… “Sky Captain” wasn’t that bad.
I saw it again (all of it, this time) with my girlfriend, who wasn’t too surprised I didn’t like it … she likes escapism, I want realism. But as time went on the sheer visual beauty of the movie, wooden acting, and tin dialogue faded in my mind, and I was struck by how many beautiful ideas there were in the movie. How many clever touches it had. How many little pieces just fit together. How well, despite its flaws, the overall story was told.
And then I ran across this little snippet on how they made it. and was struck by the love the director had for his subject: the skyhook on the Empire State Building that the Hindenberg III docks on was real … the Hindenburg III was really on the drawing board … and many of the other things in the movie were from Mr. Conran’s childhood dreams. And so he buckled down, with a cheesy computer and no funds, and made his dream fucking happen. You go with your bad self.
So, I forgive you, Mr. Conran, for the flaws in your movie: you really did turn out an amazing piece of work, and I apologize for my snap judgement. But, please, given the amazing skill you show in every other area, please, please, please write and direct some small plays where you focus on dialogue and work with real actors BEFORE you’ve storyboarded out your next multimillion dollar movie.
I promise you, if you turn out several small shorts just for you and your friends in a context where it’s safe for you to go out on a limb and try and fail, then your next movie will kick “Sky Captain’s” butt.
