Discland
edited by Jonathan Doyle
Cloverfield [BLU-RAY] (Paramount Home Entertainment, 6.3.2008) Disguised under deliberately goofy, yet deliciously edible-sounding, aliases such as Cheese and Slusho, Matt Reeves' Cloverfield was produced and rushed into theaters under an equally appetizing shroud of secrecy. From last year's incredibly elusive Super Bowl ad to the film's viral marketing campaign, Cloverfield had everybody scratching their heads and drooling in anticipation. Aside from the as-yet untitled title and the Blair Witch-ian visual style, the film's biggest appeal was the enigmatic creature who was last (un)seen hurling the decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty onto the crowded streets of New York City. All we knew about the mysterious beast was that it was big and angry. Now that the highy-anticipated project has come and gone, one question has fortunately been answered: Cloverfield was a major success. (continued)

Upcoming

December 31

Defiance

Good

January 2

Cargo 200

January 7

Silent Light

January 9

After Dark Horrorfest 2009

Bride Wars

How About You

Not Easily Broken

The Unborn

Yonkers Joe

January 16

Chandni Chwok to China

Cherry Blossoms

Hotel for Dogs

My Bloody Valentine 3-D

Notorious

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

January 21

Of Time and the City




Bias against Iraq War docs?

For the last few weeks the conventional wisdom has been that the top two contenders for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar are probably Charles Ferguson's brilliantly analytical No End in Sight and Sean Fine and Andrea Nix's feel-good War/Dance. Last night, however, a friend told me about a fairly stupid-sounding statement from a person who belongs to the Academy's documentary branch. Or a statement, at least, that indicates a fairly unthoughtful Iraq War subject-matter bias.


This Academy person believes, I was told, that the three Iraq War-themed docs that are nominated -- No End in Sight, Richard Robbins' Operation Homecoming and Alex Gibney's Taxi to the Dark Side -- "basically cancel each other out."

The guy seems to be saying that they're all part of the same bowl of soup not just in terms of subject matter, but in terms of tone and viewpoint. He seems to be implying that all three are belly-aching about what a disaster the war has been and still is, and it's all the same blah-dee-blah and who needs it?

This attitude was recently echoed by Sundance programmer John Cooper in a 1.16 AFP story when he said that "cinema audiences are fatigued by the conflict...filmmakers haven't said all there is to say about the war in Iraq, but I think audiences are saturated."

Michael Tucker, co-director of Bullet-Proof Salesman, a doc about an Iraq War profiteer that will show at next month's South by Southwest, is understandably dismayed by such talk. "Alex Gibney's film is completely different from Charles Ferguson's movie, and yet to hear it from the Academy crowd it all comes down to subject," he says. "It's no secret that a lot of Iraq War films have sold very few tickets. Grace is Gone made 35 thousand dollars so the word has spread that Iraq movies are commercially unfashionable. But how can a war be out of fashion?"

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on February 5, 2008 at 10:53 AM

comment #1

JHRussell Author Profile Page says ...

I have only seen 2 of the nominated docs so far: No End In Sight and Sicko...Sicko is an overrated pile, but No End In Sight is excellent, and I am not of the Dem / lib / lefty persuasion at all...perhaps a back handed endorsement from me, but I hope it wins.

Posted by JHRussell Author Profile Page at February 5, 2008 11:46 AM

comment #2

btwnproductions Author Profile Page says ...

How can "audiences be saturated" when so few have gone to see these pictures? Saturated with what? Posters? Ads? Feature stories?

I think the general audience is sick of the war, period, and doesn't want any reminders of its continuing, troubling--but far away, not in my backyard--presence. And that is too bad. Whether or not you agree with its aims, it's happening, and it's not just going to go away. It's like a recurring toothache that bugs you, but not enough for you to go to the dentist, merely enough to hope that it will somehow take care of itself. NO END is an excellent corrective to this, and as the previous poster said speaks across party lines.

Posted by btwnproductions Author Profile Page at February 5, 2008 12:07 PM

comment #3

the king Author Profile Page says ...

Did anyone else catch Jeffrey on "The Daily Show" last night??

Right behind Rob Reiner's big bald head!!

Posted by the king Author Profile Page at February 5, 2008 12:24 PM

comment #4

BurmaShave Author Profile Page says ...

"But how can a war be out of fashion?"

There's something really callous about the frustration behind that statement. I wonder if some of these people looked at this war as their meal-ticket. Feel free to tell me I'm wrong and I should go fuck myself.

Posted by BurmaShave Author Profile Page at February 5, 2008 12:37 PM

comment #5

corey3rd Author Profile Page says ...

We are bored by Iraq. It's not a sexy war. There's no 14 year old Iraqi girls promising to "love you long time." There's no poetry to its desolate view. It's a wasteland that we don't want to spend too much time pondering for those of us lucky enough to not get shipped out.

You've seen Lawrence of Arabia, you've seen enough battles in the sand.

Posted by corey3rd Author Profile Page at February 5, 2008 1:57 PM

comment #6

thatmovieguy Author Profile Page says ...

The Iraq War is an impossible "sell" as a movie. There are no glorious victories to be dramatized. There are no big-name heroes or heroines coming out of it, a la MacArthur or Patton, that merit epic biographical films (i.e. "Halle Berry is CONDOLEEZZA"). The human side of it so far is almost entirely downbeat: Mommy or Daddy came home missing an arm or leg, or with post-traumatic stress disorder -- or won't be back at all; marriages broken up because someone was shipped out and financial problems destroyed the family; Iraqi civilians accidentally caught in the crossfire; Americans watching the economy take a long, slow bath as inflation creeps upward, the dollar sinks and oil companies report record profits; tales of torture in foreign prisons, etc. The real story of the war lies in its anything-goes lack of planning, the daydreamy projections of the White House (remember when we were sure to be "hailed as liberators" and all that oil revenue from Iraq was going to easily pay all the bills?) and the string of lies, exaggerations and deceptions that have followed as those illusions fell apart. That material is covered perfectly in NO END IN SIGHT. Why don't audiences line up for LIONS FOR LAMBS, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH and RENDITION? Because there was a lot of early support for the war and, now that reality has reared its ugly head and "Mission Accomplished" has turned into a punchline, no one wants to pay to sit through a two-hour lecture that basically says, "See? See?! We told you so."

Posted by thatmovieguy Author Profile Page at February 5, 2008 5:13 PM

comment #7

ArchiveGuy Author Profile Page says ...

Remember that, to qualify to vote in this category, the Academy voters will have had to sit through all 3 Iraq movies in a short period of time. As good as they are, and as varied as they might be, that is a cumulative effect very different than if they were spread out over 9 or 12 months. The thing about "cancelling" though is that 1 of the remaining 2 has to really deliver the goods, and I don't see either of the other 2 doing so. We'll see...

Posted by ArchiveGuy Author Profile Page at February 5, 2008 5:14 PM

Post a comment