6 Auteurs on Tantrums, Crazy Actors, and Quitting While They're Ahead

December 14, 2012 8:46 AM

The Directors Roundtable: Quentin Tarantino, David O. Russell, Ben Affleck, Ang Lee, Tom Hooper, and Gus Van Sant. Full video. (YouTube version)
posted by starman (18 comments total)

*fingers and lips tremble as he moves closer to the link*
posted by The Whelk at 9:02 AM on December 14, 2012

one of these things is not like the other ... oh wait. yes they are.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:17 AM on December 14, 2012 [4 favorites]

Watched this last week. There is so much more unsaid than said in this video, it's quite amusing to watch.
posted by mykescipark at 9:29 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Well, there you have it. The word auteur has finally jumped the shark.
posted by phaedon at 9:35 AM on December 14, 2012

What a bunch of has-beens and never-weres. Between the half dozen of them, if you cut all their films together they may have directed one passable lifetime made for tv movie, and that movie would be The Ice Storm. It is a shame Hollywood keeps handing these dopes gobs of cash to make "movies". I've also heard that on a personal level they are all terrible people. On the plus side, acting like a director has been the most sucessful role Affleck has ever had. Calling these "people" auteurs surely must cause Vittorio De Sica to roll over in his grave.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:49 AM on December 14, 2012

Mod note: Folks, let's try to have a real discussion here and not do the trite "over the top comment begets pile-on" thing. Start over?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:52 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

I like all these directors and enjoy hearing them talk about movie makin'!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:54 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Well now I just look like a dick.

I actually like them all, Ang Lee in particular. I'm also pretty impressed with Affleck, who knew he had it in him? The Town wasn't great but Gone Baby Gone was certainly a good movie, especially Casey. You could make the case that Van Sant has made the same movie several times, but a case could be made that he is striving to perfect a single theme or idea. James Toback has made the same movie 8-9 times and nobody gives him shit.
posted by Ad hominem at 10:04 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

What a bunch of has-beens and never-weres. Between the half dozen of them, if you cut all their films together they may have directed one passable lifetime made for tv movie

...

I actually like them all

I was alone, falling free
Trying my best not to forget
What happened to us, what happened to me
What happened as I let it slip
posted by mrgrimm at 11:01 AM on December 14, 2012

That was really a delight. They were all worth listening to. I especially loved Gus Van Sant and Ang Lee.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 11:24 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Why can't Tarantino say temper tantrum? Is that an affectation?
posted by legospaceman at 11:55 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

That was good.

I'd like to see one that includes directors with sort of more offbeat personalities. One with Lynch, Hertzog, Korine, Burton, Araki would either be the best or the worst thing ever. It's either going to be BFFs or fist fights.
posted by Ad hominem at 12:34 PM on December 14, 2012

Burton can not go to the Roundtable. He must be kept separate for fear of infection.
posted by mannequito at 1:04 PM on December 14, 2012

I don't think Solondz or LaBute would show either.

I'm pretty sure Ford, Fuller,and Peckinpah ,if they were alive and in the same room, would murder eachother. Especially during Peckinpah's Convoy period. Tarantino would probably love to be in that room though. I think Capra would get along with anyone seeing as the was a conservative that worked almost exclusively with communist screenwriters and never seemed to mind.
posted by Ad hominem at 1:13 PM on December 14, 2012

I liked this quite a lot. I always like to hear what directors have to say about their craft; it's like peeking behind the curtain.

Most surprising to me is that despite how hard I find Tarantino is to listen to, and how little I enjoy his movies, I felt that he had the most insightful things to say in this clip. Who knew?
posted by Pecinpah at 1:36 PM on December 14, 2012

That was terrific and I would not have seen it otherwise.
posted by From Bklyn at 2:32 PM on December 14, 2012

I reckon directors have always talked like this in pairs, in restaurants or lounges, but this kind of group grope for pressure-cooker realities has been way scarce. Now it's proven possible, I could stand to see plenty of it. Movies have to be a richer experience once you glimpse a director's POV.
posted by Twang at 9:33 PM on December 14, 2012

Tarantino was the only one running his mouth with reckless disregard, speaking untold volumes of work to come in HBO miniseries episodes, writing bounded copies of film study text, and, putting proverbial pen to paper with one shriveled up hand... Cut it, we got this.

The end of the film is literally the end of film digitally streamed over the internet. -true story.
posted by vozworth at 8:52 PM on December 15, 2012