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Battle Angel Ryan -> RE: John Carpenter (20/3/2006 3:07:45 PM)

it would be great if ten years ago they had given him $100m and said go make us a Batman film.
If he had been given complete control and Kurt Russell, could you imagine ...


Escape From LA was a summer blockbuster but it was really just a tepid remake.
Felt like he was playing it safe.
All his films have been modest hits, he has never had that huge success that lesser directors have enjoyed.
The Thing was in the cinemas at the same time as ET and that was blamed for its flopping at the B.O.
But it certainly is among his best work regardless of how much coin it made.
I wish more people would include Starman when talking about Carpenter, I love that film.



Companero -> RE: John Carpenter (20/3/2006 3:41:21 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Battle Angel Ryan

All his films have been modest hits, he has never had that huge success that lesser directors have enjoyed.


This isn't true, mate. Halloween grossed in excess of $80m against a budget of $300, 000 - it was the most successful independent film of all time, until The Blair Witch Project stole its thunder in 1999.


quote:

ORIGINAL: Battle Angel Ryan

I wish more people would include Starman when talking about Carpenter, I love that film.


I have to agree with you there, it's a superb film and Jeff Bridges (who was Oscar nominated for his role) and Karen Allen are probably the most sympathetic characters in any of Carpenters films. It's afilm that should have made a bucket load of money when it was shown in cinemas.




Battle Angel Ryan -> RE: John Carpenter (20/3/2006 4:33:55 PM)

Hate to be pedantic but it was teenage mutant ninja turtles that held the title before Blair Witch.



Companero -> RE: John Carpenter (20/3/2006 4:55:30 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Battle Angel Ryan

Hate to be pedantic but it was teenage mutant ninja turtles that held the title before Blair Witch.


Okay, you're right about it being highest grossing independent film but Halloween still head the record for cost to gross ratio up until Blair Witch [;)]



stuartbannerman -> RE: John Carpenter (20/3/2006 5:19:55 PM)

Starman is a great film and ranks as one of the best John Carpenter films. But seeing as it is alongside Halloween,Escape from NY, The Thing and several others sadly it does fade to the back of the line.
Escape from LA was a sort of renake of Escape from NY but youd be surprised(or not) at how many people hadnt seen Escape from NY or even heard of it.
I remember wandering into a local Blockbuster and asking for the film. They hadnt heard of Escape from NY let alone knew that Escape from LA was a sequel to anything at all. Shocking!!!!

Its sad how quick great films fade. On a non-JC note. I was chatting to a guy in his late twenties at my workplace and he had commented that he had recently watched The Longest Yard (Adam Sandler version) I said that 'the original version is miles better' and his reply was 'is that the one with Vinnie Jones'
I told him that Mean Machine was a remake and that the original had Burt Reynolds in it and he hadnt even heard of the film.
[&o][&o]



rich -> RE: John Carpenter (20/3/2006 6:25:53 PM)

Hahaha oh dear, people lack taste as ever [:)]  I've got very vague memories of Starman, I'd go no idea it was a Carpenter film. Worth a re-visit I reckon.



NadaPlissken -> RE: John Carpenter (20/3/2006 6:55:51 PM)

Starman is the film ET wishes it was, hideously overlooked and proof Carpenter had more to him blood and guts.
Sort of like what Ikiru was to Kurosawa.
Yeah.



Companero -> RE: John Carpenter (21/3/2006 12:38:32 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: stuartbannerman

Its sad how quick great films fade. On a non-JC note. I was chatting to a guy in his late twenties at my workplace and he had commented that he had recently watched The Longest Yard (Adam Sandler version) I said that 'the original version is miles better' and his reply was 'is that the one with Vinnie Jones'
I told him that Mean Machine was a remake and that the original had Burt Reynolds in it and he hadnt even heard of the film.
[&o][&o]


There was a guy I used to work with that was shockingly thick. He was looking through the TV listing in the paper and asked me if First Blood was any good. Yeah, I replied but surely you've seen it (this guy loved action flicks - I once caught him scrawling '"Van Damme is God" on a box, but that's another story). When the penny dropped, he was like: "I've seen it but I thought it was called Rambo 1"

Another time I asked him if he had seen JFK, to which he replied "no, what's it about?" The sad thing was we both worked in the video business...



stuartbannerman -> RE: John Carpenter (21/3/2006 10:06:44 AM)

Im thinking there should be a forum topic for 'thick movie fans'
I could write tons of stories from when i ran my video store.
From the guy who didnt want to watch Titanic because he knew the ending.
Or the guy who had been hiding in a hole for a year (im guessing) because he hadnt heard of the film Independance Day. Or how about the shop customer that complained for several minutes about one of my films being knackered as it was playing in Black And White only for me to discover that he was complaining about Schindlers List........ahh you gotta love the movie thickos



Companero -> RE: John Carpenter (21/3/2006 10:25:17 AM)

[sm=schild15.gif]

You've got a point, mate. We need a thread devoted to this kind of stupidity. Here you go:

http://www.empireonline.com/forum/tm.asp?m=373135&mpage=1&key=&#373135



monkeylizard -> RE: John Carpenter (22/3/2006 4:48:09 PM)

It seems to be a very common trait among directors who start with such a high calibre of movie making (I mean look at Mr Lucas).   It seem to me that they just think "well I cant surpass this, so fuck it I wont even try"  IMO he would of had an easier time if he'd worked up to it, Maybe started with a film like ghost's of mars and ended with something like the thing (top 5 horror movies EVER)



stuartbannerman -> RE: John Carpenter (22/3/2006 5:03:29 PM)

You may have a point there ML. I wonder if theres just so much creative energy in a director/writer. I suppose with any 'job' you tend to slow down and it becomes a routine of sorts. But i still do enjoy any film that John Carpenter makes and still believe that if Ghosts of Mars or Vampires had been released in the 70's or 80's they would have been hailed as fantastic genre films. And its just the audiences that change whilst the film makers sometimes stay the same.

Peter Jackson has stuffed himself too. He will never make a film as good as any of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, yet the audience will always hope he does.



rich -> RE: John Carpenter (22/3/2006 9:34:52 PM)

Really? I always hoped PJ would go back to making stuff like Braindead [:D]



Companero -> RE: John Carpenter (23/3/2006 9:33:01 AM)

Having missed the broadcast on Bravo, I bought the new Anchor Bay DVD of Cigarette Burns and watched it a couple of nights ago. To say it’s the best thing Carpenter has done in more than ten years is an understatement. Cigarette Burns is a really self-aware and hugely entertaining mini movie. The writers (McWeeny and Swan) obviously have a passion for the horror genre, as there are some wonderful nods to Euro cult movies throughout the film, and the casting of the ever-watchable Udo Keir is the icing on an already tasty cake.



stuartbannerman -> RE: John Carpenter (23/3/2006 3:12:55 PM)

One thing i am glad about is that John Carpenter hates The Fog remake. His original version is good enough for me and ive no desire to watch a remake of a John Carpenter film without John Carpenter at the helm



rich -> RE: John Carpenter (25/3/2006 10:44:07 PM)

Haha I watched Memoirs of an Invisible Man today, while fairly entertaining it's probably the least Carpenter style film I've seen of his, I mean it even had proper orchestral soundtrack [&:]  Hopefully I will check out Cigarette Burns next week, rentals pending.



Mojo -> RE: John Carpenter (26/3/2006 10:54:37 AM)

Recently watched They Live and I found it to be very enjoyable. As usual, Keith David is great in it and that fight was fantastic! It just kept going and going [sm=grin.gif] 



ramhouse1980 -> RE: John Carpenter (26/3/2006 1:06:36 PM)

I think John WAS a solid director who really did make some bona fide classics (Assault On Precinct 13, Halloween, The Thing and Escape From New York) and some very decent films (Big Trouble In Little China, They Live, In The Mouth Of Madness) but unfortunately he has seriously gone off the boil. Some of the recent films, particularly Village Of The Damned and Escape From L.A. are jaw droppingly bad. I can't explain why the sudden loss of form. I wish I could say that the good scripts just don't find him anymore or his producers screw him in some way but VOTD and EFLA were stunningly bad in every department. I can only think that he might have just got a bit lazy with his advancing years. I would love to think that he does have a "Sod the critics , I make em for the fans" attitude but some are really, really bad. However, I do find myself wanting to see his new films though, even if Empire give them just one star and the whole film world universally pans them. His earlier classics are so good that they demand we give him every chance to give us another, even if we do have to sit through Ghosts Of Mars and it's heavy metal soundtrack...mmm.



Ant_1971 -> RE: John Carpenter (30/3/2006 10:30:01 AM)

Just got the new Empire delivered this morning.....and a BIG well done to Companero for getting mentioned twice! (Is this a record?!). Well done fella!!   (Btw, your first mention is "CAMPanero" though - did Carpenter ever direct a Carry On film..?) [8D] 

And a big well done to Will @ Empire for putting together a great piece on JC.....my only disappointment it only covered 4 pages (Im just greedy and was expecting 30) - and for not accepting my £5 for printing my name...! [:D] (I've got all 203 issues....what more does a man have to do?!) [:)][:)][:)]



stuartbannerman -> RE: John Carpenter (30/3/2006 11:14:16 AM)

yet another fine DVD Club this month. . although something was missing from it. Cant quite put my finger on it....oh yes..it was me [:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

Well done to those that were named.
And well done to Empire for giving John Carpenter more recognition. . . .



Companero -> RE: John Carpenter (30/3/2006 10:28:02 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ant_1971

Just got the new Empire delivered this morning.....and a BIG well done to Companero for getting mentioned twice! (Is this a record?!). Well done fella!!   (Btw, your first mention is "CAMPanero" though - did Carpenter ever direct a Carry On film..?) [8D] 



Campanero is my gay alter-ego - he doesn't get out very much - spends most of the day indoors watching daytime chat shows and listening to the new Journey South CD - so it's nice he got some recognition [:D]

quote:

ORIGINAL: stuartbannerman

yet another fine DVD Club this month. . although something was missing from it. Cant quite put my finger on it....oh yes..it was me [:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]


First thing I noticed, mate - this has to be the first month you didn't make it in there!



stuartbannerman -> RE: John Carpenter (31/3/2006 9:24:19 AM)

I did make it in the "Questions for Empire" section though so all is not lost, although John Carpenter being one of my fave directors made it slightly sad that i didnt make it.
I didnt make Quentin Tarantionos either and i dont have high hopes for this months Akira Kurosawa as i dont have a good base of knowledge of that man.  . . But im not moaning. Im happy when i do appear in the mag. . . [:D][:D][:D]

Well done for your appearance in this months JC club-  Companero



Companero -> RE: John Carpenter (2/4/2006 11:57:50 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: stuartbannerman

I did make it in the "Questions for Empire" section though so all is not lost, although John Carpenter being one of my fave directors made it slightly sad that i didnt make it.
I didnt make Quentin Tarantionos either and i dont have high hopes for this months Akira Kurosawa as i dont have a good base of knowledge of that man.  . . But im not moaning. Im happy when i do appear in the mag. . . [:D][:D][:D]

Well done for your appearance in this months JC club-  Companero


Thanks, mate! I know what you mean though - I would like to have been quoted in the Kubrick piece as he, without a doubt, is my favourite filmmaker.

I'd love to see Brian De Palma chosen for the DVD Club treatment sometime soon - there would certainly be some great debate as people tend to either love him (me!) or loathe him (rick_7).



Miller -> RE: Summing it up for me (2/4/2006 9:45:51 PM)

Seriously? The Pork Chop Express doesn't bother you then. Watch that movie again. Makes no sense whatsoever. Has anyone mentioned the one with Roddy Piper in it? That was a okay in retrospect. But Escape to LA and Vampires? I mean Vampires for God's sake? Sure he's a B movie director and he's always been one to a certain extent, but the movies of the seventies and early eighties are much better than his recent dross. The William Shatner masks are on me... 



Miller -> RE: John Carpenter (2/4/2006 9:47:44 PM)

Good call. The Black Dahlia might set him back on the road to righteousness... We'll wait and see.



directorscut -> RE: John Carpenter (13/4/2006 12:56:42 AM)

I must apologize to many people here. I feel ashamed that my selfish, cynical one-liner was picked to be in the magazine ahead of far more erudite and pertinent comments posted here. Sorry all.



stuartbannerman -> RE: John Carpenter (13/4/2006 9:30:46 AM)

Dont feel shamed. be proud [:D][:D]



Inchy -> RE: JOHN CARPENTER (17/4/2006 2:25:02 PM)

Carpenter has given us a vast selection of movies over the years, he was in his element in the 80's  and he has had a profound effect on the horror genre, moreso than a lot of more commercially successful directors.

Granted he has not produced such good movies in recent years and he has probably "had his day" but you can not argue with such superb films as The Thing, Halloween, Escape From NY & The Fog to name but a few.



coolrex16 -> RE: JOHN CARPENTER (16/5/2006 5:55:13 PM)

John Carpenter is one of the world best direstors, he may have some poor films (Ghosts of mars) but they are more than made up for by the likes of The Thing, The Fog, Assault from Pricinct 13 etc. Some of the best films ever made in their genres



stuartbannerman -> RE: JOHN CARPENTER (17/5/2006 9:20:49 AM)

I always say that if a film maker can make at least one truly great film then he has accomplished his goal. And Carpenter (like many other film makers) has several great films on his CV



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