I think ladies and gentlemen, we can get this series BACK where it belongs, and out of the hands of such hack directors as John woo.

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Fincher under contract will have all creative control over script and direction.

I think ladies and gentlemen, we can get this series BACK where it belongs, and out of the hands of such hack directors as John woo.

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So? It was shot in Sydney! It's still absolute crap.

Ner!

And as for Woo's earlier work, I do agree. Once a thief was very good and of course hard boiled was fun as well. He definately does not do hollywood that well.

As for Tom Cruise heavy handing David Fincher, good luck. Fincher let himself get heavy handed during the Alien 3 shoot, and from that point on he wont let it happen again. I am pretty sure he will get a very large vote on production and story, but Fincher will take control from that point. Even Cruise can see that the performance of MI2 only brought in about half what the first one did. Most people hated that thing to boot. And it was the highest grossing picture of that year it came out. WHat a load of crap we all had to deal with that year. Damn.

Now, I know he has this legendary status from his years of making action films in Hong Kong. I think he earned some of that legendary status from being able to produce such intricately staged action sequences while working under the budget and time constraints dictated by the film industry in Hong Kong. I do acknowledge that accomplishment.

But the films he has produced here in the United States have largely been well polished trash. And there are things he does in his films that just have me rolling my eyes and muttering "bullshit" under my breath.

For instance, with any over-the-top action/genre movie where the hero or villian makes his entrance, that entrance usually only happens once in a movie. A good example would be Indiana Jones stepping out of the shadows in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" You never see his face until he strikes the gun out of bad guy's hand with his bullwhip. The music comes up, you see Harrison Ford's face. That's a good text-book example of a correct entrance. With any John Woo film, the good guy or bad guy can be counted upon to make God-only-knows-how-many slow motion swaggering in pretty pose shots. Dammit! Once is enough! Any more than that = bullshit filmmaking.

Then you just have the general overuse of slowmo and perfume commercial shots and other non-story related crap better suited for a movie trailer and not a movie at all kinds of schlock formula. I really really hated "Mission: Impossible 2" for all the would be polish with nothing underneath. One scene in that film finds Tom Cruise and Thandie Newton staring at each other across the dance floor like some bad Jovan Musk commercial from the 1980's. I couldn't stand it. Because, I mean, if I want to watch a perfume commercial I'll turn on MTV. I paid $7 to watch a film.

I liked Brian DePalma's "Mission Impossible". At least his handling allowed Robert Towne's script to come through at all. And for all those film executives who stupidly thought the story went over everyone's heads --it didn't. Maybe it went over theirs. I find it is far better to play the audience for being smart instead of stupid. The characters come off more intelligent and the film on the whole is better for it. With all this John Woo, Michael Bay, Simon West kind of phoney baloney corrupting action films, I just find myself being let down by more and more action films.

John Woo may know how to stage an action scene, but I don't think the fellow really understands how American audiences like having a well-rounded movie.

To get to the David Fincher item, I am kind of surprised he is signing on to do a "Mission Impossible" sequel. But then is this another rumor like how Fincher was supposed to direct "Terminator 3"?

A lesser film buff might quickly throw David Fincher into the same category as Woo, Michael Bay and other style-and-very-little-substance directors. His music video making history could be used as a knock against him as well. However, after "Seven," "The Game" and "Fight Club" (and even the slightly disappointing "Panic Room") I believe David Fincher has the right sense of balacing really cool style with the story.

I think some of Fincher's knack for making style work with the story has everything to do with his experience of making music videos. Filmmaking has a kind of rhythm to it. I see lots of overt style crap in films that just doesn't work. I was laughing out loud at Tony Scott's black and white "Excederin PM" cut in shots trashing up "Spy Game." That stuff didn't fit. A lot of Fincher's choices do because they often chime into the correct "feel" of a scene. I think the editorial pacing and shot choices in "Fight Club" is just excellent. Fincher also does one thing none of the other trash directors do: allow a shot to stay still on an actor and let that character perform. He has the ability to quiet the hell down. Guys like Woo on the otherhand just blast it out with sound and fury signifying nothing.