I have to get to a Sony Pictures Classics luncheon now. (Late for it actually.) I’ll post some kind of reaction to Charlie Kaufman‘s Synecdoche, New York later this afternoon.
Rahul K. Parikh, M.D., has written an open letter to George Lucas and Steven Spielberg on Salon attacking…well, not these guys in particular but Paramount’s Indy 4 marketers for pushing junk-food tie-ins. The gist is that with childhood obesity now at alarming rates, movie tie-ins to fast food are irresponsible.
True, but why single Paramount out? Haven’t a fairly high percentage of summer tentpole movies used junk-food campaigns for at least the last couple of decades, if not longer? Not to sound cold or dismissive, but the writing has been on the wall for a long time and tens of millions of middle- and lower-middle-class parents (i.e., the ones living in self-enclosed membranes) either don’t want to read it, can’t afford to feed their kids healthy diets, or they’re too distracted or doped up themselves to focus and change course.
The brutal fact is that millions of sedentary, computer-game-obsessed kids in flyover states are doomed to suffer higher disease rates and shortened life spans due to morbid obesity, which is the inevitable result of eating crap and doing no exercise. Which is — okay, agreed — partly the responsibility of movie marketers, but more directly the responsibility of their parents. People out there are doped up on so many unhealthy things, and the corporations are naturally cool with this because they’re making big money from being the pushers. And I’m not just talking about junk food.
Fantasy Moguls’ Steve Mason is reporting that last night’s “box office results for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull “are very good, but shy of the meteoric predictions made by many box-office analysts, including yours truly. It appears that the George Lucas/Steven Spielberg collaboration, the first Indiana Jones sequel in 19 years, grabbed an estimated $26 million yesterday. That’s well below the $50 million haul enjoyed by Lucas√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢ Star Wars: Episode III √ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Ǩ≈ì Revenge of the Sith on Thursday, May 19, 2005. The film was thought to have a chance to surpass Sith’s $172.8 million 5-day record, but that’s now improbable at best.”
I’ve just emerged from the semi-nourishing, semi-tortured Fellini-esque Chinese box mindfuck-dreamscape that is Charlie Kaufman‘s Synecdoche, New York…and the press conference is just starting. [Ten minutes later] Kaufman has just explained the title’s pronunciation: Syn-ECK-duh-kee. At least that‘s settled.
“When I was in school I’d go to an art house and everyone there would be in their 60s. Today I go and they’re all in their 80s.” — Roadside Attractions’ Dustin Smith at today’s independent distribution panel at the American Pavillion (which doesn’t have wifi as we speak).
“I find it hilarious that people always complain about movies being the same, and then when something different comes along — a film that deals the cards in a different way — they say why isn’t it more conventional?” — Che director Steven Soderbergh reacting to my question about how some critics complained after last night’s screening that Che didn’t have enough in the way of movie moments (backstory, emotional buttons, intimate revealings, etc.)
“There’s the painter who did a portrait of a woman, and when she saw it she said, ‘It doesn’t look like me.’ And the painter replied, ‘Oh, it will.'” — Benicio del Toro responding more or less to the same.
What does it say about people presumed to know a great deal about the art of movies but who put down or dismiss a film that eschews conventional drama (intimate revelations, emotional moments, striking plot turns) but delivers like a wizard in terms of convincing the viewer that what’s on-screen isn’t a product of the usual prepared trickery but something intensely scrupulous and honest and, as far as it goes, as “real” as it gets’? What does it say about people who see a film like this and go “meh” ? You can’t watch a live-wire film like Che and say “give me more.” It is what it is, and it gives you plenty. Take no notice of anyone who says it doesn’t.
“Unfortunately, at least in the balcony which is out of the sight line where the filmmakers sit, the crowd noticeably thinned after intermission. A little less than half the seats in my 50 seat or so section were suddenly empty along with dozens of others scattered throughout the upper regions. Perhaps those moviegoers had dinner reservations somewhere? Or maybe they just knew how it was going to end. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: You can’t please everyone in Cannes.” — from Pete Hammond‘s Envelope report about last night’s Che screening.
Manhattan media maven Bill McCuddy attended a midnight showing of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at the Zeigfeld last night, and reports that the trailer for Baz Lurhman‘s Australia got booed. What does that mean? That Spielberg fanboys have had it up to here with Nicole Kidman…? It can’t be about Luhrman or Hugh Jackman. I’m grasping at straws, but I know that boos from paying audiences are a bellwether that distributors can’t afford to ignore.
