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I would have gone this way myself if I were running the marketing for Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock (Focus Features). Who wouldn't? A no-brainer. The film's 8.14.09 opening, of course, marks the precise 40th anniversary of the opening day of the Woodstock Music Festival, which ran from Friday, 8.15.69 to Sunday, 8.17.69.

Nobody on my side of the fence knows for sure if Taking Woodstock will go to Cannes. It won't open for another five months, after all. But given the recent buildup with the trailer and poster I'd be stunned if it doesn't play there.

I love this paragraph from the festival's Wikipedia page about the anti-youth-culture attitude of the N.Y. Times editors of the day, and their determination to paint the festival in negative terrms. Hooray for Barnard Collier!

"As the only reporter at Woodstock for the first 36 hours or so, Barnard Collier of the New York Times was almost continually pressed by his editors in New York to make the story about the immense traffic jams, the less-than-sanitary conditions, the rampant drug use, the lack of 'proper policing', and the presumed dangerousness of so many young people congregating.

"Collier recalls: 'Every major Times editor up to and including executive editor James Reston insisted that the tenor of the story must be a social catastrophe in the making. It was difficult to persuade them that the relative lack of serious mischief and the fascinating cooperation, caring and politeness among so many people was the significant point. I had to resort to refusing to write the story unless it reflected to a great extent my on-the-scene conviction that 'peace' and 'love' was the actual emphasis, not the preconceived opinions of Manhattan-bound editors.

"After many acrimonious telephone exchanges, the editors agreed to publish the story as I saw it, and although the nuts-and-bolts matters of gridlock and minor lawbreaking were put close to the lead of the stories, the real flavor of the gathering was permitted to get across. After the first day's Times story appeared on page 1, the event was widely recognized for the amazing and beautiful accident it was."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 9, 2009 at 7:51 AM

comment #1

actionman says ...

Funkadelic. I like it.

Posted by actionman at April 9, 2009 8:47 AM

comment #2

Sabina E says ...

the poster is just amazing... but lately there's been a surge of films with young leading characters set in the past... first The Wackness, then Adventureland, now this... not that I'm complaining of course.

Posted by Sabina E at April 9, 2009 9:06 AM

comment #3

tommysunshine says ...

Woodstock was wildly overrated. Depeche Mode playing the Rose Bowl in 1988- as seen in Pennebaker's 101- was more of an event.

Posted by tommysunshine at April 9, 2009 9:17 AM

comment #4

George Prager says ...

Depeche Mode playing the Rose Bowl in 1988 was wildly overrated. Gang of Four playing "I Love a Man in a Uniform" on Dance Fever was more of an event.

Posted by George Prager at April 9, 2009 9:33 AM

comment #5

tommysunshine says ...

Prager, you do humour like Harvey Weinstein does humility. Credit to you for trying to raise a smile though.

Posted by tommysunshine at April 9, 2009 9:43 AM

comment #6

George Prager says ...

Someone had to do something. I mean, Depeche Mode at the Rose Bowl in Pennebaker's 101? What the hell is that?

Posted by George Prager at April 9, 2009 9:51 AM

comment #7

tommysunshine says ...

Oh dear, Prager. Your polemic is even worse than your sense of humor. Have you tried mime?

The Mode at the Rose Bowl was a pivotal pop event. More important than Woodstock.

Posted by tommysunshine at April 9, 2009 10:05 AM

comment #8

George Prager says ...

I had to google this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_(album)

Now I see that you're just trying to fuck with me (and all HE readers). Very funny.

Posted by George Prager at April 9, 2009 10:17 AM

comment #9

Circumvrent says ...

I don't know what I'm more excited about - another feature from Ang Lee, or Demetri Martin starring in a movie.

Posted by Circumvrent at April 9, 2009 10:32 AM

comment #10

LexG says ...

1) Demetri Martin is a DOUCHE. Low testosterone, wimpy, smug, ironic hipper-than-thou bullshit.

2) Sick of "boomer nostalgia." Glad that with "Wackness" and "Adventureland" and, in a way, "Notorious," we're finally getting period pieces about the late '80s and early '90s, instead of the same old hippie/Watergate/Nixon/Nam Boomer Director obsessions. Grunge, gangsta rap hitting the suburbs, and acid-wash jeans and mullets are now TWENTY years ago, so wish we got more 40ish directors putting that era into perspective in an amusing way instead of things like TAKING WOODSTOCK. "Ooh, they gave the old people POT BROWNIES!" QUEL HILARIOUS; Can practically hear the Los Feliz audience chortling on cue. But come on-- Milk, Frost, Woodstock: All this shit is played out as fuck and just shows these great directors are stuck in the past and stop maturing or paying attention to "scenes" after the age of 30. Unfortunately, just like most men do.

3) IT'S FAKE WIGS APLENTY! Lex Rule #1: IF YOU MAKE A PERIOD MOVIE, INSIST THAT EVERY SINGLE ACTOR GROW HIS OWN HAIR AND STACHE. American movies have countless billions to spend on CGI effects, but in 100 years of cinema, nobody has made a decent wig. Liev Schreiber should be fucking ashamed of himself for that fake-ass blonde wig. Christ, dude, take a year off and GROW YOUR OWN GODDAMN HAIR.

4) Woodstock '99 owns Woodstock '69.

FRED DURST IS GOD.

Posted by LexG at April 9, 2009 11:26 AM

comment #11

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

"The film's 8.14.09 opening, of course, marks the precise 40th anniversary of the opening day of the Woodstock Music Festival, which ran from Friday, 8.15.60 to Sunday, 8.17.69."

This must be a new, looser use of the word "precise" which my Merriam-Webster defines as "minutely exact." I might have let it slide, but not for someone who only the other month was chastising an anniversary screening for not being closer to the original release date.

I'll cut you some slack on the obvious typo that has the festival running for 9 years (of course, for all the media attention every since, you might think it had run that long).

And isn't this most nail-on-the-head obvious poster design most of us would have thought up on our own? Also, the tag line "A Generation Began In His Backyard" is wrong. Woodstock is usually viewed as the end of that era - the Tate-LaBianca murders had happened just one week before (August 9th, 1969 to be... precise).

Posted by Deathtongue_Groupie at April 9, 2009 11:46 AM

comment #12

Henry says ...

Actually, August 14th was/is the "eve" of the first day of Woodstock '69 - and please take note that the festival was in fact three days long and extended from Fri., August 15, 1969 to the morning of Mon., August 18, 1969 - when Sha Na Na did their thing "At the Hop" and Jimi Hendrix reinvented "The Star-Spangled Banner" with all the appropriate brashness and bombast that befits the birth of a new generation . . . both this film (and the book from which it's based by Elliot Tiber) look to be THE story of this summer. Let's all enjoy it!!!

Posted by Henry at April 9, 2009 12:50 PM

comment #13

Ethan says ...

"Liev Schreiber should be fucking ashamed of himself for that fake-ass blonde wig. Christ, dude, take a year off and GROW YOUR OWN GODDAMN HAIR."

The dude's playing a freaking tranny.

Posted by Ethan at April 9, 2009 12:54 PM

comment #14

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

I wonder how this will do at the box office. Probably quite shit, if Adventureland is anything to go by. Which is a shame as Adventureland was great. Strange that people don't want a nice nostalgia piece in these shite times.

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at April 9, 2009 1:25 PM

comment #15

mccool says ...

Ah, another ode to the worst generation, who eschewed the humility and work ethic of their parents, betrayed the ideals of their youth for mcmansions, SUV's, and credit-default swaps, and gave birth and imparted their values to the bling generation (or as Jeff likes to call it, the generation of shame).

But hey, cool tie-dye poster.

Posted by mccool at April 9, 2009 1:35 PM

comment #16

George Prager says ...

mccool: How original!

Posted by George Prager at April 9, 2009 1:37 PM

comment #17

Ryansi51 says ...

your name is MCCOOL.

i think that's pretty much all one needs to say on the subject.

Posted by Ryansi51 at April 9, 2009 1:53 PM

comment #18

KC says ...

Cute poster although not executed as well as I would have hoped. Speaking of cute but generally disappointing things I am curious whether to see Demetri Martin pulls this one off. I wouldn't expect to have a huge problem with him doing someone else's material but then again I wanted to physically cut him out of my laptop screen when he showed up on Flight of the Conchords - dude is annoying.

Posted by KC at April 9, 2009 1:53 PM

comment #19

KC says ...

And someone should totally do a revisionist Woodstock '99 Durst hagiography epic. I think Zack Snyder has shown the flair for fire and rape set to terrible music the project demands.

Posted by KC at April 9, 2009 1:57 PM

comment #20

LexG says ...

LIMP BIZKIT = best band ever.

I'm not joking. I still listen to Fred's first three masterpieces on a regular basis; "Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water" is the St. Pepper of the early aughts. Especially the song "Hot Dog."

After Cruise, there was Dunst.

Posted by LexG at April 9, 2009 2:09 PM

comment #21

LexG says ...

Er, that should've said Durst, not Dunst.

But they're both so FUCKING AWESOME it almost doesn't matter.

Hey, today is KRISTEN STEWART'S BIRTHDAY!

Posted by LexG at April 9, 2009 2:10 PM

comment #22

Ryansi51 says ...

i'm sure she'll celebrate by smoking pot and speaking monotone.

Posted by Ryansi51 at April 9, 2009 4:12 PM

comment #23

mccool says ...

You're right, George, if only i had mentioned chinese imports, then i would have had something original.

Ryansi51, sorry I couldn't come up with something more colorful than my name. Maybe you'd approve of mcoolsi51? I'm not comfortable showing my creative side like that, so I'll have to mull it over for a few days...

Posted by mccool at April 9, 2009 5:02 PM

comment #24

D.Z. says ...

"would have gone this way myself if I were running the marketing for Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock (Focus Features). Who wouldn't?"

I think only Grateful Dead fans would care at this point.

Lex: "Woodstock '99 owns Woodstock '69."

Price-gouged water and riots are better than classic bands who had some of their last shows there?

Bosh: "Probably quite shit, if Adventureland is anything to go by. Which is a shame as Adventureland was great."

It might end up being a surprise hit like Across the Universe. Adventureland tanked, because it didn't come off nostalgic enough to actually see it, rather than Netflix it. I imagine that was the same problem with "The Wackness". These new-gen retro flicks trying to pander more to the R-rated crowd to sell the product, rather than actually focusing on what made those pop culture eras appealing. That's why the hippy stuff does so well, because it's got a lock on all the stuff boomers like.

Though, to be fair, Gen X'ers don't really have enough similar pop culture tastes to be a group you can cash in on through nostalgia. That's why movies like Velvet Goldmine, 200 Cigarettes, and Dazed and Confused weren't bigger phenomenons.

Posted by D.Z. at April 9, 2009 5:04 PM

comment #25

D.Z. says ...

Probably should've added Fear and Loathing to that last list.

I will admit I'm surprised Notorious did well, though, because Diddy pretty much pulled a Courtney Love on his
legacy. But it probably had more to do with remembering a time when hip-hop wasn't yet as generic and watered down as punk in the 90s and metal in the 2000s.

Posted by D.Z. at April 9, 2009 5:09 PM

comment #26

Ryansi51 says ...

DZ, your mom is hippy.

Me, I'm a hippie.

Posted by Ryansi51 at April 9, 2009 9:06 PM

comment #27

frankbooth says ...

Jack Black sure looks great in the trailer. Has he slimmed down or what?

Posted by frankbooth at April 9, 2009 11:55 PM

comment #28

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comment #29

dd says ...

The Mode at the Rose Bowl was a pivotal pop event. More important than Woodstock.

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comment #31