, known as the untitled comedy pitch from writing team David Diamond and David Weissman. Neil Moritz and Ori Marmur will produce.

Ratner also is rumored to be one of the top two choices to replace Joe Carnahan as a director of "Mission: Impossible 3." Other directors in the mix for "M:I-3" include J.J. Abrams, Gary Fleder, German director Tom Tykwer and Frank Darabont, who also penned the script.

De Luca just begun a three-year, first-look production deal at Columbia. This is the third De Luca project to be announced at the studio. De Luca is producing the Columbia-based romantic comedy "Soul Mates" from a script by Luke Greenfield who also will direct. De Luca also boarded the Columbia-based "Zathura" as a producer.

ShowEast to fete Ratner, Kennedy

Director Brett Ratner will be the recipient of the Kodak Award, presented each year "to an executive or filmmaker who has risen to the top of his/her profession," at this month's 2004 ShowEast Convention in Orlando. Also to be honored at the confab's Final Night Banquet and Awards Ceremony is actor-writer-producer Jamie Kennedy, who will be feted as Comic Star of Tomorrow. Ratner's latest film, New Line Cinema's "After the Sunset," starring Pierce Brosnan, is set to screen at the exhibitors convention. It will mark a return to ShowEast for the director, whose "The Family Man" screened there in 2000. "After the Sunset" is scheduled for release Nov. 12.

I just can't believe there are people talking baout the valure Brett Ratner's movies. Rush Hour? Money Talks?? Jesus people, give me a break.

This is too easy.

Ratner inks overall pact at 20th TV

Feature director Brett Ratner is venturing into television with a two-year overall deal at 20th Century Fox Television to develop series projects for the studio.

Under the seven-figure pact, Ratner is planting his banner Rat TV as a pod at 20th TV.

As part of the deal, Ratner has already set up two projects at CBS -- one with feature writers David Diamond and David Weissman, who are frequent collaborators, and one with "Law & Order" veteran Barry Schindel, who has inked a two-project deal with 20th.

"Brett is just an unstoppable force of energy," 20th TV president Dana Walden said. "He is such an entertaining and charismatic person that it's easy to understand why so many people want to work with him."

Ratner is involved in the development of both projects, which have received script commitments with penalty from the network. In addition to executive producing, Ratner is attached to direct both shows if they are greenlighted as pilots, subject to his availability.

As part of the pod deal, Ratner also is slated to hire a TV executive for Rat TV.

The Diamond/Weissman project is a family show about a father who is a busy sports agent and suddenly has to spend more time at home with the kids when his wife gets a high-profile job.

Diamond and Weissman are writing and exec producing.

Ratner, Diamond and Weissman first teamed on the 2000 Universal feature "Family Man." The trio also is set to work together on an untitled comedy pitch for Sony.

Diamond and Weissman did rewrites on "Bring It On" and, most recently, the Walt Disney Co.'s "Herbie the Love Bug."

The duo is repped by UTA and attorney Linda Lichter.

The Schindel project, tentatively titled "Hollywood DOA," revolves around a pair of Los Angeles detectives who piece together murder clues. Schindel is writing and exec producing.

Schindel's second project under the two-script deal with 20th TV is a legal drama set up at Fox.

This past development season, Schindel executive produced the Fox drama pilot "Hollywood Division," which was in contention for fall.

Schindel, longtime executive producer/showrunner on the Dick Wolf/Universal hit drama "Law & Order" on NBC, is repped by CAA and attorney Tom Hoberman.

Rat TV made a big push in television during the 1999-2000 development season, when the company sold projects to a number of networks, including Fox, ABC, UPN and USA Network as part of its overall deal with Artists Television Group.

Ratner, director of the two "Rush Hour" pictures and "Red Dragon," has a very busy feature slate. He recently completed "After the Sunset," and next on his schedule are "Rush Hour 3" and "Josiah's Canon."

He also is attached to direct several other feature projects, including "Breaking Vegas" at MGM and a pitch by Lisa Schrager at Sony.

Let's delete this thread.

This thread is on page 5. MacGuffin must have 20 posts in this thread alone.

Quote from: MacGuffinRat TV

What an apt title.

Edit: Spelling words suck.

Quote from: CinephileLet's delete this thread.

Quote from: StefenThis thread is on page 5. MacGuffin must have 20 posts in this thread alone.

So it's not Cinephile's hatred of Ratner. It's his wanting to suppress my post count.  :yabbse-angry:

http://www.apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20041120-0.html

Ash being sought for 'Rush Hour 3'
20th Nov 2004  00.20 IST
By Aparajita Ghosh  

Bollywood stunner Aishwarya Rai continues to be a sought-after star among the filmmakers in Hollywood.

Ash already has a good number of Hollywood projects in her kitty and there is no sign of decline in the offers she keeps getting despite her clearly stated precondition that she will not resort to any skin exposure in films.

Another Hollywood filmmaker to have expressed his desire to have Ash in his film is Brett Ratner, who is making 'Rush Hour 3' with Chris Tucker in the leading role.

According to a report, Ratner called Ash "Bollywood's most beautiful actress" in a TV interview and stated that he wanted her to play Chris Tuckers heroine in his movie.

However, the deal is far from being struck, if the comments by Ash's Hollywood secretary Simone Sheffield are to go by.

Sheffield reportedly said that it was too premature to say whether Ash will do the film or not. She said, firstly Ash needed to go through the script and see if she likes her character in the film. Then other modalities will be sorted out and Ash's dates be matched. If all this goes fine then only we may see Bollywood's doe-eyed beauty rubbing shoulders with hilarious Tucker in 'Rush Hour 3'.

Filmmaker Brett Ratner Found Dead, Dismembered

Quote from: HedwigFilmmaker Brett Ratner Found Dead, Dismembered

You motherfucking tease.

Quote from: HedwigFilmmaker Brett Ratner Found Dead, Dismembered

Ha!  This would be the only way he could get his name in the same sentence as Pasolini's.

Ratner to BREAK Free
Through an overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV, big screen vet Brett Ratner will direct and executive produce the drama pilot Prison Break.

Brett Ratner will be making a Prison Break. The filmmaker is moving to the small screen to executive produce and direct the drama pilot for Fox Broadcasting. The new series - from 20th Century Fox TV, Adelstein-Parouse Prods. and Original Film - centers on an elaborate prison break that will take place over the course of 22 episodes.

With a script by Paul Scheuring, Prison Break centers on an engineer and his brother, who is on death row but insists that he is innocent. In order to help his brother escape, the engineer has himself incarcerated in the same prison - a prison that he helped design. Before his imprisonment, however, the engineer has the blueprint of the jail tattooed on his torso.

Both Ratner and Scheuring will receive executive producing credit on the pilot, as will Dawn Parouse and Marty Adelstein of Adelstein-Parouse and Original Film's Neal Moritz. Ratner's Rat TV, based at 20th TV, will also receive producing credit.

in this months INTERVIEW magazine w/ gwen paltrow on the cover, robert evans interviews ratner.

i was suprised to find out that ratner has lived with evans for the last year.

also evans is about to finish his second memoir ( which im excited about) and he intends to make it into a narrative film, which will be his 'last film' and his masterpeice and guess who he wants to take the helm. his roomie brett rattner.

Hmm, Ratner was interviewed on the Kid Stays in the Picture DVD at a tribute for Evans. He was saying how they get along really well because Evans is one the few people in Hollywood who really loves movies and can talk and talk about them.

Kind of makes me think about Evans giving Ratner the wisdom of his years and turning him into a super-producer.

Tucker and Ratner To Testify at Jacko Trial


Hollywood director Brett Ratner and actor Chris Tucker are expected to testify at Michael Jackson's child molestation trial. The Rush Hour film-maker and funnyman Tucker met Jackson's child accuser and his relatives before the Thriller superstar had even met the teenage boy. Illinois newspaper Chicago Sun-Times reports Ratner and Tucker invited the accuser's family to spend time on the set of the crime caper in early 2001. Tucker went on to fly the family back and forth between Miami, Florida and Jackson's Neverland Ranch in California in 2003, the place where the singer is alleged to have molested the youngster. The movie stars are expected to brand the family were "gold-diggers", backing up Jackson's allegations. Jackson's trial on 10 felony charges of child molestation, administering an intoxicating agent, and conspiracy involving allegations of child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion started in Santa Maria, California on Monday.

Brett Ratner interview (http://www.dvdtalkradio.com/brettratnerinterview.mp3) about "After The Sunset"  (MP3 format)

Note: I know nothing about Ratner nor "After The Sunset," but I know some of y'all have...  opinions.  Enjoy.  

2LB

he was on Charlie Rose?!

EDIT: HE TALKED SHIT ABOUT JACKIE CHAN?!

Ratner is probably my favorite director of all time.  The first time I saw Rush Hour, I swooned.  When I saw it a second time, I swooned again.  The third time I saw it, I also swooned.  When I heard they were making a sequel, I swooned.  When I actually saw the sequel, I swooned again.  Then I found out about these other films he had made so I just had to search them out.... well, actually, I never found them but if I did see them I'd probably love them just as much as I love Rush Hour 1 and 2!   :-D  :-D  :kiss:  :yabbse-grin:  :yabbse-wink:

Quote from: Gingerswooned

is that a pic of your cat attacking you after being fed up with your (peculiar) brett ratner obsession?

No, that was my cat trying to hug me for my obsession (he loves Brett also, whenever he sees that I'm watching a Brett Ratner film, he starts meowing loudly nonstop out of love).

ok nice knowin u.

Anyone else think the "Before, During, and After the Sunset"
supplemental is a poor-man's "That Moment"?

Anyone else think ginger is funny and HOT AS FUCK?!

Quote from: StefenAnyone else think ginger is funny and HOT AS FUCK?!

so you're thinking now?...why not just stick to the mindless shit you spew on a regular basis...

the board wouldnt be a bored without you

Tucker Set for Rush Hour 3
Third flick coming next year.
 
Chris Tucker has apparently decided to exclusively make Rush Hour movies for the rest of his career.  According to today's Variety, Tucker is expected to sign a big-money deal today to star in a third film in the action-comedy franchise. Since 1998, Tucker has only made two films: Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2.

Co-star Jackie Chan and director Brett Ratner are both expected to return for the third film.

Jeff Nathanson, who wrote Rush Hour 2 and just completed his draft of Indiana Jones 4, will write the script.

The trade adds that Rush Hour 3 will cost around $100 to make and will start shooting late fall for a projected 2006 release.

sounds interesting

Quote from: MacGuffinThe trade adds that Rush Hour 3 will cost around $100 to make

That's a record low for a feature, isn't it?

Brett Ratner can do anything.

Quote from: MacGuffinSince 1998, Tucker has only made two films: Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2.

...and thank the Lord for that.

His foley recording on After Sex was excellent.

supposedly he went to Africa to help fight AIDS and it changed his life and he's giving up on acting.  he's only doing Rush Hour 3 to fulfill his contract agreement.

Quote from: Jay Tee Emhe's only doing Rush Hour 3 to fulfill his contract agreement.

...and to work with Ratner again.

I mean, who wouldn't want to?

Tucker Likes 'Rush Hour' Outtakes

If Chris Tucker has his way, the next "Rush Hour" movie will be filled with more Jackie Chan mishaps than ever.

Tucker said the next film in the Brett Ratner-directed action-comedy franchise is in the works. "Everybody loved the outtakes. We're going to make the movie one big outtake," he said.

Quote from: MacGuffin"We're going to make the movie one big outtake," he said.

At least he knows it's a mistake from the start. :yabbse-undecided:

Chan Says Tucker Holding Up 'Rush Hour 3'

Jackie Chan says the third installment of "Rush Hour" is stuck in neutral because co-star Chris Tucker is making too many demands.

"He wants too much power. The movie company hasn't obliged. He wants final editing rights and the final look at the movie and so on," Chan told The Associated Press Thursday.

Chan called Tucker a "good friend" but questioned whether he had the stature to be so demanding.

"He's still a new actor," Chan, 51, said. "How many movies has he made? Two movies have already made him very famous and made him a lot of money."

"He needs to learn slowly," he added.

A call by The Associated Press to Tucker's publicist, Samantha Mast, wasn't returned Friday.

While "Rush Hour 3" remains in limbo, Chan said he's going ahead with another project one with famed Chinese director Zhang Yimou. Zhang's recent films include "House of Flying Daggers" and "Hero."

Chan declined to reveal details of the movie, saying only that it would be "galvanizing" and is set in the 1980s. He said the idea is his, but Zhang will work on the script.

"He relies on imagination ... like an arrow flying through water," said Chan. "He has elevated the martial arts genre. I believe he can make any type of movie now."

Quote from: GingerRatner is probably my favorite director of all time.  The first time I saw Rush Hour, I swooned.  When I saw it a second time, I swooned again.  The third time I saw it, I also swooned.  When I heard they were making a sequel, I swooned.  When I actually saw the sequel, I swooned again.  Then I found out about these other films he had made so I just had to search them out.... well, actually, I never found them but if I did see them I'd probably love them just as much as I love Rush Hour 1 and 2!   :-D  :-D  :kiss:  :yabbse-grin:  :yabbse-wink:

youre not being sarcastic right? ok,
assuming youre being sincere, i got this to say: i re-thought the Ratner thing -- I used to say "oh i hate him" and then i noticed that I own 3 of his movies and i like all of them....and realized that although hes not a director whose films i follow with an eager eye, i like "Rush Hour" and "Rush Hour 2" ,,i mean, they're funny.....Red Dragon" is my least favorite Hannibal Lecter film but it's still not terrible..... - so there ya have it.

im not happy that he's directing "X-Men 3" but otherwise, Ratner is a-okay.

His films are perfectly mediocre, but not terrible. Where most of the hate for him (at least on this site) originates are his digs towards PTA.

Quote from: Hedwig

Quote from: GingerRatner is probably my favorite director of all time.  The first time I saw Rush Hour, I swooned.  When I saw it a second time, I swooned again.  The third time I saw it, I also swooned.  When I heard they were making a sequel, I swooned.  When I actually saw the sequel, I swooned again.  Then I found out about these other films he had made so I just had to search them out.... well, actually, I never found them but if I did see them I'd probably love them just as much as I love Rush Hour 1 and 2!   :-D  :-D  :kiss:  :yabbse-grin:  :yabbse-wink:

youre not being sarcastic right? ok,
assuming youre being sincere, i got this to say: i re-thought the Ratner thing -- I used to say "oh i hate him" and then i noticed that I own 3 of his movies and i like all of them....and realized that although hes not a director whose films i follow with an eager eye, i like "Rush Hour" and "Rush Hour 2" ,,i mean, they're funny.....Red Dragon" is my least favorite Hannibal Lecter film but it's still not terrible..... - so there ya have it.

im not happy that he's directing "X-Men 3" but otherwise, Ratner is a-okay.

Well.... yes, it was sarcasm.  I don't love the guy or his films but I don't hate them either.  I've only seen Rush Hour 1 and 2.  I like the first one and I don't care for the second one.

Quote from: GhostboyHis films are perfectly mediocre, but not terrible. Where most of the hate for him (at least on this site) originates are his digs towards PTA.

I thought he idolised PTA? The red dragon documentary where he gets the stills photographer to take his picture like a PTA one. What happened?

No, it was that he considers himself and is often named among the ranks of PTA, because they were both hip, young new filmmakers around 1997, both working at New Line (so New Line often put them both in the same sentence--PTA for Boogie Nights, Ratner for Rush Hour).

Ratner seemed to believe his own hype, and was thus regarded as a poopyface.

also, the man has no neck.

He did Mariah Carey's new video.   :saywhat:

god, Jackie Chan thinks Zhang Yimou is a good director!?!  I think Jackie is dead and is now being Karl Roved by a lookalike, kinda like the case with Michael Jackson.

Brett Ratner to Direct Murphy and Rock
Source: Variety July 18, 2005

Brett Ratner ("Rush Hour" films, Money Talks) is set to direct an untitled heist drama being planned as a screen vehicle for Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock. Screenwriters Adam Cooper and Bill Collage are negotiating to write the screenplay for Imagine Entertainment. Brian Grazer will produce the Universal release.

The comedy is about a couple of blue-collar guys who aspire to pull off the perfect heist. Murphy came up with the idea and expressed a desire to work with Rock, who is coming off The Longest Yard and voicing Madagascar.

Cooper and Collage will write the film while Ratner directs X-Men 3 for 20th Century Fox.

His 'The Directors' is currently airing on the Encore channels.  Everyone should check it out.  Brett is so rad.  He talks about coming up with creative solutions that the stars love, and Much more!!! Everyone loves Brett.  Chan loves Brett.  Nic Cage loves Brett.  Brett loves Brett...

What film should Brett Ratner fans unite with??? So many choices.....

Family Man!

Quote from: modage on November 28, 2005, 09:12:08 AM
Family Man!

I fucking love that movie. A staple film next to Die Hard for holiday viewings. Seriously. OK, guilty pleasure

Family Man = best Ratner movie.   :)

Quote from: Pubrick on September 09, 2003, 08:18:18 PM
i've seen family man many times and think it's quite good, prolly cos of Leoni and Cage.

from the Christmas Movies thread...

Quote from: modage on December 02, 2003, 09:29:59 PM
#3

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2FB00005JCCC.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=ebf70e67873563459e76bb8c41da064e73fc7d3a)

THE FAMILY MAN (2000)
Thats right, Brett Ratner baby...
     
     family man is a movie i did see in the theatre and enjoyed and have tried to watch for the past few years in december for a few reasons.  1.) i love nicolas cage and 2.) the movie is essentially a modern day its a wonderful life (my favorite movie ever), IN REVERSE.     
     
     i think it has a lot of funny moments, and the characters are very likable and somewhat believable.  jeremy piven has some good lines as the best friend, especially when nicolas cage first enters pivens basement looking bewildered and piven mentions how he moved a chair and its freaking everybody out.  but there are some really good lines here.  and a whole lot of sentimental stuff that makes this worth watching right about now.
     
      SPOILERS AHEAD< you shouldnt read if you havent seen it... the fundamental problem however, in doing it's a wonderful life in reverse, is by design the ending is going to be a letdown!  what if the movie had ended with jimmy stewart not existing?!  thats really kind of whats happening here, and nothing bums me out more than getting to the end of the movie and seeing nicolas cage alone and rich.  his wife not having seen him sinec he left her years ago and his 2 kids not even existing!  that bums the shit out of me!  other than that, and the fact that the film is about 15 minutes too long (with too many twists and ups and downs in teh middle section of the film), i really enjoy this movie. 

     if anyone hasnt seen it and decides to watch it, let me know what you think.  anyone else like/dislike this?

I thought you guys might like this:

QuoteCruise - "Coldest" in Hollywood Poll
Hollywood couple Tom Cruise and his pregnant fiancee Katie Holmes have topped a magazine list of coldest and least powerful stars in Hollywood. Website FilmThreat.com placed Cruise in the number one spot of their Frigid 50: The Coldest People In Hollywood 2005, because of the media storm surrounding his relationship with Holmes and his public speeches concerning his Scientology religion. The website states, "Steven Spielberg's latest summer blockbuster (War Of The Worlds) was overshadowed by Tom's publicly flaunted love life with Katie Holmes and his Scientologist fuelled rantings and ravings that eventually led to a public war of words with Brooke Shields when he slammed the actress on Access Hollywood for her use of Paxil and psychiatric therapy to battle post-partum depression." Holmes followed close behind at number two, due to her "lackluster performance as Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins." Rush Hour director Brett Ratner is at number three, because of his fondness of referring to himself in the third person, while troubled Black Hawn Down actor Tom Sizemore makes four, following a string of legal troubles in recent years and a sex tape role. Rounding off the top five is Jennifer Lopez, who "proved she has no gift for comedy with Monster-in-Law", according to FilmThreat.com.

yeah i read that.  awesome.  who knew he was as universally reviled as he is here?   


modage knew, thats who.

Brett Ratner is a Fun Fearless Male (http://magazines.ivillage.com/cosmopolitan/connect/chats/articles/0,,284422_685728-8,00.html)

What a name dropper.

Ratner To Direct 'Wolverine' Film?

Hollywood film-maker Brett Ratner is reportedly close to signing a deal to direct the X-Men spin-off Wolverine, after impressing producers with his work on upcoming second sequel X-Men: The Last Stand. The Rush Hour director is keen for Hugh Jackman to reprise his brooding superhero for the project, and Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels actor Vinnie Jones is also in contention to repeat his forthcoming Juggernaut role. Jones tells MTV, "(Brett) was saying that they'll probably use a lot of the characters. Hopefully (the Wolverine/Juggernaut rivalry) will come into it."

trilogy my ass.

Haha, I have no idea why but somehow Ratner somehow found his way into my dream last night, and he stole my girlfriend.   :saywhat:  Completely out of left field. 

Sorry for you Ratner fans who thought this was real Ratner news, just thought I had to share. 

Quote from: JG on April 25, 2006, 03:23:03 PM
Ratner fans

that's an oxymoron.

 :saywhat:  "Ratner" isn't the opposite of "fan."

Quote from: Bethie on April 26, 2006, 11:37:06 PM

Quote from: JG on April 25, 2006, 03:23:03 PM
Ratner fans

that's an oxymorons.

When asked recently who his dream cast would be for Rush Hour 3, director Brett Ratner threw out the name of basketball player Yao Ming as someone he's extremely interested in. Why Yao? Well, Ratner wants to re-create the fight scene from the Bruce Lee film in which he fights Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ... but he wants to do it in reverse.

Also on the Rush Hour dream team are Aishwarya Rai, Gong Li and Tony Jaa.

that sounds like a great american express commercial.

Ratner: "I'm a Film-Maker First, Party Animal Second"
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fia.imdb.com%2Fmedia%2Fimdb%2F01%2FI%2F48%2F27%2F22s.jpg&hash=718a5584ae769fd921b650960dcece2582de2a63)Brett Ratner is frustrated by his image as a party animal, and fears he won't be taken seriously as a film-maker because of it. The Rush Hour director makes more headlines because of his A-list pals and rumored romances than the movies he makes. But Ratner - who has been linked with Serena Williams and Lindsay Lohan, and counts Sean 'Diddy' Combs and among his pals - insists work comes first and he only parties to wind down afterwards. He says, "I'm a serious film-maker and the people I work with know that so whatever is in the tabloids you can't take that seriously. I think, eat, sleep and dream film so that's what my focus is. That's the real me. I love women and I appreciate women but my focus is my work. You got to celebrate. That's the way to blow off steam. It's a hard grueling process and you want people to know that you really appreciate their hard work so I like to throw a few little soiree."

god, even his defenses are second-rate.

Quote from: hacksparrow on May 16, 2006, 03:14:20 PM
Brett Ratner is frustrated by his image as a party animal, and fears he won't be taken seriously as a film-maker because of it.

Yeah, that's why.

Master of the Mutants
A behind-the-scenes look at ''X-Men: The Last Stand'': With a new director, new characters, and all sorts of new pressures, can the comic-book franchise stay in the black?
Source: EW

Three weeks before the release of X-Men: The Last Stand, Brett Ratner bops into the Fox commissary trailed by a reporter and is immediately greeted by well-wishers. First up is Twentieth Century Fox chair Tom Rothman, who sidles up to the 37-year-old director's table and expresses his opening-day high hopes.

''We will be in every country in the world with close to 16,000 prints on the same day,'' says Rothman. ''We don't have any real competition. We'll play all June — but none of it would mean a damn if the movie weren't any good, and he's done a great job.''

Next, Fox marketing guru Tony Sella escorts a commissary staffer named Janet to the table.

''What did you just tell me?'' Sella asks her.

''I saw the trailer last night and it looked amazing,'' repeats Janet, obediently.

''How many X-Men movies have you been to?'' Sella prods.

''I've never seen any of them and it made me want to see this one.''

''Brutally honest,'' says Sella, satisfied. ''And she's not even [serving] this table.''

Ratner beams...until he learns that this article will be as much about Ratner as the movie itself.

''S---,'' he swears. ''I'm screwed.''

Brett Ratner is an affable guy, jovial and ingratiating. It's obvious from the way he works a room — warmly shaking hands and pulling others close to his squat frame — that he wants people to like him. Try as he may, though, he can't seem to get on the good side of the press these days. This week, while he put finishing touches on the biggest film of his career, Us Weekly ran a story about how Lindsay Lohan showed up at his house and found him in bed with his girlfriend, pouty Romanian model Alina Puscau. (''We're only friends,'' says Ratner of Lohan.) Tabloids and Hollywood-gossip websites like Defamer continue to harp on his personal life while dismissing him professionally. Even Harry Knowles, the founder of movie fansite Ain't It Cool News, who once lauded Ratner for the Rush Hour films, has turned against him.

Ratner, in a rumpled dress shirt and jeans, seems genuinely confounded, even betrayed, by the ill will. ''Go back and look at what he wrote about me for Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2,'' he says, his voice pitching up at least an octave at the mention of Knowles. ''He wrote that I was the s---. Now I'm a hack?''

Fortunately for Ratner, neither his playboy persona — he's been romantically linked to tennis star Serena Williams, model Naomi Campbell, and actress Rebecca Gayheart — nor the fanboy perception that he is unskilled seems to prevent him from getting work. (In addition to Rush Hour 3 on the horizon, he's developing a flashy heist movie with Brian Grazer.) And that's what keeps him confident. ''Do you think that this studio would give me several hundred million dollars if I wasn't a serious filmmaker?'' he says, lowering his voice and glancing around at all the Fox execs. ''These guys are not f---ing around.''

The X-Men franchise is one of Fox's most coveted properties. The first film more than tripled its production costs, taking in almost $300 million worldwide in 2000. 2003's X2: X-Men United cost more than $100 million to make but brought in upwards of $400 million. With a budget reported to be at least $165 million, The Last Stand is the riskiest yet. Tying up major story lines from the previous films while introducing dazzling new superhumans, the film follows what happens when the government discovers a cure for mutants that threatens their population with extinction. Each mutant then begins to reexamine his or her allegiances. Since future generations of X-Men films, including a Wolverine spinoff that's already in the works, hinge on the The Last Stand's box office returns, Ratner is shouldering the kind of weight that would make Colossus stumble.

The director came to the project with little time to spare. Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects), who helmed the first two installments, left the franchise in 2004, while The Last Stand was in preproduction, to develop Superman Returns. Initially, Fox brought in Layer Cake's Matthew Vaughn to replace Singer. But in May 2005, Vaughn quit for personal reasons and Rothman tapped Ratner to lead the mutant charge. Ironically, Ratner had once been attached to direct Superman, but had quit over creative differences with Warner Bros. At the time, Esquire magazine reported that he had argued heatedly with producer Jon Peters, who claimed Ratner threatened him with an armed bodyguard. ''I don't own a gun,'' says Ratner, laughing off the allegations. ''I don't have bodyguards with guns. I don't have bodyguards. I have assistants.''

Ratner admits he was never really into X-Men comics, but ''neither was Bryan,'' he says. And Rothman maintains that Ratner was a less controversial choice than Singer (''I got hate mail when Bryan Singer was hired'') and possibly more up to the challenge of making a big studio movie than the less blockbuster-savvy Vaughn. ''The Rush Hour films are extremely effective commercial enterprises,'' says Rothman. ''He's an experienced big-picture maker. He's used to a set with, literally, a cast of thousands and hundreds of technicians. To have somebody who's not daunted by that, we were very lucky.''

''I'm kind of a fearless guy,'' says Ratner, somehow managing to sound both cocky and earnest.

Fox also needed a director who wouldn't try to make too many radical changes, seeing as how Last Stand had already been in prep for a year. ''There really wasn't much to do,'' says Rothman, regarding the script. And as for production: ''It's our third one. We know how to make Wolverine's claws.''

Given the opportunity to broadcast his installment's superiority, Ratner demurs. ''It's a more emotional film,'' he says pensively, his salt-and-pepper beard finally starting to make sense on his boyish face. ''Does that make it better? I don't know. I was less interested in trying to make my mark than [in making] a movie that fit into the trilogy.''

Though he once envied quirky directors like Wes Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson, Ratner seems to have made peace with both his hired-gun status on this film and his populist bent. ''When I did Rush Hour,'' he says, ''I got three calls: Jonathan Demme said, 'This is my favorite film of the year.' Warren Beatty said, 'I gotta meet you.' And Roman Polanski. I realized that directors aren't snobs. What's in me is to make movies for the most amount of people.''

''I was the most hated kid in my high school,'' says Ratner, who was raised in Miami Beach by his single mother. ''Because I was having fun. Every one of my friends hated high school, stressed about grades, college. My mom didn't tell me what time to go to bed. She said, 'You don't even have to go to school. Go travel around Europe.'''

Despite dismal grades, Ratner somehow managed to smooth-talk his way into NYU's film school, where he contacted 40 of Hollywood's biggest players to ask for funding for his student film. (The short, Whatever Happened to Mason Reese?, about an uppity former child star, was already finished. Ratner just wanted to make connections.) Eventually, he received a check from Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, which he used to impress women for months before finally cashing it.

While at NYU, the 17-year-old Ratner met future Def Jam Records impresario Russell Simmons, who was building his label. Six years later, Simmons gave Ratner his first big job, shooting a Public Enemy video, and the two have been close friends now for roughly 20 years. ''He was a talented, hardworking kid that deserved a shot,'' says Simmons. ''And he knew where every model's apartment was. I was an older guy, but not too old to want to know where a model's apartment was.''

Ratner went on to direct videos for everyone from Mariah Carey to Madonna, and in one of those early clips, he cast upstart comedian Chris Tucker from Simmons' Def Comedy Jam. Tucker's career kicked into gear with Friday and Dead Presidents, and when the comic got his first mainstream vehicle — alongside Charlie Sheen in Money Talks (1997) — he recommended his friend Ratner to direct.

The two collaborated again on 1998's Rush Hour for New Line, a buddy flick with Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan that made about $250 million worldwide. In 2001, Rush Hour 2 did even better. Chan became a name in the West, Tucker became a $20 million man, and Brett Ratner became a bankable director. He's still considered one to this day, despite the tepid box office performance of his other studio pictures — the Nicolas Cage tearjerker The Family Man (2000), the Silence of the Lambs prequel Red Dragon (2002), and the Pierce Brosnan heist movie After the Sunset (2004).

Ratner's reputation seemed to sour — at least among the geek set — during his prep work for Superman Returns, a movie he never actually made. ''He didn't know anything about the comic,'' says Ain't It Cool's Knowles, whom Ratner had called on to consult when he accepted the Superman gig back in 2002. ''He's the type of guy who would commit to making a Superman movie without really knowing the character.''

''Why wouldn't I call him?'' responds Ratner, flustered. ''We spoke a thousand times on the phone. We were friends.'' Really? ''I mean, we didn't hang out. We were friends over the computer.''

Certainly, for a man who has starlets coming to his Beverly Hills mansion at all hours of the night, establishing solidarity with the comic-book-reading crowd could be tough. ''He throws great parties, he drives expensive cars, and he dates supermodels,'' says Simon Kinberg, who co-wrote the screenplay for Last Stand. ''Believe me, I understand resenting that.''

Brett Ratner spins the steering wheel furiously, spiraling his Bentley down to the exit level of an L.A. parking structure. Minutes later, he busts a heart-stopping U-turn searching for an alternate route to Wilshire Boulevard.

Traffic is backed up and Ratner's got a lot on his mind. (A) After spending hours on color correction, he's still fretting over the levels of magenta in the fourth reel. ''It's like letting go of your child,'' he says. (B) Chris Tucker's getting cold feet about starting Rush Hour 3 later this summer. ''I never wait around for Chris,'' he says. ''If you wait around for him, you'll be like him: You won't be working.'' And (C), most pressing at the moment: He's late for a red-carpet date at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. ''I'm going to the Mission: Impossible III premiere with Maggie Q,'' Ratner boasts. ''The hottest girl in the movie.''

He's minutes away from the theater when his girlfriend, Alina, calls. Still smarting from all the Lohan gossip, Ratner opts to dodge the bullet and emphasize his other date.

''Baby, I'm going to the premiere of Mission: Impossible right now,'' he says over the phone. ''I'm going with my new friend Neil. Maggie Q asked me to go with her and I said no because I didn't want you to get mad at me.... Neil from Entertainment Weekly, the magazine.... I just told you: NEIL. He's a man.''

what a tool.

Quote from: modage on May 20, 2006, 10:43:19 AM
''When I did Rush Hour,'' he says, ''I got three calls: Jonathan Demme said, 'This is my favorite film of the year.' Warren Beatty said, 'I gotta meet you.' And Roman Polanski.''

I'm inclined to believe that none of this is true.

Quote from: modage on May 20, 2006, 10:43:19 AM
Eventually, he received a check from Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, which he used to impress women for months before finally cashing it.

this i believe.

Quote from: polkablues on May 20, 2006, 05:56:46 PM

Quote from: modage on May 20, 2006, 10:43:19 AM
''When I did Rush Hour,'' he says, ''I got three calls: Jonathan Demme said, 'This is my favorite film of the year.' Warren Beatty said, 'I gotta meet you.' And Roman Polanski.''

I'm inclined to believe that none of this is true.

i never believed that either. roman polanski is calling this douche b/c of rush hour? riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

it's almost sad, really, how much he wants to be loved.

Quote from: ©brad on May 22, 2006, 06:35:28 PM

Quote from: polkablues on May 20, 2006, 05:56:46 PM

Quote from: modage on May 20, 2006, 10:43:19 AM
''When I did Rush Hour,'' he says, ''I got three calls: Jonathan Demme said, 'This is my favorite film of the year.' Warren Beatty said, 'I gotta meet you.' And Roman Polanski.''

I'm inclined to believe that none of this is true.

i never believed that either. roman polanski is calling this douche b/c of rush hour? riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

it's almost sad, really, how much he wants to be loved.

Plus, Rush Hour came out in '98, the same year as Thin Red Line, Saving Private Ryan, Pleasantville, Elizabeth, Truman Show, A Simple Plan, American History X, Gods and Monsters, Affliction, Shakespeare in Love, Central Station, Velvet Goldmine, and Out of Sight... and Jonathan Demme calls him up to tell him that fuckin' Rush Hour is his favorite movie of the year? 

Sorry, Bret (from now on, I'll only refer to him as "Bret", with one "t", because it's subtly demeaning), but your story doesn't hold water.  Nice try, though.

He's been telling that story for years.

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i'm reading this despite ratners inclusion and already in the introduction i've come across a great ratner-ism.  i'll post more if i find them...

"Why do I need final cut?  Final cut is for artistes quote unquote, directors whose movies don't make a lot of money." -- Brett Ratner

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Oh, I sure hope Jackman wins.

I have a hard time believing he said "artistes."

more than you ever wanted to know...  :shock:

www.brettratner.com

&

Fan mail:
Brett Ratner
c/o Creative Artists Agency
9830 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212-1825

i cannot tell if the site is actually run by him, or just some other guy named brett...

Questions/Comments:
brett@brettratner.com

Quote from: modage on June 11, 2006, 08:53:36 PM
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i'm reading this despite because of ratners inclusion

fixed.

Quote from: modage on June 17, 2006, 07:31:01 PM
more than you ever wanted to know...  :shock:

www.brettratner.com

They're all great but...
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Have you guys read some of his "talkback" messageboard?  It's either complete ass-kissing or outright hatred.

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I've heard that you like to watch movies every night while you're shooting a film?
Brett Ratner: Yeah.  I always do that.  It keeps it fresh for me.  I tend not to watch movies in the same genre.  I watch movies in different genres and there might be a similar scene.  I have so many references.  That's why Scorsese and Spielberg are so quick on their feet and do such great work- because they have all the references.  They've seen what works.  I think that's what helps me too.  Look, I'm not like De Palma or even Paul Thomas Anderson.  I can watch Paul Thomas Anderson's films and tell you in every scene what movie he's taking from.  I know those references, but that's kind of blatant stuff that he does because he wants to show you he loves those movies.  My stuff is subliminal.  You would never even pick it up, really.  It's very subtle stuff. 

You were going to remake Cassavetes's Killing of a Chinese Bookie with Warren [Beatty] werent you?
Brett Ratner: Yeah.  I got cursed out by a lot of friends of mine who were just like, "That's a classic!" It's Paul Thomas Anderson's favorite movie, so to Paul I was the antichrist. 

Do you think you have a smaller, less mainstream film in you?
Brett Ratner: My taste is accessible to what audiences want.  Some people just have certain sensibilities, and I'm not going to apologize for mine.  I was always envious of Paul Thomas Anderson because he was like, "Oh, me and Jonathan Demme are buddies and me and Kubrick hung out on the set with Tom and Nicole."  I was jealous of that and I was like, "Shit, I want to be friends with these directors," and I thought I have to make my personal film about someone dying of brain cancer or whatever to get the respect.  But then, after Rush Hour, when I got calls from Demme and Beatty and Bob Evans and all these guys I'm like, "You know what?  Directors aren't snobs."  They love a movie no matter what the genre is, if it works.  It gave me so much confidence because I was just like, "OK, I don't have to go make Boogie Nights."

Blasphemy

i want to stick a pen into my eye.

he should hang out with kevin smith and talk about PTA all the time. while pta lives his normal life of not being a pathetic gossiping bitch.

While Ratner is infamous for what he says that is not original, I must say I do like the first five sentences of his answer to the first question. All the filmmakers I know of keep themselves inert while making a film. They call it keeping up concentration. Yes, meetings for production do occur all day long on a variety of situations and a focus needs to last all those meetings, but concentration 24 hours a day doesn't seem healthy. Everytime my brain is jammed for an idea, I also go back to casually watching films to remove myself from the problem.

Quote from: The Gold Trumpet on July 03, 2006, 02:40:00 AM
While Ratner is infamous for what he says that is not original, I must say I do like the first five sentences of his answer to the first question. All the filmmakers I know of keep themselves inert while making a film. They call it keeping up concentration. Yes, meetings for production do occur all day long on a variety of situations and a focus needs to last all those meetings, but concentration 24 hours a day doesn't seem healthy. Everytime my brain is jammed for an idea, I also go back to casually watching films to remove myself from the problem.

That's how Ratner gets all that subtlety that he's so famous for.

'Blood' flows for Fox, Ratner
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Fox has given a put pilot commitment to "Blue Blood," a drama project from the feature duo of writer Neil Tolkin and director Brett Ratner. Based on Edward Conlon's memoir of the same name, "Blood" is an ensemble show centering on a rookie NYPD cop -- a Harvard graduate who has decided to continue the family tradition and pursue a career in law enforcement. Tolkin is penning the script for the project, which is produced by 20th Century Fox TV and Roundtable Entertainment. Ratner is executive producing with Tolkin and Roundtable's Grant Scharbo and Gina Matthews. Scharbo and Matthews, who had worked with Tolkin on a real estate-themed pilot for NBC a couple of years ago, approached the writer about six months ago with the idea to make Conlon's memoir into a TV series.

you know what, I wouldn't mind if ratner directs TV thrillers for the rest of his life.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: BRETT RATNER
By Devin Faraci; CHUD

Towards the end of my hour long one on one with Brett Ratner on the set of Zak Penn's imrov poker comedy The Grand, Dave Davis came over. He had been wondering where I had gotten off to, and was amazed to see that I was still talking to Ratner. Mostly, it seems, he was amazed I was alive. "I thought you would have strangled him by now," Dave said to Ratner. I have to admit I was a little worried myself – when I introduced myself to Ratner as a writer for CHUD.com he told me he knew the site. If that was true, he would also know that I had written some less than flattering stuff about him while X3 was in production – stuff that was unflattering enough to piss Fox off quite a bit.

Q: Before X3 a lot of the internet – including CHUD.com – did not have much faith. Do you feel like you showed 'em?

Ratner: I love the movie, I'm proud of the movie. Bryan Singer gave me the best advice when I took the job: 'Don't read the internet. They're all going to talk shit about you.' They did the same thing to him.

That's why I stayed true to the first two movies, because I was a big fan of the first two movies. I didn't try to reinvent it, I didn't try to make a movie that was better than the first two. I made a movie that became a part of the first two. That was my goal. I jumped in with a short prep and my goal was to make a good movie.

Q: Why do you think it's the biggest one?

Ratner: I think a few reasons. The fanbase is tremendous because of the DVD. These are characters the audience loves.

Is it better? Look, I'm too close to it. Is it more emotional? I think it is. Is it definitely the last in the trilogy? It feels like it is. Maybe that's part of it, that it feels like the end.

Q: Is it the movie you wanted? I know there was some studio stuff going on –

Ratner: Oh definitely. Every fight I had – they weren't big fights, but everything I went for the studio totally backed me. I know they're not famous for it. The original script had that Golden Gate Bridge sequence right in the middle of the movie. Alcatraz was a prison and they used the bridge to get the prisoners off – instead we changed it to the caravan. I didn't know how to make that work in the movie – it was the biggest set piece I have shot in my life. It felt like a climax.

The other thing is the third act took place in Washington, DC, and I was like, every fucking one of these movies ends in Washington, DC. Every fucking one of them. Planet of the Apes, X-Men, it's ridiculous. I don't want a fight in the Mall. And I needed it to be contained, because we were in Canada. I created a fishbowl on that island and it was contained, and it could be realistic. You're shooting on the Mall in Canada... it's not my idea of fun.

I'm very happy with every frame, and there's not a frame I look at where I cringe. When people see the DVD and they see my hour long making of, they're going to see how much I brought to it.

Q: Was there stuff that was cut? Stuff that we'll see on the DVD?

Ratner: Yeah, there's some cut stuff. Some stuff that didn't work. Maybe not a lot, but some stuff. But I'm a filmmaker who had a point of view and I had Zak and Simon there to keep me honest to the comic book fans, because they're the major comic book fans, and I focused on telling a story that was character driven and emotional and felt like it was the third part of the series.

Q: A couple of weeks ago I spent some time talking to James Toback, who I know you're friends with –

Ratner: My favorite guy in the world.

Q: You're in The Outsider, the documentary about him. He's your favorite director, but you're very different directors – you're a big, mainstream director and he's got a very different, smaller thing going on. Do you see yourself going that way, heading in a Tobackian direction?

Ratner: [laughs] No. Look, I do my little projects, I do my little photo books, but I'm storyteller. And my sensibilities are more mainstream, more commercial. But the fact that I have relationship with Toback – that people who get to know me not on a superficial level, not by my work, but get to know me for who I am – shows that I'm not just the hack or the commercial sell out. I have respect from Toback and Polanski and all these guys because I'm a real filmmaker. Whether or not you like the genre I'm in, you can't deny I know what I'm doing. I'm not leaving it up to the actors. There's some point of view. And you'll see it in the making of – I was watching it the other day, and you see me coming up with this idea, that idea, I piece it together and how I make it work.

I realized when I got a call from Polanski after I did Rush Hour that directors aren't snobs. Maybe some are. But mostly directors appreciate a well made film, and it doesn't matter what kind of a film it is.

Q: The snobiness feels very modern. You look back at the old great films and they're usually very mainstream genres. John Ford was making mainstream movies.

Ratner: And the directors of fifty years ago were going from comedy to drama to western to war. A filmmaker's job is to be a storyteller.

Q: Why is that different now? Why is that when you do the Rush Hour films you get pegged as just an action director?

Ratner: If you really look at my work I'm one of the only guys who – well, of course Spielberg and Zemeckis jump genres – but there's no other guy who has done action comedy then romantic fantasy then Red Dragon, which is a psychological thriller, and then X-Men. I'm not saying I'm better than other directors, what I'm saying is that my approach is that I'm a filmmaker and I should be able to tell any story.

Q: But why is it that today there is so much pigeonholing?

Ratner: I don't know. I don't know. That's just the way the system works. Back in the day the system worked differently. It was an assembly line. Directors didn't even edit their own movies. It's a different world now, but Billy Wilder and these other directors made so many kinds of pictures.

Look, I think there's a blurred line between my public persona and my work. It just happened. I think eventually people are going to look back and go, Wow. I'm not going to be in the tabloids anymore, I'm not going to be in US Magazine, and they're going to be able to look at the film and how it holds up as a film on its own. It won't be about 'Brett Ratner speaks in the third person, so he's an asshole.' And I don't speak in the third person, but that's what they say.

Q: I can go on the record as saying you are not currently speaking in the third person.

Ratner: I've never spoke in the third person. But I did just say 'Brett Ratner speaks in the third person,' so now you can say I did talk in the third person.

Q: Where does that come from?

Ratner: People have always hated me.

Q: It's a jealousy thing?

Ratner: That's what my mom tells me, but that's my mom. I don't know.

Q: Is it funny to open up the tabloids and see stuff about you in there or is it annoying?

Ratner: It's not annoying at all. The meanest group is Defamer and Harry Knowles. I don't take myself that seriously. It's like, come on. I totally laugh at it. If I did take it seriously, it would probably be worse than what it is.

I love what I do. I love filmmakers. Werner Herzog is here – how cool is that? The biggest star could be in the room and I care about the filmmakers – the directors and cinematographers and the producers. These are the people that I admire. And I love movies. I drove up from LA and the whole ride we played The Movie Game. We did movies with animals as the star. I went on and on and on and I was like, 'Woah, I have seen a lot of movies!'

At the end of the day I want to leave a mark somehow. If one of my films holds up 100 years from now I'll be happy wherever I'm watching from.

What's amazing about sitting down with Ratner for any amount of time (and Davis and I ended up hanging out with him for longer than the time that's represented here) is watching him do what may be his real life's work: hitting on girls. The guy is relentless, saying "Hey sweetie," or trading flirty banter with every single female that walks by. At one point he brought Woody Harrelson over to this attractive extra he had been hitting on, introducing her as his next girlfriend. He half-jokingly tried to talk a crew member out of her engagement.

"Always find something you have in common," he tutored me. Ratner talks glowingly of the book The Game as a great guide on how to score with women. I wondered if this was something that came to Ratner once he became a famous director, but in the last week I've talked to a lot of people who have known him for some time, and this, they tell me, is who Brett is. The guy's charming, even when he's operating on three hours of sleep and dressed as a whiny Jewish poker player. Hell, he charmed me completely. I don't know if I can ethically review his next movie at this point.

Q: So Rush Hour 3 is actually happening?

Ratner: Yeah. I'm shooting in 8 weeks.

Q: What's going to make this one different from the last two?

Ratner: It's a buddy comedy but it's got elements of fish out of water comedy. It mixes genres. Jackie Chan in the first one came to LA and was a fish out of water. Chris Tucker in the second one went to Hong Kong. Now they're both going to Paris, where they don't speak the language. If you really, really know films and you watch my films you'll know my inspirations. It's like if you watch Boogie Nights, although his are a little more obvious. I am Cuba or Putney Swope. My movies are a little more Enter the Dragon, 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop.

Q: The movies we grew up on.

Ratner: Yeah, but movies that don't have a style, per se. Paul Thomas Anderson's inspirations are very stylized.

But every scene in [my] movie comes from another film. I don't want to give everything away but this dream scene I want to do is inspired by when Kareem Abdul-Jabar fought Bruce Lee. I want to have the reverse – I want Chris Tucker to fight Yao Ming. As a child I saw Bruce Lee fighting this giant, and I was like, 'Oh my God!' Every scene comes from another movie. I'm not saying it's straight out of another movie, I'm saying it's inspired by. The shot in Rush Hour overlooking Hong Kong Harbor of course was right out of Enter the Dragon. I got the idea for the composer because of Enter the Dragon – Lalo Schifrin did Rush Hour, and he did Enter the Dragon and he was incredible. I had the idea for Rush Hour because of Lalo's music, Lalo mixing urban funky grooves with Chinese instrumentation. I was like, 'Wow,' that was so cool and hip to me.

Q: Is this the last Rush Hour? It seems like Chris Tucker is tougher to get back every time.

Ratner: He's been doing other things. I want him to work with other directors – maybe he'll appreciate me more! But I'm flattered that he only wants to work with me. I couldn't wait to shoot Rush Hour – I can't wait to get to the set. We're there with Jackie, who's the greatest guy in the world, Chris, who's a good friend. It's just so much fun. And there's loads of pressure but somehow there's more pressure because we look at each other and go, 'We've done this before. This is ridiculous.'

Q: How do you keep it fresh?

Ratner: It's just about challenging each other. Funnier, smarter, better. Just keep challenging ourselves. And I think that's the key. Yeah, we're getting paid a lot of money but we're not doing this for the check. We're not going to walk through it. We want to win. We want to make a better film than the last. Hollywood is unfortunately built on the sequels right now – it's all about the sequels and the remakes, and that's a challenge. There's not as much ingenuity in the 60s and 70s when filmmakers were like inventing genres, creating stuff you never seen before. Italy, France – all over the world. They never would have thought of remaking a movie. Well, Scarface was a remake of an old movie or an adaptation. But before that there wasn't any – well, Heaven Can Wait.

That's what's so brilliant about the first X-Men; Bryan did such a brilliant job of interpreting the comic book into its own world. The choices he made was that everything was grounded in reality. I never would have been able to do the first movie – or I could have done it, but not as well as Bryan. Bryan related to the subject material and the characters. He was able to make Magneto outfit believable.

Q: Whether or not it was on purpose or not, there was a sense of competition with you taking on X3, Bryan taking on Superman and the two films coming out in the same general time frame. X3 is one of the biggest hits of the year, but Superman isn't doing as well as they hoped. What happened? What went wrong?

Ratner: I think good luck comes from good ideas. X3 is a good fucking idea. Superman – and I started to feel this a little bit when I was in the process of making it – seems like less and less of a good idea. Contemporizing that, and the fact that there were five – I would get from a lot of people, 'Oh, are you making Superman 7?' From a lot of people. The studio probably thought that would benefit, but the fact that is that you have to revitalize a franchise. It's almost like what happened with Red Dragon. Hannibal was a huge hit, but it burned a lot of the women because it was so violent. More violent than Silence of the Lambs. It burned a lot of people from the franchise. A lot of people didn't turn out for that – even though it was a huge hit. I'm not complaining about it, but it wasn't as big as Hannibal.

Because of the poor performances of the bad Supermans there was a stigma on it. That was the problem – how do you take that and contemporize it? It's very difficult, and I think JJ [Abrams] had a brilliant interpretation of that story. I don't know if you read that script?

Q: I didn't.

Ratner: I thought it was brilliant because it showed something that could have happened previous to the mythology that people knew. It said that Superman's father had this brother and they were the two leaders of Krypton and there was this civil war on the planet. 40 minutes of the movie took place on Krypton. We were going to build a fucking planet! That makes it worthwhile to make a Superman movie! People would have been like, 'Holy shit, this is mindblowing!' Unfortunately it was too expensive – my version going in was 260 to 280 million dollars. And if you go in there you know you're going to end up over 300.

Q: Can Hollywood keep sustaining these bigger budgets? Pirates is doing amazing business, but so many movies have huge budgets and are not going to be able to make back what was spent on them, let alone turn a profit in theaters. The money Superman's made now would have been a blockbuster years ago.

Ratner: I think what's going to happen is that they're going to keep getting bigger and bigger and a lot of people are going to get burned. Companies will go out of business. It's cyclical. There's going to be our version of - what's that movie Cimino did? The movie that buried -

Q: Heaven's Gate.

Ratner: Heaven's Gate! There's going to be our version of that.

Q: Which is a good movie. It gets a bum rap.

Ratner: Right! So many great movies don't perform. When I saw them I thought they were hits – I went opening night, it was a packed theater, I didn't watch the fucking box office back then, I was just a kid. Movies like Quiz Show – I thought that made a hundred million dollars but it only made 20 million dollars at the box office. I look back and see it on the list of all the grossing pictures and it's number 3000 and I'm like 'What?' I love that movie!

So many great pictures didn't perform. You can't base... there's Hollywood reality and then there's reality then there's internet reality. And it's all different. Everyone has a point of view and nobody's wrong. Look, a hit to me is a movie that when it plays in a theater, everywhere I wanted people to laugh they laugh. There's no greater experience than sitting in a theater – well, Cannes was pretty exceptional, but they're all snobs – going opening night [of X3] and seeing Bryan Singer there at Mann's Chinese and having the seats vibrating, the walls vibrating. After the Sunset underperformed, but that movie was a crowd pleaser. If I had brought that in for 20 million –

Q: After the Sunset is a movie that seems like it should have performed. What happened?

Ratner: I don't know. You can blame marketing, you can blame Pierce and Salma [note: Brett Ratner wrote in to clarify this point: "It sounds like I'm blaming them for the movie not performing. I didn't mean it like that. I loved the movie and I wouldn't change a thing if I could do it again." Sorry for any confusion on this point in the transcript]. Take the same movie with Brad and Angelina and it's a 200 million dollar movie. That's what I'm saying – I should have made that my little indy, grunge heist picture, the same way Ridley did that movie with Nic Cage.

Q: Matchstick Men.

Ratner: Yeah. That should have been my Matchstick Men.

Q: Do you have a smaller movie waiting?

Ratner: A small movie. Not as small as this [The Grand]! I have a movie. I would like to remake The Killing of a Chinese Bookie.

Q: That's very ballsy. Remaking Cassavetes.

Ratner: Ballsy? Come on, Paul Thomas Anderson said he'll personally put a bullet in my head. It's the greatest movie ever made to him. The problem is that nobody's seen it except for cinephiles. It never got a release in the United States – I think it played for one day and Cassavetes pulled it because it got bad reviews. It only came out in France. It's a cult film and it's a flawed movie. I think it's a brilliant movie, tonally it's brilliant, but I'm not remaking Psycho. Come on.

Q: What people don't take into account when a remake happens is that you're not going to their house, taking their DVD copy of the original and burning it. That movie still exists. I never understood the deep anger about that stuff.

Ratner: Look, to remake Network –

Q: Clooney's doing it for TV.

Ratner: It's a mistake. That movie's just brilliant. But everyone's going to have their opinion on what shouldn't be remade. To remake The Godfather is sacrilege... but why? There are so many channels and formats there could be an audience that wants to see The Godfather as a four hour fucking miniseries. I don't know, let people express themselves.

Brett's assistant is also named Brett, and he has a rather intimate connection with CHUD.com. He had been looking for a job when he read an interview with Ratner on this site where the director said that his last assistant had gone on to make his own feature film. Assistant Brett knew what his next job would have to be.

It was interesting to watch the two Bretts in action. Assistant Brett would have two or three cell phones on him at all times, and he would be working with Ratner on returning calls to people like Steve Wynn or Christina Milian. The big names and planning of a party at Ratner's suite at the Wynn are part of what you expect from the guy, but Assistant Brett kept telling us that there was more to Ratner than what you read about.

Later we saw that – Ratner's adorable old grandparents surprised him by driving up from LA, where they live in his guest house. While Ratner was filming his scene, Assistant Brett would sit with the couple (who, like Dave Davis, got a cameo in the film). What a shift in gears – from calling Milian to hanging out with a couple of retirees. Towards the end of the night Assistant Brett would talk about how it can be tough working for Ratner, how your personal life disappears. But you know, when your day goes from corralling hotties for parties to corralling old people, who needs a personal life anyway?


Q: Talk about who you're playing in The Grand.

Ratner: I'm playing a guy by the name of... I have to ask.

Q: You have a fantastic yarmulke. [The yarmulke has a print of playing cards on it]

Ratner: Yeah, I'm a Jewish guy whose strategy – and by the way, a lot of poker players have come up to me and said they know guys like this – and it's a strategy but it really is who he is, he talks about the tragedy in his life during the game. It's supposed to throw the other guys off. He says, 'Look, I gotta express myself. I have no choice but to express myself.' But it's really a tactic to fuck up the other players. Bobby Brillstein, something like that. He's obsessed with poker and wants to win The Grand Championship. He talks about the tragedy and the pain of his life at the table.

I've had guys come up to me and intellectualize, 'You know, I can't take money from a guy in a wheelchair. I can't do it.' And the guy doesn't sit there and say 'Hit me.' He says, 'Hit me please.' He plays up the fucking handicap. Two or three poker players told me about this and I literally got it. We were doing these interviews – you know how there are these interviews [interviews the actors do in character] – and I discovered in the last diatribe we gave where Zak told me to interrupt the interview because I get a call. I picked up the phone and said, 'Ma, I can't talk right now. I'm sorry the chemotherapy hurts. I can't – Ma, it hurts me too. It hurts me too. Look, I'll bring you some gifelte fish later.'

Q: You did some improv with Toback.

Ratner: I did. That was the first movie and the only movie I ever said I would do. But I had to come do this for Zak. That was Black and White.

Q: Does the improv come easy to you?

Ratner: The improv is easy – the hardest thing is listening. But in real life it's hard for me to listen! I have so much more respect for actors because when I wasn't talking I became so much more aware of the cameras [in Black and White]. I became Brett Ratner. I mean, I was playing Brett Ratner but I got terrified. When I was speaking I could riff for fucking hours. The minute I wasn't speaking and other people were talking – I got Brooke Shields there – I was like, 'Oh my God, what the fuck is going on!' I had to keep the camera on me, I kept looking in the lens almost. I got completely freaked out. I was so self-conscious.

Q: You were just looking in the lens now in the "Burka-vision" scene. Are you finding yourself almost cracking up acting against David Cross? [Cross, for reasons we'll discuss in the set visit report, plays a round wearing a burka. There is a shot from his POV which was filmed that day]

Ratner: If I have a dialogue scene I'll probably crack up. I mean, a guy in a fucking burka. It's fucking hysterical. I wanted to say, 'Look, I'm not playing with a Muslim. I refuse.'

Q: So Rush Hour 3 is filming in 8 weeks and hitting next summer?

Ratner: Competing with Pirates. I don't know if it's direct competition. Pirates is 4th of July?

Q: No, it's Memorial Day.

Ratner: We're end of the summer.

Q: Everybody's talking about how Pirates means the slump is over. Did you think there was a real slump in the first place?

Ratner: I think in the DVD market there's going to be a slump. I don't know about the... kids want to watch movies on their iPods and their phones. The future is here right now. You're going to have a phone downloading digital quality video of your movie and just plug it into the fucking TV. DVD is going to be obsolete in the next few years. But there's no experience like sitting in a movie theater. A kid seeing the first Star Wars today is never going to have the same experience when I was six years old and sat in that theater and I waited in line for fucking days. And I would get to the booth and 'Sorry, next show sold out.' And I would wait there and 'Sorry, next show sold out.' I would have to come back the next day or the next weekend, and the anticipation would build. And the fact that there was just one screen - now you walk in and there are eight fucking theaters.

Q: You can walk in at any random time and catch a show.

Ratner: Any random fucking time. But there's nothing like the anticipation of waiting in line to see the biggest spectacle in the world. And what was going on in the world at that time, because there were only three channels on TV and you never saw anything like that ever. That's why now Psycho doesn't work. A guy getting stabbed in the shower – you've seen people's heads getting cut off now because of what's going on in the world. The interesting this is that I could show a kid the exact same movie I saw when I was six or seven and it's not going to have the same meaning. That's why filmmakers have different inspirations, because of what they saw as a kid. I appreciate Peeping Tom, by Michael Powell, and I appreciate Spielberg and Scorsese's Kurosawa inspirations, but they don't mean the same thing to me. Beverly Hills Cop and 48 Hours mean more to me. And that's because that's what I grew up on. That was the age when I discovered the dream of being a director – I was 8 – and those were the popular movies of the time. I'm a product of my generation.

Q: Do you feel like you have to apologize for that?

Ratner: I say it because when Polanski called me [about Rush Hour] I said, 'I made Beverly Hills Cop,' meaning I made a version of Beverly Hills Cop, he said, 'Brett, you made a movie with pace that was funny and it's hard to make a movie that works.' I apologize for my movies, but it's a product of who I am. I'm not apologizing for 48 Hours or Beverly Hills Cop, because those are incredible movies. I'm apologizing because my movies are contemporary versions of those movies just like Spielberg made contemporary versions of the movies he watched as a kid.

Q: So you're saying your whole career is based on Eddie Murphy! Without Eddie Murphy, there would be no Brett Ratner.

Ratner: Well no, but my success comes from Rush Hour, but I have other eclectic tastes and inspirations.

Q: What are you watching these days?

Ratner: Chaos. It's amazing. I just watched Year of the Dragon. I've been watching a lot of Asian, a lot of Korean and Japanese movies.

Q: Is that to get into the mindset for Rush Hour 3?

Ratner: I'm getting into the mode. I'm watching the new stuff; I already know the old stuff. I watch a movie every day. Every day I watch a movie. And if I don't watch a movie, I watch a scene from a movie. I'm watching a lot of movies that take place in France: Bob Le Flambeur, The Red Circle.

Q: Which John Woo is remaking.

Ratner. I know. I'm producing it. I bought the rights. There's probably going to be a litigation about it. It'll get resolved and everything.

But I handed it over to John Woo.

Q: Do you think that John Woo going back to Hong Kong is the best decision?

Ratner: I think he's going to shoot in Shanghai.

Q: I mean he seems to have had a couple of rough years in Hollywood.

Ratner: The reason I let go of Red Circle – it was my idea to buy it – was because I wasn't as passionate about it as John Woo. That was John Woo's favorite movie of all time. If it was... I don't know, I can't think of another franchise – well, if it was Killing of a Chinese Bookie and he bought the rights because he thought it was a cool movie and I was like, 'I'm obsessed with Killing of a Chinese Bookie...'

Oceans 11 I wanted to redo, it was my idea to remake that movie. I couldn't do it because I had to do Rush Hour 2, but I wanted to do it just to protect it almost. I met with Clooney to star in it, actually.

Q: Really?

Ratner: Before Family Man. Before Soderbergh was on. He said, 'That's sacrilegious.' Are you kidding me? They did one take and shot it in 23 days! It was a bunch of guys getting together.

My version was going to be much different. My version was going to be the scumbag version. It was going to be Nic Cage, Charlie Sheen, Chris Penn, Sean Penn. All the fucking – Christian Slater. All the guys who really smoke cigarettes.

Q: Set it down here, in the crappier Vegas.

Ratner: Mine was like the grungy... Don Rickles and stuff. I even have the original script I got from Ted Griffin, because I had Ted Griffin write the first draft. Next to every character I put all the names of who would play the characters.

Q: Is that how you do it? Do the actors come right to mind for characters and you tailor the part for them?

Ratner: It depends. Hopefully Polanski's going to act in Rush Hour 3, so I created a part for him. I was just having lunch with him, and I said, 'Oh my God, you have to be in Rush Hour!' We're shooting in Paris, so it's perfect.

Q: How intimidating would that be, to be directing one of the great directors of all time?

Ratner: He treats me as an equal, he loves my movies, he's a fan. If I was directing Harry Knowles from Aint It Cool News I wouldn't feel very comfortable – he would be looking at me sideways the whole time. But Polanksi gives me respect and admiration and love, so I'm fearless. He gave me a lot of secrets and stuff. Not secrets but points of view.

Q: Little tricks.

Ratner: Little things to keep in mind every time I approach a scene. So I feel very confident. I'm using Yvan Attel, who directed My Wife is an Actress, which is a fucking brilliant French movie that Spielberg has the remake rights to. He was in Munich too. I haven't told anybody who's in the movie yet – there's another brilliant French actress who I can't say yet, but I'm going after her. It's going to be a great cast.

But I mean, you meet people. Zhang Ziyi, [her part] wasn't even written for a female. I saw Crouching Tiger when I was in Hong Kong before the movie came out and one of the producers showed me the movie. I said, 'Oh my God, who is this girl, I have to meet her.' Flew to Beijing from Hong Kong, sat down with her, thought I was going to find a girlfriend and instead I found a star. I was like, 'You've got to be in my movie.' And she doesn't speak English, this is with the interpreter there. I said, 'You got to be in my movie, I'll create a part for you.' She didn't have one line and I just kept adding scenes.

Sometimes that's just the way it works. Rush Hour works like that, X-Men is different.

Q: Was X-Men too rushed? I know Fox pushed very hard to get it out.

Ratner: I shot as many days as I would have shot – I shot 120 something days?

Q: How was your post, though?

Ratner: You have to understand that I was prepping [the FX for] the Bridge before the first day of shooting. I only had 8 weeks prep, but I was prepping that sequence in my pre-production phase. Remember, all these people had already made two of these movies. I got the company who did Mystique's [effects]...

Q: And you had actors in place who knew their characters.

Ratner: Right. And I'm a decisive director. If it would have been the first X-Men, the first Harry Potter, it would have been a whole different story. But on the third...

Q: The world's created. The tone is there.

Ratner: Right! It's not that I'm saying my job is easy, I'm saying I was decisive. There was a universe, and there were rules in that universe. I wasn't going to do something so far out. We knew the way that Magneto's powers worked. I wasn't reinventing it. I knew the way that Mystique changed, so I got the company that did that. I tried some new things like de-aging them. The hardest part was the new characters. The scene I'm most proud of, because these are two actors and characters who had never been in an X-Men movie before but they felt like they had, was when Beast goes to see the little boy. Those characters were not in X-Men 1 or 2, but they still felt like they belonged in an X-men movie. I was very proud of those scenes, of getting those actors to fit into the trilogy.

Q: You said that Polanski gave you some tips and tricks. Did you give Zak any tips and tricks?

Ratner: Oh yeah. He stole a lot from me. He was standing right next to me when we were shooting X-Men. That's why every scene from that movie is from a comic book or a reference to a comic book. There's nothing that we're inventing; we wanted to stay very true to the comics.

But Zak mentioned he had made this movie Loch Ness and he gave it to me. He asked a lot of questions. He was a little bit surprised – 'Wow, you really know the lenses!' Well, yeah, this is my 7th film! I know the focal length. That's what I did. I didn't learn a lot in terms of technical stuff in film school. I focused on being the director and I thought, 'I'll let them take care of the camera, I'll let them take care of the lights.' But you're supposed to do every job in film school. Then when I went videos it was another opportunity for me to learn, to make money when learning. When we got the budget I would get a crane. What does a LumaCrane do? Why would I use this to help tell my story? Why would I use a practical SteadiCam instead of a dolly? What's the difference?

I really learned what the tools of my craft did, so that by the time I started doing movies I knew what every fucking lens did. I knew every piece of equipment. I worked with Dante Spinotti, you know? I'm not working with fucking jokers! It's so crazy! People act like I'm some fucking... I don't know. How can I be a hack if I work with the greatest crew in the world?

Q: I had an interesting conversation today about how people don't understand what a cinematographer does, or how a director works with a cinematographer. As a result you see people making critiques based on stuff they don't really understand.

Ratner: There are movies you can go see and not know who the director is. I think people can look at my movies and go, 'That's a Brett film.' It's not because I have a shot like Spike Lee floating down the street. I have a point of view. Whether you like it or not, and whether you like my choices or not, that's OK. But you look at my movies and you can't deny the shots are composed. They cut together. They flow. There's a pace. There's an energy. There aren't wasted shots. I could have had a two hour and twenty minute version of X-Men, but there would have been a lot of stale shit going on.

Q: X-Men is so packed. There's so much that goes on in X-men. You weren't tempted to go longer?

Ratner: I found all the emotion. I slowed down for the moments where you need to slow down and I amped up the moments where you needed to keep it going. It's just a thing I think I'm very good at is pace. If you watch my movies, they don't drag. There's nothing worse than a long fucking movie in my opinion. 'We want more! We want more!' I wanted Casino to be longer, I understand. I was obsessed with every fucking frame of that movie. But how much –

Q: There's something to be said for leaving people wanting more.

Ratner: That's right! Don't give it all away. That's why there's the DVD. That's where the movie's really going to exist; who's going to have a print of X-Men 50 years from now? You're going to have a DVD or the digital version of the movie.

Q: How does that affect you as a filmmaker? Once upon a time the film released in theaters was the only version anyone ever saw, and if they didn't see it in theaters they might never see it, unless they happened to catch it on TV.

Ratner: It's so much better. Look at how big the audience is. Look at how many fucking people are going to see my movie, in every corner of the world.

Q: But when you're making the movie are you saying to yourself, 'I love this, but I'll save it for the DVD'?

Ratner: Yeah. For outtakes, maybe gags. But where it really helps me is when I'm struggling over losing something in the edit. But you know what? If it's not pushing the story, lose it. Don't every fall in love. I'm not a guy where every fucking frame is whatever. It's whatever tells the story. My job is to tell the story in the least amount of shots.

I'm the guy who used to be in class and used to have to listen to the teacher and take notes and read my notes three times to get an A. The kid next to me didn't even have to take notes and he got an A too. I got the same A, I just had to work harder. I forgot where I was going with this.

Sitting around with Brett Ratner in a hallway in the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is an essentially surreal thing all on its own. But later, after the tape recorder was off and we were just bullshitting, things got even more surreal. Werner Herzog, who appears in the movie as the deadly The German, came over and started hanging out. Woody Harrelson, in a wig and fake muttonchop sideburns, also sat down with us. Brett got Werner to tell the story behind Wings of Hope – while filming Aguirre, Herzog was bumped from an overbooked airplane in Peru. The plane disintegrated in mid-air, leaving only one survivor, who worked with Herzog to make a film about the incident. Later, Herzog talked about the times he had been shot at (he had to think a second to remember if Kinski had ever shot at him) as well as his adventures in Africa, which included being tortured in jail and having his teeth knocked out.

Zak Penn had told me that amazing things always happen to Ratner. Every day he has another story about another incredible thing that happened to him. Sitting in that group I realized I was experiencing one of the lesser amazing things, hearing a legend joke around and tell his unbelievable stories. I knew that if Davis and I managed to get an invite to Ratner's suite party that night we would probably be privy to something much more amazing.

We didn't get the invite. Maybe next time.

Q: What's the goal? What's the long view?

Ratner: I've been to all these lifetime achievement award dinners, I've envisioned myself up there. But I think at the end of the day... it's about learning. I don't have a strategy. Baz Luhrmann's going to do three musicals and then he's going to do two epics. I'm just doing what I love and I don't look back. I do my best. I give 200%. I don't pay attention to what's around me, the internet's fucking put a hit out on me or whatever, I just do the best job I can do.

But I'll tell you what, and I swear to God I don't know any other filmmaker of who this is true – there is not one frame of any movie I've done that I go, 'Ugh.'

Q: Really? You always hear directors saying, 'I love that movie except...'

Ratner: Even Michael Mann will say, 'I'll look at it but there are things I would change.' The point is that when I see my editor's assembly – and there is not another director, and I want you to ask every director you talk to, say, 'How do you feel when you watch your editor's assembly?' I guarantee to you that 99.99% of them will say, 'I feel like hanging myself. I want to die. I couldn't live with what I saw. It was painful.' When I walk out of the room after my editor's cut? 'My God! I made a movie! I made a movie that works!' It's not that I can't believe it, it's just that I'm so fucking psyched.

Q: Harry Knowles has come up a couple of times. Have you met him?

Ratner: I might have my facts a little bit off, but I think this is true. You can post this and see if he responds – he probably won't, because he's too busy with whatever he's doing.

I think Harry Knowles is a complete hypocrite. That's my personal opinion of him, because he's become a different guy. I met him over the internet in 1996 or 7, when they first started. Somebody told me there was this cool guy doing reviews and I went to check him out. Nobody in Hollywood knew about him. What I'm saying, if my facts are straight, is that Quentin Tarantino was the person who knew and maybe Quentin told me about him.

I don't remember how I got introduced to Harry. But I started emailing the guy, because I love movies. That's all I know! I know shit. I started talking to him – 'Did you see this one,' 'Yeah, tell me what you think!' When I would see a movie I would write in, but he never printed my reviews because I'm a filmmaker.

Q: Did you have anything out yet?

Ratner: This was before Money Talks! I wasn't even a fucking feature director. I was a film student basically, doing music videos. I would do these fucking emails back and forth with the guy and then we would start talking on the phone. And we would talk and talk and talk and talk and talk. For hours and hours and hours. This was before he had any influence, so I had no reason... this guy was my friend. I was the first guy. Nobody talked to this guy, you know what I'm saying?

I got $150,000 to direct Money Talks. I had negative $250,000 in the bank. Do you understand? I had no money. I had no money. I took the only money I had left and flew him and his fat fucking father to fucking LA. Him and his fat fucking father to LA for the premiere of Money Talks. The first fucking time Harry Knowles was in LA...

Q: And you flew him out there.

Ratner: I flew him out there. I brought him to LA. Now he might say, 'Not true! In 1996 I blah blah,' maybe Robert Rodriguez flew him to the set of El Mariachi, I don't know. All I know is I remember putting him in the fucking Mondrian Hotel, him and his father. I got a limousine to fucking drive his ass to my premiere for no other reason than I liked talking movies with this guy and I wanted to know what he thought.

Now if I recall – it wasn't like he said, 'I love this movie, you're an amazing filmmaker,' I don't know if those words were said, but he wrote a whole rave review for Money Talks. I don't remember if I brought him out for Rush Hour, but I know one thing, and you can do the research and look in the archives – the review on Rush Hour was even fucking better. The biggest blow job you ever read in your fucking life. Because he really liked it. I was not the hack I am today.

Then I did Family Man. I don't remember if it was good or bad, but I wasn't angry with him because I was still his friend. I would never have gotten into it. Then one day I got a call and they wanted to hire me for Superman. I call up Harry and say, 'Guess what, I'm doing Superman!' And he was like [gasps]. I was like, 'Why are you so shocked?' 'I don't know, I just duhduhduh, duhduhduh.'

Q: And this is after Rush Hour 2?

Ratner: Yes! This is his territory. The minute I go into Superman and I told him, 'I'm going to hire you as a consultant on the movie because you know every Superman comic book.' I read those growing up, but I don't retain that stuff the way that Zak and Simon [Kinberg] does. I'm a different kind of pop culture [guy]. I said, 'I want you as a consultant.' He says, 'Thank you, thank you very much!' The next time I read a review – and it might have been of the JJ Abrams script – it says I called him up and said I never heard of Superman, who's Superman?

Who is Superman? You have to be from another fucking planet not to know. There's not a person on Earth – [to an extra walking by] Have you heard of Superman, sir?

Man: Yeah.

Ratner: Miss, have you ever heard of Superman?

Woman: Yes.

Ratner: OK. He's as famous as Jesus Christ. I don't think there's a pop character – and this guy said I called him to say I don't know who he was. Complete fucking lies. That was it. I don't know what I did but get that job.

Now I don't recall – did he say, 'Thank God Brett's off, McG's going to come save the day?' How can he take a guy with one movie – I'm not knocking McG! He's my friend! But how do you fucking take McG and say that 'It's obvious from Charlie's Angels that he's going to do a better job than Brett Ratner on Superman'?

Q: At least you have a full name.

Ratner: [laughs] Exactly. It's crazy!

Q: And it's been...

Ratner: Ever since.

Q: There's been no contact?

Ratner: I've called him at least five times and he won't return my calls. But I think Harry Knowles has much less influence. Did you see what happened on X-Men, where there was this great review from Moriarty? Simon Kinberg took him to the movie, he loved the movie. Then what's his name saw the movie, Harry saw it, and said, 'It's the worst piece of shit ever made.' He completely wrote this whole scathing thing that Moriarty's wrong, he doesn't know what he's talking about. And all the TalkBacks...

Q: Please tell me you don't read the TalkBacks.

Ratner: I don't. But they tell me. I don't read any of this shit. But the studio reads every fucking word.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi35.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fd179%2Fpolkablues%2FPackSquare.jpg&hash=00e8c18e572c1339c56cc0bdc9164d6b2eff9c29)

i cant believe how many times he mentioned PT again in this interview.  and the way he constantly tells the polanski story THIS MANY YEARS LATER, its really sad.  Ratner is jude law/brad stand from I Heart Huckabees.

Ratner cloning "Boys From Brazil"
Source: Hollywood Reporter

The "Boys" are back in town.

"X-Men: The Last Stand" director Brett Ratner is developing a remake of the Nazi thriller "The Boys From Brazil" and may direct the New Line project.

The original 1978 movie, based on a best-selling Ira Levin novel, starred Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier. It centered on a Nazi hunter in Paraguay who discovers a plot to rekindle the Third Reich by cloning Adolf Hitler.

The update will involve Neo-Nazis.

So is Ratner directing shitty music videos now? I just saw this wretched video with Jessica Simpson and Andy Dick called Public Affair (or something like that) and it said "Directed by: Brett Ratner." Coincidence, or really him?

Quote from: Derek237 on August 25, 2006, 06:15:11 PM
So is Ratner directing shitty music videos now? I just saw this wretched video with Jessica Simpson and Andy Dick called Public Affair (or something like that) and it said "Directed by: Brett Ratner." Coincidence, or really him?

Ratner's been directing shitty music videos for years.

Quote from: polkablues on August 25, 2006, 06:25:45 PM

Quote from: Derek237 on August 25, 2006, 06:15:11 PM
So is Ratner directing shitty music videos now? I just saw this wretched video with Jessica Simpson and Andy Dick called Public Affair (or something like that) and it said "Directed by: Brett Ratner." Coincidence, or really him?

Ratner's been directing shitty music videos for years.

It's (I believe) his second shitty video for Simpson, starting with her These Boots Were Made For Walking remake.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgoldenfiddle.com%2Fsites%2Fgoldenfiddle.com%2Ffiles%2Fimages%2Fbrettspeilberg_0.jpg&hash=79b0dcd23a3faa0b550f044b5001e4bd0fbdd517)

from the March issue of Premiere...

Brett Ratner's grandmother is getting her own reality TV show.  The Rush Hour 3 director's granny Fanita Presman has filmed a pilot for VH1 called My Grandson, The Director, which will document Presman's life in Ratner's guesthouse and her travails through Tinseltown with his famous friends like Paris Hilton.  At least it's good to know Ratner has one houseguest who's over 21.

I still haven't seen any Brett Ratner films.

Check out this month's Vanity Fair, there's an interesting article about him.

Jones teams with Ratner for Rio
3-D 'Magic' act for director, music maven
Source: Variety

Quincy Jones will team with helmer Brett Ratner to shoot "Carnaval 3D: The Magic & the Music," chronicling Brazil's annual street party in Rio de Janeiro.

"The opportunity of combining the grand spectacle that is carnaval and cutting edge 3-D technology is irresistible," Ratner said. Jones will host perfs from Brazilian musicians and orchestrate link-ups with U.S. and European acts. Additional shooting is expected in New Orleans.

Producing team includes Jones, Mark Ross and Roger Kass. They'll also be working with Tycoon Studios, a Rio- based vid production company.

Capitol Films is shepherding international sales and the producers will handle North American rights.

Filming is set to start on the U.S.-Brazilian co-production in fall, with a release slated for late 2008.

An album and an international tour will follow. And a portion of the pic's profits will be donated to charity.

Just more of Ratner trying to get laid.

Ratner aims for hip at Hillary event
Upcoming function to raise money for Clinton
Source: Variety

In location scenes for his cameo on last Sunday's "Entourage," music blared by the pool at Brett Ratner's Benedict Canyon home. Women were clad in lingerie. Women wandered in bikinis. In fact, at this party, women were everywhere.

That should give a sense of how unlikely a place Ratner's pad will be for a Hillary Clinton fund-raiser next Wednesday.

Event is aimed at young Hollywood, and although organizers say the vibe will be quite a bit more staid with Clinton's visit, it reflects the new efforts presidential campaigns are making as they search for new dollars.

As the year goes on, it becomes harder and harder to find untapped donors, particularly since so many people have maxed out. They cannot give more. So like Barack Obama, Clinton is turning to cheaper and hipper events. Ratner's event costs $250 per person, $500 per person to also get into an after-party, and $1,000 for a VIP reception, the main reception and after-party.

Ratner, who said the event is sold out, said he plans for the event to be "fun" and draw a crowd that may be turned off on the sort of "stuffy, kind of uptight" events fund-raisers usually are.

"What is exciting is I think a lot people are going to come and hear Hillary speak that normally wouldn't go to a political fund-raiser," Ratner said from Cannes. "That is what exciting about the way we are doing it. The list (of attendees) is a very interesting list."

He said that he is "supporting the Democratic party" -- and plans to hold an event for John Edwards as well.

"I love Hillary, and I think she's amazing. I am happy to just introduce people to this who haven't been exposed to politics, aren't thinking about politics or don't have a political point of view."

Ratner's Benedict Canyon home, called Hilhaven Lodge, has a fabled history -- Ingrid Bergman lived there, as did Kim Novak and James Caan. For much of the 1970s and '80s it was the pad of producer Allan Carr. He had a disco installed in the basement (which will be open at Ratner's event). Ratner restored the house and added an arcade-style photo booth; he's published a book on the various guests who've crawled in and had their photo shot (Among them: Chelsea Clinton).

On the committee for Clinton's event are Christina Aguilera, Matt Alvarez, Brent Bolthouse, Doug Ellin, Victoria Harvie, Eric Kranzler, Debbie Liebling, George and Phil Maloof, Jamie Patricof, Ben Schwerin, Brian Weinstein, Penelope Cruz, Angie Banacki, Heather Graham, Eva Longoria, Ben Silverman, Jeremy Piven, Mike Myers, Will.I.Am, Todd Phillips and Chad Griffin. Ratner is hosting along with Scott Budnick, Michael Kives, Steve Bing and Ron Burkle. Bing and Burkle asked Ratner to host the event.

One organizer said he hopes that the fund-raiser will help soften the campaign's image as being stiffer and more formal than Obama's. Last month, Obama attended a fund-raiser at the Hollywood nightclub Boulevard 3, drawing a crowd that included Hill Harper, Jessica Biel, Taye Diggs and Amy Smart, and a group of young professionals have formed their own Obama group, O08 The Movement.

To be sure, before she goes to Ratner's, Clinton will be at the home of Peter Chernin for a much more traditional fund-raiser co-hosted by Steven Spielberg and Haim Saban. By coincidence, on the other side of the political aisle, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani will be throwing a fund-raiser on the same night at the Beverly Hills Hotel, just down the street from Hilhaven.

Will Hillary get her photo taken? "Absolutely," Ratner said. "She will go straight from Chernin's to the photo booth."

Brett Ratner to direct 'Playboy'
Filmmaker set for bio on Hugh Hefner
Source: Variety

Brett Ratner is set to direct "Playboy," the Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment film about the life of Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner. Brian Grazer is producing, and John Hoffman is writing the screenplay.

Grazer optioned Hefner's life rights several years ago. The producer's "8 Mile" scribe Scott Silver tried it as a musical, and Oliver Stone developed several drafts. Making a film of Hefner's long life as icon of the sexual revolution has proven difficult, but Ratner and Hoffman found a way to do it that pleased Grazer and the 81-year-old Hefner, who approved the take late last week in a meeting at the Playboy Mansion.

Ratner, who completed "Rush Hour 3" for an Aug. 10 release through New Line and has a rep as a playboy himself, knows much about the mag's history, though his mansion visit was his first. When Grazer made his original deal with Hefner, Ratner sent the producer his Playboy pinball machine, which sits outside Grazer's office at Imagine.

Still, Ratner got the call only recently, after Stone departed to focus on "Jawbreaker," the Paramount drama he'll direct about the post-9/11 invasion of Afghanistan and hunt for Osama bin Laden. Ratner has been working with Grazer on a Russell Gewirtz-scripted drama, conceived as a caper film in the spirit of "Ocean's Eleven," in which a group of employees of Manhattan's Trump Tower rob its rich residents. Ratner and Grazer have Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock attached and hope to enlist Chris Tucker, Dave Chappelle, Jamie Foxx, Denzel Washington and Sidney Poitier. Trump has given his blessing and may appear in the film.

Ratner's waiting for a rewrite, and Hoffman just began writing the Hefner pic. The director next will shoot whichever one is ready.

"Hef came from a puritanical upbringing and reinvented himself to be the godfather of the sexual revolution," Ratner told Daily Variety. "He also used his magazine to advocate civil rights and free speech, and put James Brown on his show 'Playboy After Dark' when they didn't put black performers on national television. He broke all kinds of taboos, especially in sexuality. I want to show it all, from the First Amendment struggles to his first orgy to the stroke in the 1980s that almost killed him."

Hoffman most recently scripted "Queen of the Jews," a biopic of scandal-scarred former Miss America Bess Myerson that Bill Condon will direct.

Paris on Ratner's Casting Couch

Director Brett Ratner says he has big plans for Paris Hilton.

TMZ spotted "Rush Hour" director Ratner outside of Mr. Chow last night, where he revealed his plans to work with the fresh-outta-jail heiress on, um, one of his next projects.

The only clues Brett would give were that it's not "X-Men 4" (please, keep this man away from that franchise!) and that it was "better than that." With "Rush Hour 3" already in post-production, the only things on his plate right now are an untitled crime caper with Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy, and the just announced biopic of Playboy grandpa Hugh Hefner.

Paris opposite Chris and Eddie? Or Paris as a dumb bunny? That was easy.

DiCaprio seduced by Playboy drama
Source: Guardian Unlimited
 
Leonardo DiCaprio is in talks to star as Hugh Hefner in a big screen biopic of the notorious Playboy founder. A long-term friend of Hefner, the actor is also believed to be a regular visitor at the Playboy mansion in Los Angeles. Early reports quote an unnamed source as saying, "Leo thinks it would make a great movie and Hugh would love Leo to do it - on the condition that Hugh is alive to see it."

Brett Ratner is attached to direct the film, entitled Playboy. The project is to be produced by Hollywood veteran Brian Glazer, who is reported to have bought the rights to Hefner's story several years ago.

Glazer recently spoke of his admiration for Hefner, remarking, "Hef came from a puritanical upbringing and reinvented himself to be the godfather of the sexual revolution. He also used his magazine to advocate civil rights and free speech. He broke all kinds of taboos, especially in sexuality." The producer went on to outline his plans for the film: "I want to show it all, from the First Amendment struggles to his first orgy to the stroke in the 1980s that almost killed him."

This film is not the first to tell the story of the 81-year-old icon. A TV movie, Hefner: Unauthorised, was made in 1999. Despite the film's unauthorised status and generally negative portrayal of its subject, Hefner proclaimed himself a big fan and subsequently promoted the production in interviews.

Hefner has recently forged a second career playing himself on TV, taking cameo roles in Sex and the City and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

DiCaprio has already gained considerable plaudits for portraying controversial real-life figures. He was Oscar nominated for his turn as Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator and also played con artist Frank Abagnale in Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can.

Ratner in new 20th TV deal
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Brett Ratner has closed a new two-year overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV.

Under the pact, Ratner will continue to develop and direct TV series projects for the studio though his production company, Rat Television.

Under his previous deal with 20th TV, Ratner is executive producing the studio's upcoming drama series for ABC, "Women's Murder Club." He was slated to direct the pilot for the show based on James Patterson's book series, but had to pull out to focus on his feature "Rush Hour 3," which opens Aug. 10.

Ratner also executive produces the 20th TV/Fox drama series "Prison Break" after directing and executive producing the pilot for the show. "Prison" returns for a third season in the fall.

Last year, Ratner, 20th TV and Roundtable Entertainment received a put pilot commitment from Fox for "Blue Blood," a cop drama project based on Edward Conlon's memoir.

Brett Ratner Knows Gay Sex:

http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid47827.asp


What about when the girl takes off her wig and Chris Tucker becomes angry and accuses her of being a man?

Ratner: No, no! That's from my personal experience. My first blow job was from a man, but I didn't know it was a man. That's where that comes from. It's based on personal experience. It happens to a lot of people.

Is that common knowledge?

Ratner: No! Well, among my friends, but I'm not homophobic or uptight about it. That happens to a lot of heterosexuals. You meet a girl in a bar, and it turns out she's not a girl. I think a girl should tell you if she's a girl or a man--that way it's your preference. It's comedy. Look, in this movie we don't pull any punches. We make fun of black people. We make fun of Chinese people. We make fun of French people. We make fun of gay situations. We make fun of whites. It doesn't matter. It's the type of movie it is. It's a fish-out-of-water comedy. You have to have those types of situations to have the comedy. That specific idea was because it's happened to me. It's happened to my friends. We'll get together with a girl, and it'll turn out to be a guy. The reaction is "Oh, shit!" if you're not gay, which is funny, I think. Getting into the situation is funny. I laugh whenever I see one of my friends talking to a girl, and I'll ask, "Is that a man or a woman?" It's funny, especially if you don't know about it. If you know about it, fine. If that's your preference...

I never expected that answer.

Ratner: I know! I know. I'm too good an interview. Did you expect me to challenge you?

This guy just can't do anything right can he? He can't even get a blowjob right.

Why the web hates Ratner
What has Mr. Ratner done to upset the fanboys and film loving bloggers so deeply?
Source: Los Angeles Times

Across the entertainment landscape of the Internet, perhaps no director is so reviled as Brett Ratner. The bloggers, it seems really, really hate him. And while they gleefully admit to hating lots of people, their most searing venom tends to be reserved for Ratner.

Defamer has described him as a "preternaturally hacky" director (we can't print what Defamer's readers like to call him in the comments section.) And Suicide Girls' entertainment blogger Kevin Seccia is planning to file a post called "Brett Ratner: Please Kill Yourself" imminently.

Which left us wondering why. Surely the world of entertainment is rife with loathsome people, ruining franchises, destroying beloved characters. What has Mr. Ratner done to upset the fanboys and film loving bloggers so deeply?

There was, of course only one way to find out. Ask the entertainment bloggers themselves. So we sent out a mass email to a few of our favorite web folks and asked them the simple question. "Why does the web hate Brett?"

Here's what they had to say.

Chris Thilk, www.MovieMarketingMadness.com
"The net hates Brett Ratner because he symbolizes everything that's slick and soulless about Hollywood right now. So much of the net is devoted toward celebrating films that are off the beaten path and feature original voices and brave performances. Ratner, on the other hand, is all about style with absolutely no substance. He's like a frat boy with a $150 million budget. The net, on the other hand, is all about sending people down the Long Tail toward more worthwhile, artistic films. He's everything the net has set out to protect people from. And to add insult to injury his movies often make decent cash, which just infuriates people."

Jeffrey Wells, www.Hollywood-Elsewhere.com
"Because he gets paid too much and laid too much for being, at best, a passable but mediocre director. It's not that he's greatly hated -- Michael Bay and McG have been much more deeply despised. Last week's Ratner-bash came in response to Scott Foundas' L.A. Weekly piece that argued that Ratner is a serious director who's worthy of respect. That's what caused the big outburst. Ratner's a likable guy, all in all.

Erik Davis, Cinematical.com
"Apart from the fact that he's one casting session away from an appearance on Dateline's To Catch a Predator series, the guy's films are all style and no substance. When he stops using scripts to get himself laid, and starts using them as the first step toward a compelling motion picture, perhaps "The Web" will like him more. But seeing as his smile is creepier than his take on Hannibal Lecter, I'd say most folks aren't very optimistic."

Kevin Seccia, http://suicidegirls.com/members/TheCoolerKing/news/
"I think they hate Brett because, for whatever reason, people enjoy movies that are well made... and Brett has yet to bother catering to that. Also, I think when you're the least interesting person in the room... and this room also contains Paris Hilton, the last thing you should be doing is putting your vision' on screen.

I mean, he accomplishes more in less time. It took him one movie to undo what Brian Singer accomplished in 2."

Berge Garabedian, www.joblo.com
"I don't personally hate him myself ('The Family Man' is actually one of my favorite movies), but the sense is that he comes from a rich background (i.e. he's spoiled), doesn't really know all that much about movies (started as a rap-music video director, I believe) and messed up the 'X-MEN' franchise with part 3 -- although in his defense, the producers who hurried the project were more to blame for that, in my humble opinion. He also seems to be known more for partying and nailing hot chicks than directing, which probably bothers some as well...hehehe. I'd say that he's more of a so-so director who's caught some damn lucky breaks, it seems."

Dave Davis, www.joblo.com (too)
"This isn't necessarily my own opinion (not completely), but I think the general perception is that his success is unjustified -- he seems to have skated on minimal talent, an abundance of luck, and being a very slick talker to the people in the business who matter. Some people are probably annoyed by his socialite behavior and a few bonehead statements he's made to the press (and more than a few rumors about his aloof filmmaking process and extracurricular activities), while he has yet to develop any real visual style to define himself as a director. That said, I wouldn't mind being him for a few days."

Quote from: MacGuffin on August 07, 2007, 12:26:13 AM
Some people are probably annoyed by his socialite behavior and a few bonehead statements he's made to the press (and more than a few rumors about his aloof filmmaking process and extracurricular activities), while he has yet to develop any real visual style to define himself as a director. That said, I wouldn't mind being him for a few days."

and the second thing I thought of was:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogsmithmedia.com%2Fwww.tmz.com%2Fmedia%2F2007%2F06%2F0626_tarantino_toes.jpg&hash=bbdb81cbbf054d5a9ed65602fefc1ecfaba073cb) (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=3994.msg245981#msg245981)

why didn't they ask us?

Pubrick, www.xixax.com
"The interweb hates him because he is a puke, he is the lowest form of life on earth, he's not even human fucking being, he's nothing but an unorganised, grabasstic piece of amphibian shit. He's a slimy little communist shit twinkle-toed cocksucker, a scroungy little fucking worm, he's 5'8", i didn't know they stacked shit that high, the best part of him ran down the crack of his mama's ass and ended up as a brown stain on the mattress, he's the kind of guy who would fuck a person in the ass and not even have the goddamn common courtesy to give him a reach-around. I hope he leans forward and chokes himself.

But worst of all, he wouldn't get that reference."

Quote from: Pubrick on August 07, 2007, 10:43:47 AM
But worst of all, he wouldn't get that reference."

I'm sure he'll go look it up now though.

Regularkarate, www.xixax.com

"The internet hates Brett Ratner because he keeps getting paid to sleepwalk through film shoots.
The internet hates Brettsky because he continues to get handed gold nuggets and immediately turn them into gobs of phlegm.
The internet hates The Rat because the internet is pretty sure that he fucked the internet's niece.
The internet hates Brettner because he's like a cat sucking the soul out of baby then coming over to you to get petted.
The internet hates Brettatouille because he keeps inviting himself to our parties even though he really belongs at lame date-rape keggers.

Mostly though, the internet hates Brett Ratner because the internet got tired of hating Joel Shumacher."

http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/chris_tucker_and_brett_ratner

choice bits...

"He is like the new Spielberg, you know? He's a creative person. A lot of directors, they're creative, but they're different. He is the new Spielberg." - Chris Tucker (is an idiot)

Brett tells the PT story again... (which is why i hate him)

Quote from: modage on August 07, 2007, 02:34:25 PM
Brett tells the PT story again... (which is why i hate him)

in this version PT calls him from the EWS set. why the hell would he do that???

Quote from: squints on August 07, 2007, 01:41:53 AM
and the second thing I thought of was:

Tarantino kissing feet

The difference being that QT had the sense to have Chris Tucker killed in one of his films while Ratner made four films with the guy.

marquee suggestion:

"oh man, you don't understand, we love rush hour."


it seems that polanski totally forgot how to speak english and keeps repeating that.

The headline says Bergman, but I think this out of nowhere rapid discussion is making this Brett Ratner month.

I have no reason to read interviews like this. There's nothing educational, inspiring, or original to be had. The only film I've seen by Ratner has been Red Dragon, out of curiosity intriguing casting. Evaluating it doesn't really add anything to the pantheon of Ratner criticisms that haven't already been stated: it was pretty much all artifice, lack any distinguishable style, and wasted a pretty decent cast without actually being intolerable, just forgettable...

Any notoriety on his behalf has only been heard secondhand... the closest to not liking this guy I've gotten is hearing the PTA story a couple years ago... even that I confused with the Paul W. S. Anderson story from a few years back.

But I did read this interview... and I've come to a further, more concise, conclusion....

This guy is a real piece of shit.

He'd be tolerable, if he didn't defend his bullshit so boisterously - and poorly. He'd be tolerable if he was what he is: a hack for hire. Not trying to create a persona to represent his work.... not trying to name drop directors that, apparently, like him and his bullshit films.

The worst of it, for me, was continually pointing out that he's a fan of other filmmakers.

No shit, a director that admires other peoples work... fucking amazing. Real cut above the rest, huh?

Let's go back to the already recited "frat boy" reference... because it's true, he really is that guy. I'd imagine him to be the kind of dude who would try to impress a girl by saying something like, "you know, a lot of people like movies... but what most people don't really know is that, like, the director is responsible for, like, that vision. Like, I mean, I love Boondock Saints, right? That movie is fucking awesome. But how many people know it's totally because of Troy Duffy - yeah, he directed that."

Brett Ratner can go fuck himself.

It's like that line from The Simpsons:

Jay Sherman: "How do you sleep at night?"

Reiner Wolfcastle: "On a big pile of money, surrounded by many beautiful ladies."

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dinner-with-RUSH-HOUR-3-Director-Brett-Ratner_W0QQitemZ260146145890QQihZ016QQcategoryZ16071QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

don't forget to bring your hemlock.

I swear to god we should all pitch in and someone from this board go have dinner with him and rip him a new one. To catch that on camera would be sweet sweet justice.

no way, he'd charm your pants off.

Or maybe I'd charm his pants off.

I have never seen any of Ratner's films.

Quote from: soixante on August 12, 2007, 03:09:51 AM
I have never seen any of Ratner's films.

neither have i.

From IMDB:

Moviemaker Brett Ratner is demanding a $10 million fee to direct a movie after "running low" on money, according to reports. The director made a reported $ 7 million for his work on Rush Hour 3. But a source tells New York gossip column PageSix, "Brett got $7 million upfront for the movie, but if it had done as well as Rush Hour 2, he would have gotten another $10 million off the back end. He got $5 million to direct X-Men: The Last Stand but didn't see anything on the back end because it barely broke even. He's now trying to command a fee of $10 million upfront to direct a movie which is out of range for a lot of projects. His cash is running a bit low." But a representative for Ratner refuted the claims, adding, "That is ridiculous. Brett has a two-picture deal with Imagine and a third at New Line."

NBC gets 'Blood' pumping
Brett Ratner cop drama to shoot in fall
Source: Variety

NBC is resurrecting "Blue Blood," the Brett Ratner-Neil Tolkin police drama that had been set up at Fox last year.

Peacock has greenlit production of a pilot for the project, with Ratner aboard to helm and exec produce via his Rat TV banner and 20th Century Fox TV. Lensing is set to begin in Gotham this fall.

Gina Matthews ("What Women Want") and Grant Scharbo are exec producing via their Little Engine Prods. (formerly known as Roundtable). Tolkin wrote the pilot script and will exec produce.

Based on the bestselling 2004 autobiography by Gotham cop Ed Conlon, "Blue" is an ensemble hour about a rookie NYPD police officer. The twist: The newbie officer is a Harvard grad who decides to return to the family beat -- law enforcement.

Fox made a put pilot commitment to "Blue Blood" more than a year ago, intending to shoot a pilot last spring (Daily Variety, July 21, 2006). But the project was never cast and didn't move forward.

NBC's new regime of Ben Silverman and Teri Weinberg, however, apparently liked the concept and decided to snap it up. Getting Ratner aboard to direct was said to be key to their decision to greenlight it.

Weinberg said she and her NBC colleagues "love the world Neil Tolkin has created inside of this fantastic script" and said the net was pumped to have the script "visually realized" by Ratner.

Ratner told Daily Variety last year that Tolkin's script did a good job of portraying the ups and downs of being a rookie.

"It's got a tremendous amount of heart and humor and action, all the things I like to do," he said.

Matthews co-created the WB's cult drama "Popular," and the duo exec produced "The Mountain" and "Jake 2.0."

Quote from: MacGuffin on September 11, 2007, 10:00:50 PM
humor and action, all the things I like [...]

hack-tion


asdgsadhSHASFDHASHL;LK;L

Quote from: MacGuffin on August 01, 2006, 12:56:34 AM
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: BRETT RATNER
By Devin Faraci; CHUD

Q: Do you have a smaller movie waiting?

Ratner: A small movie. Not as small as this [The Grand]! I have a movie. I would like to remake The Killing of a Chinese Bookie.

Q: That's very ballsy. Remaking Cassavetes.

Ratner: Ballsy? Come on, Paul Thomas Anderson said he'll personally put a bullet in my head. It's the greatest movie ever made to him. The problem is that nobody's seen it except for cinephiles. It never got a release in the United States – I think it played for one day and Cassavetes pulled it because it got bad reviews. It only came out in France. It's a cult film and it's a flawed movie. I think it's a brilliant movie, tonally it's brilliant, but I'm not remaking Psycho. Come on.

Other people caught this, right? Holy fuck. He must be joking to inflate his "rep", but still.

It's impossible that anybody can be this stupid.

Ratner as the inspiration for Gob Bluth? "Yeah, interviewer, the guy in the $7000 suit isn't gonna remake Cassavetes? COME ON!!"

Ratner, Tucker reteam for 'Sinatra'
New Line options book by crooner's valet
Source: Variety

"Rush Hour" buddies Brett Ratner and Chris Tucker are set to reteam with New Line.

The studio has optioned the rights to the book "Mr. S: My Life With Frank Sinatra," with Ratner attached to direct and produce and Tucker eyeing the starring role of Sinatra valet George Jacobs.

Book, a dishy tell-all penned by Jacobs and William Stadiem, was first published by HarperCollins in 2003. It offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the world of Sinatra and the Rat Pack.

Stadiem, a longtime chronicler of old Hollywood, has been tapped to write the screenplay, which weaves in celebrity anecdotes involving Marilyn Monroe, Peter Lawford, the Kennedys, Ava Gardner, Humphrey Bogart, Mia Farrow, Elvis Presley, Swifty Lazar and Marlene Dietrich, among others.

Rat Entertainment's Jay Stern also will produce alongside Adam Fields ("Donnie Darko").

"It's like a love story between two very unlikely people," Stadiem said. "Brett is a Rat Pack obsessive, and so it's fun to work with someone so passionate about the period. I think he's channeling Frank sometimes."

Tucker met with Jacobs in the summer and bonded with the Zelig-like figure, who worked for Sinatra from 1953-68.

Ratner has a first-look deal at New Line, the studio that produced his feature directorial debut, "Money Talks" -- which starred Tucker -- as well as the "Rush Hour" trilogy and "After the Sunset."

In recent years, Tucker has worked nearly exclusively with Ratner. He is currently prepping a standup comedy tour.

 :roll:

I think he's gonna call it "There Will Be Sinatra", because, like, Paul Thomas Anderson once named one of his movies kinda like that, y'know!

EDIT: Oh, and Polanski told him he likes that title, when he called this one time.

http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/component/option,com_myblog/show,JACKIE-CHAN-EATS-DONT-CARE.html/Itemid,/

Oct 02 2007
Jackie Chan eats his foot

On his blog recently, Jackie Chan talked about doing the promo circuit for RUSH HOUR 3 and, in the process, he said the following:

"Personally, I thought this movie was no different from RUSH HOUR 1 & 2. Nothing particularly exciting stood out that made this movie special for me. I still don't quite understand some of the American humor that features a lot in this movie but maybe that's because I come from a different culture. I spent 4 months making this film and I still don't fully understand the humor. I believe the majority of the Asian audience might not understand the humor either."

He went on to say:

"I remember when I filmed RUSH HOUR 1, my original intention was to test the American market. I didn't have high hopes of being successful so all I did was try my best. When we finished filming, I felt very disappointed because it was a movie I didn't appreciate and I did not like the action scenes involved. I felt the style of action was too Americanized and I didn't understand the American humor."

So why did he make RUSH HOUR 2?

"Because this movie was so popular, I was offered an irresistible amount of money to film the sequel and I could not say no."

Outlets like Yahoo news have picked up the story and cast it in a very negative light, adding that Chan recently spoke to Xinhua (China's official news agency) and said:

"The movie I just shot with Jet Li, 'The Forbidden Kingdom,' actually isn't that great...If I say it's a good movie now, then many people will be filled with overly high expectations and be disappointed when they see the movie."

In Hong Kong, apparently, the mood is pretty grim and fans seem annoyed at Jackie's frank attitude towards the fact that he's now a sausage maker, working deep in the bowels of the factory and churning out sausages. And on CHUD, an American fan writes an editorial entitled "F---  You, Jackie Chan" which says, in part:

"The RUSH HOUR films do suck, but you should have used your so-called clout and done what you could to keep them from being so. Bashing them is insulting to anyone who has bought a ticket to your American films, a mistake I'll never make again."

Reading Jackie Chan's blog has always been big fun. He's pretty straight-forward about his likes and dislikes (likes: buying things on HSN and watching TV; dislikes: make-up and press junkets) as well as about people (he's constantly bagging on Brett Ratner, saying in a recent post "With Brett Ratner, every time he sees me it's like he sees his girlfriend. He kisses me all over from my cheeks down to my neck, making my face and head all wet with his saliva." This is one of the most disgusting mental images I've ever had forced on me. And it seems about right).  It would be a shame if Jackie had to tone it down so he didn't hurt his movies' marketability.

But these posts do reveal what's happened to Jackie. GORGEOUS (1999) was his last movie that I really enjoyed. Some people say Jackie hasn't been the same since he went Hollywood, but Jet Li has been able to go to the US without sacrificing quality (ROME MUST DIE is fun trash and UNLEASHED is just an all-around terrific movie, and FEARLESS, for all its faults, was exactly the movie that Ronny Yu and Jet Li wanted to make). So why has Jackie become a joke? He's so poorly regarded that his 2005 movie, THE MYTH, is getting released straight to video on October 30 as was NEW POLICE STORY. This is a big budget Jackie Chan movie that has had several distributors promise they're going to give it a wide, theatrical release in the US but, ultimately, they obviously didn't think it would make them their money back.

Some people say that the problem is that Jackie's gotten old, or that he does the same thing over and over, or that he's slowing down, but I don't think that explains his career doldrums. As his blog posts make plain, he's settled. He's willing to turn out a movie that he knows is no good. He's willing to settle for making jokes he thinks aren't funny. He's willing to settle for a movie where he thinks the action isn't good enough. This isn't the Jackie of decades ago who insisted on 500 takes of one trick in YOUNG MASTER. This isn't the Jackie who always kept upping the ante in every movie, trying to put something onscreen that no one had ever seen before. This isn't the Jackie who fired Lau Kar-leung from DRUNKEN MASTER 2 because he didn't think his action choreography was good enough.

Jackie didn't get old. Jackie settled. And for that he loses my respect.

hahahahahah

Jackie Chan was good when he directed his own films, then he lost it after he gave his films to pushovers much younger than him who would comply with all his demands but turn in shitty movies.  He had 6 directors in three units for some of his more recent films, 'cause he just wanted to rush to make the opening weekends.  Same thing with the American market, except they keep him on a tight leash with American studio politics.  Ratner set the tone for it; he showed the studios how much Jackie was willing to give up for the American market, then after that, Jackie got comfortable and settled for less and less.  I hope he goes back to filmmaking 'cause I really do love his films.

these two scenes are to serve how brilliant he used to be:
short fight from crime story
http://youtube.com/watch?v=l2Jsvh4UaSI

long fight from Heart of the Dragon (directed by his bro Sammo)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XPasXFOmiM8

That's hilarious. Is this a hoax?

http://www.laweekly.com/news/features/brett-ratner-the-popcorn-king/16925/

the worst article ever.

i got down to the bottom and realized... shit, there's seven pages of this!?

Quote from: ddiggler on December 12, 2007, 10:14:05 PM
i got down to the bottom and realized... shit, there's seven pages of this!?

That's the exact response I had... and probably everyone else, right?

What the fuck is in this article that constitutes seven fucking pages? A list of actresses Ratner has conned into blowing him? Because THAT... I probably still wouldn't read.

the guy over at filmdrunk.com posted this today and it had me laughing out loud:

The Grand - Looks like Poker's getting the Best in Show treatment. I'm offended. First, they tried to pass it off as a Christopher Guest movie when it's not.  Next, they tried to sneak a Brett Ratner cameo past me.  Not gonna happen, fellas. I can smell him.  He smells not unlike microwave Chimichangas.

Ratner eyes Valiant's 'Harbinger'
Paramount adapting comicbook series into film
Source: Variety

Paramount Pictures has acquired rights to turn the Valiant Comics series "Harbinger" into a live-action feature that will be developed as a potential directing vehicle for Brett Ratner.

Alexandra Milchan will produce with Ratner and Jay Stern. The project may be branded under the MTV Films banner.

Created by Jim Shooter, the "Harbinger" comicbook series became a hit when published in the 1990s. Harbingers are humans with powers that can be unlocked by "omega" harbingers. Teenager Pete Stanchek finds himself on a collision course with an older "omega" who used his gifts to become an evil industrialist.

"The movie is in the vein of a young 'Blade Runner,' as this 17-year- old gifted kid helps other kids tap into these parts of their brains," Milchan said.

Ratner, who directed "X-Men: The Last Stand," was looking for an opportunity to start a superhero franchise from scratch. Project will be scripted while Ratner continues work on other directing projects, including "Playboy," the Brian Grazer-produced film about Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner for Universal.

Valiant Comics is being relaunched by Valiant Entertainment Group, a privately financed company headed by CEO Jason Kothari and chief creative officer Dinesh Shamdasani, both of whom will be co-producers on the film.

Valiant Comics developed a strong following by launching hero franchises that had interconnected storylines (much like DC and Marvel titles). Company, which sold 80 million comicbooks and 8 million videogames, was sold to vidgame company Acclaim Entertainment in 1994 for $65 million but had done little recently as that company hit the financial rocks.

Kothari's group bought the Valiant library last year after Acclaim filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Its plan is to republish its best titles and begin generating new issues by year's end. Valiant signed with WMA to make movie deals for the franchises.

Brett Ratner in talks for 'Shrinking Man'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Brett Ratner is in negotiations to direct Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment's remake of "The Incredible Shrinking Man." Brian Grazer is producing the project, which has Eddie Murphy attached to star.

An updated version of the best-selling novel and 1957 sci-fi classic starring Grant Williams, "Man" is taking the comedic approach to the fantastical material, telling the story of a famous Las Vegas magician who is put under a spell that causes him to shrink. He must find a way to reverse the spell before he gets so small that he "disappears."

Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant penned the most recent draft of the screenplay for the project, which had previously seen Pete Segal and Keenen Ivory Wayans in the director's chair.

Universal president of production Donna Langley and executive vp production Peter Cramer will oversee for the studio.

Ratner, one of the town's most commercial directors, is currently helming one of the short subjects in the "New York, I Love You" anthology film. At Universal, he is also attached to direct "Playboy," Grazer's project about Hugh Hefner.

Eddie Murphy back in 'Beverly Hills'
Brett Ratner negotiating to direct 4th 'Cop' film
Source: Variety

On the heels of the successful revival of the "Indiana Jones" franchise, Paramount has set in motion a fourth installment of "Beverly Hills Cop."

Eddie Murphy is attached to reprise his role as Detroit detective Axel Foley, and Brett Ratner is negotiating to direct.

Studio is aiming for a 2009 production start and a summer 2010 release.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura will produce. Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the original "Beverly Hills Cop" trilogy with late partner Don Simpson, won't be actively involved in the new film.

Murphy approached the studio about reviving the franchise that cemented his status as a B.O. mega-star. Par brass were eager to land another picture with Murphy after he finished the Karey Kirkpatrick-directed "NowhereLand," which Paramount releases in June 2009.

That film was also produced by Di Bonaventura, who is working on the summer 2009 releases "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers 2."

The studio canvassed a number of directors before choosing Ratner. A writer will be hired shortly.

Released in 1984, the original "Beverly Hills Cop" grossed $316 million worldwide and spawned two sequels. All told, the three pics grossed $712.9 million worldwide. The last was released in 1994.

Murphy is currently toplining the Brian Robbins-directed "A Thousand Words" for DreamWorks.

Ratner has been developing the Hugh Hefner biopic "Playboy" for Universal and Imagine.

Brett Ratner: Miley's Madonna Vibe Was "Just Unbelievable"

Working with Miley Cyrus reminded Brett Ratner of a "Beautiful Stranger" he once knew.

"She turns it on," the filmmaker, who last month directed the video for Cyrus' new single "7 Things," exclusively tells E! News. "A lot like Madonna."

Ratner, who also helmed the pop icon's "Beautiful Stranger" video for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, says he sees many similarities between Miley and Madonna, besides the whole first-initial thing.

"Where a lot of other artists are nervous or they're primping, you know, Madonna walks on and is casual; cameras are on her and then all of the sudden, wow!" Ratner says.

"Same thing with Miley. She's hanging out, she's telling the jokes, she's laughing, she's signing an autograph.

"Camera goes on her and she was just unbelievable."

And it takes a lot to impress the X-Men: The Last Stand director, who in addition to ordering around Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry has collaborated multiple times with seasoned divas such as Mariah Carey and Jessica Simpson.

"She's just a hard worker," Ratner says of Cyrus. "She knows what her job is; she came and gave me 200 percent."

Ratner also says that he was shocked that, of all the stars he has worked with in the past, he got the most personal requests from friends and friends-of-friends to scope out the "7 Things" shoot.

"Like I said, I've shot for Madonna, Mariah Carey—some of the biggest artist in the world—and I've never had more calls," Ratner says.

"I had at least a thousand calls. 'Can I just come by the set and watch Miley?' and I'm like, 'But you're 40 years old!' "

"7 Things" was the first single off of Cyrus' upcoming album Breakout, the 15-year-old's first effort not involving her Disney Channel alter ego, Hannah Montana (who will surely be there in spirit).

The album is out July 22.

Ratner Pitching Guitar Hero Film
"I would love to do a Guitar Hero Movie."
by Orlando Parfitt, IGN UK
 
Fanboy favourite Brett Ratner recently told MTV News he would be up for directing a Guitar Hero movie.

He explained: "I love Guitar Hero and I think it's a part of pop culture. I would love to do a Guitar Hero movie, if Activision would ever let me. I'm trying to convince them, but why would you have a movie screw up such a huge franchise? Not that I would make a bad movie. So that would be cool, to do a Guitar Hero movie."

Ratner even had an idea for a story: "It could be about a kid from a small town who dreams of being a rock star and he wins the Guitar Hero competition. One of these dreams-[come-true] kind of concepts."

Ratner has been heavily involved in the Guitar Hero franchise, with his 'Brett Ratner Brands' consultancy having worked with Activision on the videogame series.

Ratner is already involved in one videogame adaptation, with the helmer currently signed up to direct God of War.

Quote from: MacGuffin on September 02, 2008, 12:44:02 AM
"I love Guitar Hero and I think it's a part of pop culture. I would love to do a Guitar Hero movie, if Activision would ever let me. I'm trying to convince them, but why would you have a movie screw up such a huge franchise? Not that I would make a bad movie. So that would be cool, to do a Guitar Hero movie."

:shock: :shock: :shock:

this is the fucking quote of the century. it encapsulates so much about the essence of ratner. amazing..

The Gospel of Brett Ratner
Director on Beverly Hills Cop 4, Guitar Hero movie.

Director Brett Ratner has gone on the record about two projects that he's been associated with, Beverly Hills Cop IV and the game-to-film Guitar Hero.

Ratner told E! Online that Beverly Hills Cop IV will offer "a whole new interpretation" of the classic theme song, adding, "Why change that song?" Wisecracking cop Axel Foley will once again be played by Eddie Murphy.

Beverly Hills Cop IV will go before cameras next year for a 2010 release.

Meanwhile, Ratner informed Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider Blog that the recent chatter that he might direct the big screen version of the videogame sensation Guitar Hero is just that -- talk.

"I'd really like to do it, but they're not letting me," Ratner said. "I expressed my interest, but because it's such a success, it's like now there's no reason to make a movie about it."

If it wasn't a success it would make them more money then?

Or now it IS a success wouldn't it make MORE money now?

Or, thanks Brett, but we're not sure you're really what we're looking for...

Brett Ratner On The J.J. Abrams' Superman That Might Have Been

Once upon a time, Bryan Singer and Brett Ratner swapped movies – Brett got the third "X-Men" and Bryan got "Superman," which in his hands was "Superman Returns" starring Brandon Routh. We all know how that turned out.

But what would have happened if Ratner had continued along his merry way and done the "Superman" he wanted? What would it have been about? Brendan Fraser, who saw the script written by J.J. Abrams, was impressed. So was Ratner, who filled us in on the storyline and casting plans.

"The original movie I was going to be a part of," Ratner said, "took place on Krypton for about half of the movie. So it was much more otherworldly, and much darker, because there was a civil war on Krypton. You'd get more of the history."

"The Death of Superman" and the art of Alex Ross.

"That wasn't just darker, but cooler, in my mind," Ratner said. "That was what we were going to model the visuals after. When you have to translate it to a cinematic world, it's a whole different animal, and he's one of the best Superman artists I've ever seen."

If it's as dark as Warner Bros. wants for their reboot of Superman , Ratner still has a shot at making it: "Maybe we can go back to it one day," he said.

But sorry, Brendan Fraser, that's not a shot for you, too. "I definitely agreed with Bryan Singer that you need an unknown actor," Ratner said. "I was going to surround Superman with known actors, but it's important to get an unknown. I love Tom Cruise, but to have someone like him who you see as Tom Cruise would be a mistake."

Fucking Ratner, he really believes he knows what the hell he is talking about. And I dont know what he means with "we all know how that turned out". I mean, I love Superman Returns. Yeah, after seeing The Dark Knight I agree it could have been better, but fuck its not a bad Superman movie. I doubt that Ratner would have done it any better.

I think I would have rather seen Ratner's version, but Superman Returns was also pretty awful to me. It took itself too seriously and was littered with an abudance of special effects. I wonder why super hero movies believe they are no longer entertainment vehicles. They make believe they are fodder for high drama, but even if the Returns was more entertaining, the storyline would still be too much a retread of the original.

At least with Ratner's version of the concept of life on Krypton. If half of the film really was set there then I imagine most of the story wouldn't be too predictable. That's enough to have me interested.

nice theory GT, except for one thing: IT WOULD BE RATNER DIRECTING IT

also, Returns wasn't bad... I'll admit it's mostly carried by nostalgia, but it doesn't hide that aspect.

Quote from: RegularKarate on September 17, 2008, 02:49:35 PM
nice theory GT, except for one thing: IT WOULD BE RATNER DIRECTING IT

He's not horrible. I re-watched the Family Man the other day and still enjoyed it. He's like every other Hollywood director where he needs a good script to make a good film.

I wish Superman Returns wasn't so much like the original because I wouldn't have compared it so much. Less ambition, in this case, would have been a good thing.

Should There Be A 'Joker' Spin-Off Film? Brett Ratner Thinks So
Source: MTV

There can never be too much Batman -– which is why Brett Ratner proposes, once Christopher Nolan's take on the Caped Crusader runs his course, that there be a few spin-off films.

"As a kid, Batman was my thing," Ratner said. "I'm a little jealous that I didn't get to direct it, although Nolan did a great job. But there are so many characters in the Batman series, so many characters that I love, that the opportunities for spin-offs are endless."

Ratner thinks that the first one should be a film just about the Joker, exploring his (possible) origin as the Red Hood. "That would be really cool," he said. But don't we then run into the not-so-little problem of who could possibly fill Heath Ledger's shoes?

"Heath was great," Ratner said. "But the Joker is a great villain. That's why Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger had so much to work with. And I think there will be another actor who can interpret that. It would be great to see [Robert] Downey [Jr.] as the Joker, for instance."

Ratner doesn't want to stop there. If the opportunities for spin-offs in the Batman universe are endless, what about the rest of comic-book-dom? For the "X-Men," for instance, Ratner is excited about the upcoming Wolverine spin-off, but he thinks one is warranted for Halle Berry's character, Storm, as well. "That would be great," he said. "That would be really cool."

Spin-offs and team-ups like "The Justice League" are the way to sustain the franchises, he said, so that minor characters can be more developed.

"You're going to be seeing superhero movies for 50 years," he predicted. "And it'll be exciting to see a lot of the under-the-radar franchises like 'Iron Man' that could be incredible on the big screen."

Quote from: MacGuffin on September 24, 2008, 09:12:39 AM
Should There Be A 'Joker' Spin-Off Film? Brett Ratner Thinks So
"As a kid, Batman was my thing," Ratner said. "

How come whenever anything gets popular, Ratner always proclaims it as being his thing since he was a kid? The dude always not only jumps on a bandwagon, but tries to pretend like he created it.

I hope he dies of heart disease. He's a piece of shit.

Brett Ratner films crazed gorilla attack at Polo Lounge

Friday afternoon at the Polo Lounge, a gorilla wearing a pink tutu approached a table on the sun-dappled patio occupied by producer/director Brett Ratner and a male pal.

The gorilla began to berate Ratner until Brett told him that it wasn't his birthday.

Alarmed, and seemingly embarrassed, the gorilla began to insult Ratner's lunchmate, whose birthday it really was, about his sexuality. Then the gorilla sang an off-key birthday jingle.

I watched with amazement as Ratner reacted quickly and whipped out his cellphone to film the gorilla attack and birthday song, demonstrating his prowess by using various angles to catch the action.

Afterward, the director of "Rush Hour," X-Men: The Last Stand" and the upcoming "The Incredible Shrinking Man" waved to the gorilla as it happily waddled off.

Asked by a neighboring table if he'd been so quick on the shutter because he'd actually ordered the gorilla, Ratner replied, "I would have sent a beautiful girl, not a monkey."

And that, folks, is why he makes the big bucks.

Check out birthday ape action as it unfolded....


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2008/10/brett-ratner--1.html

Brett Ratner boards 'Youngblood'
Reliance flexes dealmaking muscle
Source: Variety

The fallout between DreamWorks and Universal isn't stopping Reliance Big Entertainment from flexing its dealmaking muscle.

The Indian media conglom has acquired Rob Liefeld's iconic graphic novel "Youngblood" for Brett Ratner to direct.

Reliance inked a development deal with Ratner's shingle Rat Entertainment, as well as Julia Roberts' Red Om Films, during the Berlin film fest.

The company paid mid six figures for the rights to "Youngblood," about a superhero team sanctioned and overseen by the U.S. government.

Project is the first to emanate from the Indian media conglom's nine development pacts with Hollywood talent.

"Most of the great graphic novels are gone, and 'Youngblood' is one of the few comicbooks left with tentpole potential," Ratner told Daily Variety. "It was a real personal passion project for me, and a lot of people wanted ('Youngblood'), but the amazing thing about the guys at Reliance is the speed with which they're able to move."

Reliance has also acquired the rights to French graphic novel "Fly Wires" for Ratner's shingle.

Project, which will be renamed "Infinity," will be produced by Ratner, who has already tapped Sylvain White ("Stomp the Yard") to direct and John Collee ("Master and Commander") to pen the script.

Both projects are being fast-tracked, although no decision has been made on whether they will eventually land at Paramount.

Ratner inked an overall deal with Par last July after a longstanding setup at New Line. His Reliance deal does not impact its terms but rather lends him financial clout to acquire and develop projects he can then offer to the studio.

At Cannes last year Reliance execs announced development pacts with Nicolas Cage's Saturn Prods., Jim Carrey's JC 23 Entertainment, George Clooney's Smokehouse Prods., Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures, Tom Hanks' Playtone Prods., Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment and Jay Roach's Everyman Pictures.

"The great thing with Reliance is they also have the ability to partner up or co-finance the film with a studio," added Ratner. "It really offers freedom for the talent they're working with."

Fuck him. He has the nerve to say, "All the other graphic novels with potential to make money were gone, so I took this one. I've been a fan FOREVER"

Fuck him. There are tons of graphic novels out there. He just doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about and he only wants something with potential to make tons of money. Who gives a shit if it's good.

I hate this piece of shit with a passion. He's the equivalent of the douchebag in High School who read one Bret Easton Ellis novel and thought he was hot shit. He's the guy that graduates and gets the dream job of being a video game tester and he doesn't even like video games!

I hope he overdoses on coke /........

FUCK HIM.

Producer-director Brett Ratner takes on publishing
Source: AP

LOS ANGELES - Producer-director Brett Ratner is adding publisher to his list of credits.

The 40-year-old Hollywood hyphenate is releasing three books Wednesday through his publishing company, Rat Press. He says the softcover books are the first in a series of re-releases on Hollywood notables.

The first books focus on Marlon Brando , Robert Evans and Jim Brown . Ratner says the books, which had been out of print, shaped his film education.

Ratner's film credits include " X-Men: The Last Stand " and " Rush Hour 3 ." He also executive produces TV's " Prison Break ."

fuck him.

Why do terrible directors produce addictive TV?

Time, XYZ in DeLorean biopic race
Duo to bring car designer's story to bigscreen
Source: Variety

Time Inc. Studios and XYZ Films have joined the race to mount biopics of John DeLorean, the innovative car designer who lost everything when he was accused of drug trafficking in an attempt to save his failing car company.

The Time/XYZ project joins two other projects aspiring to bring the DeLorean saga to the bigscreen. "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner is using his first-look deal with India's Reliance Big Entertainment to set up a DeLorean pic he plans to direct, with James Toback writing the script and Robert Evans producing.

And producer David Permut is working on a DeLorean pic with producer Steven Lee Jones that is using life rights from the late DeLorean's longtime attorney, Mayer Morganroth (Daily Variety, March 4).

Time Inc. Studios, which forged a deal with XYZ Films last year to hatch films fueled by underlying rights from articles culled from Time Inc. magazines, kicks off the untitled project with a rights package that includes articles from Fortune and Time; the Hillel Levin-penned DeLorean book "Grand Delusions"; and an unpublished memoir written by DeLorean himself. Just as important, Time Inc. Studios and XYZ say they have cooperation from the car designer's longtime friend and business partner Fred Dellis and from DeLorean son Zachary DeLorean, executor of the DeLorean estate.

The picture will be produced by Time Inc. Studios president Paul Speaker; XYZ partners Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer and Aram Tertzakian; and Tamir Ardon, who is himself producing a docu on DeLorean.

Spicer said that the DeLorean tale has long tempted filmmakers, but while he was alive, the carmaker would never let a picture be made without steering it himself. DeLorean's son and friend, however, are ready for a truthful telling of the rise and fall of the entrepreneur, bolstered by 500 pages of the DeLorean-penned memoir.

After his arrest in 1982, DeLorean pressed a defense that he was entrapped by the FBI and was eventually acquitted. Still, his company went bankrupt after producing only 9,000 automobiles, including the DMC-12 model featured in the "Back to the Future" films.

"It is almost like an updated 'Citizen Kane' story of the great American entrepreneurial hero and how it all went wrong," said XYZ's Spicer.

Damn, I really wanted to make that story into a comedy (or at least a sketch).
now it's gonna be all unintentionally funny.

Okay, maybe not the best to remember him by, but I give you Rat and MJ:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDqO5iiPoog

I shuddered.  But not because of Michael Jackson.

FRI FREE FOR ALL: LIFETIME RATNER AWARD

You know those embarrassingly hyperbolic and self-important montages they do at the Oscars before they present an award? The ones designed to convince you that the recipient is the most important thing to happen to the universe since the big bang?  Ever wondered how those could possibly get any worse?  Answer: make the recipient BRETT RATNER and devote FIVE AND HALF MINUTES to how awesome he is.  This apparently came from a Kodak ShowEast Award from 2004.  The theme?  A night of no credibility.

Reached for comment, Ratner tweeted "@officialTila Hay gurl, did u c my award vid??  awsome rite? LOLzone!  letz do nachos sum time!!  HOLLATCHABOI!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmXD07Lcar8

I made it 43 seconds.

I made it through the whole thing perhaps because I'm a masochist.

That is the worst thing I've ever seen in my life. "He won't stop until he gets the shot he wants!!!!"

Brett Ratner backs 'organic' product placement
Director's consulting firm hired by Activision
Source: Hollywood Reporter

NEW YORK -- Director Brett Ratner discussed the risky business of integrating brands into movies Thursday at an Advertising Week event focused on "consumer attention in a media-saturated world."

Using the example of his current "Beverly Hills Cop" project -- which Ratner said is "a huge priority for Paramount -- the director said that Eddie Murphy will need to drive a car in the film, and that he has to figure out which one. Rather than doing a deal with a car maker and trying to force its product into the story, Ratner said the process must work the other way around.

"What are my needs for the story?" he explained in describing his search for an organic solution. "What car do I need that can become a character in the movie?"

In another example, Ratner argued that forcing a soda bottle into a movie scene makes it seem like a prop and doesn't have any branding effect because viewers will block it out. "It must be a character embedded in the story," he said, recounting how he absolutely wanted a Porsche 928 as a younger man because it played a key role in "Risky Business."

The director also told the audience about the work of his firm Brett Ratner Brands, saying it too, tries to combine "creativity and connectivity" in an organic way.

For example, for his first client Activision, he created "Guitar Hero" commercials with the help of Miley Cyrus and Mariah Carey, whom he has directed in music videos

Mandalay boss Peter Guber, who joined him on stage, agreed with Ratner's organic branding and marketing approach and also spent some time discussing digital media, such as Twitter and Facebook.

Such tools can help marketers attract attention and turn it into intention, Guber argued. "Word of mouth is now a technological tsunami," he said, suggesting to entertainment and other marketers that they should focus on reaching their core audiences "and let them do the viral marketing" for you.

Oh, god. He's the worst and now he thinks he's some product placement genius.

THE WORST.

he has that story about when he wanted nick cage for Family Man, he found out what Nick Cage's favorite brand of watch was (amongst other things I think) and dropped them into the screenplay.

Polanski arrest big break for Brett Ratner
Source: NY Post

THE timing of Roman Polanski's arrest in Switzerland on Sunday on a 31-year-old rape conviction couldn't have been better for Brett Ratner.

Hours before Polanski was busted in Zurich, Ratner taped an interview for BlogTalkRadio's "Movie Geeks United" show and announced he'll be producing a sequel to Marina Zenovich's 2008 documentary, "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired."

"The family has forgiven [Polanski]. The victim has forgiven him. The rest of the world has forgiven him," said Ratner, who cast Polanski as a French detective in his movie "Rush Hour 3." "The LA judicial system is corrupt. It's horrible."

Polanski -- who directed "Repulsion," "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" -- fled the US in 1977 after admitting to drugging and then raping then 13-year-old Samantha Geimer at the Mulholland Canyon house of Jack Nicholson. Geimer, who now lives in Hawaii, has repeatedly said she doesn't want Polanski jailed.

Polanski himself didn't appear in Zenovich's film, but Ratner said on Movie Geeks United that he'd "agreed to participate" in the sequel.

"Marina screened the movie at my house, and I invited Roman's friends, like Bob Evans and Warren Beatty," Ratner said. "A bunch of his friends came to see the movie before Roman even saw it. He wanted it to be an honest depiction of what happened. And I think Marina did a brilliant job."

Since fleeing the US, Polanski, 76, has lived in France with his wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner, and their two children. In a statement, his Paris-based lawyer Herve Temime said Polanski will fight possible extradition back to the States, saying, "He is in a fighting mood and determined to defend himself."

Ratner did not respond to repeated requests for comment via his publicist.

Quote from: MacGuffin on September 29, 2009, 11:28:09 PM
Polanski arrest big break for Brett Ratner
Source: NY Post

haha.

ATTN: NYC
Director Brett Ratner will discuss his portion of the upcoming film NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU on October 14 at 5:00pm at the Apple Store SoHo in NY. There is no accompanying screening.


He might still be there!  Someone (not stuck at work) go get their copy of Rush Hour 3 signed!

Also: "Whatever Happened To Mason Reese?" Brett's Award Winning NYU Student Film!
http://shooterseries.squarespace.com/blog/2009/9/17/whatever-happened-to-mason-reese-bretts-award-winning-nyu-st.html

Keep Up With The Man:
http://twitter.com/brettratner
http://www.brettratner.com/

So is this for any new york xixaxers who want to throw tomatoes at him...?

Brett Ratner flying 'Kites'
Re-editing English-language version of Rakesh Roshan film
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Brett Ratner is re-editing an English-language version of Reliance BIG Pictures and Rakesh Roshan's "Kites," which will be released internationally in both Hindi and English, while in India it will play only in Hindi.

Directed by Anurag Basu, the film stars Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori.

"Kites" is a love story shot in Las Vegas, Mumbai, New Mexico and Los Angeles with music composed by Rajesh Roshan.

Ratner's going Bollywood  :doh:

I don't actually understand what this means.

it means someone needs to put brett ratner's face all over this poster:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bollywood.ac%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F09%2Fsnl8bo1.jpg&hash=f21897dfec2a8ff0549deaf011e4c8943938665e)

SUBTITLED BY BRETT RATNER

Ratner Classics: A Ratnerspective

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Wow.

Yea, these are beginning to be beyond funny. Now occupy a little realm of brilliance.

haha, oh, man.

20th TV signs Brett Ratner
Pact is part of filmmaker's expansion in TV
Source: Variety

Brett Ratner is looking to increase his TV output, sealing an overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV.

Besides its two-year pact at 20th, Ratner's Rat TV shingle has signed prexy Martha Haight to a two-year term.

Ratner's TV expansion comes as the producer has lined up development at CBS, Fox, TNT and the CW.

Ratner's partnership with 20th dates to "Prison Break," which he directed.

He's such a prolific guy," said 20th exec VP Jennifer Nicholson Salke. "We've had a five-year love affair with him. More than anything, we love his enthusiasm and his ability to find talent. He has an affinity for pop culture and everything about it."

Ratner said he's looking to move beyond helming TV, having brought in Haight to help him build a smallscreen division in the manner of, say, Jerry Bruckheimer or Brian Grazer.

Storytelling is what my craft is; I don't care about the medium," Ratner said. "Most TV shows now are better than a lot of features. It's a great medium to explore and experiment. I can try things that I wouldn't try on a feature."

Projects in the works include "Chaos," set up at CBS. Drama, from scribe Tom Spezialy ("Reaper," "Desperate Housewives"), takes a satirical look at the world of the CIA.

At Fox, William Blake Herron ("Role Models") has created "The Devil and Daniel Webster," a fresh take on the Stephen Vincent Benet short story and Faust tale. And at TNT, Sean Jablonski ("Nip/Tuck") is behind spec scriptThe Dead Beat," a buddy cop drama.

I'm looking for great characters," said Ratner, who is onboard to direct much of his scripted development. "And that's what attracts the better actors ... I like to keep honing my skills as a director, and we've collaborated with some great writers."

On the nonscripted side, Rat TV is behind reality scavenger hunt project "The Lost Weekend." Justin Hochberg ("The Apprentice") came up with the idea.

Ratner said he was drawn to "Lost Weekend," having participated in several scavenger hunts as a teen in Miami.

Rat TV is also pitching an adventure food show to cablers; project follows two female chefs as they travel around the globe to find where good food originates. Also in the food space, Ratner said he'd like to develop a vehicle for original "Top Chef" host Katie Lee Joel.

Ratner praised his partnership with 20th, pointing out that the studio has allowed him to bring in his feature team to shoot TV projects.

A lot of TV companies micro-manage and want you to use TV people, but there's a shorthand I have with (20th execs) when I walk into the room," he said. "They've been really supportive and smart and have backed me up 100%."

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The Shooter Series, Volume One: Brett Ratner  (http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/38880/shooter-series-volume-1-brett-ratner-the/) - DVD of Ratner's music videos

Quote from: Ravi on February 15, 2010, 10:41:39 AM
The Shooter Series, Volume One: Brett Ratner  (http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/38880/shooter-series-volume-1-brett-ratner-the/) - DVD of Ratner's music videos

pumba bought it last year..

Quote from: pumba on September 29, 2009, 10:31:20 PM
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CANNES: Relativity Acquires Scifi 'Skyline'
By MIKE FLEMING; Deadline Hollywood

EXCLUSIVE: Brett Ratner is proving to be quite the creative catalyst for Relativity Media. Ryan Kavanaugh's company has acquired Skyline, the scifi thriller directed by Greg and Colin Strause, the visual effects wizards who've worked on such recent films as Avatar, Iron Man 2 and 300. The Strause Brothers financed the film through their Hydraulx Entertainment banner. Ratner brought the project to Relativity. Domestic distribution is still being worked out.

The film stars Donald Faison, Eric Balfour, David Zayas, Scottie Thompson and Brittney Daniel. It takes place in a high-rise in downtown L.A., where a couple of friends return from a night of hard partying and slowly realize they are among a small group of survivors after most of humanity was wiped out by a deadly unknown force. The film has an extraterrestrial twist, and fits the template of recent modest budget thrillers like Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield and JJ Abrams' next directing vehicle, Super 8.

The Strauses will produce with Kristian Andresen and Liam O'Donnell. Ratner will be exec producer along with Kavanaugh, Tucker Tooley, and Brian Tyler. Tyler composed the score. Joshua Cordes and Liam O'Donnell wrote the script.

Ratner recently steered Relativity into the purchase of Catfish, the Sundance documentary that will be distributed through Kavanaugh's Rogue. As director, he's nearing a productions start on Tower Heist, with Universal recently hiring his Rush Hour scribe Jeff Nathanson to do a final rewrite.

Skyline was packaged by CAA and Industry Entertainment, and IM Global's Stuart Ford continues to sell offshore territories. That effort predated Relativity's involvement. After buyers were shown a short trailer, territorial deals were made by Momentum (UK), SND (France), Eagle (Italy), Wild Bunch (Germany), Hopscotch (Australia), Splendid (Benelux), Nordisk (Scandanavia), CP Media (Russia), Korea Screen (Korea), and Playarte (Latin America).

Brett Ratner's Herculean task?
Source: Los Angeles Times

Exclusive: Brett Ratner was once reported to be the director of the new "Conan" movie for Avi Lerner and his Millennium/Nu Image. Now it looks like Ratner could make a movie for the action maven based on a different classic hero: Hercules.

Ratner is in talks to direct Lerner's long-developed tale of the mythological god (Hercules to the Romans, Heracles to the Greeks). The producer has been developing the movie for more than three years, with the project gaining new momentum of late, though it's still in the development stage. Little is known about the specifics of the new version, though it's expected to bring Lerner's classic action ethos to the larger-than-life character.

Is Ratner a good choice? The director has taken on action comedy in "Rush Hour" and superhero action in "X-Men: The Last Stand," both of which have echoes in "Hercules," though "X-Men: The Last Stand" engendered some sharp reactions from the online fan community. We'll see how they react to this one.

Swords-and-sandals are showing surprising swagger at the global box office -- "Clash of the Titans" made nearly half a billion dollars around the world, prompting a sequel, and even domestic disappointment "Prince of Persia" was a huge hit overseas.

Hercules has been the subject of a number of foreign films, and Disney made an animated movie in the 1990s, but the character hasn't had a live-action American treatment since the mid-1980s, when Lou Ferrigno played the character. And of course Arnold Schwarzenegger played Hercules 40 years ago in "Hercules in New York." We don't see him coming back, though.

Brett Ratner to finally make his "black Ocean's Eleven"...starring Ben Stiller
The Onion A/V Club (http://www.avclub.com/articles/brett-ratner-to-finally-make-his-black-oceans-elev,44513/)

by Sean O'Neal August 24, 2010

Some years back, a script called Trump Heist was bouncing around Hollywood, pitched as an African-American ensemble comedy about a bunch of dudes—including Eddie Murphy, Chris Tucker, Chris Rock, and Dave Chappelle—plotting to rob Donald Trump. Naturally, it was tagged as the "black Ocean's Eleven." Naturally, it was attached to Brett Ratner, because Ratner is for the streets. Unfortunately, it never got made, even though Ratner still liked to bring the script up from time to time, mostly to remind people that one of its authors, Ted Griffin, originally wrote Ocean's Eleven for Ratner to direct, which is supposed to prove something, we think.

Anyway, it seems as though Trump Heist is finally getting made this November—only it's gone through some significant changes. Most importantly, Ratner decided back in February that Eddie Murphy's role would be "perfect" for Ben Stiller, which is the sort of wild casting leap that we thought only happened in trenchant Hollywood satires. Stiller will "play the overworked manager of a luxury building who, along with other staff, lost their pensions to a Bernie Madoff-like Wall Street crook." (Donald Trump, victim of his own increasingly cartoonish image, is no longer the villain.) Now renamed Tower Heist, the movie finds Stiller leading a group of other blue-collar cohorts in "the ultimate heist," planning an elaborate robbery of the Madoff figure's penthouse apartment.

So just so we're all up to speed here: Rather than a play on Ocean's Eleven whose selling point is that it gathers some of America's favorite black comedians in one film, it's now a play on Ocean's Eleven whose selling point is that it stars Ben Stiller, which means it "has a lot of heart to go with the humor," and Owen Wilson will probably be in it somewhere. (Even more promisingly, the script has already been through no less than eight screenwriters by now, so you know it's good.)

i saw this morning that they're casting it where i work... i wonder if ratner will be around.

Tell him I say hi. He'll know what it means.

If you guys haven't been keeping up with Ratner Films (http://ratnerfilms.tumblr.com/) lately, you've been missing out on some great work by mod:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F28.media.tumblr.com%2Ftumblr_l8r4fbiBon1qappjoo1_500.jpg&hash=ec2b21dd5ea73b88ee3572659d7553d4b8c71302)

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and myself:

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 :bravo:

all these are great.

i was kinda hoping that the dog would be the one ratnerized.

Oh, fine.

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Brett Ratner takes 'Communist' option
Source: The Hollywood Reporter

NEW YORK -- Brett Ratner's Rat Entertainment has optioned the feature film rights to the novel "The Reluctant Communist" by Charles Robert Jenkins with Ratner eyeing director duties on the project.

Ross Katz, writer and director for HBO's "Taking Chance," is adapting the memoir into a screenplay, and John Cheng, head of feature development for Rat, will executive produce. There is currently no studio attached to the project.

"The Reluctant Communist" tells the true story of Robert Jenkins, a U.S. soldier who deserted his post in South Korea and surrendered to communist North Korea in 1965. Instead of getting him back to the U.S., the move left him held in North Korea for close to 40 years. He became a reluctant celebrity as the North Korean government used him as the "American villain" in its propaganda films.

"The story is heartbreakingly sad, yet funny and romantic all at the same time," said Cheng. "It has so many of the elements you look for in a great film."

Rat Entertainment is currently also developing a feature film version of "Hong Kong Phooey" with Alcon Entertainment, a remake of "The Last American Virgin" with Millennium Films and "True Crimes" with Universal Focus Features.

The company said Ratner is in pre-production with a November start date on "Tower Heist" for Universal and Imagine Entertainment, starring Ben Stiller.

Casey Affleck Eyes 'Tower Heist'
Source: THR

Casey Affleck is in negotiations to join the bold-faced named of Universal and Imagine's "Tower Heist." Matthew Broderick and Judd Hirsch are also joining the movie.

The action comedy, being directed by Brett Ratner, sees Ben Stiller leading a cast that includes Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, Tea Leoni, Gabourey Sidibe and Michael Pena.

"Heist" is about an overworked manager (Stiller) of an illustrious tower residence who leads a team of defrauded workers in a heist of its penthouse tenant, a Bernie Madoff-type Wall Street capitalist (Alda) who pulled a Ponzi scheme and swindled the staff.

Affleck will play Stiller's friend who also works under him in the penthouse but is a straight arrow and wants to turn Stiller and the other co-conspirators in.

Broderick will play a Wall Street-type who is actually one of the good guys; he lost his job and joins Stiller's gang.

Broderick's last feature was a starring turn in indie drama "Wonderful World". His last studio movie was Universal's screen adaptation of "The Producers." He is repped by CAA.

For Affleck, repped by WME and Brillstein Entertainment Partners, the movie represents his first move since starring in "The Killer Inside Me" and since the unveiling of his much-ballyhooed pseudo-documentary "I'm Still Here."

He better not!

Looking forward to seeing 'The Ratner' poster for you-know-what. Or is it against the rules to put his face on anything PTA related?

I don't know if I could. It just feels so... wrong.

yeah, disregard that thought. Just a dumb late-night idea. I don't think it'd even be funny as much as it would make me sick to my stomach, like every other time I see that jerks face.

I don't know, though. Imagine the Rat's face all over that kaleidoscopic poster...

Me being relatively ¨new¨ here... I gotta ask. Why do you guys hate Ratner so much? Lol. 

I mean, I dont like his movies either. But whats the story behind the Hate? Fill me in.

"We hold some truths to be self-evident."
- Thomas Jefferson

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on August 09, 2012, 01:56:39 PM
"We hold some truths to be self-evident."
- Thomas Jefferson

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The thing with Brett Ratner is that none of us should even know his name.  He's a middle-of-the-road paycheck director who makes middle-of-the-road Walmart movies, like hundreds of directors who have come and gone without anyone really knowing who they were, yet because his talent for self-promotion so outpaces his talent for filmmaking, he's one of the handful of directors that your average person has heard of.

That said, I can't even bring myself to hate the guy.  Yeah, he's basically a slow child who makes bad movies and doesn't know how to act in public without embarrassing himself, but he seems harmless.  Following him on Twitter is like following a kid who's excited that his grandma just sent him 100 bucks for his bar mitzvah present.

ATTN: polkablues? >>> https://twitter.com/BrettRatner/status/388497199220682752

Quote from: jerome on October 10, 2013, 10:05:05 PM
ATTN: polkablues? >>> https://twitter.com/BrettRatner/status/388497199220682752

Did he suffer a brain injury? He already knows about these posters and tweeted about them three years ago when we/polk originally made them.

He's either gonna give polka like a million dollars or a serious beatdown

I'm pretty sure he even contacted polk years ago. Why is he bringing it up again?

Polk now's the time to ask a favour. He's gone full derp.

Yeah, he DMed me about the posters way back when. At some point in the intervening years, he's unfollowed me, though. :cry:

Anyway, I just responded to his tweet, so we'll see what happens. Huge props to jerome for bringing this to our attention.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi35.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fd179%2Fpolkablues%2FRatnerTweet_zpse6b90b6b.png&hash=e9ea2d6d3ee55a65b0d475eb114b57f863728e7f)

this dude's gonna resuscitate his career with these posters

The (Not So) Great Ratsby

Make it happen.


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-PTXLkYdlCsE%2FUZGxPD5seNI%2FAAAAAAAAAB0%2F11DM13R04Yw%2Fs1600%2F2013-04-The-Great-Gatsby-Poster-7.jpg&hash=88500470eaf8dd79a970eb89c66d90ce2bfbc662)

Would You Ratner?


this poster exactly describes what I want to do when I watch one of his movies


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Quote from: polkablues on October 11, 2013, 12:47:42 AM
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Ask him if he likes this one too!

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Take me with you!!!!

Gotta do nymph()maniac

Quote from: modage on October 11, 2013, 08:55:29 AM
Ask him if he likes this one too!

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Take me with you!!!!

You have officially been pimped to Ratner. We're going to ride these posters all the way to the high middle!

I saw this dude in a Nordstrom's trying shoes recently. At first I didn't know who it was, he noticed I was sort of staring at him, and I think he wanted me to approach him or something but I got tired of his face then walked away.

Quote from: Cloudy on October 11, 2013, 02:19:43 PM
I saw this dude in a Nordstrom's trying shoes recently. At first I didn't know who it was, he noticed I was sort of staring at him, and I think he wanted me to approach him or something but I got tired of his face then walked away.

Upvote this man.

So is Brett actually interested in hiring you or did he just want to find out if you worked in the industry so he could make you lose your job? Just scrolling through the first page of RATNER FILMS (http://ratnerfilms.tumblr.com), how could he not want to kill you?

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this one doesn't even look like Brett to me. It's like some weird Bradley Cooper-Shia hybrid



Took me a minute to figure this one (http://ratnerfilms.tumblr.com/post/239823742/let-me-in) out, ( and for some reason I can't post it ). I get it, he's a pedophile. That picture seems to have nothing to do with the movie, though.

There's been no contact since that initial response. He's totally over us already. I feel like one of his used-up, discarded European lingerie models.

Quote from: polkablues on October 12, 2013, 05:03:51 PM
There's been no contact since that initial response. He's totally over us already. I feel like one of his used-up, discarded European lingerie models.

you already know: never look back his way again, there's no point

Make more insulting and aggressive posters from here on out

I thought for the longest time that Ratner had a famous parent or relative that was high up in the hollywood ladder and so nepotism is the only reason he "made it", but looking into it it seems he didn't really have any "big connections" per se. So HOW THE FUCK did someone give this guy the time, the trust and the money to make a film?  His dick sucking skills must be Heather Brooke's level.

His mom was a socialite, his dad grew up an entitled rich kid and passed it down to him. Money Talks.

So now he's just randomly tweeting out individual posters that he likes, but hasn't attempted any more direct communication. I can't eat or sleep. All I want is his validation now. DAMN IT, BRETT, TELL ME I'M PRETTY.

He must think that as long as he acknowledges a joke it makes it go away.

If it serves as any consolation, he used to hang out with Michael Jackson a lot.... so he probably likes to rape little boys (would explain a lot really). Be relieved you're nowhere near that chubby fame whore.




EDIT:

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(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kanyetothe.com%2Fforum%2FSmileys%2Fdefault%2Fcryfam.jpg&hash=89ade50a9fd996bf29e9d5bec30e1e452df02b0b)   Yo I was right.

That's so hot.

How Director Brett Ratner Evolved From Party Boy to $450 Million Warner Bros. Mogul
Two years after his Oscar debacle, the onetime wunderkind turned power player opens up, carefully, about his mistakes ("I've said dumb things") and his massive ambition: "I'm always at my best when it's big."

This story first appeared in the Nov. 1 issue of The Hollywood Reporter [7]magazine.

The last night of filming on Hercules: The Thracian Wars in Budapest, with just a few hours to go on this chilly October evening before the movie wraps at 6 a.m. Even after eight months of seven-day weeks, during which he often has worked 16 or 17 hours straight, director Brett Ratner bubbles with enthusiasm as he sits hunched before three monitors in a cavelike set at the Origo Studios, where a body double for Dwayne Johnson is chained to a wall, from which he soon will break free.

An end-of-semester quality pervades the place. Several crewmembers pause to say their goodbyes, and Ratner himself will leave imminently for London. After that, he'll head home to Beverly Hills before moving on to Shanghai, where he'll take meetings with his RatPac Entertainment partner, billionaire James Packer ("We're gonna explore what we're gonna explore"). Later, the two will share a vacation at Packer's polo horse ranch in Argentina. "Feeling sentimental?" a producer yells out. "No way," says Ratner with a laugh.

Despite an easygoing manner, the 44-year-old director has his share of neuroses. His leg twitches a mile a minute, and his nails are bitten to the quick. He admits to being a "germophobe" ("I'm more of a hypochondriac -- I grew up in a house of doctors") and confesses to a fear of planes ("I'm scared of flying -- terrified"). Contrary to his party-boy reputation, he avoids so much as a hint of alcohol, let alone anything heavier, and says even in his school days, he was too focused on films to think of anything else: "I never tried a drink to this day. I've never had a sip of alcohol -- a sip of alcohol, ever. I've never had a drug. No interest."

In person, he appears more grounded than the larger-than-life frat boy many have encountered through the media, that permanent partier whose exaggerated portrait in an Entourage episode made even insiders believe he was just a glorified social butterfly.

He's warm, generous and surprisingly sweet, with a notable absence of malice -- and much more circumspect than the guy who quipped "rehearsal's for fags" during a Howard Stern interview (after which he apologized so profusely, he was given GLAAD's Ally Award) or the boorish fellow whose crude comments about performing oral sex on Lindsay Lohan contributed (along with the "fag" joke) to his forced resignation as Oscar producer in 2011, a move that made him a public pinata for months.

Sometimes it's hard to connect this rumpled, direct, self-proclaimed "fat guy" with the tabloid staple who has dated models and actresses and even tennis sensation Serena Williams. "People mistake the fact that I'm fun for somebody who's not serious," he says. "But I'm the opposite of what people think I am."

That became clear Sept. 30 when Hollywood let forth a collective gasp at the news that Ratner and Packer were two of the key players behind a $450 million slate deal with Warner Bros., a joint venture between RatPac and Dune Capital Partners that will cover 75 films, or nearly all of the storied studio's product over a four-year period. It's not just the first time in recent years that Warners has agreed to take a financial partner across its complete body of work; it's also the first time a director has been involved in any such undertaking.

"Filmmakers have raised money for a movie before," notes Ratner, "but not for a slate of an entire studio's movies. And when the [profits start coming], this will pay for more than $1 billion of production."

How much actually ends up being invested will depend on the success of the individual films and the money that then is plowed back in through the RatPac-Dune Entertainment deal, but the slate's first release, Gravity, already has grossed $284 million worldwide (and counting).

"They're on board to finance the lion's share of our slate going forward," says Warners CEO Kevin Tsujihara, who had his first face-to-face meeting with Ratner and Packer regarding the deal Oct. 21 during a breakfast in the executive's Burbank offices. As for Ratner: "He is an innovative guy with a lot of experience in the film business. He has been around for a long time, he understands how films get put together, and while this is a passive deal, it's always great to have partners who understand our business."

Ratner is a bundle of contradictions -- a "big kid" (in his words) who's involved in one of the most significant film-financing pacts in years; a refined student of movie history who chooses to make ultra-commercial popcorn pictures; a man who's dated some of the most beautiful women in the world and yet whose closest friends are "all over the age of 70."

Although his $100 million-plus MGM/Paramount feature Hercules seems unlikely ever to earn a best picture Oscar, Ratner also is the man who was tapped to rescue the Academy Awards until that went awry, a major regret for this passionate lover of all things film.

He hardly can contain his enthusiasm for cinema, and the giants who have stamped it, and seems thrilled to show this reporter an e-mail from Oliver Stone, in which Stone teasingly refers to Ratner's Budapest location shoot as his "Hungarian rhapsody." Days after we meet, he bombards me with pictures of himself alongside other "masters," from Amour's Michael Haneke to The French Connection's William Friedkin. He tells me three times, excitedly, that his production designer, Jean-Vincent Puzos, also worked on Amour.

He loves talking about his mentors, Hollywood legends Warren Beatty, Robert Towne and Robert Evans (he shows them early cuts of his films and even lived in Evans' house for two years). And he's equally intense about his collection of movie memorabilia, which includes 100-plus Polaroids that were taken during the 1970s as wardrobe continuity shots for the first two Godfather films, along with a pair of miniature silver boxing gloves that Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro presented their crew as wrap gifts on Raging Bull.

"You know what my dream movie-memorabilia is?" he asks. "The necklace from Rosemary's Baby."

Ratner has asked his friend Roman Polanski about that object, but "Roman doesn't have it," he sighs. Polanski is just one of his "besties"; the two hang out together in Paris, and Ratner will release Polanski's 1972 documentary about race-car driver Jackie Stewart, Weekend of a Champion, with a Nov. 7 premiere at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

His boundless joie de vivre spills over on other filmmakers he doesn't know so well (he produced an Emmy-nominated American Masters film on Woody Allen) as well as subjects that spark his considerable curiosity, from Erno Rubik, inventor of the eponymous Cube (about whom he's planning one of his many documentaries) to film books, several of which he has reprinted at considerable expense through his RatPac Press, including Lawrence Grobel's Conversations With Brando.

Such positivity is almost irresistible; it affects this reporter, the crew and the vast line of human beings linked in an endless chain that ultimately leads to Ratner. But it also runs the risk of making the director seem more bubbly than brilliant. Too many people use the word "boyish" to describe him; too few speak of his work. And that gnaws at him, risks chipping away at what he calls his "pathological happiness."

"At the end of the day, whether I finance a slate of Warner Bros. movies [or pursue anything else], I'm still a director," he insists.

[pagebreak]

The Warners deal got underway in April, when Steven Mnuchin, chairman of Dune Capital, a private investment firm based in Los Angeles, heard that the studio was looking for an outside investor. After meetings with Warners, he was introduced to Australian billionaire Packer at a dinner for Beatty hosted by producer-financier Arnon Milchan. Mnuchin suggested Packer join him in making a major investment.

Packer had inherited a fortune from his father, media magnate Kerry Packer, then sold the properties he took over and used the money to build an even bigger empire through substantial investments in Macau and elsewhere. Before meeting Mnuchin, the 46-year-old Australian had teamed with his friend Ratner to form RatPac Entertainment.

Ratner says the two, who have a 50-50 ownership of RatPac, became friends when the director befriended a woman who would become Packer's wife around the time Ratner's 2002 drama Red Dragon had its Australian premiere.

Initially, RatPac was just looking to invest in one film at a time (it since has put money in Clint Eastwood's upcoming Jersey Boys, Cameron Crowe's untitled project set in Hawaii and Russell Crowe's directorial debut, The Water Diviner), but then the Warners proposal came along.

When Ratner saw a list of future Warners films, he was thrilled. "I knew every director, every actor in those movies, from the Lego movie to the Chris Nolan movie [Interstellar]," he says. "I called [Packer] and said: 'James! These movies are phenomenal!' "

With John Burke of Akin Gump representing Mnuchin and the new entity, and Skip Brittenham and Bryan Wolf of Ziffren Brittenham representing Ratner and Packer, the slate deal was cemented in late September, with $150 million in equity and $300 million in debt financed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. (Two unnamed high-net-worth individuals also are part of the investing group, though Ratner says he and Packer have "the majority" of the investment.)

Sources say RatPac-Dune will fund 25 percent of Warners' share of each picture the studio makes -- with a few exceptions, such as a Harry Potter spinoff and the Hobbit films. It largely will make up for funding that dried up when Legendary Entertainment left for Universal.

Unlike Legendary and another long-term Warners-based financier, Village Roadshow Pictures, RatPac-Dune will have no ability to cherry-pick projects; instead, this is a "blind" investment across Warners' entire slate.

For Packer, "The [Warners] slate was a good opportunity," he says. But his more intriguing move likely is to be in China, where he'll spend time with Ratner and De Niro starting on Oct. 24. "There is going to be a RatPac Television, a RatPac Asia," says Ratner. "There will be diversified financing for film, television, publishing. James' goal and mine is to build a global, branded media company."

Adds Packer: "Brett and I want to develop this business brick by brick. I think we can build a business in China that is very valuable. China is a big play. But I am a huge believer in Brett. Brett is an extraordinary talent, and this is all about my belief in him."

Ratner's new role as mogul represents a remarkable, 180-degree turn for the man whose offscreen activities had threatened to dwarf his role as a filmmaker.

"I've been in the public so much, people didn't think of me as a filmmaker anymore," he laments over lunch Oct. 16 at a Hungarian-Jewish restaurant in Budapest. "I became a public person instead of a person who is just a serious director."

Partly that came from his association with celebrities like Michael Jackson, who for a while stayed at Ratner's house, the storied Hilhaven Lodge in Benedict Canyon, which once belonged to producer Allan Carr. "We weren't talking at the end of his life," he says with regret. "He wanted me to testify on his behalf [in Jackson's molestation case]. I didn't want to be part of the circus. [But] if he needed me, I would've done it in two seconds. He was the kindest, most gentle, genuine person. Our relationship was based on watching movies together. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, we watched it 100 times."

By contrast, he remains friendly with Williams, whom he dated for two years. "We were best friends, and we just ended up [dating]. You know how that happens. It wasn't something I was looking for." He says that ended because, "Tennis players, they're traveling around the world, they want their boyfriends or partners [with them]."

He says he also has spoken amicably with actress Olivia Munn despite a mini-scandal when he claimed he had "banged her a few times." (That comment was blurted out after she had disparaged an unnamed director's sexual antics in her memoir, Suck It, Wonder Woman!) He says that he and Munn have put their differences behind them: "We laughed about it. It was ridiculous." (A rep for Munn says simply, "That is not at all true.")

Ratner adds, as if aware that his pattern has yet to be broken, "You know, I've said several dumb things."

His dumbest remark, he admits, was his comment about "fags," which cost him the Oscar gig. (He since has given $1 million to the Academy museum.) "It's indefensible," he says now. "I immediately apologized. I couldn't say to everybody, 'Wait a second, I'm not who you say I am. I'm the guy who did all the PSAs before I was even asked.' It was just a stupid thing."

Born in Miami Beach in 1969, Ratner grew up the only child of a Cuban-Jewish immigrant who gave birth to him when she was 16. He lived with her and her parents in a middle-class home, sharing a room with his great-grandmother Bertha until he was 13. The family was comfortable but not rich; Ratner's granddad was a doctor. "I had zero discipline as a child," he recalls. "I could do no wrong. I never had to go to school if I didn't want to. My mother said, 'If you want to be an idiot, then don't go.' "

Noticeably absent was a father; and it was only when Ratner was in his late teens that he discovered the truth about his dad. Walking through Miami with his then-girlfriend, actress Rebecca Gayheart (they started dating when Ratner was 17 and she was 15 and remained together for 13 years), he was stunned when she pointed to a homeless man whom she had recognized from photos. "Look at that guy over there," she said. "He looks like your dad."

Ratner's mother had fallen in love with Ronald Ratner -- the son of a multimillionaire who made a fortune through rat poison and then real estate investments -- but her family was mortified when she accidentally got pregnant. They split up around the time of their son's birth, and Ratner only rarely saw his father as a child. He knew his dad had succumbed to drug abuse but did not know he was homeless.

Running into him with Gayheart, "I said, 'Where are you living?' He said, 'Oh, I don't have a place to live.' And I got him a hotel."

The fate of his father (who died in 2006 at age 62) sadly was ironic, given that Ratner already was involved with Chrysalis, an L.A.-based organization that helps the homeless, on whose board he currently serves. "What was poignant for me and what moved me so much was that these people, because they were ashamed, they never called their kids, they never contacted them, they never reached out. And I was one of those kids."

Ratner still was a kid when he managed to scheme his way into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts film school at age 16, having fallen in love with film while working as an extra on Scarface. After being cold-shouldered by an admissions officer who refused to screen his Super 8 movies, he talked his way into the dean's office and persuaded him to allow the budding filmmaker to enroll. Despite its improbability, Ratner says he got in even with weak grades. "The admissions officer said, 'You have the worst grades of anyone who has applied to this school,' meaning, 'How do you even dare to apply?' " he recalls. (The school would not discuss the manner of his admission but confirms he graduated in 1990.)

"I was so passionate," he continues. "And that was a defining moment in my life. 'Cause if I would've got a no, I still would have become a director, but I would have taken a different path."

Before graduating, he looked at a Forbes list of the most powerful people in entertainment and wrote each one a letter asking them to help fund his student movie. Only one replied: Steven Spielberg. Ratner remembers his shock when he received a summons from the university.

"The dean calls me: 'I need to see you right away.' I'm like, 'Oh shit.' I thought, 'I'm not worthy, they're gonna kick me out.' And I go in, and he goes, 'Do you know who called here looking for you? Steven Spielberg.' I go, 'Let me stop you right there. That's either my mother or my grandmother pretending to be Steven Spielberg.' "

Although Spielberg did send him a check, it was a different connection that led Ratner to find his first directing work -- Russell Simmons, whom he had met thanks to a university colleague. When Simmons screened Ratner's 1990 student film, Whatever Happened to Mason Reese? -- about the former child actor -- rap group Public Enemy attended and asked Ratner to shoot their music videos.

He went on to direct hundreds of videos for the likes of Madonna, Jay Z and Mariah Carey before making his first feature, 1997's Money Talks, with Chris Tucker. That paved the way for other movies including The Family Man, X-Men: The Last Stand and the Rush Hour trilogy -- and now Hercules.

Looking back, he says: "I was spoiled by success when I was very young. I had a lot of responsibility before I was fully, emotionally adult and didn't understand what it meant."

[pagebreak]

Those words hint at a more reflective Ratner than many might expect, and his close friends maintain he's not always the irrepressible cheerleader he at times appears to be.

"Brett is human just like the rest of us," says producer Michael De Luca, who gave Ratner his feature break when he was running production at New Line Cinema. "He expresses anxiety when he is anxious, insecurity when he is insecure. But he is always trying to self-improve. He is very, very human. He is a very sensitive human being, and he really reacts to all the slings and arrows that are thrown at him."

Adds Ratner: "I'm not ashamed of having any self-doubt whatsoever. I have self-doubt like any person. I have vulnerabilities."

He is hypersensitive to the way he is perceived in Hollywood, and it irks him to be considered a gadfly when his movies have earned more than $2 billion at the global box office. It equally bothers him that people talk about the great parties he throws rather than his great films. He talks about journalists who have slammed him: "People either love me or hate me, there's no in-between."

His critics may overlook the skill involved in making films like Rush Hour and its sequels, or underestimate his talent to inspire collaborators from cinematographer Dante Spinotti ("He works with Michael Mann and me") to Tucker, the actor he discovered for a music video then bailed out financially -- and who returned the favor by recommending Ratner for his first full-length film.

Ratner may no longer be the wunderkind who had a hit (Money Talks) straight out of the gate at age 26, then became the go-to guy for big-budget studio fare in his 30s. But nor is he quite the easy target so many in the media would like him to be. And he's doing his best to stay out of the crosshairs.

He no longer wants to be a cynosure for the tabloids -- though whether he is quite ready to step out of the limelight and give up his penchant for trouble is unclear. He says he is, both professionally and personally.

He even says he is finally contemplating settling down, no matter how difficult, given his peripatetic lifestyle. "I've grown up, I've grown up," he repeats over and over.

"I'm ready for a family," he adds. "I never got married; I never had kids. I feel like I'm at that age. I'm 44 now, and I'm starting to feel like, 'Wow. I'm ready.' I'm now becoming a man."

I do not have the patience to finish this article, but goddamnit,

Quote from: MacGuffin on October 23, 2013, 05:55:38 PM
"You know what my dream movie-memorabilia is?" he asks. "The necklace from Rosemary's Baby."

The Rat-Bastard always has to say one thing to mildly redeem himself.

All this nuance is going to ruin everything.

$450 Million, jeez.

Don't panic, it sounds like he is shepherding that $450 million, not that he actually owns it. But I suppose that is still a lot of currency to trust him with.

Emergency Photoshop Opportunity:

Brett Ratner as Megan Ellison

Funds all of PTA's future movies in an effort to be closer to him.

Quote from: Lottery on October 23, 2013, 06:32:50 PM
$450 Million, jeez.

That's a lot of shrimp.

Quote from: MacGuffin on October 23, 2013, 05:55:38 PM
Ronald Ratner -- the son of a multimillionaire who made a fortune through rat poison

OMG

The posters are too funny.
I never hear about the dude except here it seems, but I think he did show up at the Eddie Murphy special - was it on Spike? I don't remember.
Looking at his Filmography:
I'm pretty sure I saw one of the Rush Hours in the theater. One of the movies I kinda only went to because I was with other people - other examples: Wild Wild West, Austin Powers 3, Blue Streak - I think I saw this movie that I confuse with Money Talks and other movies - has Luke Wilson. This, Bad Boys, Nothing to Lose - I really am not sure.
Family Man - kinda like an It's a Wonderful Life remix
After the Sunset - I think I see this in the cheap DVDs at Big Lots and I always think it's a Richard Linklater movie.

i talk with myself about tower heist and brett ratner (http://innergenre.blogspot.com/2011/11/tower-heist.html)

Haha, Brett's retweeting old Ratner Films posters again.

https://twitter.com/BrettRatner/status/519959030513803264 (https://twitter.com/BrettRatner/status/519959030513803264)

https://twitter.com/BrettRatner/status/519953955972214784 (https://twitter.com/BrettRatner/status/519953955972214784)

https://twitter.com/BrettRatner/status/519953213156384768 (https://twitter.com/BrettRatner/status/519953213156384768)

It's just getting sad

HAHAHAHA That single white filmmaker is a work of art.

hey polka, Rat wants you to work for him...again

https://twitter.com/BrettRatner/status/520323030388846592

He's just saying that as a power move. We need to troll him harder.


EDIT: Look at the comment Allen Hughes (Menace 2 Society Director) posted! Better watch yo ass, polka.

That was one of mod's posters, so I'm off the hook.