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Portland Critics Riled
The heat is obviously on for W. right now with the big junket last weekend, the ads everywhere and Lionsgate opening it on something close to 2000 screens on 10.17. But Portland critics aren't feeling it because Lionsgate won't be screening the Oliver Stone biopic for them. In Seattle, yes, but not Portland. And Oregonian critic Shawn Levy , understandably put off, is declaring that he won't run a wire-service review and neither will Portland's two alternative weeklies, Willamette Week and the Portland Mercury.
Lionsgate "blew off three lead stories [in these papers] by not screening it here," Levy says. So we're talking a real Mexican standoff with little W. in the middle. Will the Portland box-office suffer from local critics giving it the Big Chill? Or will TV and print ads suffice as far as Lionsgate's interests are concerned?
The W. Portland-critic blowoff is about numbers and hardball strategy, of course. Portland's market ranking is somewhere beyond 20th place -- not a minor market but not a huge one either. And yet I've always thought of Portland as one of the five major Pacific coast towns that matter culturally. (Along with Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.) Levy argues that Portland is a liberal-minded burgh that supports movies it likes with a passion, and that an Oliver Stone film that reveals the tragedy of George W. Bush is right up its political alley. He also points out that Lionsgate recently screened Religulous, which plays to more or less the same market, for Portland critics.
Sidenote: W. was screened for Portland exhibitors two days ago (Tuesday) at the Fox Tower 10 cinemas. "It's not unusual for exhibitors to get screenings and then press be denied but the lack of W. in Portland press for it's release is quite perplexing," a local projectionist writes. "Shawn Levy's description of the city is quite apt. The film would have an audience in our city. George Bush Sr. even referred to our fine town as Little Beirut in response to protesters."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 8, 2008 at 4:01 PM
comment #1
Matthew Lucas
says ...
Wow...that's surprising that they're not getting a press screening and I am here in Charlott (albeit on Tuesday). I'm surprised they would blow off a market like that...surely Portland is larger than Charlotte, NC?
Posted by Matthew Lucas
at October 8, 2008 6:55 PM
comment #2
scooterzz
says ...
as i posted a few days ago, there is definitely something wonky about the way lionsgate is handling this film re: the press..... and if you try to pin it down, lionsgate blames bwr and bwr blames lionsgate....it's as if they are trying to piss people off.....
Posted by scooterzz
at October 8, 2008 7:24 PM
comment #3
StoneFan1
says ...
Metro Populations:
#35 - Charlottee - 1,651,568 (+24% from 2000)
#23 - Portland - 2,175,113 (+12% from 2000)
Screen the film for the critics! This is a dump move.
Posted by StoneFan1
at October 8, 2008 7:48 PM
comment #4
Josh Massey
says ...
I'm becoming more and more convinced this film is truly terrible. For the nation's mostly liberal film critics to be doing anything less than backflips is telling.
Posted by Josh Massey
at October 8, 2008 8:15 PM
comment #5
gruver1
says ...
Wells to Josh Massey: Honest Injun -- the film isn't even close to terrible. It may not leave you on the floor, hyperventilating with a vision of Jesus in your head, but it's bright, sharp, astute -- a truth tale. Where are you getting this? Did you hate Nixon or something? It's a Middle American Greek tragedy by way of father-son story gone wrong. And there's not a single scene with Jeb Bush!
Posted by gruver1
at October 8, 2008 8:20 PM
comment #6
EricDSnider
says ...
It's screening in Salt Lake City, too, which is also a smaller market than Portland. Very weird.
Posted by EricDSnider
at October 8, 2008 8:42 PM
comment #7
StoneFan1
says ...
Wait, maybe Lionsgate had a bad experience in Portland? Did they hate "3:10 to Yuma" or something? Maybe the "Mad Men" ratings suck there.
Posted by StoneFan1
at October 8, 2008 10:16 PM
comment #8
Josh Massey
says ...
"hyperventilating with a vision of Jesus in your head..."
Like World Trade Center? Ugh...
Look, I may be conservative, but I loved Nixon (except for that painful scene at the Lincoln Memorial, which is Oliver Stone's Matrix Reloaded rave scene as far as I'm concerned). I am just shocked, however, to not read at least one flat-out rave so far. I think this would be one of those movies people would "over review," tend to make it seem better than it actually was because of preconceived notions, beliefs and/or desires.
Posted by Josh Massey
at October 9, 2008 3:43 AM
comment #9
T. S. Idiot
says ...
"yet I've always thought of Portland as one of the five major Pacific coast towns that matter culturally. (Along with Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.)"
Ain't no culture in no San Diego?
Posted by T. S. Idiot
at October 9, 2008 9:47 AM
comment #10
TVMCCA
says ...
T.S. Idiot asked:
Ain't no culture in no San Diego?
I like San Diego, but the ultraconservatism of large portions of it can be a bit much. Case in point: I was there for business in 2005 when about ten minutes of a local TV newscast was devoted to a live remote from a neighborhood where a woman was ordered to repaint her house beige instead of a nonconforming purple.
Posted by TVMCCA
at October 9, 2008 10:51 AM
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