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.
I'm still working out the kinks on how I want this blog to work. Right now, it seems like the best idea would be to do my longer form writing here, whether it be inspired by my shorter posts on FilmCatcher or just something that piqued my interest. I write for FilmCatcher on Wednesdays and Fridays, so I'll just be linking to my stories on those days instead of recopying them here in their entirety. I hope that works! Here were my contributions for today:
Trailer review of Sam Rockwell's new movie, Moon, which is out in NY and LA this weekend
Rejoicing over the retention of 2 minutes in the episode length of my favorite TV series, Mad Men
A few stories about actor James Franco circulating cyberspace today. I have to agree with SlashFilm's Russ Fisher - the guy's career has evolved in a pretty remarkable way. Sure, I thought he was pretty dreamy when he was in "Freaks and Geeks" - but would I really have thought he'd be playing Ginsberg 10 years later? EW has the first still from Howl (as seen above), a film adaptation of one of the poet's most controversial and important works. I can think of few other actors who are as versatile as Franco, who has a resume that features a major action franchise in the Spiderman trilogy, an uber sappy period romance in Tristan + Isolde, an uber hilarious stoner comedy in Pineapple Express, and a key supporting role in an Oscar winning film with Milk.
As if this dizzying number of directions his career has taken isn't enough, he has aspirations to direct -- and has even taken the serious route about it. With already 5 directorial credits to his name, he is in the process of building himself up a decent amount of indie cred. And he has just completed his first year at NYU's graduate directing program, which basically makes him legit.
I would imagine that the fact that one of his professors, Jay Anania, has cast him in his own indie project (via Variety) has less to do with the fact that he's a teacher's pet and more that he is a famous face that will attract interest. But if you think Franco has started to settle in on more serious, artistic fare, think again -- he's going to wrap up summer vacation by reteaming with Danny McBride and director David Gordon Green on another comedy for Universal.
I find this kind of flexibility incredibly impressive. When crafting an acting career, there is always the risk of getting pigeon-holed into a particular genre or choosing a project that could ruin you forever. And while Franco has tempted both of those fates, he has emerged as a respectable and well-liked player who almost any audience can appreciate. Why is this so hard for most actors? And what exactly did Franco do right?
As I mentioned earlier, some are speculating that the immensely popular Swedish book series, Millenium, could be given the Hollywood treatment by some of the biggest guns in town, Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt. I get that American audiences have particular tastes (molded by the industry, of course), but frankly I find it kind of pathetic that foreign imports always have to be reinterpreted in the Hollywood framework to even see the light of day here in the States.
Take the brilliant BBC miniseries State of Play, for example. I didn't get a chance to see the Crowe-Affleck version (which, as I understand it, received relatively good reviews), but what exactly was wrong with the British version? Why didn't it get any air time on American TV? It features well-known, well-respected, and recognizable actors (James McAvoy, Bill Nighy, and the lovely Kelly MacDonald) who could have held up just fine in a movie version. And why shift the action to DC when London is equally, if not more, picturesque? And you can't even use the language excuse on this one.
Should Millenium make it Stateside, I wonder what kinds of changes would be made. Surely the action would be transposed to some American location. Easy enough. And I get that American audiences might not want to go see a movie in a foreign language, spoiled as we are with our language advantage and unaccustomed to reading subtitles. But there are so many high quality foreign films out there that just aren't correctly handled in the Hollywoodization process. I would hate for this great franchise to be one of them.
As a 21 year old teeny bopper, I can't claim to understand the intrigue surrounding Mike Tyson. I get that he bit some dude's ear off. I also get that that is pretty gross.
But I got to give the guy kudos for posing a challenge to the established logic behind weekend box office numbers. It's largely thanks to him and his cameo in the R-rated comedy The Hangover (previewed marvelously by the trailer) that the movie landed in the number one spot this weekend -- ahead of Pixar's Up, which had a huge opening weekend and was expected to hold its place at the top of the leader board. In fact, this morning, I was reading and hearing reports placing Up ahead of The Hangover. I thought we had learned our lesson about preemptive action, everyone!
What puzzles me about these results is the fact that Up is an animated, family film which -- theoretically -- would draw bigger audiences due to the fact that children and their parents would be buying tickets. And, to state the obvious: The Hangover is anything but family fare. I imagine it's bunches of bro dudes heading to the theater, pumped for the chance to join Mike Tyson in his freakin' sweet rendition of "In the Air Tonight." Mike, if you were on American Idol, I would totes vote for you.
Perhaps, like me, all those bro dudes are unemployed this summer, and therefore have time to go to the movies together to relish in Mike Tyson's glory? Or perhaps it's just appealing in these tough economic times to laugh at utter ridiculousness? What do you think drove people to the theater this weekend to see The Hangover?
While everyone is talking about The Hangover's defeat of Up at the box office this weekend, another (albeit smaller) splash was made by the Sam Mendes directed Away We Go, written by Dave Eggers and starring John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. Sure, the 4 screen advanced opening may be a small sample size, but it averaged almost $40,000 on each screen opening weekend. The names attached are huge, but there could be a case for this film being the "little" movie that could of the summer. indieWire
Brad Pitt is set to start filming baseball flick Moneyball with Steven Soderberg this week. Based on the true story of Billy Bean, a young recruit with enormous talent who flopped once reaching the majors, it is being adapted to the screen from the book of the same name. Patrick Goldstein over at the LA Times has a lengthy opinion on why this is a good move for all parties involved.
And while we're on the topic of dear Mr. Jolie, rumors are swirling that he might team up with Tarantino again to adapt the immensely popular Millenium book trilogy for American audiences. Having spent the better part of the last year in Europe, I can attest to its phenomenon status over there. I don't know if it's quite reached that level here. The Swedish version of the film, which was available for sale at the Cannes Film Market last month, has performed quite well in the European market. I saw the film myself, and found it to be a very faithful adaptation of the book and a decent movie for the genre. Thompson on Hollywood
My future husband Jake Gyllenhaal is in talks to work with Anne Hathaway once again in Love and Other Drugs. He will play a drug salesman who falls for one of his Parkinson's afflicted customers (Hathaway). Ed Zwick will direct. The Hollywood Reporter
And my hero, multi-lingual Brown graduate and part-time digital effects artist Masi Oka has had a projet greenlighted by DreamWorks. Unsurprisingly, it involves video games and other such high tech matters. The Hollywood Reporter
I've always really liked Virginia Heffernan's column The Medium in the Times, and I'm sad to see it go. Her angle chronicled the fusion of internet and television in a time where the concept of diffusing entertainment has been completely redefined. Her contribution to this past Sunday's Times magazine, "Image in a Haystack" was something I could completely relate to. I don't know about you, but I often have trouble finding exactly what I want on YouTube, and this examination of video identification and classification is really very interesting.
Speaking of YouTube, the multi-platform release of French environmental documentary Home (trailer above) was a big success, which could turn its release strategy into an important model for the industry. Simultaneously opening in movie theaters, shown on French public television, sold on DVD and posted on YouTube, the movie has been seen by over 10 million people since Friday, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Here's the link for the English language version of the film currently on YouTube.
After blogging my year abroad in Lyon, France, I've decided to try my hand at blogging about my love of cinema. Hence the title of my blog (in French), an homage to the place that nurtured and increased my interest. During my year abroad, I lived the most amazing experience any film aficionado could ever ask for - including trips to film festivals in Spain, Germany, and even Cannes! I promised myself, while strolling along the Croisette under the blistering sun of the first Saturday of the festival, that I would return there one day -- but as a professional in the film industry, rather than a fan. I guess you could consider this blog one step on the journey from amateur to professionelle.
My dream career would be as a film critic. Can you honestly think of anything better than people paying you for your opinion on movies? Speaking of which, I've nabbed an internship for the film website FilmCatcher this summer, which I hope will help me out on the writing experience front. I'll include my posts from that internship on this website, as well as more personal daily observations/reactions to news in the film world. Happy reading!
