City of Ember (Gil Kenan 2008)
Posted on January 30 at 11.00, 2009 by Eric Mahleb
Despite my clear lack of knowledge regarding the inner workings of a film studio or of a production company, this is nonetheless how i envision the approval for City of Ember must have happened:
Pitch Guy: So picture this. The world has destroyed itself but a group of people survives and builds a new society underground…
Studio Exec: you mean like in Logan’s Run?
PG: Yes. Well, no, not exactly. Time passes of course, but the society is cut off from progress so it is more based on technology from the past and on old-fashioned values
SE: I see. So a bit like A Boy and His Dog?
PG: Hmm, i suppose so. But just a little bit. It is not a suburbian mentality like A Boy and His Dog. This takes place in a small, dystopic, claustrophobic and buzzing city with strange architecture and
SE: Sounds like Dark City to me…
PG: Hmfff, kind of, but it is not dark, well not really dark, it is more rusty and old and dusty and…
SE: Did you ever see The City of Lost Children? Amazing production values….
PG: Yes i did. Nice film. But you see, City of Ember is also a great adventure because two kids find out how to get out…
SE: Kids? Kids as in Jumanji, The Goonies, Narnia, The Golden Compass, Lemony Snicket, The…
PG: Yes, yes, but the angle here is slightly different because…
At this point, the Studio Exec chokes on his Latte Machiatto and gasps desperately for air. The Pitch Guy understands that this is his only chance, grabs a pillow and places it over the Studio Exec’s face who dies shortly thereafter. Before calling for help, the Pitch Guy manages to fake the Exec’s signature and places the pitch page in the Go Ahead tray.
Anyone got a better explanation?
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3 Responses to “City of Ember”
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Konstantin Says:
June 1, 2009 at 17.19Remember we are talking Hollywood here. I imagine the approval process went something like this (spoilers ahead):
Pitch guy “So listen to this. The world is doomed for some reason. Humanitie’s only Chance is to go underground. Think Twelve Monkeys, without time travel. And there’s a tiny City in which the rest of humanity lives. Think Dark City, just not Dark… but golden… We could also tint the entire Film like that and Call it ‘something something Ember’. I came up with that all by myself.”
Studio Exec “I don’t have all day. Where is this going?”
Pitch Guy “Err.. Think Twelve Monkeys meets Dark City meets City of Lost Children meets Logans Run meets A Boy and his Dog… with kids”
Studio Exec “Will it be PG 13?”
Pitch Guy “PG even!”
Studio Exec “Here’s 50 million. And we get final Cut”boring…
Another Movie destroyed in -
Konstantin Says:
June 1, 2009 at 18.02the opening scenes…
City of Ember suffers from Severe over-exposition Syndrome. “Dear Audience. Here is everything you need to know about this movie in a nutshell.. Just so you can enjoy your popcorn and fall asleep without having to worry about missing the plot. Not that it’d be hard to figure out where this is all going anyway..”
I thought it was an interesting concept, It could very well have turned out to be about religion. The Question of our Makers and why these people would just accept the fact that there’s nothing beyond their world. “It was made by the builders and that’s that”.
If they had cared enough to make the main plot significant in any way I could have forgiven the grand explanation for why they bury all knowledge of the upper world before sending people to live underground. “Well… we don’t really have a cure for AIDS… I vote we tell no one and when someone dies we say it was the Flu!”
The girl was brutal to watch in some scenes.. maybe they should have kept her running for the whole movie, she does smiling very good.
And what’s the mayor’s problem? Boooring.
The side Characters? Boooring. Was I supposed to care about these people? I’m tired of seeing people on screen being dumbed down to caricatures to support a ridiculous plot. The world is ending but let’s all meet up and sing.
And what was wrong with those giant insects and how exactly did that relate to the plot..?
“Listen… we have a million bucks left over cause we saved big time on that bargain script. Maybe we can throw in some CG creatures or something… you know.. for the Trailer?” Or maybe that was the studio exec from before… who knows.
And I’m not even gonna start on things like growing vegetables underground or a mimimum viable Population or the million other things that made no sense whatsoever.Anyway… It’s still an interesting watch if you turn off your brain for 90 minutes. The athmosphere they managed to create in that city is well done, as were the outskirts. It might be a decent movie for Kids if you don’t want them to get too smart.
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Anna Says:
May 1, 2010 at 10.08Great movie!