Comments on: Open Forum Friday: Richard Kelly… Visionary Director or Flash in the Pan?

By: xego

xego — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:51:05 +0000

@Kurt

I will concede your points Kurt. Eastwood didn’t have to write his own stuff and most likely doesn’t have to struggle for financing. Perhaps it is Clint’s training in the Westerns but he seems to know horseshit when he sees it.

By: kurt

kurt — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:13:58 +0000

Bad example xego. Clint Eastwood is Hollywood Royalty and Oscar laden and is not writing his own stuff.

Richard Kelly has the cult success of Darko and that is it. He also is the screenwriter of all of his films and tends to publish a lot of multimedia around his ‘worlds.’ Probably has to bend over backwards for funding to boot.

He is one of those grinder directors trying to make art out of genre morsels. Often he does well for a very niche audience. He doesn’t do so well with The Box however, the film is overwhelmed with its theoretical nature in a way that episodes of The Twilight Zone never did.

By: xego

xego — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:04:41 +0000

I think the problem is output…I mean I liked Donnie Darko but that was like 2001? Three films in a decade WTF? Clint Eastwood is like 80 yrs and he is putting out like two a year.

By: that motherfucker from vancouver

that motherfucker from vancouver — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:15:23 +0000

visionary flash in the pan

By: Goon

Goon — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:55:44 +0000

7.8 is more than i expected

By: jaime

jaime — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:40:51 +0000

The Box only took in $7.8 MILLION.

By: Justice

Justice — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:25:23 +0000

Never thought Donnie Darko was any good. Its a David Lynch for Hot Topic kids. I didn’t even finish watching Southland Tales.

Anyways, it looks like The Box bombed so hopefully we won’t have to see another Richard Kelly movie again. Maybe he should just try directing something that isn’t his just to try and prove he has some skills behind the camera or not.

By: RaphNL

RaphNL — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:18:50 +0000

Donnie Darko was awesome, one of my favourites.
It’s kinda easy to write him off after just 3 movies. Give him a few more chances.

By: Ranger Tom

Ranger Tom — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:12:07 +0000

I gotta agree with Goon here, he has some interesting stuff visually and I like some of his story elements, but Southland Tales was an awful mess. It was so all over the place you couldn’t really care about the parts that were done well…. I think there were some in there somewhere. I’m interested to see what he does, but he has to be brought back to earth a little to really see what he’s capable of.

By: Lorenzo

Lorenzo — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:38:26 +0000

Richard Kelly is by no means a masterpiece, but atleast he makes films that are both interesting and curious. you never realy now what your going to get with a director like him. thats what makes him interesting because ambitious and random directors are a dying breed.

By: joel

joel — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:20:58 +0000

I saw “The Box” yesterday in theaters. I liked the story that we are sold by watching the trailer but it gets way to grandiose and out of control about 40 min in. I still didn’t hate it because it kept me interested the whole time but it was a mess and a mild dissapointment for me. I did like Donnie Darko and I didn’t like Southland Tales.

By: Primal

Primal — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:40:41 +0000

I really liked Donnie Darko, but still haven’t seen Southland Tales. It doesn’t seem like a movie I’d enjoy based on the group of podcasters I go to for for reviews. I guess he is a bit overrated for sure, but he seems like a personable guy when I heard him on the slashfilm cast podcast.

If I had to pick one director and label him a “Visionary” it would be Guillermo Del Toro.