Joel Schumacher (1939-2020)
Hollywood film director Joel Schumacher. The man who reinvented the Batman movie series into its gaudy take, as well as directed films like "St. Elmo's Fire", "The Lost Boys", and "Flatliners", has passed away after losing his battle with cancer at age 80 on June 22nd, 2020.
This filmmaker is known for his flamboyance and brilliance. It's no wonder many people considered him the man who replaced Tim Burton and nearly killed the Batman film franchise. He had apologised for making "Batman and Robin", which he regretted instantly for the rest of his life.
Joel began as a fashion designer in New York but moved to Hollywood, where he used his design talents in doing costumes for films like Woody Allen's "Sleeper" and "The Last of Shelia". Schumacher turned to scriptwriting in films such as "Car Wash" and "The Wiz". He then shifted to directing in his first outing, "The Incredible Shrinking Woman". Schumacher's claim to fame was the coming-of-age teen drama "St. Elmo's Fire", which was an instant hit. It launched the careers of the Brat Pack, consisting of Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe and Ally Sheedy. Soon after came "The Lost Boys", a horror comedy about vampires starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman and Kiefer Sutherland and these successes have propelled Joel Schumacher into directing more films like "Flatliners", "Falling Down", "The Client", "A Time to Kill", "8mm", "Flawless", "Tigerland", "Phone Booth", "The Phantom of the Opera", "Number 23" and "Trespass".
Beneath his accomplishments is his lighthearted and campy take on the Batman series, which instantly harkens back to the Adam West television series. The reins from director Tim Burton get transferred to Joel in handling the movie franchise as the studio wanted it to be kid-friendly, beginning with the third instalment, "Batman Forever". His first movie was a success, but the second outing, "Batman and Robin", proved to be lacklustre and hated by fans and critics. Apart from doing feature films, Joel directed two episodes from the first season of the Netflix TV version of "House of Cards" as well as music videos such as "Devil Inside" by INXS and "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal.
I feel sorry for Schumacher, considering what he has been through in making "Batman and Robin" a colossal failure that nearly killed George Clooney's acting career. I'm sad he never got to release "Batman Forever" in its extended cut.
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