Yeah, his whole demeanor is off-putting. People grow and maybe he felt genuinely sorry, but I've never seen a man who gives less of that impression. At the time he blamed other people, made the case go away with some cash, and now he pops up playing the elder statesman while motor-mouthing like an excited child. Good on Spielberg for telling him to fuck off immediately after the incident.
I got the superb Arrow Blu-ray of An American Werewolf in London and couldn't sit through the retrospective interview with Landis.
It does come across that he's completely forgiven himself for the incident, if he ever felt any guilt. Not saying he should be crying in every interview, but maybe tone down the sheer contentment you clearly feel with your life when you're responsible for the deaths of innocent people (and no matter what he says, he bloody well is) and dodged any and all punishment.
In the same vein, the amount of actors and creative types who are proud to cite their friendship with Landis always feels a bit off. From memory Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and the League of Gentlemen have done this a few times. He's made undeniably ace films, but is he the sort of name you should be dropping as an example of "a good pal"?
Didn't know Spielberg had told him to fuck off. Nice one, Steve.
