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Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 13:26:16 -0800
From: Chip Hayes <jwhayes@attglobal.net>
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Subject: [OT] Re: The Future of Text Adventures II
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Neil Cerutti wrote:

> Why was Robert Wise's "The Haunting" so many truck-loads better
> than "Twister" director's recent special-effects-fest?

Because Wise is one the pre-eminent filmakers and story tellers ever to
grace a soundstage, while Jan de Bont is a mediocre ex-cameraman who got
real lucky directing a couple of formula SFX movies.  I've had the
privilage to watch Wise work on a set before (The Adromeda Strain)...
and also the pain of watching de Bont claim to be doing the same thing
(a very ugly hour spent on the set of Speed 2.)

The second I read that Dreamworks was re-making Jackson's novel, I was
cautiously excited.  The second I read who they'd hired as a director, I
knew it was going to be a disaster.

I had also put a great deal of blame on the screenwriter, David Self,
for so horrendously butchering both Shirley Jackson's novel and Neslon
Gidding's brilliant script (the '63 film).  His latest effort, Thirteen
Days, redeemed him in my eyes somewhat, and made me realize that de
Bont's Haunting was truly one man's egomaniacal still-birth.

Sorry about the OT rant.  Been really bugging me for a year now :-}

Chip

