In an indication that Dakota Fanning's tutors have not acquainted her with the word "overexposure," she is set to co-star in Winged Creatures along with some heavyweight talent, Forest Whitaker, Kate Beckinsale, and Guy Pearce. Fanning has released, filmed, or announced 11 movies since appearing in The Cat in the Hat in 2003. I mean, aren't there any other 12 year olds with stage-mothers who can't say no? You'd think they would be a dime a dozen. I smell a Drew Barrymore-ish teen-age odyssey on the way.
Variety is reporting that the film, directed by Rowan Woods, is based on the "debut novel" of Roy Freirich. Here's the problem. Amazon doesn't show any novel by Roy Freirich. In fact, the only place online you can catch a whiff of this debut novel is in stories about this movie. I guess if it's a good movie, none of this really matters, but really, what's the deal?
The debut novel that doesn't exist is reportedly about the survivors of a brutal restaurant murder who then have to make sense of their lives, mortality, and connection to society. They also have decide if you need to tip your waitress if she's been shot. My guess is yes, but not more than 15%, unless she refilled your coffee at least 10 times, according to Mr. Pink. Roles for each of the stars is unclear, but hopefully they will get all that worked out before filming starts on March 19.
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Only 3 feature films in 2005. Hide and Seek, War of the Worlds, and Dreamer. I wouldn't count a 10 minute shot in the indie Nine Lives since nobody saw it. I wouldn't count a cartoon voice direct to video (My Neighbor Totoro). The year before, 2004, one film: Man On Fire. So your 11 films figure is just plain wrong.
Sounds like another melodramatic exploitation flick for Dakota. If her handlers had any decency left, they'd have put her into something light-hearted that might have rubbed away some of the "Hounddog" tarnish from her name. Instead, she's being plunged into that other grim aspect of child exploitation in films- morbid exploitation. They're going to drag her by the hair through every sorry adult-style role they can to try and insure here lucrativeness (to themselves!) in her "later" years.
No wonder Woods calls his company "Unruly Films"! It matches well against the sexploitation of Kampmeier's "Full Moon Films"... of "Hounddog" infamy.
Coupled with that is another recently announced project called "Hurricane Mary" in which Dakota plays a precocious (of course!) but handicapped child trying to be allowed to attend public schools. Yet another cheap melodrama. Only this time, her sister Elle has been cast beside her... as her twin sister!
Elle's four years her sister's junior, but has already almost caught up to her in height! Remember, Dakota, now almost 13, played a 9 year old in "Hounddog". Possibly it's a matter of random genetics, but with all that's happened this past year, who knows? It's obvious that her handlers are less than benevolent when it comes to her as a child instead of an actress.
What's really amazing is that an old prediction of mine seems to be coming true. Months ago, I said online that if "Hounddog" turned out to be a rotten movie (and that's before I knew about the sexual performances!) Dakota might end up playing second fiddle to her little sister. Is she now leaning on her little sister's burgeoning career to carry her along post-Hounddog? Elle Fanning got started playing her sister's roles in flashbacks! Maybe, as I said back then, they're coming the full circle!
How in the hell is Winged Creatures or Hurricane Mary in any way "explotation?" They're called dramas, Einstein, which are Dakota's forte. And Dakota "is now leaning on her little sister's burgeoning career to carry her along post-Hounddog?" What a joke. For your information, Dakota is currently attached to three upcoming movies, two of which don't include Elle. Dakota also pulls down $3 million a movie, which is hardly chicken feed. But this is the funniest crap you posted: "If her handlers had any decency left, they'd have put her into something light-hearted that might have rubbed away some of the "Hounddog" tarnish from her name." So what about the "tarnish" from movies like Man on Fire, Hide and Seek, or Trapped? Dakota sure didn't have any trouble making millions of bucks after acting in those "melodramatic exploitation flicks."
Please educate yourself before making stupid comments.
I don't know if "Hurricane Mary" is going to be exploitative- although it smells of more South-bashing idiocy. "Winged Creatures", however, is abusively exploitative right on the face of it. Not all exploitation is sexual, Otto. Violence and morbidity are likewise and thereby also dangerous to the hearts and minds of the children involved and those who see it. I'm just assuming here that the sexual kind is not present as well.
I never said that those three previous films of Dakota's weren't dangerous for her. I've only seen bits and pieces of "Man On Fire" (which was unsavory, to say the least) and none of the others. Not knowing to what extent their abuses lay or just how involved she was in them or the concepts involved, I'm in no position to judge. If the past is any guide, though, I'd err on the side of pessimism.
Give that, it's more easy to understand how she might have been rendered compliant to "Hounddog". She may have already been damaged emotionally... as she reportedly (and unsurprisingly) is now. These kind of "dramas", Professor Hawking, are no more an excuse for more recent abuses than are "Taxi Driver" or "Pretty Baby".
Anyone who can excuse the use of children in such ways needs a little "education" himself. The spiritual kind.
I don't know if "Hurricane Mary" is going to be exploitative, although it smells of more South-bashing idiocy. "Winged Creatures", however, is abusively exploitative right on the face of it. Not all exploitation is sexual, Otto. Violence and morbidity are also... and thus dangerous to the hearts and minds of the children involved or the ones who see it. I'm just assuming here that the sexual kind isn't present as well.
I never said that those three previous films of Dakota's weren't dangerous for her. I've only seen bits and pieces of "Man On Fire" (which was unsavory, to say the least) and nothing at all of the others. Therefore, it's hard for me to say just how deeply she was involved in the violent scenes or the films' concepts. If one assumes the worst, then it only means that Dakota was already damaged before she went to North Carolina. It would help explain why she was compliant in "Hounddog's" making. It would likewise explain further the emotional problems that she's reportedly (and unsurprisingly) suffering now.
These kind of dramas- Professor Hawking- are not for children to see, much less participate in. Those films are no more an excuse for "Hounddog" (or "Winged Creatures") than are "Taxi Driver" or "Pretty Baby". Anyone who can excuse the use of children in such ways needs a little "education" himself. The spiritual kind.
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In an indication that Dakota Fanning's tutors have not acquainted her with the word "overexposure," she is set to co-star in Winged Creatures along with some heavyweight talent, Forest Whitaker, Kate Beckinsale, and Guy Pearce. Fanning has released, filmed, or announced 11 movies since appearing in The Cat in the Hat in 2003. I mean, aren't there any other 12 year olds with stage-mothers who can't say no? You'd think they would be a dime a dozen. I smell a Drew Barrymore-ish teen-age odyssey on the way.
February 18th, 2007 at 10:54
Dakota appeared in one movie in 2006: Charlotte's Web.
Dakota appears in one movie in 2007: Hounddog.
The latter doesn't even have a distribution deal as of yet.