James Cameron / Judd Apatow : Had the good fortune of meeting to of the best film-makers in the world last week. James Cameron of course directed Alien, Terminator 1 and 2 and Titanic. If he never made another film his legacy would be secured. I can remember going to see Titanic nearly 20 years ago and was shocked to see people leaving the theater crying. My logic being , they knew the endgame - the boat sinks . What gives ??? When I saw the movie , I understood. Ohhhh. This is the difference between a master film maker and the run of the mill schlock that is produced by Hollywood .You also have to bear in mind I, being older, had seen ( on tv ) the first two cinematic takes of the tragedy. There was a film made in the 1940s and 1950s. In a nutshell a model ship hits a diorama iceberg. A band plays Nearer My God To Thee then it cuts to some hokey music with a screen saying 1,500 people perished in the northern Atlantic waters that night. James Cameron realized the full potential of the story, developed characters, used state of the art special effects, utilized moving music and spent an hour (its been 17 years since Ive seen ) on the sinking and subsequent icy death thralls of 1,500 people. Gripping and moving, Titanic became the biggest movie of all time. With Avatar I felt Jamess reach exceeded his grasp, but it broke records held by Titanic. I think James Camerons work is held in such high regard he could make a Scooby Doo movie and sell a jillion tickets. As a side note portions of Terminator 1 and 2 were filmed in nearby Fontana ( the steel mill ). Judd Apatow directed, wrote and or produced Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Brides Maids and This Is 40 ( plus many other great movies ). These are in my estimation the best comedies of the last 10 years and make Judd virtually the only bankable star of comedy. I asked him why his peers seemed to have such a hard time making comedy. I cant tell you how many times Ive gone to see a movie advertised as a comedy and virtually not even laughed. I specifically mentioned Movie 43 to him because that one pissed me off and I only spent 99 cents to rent it. If you dont remember the movie, it had Oscar nominated actors Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslett, Halle Berry ,Terrance Howard and Richard Gere among others. Now there had been other comedies where that trotted out a bevy of stars and cashed in on that alone, but I wondered if those big name actors would lend their name to a project so sleazy. YES. The height of Comedy in this movie is Hugh Jackman with a pair of balls on his chin having a dinner date with Kate Winslett. My dog can make a better movie. Judd struck me as a nice guy and wouldnt say anything derogatory about the movie or his peers. He told me he didnt get nervous about doing stand up ( which is what he was doing on this evening ) and told me Edgar Wright ( Shaun of the Dead ) was somebody who made him laugh. I told him I couldnt wait and would be in line for his next movie Trainwreck with Amy Schummer. Its good to laugh.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 20:14:04 +0000
© 2015