Posted on 03/07/2006 6:28:34 AM PST by ex-Texan
Movie legend Sir Anthony Hopkins has criticised film bosses for making "condescending" films
"Audiences aren't so mindless as movie-makers think", he told the Radio Times magazine.
The Hollywood star's latest film, The World's Fastest Indian, is a true story about a New Zealander motorcyclist who broke the land speed record.
Sir Anthony said of the movie: "No sex or violence, and that's refreshing.
"I'm also tired of the camera moving all over the place, with car chases so cut and edited you don't know what's happening.
"It's condescending. Audiences aren't so mindless as movie-makers think."
He added: "If you look at The Shining or Fargo, they photograph it and let actors tell a story. That's the old-fashioned way. I hope it comes back."
The Silence of the Lambs star added that he would not put up with "tyrannical" directors any longer, adding: "I don't take this acting business seriously ... I enjoy acting more now than ever because I treat it as an enjoyable hobby.
"I can't get caught up in the self-importance. People bow to your every wish and you forget where you come from and what you're doing," he told the magazine.
"I recently worked with two actors who wouldn't come out of their trailers for some reason.
"Can you figure that out? It's insanity. Or they complain because their trailers aren't big enough.
"Bulls***. It's a job, like any other, so don't make a big deal. Be polite, treat the crew with respect and don't think you're different.
"I've worked with directors who are tyrannical and sadistic - but no longer. I'd rather do something else."
Sir Anthony, who became a US citizen in 2000, said he would never make a stage comeback.
He said: "I won't return to theatre work. It's monotonous, too much like being in prison, standing on stage in tights.
"I admire actors who can do it, and I'm sure they have a great life, but I can't stay in any one place for too long, or settle into that grey, sombre atmosphere of the Waterloo Road on a wet Wednesday afternoon.
"There's something so depressing looming across the muddy Thames from that concrete breeze block, with the smell of stale coffee, and thinking, 'Oh, God I have to do another matinee', and the luvvies and the darlings.
"They're all right, but I have better interests than sitting in Le Caprice talking about the problems of being an actor."
My take on Nicholson is that he always plays Nicholson.
I can spell better than 99% of the population, I cannot type better than 99% of the population. I am too old to be part of the "shiny ball" generation. I write code all day and have a compiler to catch my mistypes, unlike when I type here.
Rare these days....
Sir Anthony Hopkins films
1967 The White Bus
1968 The Lion in Winter
1969 Hamlet
1969 The Looking Glass War
1971 When Eight Bells Toll
1972 Young Winston
1973 A Doll's House
1974 The Girl From Petrovka
1974 Juggernaut
1976 Victory at Entebbe
1977 Audrey Rose
1977 A Bridge Too Far
1978 International Velvet
1978 Magic
1980 A Change of Seasons
1980 The Elephant Man
1984 The Bounty
1986 Blunt
1987 84 Charing Cross Road
1987 The Good Father
1988 A Chorus of Disapproval
1988 The Dawning
1990 Desperate Hours
1991 The Silence of the Lambs
1992 Bram Stoker's Dracula
1992 Chaplin
1992 Freejack
1992 Howards End
1992 Spotswood
Damn RIGHT! I walk out on movies that do this. Moronic "directors" think moving the camera all around is somehow "art." To me its 1960's "special effects" and I will NOT sit through that garbage. To me, the best director, who knows how to film in a manner that makes you forget you're watching a film, is Quentin Tarantino. Forget the storyline or his personal attributes--that man can shoot film and he makes it seem as if you're there.
You should see the uncanny way De Niro portrays middle-aged Italians. The range is fantastic.
They can keep their gay cowboys.""
Before I have a stroke trying to get this point across, will someone in the MSM please start calling these 2 SHEEPHERDERS??????
There is a serious chasm between cow ranchers and sheep ranchers from that era and prior. Today, there is more cooperation.
BUT- There is a distinct difference with taking care of sheep and taking care of cows.
These 2 are not COWBOYS!!!
NO KIDDING!!!
Dittos to that!
I thought it was just my husband and me who were annoyed by this...
Okay. Okay.
Hey, to Easterners when a guy wears a cowboy hat, he's a cowboy.
They don't know from sheepherders, buffalo herders, or cattle herders.
"That said, I'll probably still go see it :)"
I features a hot babe as well, doesn't it?
"The beauty is in the journey for destinations may betray us".
It goes a bit beyond the sort of straightforward Joe Friday approach that Basil Rathbone (who I also liked) brought to the role. And Burke and Hardwicke both bring more substance to the character of Watson than did Nigel Bruce, although Bruce was lovable in his own way."
Save yourself, go say a thousand Hail Marys."
He's certainly saying the right things.... Alas, I tend to dislike the movies he's in.
Of course, I haven't seen everything he's been in. Not even close: according to IMDB, Hopkins is a VERY busy man.
WOW! He hit the nail on the head. Now if Hollywood would only listen.
I couldn't resist. I create the weirdest typos each day. Spell-check probably makes me worse.
You should see mine!
“I'm also tired of the camera moving all over the place, with car chases so cut and edited you don't know what's happening.”
Amen to that!
Take a bow Michael Bay (inventor of the ShakeyCamTM).
While I am picking on one director (there are others with the ShakeyCam affliction), I will just say that the sad thing about Mr. Bay is that he often has an attractive gloss to his films with nice lighting, colors, composition etc. This all works until he hands the camera to the hyperactive five year old that has just eaten two bowels of sugar!
It is interesting that Bay prides himself on his "action", yet the worst parts of Michael Bay movies are the incoherent action scenes. Here is a hint; shaking the camera and making quick cuts, on their own, do not make an exciting action set piece.
Check out the School of Communication Media. It sound real promising. There is hope in Hollywood.
There is a movie coming out with a Mexican heart throb Eduardo Verástegui called Bella.
Very simply, it is about a young lady who is contemplating abortion and Jose, played by Eduardo, convinces her not to.
There is a lot of work to do but there a many good people in Hollywood who are rising to the surface. Just give it a few years.
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Burke and Hardwicke both bring more substance to the character of Watson than did Nigel Bruce,
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They are probably closer to the book Watson as well. In the books Watson is ex-army and quite useful in a crunch. Nigel Bruce played Watson as a buffoon, more for laughs.
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