We Bought a Zoo (Cameron Crowe)

[Winston*]

EgnhnwOsNVM

Apparently you don't need any special knowledge to run a zoo.

[elixir]

LEON!!!!!

This looks awful.

[Watashi]

I want the old Say Anything Cameron Crowe back.

[Boner M]

Looks like Elizabethtown with animal pratfalls.

[B-side]

"I like the animals, but I LOVE the humans."

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/mfw/mfwputin.jpg

[Lucky]

I haven't given up hope yet. Crowe can pull off schmaltz with the right cast.

[Boner M]

It's based on a true story, ya cynical cunce.

[Dukefrukem]

so THIS is why Scarlett Johansson leaked those pics....

[Mara]

What a ridiculous premise.

And an odd amount of that trailer was spent commenting on the attractiveness of the cast.

[Kurosawa Fan]

so THIS is why Scarlett Johansson leaked those pics....

:lol:

Considering she contacted the FBI, I highly doubt that.

EDIT: Oh, and this looks awful. What the hell happened to Cameron Crowe?

[Fezzik]

EDIT: Oh, and this looks awful. What the hell happened to Cameron Crowe?

The only thing I can figure is that once he wrote and made Almost Famous, which was his most personal story (and is credited with helping reconcile his real-life mother and sister) that he just didn't care as much anymore? He is also doing some music documentaries, and music has always been a love of his, so maybe there will be some passion there.


Man I love all of Crowe's old stuff. Say Anything... and Almost Famous are amongst my favorite films, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Jerry Maguire are treasured parts of my DVD collection, and Singles wasn't bad either.

[number8]

Let's be real here. Cameron Crowe was never a great filmmaker with a range of things to say. He makes pretty good feel-good schmaltzy romances. It stands to reason that he'd make a few personal, raw ones when he was younger and shoots blanks when he's older. Nothing happened. It's just what it is.

[number8]

Also, Patrick Fugit is in this. Man, that guy.

[Boner M]

Let's be real here. Cameron Crowe was never a great filmmaker with a range of things to say. He makes pretty good feel-good schmaltzy romances. It stands to reason that he'd make a few personal, raw ones when he was younger and shoots blanks when he's older. Nothing happened. It's just what it is.
Exactly. Family fare like this is playing to his strengths, if anything.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Let's be real here. Cameron Crowe was never a great filmmaker with a range of things to say. He makes pretty good feel-good schmaltzy romances. It stands to reason that he'd make a few personal, raw ones when he was younger and shoots blanks when he's older. Nothing happened. It's just what it is.

I think that's a fair criticism, but even working within that genre, he was never as paint-by-numbers as he has been with his last few projects. There's no feeling of inspiration anymore. He just slaps trope after trope on the screen without any thought. Heck, even his music choices feel uninspired. Couldn't say that ten years ago.

EDIT: To put it plainly, there seems to be no passion in his filmmaking, which is a definite change from his early work. It's still genre filmmaking, but without any life.

[Henry Gale]

I thought the last 15 minutes of Elizabethtown were fairly enjoyable (and the soundtracks had a lot of replay value for me at the time). Can't say I remember much else aside from Orlando Bloom's bad American accent and My Morning Jacket doing "Freebird", though.

This trailer doesn't even seem like it's a real thing. It just feels like they put the movie into a high-tech automatic trailer-machine and this is what it spat out. The whole rhythm of it, with every emotional beat and space for "inspirational" dialogue feels like it could be any awards season family drama from the last five years, "Hoppipolla" included. So I still have some hope that this could be not-terrible, but we'll have to wait and see. Just some of that dialogue... geez.

[[ETM]]

I hate these "now you don't have to see the movie at all" trailers...

[kopello]

Ehhhhhhhh no thanks, looks like a really bad family movie.

[Irish]

The only thing I can figure is that once he wrote and made Almost Famous, which was his most personal story (and is credited with helping reconcile his real-life mother and sister) that he just didn't care as much anymore?

I imagine it's difficult for him to get anything made in the current environment of franchise-first, reboots, and remakes. He's only made 2 movies in the last 10 years, and both of them had middling critical and commercial success. (I doubt something like Almost Famous would get made today).

[Watashi]

I imagine it's difficult for him to get anything made in the current environment of franchise-first, reboots, and remakes. He's only made 2 movies in the last 10 years, and both of them had middling critical and commercial success. (I doubt something like Almost Famous would get made today).

Um, yes it would.

Considering tons of different movies get made on a weekly basis, I don't see how a coming-of-age movie about rock music wouldn't be one of them.

[Irish]

Let's be real here. Cameron Crowe was never a great filmmaker with a range of things to say. He makes pretty good feel-good schmaltzy romances. It stands to reason that he'd make a few personal, raw ones when he was younger and shoots blanks when he's older. Nothing happened. It's just what it is.

You're giving him the short shrift here. Vanilla Sky and Fast Times are schmaltzy romances? (Yes, I know he didn't direct Fast Times). As for the age thing, dunno what to say about that. He was over 40 when he made Almost Famous.

Seems like you're painting his entire career with the brush of Jerry Maguire, which wasn't about romance but became overwhelmed in the public imagination because of "You had me at hello."

Almost all of his films are about authenticity, featuring characters who are desperately afraid of being inauthentic (Say Anything), phony as hell and hating themselves for it (Jerry Maguire), characters who struggle with the difference (Almost Famous) or living a completely fake life and unaware of it (Vanilla Sky).

Sure, he uses romance a lot of the time to explore that, but dinging him for it is like criticizing Spike Lee for bringing up race or Oliver Stone for making another movie about macho men and the politics of power.

[Irish]

Um, yes it would.

Considering tons of different movies get made on a weekly basis, I don't see how a coming-of-age movie about rock music wouldn't be one of them.

It was made in the Independent Age of Miramax Miracles, which no longer exists.

Almost Famous wasn't based on any existing IP, didn't have an established audience, cast no marquee stars, and didn't easily fit into any one genre.

I think Crowe would struggle to get a movie like that made today, because the environment is totally different. Pick the right interview with some of his contemporaries, like Stone and Lee, and you'll see them bitch about it.

[number8]

You're giving him the short shrift here. Vanilla Sky and Fast Times are schmaltzy romances? (Yes, I know he didn't direct Fast Times). As for the age thing, dunno what to say about that. He was over 40 when he made Almost Famous.

Seems like you're painting his entire career with the brush of Jerry Maguire, which wasn't about romance but became overwhelmed in the public imagination because of "You had me at hello."

Almost all of his films are about authenticity, featuring characters who are desperately afraid of being inauthentic (Say Anything), phony as hell and hating themselves for it (Jerry Maguire), characters who struggle with the difference (Almost Famous) or living a completely fake life and unaware of it (Vanilla Sky).

Sure, he uses romance a lot of the time to explore that, but dinging him for it is like criticizing Spike Lee for bringing up race or Oliver Stone for making another movie about macho men and the politics of power.

Nope, none of them are any more than that to me. They're fluff.

[Ezee E]

Elizabethtown is just plain awful. Might be on one of my worst movies list.

[Irish]

I liked this quite a bit, but then I like Crowe and I like Damon. The story beats are straight out of Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie. The film makes awkward and obvious lunges toward your heat strings, and the overall effect is pure saccharin. The warmth of the story and an excellent cast make up for that a bit, but not enough.

It's not a good movie, but a pleasant enough diversion.

[MadMan]

I still want to see this, for reasons I don't understand or truly know.

[Morris Schæffer]

I still want to see this, for reasons I don't understand or truly know.

Intriguing. :lol:

[eternity]

The third act is terrible, but otherwise it's a small return to form for Crowe.

[Lucky]

The family friendly vibe really diluted the whole experience for me. Felt more like a fairy tale even for saccharine Crowe standards.

[Pop Trash]

The family friendly vibe really diluted the whole experience for me. Felt more like a fairy tale even for saccharine Crowe standards.

Yeah, unfortunately I felt the same way. I really wanted to like this too, but when it wasn't cringe-worthy it was just bland. I like Crowe as a person and Say Anything (and Fast Times which he wrote) is one of the best high school movies of the past 40 years, but KF is right that he's been phoning it in lately.