..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Kim Voynar
..Michael Wilmington

Week 14: Where Have All The Directors Gone?

In the endless search for reasons that the summer movie season is as thin as Paris Hilton and almost as dense, a thought overtook my mind. Where are all the visionary movies? The fresh voices of the moment, from Spike Jonze to David Fincher to Mark Romanek to Chris Nolan to Darren Aronofsky and everyone I am forgetting, are otherwise occupied. But even looking at that list, only three of those five directors has ever made a studio film and only one has made more than one. That oversight will soon be corrected. But it caused me to look at this summer and to see where the studios were with new directors.

In a summer from May 1 to August 15, there are a total of six films from first-time studio directors. They are:
Jim Fall - The Lizzie Maguire Movie
Rob Schmidt - Wrong Turn
Charles Herman-Wurmfeld - Legally Blonde 2
Claire Kilner - How To Deal
Casey La Scala - Grind
Clark Johnson - S.W.A.T.

The two movies that jump out on the list are Legally Blonde 2 and S.W.A.T. The first is a sequel to a film that was also directed by a first time studio director, so they went back to the well with a director who actually did make a high-profile feature before - Fox Searchlight's Kissing Jessica Stein. Unfortunately, the step-up did not take with Wurmfeld. Luketic, the first film's director, is now doing a romantic comedy for DreamWorks that seems to be finding him getting more comfortable in the director's chair.

S.W.A.T. was a long-in-development project that finally got on the go list when Colin Farrell signed on, a long while after Arnold Schwarzenegger fell out. After flirting with a few commercial and video directors, TV's Clark Johnson, best known as an actor in Homicide: Life on the Street, took the reins. How well he did is still unknown.

But one thing we know about both these directors… they are not high-flash, high-style guys. Jim Fall, Rob Schmidt and Clair Kilner all came off of small indie films. And Casey LaScala came from the ranks of the producers.

In other words… interesting people and young directors who are not going to ruffle a lot of feathers. I don't know about you, but I would love to see Lynne Ramsay's Legally Blonde 3 or Alex de la Iglesia's version of S.W.A.T. or Kirsten Sheridan's take on How To Deal. You might notice that all three of these directors are from countries other than America. There is also a good chance that you haven't seen any of the films that these directors have made. Why? I wish I had a good answer.

I have broken this summer's veteran directors into four groups. First, the CURRENT YOUNG TURKS. Age is not necessarily the issue in the designation. These five guys are relatively young in the business, but are seen as really interesting.

Bryan Singer - X2
Peyton Reed - Down with Love
Andrew Fleming - The In Laws
Jonathan Mostow - T3
Gore Verbinski - Pirates of the Caribbean

As you can see from the list, the success of these Turks is varied. Singer succeeded with X2, but is now five years away from a movie that is anything more than a comic book. Reed will work again, but you can be sure that he will be wearing a tighter collar next time. Fleming looked like a comedy savant with Dick, but The In-Laws shows what can happen with you work with a producer who isn't really protecting you. Mostow did good with T3, but lost some street cred. And Verbinski may have finally turned the corner with cynics with Pirates… but maybe not.

This summer saw a group of RETURNING TURKS:

John Singleton - 2 Fast 2 Furious
Robert Rodriguez - Spy Kids: 3D
Ang Lee - The Hulk

One could argue that only Singleton really ever went away. But The Hulk was a big budget step-up for Ang Lee, even considering the huge success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. And Robert Rodriguez still feels like a newbie, even is he is a veteran of a decade in this game. Who knows where Ang Lee will go next? But the other two seem to be more mainstream than ever. Rodriguez may be a digital pioneer, but he is making relatively expensive genre product. I feel that Singleton has rediscovered the joy of being young with this film. My guess is that it will be a while before he returns to being the dramatist in repose. But what strikes me most about this group is that they have all been directors of films for adults - really for adults - and this summer, all three made kids movies. Odd, no?

THE MAINSTREAMERS

Tom Shadyac - Bruce Almighty
Ron Shelton - Hollywood Homicide
Rob Reiner - Alex & Emma
Michael Bay - Bad Boys II
Jan De Bont - Tomb Raider II
Gary Ross - Seabiscuit
Martin Brest - Gigli

These seven hardcore veterans have fit into all kinds of groups. They've been Young Turks and Family Friends and Step-Ups and there is even "The Commercial Guy." It is probably significant that Michael Bay is the only survivor from that background. On the other hand, there's a lot of money being lost with these Mainstreamers.

The only sure bet in the group anymore is Shadyac. Bay always gathers a crowd, but he also always costs an arm & a leg. Shelton & Ross are the writing directors, but their films seem to get riskier and riskier. Reiner & Brest are both highly respected directors who walk the same turf as Ross & Shelton, which also means for them that they are working turf that is costly, but not as in demand. DeBont could be buried for good by career-revival attempt Tomb Raider II… back to cinematography for you, pal.

Finally, the is THE WINNER

No one has had the summer behind the camera of Danny Boyle. 28 Days Later is not the best film of the summer, but it has taken a Former Young Turk, who was in danger of being reduced to a Dying Mainstreamer, and made him into a Current Young Turk again. Unlike Robert Rodriguez, who seems to have a very few ideas and likes to mine them over and over and over again, Boyle has used his interest in digital to rethink everything. Boyle has not gone as experimental as Mike Figgis, who is now retreating a little into a Disney thriller and some TV work in order to pay for his genius explorations.

I tend not to want to see Hollywood as living on a continuum. A bad film that gets made does not really replace a film that you think should be made. But on the other hand, studios and studio executives do create certain boundaries for themselves. And they do tend to avoid failure more than they court great success sometimes.

When people talk about all the sequels this summer, I always ask, "Which one would you not have greenlit?" And very few people can come up with an answer. Of course, there are things they might have done differently. But there was a Charlie's Angels 2 to be made, just as there still is a Charlie's Angels 3 out there that can make money… just as there is a 3 Fast 3 Furious that can make money and a Hulk 2 and a T4. Businesswise, there is sense to be made of them all. It is about the choices inside of those overall choices.

I would pay to see Alex de la Iglesia's version of Charlie's Angels. It would be messy and the girls wouldn't always look perfect and the jokes would be broad… but it would be about more than its form. Kirsten Sheridan is writing a screenplay about a historical figure right now, but if I was looking for an edgy teen movie, I'd be chasing her to add some real edge to offer fickle teens. But instead, they will stay at home, as will Ramsey and Tim Roth and Peter Mullan. And next summer, we'll get Cuaron doing Harry Potter and Alex Proyas' I, Robot and Paul W.S. Anderson will get hired one more time, just in case he hasn't made enough unwatchable movies. The more things change…

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