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Post by mrstitch on Nov 7, 2004 21:40:14 GMT -5
rider has his commentary with eli. hit the next button next time you look at the commentary section.
eli...any chance of you being at the fango convention at the meadowlands in january?
and werent you supposed to do something on the lions gate release of the japanese version of the grudge?
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groovyk
Cabin Fever 4 Life
Posts: 226
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Post by groovyk on Nov 22, 2004 12:17:08 GMT -5
Hey Eli! I'm glad you like them...which one in particular? Anyways do you think you'll ever come to the UK to make a movie? Kelly
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Post by KrugsIncarnations on Nov 22, 2004 17:01:40 GMT -5
Hey Eli I have to ask, what got you to Exec produce the Baywatch movie? What in particular got you interested in the project and are they taking a new direction from the televison series? Is there still gonna be plenty of boobies? Cheers
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Post by dude on Nov 22, 2004 17:20:40 GMT -5
Will David Hasseloff be in it? will it go to theaters.
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B. Monkey
Cabin Newbie
www.myspace.com/ginnyhall
Posts: 48
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Post by B. Monkey on Nov 23, 2004 23:00:49 GMT -5
Eli I wouldn't of danced with you either, I'd be the one that pretended that you were weird when I really had a secret crush on you because I was weird too. Have you heard anything about the Assault on Precinct 13 remake? I wonder if they are going to dare to do a scene like the girl at the ice cream truck again. I read on imdb that so far there is no...Napolean Wilson, that sucks. I'm doing a film projet for school so I've been really watching some John Carpenter that's who I decided to do. So far I've watched again 'the Thing', 'Assault....' and 'Escape from New York' Well anyways in Assault the girl at the ice cream truck (Paris Hilton's aunt by the way), her death was going to make the movie rated X but he somehow managed to get away with keeping the scene. What did you have to cut away in order to keep an R? Well anyways my last question is this......I really enjoy stuff like Creepshow and Deadtime Stories and stuff like that where there is a couple of stories made into one. I saw 'Two Evil Eyes' again recently (Argento and Romero) and have you ever thought of doing one with another director? Who would you do a collaboration with? Well I can't think of anything else to ask, just hoping for the day that I can do something in Hollywood and I'll bump into you and go pssssst I was B. Monkey on those boards
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Post by killingvector on Dec 1, 2004 1:42:58 GMT -5
Eli, I wanted to know your opinion on the homogenization of horror these days. Since the bubblegum generation and its desire for conformity generated hundreds of millions of dollars for Britney and Xtina, there is a general fear among many fans that horror films, which are popular among this maturing age group, will become mass produced, overly commercialized product instead of art. Already we have seen a Texas Chainsaw remake, directed by a music video director of all people, which did not include the most morally reprehensible and devilishly delicious scene from the original, namely the Family at Dinner. The Grudge and the Ring were ho hum remakes which relied on one off scare tactics instead of gut writhing, seat adjusting revulsion as seen in Audition. The successes of these films has registered in the industry like a shock wave from a five hundred pound bunker buster; more remakes and more PG 13 trash on the way.
Is there an end to this cycle? What type of films can distract these opportunists like Platinum Dunes' Fuller and Form from remaking every 70s horror in the vault? Form admitted in an Amity set visit that he and his partner had checked out the bank of 70s horror in search of the next remake project. in my opinion, that is more scary than anything in the films from that re-production company. if only my work could be viewed.
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Post by Eli on Dec 1, 2004 3:58:10 GMT -5
Hey Everyone,
Yes, the rumors are true, I am co-producer of the BAYWATCH movie. It's a long story, but one with a happy ending. I told the studio that I can make the movie in 600 days, and that if I have to spend 8 years of my life on the beach working on this film, I'll do it. I'm THAT committed.
I just read Randy's script for CF2. Holy fuck is it awesome. I am so excited. Just don't expect me to give anything away...
If anyone has picked up the SCARECROW VIDEO GUIDE, it fucking rules the Earth, and gave "Cabin Fever" probably the best review out of any publication to date. It was pretty insane, and that guide's the one that means the most to me since those guys really understand horror movies. I was really honored.
So...a word about remakes. There's an interesting thing happening in Hollywood right now. First off, everything is being remade. Everything. Nothing is sacred anymore. I pass on remakes almost every day, and they keep coming back to me. I'm already doing a remake, that's THE BAD SEED, which is almost 50 years old and I think very ripe for a remake. I have no problem with remakes, so long as they're good movies. I'm sure in 1982 someone was furious that John Carpenter remade THE THING, but it didn't matter to me and is one of my all time favorite films. Same thing with INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, THE FLY, even Chuck Russell's THE BLOB. These are all kick ass remakes that I loved because I didn't have deep personal connections to the originals. I mean, I love them, but I didn't take it personally that the films were remade. So to a whole generation of kids TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, the remake, was the first time they had been to a horror movie in the theaters. And it got them hooked. Not only that, it helped get a ton of movies into production, the same way CABIN FEVER helped kick off a wave of independent horror films. Right now the American distribution system is not set up to support horror movies like AUDITION, so they'll never get made here. It's all because of Wal Mart, Blockbuster, and the movie theaters. If your film is NC-17 or UNRATED, you can't show it in most theaters. The chains will not accept them. Why? Well, religious groups, parents groups, censorship groups, bla bla bla, they don't want them. So if you make an NC-17 movie your chances of it making money are pretty slim. Most newspapers won't even LET YOU ADVERSTISE an NC-17 film. So if I make a horror movie and it's super violent and goes NC-17, Walmart and Blockbuster are out, and now I have a much harder time making my money back. Distributors won't buy it if it's NC-17, certainly not at the price they'd pay for an R rated film. The theaters are all owned by corporations - the independent theaters simply do not exist anymore. So you can't have a B movie come out in theaters, because they're all owned by big companies. Now there are exceptions and every now and then you get an NC-17 arthouse hit like Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, but it's rare. So horror films have to be toned down to get an R. And what gets you an R? Intensity. If your film's gore is intense, you'll get killed, like SAW and the TCM remake. It's fucked. If your gore is funny, like SHAUN OF THE DEAD or SEED OF CHUCKY, you're fine.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that the film business is just that - a business. It's a very difficult place for artists. In Japan Miike keeps the costs of his films low and they have an outlet for violent films, but not here. Here they have them in limited release or at one or two arthouse theaters, and even those are dying up. The thing to do is support these movies in the theater opening weekend when they come out, and to buy them on DVD. The dollar is the only way this will change. The people making horror movies now are doing it because they want to cash in on a trend. Guys like Fuller and Form at Platinum Dunes want to make original movies, and they're both very good guys, and very smart guys. But they know they can make the studios a lot of money doing remakes, and that helps give them the leverage to make more daring, violent movies, which is their ultimate goal. I don't care if it's a remake or if it's an original so long as it's good. Without remakes we would not have many of those great 80's remakes, nor would we have the Hammer films, which I also love. And I also don't care if the film is directed by a horror fan or not. Look at the 70's movies, they were directed by Ridley Scott, William Friedkin, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, Richard Donner, etc. I'd hardly call any of those guys "horror" directors, but they made fucking kick ass movies. Just so long as a movie's well made, with integrity, creativity, energy, life and most importantly, BALLS, I don't care who directs it. It is interesting to see what happened to THE GRUDGE when they Americanized it, because those first videos of Ju-On still scare the fuck out of me.
Eli
I am still on BEST WEEK EVER if you guys check it out this weekend...
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Post by killingvector on Dec 1, 2004 12:48:10 GMT -5
Those are some terrific points Eli. I think you hit it right on the head when you advocate filmmakers going at it, full ball's tilt, with the intention of moving the genre forward or redoing something better.
I have been quite ambivalent to this remake trend because although I enjoy seeing Chainsaw and Living Dead pictures getting attention again, I believe those filmmakers haven't understood the subtext that made the originals as clever as they were. Beneath the violence of Hooper's original, there lay a ghoulish dark comedy and social commentary delineating the boundaries that exist even with the mind of the insane as well as the effects of the displaced worker in the Vietnam era. the same holds true for the Dawn of the Dead original which we all know is a biting commentary on commericialism and the isolation of the suburban american psyche.
The remakes haven't been up to the challenge. Nispel's film was essentially a serial killer movie with the modern sensibilty to rationalize the aberrent behavior; leather kills because he has skin cancer and was teased by local bullies. That is tantamount to saying Ted Bundy killed women because his momma didn't love him. Modern sensibilities seem to forbid the understanding of depravity for what it is; its origin as true aberrent behavior and confused ideas of sexual gratification. As much as i hate to give Schumacher credit, 8mm had the most impressive rationalization for killing of any movie of the last twenty years; as Cage wrestles with Machine the masked snuff killer proclaims his need to kill because he likes it, while his throbbing boner protrudes against Cage's leg. For me, that was a brave explanation of evil because it doesn't rationalize or try to understand it. It exists because someone is wired incorrectly.
For my taste, the modern take on these remakes have failed to exploit the rich subtext commentary of the originals as well as removing too much of the mystery behind evil. The time honored belief in horror filmmaking has always been, never show too much of the monster. Modern horror, most egregiously committed recently by the remake, not only show the monster too much, as Nispel did, but show too much of their pscyhe. I don't want to feel sorry for the zombies or leatherface, I want to be scared of them. fear is lack of understanding, it is the unknown.
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Post by killingvector on Dec 2, 2004 20:00:51 GMT -5
btw, Eli, do you have an opinion on the Larry Drake, Charles Durning made for TV movie Dark Night of the Scarecrow?
I just found this gem on an old VHS tape from one of its early airings, circa 1988.
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Post by mrstitch on Dec 3, 2004 15:24:29 GMT -5
hey eli...i was in class the other day and i got some videography handouts....and guess who is cited in the text. how does it feel to be used as an example when showing students the importance of pre-production?
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Post by Eli on Dec 26, 2004 0:39:47 GMT -5
Hi Everyone,
Okay, as much as I hate that "happy horrordays," I had to use it. Sue me. I hope you are all having a fun holiday season, watching tons of horror movies.
VECTOR - Good points about "Chainsaw." I agree, and the first time I saw it I thought it was fun but was disappointed about the lack of subtext. And then I watched it again, not expecting any subtext, and liked it even more. Hopefully more films like AUDITION and SHAUN OF THE DEAD will come out, but they are rare gems.
STITCH - That's really cool that I was cited in a videography handout. Where are you in film school?
If anyone's in the L.A. area we're screening 2001 MANIACS in January. The details are on the Fangoria site, as well as ticket information. Also, I recored BEST YEAR EVER on VH-1 but have no idea if I was included in the final cut or not. Did anyone see it?
Happy New Year!
Eli
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BretHart
Cabin Newbie
Eat my anus.
Posts: 28
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Post by BretHart on Dec 30, 2004 21:39:02 GMT -5
Shaun Of The Dead is the greatest film I have ever seen in my life, seriously. Simon Pegg is a genius.
I advise you all to watch Spaced, it's from the same people as SOTD, classic.
Eli, does Diamond Dallas Page have AIDS? I seen his mate Raven the other day and he said yes, he had hot. sweaty, anal sex with Erik Watts.
I think it could do with his feud on TNA and as you have worked with Page in the past, I'm hoping it's the case. WRESTLING SLEAZE~!
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Post by dude on Jan 1, 2005 3:14:47 GMT -5
sweet holy zombie jesus! DDP has aids! Eli...can you please confirm this. And also...is this great? www.pretty-disgusting.com/When I get done with my horror script, I am gonna get it copyrighted, then send in a plot, characters, other crap. And how much will i get for it upfront?
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Post by mrstitch on Jan 1, 2005 6:41:04 GMT -5
its actually not a film school....we learn more about working with dv and doing things in a studio. its the art institute branch in colorado....
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BretHart
Cabin Newbie
Eat my anus.
Posts: 28
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Post by BretHart on Jan 1, 2005 13:43:57 GMT -5
sweet holy zombie jesus! DDP has aids! Aye, I think this could be the reason why Kimberley left him. Poor guy, he goes from having it all to jobbing to Hardcore Holly to having AIDS, his life must suck now
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