Step aside, Vincent Gallo. Schlockbuster movie director McG has laid claim to the new monopoly on jaw-droppingly shocking interviews given in support of recent film projects. The Hollywood hired hand and former music-video veteran, whose public perception had seemingly been limited to knowledge of his single-word name, his sandy blond hair, and his surfer-dude appearance, is making an effort to transcend (or at least justify) his body of work, which includes the garishly awful (and thankfully short-lived) television series Fastlane and — most notably — the two Charlie’s Angels films. In other words, the guy has exclusively trafficked in “wham, bam, glam and slam.”
Or so we thought. In a recent interview for DVDFile.com given to support the DVD release of Charlie’s Angel’s 2: Full Throttle, McG has bestowed upon us his take on everything from philosophy to life in the digital age.
Some highlights, lest you continue to think the guy’s a total dunce who produces films of little or no redeeming value:
“When I was younger and I was in school, I wanted to be a psychiatrist and I was studying philosophy very deeply and I found myself becoming increasingly unhappy. And just I was getting into sort of Locke and Hume and I was studying Nietzsche to a degree, the more I said, look, I’m really passionate about music, I like the way it makes me feel, I’m very passionate about film, I like how I lose myself and become immersed in a picture when I go to the theater for two hours. I got more and more excited about that and let go some of my philosophical dwellings and I’ve strangely become a happier person for it. And I mean it is just an approach to living, because I’m very cognizant of different philosophical takes on the life experience, but I’ve been unsuccessful in trying to unravel the mystery of life.”
Well, then. But what are highlights without a few lowlights? After all, who doesn’t love a good cliche every once in a while?
“Sometimes you capture lightning in a bottle and sometimes it eludes you, and you know, this one has just been a little bit of a bittersweet symphony.”
And some bad cliches, or cliches that never were:
“With Drew Barrymore, the special moments outnumber the mundane. You know what I mean? She just has a way of making chicken salad out of chicken shit.”
Erm…stick with the well-worn aphorisms, dude.
Categories
One reply on “How well do you really know McG, the director of Charlie’s Angels?”
You know how “CA: Full Throttle” and “Kill Bill v. 1” are basically the exact same movie? (alienated former member of team comes back to wreak revenge on the team and its mysterious, paternal patron, etc.) Well, this interview is basically just like a Quentin Tarantino interview, except that Quentin namechecks Godard instead of Hume and Locke. (and, OK, that Quentin probably actually knows something about Godard, while McG probably doesn’t know much about Hume and Locke)
Anyway, “Full Throttle” was more fun than “Kill Bill.”