XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: mr@sandman.net   
      
   In article , Paul S. Person  wrote:   
      
   > I did read it.   
      
   > It is, indeed, his story that he did his best after Benicio del Toro   
   > bailed, and he may well be correct.   
      
   > And the finished product is what I am always thinking of when I   
   > attack his films. Does your "of course" mean that you agree that PJ   
   > is responsible for the finished form of both the /LOTR/ and the   
   > /Hobbit/ films? And that all blame accrues to him and cannot be   
   > pushed off on "accomplices"?   
      
   accomplice   
     noun   
     a person who helps another commit a crime.   
      
   Your narrow mind rears its head again.   
      
   There are no accomplices since no crime has been committed. You may dislike the   
   movies to your hearts content, but using this kind of schoolyard name calling   
   isn't really helping your credibility in a serious discussion about them.   
      
   Making a movie isn't the product of one person. You have screenplay writers,   
   producers, actors and a thousand other persons that contribute to the end   
   result.   
      
   There are thousands of movies made that aren't the vision of their directors   
   (hence the multitude of "Director's cut" out there). It's safe to say that the   
   Hobbit movies would be quite different had they been given the same type of   
   attention from the start by the same people.   
      
   Whether or not you would have liked *that* version more or less is pure   
   speculation, of course.   
      
   In fact, a lot of film productions that change directors during production turn   
   out to be real messes. Some example are A.I. that was directed by Kubrick and   
   then Spielberg when he died. Another is Exorcist: The Beginning and The Island   
   Of   
   Dr Moreau and last but not least, the Walking Dead TV-series. There are, of   
   course, productions that have survived such a change as well.   
      
   But mostly the problems arise from the producers, where the director is   
   severely   
   limited in applying his vision due to restrictions, edits, cuts, alterations   
   prompted by the producers. Famous movies are Terry Gilliam's Brazil, but you   
   have   
   X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Golden Compass, The Hunger Games and Spider-Man   
   3.   
      
   So, while the director takes the blame, and is forced (mostly) to own up to the   
   end result, the end result is always, always has, and always will be, the   
   result   
   of a myriad of decision-takers in the process.   
      
   --   
   Sandman   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)