‘Falling Skies’: Another disappointing TV series with Steven Spielberg’s name attached

Director Steven Spielberg has a great track record with movies, but not so much with TV series.
The TNT series “Falling Skies,” which concerns a band of human survivors after an attack by space aliens, was promoted as being “From Executive Producer Steven Spielberg.”
That sort of billing carries high expectations from the director of such classic movies as “Jaws,” “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Jurassic Park” and “Minority Report.”
Unfortunately “Falling Skies” is another disappointing TV series with Spielberg’s name attached. It joins NBC’s “Amazing Stories” (1985-87) and “SeaQuest DSV” (1993-96) in that category.
TNT has aired just four episodes of “Falling Skies,” but the cable network this week renewed it for a second season. TNT made the decision despite a significant drop in viewership.
“Falling Skies,” starring Noah Wyle, has gotten off to a bad start. The storytelling is weak and the special effects are second rate. The first episodes have been bogged down by maudlin family drama and unrealistic scenarios.
I get that the point of the series is to show the characters’ humanity when times are their bleakest. But the series would be more entertaining if it focused more on the military strategy of the humans trying to retake our planet from the alien invaders.
Quit dawdling and get to the good stuff already. Viewers want to know what the aliens are up to and what their weaknesses might be. Less yapping and more action.
I can only hope that Spielberg’s next foray into episodic television, Fox’s “Terra Nova,” will be better. It’s set to debut this fall.

Another year of slow progress for female movie directors

At last year’s Oscars, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director.
She was the only woman among the five nominees.
Two of the 10 Best Picture nominees last year were directed by women, including Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” and Lone Scherfig’s “An Education.”
At this year’s Oscars, to be held Sunday Feb. 27, no women are nominated for Best Director. But like last year, two of the 10 Best Picture nominees were directed by women: “The Kids Are All Right” by Lisa Cholodenko and “Winter’s Bone” by Debra Granik.
I recently watched two movies directed by women that I thought were excellent: “The Savages” (2007) by Tamara Jenkins and “Away from Her” (2006) by Sarah Polley.
That got me thinking about who the best female directors working today are.
So I posed the question to the Netflix community at Ning.
One member spoke of her fondness for the work of Julie Taymor, who did “Titus” (1999), “Frida” (2002), “Across the Universe” (2007) and “The Tempest” (2010).
But there wasn’t a lot of love for Bigelow, who also directed “Near Dark” (1987) and “Point Break” (1991), and Sofia Coppola, who directed “Lost in Translation” (2003). Both were described as “mediocre.”
In July 2010, Metacritic ranked the best women film directors by their critical reviews.

Critic’s comment on ‘Inception’?

Was a movie theater employee trying to make a statement about director Christopher Nolan’s hit thriller “Inception” by leaving off the “c” from its title on the marquee? Or maybe it just fell off.
I snapped this photo last week of the marquee outside the Wellfleet Cinemas in Wellfleet, Mass. I assumed some wag was referring to the movie as “Ineption” to comment on the skills of the filmmaker.
Far from being “inept,” I thought “Inception” was brilliant. In the fine tradition of Spy magazine’s Blurb-o-mat, I’d say Inception is Christopher Nolan’s “Citizen Kane” and that star Leonardo DiCaprio is a lock for best actor at next year’s Academy Awards.
“Inception” got 87% positive reviews, according to movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

The least-talented major movie directors working today

Some movie directors working for Hollywood studios have lousy batting averages for making quality movies. Yet they still get work, probably because their movies make money anyway.
Other times their movies are just OK or their directing skills so unremarkable that it would be better if the studios gave someone else a chance behind the camera.

Occasionally one of their films turns out to be good or even very good. Often it’s saved by the actors or a great script.
The other day I wrote about once-respected movie directors who have lost their creative mojo. I put together a list of talented movie directors who have fallen into a slump and are now consistently making bad movies. Their earlier movies had originality, style and energy. But their latest films are bland and dumb.
This new list includes directors who are not so much terrible as they are just ordinary or overrated. As such, they continue to be put in charge of big-budget movies that attract marquee actors. (This is not a list of obvious hacks like Uwe Boll.)

1.
Nora Ephron

Batting average according to Rotten Tomatoes: .375
(3 films “certified fresh” and 5 films “rotten”)

I’d argue her batting average should be lower because many critics inexplicably gave thumbs up to dreck like “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993) and “You’ve Got Mail” (1998).
Her last movie, “Julie & Julia” (2009) was her best reviewed, scoring 75% positive notices.
Career lows include “Mixed Nuts” (1994), “Lucky Numbers” (2000) and “Bewitched” (2005).

2.
Joel Schumacher

Batting average according to Rotten Tomatoes: .333
(6 films “certified fresh” and 12 films “rotten”)

Schumacher is best known for killing the Batman movie franchise with “Batman Forever” (1995) and “Batman & Robin” (1997). He made Batman movies in the corny style of the old TV show and bizarrely added nipples to the superheroes’ armored suits.
He also ruined the big-screen transfer of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit Broadway musical “The Phantom of the Opera” (2004).
Schumacher is capable of making a good movie occasionally – such as “The Lost Boys” (1987) and “Falling Down” (1993). But he’s had way more strikeouts than hits.
Some of his other career lows include “The Incredible Shrinking Woman” (1981), a rare 0% positive reviews from Rotten Tomatoes; “8MM” (1999); “Bad Company” (2002); and “The Number 23” (2007).

3.
Michael Bay

Batting average according to Rotten Tomatoes: .143
(1 film “certified fresh” and 6 films “rotten”)

As a director, Bay is more interested in staging big, noisy action sequences than telling a cohesive story. He’s much better with machines and special effects than with actors and dialogue.
I don’t have a problem with him making big summer blockbusters. I enjoyed “The Rock” (1996) and “Transformers” (2007), dumb as those flicks were. But some of his movies are so unintentionally hilarious that they could be future episodes of “Mystery Science Theater 3000” – such as “Armageddon” (1998) and “Pearl Harbor” (2001).

4.
Tony Scott

Batting average according to Rotten Tomatoes: .214
(3 films “certified fresh” and 11 films “rotten”)

Like Michael Bay, Tony Scott is more interested in style over substance. And when I say style, I should say STYLE, because his technique is so exaggerated.
As with Bay, sometimes his films are good in spite of his tendencies. “Crimson Tide” (1995) and “Enemy of the State” (1998) are career highlights.
His accidental comedies with Tom Cruise – “Top Gun” (1986) and “Days of Thunder” (1990) – were lowlights.

5.
Chris Columbus

Batting average according to Rotten Tomatoes: .357
(4 films “certified fresh” and 9 films “rotten”)

Once again, I’d say his batting average should be lower because too many critics liked “Adventures in Babysitting” (1987) and “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993), which I thought were terrible.
There are worse directors out there than Columbus, but his skills are decidedly pedestrian. He seems to have a paint-by-numbers approach to filmmaking.
He appears only to go after movies he thinks will be hits with the general public. The result is often lowest-common-denominator fare, but it keeps him employed.
He was lucky enough to direct the first two Harry Potter films, the weakest in the series. It could be argued that those stories were so good that they could have directed themselves.
His attempt to turn hit musical “Rent” into a movie showed that he can mess up can’t-miss material too.

5 once-respected movie directors who’ve lost their creative mojo

Sometimes a well-regarded movie director’s streak of good films comes to a screeching halt.
Like a pro athlete who falls into a slump, some movie directors start failing and it begins to affect their thinking. They start worrying about their performance instead of doing what comes naturally and having fun. They second guess themselves, get cautious, or try to make a hit movie instead of something that interests them personally.
Then they make one bad movie after another until they’re pushed aside by new directors with fresh ideas.
Some directors who make bad movies continue to get work if those films are box-office successes. While they might make the studio executives happy, they get no respect from film critics and cinephiles.
Here’s a list of five once-hot movie directors who’ve lost their creative mojo:

1.
M. Night Shyamalan

Shyamalan was red hot after making three critically acclaimed movies in a row – “The Sixth Sense” (1999), “Unbreakable” (2000) and “Signs” (2002). Then his ego got the best of him and he thought he could do no wrong.
He has cranked out four big-budget turkeys in a row, each worse than the last. His latest, “The Last Airbender” (2010) got only 8% positive reviews, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Maybe he can start to turn things around with “Devil,” a horror thriller for which he provided the story and is producing, but not directing. It’s set for release on Sept. 17. (See poster above.)

2.
Cameron Crowe

I loved the first three movies Crowe directed – “Say Anything” (1989), “Singles” (1992) and “Jerry Maguire” (1996). But then his cinematic sensibilities went out the window.
I did not like “Almost Famous” (2000), though some critics did. Then he did “Vanilla Sky” (2001) and “Elizabethtown” (2005), which were universally panned.
Next up is an untitled Pearl Jam documentary, scheduled to come out next year, according to the Internet Movie Database.
Hopefully that will provide a step toward a comeback.

3.
John Carpenter

Carpenter was my favorite director at one time.
He made fun, original genre pictures – science fiction, horror and action movies. He seemed to fare best with low-budget movies.
Carpenter had an amazing streak of 11 good to great movies: “Dark Star” (1974), “Assault on Precinct 13” (1976), “Halloween” (1978), “The Fog” (1980), “Escape from New York” (1981), “The Thing” (1982), “Christine” (1983), “Starman” (1984), “Big Trouble in Little China” (1986), “Prince of Darkness” (1987) and “They Live” (1988).
Then the magic ended.
He’s turned out one clunker after another since then.
Maybe he can get his spark back with “The Ward,” a horror movie due out Sept. 24. Fingers crossed.

4.
John McTiernan

As an action director, McTiernan was a force to be reckoned with in the late 1980s.
His string of good movies included “Nomads” (1986), “Predator” (1987), “Die Hard” (1988) and “The Hunt for Red October” (1990).
After that, he couldn’t put together back-to-back successes, either critically or financially. I happened to like “Last Action Hero” (1993) and “The 13th Warrior” (1999), but I’m in the minority.
His most recent movies “Rollerball” (2002) and “Basic” (2003) earned just 4% and 21% positive reviews, respectively, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
McTiernan’s personal life lately has been more interesting than his movies. He’s facing criminal charges in the Anthony Pellicano wiretapping scandal.

5.
Rob Reiner

Reiner was once a highly regarded director. His first seven films gave him an enviable track record – “This Is Spinal Tap” (1984), “The Sure Thing” (1985), “Stand by Me” (1986), “The Princess Bride” (1987), “When Harry Met Sally” (1989), “Misery” (1990) and “A Few Good Men” (1992).
The first chink in his armor was “North” (1994), which was panned by critics. (It mustered only 11% positive notices, according to Rotten Tomatoes.)
He was back to form with “The American President” (1995). But that was his last good movie.
His next five theatrical movies were stinkers. His most recent flicks were “Alex & Emma” (2003), “Rumor Has It” (2005) and “The Bucket List” (2007). They garnered 10%, 21% and 41% positive reviews, respectively, RT reports.
Well, at least, he’s moving in the right direction.

The 10 most interesting movie directors working today

It’s fun to watch the work of a movie director at the top of his or her game.
Such is the case with Christopher Nolan, whose latest movie “Inception” opened this weekend. “Inception,” which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, has scored 84% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
For my money, Nolan hasn’t made a bad movie yet. He has an unbroken string of seven worthwhile films. I’ve been a big fan since “Memento” (2000) and “Insomnia” (2002).
Here’s a list of 10 movie directors whose work I admire and who have a great batting average lately for films worth watching.
For this list, I’m going to skip most of the best known directors, whose work is universally regarded as top notch. They include Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Joel and Ethan Coen, Michael Mann, Quentin Tarantino, Peter Jackson and James Cameron.
Instead I’m going to choose a few of the hottest new directors as well as a few genre (action, horror, comedy, etc.) directors who don’t get enough credit for consistently high-quality work.

1.
Christopher Nolan
Following (1998)
Memento (2000)
Insomnia (2002)
Batman Begins (2005)
The Prestige (2006)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Inception (2010)

2.
David Fincher
Seven (1995)
The Game (1997)
Fight Club (1999)
Panic Room (2002)
Zodiak (2007)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
The Social Network (2010)

3.
Jason Reitman
Thank You for Smoking (2005)
Juno (2007)
Up in the Air (2009)

4.
Danny Boyle
Trainspotting (1996)
28 Days Later (2002)
Millions (2004)
Sunshine (2007)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

5.
Michael Winterbottom
Welcome to Sarajevo (1997)
The Claim (2000)
24 Hour Party People (2002)
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005)
The Road to Guantanamo (2006)
A Mighty Heart (2007)
The Killer Inside Me (2010)

6.
Guillermo del Toro
Cronos (1993)
Mimic (1997)
The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
Blade II (2002)
Hellboy (2004)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

7.
David Twohy
The Arrival (1996)
Pitch Black (2000)
Below (2002)
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
A Perfect Getaway (2009)

8.
Neil Marshall
Dog Soldiers (2002)
The Descent (2006)
Doomsday (2008)
Centurion (2010)

9.
Steven Soderbergh
Out of Sight (1998)
The Limey (1999)
Traffic (2000)
Erin Brockovich (2000)
Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Ocean’s Twelve (2004)
Bubble (2005)
The Good German (2006)
Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)
Che (2008)
The Girlfriend Experience (2009)
The Informant! (2009)

10.
Mike Judge
Office Space (1999)
Idiocracy (2006)
Extract (2009)

Harold Ramis: One of the best comedy movie directors working today

Comedy is hard.
Making audiences laugh is one of the most difficult things someone can attempt. Humor is personal. What one person finds funny, another might not.
Even the best comedic performers, writers and directors can be hit and miss. Those with the highest batting averages are rightfully revered. Harold Ramis is one such actor, writer and director.
His latest film, “Year One”, got pretty poor marks from critics. But I'll reserve judgment because I haven't seen it yet. It was released on DVD Oct. 6. “Year One,” which stars Jack Black and Michael Cera, merited only 15% positive reviews, according to RottenTomatoes.com. A rare misstep for Ramis.
I had the chance to interview Ramis in November 1992 before the release of “Groundhog Day,” arguably his best film. (“Groundhog Day” received 96% positive reviews, according to RottenTomatoes.)
I was working as editor of a prototype magazine called “Inside Comedy” at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. I interviewed Ramis by phone for a possible article in the magazine. By the time we spoke however, it was too late for inclusion in the publication. I wrote the article as a class assignment, but the article and interview were never published.
Until now …
At the time, Ramis was best known for co-writing and co-starring in “Stripes” and “Ghostbusters.” He also co-wrote and directed “Caddyshack” and directed “National Lampoon’s Vacation.” Plus, he co-wrote “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” “Meatballs” and a bunch more. (Since then, he’s added “Analyze This” and “The Ice Harvest” to his filmography.)
Ramis got his big break with the Second City comedy troupe in Chicago working alongside Bill Murray, John Belushi and Gilda Radner.
What follows is a transcript of my Nov. 13, 1992, interview with Harold Ramis.

‘Sixteen Candles’ director Hughes’ best film

Movie critics and pop culture commentators have written a lot about writer-director John Hughes since his death on Aug. 6. I thought I’d through in my 2 cents.
Having grown up in the north suburbs of Chicago, I felt a close affinity to Hughes’ movies, many of which were filmed there.
I recall seeing “Sixteen Candles” on its opening day in 1984 while I was at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and afterward telling everyone I could that they had to see this movie. It seemed so fresh and spoke to an audience of young people that was being ignored by Hollywood at the time.
I still think it’s his best work. Others point to “The Breakfast Club” (1985) and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986). They’re good, but don’t resonate with me the way “Sixteen Candles” does.
Hughes only directed eight movies, but had a hand in at least 31 movies as a writer. His batting average as a director was very good. He also helmed the underrated “Weird Science” (1985), “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” (1987) and “Uncle Buck” (1989).
Among the films he wrote but didn’t direct, “National Lampoon’s Vacation” (1983) and “Christmas Vacation” (1989) are standouts. Even some of the movies he wrote under the pseudonym Edmond Dantes were actually pretty good like “Beethoven” (1992) and “Maid in Manhattan” (2002), but I’m probably in the minority on those.
For the complete John Hughes filmography, consult IMDb.
Film critic Roger Ebert remembers Hughes in a Chicago Sun-Times column.
AP obituary from the Chicago Sun-Times.
See also the Wikipedia entry on John Hughes, which includes a Web link to his unproduced screenplay, “Jaws 3, People 0,” a comedy sequel to the first two “Jaws” movies.
Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips had a nice writeup about Hughes as well.