You know a trend is past its prime once it makes it into the mainstream media. "Hipsterism" has now made that leap, with The Hollywood Reporter publishing this hilarious piece on the marketing tactics behind so-called 'hipster films'.
Now, I find hipsters to be very intriguing and interesting, but I highly doubt any of them would say/admit that 'Garden State' fits their taste. However, the article uses it as an example of a hipster film, qualifying such a film as one with "moody music, casual style and characters who are disaffected". Wow, you've totally got it down, THR. Mad props.
The rest of this article is equally hilarious and definitely worth a read. It focuses on the marketing strategy for the upcoming (500) Days of Summer, the latest film that adheres to this supposed pattern.
HUGE news out of Hollywood today. First off, the Oscars are desperate to boost ratings -- this much has been obvious for the last few years -- but this little stunt is going to far, Mr. Ganis. The Academy announced that they will now be considering TEN films for the coveted Best Picture prize rather than five.
Obviously, this is a ploy to get more wide audience-friendly movies in the running. A criticism of the show has been that all the nominated movies have been difficult, artistic films that don't have great box office numbers and which the general public doesn't care about. That's why people watch the red carpet fashion stuff, and then tune out. Under this new structure, there is double the chance of a "Dark Knight", for example, getting into the game.
I think this is an enormous mistake. Nothing about this will guarantee ratings and will only serve to decrease the prestige currently associated with the ceremony and the awards. Call me an elitist, but I think that this will discredit the Academy Award -- since, in essence, it makes it doubly easy to get nominated. In any case, people won't be watching television at all in 5 years, so...kind of a moot point.
In an effort to condense and combine the thoughts I want to get down today, I'm going to try and squeeze all this unrelated info into one post, so bear with me. Big news today was that Columbia has suddenly put on the breaks on that Brad Pitt-Steven Soderberg baseball pic 'Moneyball' that I posted about a few days ago. This morning's announcement was made just days before shooting was scheduled to begin. It's a pretty mysterious situation and it is unclear whether the movie will end up being made at all. Weird.
Speaking of sports movies, I read a script today for a horror movie written by a guy who has directed a pretty good sports movie. I'm not at liberty to say what it was about or who wrote it, but I am the first to say that I am not a huge fan of either genre. However, this script started out like a serious social drama and was able to slyly sneak in its horror elements.
This got me thinking about a resurgence of the horror film in recent years. Rather than being relegated to the dregs of late summer release dates, some filmmakers are lifting the genre out of its rather mediocre status in the eyes of elite film observers. It's not just about hooded serial killers or hacking off limbs in the bloodiest way possible, but navigating a subtle line between smart thriller and the conventions of the horror film.
To reference a few examples, we've got "The Host" and Cannes hit "Thirst" out of South Korea, "Let the Right One In" from Sweden, and Sam Raimi's spring season hit "Drag Me to Hell". I wish I could write more about it, but since I don't really watch horror movies, I can't really say too much more.
A few years ago, Judd Apatow managed to translate a very clever piece of viral marketing -- a fake video of Michael Cera getting fired from the set of Knocked Up -- into effective promotion for his film. Without telling people that the clip was completely fabricated, he managed to create a storm of internet interest as fans tried to guess whether or not this actually happened.
This was incredibly effective, spreading the name of his film to the general public a few weeks before its release in theaters. Furthermore, it generated a good deal of curiosity about the project without giving too much away. Since then, lots of other films have attempted similar viral campaigns, but few have been met with the same success.
Apatow's recent viral campaign, the fake Yo Teach...! series featuring Funny People cast member Jason Schwartzman, is hilarious -- but does not quite achieve the same goals as the Michael Cera clip. And here's why: it's not clear that the fake NBC series has anything to do with Funny People. While Michael Cera's fake scene unfolded in a setting featured in the commercials for Knocked Up and involved cast member Katherine Heigl, Yo Teach...! does not give any indication of being related to Funny People. Jason Schwartzman and his character are not well enough known for people to connect it with the film.
Two more clips were released yesterday featuring tidbits from the fake movies that comedian-turned-actor George Simmons (Adam Sandler) starred in before being diagnosed with his deadly disease. Only time will tell if these are more effective as viral marketing goes.
Elizabeth Rappe over at Cinematical raises the good point that viral marketing was also used to great effect in last year's comedy hit, Tropic Thunder. She also raises the question of viral marketing being on the downturn. I don't quite know if that's true -- the power of the 3:00 YouTube clip is still pretty strong. The trouble is the hook -- something needs to be informative and intriguing at the same time, inspiring people to look further into a particular project.
I went to a screening of 'Em' tonight as part of the Brooklyn International Film Festival that runs through this weekend -- and boy, am I glad I did. This super low budget indie really proves that great storytelling and beautiful camera work are not dependent on price tags. It tells the story of a two young people who, despite their love for one another, get driven apart by one's mental illness.
While the story is simple and has been told before, the film had a very personal touch, providing what producer Jim Jermanok described in the Q&A as a more nuanced perspective of mental illness. This, he said, was an important part of director Tony Barbieri's vision, since most portrayals of mental illness in film and television are sappy and melodramatic.
Shot in what seemed to be digital HD, the film also had a homemade feel to it -- which didn't take anything away from its cinematic legitimacy. On the contrary, I felt myself very much drawn into the story and the characters. As one member of the audience mentioned, the B-roll of San Francisco locations was absolutely beautiful, with a light that often sparkled off the screen.
The film has already screened at the Santa Fe and Palm Springs film festivals and is still looking for distribution.
Poster art for 'Shutter Island' at the Cannes Film Festival
Ha! I chuckle at my witless title for this post. The interwebs are all abuzz about the trailer for Martin Scorcese's latest, 'Shutter Island', and the reviews have not been good. Vulture goes so far as to tell readers not to watch it, since it spoils so many of the plot twists. Patrick Goldstein over at the LA Times finds it a bit cheesy.
I agree with both critiques, but also think the trailer does do a few things right. It shows off the caliber of Leo's performance, which will likely translate into another Oscar nom for him. It is also honest-to-goodness scary, although Goldstein is right in saying that, overall, it packs almost too much punch, causing the dramatic tension to falter a bit by the end.
Regardless, I am pretty psyched to see this movie, not least because of its phenomenal supporting cast, which includes Mark Ruffalo (who I adore), Michelle Williams, Jackie Earle Haley, Ben Kingsley, Patricia Clarkson, and Emily Mortimer (who I also adore). It is an adaptation of a novel by Denis Lehane, whose crime novels have inspired 2 previous Oscar winners: 'Mystic River' and the phenomenal 'Gone Baby Gone'. The latter is one of the most underrated movies of the past few years, and the only thing I can respect Ben Affleck for.
It is always really interesting to me to see how filmmakers and screenwriters translate books into film, and I usually like to read the original books before seeing the movie form. (For example, I read The Road last semester in preparation for what seems like this year's Oscar front runner.) In this case, though, for some reason, I find myself wanting to save the dramatic twists for when I sit down in a theater. And while too much might be revealed in this trailer, there were enough twists in 'Gone Baby Gone' to make 10 trailers like this one. So here's to hoping that not all is ruined.
There seem to be lots of projects in the works involving relatives/children of already established filmmakers in the works. This is probably true all the time, but it really popped out to me in the headlines this week.
To start us off, we've got the very cute Howards (pictured above), both of whom are already pretty established in Hollywood. Daughter Bryce Dallas has had her very first screenplay, 'Originals', picked up by Universal and Imagine, home to many of Daddy Ron's projects. According to THR, Dad's even thinking about directing the film -- which would be great for exposure, but not so great for legitimacy. Should this happen, it would only be a continuation of the already rampant incest catalyzed by this project: Bryce's writing partner is now engaged to her sister.
Next, we've got 'Moon', the trailer for which I reviewed at FilmCatcher this morning (see post below). Having already traveled the festival circuit, it's already common knowledge to those in the know (I, apparently, am not one of those people) that this is the feature directorial debut of Duncan Jones aka Zowie Bowie aka David Bowie's son. Unlike Howard's daughter, he has tried to avoid references to his famous background, having worked his way up from TV commercials and short films like most aspiring film directors who are not the spawn of rock stars. The New York Times even goes so far as to imply that this film might contain themes about Jones' struggle to break free from his father's influence. Not that that mean's that he's bitter or anything -- after all, he's currently crashing at his dad's pad, so I assume they're pretty close.
And finally, what I thought was run-of-the-mill casting news for two of my favorite young actors, Michael Angarano and Jesse Eisenberg, turned into family ties -- with the Fonz, of all people. 'Ceremony' will be the directorial debut of Fonz Jr. (Max Winkler), who also penned the script. Previous experience includes another script in production, co-written with Jonah Hill, called 'The Adventurer's Handbook' and directing the best web series of all time, 'Clark and Michael' (WATCH NOW!!).
Now, brace yourself, because here comes the intricate web of connections (albeit non-familial): 'Clark and Michael' was the brainchild of Michael Cera, who also starred in the series. So Cera has been directed by both Winkler and Reitman (in 'Juno'), the director and executive producer respectively of 'Ceremony'. Furthermore, Cera has worked with Winkler Sr. on Arrested Development. Even furthermore, Cera co-starred with Winkler's writing partner, Jonah Hill, in 'Superbad'. Okay, so maybe the world just revolves around Michael Cera. Ah, that's the world I want to live in.
