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I agree with (most of) this article, and I also believe that Lex should return.

Does anyone want to wager how long it will take for Lex to behave badly enough for Poland to re-ban him?

Again Jeff, he picked Lex. Fewer bad decisions have ever been made outside of that time Portland decided to go with Sam Bowie over MJ. Lex is David Poland's SAM BOWIE.

Anyone missing Lex should follow him on Twitter. He's in fine form there.

lex never went anywhere, he's been posting all along, so how can he 'return' exactly?

Funny how Lex doesn't pull his shtick at Well's HE-Woman Haters Movie Club.

I think these comments tell us as much about those of you who have to comment on and provoke Lex as it does about him.

This does not include those of you commenting on the commenting.

Nothing more exciting than a conversation about an industry changing paradigm shift that ends up being all about Lex. Pathetic. And so very boring.

"I think these comments tell us as much about those of you who have to comment on and provoke Lex as it does about him."

No, it tells us you are stunningly tone-deaf and hypocritical in regards to Lex. I've yet to see you answer the women here like Leah and Lota who Lex has harassed with VAG SQWACK talk. YOU banned him and now he's back to insult. So again, it's OUR fault the circus is back in town.

Your white suit is shit-brown David when it comes to Lex and you know it. But dig your heels in.

I must have missed something, and I mean this in the most genuine of fashions, because I truly do not know, but why is PRINCE OF PERSIA, still months away from being released being labeled as problem child?

I dont know what the gamers reaction was to the trailer, (I'm sure IOIOIO does), but as I recall the reaction to the original MUMMY trailer wasn't too hot either and that turned out okay, at least box office wise. I can't say that after seeing the trailer that PRINCE OF PERSIA is the bomb waiting to happen. Sometimes a underwhelming trailer leads to a decent movie, and a great trailer, (I'm looking at you TERMINATOR SALVATION, but the 1st trailer, not that 2nd one that gave away everything, leads to a crappy movie.

All that being said, why is PRINCE OF PERSIA being written off by you, Dave, before a single box office dollar is counted? And especially from a produce who has delivered the goods time and time again. When you look at his record, 3 Pirates movies, 2 National Treasures, Bad Boys 11, even G-Force, which I'm sure will do decent DVD business, why the dissing of POP?

bulldog68, for some reason, Poland thinks that Christmas Carol, a hyper-expensive niche film that won't see profitability for a year (assuming the DVD does any numbers at all when it streets next November) was a wise move by Cook and the studio, but Prince of Persia, a similarly priced Bruckheimer actioner with potentially strong company-wide franchise opportunities, was not. Shrug.

Dave's opinion on PoP seems to be that Jakey G does not look the part, and JB does not have good taste and spends too much money.

If I sense any issue with it, it's the Mike Newell is directing a videogame action movie. I was a big fan of the original PoP game like 15 or however many years ago that was. Great gfx at the time. Does not feel like a Mike Newell movie. Michael Bay was originally attached before TransFormers $$ kept him in for the sequels. I think he would have been more in tune with the mindless cool swordfighting action this movie deserves.

DP, are you serious?

i read this thread last night (obviously because i commented above, i see you've removed lex's comments) and you consider the extremely innocuous comments made above to and about lex - who is supposedly 'banned' - as 'provoking' him? again, bizarrely blaming the other commenters for lex's behavior?

i know you won't, but would you please explain your rationale behind why lex isn't responsible for his behaviour and we are? because you honestly sound like a bit of a nutjob when it comes to lex, no lie

I take all of Dave's comments on a new Zemeckis movie with a grain of salt. RZ's in that box along with Eddie Murphy, Steven Soderbergh, and a few others than can do no wrong. He has favorites. At least he's honest about them.

I think if David meant what he said above, he should ban all posters that he finds 'pathetic' and 'boring' and then release Lex (who he obviously considers to be neither of those things) to run loose.

Martin - since when?

And to get back on the mandated topic of this thread - I agree with most of the article as well, although I think I'm more skeptical about Bruckheimer's position as it seems like he may begin to chafe under what seems to be a regime less willing to indulge him and make his traditional brand of movies. But what do I know.

Christian... oy. Not going through this again. Leah and Lota have actually been more thoughtful and intelligent about Lex than J-Mc, IO and others. And of course, I wasn't even talking about you.

And Wreck, as usual, you decide what I said even when I didn't say it. I did NOT ever say that Christmas Carol was a wise investment. I just said that the opening number cannot rationally be seen as significantly disappointing.

As for Bruckheimer, you kinda make my point. I think JB is a very smart producer. But he has gone off the rails a bit on budget lately. Bad Boys II was not profitable. G-Force losses were already written off by Disney, not because its numbers were anything less than terrific for what it was, but because it cost way too much for what it was.

No one has ever read me defend Dick Cook's decision making across the full spectrum of his slates... because I haven't. I have often cautioned that the negatives are too negative and sometimes, the positives too positive. And I have noted the philosophy of being a narrow-based movie company.

Doing a motion capture film with Zemeckis is not a choice one makes with big profits in mind. You hope you make a little money and you hope the film is a masterpiece that will be the iconic Christmas Carol forever more. It's not that. And it may lose some money. It may not. No one really has that answer yet.

But also keep in mind, ImageMovers Digital was the second big Disney investment under Iger after Pixar. So now, the weight of that relationship - which will lead to more movies and possible Roger Rabbit 2 - is on Dick Cook and Dick Cook alone? Or is it part of Iger's overall strategy that I forgot to include in the entry in the first place?

A Christmas Carol was no more a stand alone production for Disney than Bruckheimer's are.

And Bulldog... why an I writing off Prince of Persia? I am not. But even in the softest May we've seen coming in years, one has to wonder whether a $200 million-plus Jake Gyllenhaal action movie from Mike Newell - who can hardly be called a top-line action director because he did one Potter film - is a great bet when the highest grossing Mummy film in the franchise didn't hit $450 million. And then when you look at the trailer... even more so.

Maybe it will be a phenom. Maybe these early look materials are underbaked and not representative of the film to come.

But all of this is just talk. Bruckheimer is a very valuable commodity. But he is also capable of losing big chunks of money for the studio between Pirates movies. That doesn't mean he isn't one of the most desirable people to be in business with... nor does it mean that Prince of Persia is dead in the water. It just means that people have very selective thinking about risk and success.

"Not going through this again."

I hope you're right. I suspect you will be wrong.

Perspective is a funny thing. Lex has been the only person to have comments removed from the blog (with maybe 2 exceptions over all these years... anticipating Joe sniping) and the only person who has ever been banned.

Not enough for some of you.

Leah... you and many others don't act like petulant children every time Lex posts. But there are those who cannot just ignore the dumb ass posts, which I would say is the smart choice, and there are others who feel compelled to attack Lex quite personally, which leads to more shit from him and so on.

Comments on this blog are now occasionally wonderful, interesting, and thoughtful. But far too often, things have degraded into playground namecalling... and not just directed at me. Wreck and Luke are fans of his... IO, Christian and J-Mc obviously are the opposite. But the truth is, all three of the Lex haters felt compelled to make attacks (subtle and otherwise) on me to express themselves on lex... and that is the standard of discourse for far too many regulars in here.

I will take care of my issues with Lex in private, as adults should. He is, obviously, an unhappy guy with a lot of talent which he is wasting, even given opportunities to do something with that talent. And his dumb posts (as opposed to his smart ones) have wasted too much space on this blog and in all of our lives.

That said, he is hardly the only regular poster on the blog capable of being a utterly inane jackass. And while Lex could get nasty and personal, he rarely did without direct provocation. I cannot say that about many others in here.

I am happy you are here, Leah. We disagree at times, but you are clearly intending to converse, not just mock or degrade or troll. And you are not alone. But there are a few loud voices in here who make this place worse for everyone, especially the silent majority. It is embarrassing and unpleasant for me. Lex was often that voice. But don't think for a second that he was alone.

And that does include you, J-Mc... because you just can't shut up and leave anything alone. You have had highs and lows, but I just wish you would learn to put a sock in it sometimes. If I wanted an unfunny David Spade to follow everyone around all day, I would hire one.

Maybe it's just me, but Disney actually doesn't have that bad a lineup through next summer in comparison to the other studios. "Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "Step Up 3D" look like good bets for surprise hits, and "Alice in Wonderland" looks like the surefire hit of the spring. Maybe softer than usual for Disney though, in what looks like a softer than average early year all around.

Universal and Fox's slates look startlingly bad, and Sony's doesn't seem much better, though in the case of the latter they probably shouldn't be underestimated after their phenomenal run since August.

"all three of the Lex haters felt compelled to make attacks (subtle and otherwise) on me to express themselves on lex"

Only to defend against your j'accuse that others here are just as responsible for Lex's behavior -- which is objectively false. I never asked Lex to be banned. I don't "hate" him. I never asked him to type his sex fantasies in all-caps through every other thread. And my responses to his nasty personal attacks on me and others, has been pretty benign and logic-based. So he gets a hall pass for reasons known only to you. No biggie. But because your Lexperiment failed, don't blame the observers.

It was never an experiment, christian. It's called being a sympathetic human being.

I'm sorry if you can only comprehend the parts of my comments that make you feel defensive.

Merriam Webster defines sympathetic human being as David Poland

Correct me if I'm wrong, David, but I think the larger issue here is that you banned Lex for a month, yet he continues to post under another name. He's either banned or he's not (I don't care one way or the other), but by letting him continue to post, you make it appear that he's not really banned, and thus is getting some sort of special treatment the rest of us might not receive had we behaved in similar fashion.

I think the consensus back when Lex was given his chance as a writer was positive and hopeful that it would channel his energies in a positive way. I know that's what I thought and said at the time. And performing that action could certainly qualify as being a 'sympathetic human being'.

Indulging his terrible and abusive behavior, which is a byproduct of his specific brand of depression/alcoholism/whatever, which he's happy to let loose regardless of whether people respond to it or not, is not being sympathetic. It's being directly counterproductive.

Now I have to go to my audition for Joe Dirt 2, excuse me.

Is Lex short for Lesher? Kissing cousins?

Regarding gamer reactions to Prince of Persia...I have only heard one from one of my gamer friends, and he is psyched that the trailer seems to incorporate a lot of things from the game.

Not necessarily representative, but this is coming from someone who nitpicked the hell out of the Hellboy movies for being untrue to the comics.

Jake G. certainly doesn't look Persian to me. But if a blockbuster franchise can star Tobey Maguire, I don't see why one can't star Jake.

When are we going to see the shoe-eating video?

to continue the debate on the CHRISTMAS CAROL boxoffice, for a little 1st monday perspective, boxoffice.com is reporting a take of $1.6M for A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I generally find that they are always off by a few thousand when the numbers come in.

Be that as it may, like I said for perspective, the 1st monday of Elf with a similar opening weekend did $3.7M. The 1st Monday of POLAR EXPRESS did $1.2M from a smaller opening weekend of $23M, a significantly smaller decrease. TPE opened after the blockbuster THE INCREDIBLES and faced NATIONAL TREASURE 1 and SPONGEBOB in its 2nd weekend and dipped 32%.

ACC faces 2012. Can it avoid a 40% drop off? Will the 3D be enough of a cushion? Soon we'll know.

"It was never an experiment, christian. It's called being a sympathetic human being. "

With a dash of enabling thrown in.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=60765

The CG looks a little weak in spots, and it appears to be a 300 clone, but the action in the new Titans trailer has a lot more of the kinetic energy that the PoP trailer should have had. They keep forgetting, the best "video game" movie according to gamers is Mortal Kombat, because the filmmakers didn't try to make it any more than a high-energy action film that mirrored the style of the game. PoP seems to be trying to be the video game, plus some other kind of generic "adventure" movie, and the mix doesn't seem to work.

I think the question for Bruck is where does he go? Uni won't have the capital, WB already has enough producers draining the teet, Paramount can't afford much. Sony or Fox...my bet is Fox since they're trying to be more genre-friendly and there's a chance Anschtuz will underwrite. Otherwise, he stays at Disney and ends up in the midst of the DW or Marvel nexus. Both could benefit, especially Marvel. Bruckheimer-Marvel-Shield. Big Money, No Whammies.

...and what else can I say about Clash of The Titans when I loved all the stills and posters but think the trailer is a Manheim Steamroller level of overproduced crap?

The best video game movie according to Hollywood, though, is probably Resident Evil, since they're currently doing the THIRD sequel.

And it matches the description of "trying to be the video game, plus some other kind of generic 'adventure' movie" to a tee.

I still say the best was Silent Hill. By a longshot. MK was fun when it came out, but has not aged well.

I think Bulldog hit it when he referenced Mummy for Persia. Forget the locale. They were desperately trying for the "witty" Fraser-Weisz banter. And the beginning is a total riff on one of Nolan's Batman trailers.

Does Jim Gallagher (head of marketing?) still have a job? Old team? New team? We all scream for Disney team?

Leave Mannheim Steamroller alone. Their first three baroque LP's are kinda awesome. the soundtrack to 70's sunlight through dappled autumn trees and rivers...

"PoP seems to be trying to be the video game, plus some other kind of generic "adventure" movie, and the mix doesn't seem to work."

I don't know about that. There is nothing in the trailer that didn't come from the game. The dialog, maybe, but it carries the same gist as what was in the game.

Guess that answers that...looking forward to new President of Marketing

The Walt Disney Studios announced a major reorganization of its top executives at the motion picture studio on Wednesday.

Rich Ross, the new studio chairman of The Walt Disney Studios (TWDS), said the restructing of the studio's s marketing, distribution, and operations division "reflect a new strategic direction for bringing content to the global marketplace. This will give the Studio the flexibility, strength and competitive edge it needs to move forward.

Bob Chapek will become president of distribution, replacing longtime veteran Chuck Viane.

Production president Oren Aviv will get added responsibilities.

Mark Zoradi, who was president of the studios, resigned this week, following the resignation two months ago of studio chairman Dick Cook.

In a news release, the company said:

"Under this reorganization, Bob Chapek will take on the new role of president, Distribution, TWDS, and will be responsible for developing distribution strategy and overseeing the delivery of all motion pictures and television content, across the theatrical exhibition, home entertainment, pay TV, digital formats, and other new media.

"In the Marketing division, a new president will be announced shortly to oversee marketing for live-action, animation, Miramax Films, DreamWorks, and Home Entertainment.

"Alan Bergman, president, TWDS, will take on the new duties of overseeing Studio Franchises, Post Production, Disneynature and The Muppets Studio, while continuing to guide operations including Business Affairs, Legal Affairs, and Finance. Aviv, president of production, Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, will take on the added responsibility of Physical Production. All four business heads will report to Ross."

Wow, Christian. You and Limbaugh. Lovers of the Steamroller.

God help me if that's the music of harmony.

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