Post by toddpolt on Jan 5, 2010 23:16:53 GMT -5
Alright I tagged (rightly or not) some "great" artists as going downhill. Well some of them did, but eventually made a comeback and on the rebound.
William Friedkin - Most famous for directing two essential 1970s classics. The horror flick The Exorcist, and The French Connection, which won Oscars for Best Actor (Gene Hackman), Director (Friedkin), and Picture.
Then he shoots the very expensive flop Sorcerer, which had the bad luck of opening against Star Wars. Now Sorcerer was actually pretty good, definately worth watching, but it really hurt Friedkin's career.
Other flops in the 1980s and 1990s didn't help either, from the controversial Crusing, the lame satire Deal of the Century, the comedy The Brinks Job, the basketball melodrama Blue Chips, the thrillers Jade and Rampage (which didn't get released in America for Five years), and of course The Guardian, about an evil haunted tree eating babies. I kid you not.
Yet I suppose people wrote him off too early. Even during that down funk time, he still produced the minor 80s crime classic To Live & Die in L.A. That was awesome.
And in this decade, he's been actually pretty darn good. He shot the decent courtroom thriller Rules of Engagement, which didn't re-invent or do anything new, but it was nicely acted, nicely shot, nicely cut. Unfortunately still politically relevant.
Later the rather underappreciation (and frankly misunderstood) The Hunted. Its NOT a Fugitive clone. Its really truely what First Blood the novel is on the big screen. Its better than its reputation.
Asides from directing two C.S.I. episodes starring his former L.A. star William Petersen, Friedkin also made Bug which was pretty wacky and crazy in a good way. A budding romance between two psychos.
Not to the level of his 70s success sure, but at least he's not making evil tree thrillers anymore.
William Friedkin - Most famous for directing two essential 1970s classics. The horror flick The Exorcist, and The French Connection, which won Oscars for Best Actor (Gene Hackman), Director (Friedkin), and Picture.
Then he shoots the very expensive flop Sorcerer, which had the bad luck of opening against Star Wars. Now Sorcerer was actually pretty good, definately worth watching, but it really hurt Friedkin's career.
Other flops in the 1980s and 1990s didn't help either, from the controversial Crusing, the lame satire Deal of the Century, the comedy The Brinks Job, the basketball melodrama Blue Chips, the thrillers Jade and Rampage (which didn't get released in America for Five years), and of course The Guardian, about an evil haunted tree eating babies. I kid you not.
Yet I suppose people wrote him off too early. Even during that down funk time, he still produced the minor 80s crime classic To Live & Die in L.A. That was awesome.
And in this decade, he's been actually pretty darn good. He shot the decent courtroom thriller Rules of Engagement, which didn't re-invent or do anything new, but it was nicely acted, nicely shot, nicely cut. Unfortunately still politically relevant.
Later the rather underappreciation (and frankly misunderstood) The Hunted. Its NOT a Fugitive clone. Its really truely what First Blood the novel is on the big screen. Its better than its reputation.
Asides from directing two C.S.I. episodes starring his former L.A. star William Petersen, Friedkin also made Bug which was pretty wacky and crazy in a good way. A budding romance between two psychos.
Not to the level of his 70s success sure, but at least he's not making evil tree thrillers anymore.
