Tony Scott (1944-2012)

[HistoryProf]

Here's Carnahan's posts for the twitterless:

Tony Scott as a Director was Sui Generis. Tony Scott as a friend and a mentor was irreplaceable. Tone, wherever you are, I love you man. RIP

Tony's influence on a generation of filmmakers is colossal. There isn't a more commercially successful director who pushed the form like him

8h Joe Carnahan ‏@carnojoe
After Tony saw 'The Grey' I got this call, that familiar rasp. 'Joe, It's Tone, fuckin' movie's great man, don't let 'em fuck it up, yeah?

Tony GAVE me my commercial career at a time when when the marquee should've said: "Films by Tony Scott, John Woo & Who The Fuck Is That Guy"

Tony always sent personal, handwritten notes & always drew a cartoon caricature of himself, smoking a cigar, with his hat colored in red.

I was maybe the only one at work who could go into Tony's cabinet in the kitchen & steal his beloved Sea Salt potato chips & not get fired.

I figure if I don't share these stories guys, I'll wind up punching out the walls in this hotel room I'm so pissed off right now.
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I've been extremely fortunate in my career. A career I wouldn't have without Tony Scott's persistence, love and relentless support.

Joe Carnahan ‏@carnojoe
'Man On Fire' is a masterpiece. This is Tony on the cusp of 60, pulling off something that his peers would be at a loss to even attempt.

[warren oates]

I like what Sausage and knives say about the experimentation in his films I think that's right on. There's a beauty in that kinetic montage and blurry color in Soctt's work that you just don't see in other action pictures that employ similar techniques. He was always keen to see new films and -- unlike some directors who seem to get stuck at a certain point in their development, only able to reference the favorites of their youth -- he didn't hesitate to learn from newer films by younger directors. City of God was a particular recent favorite and an inspiration behind some of the visuals in Man on Fire. His legacy is more than just the films he directed, though, as he helped mentor the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Richard Kelly, Joe Carnahan and Andrew Dominick and produced films as interesting and different from his own work as The Grey and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

[HistoryProf]

Well this explains it i guess: Tony Scott Had Inoperable Brain Cancer

(per the earlier discussion in the Passages thread, I left off the "'Top Gun' Director" intro in the headline)

[Forrest Taft]

Has anyone seen the Henry James adaptation he did for television?

[warren oates]

I think the future project of his I'll miss seeing the most will be his long-gestating remake of The Warriors which I would hear bits and pieces about in interviews and sometimes from people working with him. And it always sounded amazing to me, far better than the hokey Walter Hill original. Scott was fascinated by real gang members and wanted to use them in the film (some of his research ended up in scenes in Domino). The plan was also to showcase an epic cross section of Los Angeles in all its sprawling landscapes and neighborhoods and ethnic and cultural diversity. It would have given the audience a more complete and authentic version of the kind of "all L.A. in one day" experience that I'd always wanted from a film like Falling Down. The journey would be from downtown to Long Beach, perhaps even including the bridge where he ended his life. But the suits were skittish, especially when it came to the idea of insuring a production full of actual gang members. At one point, I believe he even considered financing it independently and with foreign presales and shooting it on 16mm.

Just for giggles I used to play this game where I'd ask all my friends to choose between two viewing options: A box with a random Tony Scott film and a box with a random Ridley Scott film. And most people would see what I was getting at, and also that they usually hadn't thought of it that way before... Both brothers have made great films, but Tony's films are, on the whole, more consistently entertaining and rewatchable.

[flyonthewall2983]

One project I heard he was working on was a modern gangster film, Potsdamer Platz. Mickey Rourke's name was floating around it, and Tony said he was hoping to get Gene Hackman out of retirement for it.

Also worth noting him and Ridley have also been producing quality television for CBS with The Good Wife and Numb3rs.

[Mr Sausage]

I like what Sausage and knives say about the experimentation in his films I think that's right on. There's a beauty in that kinetic montage and blurry color in Soctt's work that you just don't see in other action pictures that employ similar techniques. He was always keen to see new films and -- unlike some directors who seem to get stuck at a certain point in their development, only able to reference the favorites of their youth -- he didn't hesitate to learn from newer films by younger directors. City of God was a particular recent favorite and an inspiration behind some of the visuals in Man on Fire. His legacy is more than just the films he directed, though, as he helped mentor the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Richard Kelly, Joe Carnahan and Andrew Dominick and produced films as interesting and different from his own work as The Grey and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Even if I don't like many of his movies, I have a lot of respect for Tony Scott. Here's a director who'd spent decades perfecting a commercially safe style perfectly suited for high-earning Bruckheimer action films, and who at age of sixty threw that away in favour of a style that wasn't safe or even particularly commercial, and made it work. Man on Fire is something that 1990's Scott could've directed with his hands tied and made a slick box-office hit. Instead, he turns it into this mean, jagged, almost abstract action film that comes close to being unlikeable. I don't think it's a great film, but I admired the risks he took and I think they paid off. It's a lot more interesting than either Spy Game or Enemy of the State, his two previous films. Then to push that even further and come out with a brazenly noncommercial, all-out sensory assault in Domino, where even reality begins to collapse in on itself--I have a lot of respect for that. He took risks, and that's unusual.

Tony's trajectory is the opposite of his brother's. Tony started out with a slick commercial style that became more odd and unconventional as he got older, Ridley started out with an unconventional style and steadily became more safe and conventional as he got older.

[flyonthewall2983]

I always wondered what a Scott Brothers film would be like. Probably a mess, but at least an interesting one.

[ianungstad]

According to Variety, he was terminally ill with brain cancer.

[tavernier]

already mentioned a few posts up

[Alan Smithee]

I really don't wanna speculate about what it is about his work that has produced a small outcry over his death but it seems in the midst of all that hustle and bustle and macho action he made some things that maybe people didn't even realize how much they liked. I'll throw out my list of favorites:
1. True Romance
2. Crimson Tide
3. The Last Boy Scout
4. Domino
5. Deja Vu
6. Enemy of the State
7. Top Gun
8. Beverly Hills Cop 2
9. Man on Fire

The rest I could do without. But hey that's NINE movies I actually like and two that I'm a really big fan of.

[flyonthewall2983]

1. True Romance
2. Crimson Tide
3. Man On Fire
4. Spy Game
5. Domino

[warren oates]

I just remembered that there's a really great story about Tony Scott on the second Pelham audio commentary, the one with the writer and producer, but it's about Man On Fire. There was a day when they were running long, struggling to get what they needed and everyone was frustrated, the crew was tired and Denzel was getting pissy. They were shooting in a swimming pool doing a number of takes of Denzel on his back, floating, eyes closed. It was even to the point where the star did something he rarely does and spoke back a little: "I think you have enough shots of me swimming, Tony." But the director persuaded him to do just one more. Once Denzel was set and floating with his eyes closed, Scott quickly stripped all of his clothes off and cannonballed into the pool right next to him, yelling "Action!" just as he jumped. The prank cracked everyone up, including the moody star and just like that a blah kind of day got a funny happy ending. It's that energy and the attitude and sense of fun that made people want to work with him again and again. And I do think some of it comes through on some level in the work.

I haven't seen The Hunger or Loving Memory but I enjoyed just about every film of his I've seen except The Fan. My favorites are:

True Romance
Crimson Tide
Man On Fire
Unstoppable
Domino

[flyonthewall2983]

Has anyone seen Revenge? I was interested in it when I heard QT put it over huge on the True Romance commentary he did.

[knives]

I haven't seen it, but a lot of the people I know who have have called it the best of his from that period putting it above even stuff like True Romance and Crimson Tide.

[warren oates]

Revenge is quite a good little film. Not a personal favorite, but I can see why others rate it highly.

[Perkins Cobb]

And now the word is that there was NO brain cancer, or other terminal illness.

[Adam]

I think most accurately is that there is no word yet. Lots of speculation, followed by people saying that's not really the case, which is just more speculation. Patience....

[flyonthewall2983]

Yeah, it appears he didn't make the family aware of his diagnosis and nothing has been found in the autopsy (which usually takes longer than a day to get a whole picture), which is leading the leeches to assume what they have been lately because they are getting impatient.

[colinr0380]

I haven't seen The Hunger...

You mean to say that you've never seen the amazing sequence where Susan Sarandon makes out with Catherine Deneuve?

[knives]

I have to admit the opening is my favorite part of that movie, though Bowie at the doctor's is pretty fantastic too.

[Dylan]

The Hunger is great! Absolutely one of my favorite horror films, and a real oversight of mine to have not discussed it yet on the Horror Lists board. And until lately, it never really gets lumped in with Tony Scott's other films (even Loving Memory) because it really is very different than anything else he did. Other than having a spectacular cast, it has consistently gorgeous visuals that can be described as a kind of a fusion of urban gothic & a fashion magazine aesthetic, all of that really crescendoing in the finale - so much light and chaos and menace! - that has (possibly) make-up legend Dick Smith's very best work.

And if you're a Catherine Deneuve fan it is a must see, being one of her very best performances and at nearly 40 she's as beautiful as ever here.

[mfunk9786]

Longtime Tony Scott booster and CF.org cult favorite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky and posted a pretty staggering tribute this morning: Smearing the Senses: Tony Scott, Action Painter

[flyonthewall2983]

Jeff Goldsmith announced on Twitter he's doing a Q&A with Quentin Tarantino and Richard Kelly Friday after a screening of both True Romance and Domino. He said for those who won't be attending, it will be made available as a podcast on iTunes.

BTW, is there any way we can merge the two threads on Tony?

[flyonthewall2983]

Nice Huffington Post piece from Kevin Corrigan about Tony.