Time's Clueless Love Story article

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A sizable Time magazine piece by Belinda Luscombe called "Who Killed The Love Story?" went up yesterday. It's a state-of-the-industry lament about what Hollywood has been giving mainstream audiences in the way of good, affecting love stories, and with a dispiriting answer -- damn few. Luscombe goes all over the map, mentions a lot of titles and talks to a lot of people, and nowhere -- not even anecdotally or parenthetically -- does she mention Once, the most affecting romantic movie in ages.

That's because Once hasn't made enough dough to qualify, in Time's eyes, as a bona fide romantic film. This is an absolutely idiotic way to look at it. Once has only made $6.5 million, but it's held onto screens since opening last May by continuing to pull in urban singles and couples and ubers. It obviously has a following, and some (like Awards Daily's Sasha Stone) are even talking about it being a possible Best Picture contender.

If I were Luscombe's senior editor, I would give her a tongue-lashing and then put her on suspension for two weeks. Reporters Hilary Hylton and Rita Healy should be ashamed also. I mean this. This is one of the dumbest omissions I've ever seen in a major news weekly -- crass, clueless.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 10, 2007 at 4:13 PM

comment #1

Jeremy Smith says ...

If I were Luscombe's senior editor, I'd beat the shit out of her.

Posted by Jeremy Smith at August 10, 2007 4:50 PM

comment #2

115thDreamer says ...

Here, here...how could they not mention it? I'm guessing that no one involved with this article has seen it, or...

(SPOILER ALERT)

...maybe that fact that the guy/girl don't technically end up "happily ever after" in the last scene makes some people think it's not romantic after all. But, I mean, even with the somewhat "open-ended" last scene, that's not the last time they see each other, right? He goes to London briefly and then he'll go back for her, yes? When he's walking through the airport at the end, he's definitely thinking of her, and when she looks at the window at the very end, she's definitely thinking of him. And the way her face lit up when they had their last conversation on the street....there's no doubt they're in love. He comes back for her, right Jeff? I'd better go before I start misting up....

Posted by 115thDreamer at August 10, 2007 5:00 PM

comment #3

Walter Sobchak says ...

I'd have her sent to Gitmo and waterboarded. Then, I'd change her name from Belinda Luscombe to Sara Foster, train her in all the known martial arts, endow her with cat-like intstincts and reflexes, and unleash her onto the world as a deep-cover, black-ops killing "asset" for the CIA.

Posted by Walter Sobchak at August 10, 2007 5:13 PM

comment #4

PerfectTommy says ...

Could be the lack of Happy Ending, 115th, who knows? I mean, if the girl and guy don't end up together, it's not a romance. Finally I know how Casablanca got on the AFI list of thrillers. Obviously, Gone With the Wind and Love Story aren't love stories either.

Posted by PerfectTommy at August 10, 2007 5:35 PM

comment #5

Hickenlooper says ...

Jeff, how can you blame Time magazine? It seems like the obsession with box office grosses has insidiously come to permeate every aspect of film coverage.

Thirty-five years ago when THE GODFATHER was released there was virtually no interest in box office grosses. Newspapers rarely reported about them. Newpaper and television coverage was interested in the why not the how much.

Clearly, with the example of ONCE, box office grosses are inconsequential to the quality of a film, YET, our culture continues to become more and more obsessed with box office grosses -- the notion that quantity somehow equals quality.
Motion pictures are now rarely glorified soley for their own aesthetic merits. This kind of widespread interest in the art of film has virtually become orphaned by the media world.

In short, who really gives a FUCK how much a movie makes? You and I certainly aren't getting any of it. Besides why do we really care? Do we care how many Big Macs MacDonald's served the week of August 9th? Will it affect the taste of the Big Mac? Will it make us want to taste the Big Mac that much more?

This obsession with box office grosses has become so epidemic that it has virtually destoryed any hope of mainstream Hollywood ever releasing the kind of quallity work they did in the era of THE GODFATHER. Why? Because the media is only interested in the numbers? Why? Because our culture is ravenously obssessed with how much rather than why...

Please no cracks about FACTORY GIRL. Yes it tanked at the box office, but I held this view before than unfortunate occurence. Besides it doing decently on video. Check it out, friends. Peace.

Posted by Hickenlooper at August 10, 2007 5:43 PM

comment #6

Hrefna says ...

(SPOILER ALERT)

@115thDreamer One of the things that made Once so very special for me was that the Guy and the Girl didn't let their romance mess up the lives of the other people they loved, especially the Girl's little girl. When the Girl said that she would try to make it work with her husband because it would be better for her daughter I just choked up inside. So perfect, so genuine. So for me the movie is better if that really is the end of their romance, and the fact that it ends doesn't make it any the less romantic. But the Girl has her family and the Guy has this long standing, somewhat dysfunctional relationship with London Girl and they both choose to be responsible. It's a Brief Encounter for our time.

And yeah, I agree that writing about the dearth of romantic movies this year without mentioning Once is extremely silly especially given that the low (compared to, say, Knocked Up) ticket sales would have furthered the article's argument.

Posted by Hrefna at August 10, 2007 5:46 PM

comment #7

DarthCorleone says ...

Hickenlooper>> Good diatribe. :- )

The way I see it, it's more or less a vicious circle. You don't get the big box office gross without the big marketing push in the first place, and you don't have the ability for a big marketing push without the money in the first place. A mainstream rag like Time is broad enough that it's going to pay the lion's share of its attention to those films that get the big marketing push, which Once did not have.

It's sad that some good films don't get the attention that they deserve, but even the single counterexample of Once doesn't disprove the thesis here: solid, resonant romances are on the wane.

Posted by DarthCorleone at August 10, 2007 6:04 PM

comment #8

Hickenlooper says ...

well said.

Posted by Hickenlooper at August 10, 2007 6:14 PM

comment #9

erniesouchak says ...

If you look at this boneheaded article, you'll see they cite the financial failures of "Catch & Release," "In the Land of Women" and "The Ex" as signs the genre is dead. Never mind that they all sucked. Good movies, romantic or otherwise, do find an audience, and I'll bet 8 out of 10 of them would never get a mention in TIME. Don't look to that rag to read the tealeaves, people. This smells of an editorial team scraping for the dreaded "think/trend piece." And as for the mysterious, growing perception here that there's some big conspiracy against "Once," I seem to recall it was whored up pretty heavily on the Murdoch-owned Myspace.

Posted by erniesouchak at August 10, 2007 6:57 PM

comment #10

D.Z. says ...

Once is doing better than most of FOX Searchlight's films. It's just that their marketing is even more piss-poor than IFC's marketing.

Posted by D.Z. at August 10, 2007 8:55 PM

comment #11

Glenn Kenny says ...

In Luscombe's defense, she doesn't mention "Once" not just because she's a nitwit, but because she's not really writing a movie piece but a prolix faux-sociology piece by which she can lament the likes of "Knocked Up" and "Superbad" because the male leads of those movies are men she would never dream of having sex with. Missing the point of quite a few things seems to be Luscombe's job, actually.

Posted by Glenn Kenny at August 10, 2007 9:50 PM

comment #12

berg says ...

TIME magazine is about as important to a serious film goer as Rush Hour 3 ...

Posted by berg at August 10, 2007 9:50 PM

comment #13

T. Holly says ...

Something about the severity of the punishment got me in the mood to watch Factory Girl now. So far, it's just like La Vie En Rose. Don't blog back, bon soir.

Posted by T. Holly at August 10, 2007 10:39 PM

comment #14

renorambler says ...

I'd say that truly great love stories don't leave you with the couple together or at least leave you guessing. But I'm not the first to say this. I recall an interview with a director stating this same thing but for the life of me I can't remember who it was. I think it was on the PBS series from years ago on American Cinema.

Posted by renorambler at August 10, 2007 11:23 PM

comment #15

Luke Y. Thompson says ...

Brokeback Mountain, anyone?

Posted by Luke Y. Thompson at August 11, 2007 12:58 AM

comment #16

The Winchester says ...

"TIME magazine is about as important to a serious film goer as Rush Hour 3 ..."

Which, sadly, got a nice glowing review from Time magazine.

Posted by The Winchester at August 11, 2007 2:44 AM

comment #17

corey3rd says ...

the main reason box office gets reported now is that all these major companies are on the stock market. If your company invests $100 million on a product and it fails to launch right off the bat - you wanna know.

Why can't Hollywood make a good love story? I'm working my way through the William Powell - Myrna Loy boxset. The answer is pretty easy - who has real charm on that screen?

This is an industry bent on making Brody Jenner a star.

Posted by corey3rd at August 11, 2007 7:02 AM

comment #18

George Prager says ...

Genesis of a Time magazine piece by Belinda Luscombe.
Friday afternoon. Luscombe is riding the Hampton Jitney with a friend. Friend brings up WHEN HARRY MET SALLY. Luscombe brings up the fact that no one is making those romantic comedies starring Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts anymore.
Friday night: Luscombe and friend go to a lame party in Southampton. Luscombe is peeved because this Eurotrash banker she hooked up with last year is there with a much younger woman. Luscombe and friend go home and polish off a magnum of Pinot Grigio while watching FORGET PARIS on Showtime.
Saturday morning: A hung over Luscombe sleeps in, wakes up at noon, takes two Pamprins, opens her laptop and begins writing a piece about how no one is making those romantic comedies starring Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts anymore.

Posted by George Prager at August 11, 2007 9:03 AM

comment #19

Hickenlooper says ...

Prager, even though you are a mean, cynical bastard, you are very funny. Well done.

Posted by Hickenlooper at August 11, 2007 10:01 AM

comment #20

gruver1 says ...

Wells to Prager: I agree...very funny....spot-on.

Posted by gruver1 at August 11, 2007 11:21 AM

comment #21

T. Holly says ...

Wish I knew what was so funny except that the human being you describe is completely wretched, but other than failing to mention "Once," the Time Magazine story is provocatively well thought through.

Posted by T. Holly at August 11, 2007 12:05 PM

comment #22

Walter Sobchak says ...

Yes, that was very funny and quite easy to imagine, GeorgePrager. Well written. I admit, it made me laugh.

You fucking asswipe.

Posted by Walter Sobchak at August 11, 2007 12:31 PM

comment #23

George Prager says ...

Thank you Gents.

Posted by George Prager at August 11, 2007 2:05 PM

comment #24

D.Z. says ...

Winchester: "Which, sadly, got a nice glowing review from Time magazine."

Of course. New Line and Time are both owned by Time Warner, so objective reviews are going to be out the door.

Posted by D.Z. at August 11, 2007 6:06 PM

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