It seems like a year can’t go by without someone talking about the so-called death of independent film. The market is shrinking, audiences aren’t paying attention, so on and so forth. Then we have a runaway hit like Juno and everyone changes their story. We’ve also heard people predicting the end of the blockbuster, so you kind of have to take it with a grain of salt. Lately, however, the future of indie films has once again been called into question, and this time there is a lot more evidence than usual to support the argument.
Case in point: Indie-friendly studio arms Picturehouse, Warner Independent and Paramount Vantage all closed their doors earlier this year. Thinkfilm is rumoured to be in serious financial trouble and have now become embroiled in a number of lawsuits. This year’s crop of film festival favourites is not expected to yield any real breakout hits. Meanwhile, the summer blockbuster season is in full swing, and there’s no shortage of money being made there. Do smaller films still have a hope of finding their way to an audience?
I have to admit, this year I’ve really noticed a distinct lack of limited release alternatives competing with the big summer franchises. Every weekend there are one or two major mainstream releases and nothing else to choose from. Even small films like The Promotion, which features such recognizable names as Seann William Scott and John C. Reilly, are barely a blip on the radar. This weekend The Wackness, one of Sundance’s biggest hits, is playing on only 6 screens across North America. What the heck is going on?
Granted, studios tend to hold a lot of these movies back for the fall season, but it certainly seems like there aren’t as many people behind the scenes championing the little guy anymore. Some are predicting that the internet will be the saving grace for independent film distributors, but would it mean sacrificing the ability to see them on the big screen? What do you think, are indies going the way of the dodo? Is the future of multiplexes to have more screens but less choice? Is there a serious crisis right now in the film industry? Give us your thoughts here on Open Forum Friday.
For all you people who think Disney has just been rehashing the same old crap for the past 10 or 15 years, here’s something just a little bit different that the Mouse House is currently working on. Roadside Romeo is a computer animated film that is being co-produced with Yash Raj Films in India, about a pampered rich dog who finds himself abandoned on the unfriendly streets of Mumbai. Basically it is a CG flick done in the style of Bollywood, complete with song and dance numbers. It will be released in both English and Hindi, with Bollywood stars Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor voicing the two main characters.
I’m not very well-versed in Bollywood cinema, but this does sound like an interesting cross-cultural experiment. We are seeing Bollywood and Hollywood collaborating quite frequently as of late, and this seems to be part of a continuing trend. At the very least, it could be the most interesting non-Pixar Disney film to come out in quite a while. Check out a teaser trailer below. Roadside Romeo is expected hit theatres on October 24th.
The debate has raged on for years over whether or not film critics matter anymore and whether reviews actually have an effect on the box office success of a movie. Judging by the disparity between some of the biggest blockbusters from the past few years and the terrible reviews they received, it would seem that the two are not in any way related. However, the crack staff over at Slate recently sat down and did some fiddling with numbers and came to the conclusions that positive reviews do, in fact, matter.
Now granted, statistics are pretty easy to manipulate in a lot of different ways, and Slate’s research on the whole Tom Cruise Valkyrie Photo Scandal ended up being not so reliable. But their approach is an interesting one, and, I think, worth a look. The basic idea is that they broke down movies to their per-screen average, and found that the biggest blockbusters seemed critic proof only because of the sheer number of ticket sales. The bottom line? “Critically acclaimed films average about $2,000 more per screen than critically lambasted films.” According to Erik Lundegaard, quality still matters, which is a somewhat reassuring thought. Do you agree?
I have to admit, if this movie wasn’t directed by Alex Proyas (Dark City, The Crow, I, Robot), I’m not sure that I’d give it a second glance. However, since it is directed by Alex Proyas, I’m desperately holding out hope that it will be something cool, and a return to form of sorts in spite of what we’re being shown here.
The first trailer for his upcoming thriller Knowing has hit the web, and my first reaction is that it feels like a second rate M. Night Shyamalan flick. Take the fact that it stars Nicolas Cage and his now trademark greasy hairdo, and it also reminds me a bit of Next. But the story has something to do with numbers that can predict the future, so throw in a little bit of Joel Schumacher’s The Number 23 as well. Mix it up all up in a blender and what do you have? Well, I guess we’ll have to wait until March 20th, 2009 to find out, but it could probably go either way. Check out the trailer below and see what you think.
We hope all of our friends in the good ol’ U.S. of A. are enjoying their long weekend as Will Smith once again stakes his claim on the July 4th holiday that made him such a big star. Hancock is the only major new release for the week, although it has actually been playing for a few days now. Anyone out there seen it yet? In select theatres we have the Sundance hit The Wackness plus the Matthew Broderick dramedy Diminished Capacity. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl starring Little Miss Sunshine’s Abigail Breslin has also expanded to a wide release this weekend.
Drillbit Taylor DVD Review
Directed by: Steven Brill
Written by: Kristofor Brown, Seth Rogen
Starring: Owen Wilson, Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile, David Dorfman, Danny McBride, Leslie Mann
In the months following the summer of Knocked Up and Superbad it seemed that Judd Apatow could do no wrong. If The 40-Year-Old Virgin was his breakout hit, then these two films had cemented his name as the new go-to guy for comedy gold, leaving studios scrambling to get his name on any upcoming project they could.
Then came Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, followed by Drillbit Taylor and suddenly the Apatow name wasn’t quite so untouchable anymore. Drillbit Taylor in particular got hit hard by critics, although to be fair, it was another Apatow production that was not directed by the man himself. Instead, Steven Brill (whose credits include the forgettable Without a Paddle, Mr. Deeds and Little Nicky) was forced to shoulder some of the blame. But with a cast that includes Owen Wilson and Danny McBride, and a screenplay co-written by Seth Rogen, how bad could it really be?
There’s a big rumour about a Friends feature film that’s been spreading across the web like wildfire this week, and while I don’t really believe it, the idea itself certainly deserves some consideration. The story originates from British tabloid The Daily Mail, who claim that a Friends movie has indeed been greenlit as the various cast members were “inspired” by the success of Sex and the City on the big screen. While I have no doubt that there have been discussions about bringing Friends to the big screen, this particular report does not seem to come from a very reliable source. Still, rest assured, there is BIG money to be made from a Friends movie, and once the stars have had enough time to mull it over, I am pretty sure it will happen.
Let’s look at the various cast members and where they are now. Jennifer Aniston is the only one who has much of a movie career going right now with The Break-Up and the upcoming Marley & Me. David Schwimmer has gotten into directing. Most of the others have dabbled in a few smaller film roles, while Matt LeBlanc hasn’t done anything at all since Joey. I don’t think it will take a lot of convincing. I think the Sex and the City movie is definitely going to have an impact, and we’re going to see a lot more recently concluded TV shows turned into movie franchises. The X-Files has already made the transition. What about The Sopranos? Will we ever see a Seinfeld movie? Hey, you never know. What TV shows would you like to see on the big screen? Would you like to see a Friends movie?
The idea of remaking The Day The Earth Stood Still is not one that I am entirely comfortable with. While the original is now over 50 years old and may seem long overdue for a modern upgrade, it still stands as an absolute classic and a great example of what science-fiction films can and should be. And yet, like it or not, the teaser trailer for the 2008 remake has arrived online, and I am now finding myself forced to admit that… you know what? I actually didn’t mind it.
Granted, it is only a teaser. Keanu Reeves stars as Klaatu, and if ever there was a role that perfectly suited his robotic acting, this is it. The cast also includes Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, John Cleese and Jaden Smith. The only real weak point I see in this production so far is the choice of director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose). I haven’t seen The Exorcism of Emily Rose, but his lack of experience worries me. What do you think, can this new version of The Day The Earth Stood Still actually be worthwhile, or will it just be another paint-by-numbers blockbuster? Check out the teaser trailer and sound off in the comments below. It hits theatres on December 12th.
We’ve known for a while that Francis Ford Coppola has been overseeing a restored version of The Godfather trilogy, but now at long last we have all the details and an official release date for this tempting package on DVD and Blu-ray. Paramount has announced The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration Collection as a 5-disc set with the remastered versions of all three movies (The Godfather Part II once again spans two discs) plus a 5th bonus disc of all new extras. All of the features that appeared on the previous box set will also be included.
The new features are as follows:
Featurette: Godfather World
Featurette: The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn’t
Featurette: …When the shooting stopped
Featurette: Emulsional Rescue Revealing The Godfather
Featurette: The Godfather on the Red Carpet
4 short films: The Godfather vs. The Godfather Part II, Cannoli, Riffing on the Riffing, Clemenza
Look for it in stores on September 23rd with a suggested price tag of $72.99 US (DVD) and $119.99 (Blu-ray). Unfortunately, there is no mention of the theatrical re-release that was previously rumoured, so I think Paramount may have changed their mind on that particular detail.
Treknobabble is a continuing series of columns written by uber-Trekkie Reed Farrington in anticipation of the upcoming J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie.
With recent reports that the Star Trek: The Experience (STTE) attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel might be coming to an end soon, I thought I would provide an unsolicited recommendation that you visit this attraction before it ends. “What?!?” you’re probably asking yourself. Cynical Reed Farrington actually giving the thumbs up on a cash-grabbing enterprise meant to take advantage of Star Trek fans?
For sure, STTE was set up to lure well-off families to the gambling mecca of Las Vegas. Through the machinations of business conglomerates and with the Star Trek property’s popularity being at an all-time high, STTE was born in 1998 after three years of development.
Ever since STTE opened, I had always envisioned driving to Las Vegas on a road trip. I was all set to be disappointed in STTE, so I thought the journey itself would make up for the disappointment. I had been to Vegas on a business trip before STTE had opened. At my new job, there was no longer this opportunity (or so I had thought). As the years passed, the idea of the road trip lost most of its glamour because the reality of endless driving (well, four or five days) set in. And as Star Trek’s popularity waned, I was prepared in having STTE close and resigned to this.
So at my job in May of last year, out of the blue (and farthest reaches of space), I was asked if I wanted to attend a conference for a software source control product. “Oh, joy,” I thought. “Sure,” I answered. Anything to get away from the office. Then I asked where it was being held. “Las Vegas,” was the reply. I think my Vulcan upbringing cracked, but in my mind, I was showing considerable restraint in withholding my elation.
