Dude Director Watch: The Russo Brothers Land Captain America 2

7 Comments

• | Reply

• Melissa Silverstein | June 8, 2012 9:52 PMReply

  Here is my thinking. First, she does have drama experience unlike the Russo Brothers
  
  1- Patty Jenkins directed and write Monster which had NO budget was about an incredibly difficult and the movie got a ton of attention because of Charlize's performance which got her an Oscar.
  
  2- Patty Jenkins directed the pilot of The Killing which was what set the tone for the series. While many people have not been pleased with how it has progressed, it received a lot of critical acclaim at the beginning.
  
  I also freely admit that it was a big step for the powers that be at Thor to pick Jenkins. I freely admit that. But we live in a world we need to see these kinds of steps in order to make forward motion in this area.
  
  But we do live in a world where having a penis is what gets you directing jobs 99% of the time. So, yeah, I was excited that a woman got the job. But ultimately she never got to make her movie. I doubt that same fate will befall the Russo brothers.

• Star | June 9, 2012 3:59 PM

  "First, she does have drama experience unlike the Russo Brothers." --- This might mean something if Thor were a drama (it isn't). If you take away the fact that the Russos have experience directing a studio film and Jenkins doesn't, the resumes of these three are VERY similar. And yet you shake your head over the Russos' hiring and do backflips for Jenkins'. You're being disingenuous claiming your objection to the Russos isn't about their gender. Like I said before, if the Russo brothers were the Russo sisters, you'd be singing a different tune about their qualifications. Remember, misandry and misogyny are just two sides of the same coin.

• Linn | June 9, 2012 12:01 PM

  Re: Russo brothers making it to the "finish line" of a released film. Only time will tell. Everyone gets fired in this business at some point... Thanks for discussing.

• Melanie | June 8, 2012 4:56 PMReply

  Maybe this should be a call to action, not yet another topic to want to throw up about. There's a fine line between the two, and sometimes I don't have the energy for the first one, but we should try. We should try to say, "You know what? I'm a badass woman who is valuable and awesome. I'm also fun, relatable and professional. I'm gonna vibe your freaking socks off."

• Star | June 8, 2012 2:48 PMReply

  "But Captain America 2 is not a TV comedy; it is a big, gigantic, huge tent pole movie with an already established 2014 release date."
  
  So you're saying they're not qualified based on their resumes, right? Well, let me ask you, what was on Patty Jenkins' resume that made HER qualified for the big, gigantic, huge tent pole movie with an already established 2013 release date (Thor 2)? And yet you thought HER hiring was the greatest idea since...ever.
  
  If the Russo brothers were the Russo sisters, you'd be celebrating their hiring instead of lamenting it. Surely you are at least self-aware enough to notice the hypocrisy of you holding this "Vagina = Qualified, Penis = Not Qualified" attitude, right? Right?

• tammy | June 13, 2012 2:49 AM

  Linn, Kathyrn Bigelow has made plenty of big budget films (although they were all made outside the studios). One film was 90 million dollars. The low budget on Hurt Locker was the exception, not the rule.
  
  The "vibe" is actually a very common attitude. "We think he can do it"...which turns into, "we thought he could do it" after they lose all their money hiring a guy with a very thin resume. But yes it is a risky business and you never know for sure what's going to be successful. Just curious if he would pick his surgeon that way...the doctor didn't go to medical school, but I got a good "vibe".

• Linn | June 8, 2012 5:48 PM

  Umm, I would have said it MUCH NICER, but Melissa, you do seem to have a double standard. Ms. Jenkins only really has Monster as a film credit, in addition to her TV directing gigs, and that was by no means a big budget film. You've accidentally set up a confusing logic system. If you were suggesting Kathryn Bigelow, that would make more sense. (although she's done fairly small budget so far, too. Not sure what her most recent film's budget is) If you focus on budget only, then you have to match - whether it's male or female. If you want to argue the tone of the past work, that's different. Then an indie tone film that's more appropriate could be argued... Now you're starting to see what the studio heads struggle with. But yes, I do agree with you, studio heads need to be more comfortable with the vibe women directors give. And I personally think that it is generational. Just like young male athletes seem to be much less homophobic (see recent rookie NFL draft discussion on this) - young men are less afraid of women being in charge. And dating them. I've met successful women in their 40s and older who prefer dating younger men, because the younger men are proud of what the women accomplish, rather than wanting to put them in a box. (which is what the women often experience when they date men their own age)