Comments on: The Invisible American Genre Directors http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/07/07/pity-the-american-genre-directors/ MovieMorlocks.com is the official blog for Turner Classic Movies (TCM). No topic is too obscure or niche to be excluded from our film discussions. And we welcome your comments on our blogs and bloggers. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:28:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: R. Emmet Sweeney http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/07/07/pity-the-american-genre-directors/#comment-9287 Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:59:10 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=11850#comment-9287 That seems to be the consensus Eric. Thanks for checking back in.

]]> By: Eric P http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/07/07/pity-the-american-genre-directors/#comment-9264 Sun, 12 Jul 2009 01:55:18 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=11850#comment-9264 I watched The Roost and Triggerman tonight and Triggerman was definitely the stronger of the two. The Roost is a bit too campy for my tastes (vampire bats which turn you into zombies), but the acting and script was natural, i felt, concerning the set up and circumstances of plot. The Roost is worth watching once I think, but I wouldn’t buy the movie.

]]> By: R. Emmet Sweeney http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/07/07/pity-the-american-genre-directors/#comment-9239 Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:57:50 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=11850#comment-9239 Thanks for the tip RHS. Tom Noonan is in HOUSE OF THE DEVIL as well (as a creepy cane wielding patriarch)- and that movie certainly delivers. It should be coming out later this year, I think you’d like it.

]]> By: Richard Harland Smith http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/07/07/pity-the-american-genre-directors/#comment-9232 Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:36:10 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=11850#comment-9232 I haven’t seen West’s THE ROOST yet, so if you see it, report back here and let me know what you thought!

I saw it at the LA Film Festival a few summers ago and it just doesn’t work. The inclusion of Tom Noonan as a horror host commenting on the events is a clever idea that is stretched waaaaaay out of any useful proportion and the movie really doesn’t deliver. In the presskit and pre-screening talks, West (who seems like a genuinely nice guy) went on at length about how the barn seen in the film had been used by Hitchcock in Marnie but he doesn’t really get his money worth out of it. Not squandering your own natural resources should be the first law in the indie horror filmmaker’s handbook.

]]> By: R. Emmet Sweeney http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/07/07/pity-the-american-genre-directors/#comment-9231 Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:02:09 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=11850#comment-9231 Eric – it’s his debut, so try and be kind.

Jenni – Bigelow has been around for a while now (POINT BREAK!), she’s just had trouble getting her work funded in recent years. I’m on the fence with her (and have yet to see NEAR DARK, K-19, among others). Despite the raves, I am not a big fan of THE HURT LOCKER, which to me is just a jumble of war film cliches, shot with handheld cameras for that now formulaic sense of “immediacy”. Jeremy Renner is great as the adrenaline-junkie lead, though.

]]> By: Eric P http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/07/07/pity-the-american-genre-directors/#comment-9229 Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:37:01 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=11850#comment-9229 @ R Emmet, I’ve moved the roost to the top of my queue. I’ll let you know what I thought.

]]> By: Jenni http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/07/07/pity-the-american-genre-directors/#comment-9227 Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:41 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=11850#comment-9227 Although I haven’t seen it yet, I have read that Katherine Bigelow’s new movie, “The Hurt Locker” is excellent, and perhaps she is a rising star in the action movie genre.

]]> By: R. Emmet Sweeney http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/07/07/pity-the-american-genre-directors/#comment-9225 Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:42:25 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=11850#comment-9225 Eric – I haven’t seen West’s THE ROOST yet, so if you see it, report back here and let me know what you thought!

Mike – I wanted to select someone with a longer track record than Ms. Bendinger, but couldn’t think of anyone I liked as much. I have affection for Paul W.S. Anderson, but need to see Death Race, et. al before coming to any conclusions. I also really liked Wayne Kramer’s RUNNING SCARED, but that was a one-off.

Are they any more suggestions for worthwhile American genre directors? I’m always on the lookout…

]]> By: Michael J. Anderson http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/07/07/pity-the-american-genre-directors/#comment-9221 Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:33:44 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=11850#comment-9221 Thank you for this list of Rob-teurs. Your analyses of McKay, Neveldine/Taylor and Peyton Reed are all AMERICAN CINEMA worthy – as I am sure is the Ti West blurb (I am a +1 in never having seen any of his films). In excluding Jessica Bendinger, I am not knocking what is additionally a fine little write up, but I can’t help but feel that she does not belong on this list, at least until she directs a second film. I say this, however, as someone who disagrees substantially with Mr. Sweeney’s appreciation of her first film.

Also, I found your take down of Kaleem Aftab, and what strikes me as a substantially stupid piece of writing, quite delightful. If this is what passes for film writing at the Independent, I can only hope that the UK’s newspapers are in the same dire straights that the US’s are.

]]> By: Medusa http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/07/07/pity-the-american-genre-directors/#comment-9219 Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:22:40 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=11850#comment-9219 Great list and choices that will expand our appreciation. I’ve got another list of movies to watch now! Thanks for some interesting inclusions!

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