Joel Schumacher, Director With a Flair for the Distinctive, Dies at 80 (hollywoodreporter.com) 21
Joel Schumacher, the writer-director who came from a world of window dressing and costume design to bring a singular style to films including St. Elmo's Fire, Flatliners and a pair of Batman movies, died Monday. He was 80. From a report: Schumacher died after a yearlong battle with cancer, a representative announced. Schumacher's directorial body of work also included the horror comedy The Lost Boys (1987), which he was handed after Richard Donner passed on it to helm Lethal Weapon; the John Grisham thrillers The Client (1994) and A Time to Kill (1996); and 8MM (1999), the noirish drama starring Nicolas Cage. The Warner Bros. regular dealt with dark themes with the medical thrillers Flatliners (1990) and Dying Young (1991), both starring Julia Roberts, and Falling Down (1993), with Michael Douglas playing an unhinged man who embarks on a violent rampage all around Los Angeles. Schumacher had an uncanny ability to recognize young talent, and he cast members of "The Brat Pack" -- including Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy -- in St. Elmo's Fire (1985). He also boosted the careers of other young actors like Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland, Matthew McConaughey and Colin Farrell by giving them prominent parts in his films.
Damn. (Score:2, Funny)
I guess we will now never see Batman and Robin 2: Electric Bataloo
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A stain on the man's work.
I had forgotten I liked a lot of what he had done in the past. I get he had a vision for Batman, but that was certainly a setback for that genre.
I think I'll watch St. Elmos Fire since I barely remember it now!
Rest in peace you lovable bastard!
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I think I'll watch St. Elmos Fire since I barely remember it now!
It's not very good, but Flatliners is really good.
Falling Down is an amazing bit of storytelling.
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Of all the days without mod points...
(-666; Hateful Troll)
Fuck off, you anti-Semitic, anti-gay cunt.
Neither Jewishness nor homosexuality have anything to do with paedophilia, you sick fuck.
What? (Score:2)
You've completely lost us. I think we have as little idea what you're going on about now as you do.
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When confused, add more parentheses.
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Don't judge him by the Batman movies too much. (Score:2)
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Yeah, Flatliners is great, and The Lost Boys. I remember being really impressed with Falling Down but it's been a couple of decades and I'm not sure if that's aged as well.
Bat Nipples (Score:2)
Rest in Bat Codpiece.
8mm (Score:2)
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What a dark, fabulously under-rated flick. If you like "true crime" film noir like Se7en and Silence of the Lambs, you owe it to yourself to put 8mm on your list. Nicholas Cage is his usual annoying self but it features world-class acting by James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare (the tall blonde Swede from Fargo who fed Steve Buscemi into the woodchipper), and Joaquin Phoenix. Not a good "first date" movie, but that's what makes it great. :-)
I haven't watched that in almost 2 decades. Might have to wrangle up a copy tonight. I recall liking it. Sony (with no involvement from Schumacher) made a horrible sequel to it back in 2005.
Falling Down (Score:3)
Ill smoke one for that guy for that movie. They kept censoring it more and more, but all through the 90s it was on TV. Seen it like hundreds of times. Great movie and infinitely re-watchable for me. Totally sums up america then, now and probably forevermore. Racism, economic inequality, the military industrial complex, toxic masculinity, environmental decline, the drug war, consumerism and the soullessness of american megacities.. its got it all. It could easily predict all the problems of the current age 30 years ago... fantastic movie. Michael Douglas was never better.