![]() ![]() General Bethlehem and his men also happen to be ruthless racists and misogynists in an era that still allowed such characters to appear on the screen and say certain harmful words. Will Patton, a terrific actor who also appeared with Costner 10 years prior in the Cold War spy thriller, No Way Out, has the misfortune of playing General Bethlehem, Costner's nemesis. It appears as if Costner is trying like hell to emulate Cervantes' Don Quixote and find the magic he had unearthed some seven years prior with the legendary Dances with Wolves, but without the earnestness of the Oscar-winning saga. The best dialogue in the film is in the opening scenes between Costner and his horse, "Bill." That should tell you all you need to know about the screenplay. The star went from Waterworld directly to "Dirtworld" without passing "Go" and definitely without collecting $200. It was Kevin Costner in another apocalyptic setting, only this time he isn't surrounded by water, but by miles and miles of landlocked, dusty flatlands. It is set in 2013 and what's left of society has been separated into small hamlets of survivors who fight each other for the scraps of a once vibrant civilization. But aside from being a bad investment, there is something about the film that doesn't ring true. There are plenty of reasons to pile on The Postman, from the excessive runtime of over three hours to the portentousness of its lead, director, and also producer, Costner. So what in the "waterworld" happened to this David Brin novel adaptation of a mailman on horseback who rides in the vast Northwestern portion of the United States in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic society? And why did the star decide to use his own money to get the production to the finish line? We're talking about the doomed The Postman returned only $20 million on a budget of more than $85 million, a good portion of which came out of Costner's own wallet. But there is another 90s film that Costner made and actually footed the bill for just two years later that is by all accounts an even bigger flop than Waterworld. And though is did earn $264 million, it is widely considered a missed opportunity on behalf of the Yellowstone actor. That's more than the annual GDP for a lot of countries. The 1995 waterlogged disaster cost $175 million to make. Those people are not necessarily wrong, either. ![]() His last documentary THE GOOD POSTMAN (2016) was selected for the IDFA feature-length main competition in Amsterdam (2017) and was nominated for the Best International Documentary at Sundance Film Festival.Most people will point to Waterworld when asked to identify Kevin Costner's biggest box office flop. The documentary ONCE UPON A DREAM – A JOURNEY TO THE LAST SPAGHETTI WESTERN (2015) premiered at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. LOVE AND ENGINEERING (2014) screened at New York’s Tribeca and Toronto’s Hot Docs, opened Visions du Réel in Nyon, Switzerland, and won the audience award at Doc Point, Helsinki. Hristov’s next three projects earned him great success and a rich festival career: SOUL FOOD STORIES (2013) was nominated for best documentary in the medium-length competition at Amsterdam’s IDFA and also nominated for the Golden Gate Award at San Francisco International Film Festival. His feature debut RULES OF SINGLE LIFE (2011) found its way into both Finnish and Bulgarian distribution, winning Best Documentary at the Sofia IFF and screening at a variety of other fests (e.g. He directed his first documentary FAMILY FORTUNE (2008) for YLE and the Bulgarian National Television. Born in 1978, Tonislav Hristov is a Bulgarian filmmaker based in Finland and Bulgaria. ![]()
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