Ready to decide who's a SELLOUT OR NOT? This column, not unlike the concept of JoBlo's Movie Jail, will unofficially indict either an actor, director, producer, writer - basically anyone who at one time or another held serious clout in the genre world - only to ultimately kowtow to the powers that be and give in to commerce over artistic integrity. We'll present the case before you, weigh the pros and cons of the career decisions made, and leave it up to YOU, THE READER, to decide if the person under the hot interrogation lamp is indeed a Sellout Or Not. It's entirely your call!
THE POTENTIAL CULPRIT: JOHN CARPENTER
SELL-OUT FLICKS: HALLOWEEN remake, HALLOWEEN II remake, THE FOG remake, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 remake, THE THING remake.
Having directed only one feature in the last 12 years, a by the numbers ghost story THE WARD in 2010, the onetime master of horror has sat back and watched his coin multiply without really having to lift a finger. His most well known genre works have been remade by Hollywood studios, including a redo of THE FOG in 2005 which Carpenter actually produced. Long gone are the days of original, off-the-wall material like BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, THEY LIVE, etc. And that got us to thinking, has JC simply lost interest in making movies? Does he care about tarnishing the legacy of his original films? Does the money thrown at him for such remakes simply take precedent over artistic preservation? Has he become the ultimate sellout in the last decade or so?
THE GOOD STUFF: HALLOWEEN, THE FOG, THE THING, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, THEY LIVE, PRINCE OF DARKNESS.
By the same token, one could argue that Carpenter is simply matching cynicism with cynicism...fighting fire with fire. Perhaps JC caught on earlier than most that the Hollywood system has drastically changed over the last dozen years or so. Independent film is no longer what it once was, and the chasm between summer blockbusters and indie art-house flicks has gotten wider and wider. If JC was conscious early on that studios are now corporations, devoid of a true passion for film, than perhaps he's simply smarter than the rest by sitting back and getting paid to let other filmmakers toil in such a bottom-line driven market model, and therefore not have to go through the rigmarole himself. From that viewpoint, it hardly seems like JC is sellout as much as he is a savvy businessman. If that's the case, it may be a sad truth that we'll never get such entertaining originality as seen in JC's halcyon days (listed above). Because, let's face it, even before he hit the sideline to watch his movies be refashioned, he was making substandard fare (by his own standards) with VAMPIRES and GHOSTS OF MARS.
SO WHAT DO YA THINK? SELL-OUT OR NOT?!?
Given the facts before you, where do you stand on the career of John Carpenter in the last decade or so? Has he sold-out completely, cynically substituting commerce for art? Or has he wisely sensed a shifting business model that doesn't really foster creativity in the first place, and capitalized on that realization? Better yet, do you think Carpenter has any good directorial work left in him? Do you think he even cares? Does one have to care in order to be a Sellout?
Ridiculous!
As for alot of his movies getting cash in remakes, don't the production companies own all the rights and have the final say? Hell, if I was John Carpenter I would be flattered that they wanted to remake my film. We'll always have the originals.
As for alot of his movies getting cash in remakes, don't the production companies own all the rights and have the final say? Hell, if I was John Carpenter I would be flattered that they wanted to remake my film. We'll always have the originals.
You should consider Matthew McConaughey for next time...
You should consider Matthew McConaughey for next time...
Cigarette Burns was 2005
and yes he may be sitting around collecting a check from the studios and corporations that remake his flicks... but hell, HE remade his own flick when he made Escape from LA
on a side note.... I LOVED VAMPIRES... JAMES WOODS ROCKS!!!!!
and yes he may be sitting around collecting a check from the studios and corporations that remake his flicks... but hell, HE remade his own flick when he made Escape from LA
on a side note.... I LOVED VAMPIRES... JAMES WOODS ROCKS!!!!!
Ridiculous!
He Gets a Lifetime Pass
Need to get facts correct
Sell Out - Dude hasn't made a good movie in over 10 years...
Nah... He's Not A Sellout
Nah
Anyway, no, he's not a sellout, he's just become wise to (and uninterested in) the Hollywood system of opening weekends being the most important factor in studio-financed filmmaking these days. Halloweenshape already hit the nail on the head, but having worked his ass off
Anyway, no, he's not a sellout, he's just become wise to (and uninterested in) the Hollywood system of opening weekends being the most important factor in studio-financed filmmaking these days. Halloweenshape already hit the nail on the head, but having worked his ass off doing so many films that tanked on opening weekend, only to find a huge audience years later, I don't blame Carpenter for taking it easy lately and allowing his work to speak for itself, now that folks have come around to really appreciating what he's done. And I'm sure he's well aware of the fact that the remakes of his films won't have the longevity of his originals.
Having said that, I want to see "Escape from Earth" before he retires for good.
(Also, a recommendation for the next SELL-OUT OR NOT column: Tarsem Singh.)
(Also, a recommendation for the next SELL-OUT OR NOT column: Tarsem Singh.)
Carpenter a sell out? Are you fucking kidding me?
Carpenter doesn't make films anymore because he can't. He was able to get financing for one movie in the past decade, and it bombed critically and commercially. No one with the money is willing to hand it over to him anymore. Like I said, under appreciated.
Carpenter doesn't make films anymore because he can't. He was able to get financing for one movie in the past decade, and it bombed critically and commercially. No one with the money is willing to hand it over to him anymore. Like I said, under appreciated.
For me the biggest sellout is James Cameron, what possessed him to a shitfest like Titanic, I will never know, Avatar was also immensely overrated, if it weren't for the 3-D, nobody would've been all that impressed by it.
Carpenter
Plus, Carpenter is knowledgeable enough about film history to know that remakes and sequels do nothing to dwindle the legacy of great films. If it did, we wouldn't still be talking about his original films. We wouldn't still be talking about RIO BRAVO, BREATHLESS, and hundreds of other great films that have been remade. Who the hell remembers THE FOG remake anyway other than people like us who are still complaining about it? If we would stop bitching about them, these horrible remakes would fall forever into obscurity. Carpenter deserves some of the financial compensation these soon forgotten remakes will provide in order to make up for the box office failures their predecessors were when originally released.
This is a pointless column, especially given that the writing possess no true insight into the man's career.
Def not a sellout
ET: I cannot think of names immediately. However, this column could examine three types of horror film-makers. Film-makers who allow watered-down remakes of their impressive works. Film-makers who used to do thrilling R-rated material but who do PG-13 broad appeal now. Film-makers who are simply pandering hacks composing movies that are overly safe or that are cookie cutter-produced works following a popular and profitable trend (e.g. found-footage throw-aways, historical figures who are now monster-hunters, etc.).