Director Gilliam Hates TRANSFORMERS 3, TINTIN And THE DARK KNIGHT. He’s Jealous Of Spielberg And Cameron

Terry Gilliam is the director (also Monty Phyton alum) who brought us Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, The Fisher King, Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas, The Brothers Grimm, The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus. So to me, Gilliam is a pretty accomplished filmmaker, he oughtta give himself a pat on the back. But apparently he’s holding grudges.
He talked to Geoff Boucher of Hero Complex and confessed to not liking some of the movies that were popular in recent years..

Gilliam disliked Transformers: Dark Of The Moon and this is his reason..

“It’s horrible and there’s all these phallic things going on. I just couldn’t even deal with it. C’mon, leave some room for me, as the audience. The audience is totally excluded, you just sit there and watch the explosions. I couldn’t tell you what the movie was about.
…with ‘Transformers,’ with the building falling down and everything, there are great images but how can people slide down a crashing building without consequence, without physics? It’s just numbing. The movie hammers the audience into submission.”

Ok, I can agree with that, I too disliked Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, I think a lot of people did, so no argument here but the next one is blasphemy to me. Gilliam said he’s had enough of composer John Williams‘ music..

”John Williams is a great musician but, wow, enough John. It isn’t his choice, of course, it’s the directors who allow him to take over a film and tell you exactly what you should be feeling every second of every minute of the film. I want people to come out with very different ideas of what the film is so they are real participants in the film as opposed to just paying observers. Most films now won’t let you in.”

Wow! Seriously?! You don’t talk smack like that about one of the greatest score composers in the history of cinema.
I can listen to any Williams’ music, old and new, til the day I die. I think Gilliam should check out the score for the upcoming film WAR HORSE.

One of my favorite films this year is The Adventures Of Tintin because it felt like I was on a roller coaster ride but that’s the same exact reason why Gilliam disliked it..

“I don’t want to pick on certain films but it’s opened in Europe and I’ve seen it and it’s also relentless. Unrelenting. Can you just slow down for a moment? There is no arc of the character for once, at least, it’s just, ‘Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, and now get ready for the sequel.’ Technically, it’s phenomenal. The chase scene is extraordinary but it’s strange that everyone is excited that it’s a single camera move but, um, it’s an animated film! Big deal. I read one article that said that they had to put several Tintin stories in there to pack it out. But actually you didn’t. Just tell one and slow down a bit and let people breathe. I think there’s an insecurity because it’s not even a roller coaster anymore; because at least a roller coaster slows down at some point and has dips and tension.”

Wait! He’s not done yet. Gilliam also punches Nolan’s excellent films, The Dark Knight and Inception in the face…

“The car chase stuff in ‘Dark Knight’ is a video game; it is shot-for-shot, as you would get it in a video game like Grand Theft Auto. He’s got a weird balance; he understands all of that – the energy of it – so he chooses to put it in there yet he’s also a very intelligent filmmaker who can do all sorts of things. He’s incredibly good. With ’Inception,’ I wondered why all of the dreams were action movies. Don’t people have other dreams? And what’s interesting about the films are they are asexual. Maybe that’s the problem. Women can represent danger in them but no one seems to be having sex in these movies. In society overall, we have all this porn, 24 hours a day, so everyone can [masturbate] but I wonder is anyone having real sex anymore? I ask myself these questions.”

That’s hilarious!
So what Inception was missing was that nobody had sex in the film?!
I think you should keep that porn-watching business to yourself, Mr. Gilliam!

So what is it that really ticks him off? Why is Gilliam so grumpy? Apparently it’s because he feels that he never gets allowed to play the same toys that the other big boys get to work with..

“I always wanted to do more with the camera when I was younger. When I first started seeing stuff that Spielberg was doing I remember thinking, ‘God, how does he move the camera like that?’ That’s brilliant.’ And even Jim Cameron, too, I was so envious of that stuff. I know I can’t do it. I don’t have the money to do it. And I don’t actually quite have the skills. The closest I ever got was stealing the tracking shots from ‘Paths of Glory‘ for ‘Brazil.’ All those tracking shots of Kirk Douglas in the trenches, that’s where I got it from. Those were the most elaborate shots I ever did. My stuff is really old, classical [stuff]. There’s a wide shot, a mid-shot and a close. [Instead] it’s about using juxtaposition or you counter something and let the ironies float through. To me it’s always been about the ideas. It’s not the technical skill because I’ve been limited in that.”

Somebody wise once said to me.. mockery comes from envy. Gilliams’ complaints are the embodiment of exactly that.