Director Alex Cox Says He's on Hollywood Blacklist, Lashes Out at Kirsten Dunst of all People
Filed under: Shorts, Newsstand
Alex Cox is not too found of Hollywood. Perhaps this is because he says that he was blacklisted in 1988, when he used Universal's cash to make a film in Nicaragua while collaborating with the Sandinistas. Before that, he had a couple of really prominent cult indie flicks. The first was Emilio Estevez's repossession adventure The Repo Man, and the second was the Gary Oldman-starring biopic of Sid Vicious -- Sid and Nancy. Now he's got Searchers 2.0 on the horizon, and he's found the time to write up a little rant for The Guardian about actors-turned-directors.It looks like this is all coming about from Madonna, who is currently filming a short film in London based on her life, and aptly called Filth and Wisdom. (Not to be confused with the other directorial project she's been attached to.) Cox then threw in Kirsten Dunst, whose directorial start I posted about in April. In what he considers short films "exciting for connoisseurs of awful movies," Cox goes on to wonder if these stints will be like Johnny Depps short, The Brave, or Vincent Gallo's Brown Bunny. That seems like a bit of a jump. Wondering if Dunst's short will resemble the penis-worshipping Bunny is... I don't know, like wondering if David Lynch's next movie will be a Julia Roberts-heading romcom. Besides, she was asked to do it as part of the Reel Moments series that brings reader's ideas to the short screen. It's not quite the same as ego-filled cinematic masturbation.
Now, he does have some points. In the piece, he mentions when Brando fired Stanley Kubrick and Sam Peckinpah from One-Eyed Jacks. One of the more recent and prevalent accounts of this is American History X, which Tony Kaye fought to get his name removed from when Edward Norton reportedly re-edited the film. There's also all those behind-the-scenes flareups, from Lindsay Lohan to David O. Russell. While I do agree that some egos need to be shot down, it's a bit one-dimensional to say that actors "are not, as a rule, highly intelligent." Many aren't, but what about all of those who've made impressive switches? Who would have thought that the dumb sidekick in Aspen Extreme would also direct films from Very Bad Things to Friday Night Lights? Or that the man who was afraid of a mouse on Sex and the City would later write the screenplay for Capote? Cox has had his say, now what do you think about the whole scenario?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-25-2007 @ 4:03PM
Stephen Lang said...
I don't think the point is that actors cannot be directors, but that many actors get directing gigs not out of real potential or skill, but because of their celebrity.
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5-25-2007 @ 4:15PM
bgdc said...
Pretty much agree with him about actors being tools. And Capote was a crap film that robbed Capote's book of emotional resonance. The flick lacked anything worth noting and if anything made Capote's relationship seem shallow. You never got the sense that Capote felt a strong connection to his subject.
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5-25-2007 @ 4:27PM
Scott Weinberg said...
He's making way too many broad generalizations, IMO. Yes, sometimes it's nothing but a painful ego trip, but lots of actor/directors turn out some fine work.
And when he started trashing Clint Eastwood, I just tuned out. Repo Man still rocks tho.
-scott
P.S. Johnny Depp's "The Brave" is actually about two hours long! ;)
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5-25-2007 @ 5:23PM
bgdc said...
Clint Eastwood is worthy of ripping. He makes pretty much unwatchable melodramatic bilge.
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5-25-2007 @ 8:18PM
Judith Turner said...
Seems to me that acting is one way to learn about film making, if a person is so inclined. Makes about as much sense as going to film school and majoring in directing.
Do many asst. directors or 2nd unit directors graduate to the director job? Producing, screenwriting and cinematography are other paths people have followed on their way to auteurdom. There are pros and cons for each; certainly none ensure a person will be tapped to direct a film, no matter how many years they spend hoping for a chance.
What does Mr. Cox thinks is good preparation for directing? I can't even figure out what he thinks is a good film from the rather indiscriminate bashing printed in the Guardian article. I'm not sure if the problem rests with the editors or Mr. Cox.
On the subject of actors turned directors, off the top of my head, Warren Beatty and Penny Marshall from the U.S. or Sir Laurence Olivier from the U.K. began as actors and moved on to successful directing careers. Having to struggle against the attitude best expressed by Alfred Hitchcock when he said actors were like cattle, I say bravo to those who try to express their vision in a film, and to those smart enough to call it quits and return to acting if the film doesn't work out and, especially, to those who go on to make great movies which are the better for the director's earlier acting experience.
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5-27-2007 @ 9:05PM
Artemisian said...
Gary Oldman's Nil By Mouth.
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