In Contention

Tag: David Koepp

  • Spielberg and Crichton’s swashbuckler

    Cover of Pirate LatitudesI’ve been of the mind for quite some time now that a good (operative word) pirate film is way overdue.  The “Pirates of the Caribbean” films are fine and all, the first one especially.  Blending the mythos of a pirate story with that of, essentially, a ghost yarn was a brilliant way to make the oeuvre more palatable to audiences.

    Because let’s face it, the reason these films aren’t made today is two-fold: audiences see it as passe and they aren’t cheap to produce.  It’s the same unfortunate circumstance with westerns.

    For me, however, the fantasy of Disney’s franchise isn’t enough.  I want more, and I want something tangible.  High seas adventures in general, not just pirate tales, can really sing on the big screen.  Peter Weir’s “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” is a perfect example, a brilliant, somewhat forgotten film that is sincere and compelling throughout.

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  • 10 things I hate about ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’

    1) Mac McHale
    In a long line of wonderful secondary characters — Sallah, Marcus Brody, Henry Jones Sr., Short Round — screenwriter David Koepp, and whoever might have made their mark on the screenplay prior, manages to crank out a pointless, unbelievably benign individual who sits in the stomach of the film like a glass of out-dated milk. It’s all the more painful that director Steven Spielberg chose Ray Winstone to portray McHale, forcing the audience to watch a truly great actor suffer under the burden of an under-written throwaway.

    2) The set pieces
    Spielberg is a natural with creating exciting, edge-of-your-seat action numbers, yet he lends a bloated effect to the film in his desire to take everything to 11. They appear to have been filmed at a theme park — and with terrible, seam-revealing CGI to boot! Speaking of which…

    3) The CGI
    A shame throughout, making the already clumsy action scenes all the more sore on the eyes. This is a breach of religion, if you ask me, especially when one considers Spielberg’s view on these tools throughout the series. Thank God for saviors like Christopher Nolan, who believe in the practicality of filmMAKING.

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