Originally Posted By leemac <<When it comes to Episode VII LFL hired Abarams as director but not as producer.>> I suspect he will get a producing credit too. Probably Bryan Burk too. In fact there will probably be a laundry list of producers on the final tally. Maybe Iger wants a credit too?
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Maybe Iger wants a credit too?<<< Honestly, for bringing Lucasfilm and Pixar to Disney I would give him a credit. But the sooner he leaves the better. Unfortunately that changed today.
Originally Posted By mawnck I *keep* meeting people who LOOOVVVVED Despicable Me. Mostly women. I guess that between the minions and the three cute kids, the fact that it wasn't very good didn't matter so much. I remember at the time thinking that Megamind had a better minion than Groo did. Shows what I know.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I don't see much of a surprise in the fondness for DM. It rides a story line very similar to the original Monsters Inc. Gru's growing fondness and concern for the girls he originally wanted nothing to do with parallels Sully's growing fondness and concern for Boo, who he originally wanted nothing to do with.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <I guess that between the minions and the three cute kids, the fact that it wasn't very good didn't matter so much.> I saw DM, and it occurs to me that while I remember the very broad outlines of it, I can't remember a single detail. Couldn't even remember any of the secondary characters other than the girls and minions. None.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>However his big screen work suffers from the same problems that all of the JJ Abrams' alumni stuff does - overworked and obvious.<< If we're ever at DL at the same time, leemac, I'm buying you a drink at the Cove Bar. >> I guess that between the minions and the three cute kids, the fact that it wasn't very good didn't matter so much.<< Also mawnck.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>No love for JJ's Star Trek movies?<<< I like his Star Trek movies. That's why I think the new SW movie will be great, since Abrams is a good director and Arndt a good screen writer.
Originally Posted By leemac <<No love for JJ's Star Trek movies?>> Both were massively overworked - no subtly or sense of discovery. The writers felt the need to explain everything. I do actually like JJ as a writer - he can be a little trite (see Super 8 and his work on Alias - like the Season 1 episode Page 47) but he knows structure and the ability to leave the viewers wanting more.
Originally Posted By choco choco <<Re post 46-Brad Bird has yet to make a bad film.>> And present day Iger's Disney has yet to make a good one. Something's gotta give, and that something ain't gonna be the CEO.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Re post 46-Brad Bird has yet to make a bad film.>> 4 movies is hardly a body of work with which to assess him. <<And present day Iger's Disney has yet to make a good one.>> Come on - we have Maleficient and Cinderella to look forward to!
Originally Posted By leobloom >> 4 movies is hardly a body of work with which to assess him. << It's not? 4 movies that at 90+% on Rotten Tomatoes seems like sufficient evidence to say he's a good filmmaker.
Originally Posted By leemac <<It's not? 4 movies that at 90+% on Rotten Tomatoes seems like sufficient evidence to say he's a good filmmaker.>> Well only 1 is live action and I do like Ghost Protocol a lot.
Originally Posted By leobloom That's a fair observation. In general, though, he seems like a talented filmmaker. Which is more than I can say for Abrams. The guy has made a film career through hype and secrecy. But his movies never stand up to the hype IMO.
Originally Posted By planodisney I loved Super 8 and really thought it brought back that great Summer movie feel that has been missing. Seeing summer through the eyes of kids in the middle of an adventure. I REALLY mis that.
Originally Posted By leemac <<I loved Super 8 >> Me too - it had that wide-eyed innocence that has been missing in cynical Hollywood blockbusters. It was all very basic but had that feel that early Spielberg, Donner etc. had. Give me the likes of The Goonies, Ghostbusters and Back to the Future over present product.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Really, there have been no good to great films under Iger?<< Iger took control in 2005. Assuming that most of the movies in the works continued, there would be some overlap for a few years before 'new' stuff started coming out, and a little while longer before Iger's fingerprints could really be felt. Here's a list of Disney's live action/mocap films since 2008 with wide releases. While a couple have made some money, very few of them are actually good movies College Roadtrip Narnia: Prince Caspian Beverly Hills Chihuahua High School Musical 3 Bedtime Stories Race to Witch Mountain Hannah Montana: The Movie G-Force A Christmas Carol Old Dogs Alice in Wonderland Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time The Sorcerer's Apprentice Secretariat Tron: Legacy Mars Needs Moms Prom POTC: On Stranger Tides The Muppets John Carter The Odd Life of Timothy Green Oz the Great and Powerful Those 22 films over 5+ years average to about 4 films per year. During this time, Disney's other production studios like Miramax and Hollywood Pictures have been disbanded, meaning that the 'Disney'-branded releases are really the only thing that the company has going on. Of those 22 films, I might classify about 4 or 5 of them as being "good to great" movies, and about the same number as being reasonable financial successes (note: most of the ones that I think are good are not the ones that made piles of money). That averages out to about 1 in 4 films being a good gamble. Even for a baseball player, 25% is a pretty crummy average. But we're talking multi-hundred-million dollar risks that are supposed to feed the Disney synergy machine, and they're just not doing it. So to answer your question, yes there have been some pretty decent movies made under Iger's regime; however there has been a real lack of volume that Disney typically needs to sustain its business model. Given Iger's strategy of finding a franchise and wringing any possible profit from it, you'd think he would have done a better job making some great franchises of his own to strangle to death.
