The amount of information broadcast from the world of film and entertainment on a daily basis is staggering. Every morning I turn on my computer to an overwhelming number of developments reported in Variety, Indiewire, IMDB, and other outlets. There are, however, always a few things that standout more than others:
1.) Cinevegas: Indiewire recently ran some great stories about this exciting fest. Indiewire runs great stories period, and is in my humble opinion the best online independent film news source. That was a comma, not a period.
Anyway, the Sin City festival introduced a new panel/party hybrid that featured several industry experts playing ”Distribution Roulette” wherein each spun a giant wheel to be randomly assigned a hypothetical scenario regarding a particular film for which they had to come up with a distribution strategy on the spot. Participants included filmmaker Todd Sklar from Rangelife, Christian Gaines from IMDb & Withoutabox, CAA’s Dina Kuperstock, Tom Quinn from Magnolia Pictures, IFC Films’ Arianna Bocco, B-Side’s Chris Hyams, Cinetic’s Matt Dentler, and David Fenkel from Oscilloscope. The following is an excerpt from Eugene Hernandez’ article in Indiewire:
“I’m a firm believer that linear distribution is over,” stated IMDb’s Christian Gaines when he landed a fictitious “demanding character study.” Going from a film festival to theatrical distribution to DVD is not a viable path anymore, he noted. Instead, with such a movie, filmmakers could utilize Amazon’s CreateSpace and VOD services while continuing to pound the pavement on the festival circuit, hyping the movie via Facebook, on Twitter and on their own website. “Really really focus on selling this film unit by unit by unit,” Gaines said, “Giving it as long a run [as possible], seeing spurts of sales festival by festival.”
2.) Sony slams the lid on Soderbergh’s Moneyball: There’s that great Entourage episode where the Herzogian director of Smoke Jumpers has it out for Vince and when he fires him, the Ari machine goes into high gear. An all out Hollywood power play ensues and finishes with the studio head shutting the whole thing down.
This is the kind of drama I like to think went down when Columbia Pictures topper Amy Pascal shut down the Pitt starring Soderbergh baseball biopic a mere 96 hours before shooting was scheduled to begin after she read a script revision that she felt varied too far from the original. I’ve heard that she first laid eyes on the freshly reworked script when the cast and crew sat down for a final read through, was not so pleasantly surprised, and placed the picture into ”limited turnaround” which gives Soderbergh the opportunity to set it up at another studio.
3.) The Cove continues its winning streak. By now most people have seen or heard of that YouTube video of Heroes star Hayden Panetierre devastated over the mass murder of dolphins in the seas of Japan. This ongoing tragedy is the subject of The Cove, a documentary about a group of scientists, activists, and filmmakers that orchestrate an espionage style filming of the area and the cruelty. After winning the Audience Award at Sundance where it premiered, the film has gone on to win Audience Awards at Seattle, Hot Docs, Silverdocs, and Sydney. The filmmakers credit the variety of elements (lovable animals, activism, technology, danger, intrigue, etc.) with the widespread audience appeal.
4.) The Oscars Add Five: Not since Casablanca took top prize in 1943 did the Best Picture category at the Academy Awards include ten nominees, but the 82nd edition will do just that. Academy reps attribute the decision to allowing voters a larger pool to choose from that includes film nominated for other categories that are often edged out of the grand pize running. Upon hearing this, it’s hard not to think of Box Office champ The Dark Knight‘s snubbing earlier in the year especially when you think of all those Batman fans that may have failed to tune in to the Awards show as a result.
The potential benefits are clear. Oscar buzz for more films will hopefully translate into more activity at the Box Office, more recognition for actors, directors, writers, and other people involved in making the films, and ultimately, larger audiences for the Awards in February. The potential risks are also apparent. Requiring that ten slots be filled assumes that their are ten films every year that are deserving of a nomination. One would hope that additional slots will be filled with previously deserving but unrecognized indies, but it may also mean that studio campaigns have a better chance at convincing less worthy blockbusters into coveted slots, thereby diluting the signficance of the honor. Again from Indiewire:
“Ten movies? Are there really 10 movies every year that should get a best picture nomination? Think about it…For Your Consideration: ‘The Hangover”, wrote Michael Speier from The Wrap.
5.) Critics get funny with bad reviews for well performing Transformers. Okay first of all let me say that I enjoyed watching the first Transformers. Let me also say Megan. Fox. I will probably also enjoy watching Transformers 2. It’s been pretty entertaining to read what critics have had to say about the film:
Peter Bradshaw from the Guardian: “I found it at once loud and boring, like watching paint dry while getting hit over the head with a frying pan.”
Roger Ebert: “If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination”
6.) David Fincher is in talks to do a film about Facebook: This could end up being my favorite film of all time if he somehow manages to make it exactly like Fight Club.
7.) Come see our shorts!: As part of our Best of Fest series, the Lone Star Film Society will screen a series of the best films from the 2008 Lone Star International Film Festival tomorrow night at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Titles include:
My Mom Smokes Weed by Clay Liford. Winner of our Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film.
Scaredycat by Andy Blubaugh
Spider by Nash Edgerton
The Aviatrix by Toddy Burton
Doxology by Michael Langan
Silent Snow by Jan van den Berg
Side Effects by Chuck Rose
For more information and to purchase tickets, please go to www.lonestarfilmsociety.com
