Go away, Robert Zemeckis

[adamjohnson]

Come back to REAL movies, or go away forever.

You're embarrassing yourself.

[razgriz21]

I'm tired of his animation movies.

Did not bother with Beowulf. It looked cartoony in my opinion.

I really hope he gives us another Back To The Future or Cast Away.

[ericdraven]

Go away, Paul Greengrass
your shaky cam makes the film laughable.

[Reigh Kaufman]

Robert Zemeckis is a pioneer and history will reflect that.

History will also reflect that he never made a movie that I thought was better than average.

[LordSimen]

Zemeckis is awesome.

[Shinigami]

Both Polar Express and Beowulf made me think Boy this would be great if it were live action. His Christmas Carole looks no different, and I had no reason to expect it to. The plus of it all is that he's trying something new. The negative is that he isn't doing it in an effective way for audience members like me, and the real downer is how little he appears to be changing his approach in the span between movies. I guess whatever technique he has been refining doesn't interest me. Too ahead of its time, or that time's technology?

At least other directors are using the technology for more engaging uses. Avatar is my hopeful example.

[BakeTheMooCow]

The man was a genius when he made actual movies like Back to the Future and Contact. This recent series of creepy, soulless animation films he's been churning out are just terrible in every way.

You want to remake Yellow Submarine in 3D performance capture? Really? Have you lost it, man? Go boil your fucking head.

[adamjohnson]

Both Polar Express and Beowulf made me think Boy this would be great if it were live action. His Christmas Carole looks no different, and I had no reason to expect it to. The plus of it all is that he's trying something new. The negative is that he isn't doing it in an effective way for audience members like me, and the real downer is how little he appears to be changing his approach in the span between movies. I guess whatever technique he has been refining doesn't interest me. Too ahead of its time, or that time's technology?

At least other directors are using the technology for more engaging uses. Avatar is my hopeful example.

Avatar is a completely different technology.

[Shinigami]

I was under the impression Cameron used similar mocap technology on Pandora with the Navi. If he didn't I have no point. If he did, my point is that his usage feels more immediately-engrossing to me than Christmas Carole.

[poopontheshoes7]

Beowulf kicks all kinds of ass. Enough said.

[Monotreme]

Oh, Robert Zemeckis. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

Back to the Future (all 3, but especially the first)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Forrest Gump - masterpiece (10/10)
Contact - masterpiece (10/10)
Cast Away - near masterpiece (9/10)

What happened to you? I lament my love, lost, for thee. Because now you've confined yourself to churning out the same lifeless crap - and you just won't STOP. Will you EVER make a live action movie again? Or is there no turning back by this point?

[CyclicNightmare]

He doesn't owe us anything. If this is how he wants to make movies, who are we to tell him differently?

Now maybe if people stopped going to see these performance capture movies, the studios wouldn't give him money and he'd have to go back to live action. But just cause he's not making the kind of movies you like doesn't mean you have to get mad at the guy.

[A.J. Hakari]

I very much enjoyed The Polar Express, and Beowulf was one of my favorite films of '07.

But I agree, Zemeckis should make a return to live action. Do I want to ban him from ever making a mocap film again? Of course not, but it seems as if now that he's set out down that road, he thinks he can never turn back, that he's stuck making these kinds of movies from now on.

It's the same case with George Lucas. The man did THX and American Graffiti, so you know he can make something that's not Star Wars, but he's proven to be perfectly content letting his creativity go to waste on one single property.

I'm sure A Christmas Carol will be a solid film, but I'd much rather see Zemeckis wow me with something that costs less than $100 million. I know he can do it, and his fans know he can do it, but the question now is if he knows he can.

[Heisenberg]

Imo The Polar Express was fucking brilliant. A perfect Christmas film, and one of my favs.

[FireCaptain4]

I love The Polar Express--I watch it every December. I'll most likely place his A Christmas Carol next to The Muppet Christmas Carol after it hits DVD. Sure, I would like him to make a live action film or two in between his mo-cap films, but I can't complain as his mo-cap films thus far haven't been too shabby. Beowulf has alright.

Whatever Zemeckis does in the future is alright by me.

[rossjohnson2806]

The guy has earned the right to do whatever he wants in my mind, sure if i had a vote in it i'd probably have him make another live action movie but i have no problem with him doing whatever he feels like.

[Digifruitella]

He's in a phase, just like Cameron was in the underwater doc phase. I hope people realize this.

[Frosty_86]

I'd like to see him do some live action films in between his performance capture stuff but if he's doing what he wants to do that's cool with me. I havent hated either one of his performance captures Ive seen (I havent Christmas Carol yet). So far his motion captures have been pretty successful so I really don't see why he should stop.

[kobe8byrant]

How long has it been since the talk of a Forest Gump sequel? I wouldn't mind even if it was animation.

[echo_bravo]

He might be doing The Nutcracker next. Mother of God:mad:

[ericdraven]

He's in a phase, just like Cameron was in the underwater doc phase. I hope people realize this.

Puberty is a phase too, and this is lasting longer than that.

[Digifruitella]

Some last longer then. Some people don't grow facial hair even when they hit 20's.

Plus he can do whatever he wants, he earned the right anyway.

[ericdraven]

Some last longer then. Some people don't grow facial hair even when they hit 20's.

Plus he can do whatever he wants, he earned the right anyway.

yeah, I like how he is sacrificing artistic integrity to make self indulgent crap.

[Digifruitella]

unfortunate indeed.

[ilovemovies]

I liked The Polar Express a lot and Beowulf was pretty cool. And I'm very much looking forward to A Christmas Carol.

That said, I wish he'd FINALLY do a friggin' live action movie again!

If he is going to do Roger Rabbit 2 then actually I would very much look forward to that. I just hope he keeps it a mix of live action and animation. And the animation be in the same style as the first one and not what he's been doing for the past several years.

But I definitely don't want him going away. He's always been, still is and always will be one of my favorite directors.

[Mr.HyDe807]

He might be doing The Nutcracker next. Mother of God:mad:

Really?! Hell, if he wants to keep doing stop-motion, fine by me. However, do a work that hasn't been done to death already. I still don't get how he thinks I'm going to go see A Christmas Carol again. No hefty amount of unique visuals and 3D gimmicks is gonna drag me to cinemas to see a story I have seen done countless times before. :mad:

[Heisenberg]

I love how we are allways screaming for filmmakers to do projects from their heart and not for the cash. Robert Zemekis does this exact thing, and gets rifled for it. Give me a break people, He has earned the right to make whatever the fuck he want's....even if he was making a stop motion animation porn movie with Randy Quaid and Amy Winehouse. If your don't like the mo-cap, don't watch. Just don't act like a baby who spat the dummy out.

[LordSimen]

I'm pretty sure, and I may be crazy for thinking this but I have a feeling, Hyde, that you paying to see another Christmas Carol would be the last thought on his mind. In fact, I'd imagine the only people on his mind would be parents and their children who, most likely, haven't seen a version of the Christmas Carol yet and if they have, don't necessarily have one to call their own.

[Mr.HyDe807]

I'm pretty sure, and I may be crazy for thinking this but I have a feeling, Hyde, that you paying to see another Christmas Carol would be the last thought on his mind. In fact, I'd imagine the only people on his mind would be parents and their children who, most likely, haven't seen a version of the Christmas Carol yet and if they have, don't necessarily have one to call their own.

I'm pretty aware of that Simen, thank you. The point of the rant is that I would like to see a story that hasn't been done before with the stop-motion. I never saw The Polar Express, but Beowulf was pretty entertaining (8/10). I know that he's introducing A Christmas Story to a new generation, I was just throwing my useless frustrated opinion on why I wouldn't see the movie. Maybe he can find another Christmas story to adapt with the stop motion, rather something that has been tread to the ground.

[echo_bravo]

He has earned the right to make whatever the fuck he want's....even if he was making a stop motion animation porn movie with Randy Quaid and Amy Winehouse. .

Now now, lets not give Zemeckis any ideas.:eek:

;)

[Antonio141]

I didn't think the hack was still making movies!!!

[ilovemovies]

I can understand not caring for a lot of his movies, but I don't understand how anyone can call the man who gave us Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, Contact and Cast Away a hack. And that's even if you don't like the motion capture flicks he's been working on ever since The Polar Express.

[Heisenberg]

The guy has made Three mo-cap movies, THREE.

[gyro_44]

I want just as much as anyone for Zemeckis to get back to traditional live action stuff, but I'm still going to defend him here.

Haven't seen The Polar Express, but I thought Beowulf was pretty good. I'll also wait till I've seen A Christmas Carol to pass judgment. Zemeckis has been on the forefront of moviemaking technology since his early career, and I think he's gotten too caught up in all this technical wizardry. However I can still appreciate that he's trying to move the medium in a direction further than it's ever been before.

I also hope to God his next project is live action though. Zemeckis really excels with a great story.

[Conz]

besides the creepy looking characters, the thing that bothered me most about Polar Express was the damn kid on the train's voice. No kid has ever talked like that in the history of the world.

coulda been an amazing movie too. Beowulf wasnt bad, but his mo-cap style blows.

[Scarface98.9]

Why make a live action movie when you can plunk down 100 million dollars so Jim Carrey can fly AT YOU in 3D!!!?!?!?!?

[ilovemovies]

Just saw Disney's A Christmas Carol today and it completely sucked. Please, Zemeckis, go back to making live action movies! I beg you!

[adamjohnson]

Looks like my prayers have been answered.

[Monotreme]

Looks like my prayers have been answered.

I wish this were true. Because unfortunately, I have this gut feeling that DreamWorks Animation is going to announce a production deal with Zemeckis any day now... :(

[darknite125]

I love Zemeckis' live action movies but his motion captrue stuff just does not appeal to me.

[bigred760]

I wish this were true. Because unfortunately, I have this gut feeling that DreamWorks Animation is going to announce a production deal with Zemeckis any day now... :(

I agree. Just because Disney won't be backing Zemeckis' motion-capture studio, doesn't mean he'll stop making motion-capture movies. There are plenty of other studios with money that could be willing to back him. Some of these m-c movies he's made have made money. And money talks.

[Flickman]

I very much enjoyed The Polar Express, and Beowulf was one of my favorite films of '07.

But I agree, Zemeckis should make a return to live action. Do I want to ban him from ever making a mocap film again? Of course not, but it seems as if now that he's set out down that road, he thinks he can never turn back, that he's stuck making these kinds of movies from now on.

It's the same case with George Lucas. The man did THX and American Graffiti, so you know he can make something that's not Star Wars, but he's proven to be perfectly content letting his creativity go to waste on one single property.

I'm sure A Christmas Carol will be a solid film, but I'd much rather see Zemeckis wow me with something that costs less than $100 million. I know he can do it, and his fans know he can do it, but the question now is if he knows he can.

Wasnt the first Final Fantasy mo cap? If not, it was made years ago and that cgi looked more real than Ploar Express. If it was mo cap than Zemeckis hasnt and isnt doing anything new to perfect the technique.

[Monotreme]

Wasnt the first Final Fantasy mo cap? If not, it was made years ago and that cgi looked more real than Ploar Express. If it was mo cap than Zemeckis hasnt and isnt doing anything new to perfect the technique.

It wasn't mo-cap, but the characters still ended up looking equally as wooden and lifeless as Zemeckis' mo-cap ones. Just goes to show.

[adamjohnson]

Wasnt the first Final Fantasy mo cap? If not, it was made years ago and that cgi looked more real than Ploar Express. If it was mo cap than Zemeckis hasnt and isnt doing anything new to perfect the technique.

It wasnt mo cap, it was just hand animated. But Final Fantasy looked a helluva lot better than Polar Express.

http://www.andrewzeller.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/realisticphotos.jpg

http://img.slate.com/media/1/123125/2116707/2133610/2137155/060306_he_POLAR-EXP_Ex.jpg

I mean come on.

Not to mention Polar Express came out 3 years later.

The man's pathetic. A shell of his once-great self. Hes trying to pioneer a new technology and delivering greatly sub-par results.

[drc5145]

He'll probably end up getting financed by a company like Dreamworks and start utilizing the Avatar tech over his old mo-cap tech.



I just wish like other, that he'd go back to normal live-action. I hope he does this for the proposed Roger Rabbit sequel, unless it's that brilliant idea of CGI vs. Animated charachters.

[Digifruitella]

the stuff guys at CGTalk create is amazing.

Take a look

http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g26/26426/26426_1249726998_medium.jpg
http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g55/228755/228755_1260339671_medium.jpg
http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g10/223510/223510_1231633240_medium.jpg
http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g11/273811/273811_1256297004_medium.jpg
http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g89/191889/191889_1241541254_medium.jpg

I donno who's getting hired for Zemeckis' stuff

[BoxManShoes]

Wow, that is very creepy, like uncanny valley creepy.

[Monotreme]

So I watched A Cristmas Carol last night, and the animation is pretty shitty. It literally looks like video game graphics - flat, lifeless, emotion-less character faces plastered on realistically moving bodies... it's uncanny vally creepy to the nth degree. I can't believe it cost $200 million to make that movie, and almost the same amount to make Avatar, which looks literally 1000 times better. Zemeckis really needs to move on, and FAST. It would be one thing if this motion capture stuff he makes would look GOOD, but it just looks like crap.

[adamjohnson]

the stuff guys at CGTalk create is amazing.



I donno who's getting hired for Zemeckis' stuff


Its very easy to create a model, especially only one frame. A simple head scan + enough rendering time can make anything look photo realistic.

The problem is movement. Skin looking too rubbery or not real; no depth in the eyes, etc. Thats where the challenge is. And its the reason the tech on Avatar is so much better - they're removing the animator altogether.

[Luke-Abbott]

Though I wouldn't mind a return to live-action for Robert Zemeckis, I don't see the problem in his motion capture films. If its the "dead-eye" thing then I can understand but if its from an acting stand-point, then I can't. Your not getting a computer generated performance from the characters in the film, your getting just as much of a real performance from the actor in said "mo-cap" film than one in a live-action film.

Robert Zemeckis is just jumping into the "computer-animated film" craze but going that extra mile than most.