Downey Disses Dark Knight; 'Babylon' Director Slams Own Film

[Frontier]

http://www.moviehole.net/200814729-interview-robert-downey-jr-2

Which apparently was not the case with the other big summer movie "The Dark Knight". "My whole thing is that that I saw 'The Dark Knight'. I feel like I'm dumb because I feel like I don't get how many things that are so smart. It's like a Ferrari engine of storytelling and script writing and I'm like, 'That's not my idea of what I want to see in a movie.' I loved 'The Prestige' but didn't understand 'The Dark Knight'. Didn't get it, still can't tell you what happened in the movie, what happened to the character and in the end they need him to be a bad guy. I'm like, 'I get it. This is so high brow and so f--king smart, I clearly need a college education to understand this movie.' You know what? F-ck DC comics. That's all I have to say and that's where I'm really coming from."

http://www.moviehole.net/200815160-babylon-blows-says-director

According to the director, the studio held "Babylon" down and had its way with her. She's now a mere shadow of her former self (in this case, the source material - a great book called "Babylon Babies").


Talking to AMC, director Mathieu Kassovitz said, "I'm very unhappy with the film," he admits. "I never had a chance to do one scene the way it was written or the way I wanted it to be. The script wasn't respected. Bad producers, bad partners, it was a terrible experience."


Kassovitz ("Gothika") says the studio wasn't as interested in making a good movie as they were in saving dollars (that's nothing new - ed).


"I had something much better in my hands but I just wasn't allowed to work", he says, no doubt empty glass of whisky in hand as he speaks.
Kassovitz says the resulting film is one of "pure violence and stupidity" and that it now resembles a "bad episode of 24" rather than an exciting big-screen blockbuster.


"I should have chosen a studio that has guts," he says. "Fox was just trying to get a PG-13 movie. I'm ready to go to war against them, but I can't because they don't give a s--t."

Found both of these interesting.

 

[stueyross]

*sigh*

I'd gathered alot of respect for Robert Downey Jr over the last few months, loved Iron Man even though it was a little tedious in parts, and am looking forward to Tropic Thunder. However....after reading his somewhat amazingly childish comment on DC I cant help but think......what a whining douchebag. Seriously RD, your film was good, kids loved it and kids and adults loved DKR too. DKR just happened to work on a slightly more psychologically disturbing level than Iron Man did. but Iron Man never ever attempted to work that way. it did what it said on the tin.

I know everyone has the right to an opinion, but then I'm reserving the right to think hes a wanker.

 

[misskim86]

I kinda think that he said it in a more joking manner but it doesn't come off good in plain text.

Btw I still don't get why they turned Batman evil

 

[Mr. Adventure]

This Kassovitz guy wasn't displeased enough to pull an Alan Smithee apparently or maybe he's not established enough to afford to do that. I do love the "pure violence and stupidity" quote though.

 

[Broccoli]

Didn't we already have a thread on RDjr's comments? Or was that buried somewhere in the Batman thread?

In any event, I think he was pretty much joking around.

 

[Harvey]

We already had a thread about Robert Downey Jr.'s comments--and he was joking in them, so there's no reason to get worked up about them (again).

The other bit doesn't look promising, though. I guess that director will never work for Fox again, until it is under new management, anyway.

 

[Norrin Radd]

This seems to be a common theme with FOX. When will these directors ever learn?

 

[dragunzng]

Downey sounds very much like he's joking in that quote. In fact, I can totally see his Tony stark flippantly addressing the press in just such a manner.

 

[Bad Bishop]

"You know what? F-ck DC comics."

I've said the same thing, about their $2.99 weekly books.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

Uh, even if he's not joking, who cares whether or not he liked TDK? Most people liked it (I thought it was brilliant), but you can't expect 100% of the audience to give it the drooling fanboy worship. Some people are going to walk out of the theater and think, "Meh, it really didn't do it for me." And you know what? They're absolutely entitled to their opinion. RDJ has as much right to his opinion as anyone else.

 

[S. Gomez]

I've never heard of Babylon before. Hooray for Fox's marketing department!

 

[Pensive]

RDJ is so dry sometimes that you can't tell when he's joking just by reading text.

Hell I haven't even seen TDK yet.

 

[Captain Craig]

I've never heard of Babylon before. Hooray for Fox's marketing department!

The full title is Babylon A.D. (does that help?) Its Vin Diesels next leading man project.
Its the last movie of the summer I'm leaning towards seeing.
It looks like it could go either way. Really Bad or Decently Entertaining(not even saying Really Good).


As for RDJr and his comments I totally see him as goofing with some reporter.

 

[Mr Light]

Action and violence? Bad episode of 24? Color me interested Well, the trailer looked pretty cool, anyway.

 

[Nedersong]

I've never head RDjr's comments before myself,

I'll never understand why people who don't like a certain movie will do their very best to punish other people in order to keep them from seeing it.

 

[payndz201]

For some reason, every time I've been to the cinema recently there's been a Babylon AD trailer. Ten years ago it would have been the sort of film I'd have gone to see on opening night based solely on the promise of the trailer (Dystopic sci-fi! Stealth bombers! Typhoon-class submarines! Backflipping snowmobiles!) but my tastes in movies have changed, so unless it defies all expectations and picks up some good reviews I'll probably avoid it until it reaches the DVD bargain bins.

Something amusingly ironic is that the trailer made a big thing about it being "a Mathieu Kassovitz film", as if he's a draw on a par with Spielberg, Jackson or Cameron (I'd never heard of him), while the man himself has come out and said his own movie is a steaming pile of shit.

 

[S. Gomez]

I've never heard of Babylon before. Hooray for Fox's marketing department!

The full title is Babylon A.D. (does that help?)

No, sorry.

 

[Aragorn]

Something amusingly ironic is that the trailer made a big thing about it being "a Mathieu Kassovitz film", as if he's a draw on a par with Spielberg, Jackson or Cameron (I'd never heard of him), while the man himself has come out and said his own movie is a steaming pile of shit.

Some of those straight-to-video knockoffs from The Asylum list the director on the cover as a major selling point. Because, you know, people want to know if the director of Transmorphers has another quality film out.

You could already tell Babylon A.D. had problems when a big summer event-type movie is released during Labor Day weekend when people stop going to the summer movies and kids are getting ready to go back to school.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Action and violence? Bad episode of 24? Color me interested Well, the trailer looked pretty cool, anyway.

Judging by the premise, the right way to make a movie like that is "action and violence." Did the director think he was making the next Citizen Kane?

 

[zenophite]

I think the director's first clue of what the direction of the movie was going to be was to consider who his "leading man" was.

Me thinks all this spells bad mojo for vin diesel's latest vehicle, which suits me fine because the sooner he is relegated to the direct-to-dvd action flick market the better.