HP Directors
The article below from The Leaky Cauldron has gotten me thinking about who I'd like to see directing the HP movies.
Joss Whedon on Directing Harry Potter
Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Serenity mastermind who many Potter fans have said they'd love to see direct a Potter film) - recently took part in a chat with Empire Online in which he addresses the question (transcript on the Australian Serenity site):
Iaamond: Joss, what can a Browncoat do to get you directing a Harry Potter movie?
Joss: ihaamond, awesome question, as I was just thinking about this last night...They would have to wait until all the books come out, as I refuse to see any Potter film till I've read them all, because she writes better movies tha[n] anybody shoots. When she's done, I'll go back and watch them and wait for the call to direct number seven.
Ohhh, we'll wait too. Impatiently.
Thank you Jodi!
Chris Columbus just absolutely blew. I really liked seeing the movies come to life, but was disappointed by the saccharine, pasty, white-bread presentation he did. The directing was just dreadful in spots. There are certain lines of dialogue that just make me cringe each time I see CoS in particular, and I haaaated the moment when Hagrid is playing "Hedwig's Theme" on his flute down by his hut. Talk about ripping us out of the movie to remind us of merchandising opportunities!
Alfonso Cuarón was, I think, undeniably better as a director. I loved a lot of aspects of his technique, including the clocks everywhere. But overall I think his style is a bit too artsy for me in some ways.
It'll be interesting to see how good Mike Newell does with GoF and David Yates with OotP. So far I'm a lot more optimistic about Newell. Some of the things Yates has said in interviews have had me groaning. For example, he talked about how a theme in OotP was "diversity." Um, what? I know, there's that whole pureblooded thing. But that's an overall theme with the series. OotP's theme has never struck me as being remotely about diversity. Persecution? Sure. Teen Angst? Fine. Being in control of one's self? Yup. But diversity? Exactly what politically correct version of the book was he reading?
He also has said: "I want to do a great big wizard chase past the London landmarks." Um, again. Huh? At what point was there a "great big wizard chase" in the books?
I'm all for doing a proper adaptation. I think one of Chris Columbus' problems was that the scripts were poor adaptations as they simply tried to retell everything from the books word-for-word. But trying to manufacture a chase sequence is a pretty big deal, especially since it seems largely to be for the sake of including London landmarks in the scene. Blech.
But anyway, my top three picks for future directors will likely never come to pass. But they are:
1) Terry Gilliam
2) Danny DeVito
3) Joss Whedon
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who did City of Lost Children and was originally considered for OotP, would also have been great.
Who do y’all think should be considered for the jobs of directing six and seven?
Joss Whedon on Directing Harry Potter
Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Serenity mastermind who many Potter fans have said they'd love to see direct a Potter film) - recently took part in a chat with Empire Online in which he addresses the question (transcript on the Australian Serenity site):
Iaamond: Joss, what can a Browncoat do to get you directing a Harry Potter movie?
Joss: ihaamond, awesome question, as I was just thinking about this last night...They would have to wait until all the books come out, as I refuse to see any Potter film till I've read them all, because she writes better movies tha[n] anybody shoots. When she's done, I'll go back and watch them and wait for the call to direct number seven.
Ohhh, we'll wait too. Impatiently.
Thank you Jodi!
Chris Columbus just absolutely blew. I really liked seeing the movies come to life, but was disappointed by the saccharine, pasty, white-bread presentation he did. The directing was just dreadful in spots. There are certain lines of dialogue that just make me cringe each time I see CoS in particular, and I haaaated the moment when Hagrid is playing "Hedwig's Theme" on his flute down by his hut. Talk about ripping us out of the movie to remind us of merchandising opportunities!
Alfonso Cuarón was, I think, undeniably better as a director. I loved a lot of aspects of his technique, including the clocks everywhere. But overall I think his style is a bit too artsy for me in some ways.
It'll be interesting to see how good Mike Newell does with GoF and David Yates with OotP. So far I'm a lot more optimistic about Newell. Some of the things Yates has said in interviews have had me groaning. For example, he talked about how a theme in OotP was "diversity." Um, what? I know, there's that whole pureblooded thing. But that's an overall theme with the series. OotP's theme has never struck me as being remotely about diversity. Persecution? Sure. Teen Angst? Fine. Being in control of one's self? Yup. But diversity? Exactly what politically correct version of the book was he reading?
He also has said: "I want to do a great big wizard chase past the London landmarks." Um, again. Huh? At what point was there a "great big wizard chase" in the books?
I'm all for doing a proper adaptation. I think one of Chris Columbus' problems was that the scripts were poor adaptations as they simply tried to retell everything from the books word-for-word. But trying to manufacture a chase sequence is a pretty big deal, especially since it seems largely to be for the sake of including London landmarks in the scene. Blech.
But anyway, my top three picks for future directors will likely never come to pass. But they are:
1) Terry Gilliam
2) Danny DeVito
3) Joss Whedon
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who did City of Lost Children and was originally considered for OotP, would also have been great.
Who do y’all think should be considered for the jobs of directing six and seven?