Does everybody despise Harvery Weinstein as much as I?

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I certainly didn't need the new book by Peter Biskind to tell me what a phenomenal asshole the man is, but even still, there are things about the man I hadn't heard before.

His smugness, his over-bearing persona, his tactics -- each and all make me sick.

His treatment of Martin Scorsese during the filming of Gangs of New York was insulting, to say the least.

Check out this quote from Mr. W -- from a recent interview in TIME magazine:

You've often taken a strong hand in the editing of films you've released. Do you interfere for good reason? It's not that I ever want to take the integrity out of movies; it's that I want to put the integrity into them. I've seen directors and producers want to keep stuff in that's dull and boring and pretentious. Everybody thinks, "Oh, my God, the five-hour cut must be incredible!" But the five-hour cut is usually like The Picture of Dorian Gray: it should be sitting in someone's attic and never seen.

put the integrity into them!!! I almost lost my lunch when I read that! So Harv knows better than most filmmakers? Amazing.

Oh how I hate that man. . .

― BabyBuddha (BabyBuddha), Monday, 2 February 2004 20:26 (twenty years ago) link

Everybody thinks, "Oh, my God, the five-hour cut must be incredible!" But the five-hour cut is usually like The Picture of Dorian Gray: it should be sitting in someone's attic and never seen.

Harvey OTM

― ryan (ryan), Monday, 2 February 2004 20:30 (twenty years ago) link

I beg to differ.

I have seen Scorsese's cut of Gangs -- it's not much longer than what was released, but has enough subtle differences that make it a MUCH better movie.

I'm sure you've heard about the angry memos Harv would send to the Gangs set? About how upset he was that such good looking actors were made to appear so...dirty. He personally asked Daniel Day Lewis NOT to use so much hair oil. What a tool.

― BabyBuddha (BabyBuddha), Monday, 2 February 2004 21:04 (twenty years ago) link

Harvey Weinstein = Fat piece of shit

Now, if there are no more questions...

― Anthony (Anthony F), Monday, 2 February 2004 22:46 (twenty years ago) link

http://www.errolmorris.com/films.php?film_id=4

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 2 February 2004 22:50 (twenty years ago) link

Yikes!

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 2 February 2004 23:02 (twenty years ago) link

Holy mother of christ! What a memo! THANK YOU for sharing that!

― BabyBuddha (BabyBuddha), Monday, 2 February 2004 23:05 (twenty years ago) link

I wonder if he was joking with that bit about hiring an actor to portray Errol Morris.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 2 February 2004 23:13 (twenty years ago) link

http://www.grainypictures.com/john/images/errol.jpg

God, who could we get?

― dean! (deangulberry), Tuesday, 3 February 2004 00:00 (twenty years ago) link

http://content.rollingstone.com/content/7163/Images/00318752.JPG

Daniel Johnston!

― dean! (deangulberry), Tuesday, 3 February 2004 00:01 (twenty years ago) link

Tom Wilkinson?

http://content.clearchannel.com/Photos/male_celebrities/tom_wilkinson_SebastianArtz.jpg

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 3 February 2004 02:34 (twenty years ago) link

He's obviously a dick (read Peter Biskind's new book!), but he's kind of right about self-indulgent directors.

The only problem is that Weinstein and Miramax want to cut for commercial reasons (more screenings/wider commercial appeal), rather than to make a better movie.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 3 February 2004 02:45 (twenty years ago) link

Not to forget that Miramax buys the rights to foreign films and then sits on them for years. Zhang Yimou's Hero and Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer for example. (And then having their lawyers swoop down on websites in other countries that sell the films to the states!)

― BabyBuddha (BabyBuddha), Tuesday, 3 February 2004 05:53 (twenty years ago) link

that memo is hilarious (and yes i think he was obviously joking about the actor bit)

i don't mean to defend HW (he really doesn't deserve it) it's just gotten a bit boring with the whole "producer as antichrist" meme that runs through certain circles. i really think there is an important role for producers to play (not unlike editors for authors) beyond just putting up the money.

― ryan (ryan), Tuesday, 3 February 2004 06:02 (twenty years ago) link

(tho i guess what i just said is pretty obvious!)

― ryan (ryan), Tuesday, 3 February 2004 06:08 (twenty years ago) link

i guess i'm impressed by his sheer gumption sometimes

The only problem is that Weinstein and Miramax want to cut for commercial reasons (more screenings/wider commercial appeal), rather than to make a better movie.

but someone needed to raise the money for the movie in the first place, and publicize it so that it has a market. don't forget that.

selznick was an asshole too, but selznick got some great movies made, something weinstein hasn't done much of in a long time, unless you think of "kill bill" as a great movie.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 3 February 2004 11:10 (twenty years ago) link

or Lord of the Rings.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 3 February 2004 11:30 (twenty years ago) link

i thought that was new line not miramax

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 09:41 (twenty years ago) link

He was an executive producer, though... wasn't he?

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 11:46 (twenty years ago) link

It was originally developed or something like that at Mirimax, if I'm not mistaken, then moved to New Line.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 14:25 (twenty years ago) link

If Harvey had his say, LOTR would have been one 110 minute film, with Damon and Affleck as Frodo and Sam.

Kill Bill and GONY I like very very much, but I think the latter was clearly chopped up.

So fuck Harvey. Any defense of him should be swept away by his company's despicable treatment of wonderful foreign films they have the rights to, but bury instead of releasing.

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 23:18 (twenty years ago) link

IT'S 'HARVERY', STUPIDS

― dean! (deangulberry), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 23:32 (twenty years ago) link

GONY was a steaming pile.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Thursday, 5 February 2004 03:16 (twenty years ago) link

But c'mon. Doesn't everyone know that Duplex is better than Through the Olive Trees? I mean, obviously?!

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Thursday, 5 February 2004 05:14 (twenty years ago) link

well he's not lo duca

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 5 February 2004 11:48 (twenty years ago) link

are you referring to De Luca? as opposed to...http://espn.go.com/i/mlb/profiles/players/6032.jpg

― Gear! (Gear!), Thursday, 5 February 2004 15:01 (twenty years ago) link

Their track record with HK films is truly horrid, as documented here:

http://www.kfccinema.com/features/articles/letter_miramax/letter_miramax.html

I'll be surprised if they ever get around to releasing Hero or Shaolin Soccer at all here in the US.. or Infernal Affairs which they also bought.

The news that they got the US rights to those (incredibly kickass) Shaw Brothers reissues is especially disturbing.

― Jay Smooth (jsmooth995), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 07:10 (twenty years ago) link

I hadn't heard that they snagged the Infernal Affairs trilogy. Glad I bought all 3 already. (Great films, by the way.)

I can not imagine why they would buy the Shaw catalog -- there's no way they would release all of them. (They are indeed kickass releases, as you say. I've bought more than I ever imagined I would -- who knew that 60's HK musicals would be so great?)

― BabyBuddha (BabyBuddha), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 16:05 (twenty years ago) link

I thought Shaolin Soccer DID come out in the U.S. I remember seeing promo materials here in Houston, altough it may have just been a one-off screening at the MFA.

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 16:24 (twenty years ago) link

Jesus, so this is the guy behind Miramax's mutilating the fuck out of and generally keeping audiences from seeing every foreign (and, apparently, domestic too, I didn't know about that) film they get their hands on. It has made Shaolin Soccer and Hero, though, for instance, way easier to find online though so HA!

― Dan I., Tuesday, 17 February 2004 19:29 (twenty years ago) link

But if they fuck around with the US release of Takeshi's Zatoichi I'm going to be very angry.

― Dan I., Tuesday, 17 February 2004 19:32 (twenty years ago) link

if anyone cares to search (i'm on a slow dialup connection so it won't be me) there have been some posts on the mobius asian cinema board speculating as to why miramax buys up the rights to so many films and then does little or nothing with them (so far).

also a new 'exposé'-style book abt miramax is coming out soon, and harvey's written a kind of autobio to counter its influence.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 20:52 (twenty years ago) link

I saw somewhere that Miramax just purchased the new Zaitochi (?) and shelved it to avoid a conflict with Kill Bill Vol. 2.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 21:13 (twenty years ago) link

Is this true? What assholes!

If we're lucky, maybe they'll get Ralph Fiennes and Jude Law to over-dub the voices!

This reminds me of why I started this thread in the first place. I loathe this man.

I'm just about to start the Biskind book -- will report as I read.

― BabyBuddha (BabyBuddha), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 21:26 (twenty years ago) link

I'm halfway thru the Biskind book and the whole thing is such a Harvey monster mash that after awhile it's kind of like reading about a mythical comic book demon and you actually look forward to the next psychotic episode. He becomes a sort of loveable piece of shit. Bob is way scary too. sort of like the worst boss you ever had X1000. Yeesh, it's really kind of amazing. I almost feel like if i saw him on the street i should tell him to fuck off for all the people who never could or would cuz he can't fire me or ruin my career.

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 12:55 (twenty years ago) link

him and billy bob are especially entertaining. billy bob calling harvey up and screaming, "you fat fuck, i'll kill you motherfucker, i'm billy bob, goddammit!!!" and so on.

PLUS, after awhile, the people complaining about him start to sound really whiney and crybabyish. i mean they knew what he was like, but they wanted to be a part of the whole miramax thing so badly and when they get burnt it just seems like they shoulda seen it coming given his rep.(then again, it is kinda like the battered wife syndrome. you want to scream at these people, "why don't you just leave him!", but its easier said than done.)

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 13:03 (twenty years ago) link

fifteen years pass...

I guess they all do now.

― Proger, Tuesday, 5 March 2019 05:25 (five years ago) link

five years pass...

rushed to hospital for emergency heart surgery lol

― This is Dance Anthems, have some respect (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 9 September 2024 22:12 (four months ago) link

here's hoping they botch it

― octobeard, Monday, 9 September 2024 22:15 (four months ago) link

https://frinkiac.com/meme/S02E18/1281362.jpg?b64lines=SGUncyBiYWQsIGJ1dCBoZSdsbCBkaWUuCiBTbyBJIGxpa2UgaXQu

― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Tuesday, 10 September 2024 03:56 (four months ago) link

one month passes...

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/harvey-weinstein-bone-marrow-cancer-1236185851/

― birdistheword, Tuesday, 22 October 2024 04:08 (two months ago) link

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