ACCENT brought in director Brett Ratner, of "Prison Break" and "Rush Hour" fame, to talk in the University Auditorium Tuesday. The crowd was small due to the rain storms, but he had enough ego to fill the room.
I hoped to learn more about some upcoming movies from him, but he spoke about perseverance--never give up, fight for your dreams, and so on.
Brett gave a spiel on how he was accepted to NYU at 16 and became interested in music videos. He told stories about meeting Steven Spielberg, working on "Rush Hour" and casting Nicolas Cage in "The Family Man."
When it came to Q & A time, most asked how they can get into the Hollywood business as well--some ran up to him and handed him scripts, business cards and short films.
Here were the three questions I found most interesting:
1. Someone asked how he changed characters that have already been pre-established in previous movies. In particular, he discussed how he made Anthony Hopkins act like Hannibal Lecter for "Red Dragon." Ratner said he told Hopkins to stand still instead of walk around to appear scarier than in previous movies.
2. Another good question dealt with working with actors on set. Ratner said that Edward Norton is probably the toughest actor to deal with in the film industry--while working on "Red Dragon," Ratner and Norton often conflicted on how his character should express emotions.
3. The last good question was mine, and I know it was good because someone tapped me on the shoulder afterward and said, "Good question." So if two people think so, then it is!
I asked about the recent trend in Hollywood of making tons of remakes and sequels. I asked where the originality had gone.
Ratner was going to direct a remake ("Conan") and now is attached to a sequel ("Beverly Hills Cop IV"). Both are films that both started off as franchises in the 80's.
"The 70's was a time of innovation," he said. "You could walk into a studio with any artistic film and it would get made. Now the studios want a sure-thing."
"They want remakes and sequels because people like those already established characters," Ratner continued. "A movie in the 70's could have been made for several million dollars. I made 'X-Men 3' with $230 million."
"The studios have all become conglomerates. They've all become pencil-pushers," he said. "But sometimes you get a hit, like my friend Todd Phillips' movie over the summer ['The Hangover']."
"I'll stick to franchises myself," he added.
He ended talking about how he dates supermodels, lives in a $20 million mansion and owns a fleet of expensive cars.
What it all comes down to though, is not making money, but telling a story. I wonder what stories Ratner has left to tell (that are not about himself).
