Erick Weber, Editor-in-Chief of Awards Ace/YouTuber: Name a film,
I could tell you one thing we could change about for Drive very easy
for Drive I think the number one thing I would change with that film…
Film Courage: What's the most you've rewatched a film in the theater?
Erick: Same film? Do I want to answer this? It's probably a tie.
Film Courage: Is it Paddington?
Erick: Oh goodness Paddington II. Oh yeah please that is unbelievable. no I did not
say that multipliers I think the the film i've seen the most in theaters was Lost Boys
because of that initial experience as this 80s kid going in and getting blown away by oh talk
about one of the best soundtracks of all time I mean Lost Boys that I had the cd for not the
cassette I had the cd for Lost Boys and between listening to that cd back forth back forth
and then going to see the film so many times that summer right and the other one would be cocktail
same time period I was a kid we were bored it's summertime you're let's go to the movies and let's
go see something and let's go see cocktail again I took multiple dates to see cocktail it was the
ultimate date film sure and this was in Columbus, Ohio okay Columbus, Ohio those are probably the
two and they each won probably six times even though I don't to admit I have seen fire starter
now five times the most recent one because it's 90 minutes long and there was nothing else to see and
I was bored and I'm five minutes from this from the theater that's why I went to see it five times
but I think what really the the brevity of a film adds to its rewatch ability because if if you're
talking about a three-hour film then you're you have to commit three hours to that right that's
a that's a major time commitment conversely if a movie's 85 90 95 minutes it's day you can watch
it twice in the time it takes to watch the other movie once and one of my again a film that oh I
absolutely adore and from a filmmaker that I think is going to really bring stuff that we
is going to be one of our major major filmmakers in years to come is is rose glass I mean you you
you look at Saint Maude Saint Maude is talk about a film you get blown away by the direction
and the choices and the talent behind the the screen that that is that is a film that is is
again rewatchable for that length as well it's an 85-90 minute movie I think that more filmmakers
need to remember that less is more less is more such an important thing if you can say something
tighter do it if you can make a movie tighter almost all the time do it look at the irishman
three and a half hours right and now Netflix's has this whole thing about it was a vanity project
I think someone actually added that quote to what Netflix said but but when you watch Irishmen or
you watch a lot of things that come out of Netflix you are looking at a film that doesn't have the
studio constraints that are needed put upon it and when I say that you go back to the 80s 90s
2000s studios had more control over their films they said this is the studio head would say hey
listen your film is going to come in at 140 you're going to come in at 90. 150 max now we're bleeding
into 220 230 245 and unless it's necessary vital to your film less is more almost always
so many films that I see you say man there's a better version here if you would have taken things
out not added you had the opportunity to make this really well certainly a better film and you
left more in this to lessen its overall quality and I think that that gets back to the director
you have to have somebody who you trust to watch your projects and say listen I what I see
but I think you need to do this this and this and I think there's not enough of that
in Hollywood and I know some creatives will think oh man that is sacrilegious what you're saying
but if it makes your project better then you should be listening to those people
who hopefully have a very good track record it's saying this is what I think will do
we can do to improve your film okay so taking the less is more analogy let's
look at the Social Network and let's look at the dialogue so the dialogue was just right you think
Sorkin screenplay is again Social Network is there's it's a flawless film it's which is
those don't come along often okay I don't care what film even Parasite i've got which I of recent
films which I think is again a masterpiece I think there's a there's a couple things that I would
change Drive is a film that I oh god I love Drive i've seen dr I probably have seen Drive 40 times
that's a film that really it speaks to me as a la person for sure 40. oh yeah oh yeah i've watched
that I just watched in a loop it's a background it's one of those films you put on the background
right and you just have and it just makes you feel even though Drive trust me depressing film
but the feels the score Martinez's score and Drive is just something I can listen to it's on my it's
on my iPod on my on my phone I listen to that thing all the time it just takes me to a space
that is that film and I'll never forget that's another cinematic first that I'll never forget
the first watching of Drive and a press screen and I'm oh my god this is Nicolas Winding Refn
wow and again it speaks to love of Los Angeles and I think he nails it the feels of that film
but but when you look at at these at Social Network and you're talking about a film that that
again is perfect I think this from the screenplay to the against score screenplay direction acting
every single element of that film is perfect so there's not one thing I would change about a film
that's I name a film I can tell you one thing we could change about for Drive very easy for Drive
I think the number one thing I would change with that film is in the elevator head stomping scene
where he is he's in there with gosling's in there with mulligan they're in the elevator you got the
bad guy there and he's gonna do something terrible to him he starts stomping the guy's head in and
and we get it he's absolutely obliterating this guy as he's down on the ground and you don't see
it right you don't see it so Nicolas Winding Refn at the very end the last shot boom you actually
see his foot go through the heads right smashing a pumpkin I think if you do not show that and you
leave it up here right it's stronger so restraint is often stronger than showing it look at Jaws go
back to Jaws right we didn't see it was all in your head if the terror is in your head if the
horror is there then it's stronger than actually seeing it I'm not saying that's universally true
but I think in cases Drive and the elevator scene no question that if refund would have held off on
that instead pulled back and had left it up here it's a better film so these are little things but
they matter I mean ultimately I would love to be a test screener of one show me your movie and trust
me I'd have no problem doing this Nicolas Winding Refn would be here and I'd say listen man film is
you gotta be it's just such a film but but you the the elevator scene we gotta get rid of it
we gotta get rid of the head stomping and and that's what we need we need more of somebody who
has the ability to judge and probably okay listen someone could say I'm wrong about that that's fine
but I think after watching enough films and really getting dialing in the skill of evaluation of a
film you become very aware of what works and what doesn't work and I think that is a very important
skill to have on a studio level because therefore you could go in and say for any film and say I I
know what I'm saying here I think we can make this film better by doing this this and this
and I think we need more of that beyond great direction what makes a film amazing I think
putting you in a world creating a world that you escape into that you are fully immersed in that is
it's an experience that again takes you out of your every day and puts you only into this it
could be anything it could be modern day it could be past could be sci-fi it could be horror it
doesn't matter what the genre is you're creating this full fully alive world that these characters
live in and if you're able to do that I think that creating that setting that that is so it's
crucial to a film it sounds obvious right but not every film is able to do that but the best films
are the ones that literally place you in that location with those characters and that is again
essential I mean it is absolutely one of the key things that is needed to be done by any director
filmmaker is to make you be part of that world and it sounds easy but it's not and not every film
is able to do that so with Blade Runner ’82 that world was was just something fully realized right
yeah and again think of the time right so you go back and that's 10 20 40 years now is that right
40 years ago ish you're talking about ahead of its time so many ways but the production design on
that film just the sets that were created I think it's very important to have as much real actual
tangible things in your film versus everything being CGI right we get blinded by CGI films
these days just so much of it doctor strange two multiverse of madness but you're looking at a
film that has so much CGI from that opening scene it's just I am watching characters in
front of a green screen you literally can see the green screen in your head you just
they're in front of a green screen I think there's so much power in actually putting those characters
in an environment a true real environment and that's one of the reasons dune succeeds so well
because the production design of that film is authentically it's real it is tangible it is
not CGI they're CGI in the film we know that but more often than not practical
sets are where these actors are existing and that is part of the world building that's part of the
production design of any film I mean one of the best films I saw from last year nightmare alley
nightmare alley del toro's nightmare alley is such an underrated film and one of the reasons
is that production design creating not just the carnival world but also the noir world of new
york in the 30s or chicago wherever the city was creating that world the world building is just
is everything to a film and it's it's skill again that not every filmmaker has so I think that's if
you ask me direction very clearly but it all still comes back to direction doesn't it I mean when you
talk about world building it's the director's job to build the world so that's why I say that
the director's everything I mean sure yeah that script's important but but the director's skill
and his artistic vision is by far to me the number one skill that you need to have as a filmmaker.