By Tarsem’s Immortals beat out Jack and Jill for the top box office slot (like Alien vs. Predator, whoever wins, we lose) and Mirror, Mirror (his take on Snow White) is on its way. So what’s next for the director? Possibly a talking-head movie. Either the visually-oriented filmmaker is looking for a directing challenge or he has stopped making sense.
In an interview last week, Tarsem said, “I want to do a talking-head movie like My Dinner with Andre or like an early Polanski like Knife in the Water. I want to go there because now all everyone wants to think is that I want to do visual films.” Tarsem also expressed interest in doing a live-action adaptation of Samurai Jack. “It’s brilliant,” he said. “The speed, it embraces where it comes from. I find that comic strip films are halfway grounded. They don’t play my chord. But I love Samurai Jack. I love the animation.” (I love it too, but do we really need a live-action version?)
It could be interesting to see director known for visual pyrotechnics to do something quiet and restrained. Perhaps with his riff on My Dinner with Andre, Tarsem can use an unlikely pairing like My Breakfast with Blassie, which featured Andy Kaufman and pro wrestler “Classy” Freddie Blassie. (You can stream that full cult classic on Fandor — this ain’t no fooling around.)
Are there any incongruous pairings that you guys and gals would like to see in a talking-head movie? Me: the Swedish Chef and Beaker.
[Via IndieWire]