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Intriguing! Nick Cave + THE CROW...
Merrick here...
A few months ago, all seemed to be going swimmingly on the Ed Pressman produced, Stephen Norrington readaptation of THE CROW (details HERE). Somewhere between the beginning of June and now...things changed...as they tend to do on Norrington projects.
Seems the always compelling Nick Cave (composer of THE ROAD and THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES, screenwriter of THE PROPOSITION) is being brought in to offer his interpretation of James O'Barr's source material.
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Pressman recently told TheWrap that none other than iconic musician and acclaimed screenwriter Nick Cave has come on to rewrite the script.
Hiring Cave to rewrite Norrington's script is a bold move, but it may prove to be worth it in the long run, as Cave may be the perfect choice to help resurrect the fading franchise.
...says The Wrap HERE.
Cave once scripted a GLADIATOR sequel for Russell Crowe, which tracked Crowe's Maximus through his afterlife (Roman gods), his reincarnation, and set his immortal character on a HIGHLANDER-esque journey into various combat arenas across time (like World War II and Viet Nam) ending in the modern day Pentagon (if I understand the premise correctly). What glorious madness. I've never actually read that script...never came across it for some reason. If anyone out there has it...and are willing to e-mail it...
Wonder if Cave will work any of his GLADIATOR thematics into his take on THE CROW?
--- Follow Merrick on Twitter! ---
Readers Talkback
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i'm a child!
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mr cave would get rid of all the mainstream shite - happy days are here again
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You might be a child, but I was just wondering something. Do we know who the very first "FIRST" poster was? I mean the oldest article with a Talkback where it happened. He/She should receive an award of some kind. Or be kicked really hard.
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July 27, 2010, 10:30 a.m. CST
I saw James O'Barr get screwed out of a room at Dragon Con one y
by JShanW
I was in line behind him at Con-Ops trying to get my room assignment (I'm an anime VA, they were starting anime programming that year) for the Con. They told him there must have been some mistake, they weren't providing him with a room, he'd have to find his own lodging, the Con only provided rooms for the bigger names. I thought to myself, "Shit, if they don't have a room for the guy who created The Crow, they damn sure don't have a room for the guy who puts voices in cartoon mouths..." -I was correct. Fortunately I knew some folks in Atlanta and crashed with them...and I saw O'Barr outside awhile later having a smoke...I think he put out a call on his website and ended up staying with some fans in ATL. Moral of the story? FUCK DRAGON*CON. Unless you were the lucky fan who had James O'Barr crash on your couch that year.
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I love the guys style, his talent has been going to waste for too many years now.
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seems to borrow HEAVILY from the Casca novels
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No reason to re-make it. No way will it be half as cool as the original.
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I bet you'll get some idiot like Mr Disgusting from his website trying to state the first Crow is "dated" or some ridiculous comment just because they will get behind the scenes access.
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Sounds like Highlander. Though it's something that I think Highlander handled quite badly. I mean, just ten minutes in WW2-ravaged France, and duelling with pistols? They could have had a whole film from that concept. Instead the bulk of the film is your average Mills and Boon 'Love in the Heather' type nonsense.
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I had pretty much written off The Crow franchise, this may be the best thing to happen to it.
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Is an awesome film. Cave + Crow sounds interesting.
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If you try to watch it today, it's cheesy as hell. At the time, though, it was my favorite movie ever...
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Could quite possibly be the most important comic book movie of the 90s. It's the one that made it okay for comic book movies to be dark and brooding. Had it not been for The Crow, I don't know if a film like Batman Begins or The Dark Knight would have been made. That being said, leave the franchise alone.
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Nick Cave has been watching too much Patrick Troughton Doctor Who.
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Needs Jon Polito.
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ZooTrain, not sure I would credit The Crow with making it OK to make dark and brooding comic movies. A little film that came out in 1989, Batman, was the one that probably deserves that credit. If anything, The Crow ushered in the Cyberpunk atmosphere that subsequent films such as Dark City (another Proyas creation) and the original Matrix used successfully.
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Cave once scripted a GLADIATOR sequel for Russell Crowe, which tracked Crowe's Maximus through his afterlife (Roman gods), his reincarnation, and set his immortal character on a HIGHLANDER-esque journey into various combat arenas across time (like World War II and Viet Nam) ending in the modern day Pentagon Aaaaaaahhhhhahahahahah!!!! Oh that's rich. That's a hum dinger. On the toilet so let's see if I can outdo that off the top of my head with a random aspect of it's own concept.. Ah. Here we go: Padme's Afterlife adventure. Promissing to open up the blue,glowing world of the force. At last we will see the afterlife of the starwars universe brought into focus. Padme will appear in blue, translucent form to several characters throughout the starwars timeline; influencing their motivations. It ends at the Jedi council chambers
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I thought that said Nic Cage for a second.
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i just know him as a singer, particularly for that "red right hand" song which brings the question, will it feature in Scream 4 at all since its been in the first 3.
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Love everything the man does, would definitely go see this in the theaters if he's attached to it.
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Hollywood is on a roll!
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I thought that said Nick CAGE, i was about to have a stroke.
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July 27, 2010, 11:51 a.m. CST
Gives me another idea. Indiana Jones and the gates of hell
by UltraTron
Indy is killed and since it's been established that he's god's chosen warrior, he must decend to hell to find a supernatural artifact that can seal the leaking hell gate
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But he's dead. Ooh... kind of like The Crow! We may be on to something here.
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Cave is one of my Top 3 favorite musicians, probably my favorit songwriter, and I wish he'd concentrate more on that. Was somewhat underwhelmed by the Bunny Munroe novel. Not that I didn't like Proposition and Jesse James, quite contrary, but I'd get more joy out of a new album and a concert or two. Granted, the morbidity of the subject matter fits Nick's style, but does anybody really care about theCrow?
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<p>There's a strange phenomena among younger people nowdays, not being able to appreciate film/tv/books/comics of the past.</p> <p>crappyfun- - and others like you -- you seem to lack any ability to see creative works in the context of their times. You seem to have bought the big lie that everything must be "bigger stronger faster".</p> <p>Really? You can't get into Brandon Lee's breakout role any? You really can't appreciate those uncommonly good Cure & NIN tracks that accompany his jaunts across the night skyline? You really can't appreciate the undead revenge visited on Funboy & the rest? "Mother is the word for God on the lips of all children" -- said as he purges a junkie of heroin and gives her and her daughter a 2nd chance.</p> <p>The Crow isn't even in my top 10 films.. I haven't seen it in years. But was it a great little genre film? Hell yes. It totally was the trailblazer for The Dark Knight.</p>
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Music OR Movies. Maybe it’s an acquired taste type thing? (i.e. following the sheep that follow the pretentious, goatee stroking, movie critics and muse o’s to try and seem intelligent). To me, all his stuff seems like a bunch of hot air. <p>As for the Crow. Shit the first movie is very dated at this stage. The yellowy lens filter crap is mostly to blame, and some of the dialogue. Respect to Lee though, but I don’t think renewing the franchise is quite going to have people in uproar claiming that this is going to rape anyone’s childhoods in fairness. I mean, its not like they’re remaking the Karate Kid or anything. <p> Wait a minute….
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And that Gladiator 2 script sounds stupid as fuck. Totally takes away from the meaning of the first film. You can't turn fucking Gladiator into Clash of the Titans. This dude Cave needs to stick to music.
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Whew!
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I dressed up like the crow once at Halloween. Embarrassing I know!! And not even that long ago either. Had fun though, off my bin on ecstasy and scored with a goth –chick with a nipple piercing and I got tangled up trying to take off the straps tied to my arms. Fuck I forgot about that till now. Ha! <br> Has anyone else here ever dressed up as the crow? Funny shit!! Good times!
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...just on general principle.<br> Any 'con that forces you to leave a room between presentations is lame. You'll need more than a pen to move my ass from Hall H next year at Comic-Con!
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Favorite line: "And I say, I'm dead, and I move."
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...everyone knows you don't point a gun at someone, even one supposedly loaded with blanks. F*cking amateur.
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...the complaints that were made AT THE TIME about The Crow.<p> Brandon Lee's dialogue delivery was somewhat corny, Ernie Hudson's performance wasn't super-good either.<p> But it was a VERY good interpretation of VERY different material for the times. A martial arts actor at the centre of movie that WASN'T just about martial arts was really different. The soundtrack was something totally different for audiences at the time. And then if you took the time to look into the story of how the source material was created, it was hard not to be blown away and see the whole project in a totally different light.<p> Now, one could debate the point and argue that a great movie shouldn't have to depend on the context of it's own times. It's like when people defend 2001: A Space Odyssey by saying that it makes sense if you read the book.<p> But I say movies like 2001 and The Crow stand up on their own merits because of what they were TRYING to do. I judge them by how CLOSE they got to meeting the target considering the constraints they were under, rather than judging them by how far they were from the target if only they'd had a bigger budget, or better technology, or better actors, or whatever.<p> When you compare apples to apples, The Crow definitely comes out as a shining example. For example, The Crow and Johnny Mneumonic were both experiments in bringing a somewhat underground aesthetic to the big screen. They both featured somewhat similar soundtracks, and they had similar budget constraints. The Crow came out in 1994 and Johnny Mneumonic came out in 1995. But The Crow came WAY closer to hitting the sweet spot than Johnny Mneumonic did.<p> To paraphrase Sergeant Lincoln Osiris, "the movie's about emotionality!"
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that I misread the title as nick cage + the crow...that would be pretty intriguing...
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<p>As for "one could debate the point and argue that a great movie shouldn't have to depend on the context of it's own times."></p> <p>Yeah, I could see that. "It must make its own statement" kind of a mentality. For me though, my understanding of the context (when, how, where it was made) makes me enjoy creative work much more. This approach incorporates an interest in craft, history, techniques, and the personalities involved. It also opens the door to comparison as you've done with The Crow & Johnny Mneumonic. </p> <p>That latter movie was such a disappointment.. I am a huge long-time William Gibson fan. Oh but if that film had been done right.. what a hardboiled sci-fi franchise we could have seen.</p>
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Probably 2nd best 90's alternative soundtrack behind "Singles"
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I thought that was going to be the cyber punk movie to end all movies, how wrong I was. The Judgement Night soundtrack was good too.
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It was a one-off, a brilliantly dark and tragic tale of love, loss and revenge.<p>Now we get the nipple who ruined the last half-decent Alan Moore book stepping up to piss all over it, together with the spectacularly-overrated Australian version of Morrissey.<p>Fuck me, what a travesty...
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Cave is an incredibly talented artist who could bring a "Dark Knight" sensibility to the project. Anyone unfamiliar with Cave's music, or just knows him for the Red Right Hand song that was used in X Files, should listen to his CD Murder Ballads. Creepy, haunting, funny and brilliant. Also one of the best live performers on the planet. This has the potential to be VERY cool.
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The Crow could just end up being another crapfest of movie, but with him working the rewrites he bring it justice
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I laughed but now seeing I misread, is it sad them I'm kind of let down?
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All movies over five years old are dated.
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... the modern 'let's remake everything' approach in Hollywood pisses me off. And, I'm a big fan of the original Crow movie. But, fuck it, Nick Cave and the guy that directed Blade?!? I'm up for it.
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hell yeah man. nick can rock the pants off the crow vengeance material. Im thinking like... understated cool like get carter but with lots more of the noisy bothersome crow spirit who forces the wronged soul up out of the grave to get revenge. nick love them birds. wewt.
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July 27, 2010, 1:57 p.m. CST
I'd rather see a Johnny Mneumonic remake than a Crow remake.
by Royston Lodge
Why not re-make a movie that had good source material, tried to bring it to the big screen, but FAILED to pull it off?<p> With a DISCIPLINED use of CGI and a good actor, like maybe Emile Hirsh or someone like that, the story could be turned into a movie REALLY well today.<p> Like, instead of having to build sets in a Toronto warehouse, and having them end up looking REALLY shitting because of your low budget, today you could shoot the movie in the streets of a real city and then use CGI to insert any cyberpunk elements into the background like neon signs, corporate logos, extra buildings, futuristic mass transit trains, etc, etc. That would be a correct use for CGI - to insert elements into a scene that can't really be done practically, and shooting in a real city will almost always look "grittier" than shooting on a soundstage, no matter how good the set design is. Compare The Dark Knight to Batman (1989). Heck, you can even compare The Dark Knight to Blade Runner! Blade Runner's probably the best completely artificial movie city ever filmed, and yet it still ends up "looking like a film set", albeit a really good one.<p> Now seems like a perfect time for a disciplined director to make the proverbial "good" William Gibson movie. Nolan has proven that you can get away with shooting in a city like Chicago for a big-assed action movie. CGI technology is fuckin' awesome now AND we've seen enough REALLY BAD EXAMPLES of how CGI can ruin a movie that a disciplined director SHOULD be able to avoid making those kinds of mistakes.<p> There are plenty of rust-belt cities in the USA that would be perfect as stand-ins for William Gibson's environments. Hell, I bet Detroit would let you demolish entire blocks of abandoned downtown buildings if you wanted to!
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NO THANK YOU... The power of Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott to not let a sequel happen or the intelligence or both... run-on sentence done.
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no one would be considering the Crow a classic. As it's now, the movie has a couple of interesting scenes, but it's not that spectacular.
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The Crow would have been even stronger, with a complete performance from him. He was amazing in the few scenes they got. It would have been awesome to see where his career would have gone from there.
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have been chewing through the Nick Cave canon this summer, guy is a serious fucking auteur voice. Proposition was a fantastic script, psyched for what he'd do with this property...
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=felSW_NiP58 I've got a feeling he wan't taking the job too seriously.
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But only if John Hillcoat or a better director took over. Fuck it, why not let Cave have a shot at it? Norrington blows. <p>And GODDAMN. I'd love to see that GLADIATOR sequel. It'd be MAXIMUS'S BOGUS JOURNEY.
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Props for your "Murder Ballads" love. That album is endlessly listenable.
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oops sorry try this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=felSW_NiP58
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Nick Cave is a "spectacularly-overrated Australian version of Morrissey"? What the fuck Nick Cave songs are you listening to? <p>Listen to "There She Goes My Beautiful World" or "Stagger Lee." There's a fierce, vulgar, BIBLICAL intensity in Cave's music that Morrissey can't touch.
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Your handle is immortal.
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Easily. There isn't much competition outside of "The Rocketeer," "Batman Returns," and "Dick Tracy." I don't think it would have the cult-like status/following if Brandon Lee hadn't died during filming, but we'll never know.
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I named my son after Brandon Lee. He is Eric Draven. But that being said, I could go for a new adaptation if it is faithful to James O'Barr's excellent graphic novel. I never liked that the original movie strayed so far from the source material. The darker the tone, the better. And no Bullshit about losing his powers near the end. That's the worst part of the original.
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You're right.
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FANOFSCOTTPILGRIMFANSFAN next. And soon.
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SCOTTPILGRIMFAN has made quite the mark in his short time trolling here.
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Soon, indeed.
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Yes, subtract Norrington and insert an interesting, competent director, and then it becomes really intriguing.
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. . . is the PG-13 cute lil' girl sidekick scenes crammed into a darn good R rated flick. And is the sequel any good? Just realized I never saw it. I think Iggy Pop is in it. Or did I have a weird dream . . . ?
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Then again, I'm not much of a fan of the first CROW, either. I know, turn in my geek card and all that, but I was actually turned off by Lee's overdone performance. <p>I did get a kick out of the soundtrack for both movies, though.
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I'd love to see ol' Rusty painted up like a homeless mime and hurling his spectral Telephone of Justice at the gang of hotel managers that killed his family.
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I agree; I re-read the original graphic novel after several years and if they did it exactly like the novel, I'd be there. Otherwise, I dunno. I better start losing some weight for Halloween, though, just in case.
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- Vincent Perez is a better actor than Brandon Lee.<p> - Mia Kirshner is fuckin' hot!<p> - Richard Brooks was pretty awesome as the bad guy.<p> - Iggy Pop was great as one of the bad guy's henchmen.<p> Supposedly, there's a phantom director's cut out there that greatly improves the flick as well.
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That being said. Nick I love you, you can do no wrong in my eyes. Get Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen and throw them in the mix too!
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staring at her in that movie was a pleasure. those eyes just swallowed your soul in a good way. still hard to think that we're expected to believe the Sarah from Part 1 grew into her but hey. lol
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last i checked they said this was a new story with new characters so they can call it a remake or reboot all they want, just sounds like another sequel to me.
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The rumours about the storyline 'sequel' to Gladiator made me almost piss myself with hysterics....Maximus in the Pentagon....dear God!!!!
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but Murder Ballads wins for storytelling. Of course, much of it was based on traditional songs. But Cave does Western gothic like no other. Kinda wish he was writing a Ghost Rider script instead of the Crow. If you really want the dark, fucked up shit, listen to his early work with the Birthday Party. Rats in Paradise!
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Might as well go all the way with this pointless nonsense. Get "R-Patz" in to play The Crow and have Kri-Stew" in as the love interest. Have her come back at the end, and the two can chat about something meaningful in a meadow of flowers. It's the only way it'll be a success. The original was a niche film at best. Mass-market something like this and you're fucking yourself.
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Film and graphic novel were each perfect in their own ways and both still stand head and shoulders above virtually everything else in the genre. As far as the Crow "franchise" goes, it was all downhill from there. Having said that, a "reboot" or "remake" WOULD work--but only, I repeat, ONLY, if they go back to the original graphic novel by O'Barr (who is a VERY cool guy in person btw) and do a completely different take on the source material. Maybe even in black & white. THAT would be cool. Unfortunately, I doubt that's what they'll do.
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Could only be more predictable if they'd got Gaiman to script it. Fuck this remake - I love Norrington, but unless they make the fucking comic book as is, what's the point? And the 1994 movie holds up just fine, you philistines. They'll never top that movie, and it seems pointless to try. Let Norrington do something original. He's the best kept secret in Hollywood - a truly original director. No wonder the studios keep trying to fuck him over - he's too creative for them...
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July 27, 2010, 6:42 p.m. CST
Yuo're one microscopic cog in his catatstrophic plan...
by Anything But Tangerines
Designed and directed by his Red Right Hand! Respect the Cave
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speel ckech
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July 27, 2010, 7:34 p.m. CST
call me crazy, but that Gladiator sounds on par with Godfather I
by JackSlater4
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was great, but had nearly nothing at all to do with the funnybooks. I'd love to see this movie be made extremely off-off-studio, and just tackle all the fucked up theme's in O'Barr's source material. Nick Cave makes me think of exactly that. Something tells me we'll get a CGI crow and wirework from Eric Draven, though.
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Stay golden, ponyboy. Cave's Aussie.
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July 27, 2010, 7:42 p.m. CST
The Crow doesn't need to be rewritten or remade, the movie's per
by ghost5234
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Might as well have a script from an awesome writer. 'The Proposition' is dark, dirty, brutal and heartbreaking. Which means that once Akiva Goldsman is finished rewriting Nick Cave's draft, The Crow remake will be the opposite of all of those things.
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...but he tried.
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Pretty flat over the middle, fucking insane ending. Maximus became the President of the United States, I shit you not.
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ice-skate uphill." An appropriate quote to describe all the crow 'sequels' we got (and possibly the future of Norrington's version). But I'm all for Nick Cave's involvement. It should prove interesting. Oh, and whoever mentioned above that the soundtrack was killer, I totally agree.
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But the idea for that sequel sounds so completely bat-shit crazy that I'd probably at least go see it.
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No new solo albums or Bad Seed albums coming any time soon, but - a new Grinderman album is hitting in a couple of months. I really liked the first Grinderman album (especially No Pussy Blues - great song), so I'm definitely looking forward to it.
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...now that I'd pay to see. As long as Grinderman do the OST.
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His last novel, "The Death of Bunny Monroe" was just awful, in my humble opinion. ...Come to think of it, wasn't that crazy about "And the Ass Saw the Angel", either. Which is kind of crazy, since he's an amazing lyricist/songwriter. ...And The Proposition is a classic, in my, uh, humble opinion.
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New Grinderman album in a couple months?! Awesome. I, too, really liked the first album. I honestly don't really know much about it, but didn't some--if not all--of the Bad Seeds play on it? <p> Last Bad Seeds Album, "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" was great as well. I'd place it a bit higher than the Grinderman album, but they're both pretty...pretty solid. <p> "...But she just didn't want to. She just never wants to..."
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He's an Aussie. <p>I'm on here slagging the miserable bleeder off and even I got that right!
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The Proposition was a fucked up piece of pretentious cinema and I shudder to how he will butcher The Crow material. Still I can't help but hope that there will be at least one more decent The Crow movie in my lifetime.
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"And the mercy seat is waiting<br> And I think my head is burning<br> And in a way I'm yearning<br> To be done with all this measuring of truth.<br> An eye for an eye<br> And a tooth for a tooth<br> And anyway I told the truth<br> And I'm not afraid to die." <br><br>Yeah, so, of course, all remakes are, at best, automatically suspect (I want to STRANGLE the assholes who even got it into their heads to remake the UNASSAILABLY BRILLIANT Let The Right One In), but something tells me Cave can handle this...
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the original was great. good soundtrack too. Brandon had the right degree of anger and sadness. Ive talked with o'Barr at cons and he is a nice guy but seems depressed as hell.
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But rebooting with a new character, possibly female crow?
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but he's drunk off his ass most of the time and kind of a misogynist to boot, but hey, nobody's perfect.
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Casablanca. The Maltese Falcon. Gone With the Wind. Bicycle Thieves. 8 1/2. Let's remake 'em! (Assholes.)
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Kooky Gladiator sequel or not, Cave's a very talented writer. A script of his landed on the Black List last year called The Wettest County and it was pretty effing awesome. I love the idea of him handling The Crow.
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I relate it to Grunge and 90's cinema. The brand is damaged with all of those sequels... Time to move on to better things.
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In fact, I mentioned it in a previous talkback to a story Merrick wrote. Is that where you heard the story points Merrick? If I remember correctly, we don't see Maximus battling through time until the final pages in a montage that ends with him rubbing his hands with soap in a Pentagon bathroom much the way he used to rub his hands with dirt on the battlefield.
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July 28, 2010, 6:44 p.m. CST
Johnny Cash's cover of "The Mercy Seat" is better than Caves
by D.Vader
Sorry but it's true.
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That Maximus has to kill, if I remember right.
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Holy crap that would be a depressing end. From fighting in Germania to washing your hands in a Pentagon bathroom. Directing a bunch of computer wizkids to point a video target at some insurgents 8,000 miles away. That would make me really sad.
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Never thought I would say it, but Body of Lies could have actually been a Gladiator sequel. Hurts my head just thinking about it. But that script would have actually made it possible. Insane and stupid (daring?), but possible.
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