Did you know: Michael Jackson likes to dance with “his good friend” Brett Ratner while driving through Miami traffic? And no Brett, that is not “a good shot.” Thanks to Danny T for sending this over.

A couple weeks back, we told you that Brett Ratner was directing a series of commercials for Guitar Hero World Tour. Last week we posted an article slamming the first, which featured sports stars Alex Rodriguez, Kobe Bryant and Michael Phelps recreating the scene from Risky Business.
We called Brett Ratner a hack (as we often do), and our good friend Danny T reminded us that Ratner might not have had anything to do with the concept. But that doesn’t mean the commercial still doesn’t suck worse than a hoover.
And this morning we found a second commercial in the new series directed by Ratner. Its the same concept, but this one [...]

Last week I made a post mocking the cheesy Guitar Hero World Tour commercial directed by Brett Ratner. /Film friend Dan Trachenberg sent me an email in defense of the Rat. You may know Danny T as the co-host of The Totally Rad Show or his appearances on the /Filmcast, but what you might not know is Dan is actually an accomplished commercial director. What I’m trying to say is he knows something about the subject. I asked Dan if I could reprint his email on the site, as I found the perspective, especially the video example, to be interesting.
—-
Hey buddy,
Just in comment to your post about the Ratner spot, [...]

Brett Ratner took yet another paycheck and has filmed a series of advertisements for Guitar Hero World Tour. The first of the advertisements which premiered earlier in the week, features Kobe Bryant rocking the mic, Alex Rodriguez and Michael Phelps “dancing while ripping it up on the exhilarating new guitars, and Tony Hawk sliding in on a skateboard to play the drums.” Talk about lame…
It’s funny that even in a short form medium like television advertisements, the difference between a hack director like Brett Ratner and a master filmmaker like David Fincher (see Fincher’s Nike commercial here) is clear.

Aint It Cool News is kinda, sorta, may be, confirming the rumor that Brett Ratner will be directing Conan for Lionsgate. Written by Outlander scribes Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain, the $100 million R-rated tent pole is neither a remake or a sequel, as they are starting over from the original stories.
Conan was created by Robert E. Howard in a series of fantasy pulp stories published in Weird Tales in the 1930s, later popularized in the 1982 John Milius film Conan the Barbarian, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Earl Jones.
Why must Brett Ratner keep attaching himself to beloved film properties? Why can’t he direct something original, a stupid spec [...]

Before I shower, thought I’d get this item out of the way. Dread Central is reporting that director Brett Ratner—who is reeling from having his lifelong dream of Guitar Hero: The Movie dashed by Activision—is being sought by Nu Image for their Conan reboot. As of now, this is merely a rumor for us to smirk at. Last month we noted that Lionsgate was having the $100 million R-rated tent pole fast tracked, using a script rewrite from Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain (Outlander). One of the producers compared their uncompromising vision to The Dark Knight. Soon thereafter, Slashfilm learned that a giant R was shot into the sky over [...]

From the producers of Paris, je t’aime, comes New York, I Love You, another anthology of 12-short films, this time focusing on the stories of love in New York’s five boroughs. Directed by Allen Hughes, Shekhar Kapur, Joshua Marston, Mira Nair, Brett Ratner,
Fatih Akin, Scarlett Johansson, Ivan Attal, Natalie Portman, Shunji Iwai, Jiang Wen, and Andrei Zvyagintsev. The film’s ensemble cast includes: Kevin Bacon, Maggie Q, Orlando Bloom, James Caan, Hayden Christensen, Blake Lively, Julie Christie, Chris Cooper, Drea de Matteo, Carla Gugino, Ethan Hawke, John Hurt, Shia LaBeouf, Natalie Portman, Rachel Bilson, Christina Ricci, Olivia Thirlby, Robin Wright Penn, Anton Yelchin, Burt Young and more.
I never got a chance [...]

Back in May, rumors ran wild that Brett Ratner might be directing a big screen adaptation of the popular video game series God of War. Bad news for video game fans, today’s MGM press release for the Robocop reboot contained the following juicy tidbit:
“David Self’s credits include 13 Days and Road To Perdition.  He wrote God of War for Universal, to which Brett Ratner is attached to direct, and was a writer on Universal’s Wolfman currently in production.”
Is this official confirmation that Ratner is officially attached to the project? We hope not.

The PG-13 Effect: Brett Ratner’s officially “blowing ‘em where the pampers is.” The Miami-born maverick tells MTV that his Beverly Hills Kindergarten Cop 4 will be out to impress kids who can’t get into PG-13 movies. Is there another franchise that has ever consisted of three R-rated films (two of which are really good) and then had a PG sequel?
“Ten-year-old kids, 12-year-old kids don’t really know the old Beverly Hills Cop. So it’s an opportunity to make it new for kids,” Ratner said. “The same way it felt for me watching Beverly Hills Cop when I was a kid, that’s what I want to do for kids today.”
The youth have [...]

In this episode of the /Filmcast, Dave, Devindra, Adam, and Peter, debate the merits of Sex and the City, lament the Universal fire, pore over the Lost finale, and discuss the nihilistic themes of Rambo. Special guest Myles McNutt joins us from Cultural Learnings and Alex Billington joins us from Firstshowing. Have any questions/comments/suggestions? Feel free to e-mail us at slashfilmcast@gmail.com.
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“Peace sign or eye gouge?”
Before we begin, there is something you must know about Brett Ratner. Similar to the combination of gremlins and water, when the moon is right and Ratner applies baby powder to his ass, out pop multiple epic-ly shitty movies. Tonight, it was thick. The trades are reporting that Ratner is attached to direct a Beverly Hills Cop 4 starring Eddie Murphy as Mr. Squirrel Axl Foley, the smooth talking, wisecracking character last seen with a gun near a Ferris wheel. Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the first two, isn’t getting on board, but Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, Doom) has taken the ticket to see this [...]

“Grotto!?!”
Over the last six months, I’ve had four unrelated sources tell me off the record that Robert Downey Jr. was a total lock to star in a Hugh Hefner biopic entitled Playboy. Of course, this was before Iron Man’s grosses went interstellar. Chicago’s Sun Times now reports that the actor is close to signing on, even though the original director, Brett Ratner, is purportedly no longer attached, but may circle back (I bet.) for producer Brian Grazer.
Would Marvel Studios be cool with Downey Jr. playing a porn magnate? The company recently tossed out the R-rating, so it might be iffy territory. In my view, Tony Stark is not exactly [...]

“Mayonaise. Nom nom nom.”
Pssssssst, put your ear up to the monitor. Here that? That’s the sound of so many strikes at a bowling alley. Brett Ratner and Eddie Murphy: together at last for a presumably plastic potty-humored family comedy! Ratner is in talks to helm a remake of the 1957 movie The Incredible Shrinking Man for Universal, with Murphy circling the lead. The script is by Thomas Lennon and Reno 9-11’s Robert Ben Garant (The Pacifier, Night at the Museum), and HR reports that it tells the tale of a Las Vegas magician who falls under a spell that causes him to lure ’00s Eddie Murphy gradually shrink to [...]

Jackie Chan: Chris, my man, let’s make new movie.
Chris Tucker [getting pedicure beside $-shaped pool]: I dunno Jackie, Rush Hour 4?! Already?! You think all the fans can handle it?
Jackie: No, not Rush Hour. Something…more…original.
Chris: Jackie, you so crazy. I love it.
Jackie: I love you too Chris. Let’s find good writer. Maybe we call Brett after.
Chris [tells the nail girl to go slower]: Jackie, I’m excited, man! Me and you together again?! Let’s do it! Call MTV.
via MTV
[for historical record: apparently Chris and Jackie made this decision in person]

Does big time studio director Brett Ratner lie around the Grotto half-naked with Hugh Hefner and his Bunnies while searching through ancient Valiant comic books for his next franchise? If not, did an assistant bring him a copy of Harbinger and if so, why not a copy of Turok Dinosaur Hunter or X-O Manowar instead? I mean, at least those forgotten Valiant series had snazzy holographic covers. The world may never know or care.
Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand), who is currently toying around with a Hefner biopic entitled Playboy, is attached to direct a Harbinger feature film for Paramount Pictures, with MTV Films circling the project as well. The discontinued [...]