It's nice to see you championing Kloves and his skills as a filmmaker. I just got around to seeing Flesh and Bone a couple years ago and I was really blown away by the subtle skill of the writing and filmmaking. It also made me wonder what happened to him. I hope he has the chance to return to filmmaking for himself and see what he can do. Some streamer needs to give him a smart, little show to run.
It is a shame Kloves hasn’t done more directing. I was interested when he opted to pass on “Order of the Phoenix” in order to make his version of Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time” but regretful it didn’t come to pass. “Baker Boys” and “Flesh and Bone” certainly showed he had the stuff. I always prefer the movies, but as someone else observed maybe Kloves would do wonders with a short series on a streaming service. (Here’s looking at you, A. Cuaron!)
Also, you may see it as wasting talent to work on the Potter series, but I see him as responsible for making it work on film as often as it did. Consider the worst movies in the “Potterverse” were ones he didn’t write. Talk about how a movie is only as good as its script!
One can lament the lack, indeed near-complete absence, of non-Potter Kloves post-2000, but it's not really much less than he was doing before then - BAKER, FLESH AND BONE, and WONDER BOYS represent 3/4 of his entire filmography up to 2000 (writing 1984's RACING WITH THE MOON being the fourth... well, the first... you know what I mean). All four films I like a lot, but who knows how many near misses and dead ends litter those years in between - probably not a lot of fun for a professional writer. I don't begrudge him devoting so much time and brainspace to the main Potter saga (though, ironically, PHOENIX is probably my fave), but if the Fantastic Beasts stinkhole is the only way the suits see fit to cut him a cheque, then that does grind my gears somewhat.
Thanks, Scott--nice to see Kloves' short-lived directorial career appreciated. I've always been a big fan of his two films and the scripts that bookended them (RACING WITH THE MOON and WONDER BOYS), and spent years waiting for him to step away from all that Harry Potter moolah and get back to making movies for adults. But at this point I've pretty much given up on the idea, and find my only solace in rewatching THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS for the nth time. Love that movie so much--and love rereading Pauline Kael's ecstatic review of it.
It's nice to see you championing Kloves and his skills as a filmmaker. I just got around to seeing Flesh and Bone a couple years ago and I was really blown away by the subtle skill of the writing and filmmaking. It also made me wonder what happened to him. I hope he has the chance to return to filmmaking for himself and see what he can do. Some streamer needs to give him a smart, little show to run.
It is a shame Kloves hasn’t done more directing. I was interested when he opted to pass on “Order of the Phoenix” in order to make his version of Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time” but regretful it didn’t come to pass. “Baker Boys” and “Flesh and Bone” certainly showed he had the stuff. I always prefer the movies, but as someone else observed maybe Kloves would do wonders with a short series on a streaming service. (Here’s looking at you, A. Cuaron!)
Also, you may see it as wasting talent to work on the Potter series, but I see him as responsible for making it work on film as often as it did. Consider the worst movies in the “Potterverse” were ones he didn’t write. Talk about how a movie is only as good as its script!
One can lament the lack, indeed near-complete absence, of non-Potter Kloves post-2000, but it's not really much less than he was doing before then - BAKER, FLESH AND BONE, and WONDER BOYS represent 3/4 of his entire filmography up to 2000 (writing 1984's RACING WITH THE MOON being the fourth... well, the first... you know what I mean). All four films I like a lot, but who knows how many near misses and dead ends litter those years in between - probably not a lot of fun for a professional writer. I don't begrudge him devoting so much time and brainspace to the main Potter saga (though, ironically, PHOENIX is probably my fave), but if the Fantastic Beasts stinkhole is the only way the suits see fit to cut him a cheque, then that does grind my gears somewhat.
Thanks, Scott--nice to see Kloves' short-lived directorial career appreciated. I've always been a big fan of his two films and the scripts that bookended them (RACING WITH THE MOON and WONDER BOYS), and spent years waiting for him to step away from all that Harry Potter moolah and get back to making movies for adults. But at this point I've pretty much given up on the idea, and find my only solace in rewatching THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS for the nth time. Love that movie so much--and love rereading Pauline Kael's ecstatic review of it.