The question is whether he pulls a Pryor: essentially seize control of the show, brings his own ideas (even writers) and basically use it as a platform for all the stuff he wants to do.

The tepid reviews are a pretty accurate summation of the way the Producer's Cut was received. The movie didn't start getting "masterpiece" raves until the Director's Cut became available.

I never had dinner with the president…

As am I.

Eric Wright was a Republican donor. I don't think he lost sleep over the racial politics of Ghostbusters.

Maybe the best standup today…

Plus, they're angling for another season, so it obviously doesn't fit this scenario.

Quite a lot of it. 8-Ball is about the only time I've seen a rapper openly (and proudly) admit to being ghostwritten.

I began thinking the Anna Farris section dragged out, but I for one that it was worth it for the grisly pay-off. I don't know, I think there's a lot of comedic timing in an unexpectedly meaty squib.

It's certainly hard to say whether Cimino could have maintained a long term working relationship with any one studio or producer, but I think he was capable of reining it in when pressed. When UA finally put their foot down, he was able to finish the last chunk of Heavens Gate on schedule and budget, including the…

Admittedly, that seems to be a subtext in a lot of Cimino's films.

Rourke makes it work. As far as miscasting goes, Christopher Lambert in The Sicilian is the real example of it sinking a film. Replace him with Rourke (or even better, Christopher Walken, if he hadn't begun showing his age at this point) and you instantly have a much better film.

God Dammit. Heaven's Gate is legitimately one of my absolute, top 10 favorite films of all time. A movie which really rewired my notions of what movies can be, and which made me realize that film history and the established canon wasn't always right.

The pedigree on that screenplay is amazing. Not only did Michael Cimino and John Milius both take passes at it, but the whole idea for the film came from Terrence Malick's rejected screenplay for the first film.

It's surprising Michael Cimino hated the Final Cut doc, going as far as barring it from the Criterion, since in many respects it's a corrective, not an adaptation, of the Bach book.

A myth, albeit a popular one. He's not even responsible for the death of United Artists (who was still looking at incredibly profitability in view of more Bond films and the Rocky sequel).

And Elie Wiesel!

And now, Michael Cimino.

I always thought it clear: as the Americans and Communists are fighting, it's the vanquished Nazi who quietly wins.

Yeah, but it's a terrific movie.