Posted by Ripster at 1cust193.tnt2.minneapolis.mn.da.uu.net on August 07, 2001 at 23:00:08:
In Reply to: Uhm... posted by Vincent on August 07, 2001 at 21:54:47:
: ED WOOD is a masterpiece on just about every level.
Yessir.
: He needs to get a sense of humor, though. It was pretty obvious that Kevin was joking re: a lawsuit.
Perhaps I have the same problem as Mr. Burton, since I did not think it was obvious at all. In fact, the thought that Kevin was anything but serious with his comments never even crossed my mind. But in retrospect, it makes total sense. Since when has Kevin ever let good irony or coincidence go unappreciated?
I'm new here, so I've gotta throw in my two cents real quick, and then I'll promptly shut up. I'm not a Tim Burton fan, but I have at the very least enjoyed the majority of his work. I loved Ed Wood, Batman, Sleepy Hollow, Mars Attacks!, and Beetlejuice. And I loved Burton's Planet Of The Apes. It's not as daring, disturbing, or (most certainly) profound as the original at all. But what one has to remember when watching it is that it is geared as a summer blockbuster; a piece of entertainment ment to be enjoyed, not studied. Those who were disappointed were probably expecting too much, given the prestige of the first film. Those who thought it flat-out sucked and saw no redeeming value whatsoever are probably hardcore Rush Hour 2 fans. The production values are unbelievably high and the majority of the performances are top-notch. The dialogue is occasionally lacking, yes, but I could forgive this, due to the relative intelligence of the screenplay (compared to other would-be summer films, such as The "dumbass" Mummy Returns and Pearl "assfuck" Harbor). It's a much slower, more methodical piece than your Swordfish or your Jurassic Park III. And, although many will disagree, I found the ending to be appropriate, even though it didn't make much sense within the context of the 100-some-odd minutes that preceded it. I leave the explaination up to Planet Of The Apes 2, but, to be perfectly honest, I wouldn't mind if the ending went completely unexplained.
I see now that I've typed an assload, and perhaps I should sum up. Whether or not the screenwriters of Planet Of The Apes did rip off Kev's comic book image (I honestly believe it to be a complete and total coincidence) does not in any way change the fact that I thoroughly enjoy the film and have seen it three times.
And as far as Burton's reaction is concerned, I can't really blame him. Consider the fact that so many news wires and magazines had run with all the wild 'n' crazy stories as of late about the last-minute production "frenzy" Burton and his crew were undertakingon Planet Of The Apes, even though the majority of them simply weren't true (e.g: Several prominent news wires reported that studio execs ordered composer Danny Elfman to rewrite most of the score for Planet Of The Apes as more heroic, despite the fact that Elfman himself stated several times for the record that no such orders were ever issued). And then consider that some jack-off entertainment reporter (I forget who) published an article that gave away the ending of the film! That'd be enough to crush my sense of humor on a topic, so I think he has the right to overreact a bit at the news of Kevin Smith's claims, joke or no joke. So I'll gladly cut him some slack.
Thanks for reading this far, guys and gals. You've got a real slick board, here.
Ripster
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"You see, I've got this plan. It's called 'Save-Ass,' and the way it works is this: I jump outta one of these windows, and I run like a bastard."
-Wells, _Assault On Precinct 13_