Bradbury on movies

[Maxie Zeus]

It's a few months old, but I stumbled on an account of a talk that Ray Bradbury gave at a Barnes & Noble. He talked about science, the craft of writing, and what's wrong with Hollywood. Sample quote:

Lamenting Hollywood's emphasis on pyrotechnics at the expense of stories and ideas, Bradbury once told a panel of special effects experts: "You do fireworks.  And I love fireworks.  I love to be in Paris on Bastille night by the Eiffel Tower, with all the fireworks going off, celebrating the failed French revolution.  But when the wind blows, the sky is empty.  All that lovely fire, all those lovely cathedral patterns, blow away in the wind.  That's you.

"That's what's wrong with so many American films.  For Christsake's, get someone with a brain, to put in the center of the fireworks, so that when the wind blows the fireworks away, the idea's still there.  I don't ask for a high and mighty subject.  Just give me a little idea.  A tiny one.

Check it out.

[Barb Gordon]

How awesome! I'm a huge Bradbury fan, met him too. He's a great, eccentric little old guy. Very fun to be around and in awe of. "different" would be the word for him I suppose. Great article, that's Bradbury all over the place in all his uniqueness.

~Barb

[Christopher N. Denner]

He's right. So few movie spectacles are anything but that.... spectacles.


BTW... anyone else ever check out the "Rad Bradbury Theatre" on Scifi at the wee hours Sunday morning?

[finbarlafume]

He's right of course, far too many movies are all effects over substance. Attack of the Clones is the latest example of this sad trend. Yeah, we want to see great effects. But they're not really much good unless there's a great story to go with them.
I really hope they take note of Bradbury's words when the cameras are ready to roll on "A Sound of Thunder".

[Christopher N. Denner]

I thought his response to Renny Harlin over A Sound of Thunder was pretty funny.