Badmovies.org Forum

To get this started, I will offer 2 examples of A-Movie directors from the past who ended up as B-Movie directors:

* RICHARD FLEISCHER - From movies like 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, THE BOSTON STRANGLER, and FANTASTIC VOYAGE to movies like AMITYVILLE 3-D, RED SONJA, and MILLION DOLLAR MYSTERY.

* J. LEE THOMPSON - From movies like THE GUNS OF NAVARONE and CAPE FEAR to movies like CABOBLANCO and FIREWALKER.

Who are today's A-Movie directors who are certain to slip into silver-screen (or direct-to-video) infamy?

 I expect to see Joel schumacher go from B movie director to Z movie director any time now.

Any J-Lo movie director and j-lo too

Deena

whoever directed armeggedon.  i'd like to punch that guy in the nuts.

John McTeirnan?  Quentin Tarantino?  M Knight Shyamalan?

Read "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls", about the Movie Brat directors.  A surprising number of them did a great first film, followed by a good second film, followed by endless mediocrity.

Trala-log wrote: "whoever directed armeggedon. i'd like to punch that guy in the nuts."

That guy's name is Michael Bay, and it is the exact person that led me to enter this topic. Just see the man's curriculum so far: "Bad Boys", "The Rock", "Armaggeddon" and "Pearl Harbour". He's also made "Bad Boys II" that opens soon, and plans to make "I am legend" with Will Smith. He must be stopped  at any cost! Where is Bush's war against terror when you really need it?

dude for real

            Sidney J. Furie has a former big name director who has spent the last eight years directing straight-to-video B movies.
             If I can think of more up-and-coming filmmakers of today that'll soon undertake this route,I'll quickly let you all know.

Another example would be John Landis, who went from "Schlock" all the way up to "The Blues Brothers" and "Animal House" and "An American Werewolf In London," right down to "Beverly Hills Cop III," "Innocent Blood," and...worse. Hasn't directed since '98; appears in small roles in crud.

Michael Bay was also going to direct the upcoming "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" remake, but was  either dropped or walked away. God, imagine THAT, if you can--the oaf who pasted together "Armageddon" and "Pearl Harbor" doing TCM. Yark.

My top bets:

Brian DePalma has always been a hack. He's famous because of his promixity to the better work of others--and his shameless plagarism. His duds--including the astonishingly gawful "Femme Fatale," "Snake Eyes," "Bonfire of the Vanities," and "Mission To Mars"--are starting to outnumber and outweigh his hits ("Mission: Impossible" and "The Untouchables"), so unless he can find another revered director to crib from, real soon, it won't be long before he winds up one of them critters in Farmer Vincent's Fritters.

"Director" Simon West started off with the atrociously moronic "Con Air," followed by the hideous "The General's Daughter" and "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider." Comes from the Michael Bay school of chaos-theory anti-directing; why is he still employed--anywhere?

Dominic Sena: "Kalifornia," "Swordfish," and "Gone In 60 Seconds." PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE CAMERA SIR. SECURITY!!!

(Scary: I like Nicolas Cage, but he's worked with each of these bozos AND Michael Bay.)

Almost forgot Renny Harlin of "Die Hard 2," "Cliffhanger," and "Deep Blue Sea." Oh, and "Cutthroat Island" and "The Long Kiss Goodnight" and...and...(choke) "Driven." OH MY GOD I said it--the name of the Unholy One. Get thee behind me, "Driven!" I cast thee out! May God have mercy upon your foul creator!!

Sad waste of potential: Tobe Hooper. He's supposedly directing "Return of the Living Dead 4" now. Sadder still: John Carpenter. When I say "sad," I mean I'm on the verge of tears writing that.

Jan DeBont. He was a respected cinematographer ("Die Hard") but then moved to the director chair. He made the first "Spedd", which was bad enough, but then made "Speed II", "Twister", "The haunting" and probably something else I am forgetting right now. He also is humble enough to play Stanley Kubrik "homages" in his flicks. Oh, and his next one is (gulp) "Tomb Raider II".

Oooh, good one, forgot about him. Your list of his directorial efforts is complete, but we see DeBont's name a lot more often because he produces other movies, including "SLC Punk," "Minority Report," and "Equilibrium." (He apparently hasn't worked as cinematographer since "Lethal Weapon 3," but a peek at his career as such (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Bont,+Jan+de) might reveal why he makes such awful, awful movies; he's been around them all his life. "Cujo?" "Clan of the Cave Bear?" "Who's That Girl?" "Shining Through?" Eeeeee.)

As bad as "Deanzilla" is, imagine what Jan's version might have been like.

"As bad as "Deanzilla" is, imagine what Jan's version might have been like."

It would have been better if for no other reason that it would have featured two monsters battling.

Squishy, old chap, I think you'd have to stretch a point to make JC an A-list director!  King of the B's, yes, no problem there.  Ah, what the heck, he's had a good run.  Hope he enjoys his retirement.

Maybe not A-list but I see lots of the guys who made their names in videos first winding up in hackland later on. F.Gary Gray, Anton Fuqua, etc. They'll also always be able to get commercial and video work.Lots of flash and bang but no ability to tell a story, perfect for commercials and videos.

Albert Pyun.

Nick