Award-wining screenwriter, prolific essayist, and notorious Asianophile, David Aaron Clark, joins the lively "Rush" discussion with the most scathing criticism yet.


To: JimmyD
Subj: Putting my spotted ass out to draw fire for no good reason...


Okay, since 90 percent of this boneheaded industry already says, "Who the fuck does he think he is" and tries to fuck with me for speaking my mind, I'll be the unpolitic one and make the point hard and fast: RUSH looks like the kind of movie that I would turn off as soon as it came on HBO at 3:30 a.m. on a weeknight.

The trailer is hardly even state of the art Hollywood editing -- the cuts are too slow, there's absolutely no kinetic forward rhythym, the lighting and camera work look uninspired and rote, the acting and "plot" laughable, and the voiceover sounds like somebody on MAD TV parodying an action movie voiceover. Jesus, Mr. Andrews, I know you've fooled these medium-IQ, unsophisticated would-be crossover porno kings into opening their obviously too money-laden pockets, but could you at least come up with a movie with a title that isn't copped from a mainstream project? Or weren't you aware of Lili Zanuck's 1992 hit RUSH, from the best-selling novel, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Greg Allman? I can't even reference DARK ANGEL, because there's only been about a million movies here and overseas with that title.

I think if you desire to be a B-movie maker in the worst way :), you should go catch up on what's happened in that genre for, oh say, the last dozen years or so. Action? Can you say "John Woo"? Hell, you don't even have to go that far afield. Check out any of Walter Hill's better work, particularly LAST MAN STANDING ... Horror? The FRIGHT NIGHT franchise ran out of steam ten years ago, and there's been a few innovations since then ... I'll let you go to the video store and find them.

Full disclosure to those who think it's all about personalities in this business: I don't know Nic Andrews, I have never met him, I have never to my knowledge been in direct competition for a job with him. I just know mindless crap when I see it.

I could beat my breast and opine, "When will all these idiots nursing their vapid crossover dreams realize that for a porn movie to compete on any level with mainstream product it must not deny it's subject matter is sex, but take it where mainstream can't. The true mainstream model for a wannabe porn crossover should be films like LAST TANGO IN PARIS, IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES, SEX, LIES & VIDEOTAPE, BODY DOUBLE, VERTIGO, etc., etc... something with a theme that actually relates to male/female relationships, not uses a cardboard cutout of the same as one of the plot devices."

But my chest is bruised enough. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't convince it to take its head out of its ass if it doesn't want to. Let me make clear: I mean no offense to Mr. Andrews as a human being, or for that matter to his producers. But as artists and entertainers, what you guys spend an inordinate amount of time and money producing is not even interesting enough to call an insult to my intelligence.




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