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Is Francis Coppola all done...? (1 Viewer)

Dick

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Has this once-great director relegated himself to re-doing DVD's of his older films and executive-producing other people's efforts, or will he direct once again? Seems to me his last directorial effort was THE RAINMAKER in 1997, a pretty decent movie. Hate to lose excellent craftsmen.
 

Josh Simpson

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I think there was just a recent thread about he and other directors, wondering if they were "done?" Anyway, I hope that there are some good films left in him.
 

NeilM

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well since "Megalapolis"(that was his next movie) has been cancelled, i don't know what else he could do.

But then again he's Francis Coppola, you never know if he could come back with a good movie.

It's sad that all he does now is produce movies.
 

Elijah Sullivan

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Was Megalopolis really cancelled? That's a pity; last I heard, Coppola was saying in interviews that he had already shot hours worth of second-unit work around major metropolitan areas like NY and SF. This sounded like a pretty neat project that I would have lined up at the box-office opening day to see.

As for being done... who knows. Considering the quality of his last two films (Jack was appalling), maybe the guy really has run dry.
 

Chad R

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I don't think Megalopolis is cancelled, I think it's always where it's been for years now: looking for funding. He is still trying to set up all of the money for what will undoubtedly be a large budget, that no sudio wants to put money up for.

He might need to do some "for hire" work like he did with Rainmaker and Jack, but he's still determined to make [b}Megalopolis[/b].
 

Kain_C

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Well, it's a trend. If you look at people that were huge in the 70's and/or early 80's, you see this career downward spiral in the 90's/00's. Some examples:

Actors
Al Pacino
Robert DeNiro
Eddie Murphy
Arnold Schwarzeneggar
Sylvester Stallone
Harrison Ford

Directors
Francis Ford Coppola
Steven Spielberg (yes, still does good things, but his bad stuff outweighs his good stuff)
Martin Scorsese (same as with Spielberg)
George Lucas (prequels aren't close to OT, but he redeemed himself with ROTS)

There are more, but I can't think of them at this moment.
 

Simon Massey

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I couldnt disagree more. Spielberg has made some of his most interesting films in the last 10 years. May not have had the same box office numbers but I would find it difficult to call any of Spielbergs films "bad" in during the period you mention (maybe "The Lost World")
 

clayton b

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I would say that Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, and AI (his 98-02 run) is just as impressive of a list as Jaws, Close Encounters, 1941, and Raiders (his 75-81 run). Spielberg is working more prolifically, and turning out as many if not more quality films than he ever has. I'd say he is a national treasure, but that wouldn't be accurate. He's an international treasure. I hope he lives to be 110 years old, and continues to make films until the day he dies. He's the Mozart of our time, people will be marvelling over his body of work for centuries to come. Yeah I said it, flame on. He stumbles from time to time, but the overall quality of his body of work is outstanding.

Ford isn't done yet either. He's only one hit away from being right back on top. Look at Brando, people were writing him off before he landed the role of Vito Corleone in The Godfather. When and if he starts choosing better projects he'll be right back on top again.
 

Kain_C

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I disagree completely with both of you. Spielberg's earlier works EASILY surpass just about anything in his more current filmography. Easily. Minority Report and especially A.I. shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as Jaws, Close Encounters, or Raiders. Throw in E.T. and Duel and that just further tips the scales.

Interesting? Don't know about that word. Doesn't mean they're better. Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan and Catch Me If You Can were great to good movies while Minority Report was just O.K. Lost World, A.I., Terminal, and Amistad were pretty terrible. Definitely not interesting movies.

It isn't far fetched at all to think that Spielberg's best stuff was done a good while back. I am a huge fan of Spielberg, but there's nothing wrong with acknowledging he isn't ever going to hit that same level of quality that he did in the late 70's to mid 80's and a little beyond.
 

Simon Massey

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Well, first of all his recent films are completely different to his earlier films, and a comparison is pointless. And whilst I agree that Jaws, Raiders and ET are pretty hard to top, that doesn't mean he is on a career downward spiral or that his recent work is "bad" which is what you were initially saying.(does every film he makes have to match these three ?)

What has been great for me about Spielberg is that, ever since Schindler's List and Jurassic Park effectively gave him carte blanche, he hasn't simply churned out summer blockbuster films in the same vein as JP(ok, he did Lost World). He's pretty much trying his hand at lots of different genres, and I'd think you would be hard pressed to find many people that could label any of his films since then as "terrible" (with the exception perhaps of Lost World which I would label "average").

And A.I. is one of Spielberg's greatest films as far as I am concerned.

I've started another thread on Spielberg since this ones about Coppola

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=234647
 

Garrett Lundy

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I'd rather Ford-Coppola continue with more "behind the scenes" roles, rather than write/direct sub-par material. Lord knows he probably doesn't the money.
 

Bryan Tuck

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I've got to agree that Spielberg is still making some pretty interesting films. I also think A.I. is one of his best films.

As for Scorsese, I guess his post-Casino hasn't been on the level of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, but I don't think I would consider Kundun, Bringing Out the Dead, or Gangs of New York even close to bad. And in my opinion, The Aviator was his best film in years. (I actually liked it better than Casino. :crazy: *ducks*)

I'm not sure what to expect from Lucas, but I am looking forward to his next film, whatever it may be. I just hope he gets it right the first time and leaves it alone. :p)

I'm giving Coppola the benefit of the doubt, too. I really hope he gets Megalopolis up and running.
 

clayton b

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I don't know about Lucas. It wouldn't suprise me if he just goes back to the 'executive producer' thing for the next 10-15 years, and then decide to once again revive star wars. He's said so many things regarding star wars and he's changed his mind so many times one can never be sure what the score is.

But I as well will be waiting to see what his next move will be.
 

Mike Graham

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I wouldn't say Pacino's career has spiraled down these days (perhaps in the mid-90s). With subtle performances in Insomnia, Angels in America, Merchant of Venice and his stage work, I think he's in fine form.
 

Steve Felix

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I'd like to see more from Coppola himself, but I'm glad his kids have taken the torch. I think it's safe to say he's spent a lot of time supporting them and others.

And Spielberg is at the top of his game.
 

Ocean Phoenix

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The decline of Coppola started long before Jack. Apocalypse Now and The Outsiders are two of the worst movies I've ever seen. Seriously, I don't understand what the big deal is about the former. I found it painfully boring.
 

Ruz-El

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I wsa wondering about Coppola as well. I'd love to see some more from him, I thought Rainmaker was pretty fine work.

Scorsese is firng with all cylinders as far as I'm concerned, His latest movies are as good as his previous stuff, maybe even more interesting.

Speilbreg is always hit and miss with me. His habit of going for the over sentimental leaves me cold, which is probably why I prefer Scorsese to Speilberg.
 

Lewis Besze

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To each to his own.

I agree he's been "absent" for a long time now, and his wines aren't all that good either.:D
 

Kain_C

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Eh, that's debateable. Compared with how much crap he's been in, it doesn't look too good.
 

Cees Alons

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If you're mostly interested in crap - yeah.

But if you look how many excellent performances and succesful productions he was involved with lately, it's hardly debatable, IMO: he's simply still one of the best.

Depends on one's way of looking at things (especially other people's achievements), I guess.


Cees
 

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