Alexander

[The Perineum Falcon]

from The Movie Blog:

Oliver Stone defends Alexander and bins Margaret Thatcher film

Oh this makes me laugh. Oliver Stone has defended his film Alexander by saying, just so as not to upset or alienate anyone, that it's...

...themes and approaches are too complex for Hollywood tastes.

The Guardian continues the story with his comments at the Marrakech film festival:

The director told attendees...that the bold themes were too risqué for filmgoers with "conventional minds".

According to Screendaily.com he told an audience at the Moroccan event: "The script was just too ambiguous, too questioning about an action-hero who was masculine/feminine.

   "These are tough qualities in Hollywood.

   "It's just too big a life. It doesn't fit in into the Hollywood formula."

   Stone speculated that Hollywood producers and studios would have transformed the story into a revenge saga as Alexander pursued the men who killed his father. "Revenge movies are the western ethos," he said "One of the problems with the movie for the conventional mind is there is no villain."

   Stone also denied rumours circulating in the press that he was preparing to direct a biopic of Margaret Thatcher.

Yeah, yeah, whatever, but no Margaret Thatcher biopic? NO! That's another great let down of the day!

   [Alexander] has been a flop in the US, taking roughly $29m in its first two weeks, having cost $150m to make.

Still, let's see how it does in Europe eh, after all it was backed largely by European funds so it may be recouped here, and I'm reserving final judgement until I actually see it.

Here's the Guardian's article:
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1371013,00.html

******
So, I guess it's our fault the movie was bad?

[MacGuffin]

Stone Surprised by Poor Response to Epic

Director Oliver Stone said he was surprised by the critical reaction to his historical epic "Alexander" and put the blame on the fundamentalist morality in some parts of the United States.

Critics lambasted the film, which stars Irish actor Colin Farrell, and some conservative groups condemned Stone's depiction of the Macedonian conqueror's sexuality.

"I was quite taken aback by the controversy and fierceness of the reviews about a character we don't really know too much about," Stone told reporters in London Wednesday before the film's British premiere.

"I operate on my passion and sometimes I'm naive, I don't think about the consequences," he said.

Stone said the commercial failure of "Alexander" in the United States could be linked to "a raging fundamentalism in morality."

"From day one audiences didn't show up," he said. "They didn't even read the reviews in the South because the media was using the words, `Alex the gay.' As a result you can bet that they thought, `We're not going to see a film about a military leader that has got something wrong with him.'"

Stone, director of "Platoon," "JFK" and "Natural Born Killers," said "Alexander" was "the epic of my life."

"I'm very happy with the result and I think Colin's work is extraordinary," he said. "He's had some tough reviews but he'll ride it out."

Said Farrell: "If Oliver ever wanted to work with me again I would do it in a heartbeat."

[Raikus]

Sounds like somebody attended the Vincent Gallo School of Whiney Bitches.

[MacGuffin]

Stone Escapes America for France

Director Oliver Stone is so distraught over the criticism targeted at his last two big screen projects, he's preparing to flee America for France. The JFK movie-maker sparked controversy by meeting Cuban dictator Fidel Castro for his 2003 documentary Comandante - forcing TV network HBO to axe it from their schedule. Stone's recent historical epic, Alexander, was also subjected to scathing reviews in the US for portraying Macedonian warrior Alexander The Great as a bisexual. And Stone can't understand why years of hard work have failed to produce a positive reaction, so is desperate to seek comfort in his mother's homeland, to escape the bad vibes that are crippling his confidence in America. He says, "Since the Castro movie I did, things have been tough. Everyone was against it. Then I put my heart into Alexander, which wasn't appreciated either. The right thing is for me to stay out of America for a while. I'm planning to spend a lot more time in France."

[©brad]

alexander was not that bad. jeeez-louise.

[modage]

http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0&s=1&c=6595&n=1&burl=

NEWLY INSPIRED, FASTER PACED, MORE ACTION-PACKED!  

how......embarrassing.

EIGHT MINUTES SHORTER!

[Ravi]

Newly inspired, huh?

That blurb translates to "It's better, we promise!"

[Ghostboy]

Seriously. I think it's great that Stone realized the error of his ways and chopped the movie (hopefully making it better), but man, what a godawful way to represent it. Does being an apologist make sense from a marketing standpoint?

[SiliasRuby]

Does being an apologist make sense from a marketing standpoint?

To some marketing weirdo's, yes.

[Gold Trumpet]

I read somewhere on one of these DVD sites the difference between each version is that the new one is "less gay". In relation to content of course.

[SiliasRuby]

I'm going to take another look at the film, at the director's cut, to see what he improved, and how he made it tighter.

[MacGuffin]

Stone Blames 'Alexander' Reception on American Youth

Oliver Stone believes the critical mauling his epic Alexander received last year was the inevitable result of America's youth misunderstanding ancient history. Stone, who recently re-edited the film for its DVD release, puts Alexander's poor reception down to previous movies that glamorize history. He says, "Because of Braveheart, I think kids see ancient times as, 'Hey man, that's violence!' They don't see it as separate cultures that in some cases had stronger values than ours. The Greek culture in its entirety is what I was going for, or the Persian culture. It's not just a hero's tale. Alexander was a flawed hero, a complex character. My reputation has been battered to death so many times, I'm surprised I'm still alive."

[Ravi]

So it was those punk kids that were responsible for the 14% positive rating on the TomatoMeter.

::shakes fist::

[Ultrahip]

Hey Oliver Stone, when did you become a total nutbar?

[meatwad]

Hey Oliver Stone, when did you become a total nutbar?

prob the first time he did coke, about......30 years ago