Christopher Nolan's Howard Hughes Biopic

[Carmine Falcone]

Yes. I was hoping that Nolan had this script still lying on the shelf until it was good and ready. And after the successes of The Dark Knight, Inception and The Dark Knight Rises (yeah) the guy will have more clout than God himself, so I'd call that good and ready for sure. Here's hoping that Jim Carrey will play the lead. It should be perfectly possible, Carrey has aged but if it indeed focuses on old crazy Hughes that shouldn't be a problem. It's about time Carrey made something halfway decent again, and moved into a new phase of his career because that comedy schtick of his has been well worn out since the 90's.

 

[DarkKnight88]

I agree about Jim Carrey. I would love to see him work with Nolan and if he puts the same effort that he did for Andy Kaufman then he should easily beat DiCaprio's performance of Hughes.

 

[redfirebird2008]

God, enough of this "cliched" ******** talk. As long as it's good and executed well I don't care if it's cliched or not.

That 20 minute sequence wasn't good.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Well fair enough then. I just hate when people criticize a cliche just for the sake of it.

 

[dark_b]

thank you for reminding me why i hate the batman forums.

 

[Two-Face]

That's how I feel about his Batman movies. Waste of creativity.

WTF

Is this a joke?

You may not like the Nolan Batman films but it's certainely not waste of creativity.

 

[DACrowe]

I agree about Jim Carrey. I would love to see him work with Nolan and if he puts the same effort that he did for Andy Kaufman then he should easily beat DiCaprio's performance of Hughes.

I wouldn't be so sure. Howard Hughes was the best performance of DiCaprio's career and other than Eternal Sunshine and Man on the Moon I have seen nothing from Carrey to come near DiCaprio's work in the last then years. Leo put his soul into The Aviator, so I would go for a better actor than Jim Carrey for another go.

I still stand by that post-1948 Hughes is not nearly as interesting as the one depicted in The Aviator. I'm not sure how you can make a movie people enjoy watching about a guy who will spend almost the whole running time living in hotel rooms naked, afraid to go outside, and pissing in bottles. That's pretty extreme.

 

[Travesty]

I wouldn't be so sure. Howard Hughes was the best performance of DiCaprio's career and other than Eternal Sunshine and Man on the Moon I have seen nothing from Carrey to come near DiCaprio's work in the last then years. Leo put his soul into The Aviator, so I would go for a better actor than Jim Carrey for another go.

I have to agree to a certain degree. I think DiCaprio is the stronger actor out of the two, but Jim Carrey is really good at dramatic roles. I thought he was great in The Truman Show. The very last scene is so good that you can see the pain, and at the same time, relief in the character of Truman, right before he walks out the door. And like you already pointed out, he was also great in Man on the Moon and Eternal Sunshine.

But as far as DiCaprio goes, my favorite role of his is in Catch Me If You Can.

 

[Ghostvirus]

After Inception I will follow this dude into hell.

 

[dark_b]

Carrey in hes career acted in more different movies then Dicaprio. i also think that Carrey is able to do serious,funny and crazy. while with Dicaprio i dont think he can do funny and crazy. just because he uses hes ''brow'' that doesnt mean that he can play crazy.

 

[Hurm...]

My favorite role of DiCaprio's was in The Departed. But he has so many performances worth watching in movies like The Aviator, Blood Diamond, Catch Me If You Can he was good...

Hell, whatever he has done in the past decade is watchable simply because he elevates whatever film he is in tremendously.

 

[dark_b]

Dicaprio compared to Carrey is 100 times better at choosing good movies. something that Carreey need to change.

 

[nouan]

As good as Dicaprio was in The Aviator, he looked way too young, even with the old age make-up. And his voice was nothing like Hughes' either. Jim Carrey could definetly pull that nasal drawl better. His trademark grin would have to be absent of course, in order to pull off the long faced Howard.

 

[redfirebird2008]

WTF

Is this a joke?

You may not like the Nolan Batman films but it's certainely not waste of creativity.

I love the Nolan Batman films. I just think Nolan has more to offer the world than good superhero movies, that's all.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

I love the Nolan Batman films. I just think Nolan has more to offer the world than good superhero movies, that's all.

I could understand your point if you were saying that Nolan is such a good auteur that he should be writing his own original screenplays each time for his movies. But here you just seem to be poo-pooing superhero movies in general, as if to they are automatically a level down from, say, adaptations of novels. They are adaptations too, and depending on the source material and how it is handled can be as good, or better than novel adaptations. Better in some ways, as comic books naturally lend themselves to movies as they are a visual medium.

 

[redfirebird2008]

I could understand your point if you were saying that Nolan is such a good auteur that he should be writing his own original screenplays each time for his movies. But here you just seem to be poo-pooing superhero movies in general, as if to they are automatically a level down from, say, adaptations of novels. They are adaptations too, and depending on the source material and how it is handled can be as good, or better than novel adaptations. Better in some ways, as comic books naturally lend themselves to movies as they are a visual medium.

The genre does not lend itself to unpredictability. Nolan tried to inject some of that into TDK. But there are still a lot of limits with what can be done based on studio pressure and fan expectations. Something like The Prestige might have been an adaptation, but it was very different from the book and the changes were great. Likewise with Memento. His brother's short story isn't as interesting as Nolan's script/film. Nolan's changes (including the backwards stortytelling) added a lot to the story and main character IMHO.

 

[Catman]

Jim Carrey is an interesting choice, but this seems like a perfect project for Christian Bale. That dude goes through all sorts of extremes for his performances. And he already has several Nolan films under his belt.

 

[redfirebird2008]

Jim Carrey is an interesting choice, but this seems like a perfect project for Christian Bale. That dude goes through all sorts of extremes for his performances. And he already has several Nolan films under his belt.

Bale would do a damn good job. Carrey is more intriguing to me though because it's more off the wall casting.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

The genre does not lend itself to unpredictability. Nolan tried to inject some of that into TDK. But there are still a lot of limits with what can be done based on studio pressure and fan expectations. Something like The Prestige might have been an adaptation, but it was very different from the book and the changes were great. Likewise with Memento. His brother's short story isn't as interesting as Nolan's script/film. Nolan's changes (including the backwards stortytelling) added a lot to the story and main character IMHO.

Ok, that is a really good point I never considered, but not all great movies have to be 'unpredictable' as you say. But I guess you are of the opinion that Nolan excels with the types of stories that are of that vein. The only Nolan film I would say that is better than his Batmans is Memento, that entirely succeeded in captivating me and giving me a film experience unlike any other.

 

[Matt]

Meh. Its been done and I have a very hard time seeing anyone topping The Aviator, so I'll pass.

 

[redfirebird2008]

Ok, that is a really good point I never considered, but not all great movies have to be 'unpredictable' as you say. But I guess you are of the opinion that Nolan excels with the types of stories that are of that vein. The only Nolan film I would say that is better than his Batmans is Memento, that entirely succeeded in captivating me and giving me a film experience unlike any other.

I do feel Nolan is very good at this aspect of storytelling, but I'm also a big fan of unreliable narrators/protagonists in general. His Batman movies are two of the best in the genre.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

As good as Dicaprio was in The Aviator, he looked way too young, even with the old age make-up. And his voice was nothing like Hughes' either. Jim Carrey could definetly pull that nasal drawl better. His trademark grin would have to be absent of course, in order to pull off the long faced Howard.

Hughes was in his early 20s at the beginning of the film. It is easier to make someone look older than younger. I thought they did a good job with it.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Jim Carrey is an interesting choice, but this seems like a perfect project for Christian Bale. That dude goes through all sorts of extremes for his performances. And he already has several Nolan films under his belt.

Bale as Nolan's Hughes? I would see that.

 

[BestGirl]

I still stand by that post-1948 Hughes is not nearly as interesting as the one depicted in The Aviator. I'm not sure how you can make a movie people enjoy watching about a guy who will spend almost the whole running time living in hotel rooms naked, afraid to go outside, and pissing in bottles. That's pretty extreme.

I don't care what they say about the movie taking place during his crazy years; I suspect we'll get lots of flashbacks to his pre-1948 life. I really can't see a whole movie about a guy who sits in the dark, naked, buying restaurants, eating ice cream, and doing God knows what else.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I still stand by that post-1948 Hughes is not nearly as interesting as the one depicted in The Aviator. I'm not sure how you can make a movie people enjoy watching about a guy who will spend almost the whole running time living in hotel rooms naked, afraid to go outside, and pissing in bottles. That's pretty extreme.

Two words:

Nic Cage