Not lovin' it: McD convenes anti-Linklater "council of war"

The Independent’s Martin Hickman reports on the McDonald’s corporations plans to resist Richard Linklater’s upcoming movie, Fast Food Nation, which Hickman asserts “is looming as a potent threat to the burger chain’s fragile reputation…. Although the plot is closely guarded, it tells the story of a group of young fast-food workers, in a small Colorado town with a meat-packing plant, who uncover some unsavoury truths about the burger business… Mr Schlosser’s book discusses how McDonald’s targets young children, the treatment of its “McJob” employees, the mass breeding and slaughter of its livestock, the relationship between burgers and obesity, and the preponderance of additives[, claiming] there are 40 chemicals in a strawberry shake… Reports from the US suggest that McDonald’s has been rattled by the risk to its reputation. The corporation was stunned by the success of Super Size Me, so [t]his time, McDonald’s plans to fight back. A “council of war” has been convened inside the corporation’s global HQ, according to… Advertising Age. “They’re worried about a backlash,” one insider was quoted as saying. “When the consumer sees the movie, they will react. It would only need to take consumers to cut back one or two visits to affect the bottom line.” … “The McDonald’s family will vigorously communicate the facts about McDonald’s, our people and our values,” a US spokesman said.”

Prairie wind: Neil Young's mise-en-scene

Via Scott Macauley at Filmmaker, singer Alicia Morgan‘s blog describes a dramatic scrap of mise-en-scene while recording Neil Young‘s post-Neil Young: Heart of Gold 9-day insta-album. “Have you, like me, been recalling the great protest songs of the sixties, and wondered where the new protest songs are? Yesterday, I found out… On Wednesday, I was at work when I got a call for a Neil Young session the next day…. I was excited about it—Neil Young is one of my musical heroes.” Arriving at the studio, “we found 98 other singers, a collection of L.A.’s finest. All I knew was that we were singing on a new Neil Young record, but when the lyrics we were supposed to sing flashed on the giant screen, a roar went up from the choir. I’m not going to give the whole thing away, but the first line of one of the songs was “Let’s impeach the President for lyin’!” … The session was like being at a 12-hour peace rally. Every time new lyrics would come up on the screen, there were cheers, tears and applause. It was a spiritual experience. I can’t believe my good fortune at being a part of this… I’ve never been at a recording session that was more like being at church. Heck, I’ve never been to a church that was more like a church than that session… We finished the session by singing an a capella version of “America the Beautiful” and there was not a dry eye in the house.” Morgan says Young told her the record should be out mid-to-late June; predictably, a spell of rants ensued in Morgan’s open comments, such, as “if this is true and neil young is actually going to help get some more of our soldiers killed by emboldening the suicidal maniacs of persia, then i am going to dump him. i have been enjoying young’s work since 1970 but i will ****can everything i own from him if he’s truely going to further risk the lives our guys for the sake of his moody brand of capitolism.” The album is called Life in War and Howie Klein has heard it and gets… excited.

Cinema in its further stages of ripening and rot: crickets converge

Jonathan Rosenbaum introduces his 1997 compilation, “Movies as Poltiics,” with an essay entitled “How to Live in Air Conditioning.” While a constant of Rosenbaum’s writing is the assertion that American business conspires against the distribution of interesting films—”vividly reflected in the movies we see and the ways that we see them”—he was one of the first critics to consider what the growth of film on video might mean. “Whatever name or interpretation we give to this climate,” he wrote over 20 years ago, “we all feel that something is in the process of ending—unlesss we feel that it has ended already… I don’t think we can call it cinema in the old sense.” In 1999, Godfrey Cheshire did a surmise in his epic “The Death of Film/The Decay of Cinema”: “[T]he overthrow of film by television–which is what this amounts to–will be related to a dissolution of cinema esthetics and the enforced close of cinema’s era in the history of technological arts.” Cheshire updates at The House Next Door, in conversation with Jeremiah Kipp: “DVDs have been in some ways very positive in the sense that people have an idea of film culture with the kind of presence and precedence that literature has. They can look at Carl Theodor Dreyer as a great artist; they can purchase the Dreyer box set and have it on their library walls, so maybe even their kids will watch it with that idea in mind. There’s a way film history is being packaged now that definitely has a positive educational value.” James Wolcott‘s posted an intriguing contemporary anecdote that extends Cheshire’s point: “Saturday I was standing in the checkout line at the Barnes & Noble across from Lincoln Center, which was lined with DVDs for last-minute, late-decision purchase. But the DVDs weren’t the usual Blockbuster hits. One whole rack [contained] a cluster of Fassbinder movies. I have to admit I did a mild double take…” More Wolcott below, as well as links to similar reflections from Susan Sontag and Manohla Dargis.

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Insouciant crickets: Caveh's cavil

I Am A Sex Addict‘s Caveh Zahedi contests cricket Nathan Lee‘s song stylings in the 243-word notice he wrote for the NY Times. “[W]hile it was for the most part extremely positive [Lee] nevertheless felt compelled to include the obligatory back-handed compliment (“a minor triumph of sincerity”) and the obligatory concluding dig… [T]he obligatory dig took the form of an allusion to one of my favorite songs of all time… “Still, the missing song on the soundtrack is “No Compassion” by Talking Heads: ‘What are you, in love with your problems?/ I think you take it a little too far.'” Well, that’s a great song, and it’s a clever dig. But what are the ideological assumptions behind it?” Zahedi continues: “The main assumption, it seems to me, is that there is something a little bit excessive and unseemly in making an autobiographical film about “one’s problems.” …The reason, it seems to me, is because of yet another underlying assumption, namely that “one’s problems” are one’s own, and are not shared. [Yet] the entire history of storytelling is based on the idea that we all share common traits, and that one person’s story can stand in for other people’s stories… So why the dig?…

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How indie is it? Would you like to start writing for free?

Over at indieWIRE, blogger Anthony Kaufman and editor Eugene Hernandez have a blunt exchange over how to keep the servers turned on. “One of the problems with the corporate media today is the blurred lines between content and advertis[e]ment, news and marketing,” writes Kaufman. “[A]fter seeing my story today in indieWIRE about Spring Festivals, which includes reporting on the San Francisco International Film Festival… I was… perturbed to see that the “coverage” was “sponsored” by the San Francisco Film Society, presenters of the San Francisco fest.” Kaufman’s “byline appears directly underneath—not the headline—but the phrase: “World Cinema coverage presented by San Francisco Film Society.” Normally, this would be called a conflict of interest. I’m not sure how to avoid it, because indieWIRE needs the money. But it just goes to show how dependent independent media is… Maybe no one cares. But I guess that’s just as bad. . Hernandez posts a comment: “anthony, many of indieWIRE’s special sections are sponsored by companies, organizations or groups. for example, our doc section is sponsored by a festival, our awards section was recently sponsored by a popcorn maker, our short film section is sponsored by a car company, and our recent SXSW coverage was sponsored by another car company. this is how we raise the money to pay you to write for us. would you like to start writing your world cinema column for free?…

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Hard Candy director David Slade: like any other existentialist nihilist

Hard Candy opens Friday on the coasts, and Scott Macauley touts his interview with director David Slade, from the upcoming issue of Filmmaker. I had a spirited talk with screenwriter Brian Nelson and co-star Patrick Wilson, and I hope to post that soon. But Slade’s talking the good talk here: “I would say this film asks you to acutely evaluate what your prejudices are…. Your prejudices toward sexuality, where you personally draw the lines of pornography, what you deem acceptable and what you don’t. The film’s two characters are monsters. The only thing redeeming about Hayley is that she’s at that uncertain age where passion drives her life. Morally, she has no redeeming features. The only thing that allows you to identify her as a human being is that she is doing what morally should be the right thing, but she’s going so far over the line. In a world where we’ve see so many monsters… [t]he one monster left could be a pedophile, because crimes against children are the worst crimes of all. So, Jeff is the scariest monster human society has left. And this character was beautifully written by Brian, because here you are identifying with someone who morality and society says you can’t. So there alone, you question your prejudices. Another thing that really attracted me to the screenplay was that Brian Nelson had managed to [construct] arguments and put them into the words of human beings who talk in a way that people talk. That’s such an astonishingly hard thing to do… Politically speaking I’m a solipsist—I believe I’m the only one who exists in the world and no one else is around! Or, like any other existentialist nihilist, I have poor politics. But I abhor conservatism in the non-political sense, and so the film is something that gets a hold of values, goes “wham,” and says, “Now put them back together.”

Acronym City: pr-ing TriBeCa's M:i:III NYC o.d.

They’re calling the movie M:i:III and JJ Abrams’ pic (JJA’s MiIII?) is preeming (partly) at TriBeCa, a press release notes. The US preem of “Mission: NYC” includes Tom Cruise on MTV’s “TRL” (also owned by Viacom). “Traveling by motorcycle, speedboat, taxicab, helicopter, sports car, and subway, Cruise will crisscross the island, making his way to premieres in Tribeca and Harlem before heading to the U.S. premiere at the Ziegfeld… hosted in conjunction with the Tribeca Film Festival.” [The image is of Craig Bierko‘s tribute to Mr. Cruise in Friday’s Scary Movie 4.]

The uses of disenchantment: Hard Candy's red hoody

Even among colleagues who admire Hard Candy, the Patrick Wilson-Ellen Page two-hander about nasty things that happen when an older man meets an apparently underage woman online, there’s been one head-shaking question: how do you sell material this touchy? While the key art in one of the movie’s posters from the House of SAW (aka Lionsgate) diminishes the visual impact of the film’s ending—a girl in a red hoody standing in an enormous metal trap—the use of red gets taken one step farther with the sponsorship of a website called “Surf Safe, Wear Red,” which is described at the link as “a movement for online empowerment and awareness, inspired by the film Hard Candy and its protagonist’s red hoody. Wear a red hoody to stand up for online safety and against internet violence.” The site also promises to revisit a long-fallow fad, with plans for “flash mobs in New York and Los Angeles.” In light of the movie, a listing of basic precautions turns itchy: “Avoid posting anything that would make it easy for a stranger to find you, such as where you hang out every day after school. People aren’t always who they say they are. Be careful about adding strangers to your friends list. It’s fun to connect with new friends from all over the world, but avoid meeting people in person whom you do not fully know. If you must meet someone, do it in a public place and bring a friend or trusted adult… Don’t post anything that would embarrass you later. Think twice before posting a photo or info you wouldn’t want your parents or boss to see! Don’t mislead people into thinking that you’re older or younger. Be truthful online.”

Overlooking Ebert photographed for Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival

At Friday’s Chicago press event announcing the lineup for Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival, playing Champaign-Urbana end of the month, Charles Coleman, programmer for Facets Multimedia, non-digitally photographs Ebert, Dusan Makavejev and wife.

Zhang Yimou: avoiding the third-rate

China Post reposts a Sunday quote from a South China Morning Post piece (subscription only) about Zhang Yimou‘s feelings about Chinese content in his pics: “I’m not interested in films that have no Chinese elements in them… If I try to make a film completely without Chinese elements, I’m sure it won’t be any good. The result would be a third-rate film… It’s mostly because of unfamiliarity. When I don’t even know the language, there’s no way I can make it work.”

Shameless cricket: I also appreciate Schneider's supporting work in the Adam Sandler canon

Carla Meyer of the Sacramento Bee raises her hand for crickets with everyday bad taste: “Not having to review a throwaway vampire flick allows me to focus on more worthy films. Of the times I have rushed to see and review a film upon its Friday opening, I have yet to uncover a gem—though The Wash, starring Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, had its moments. My blase attitude shifted upon learning that two films I planned to review recently—Phat Girlz and The Benchwarmers—were not being shown in time for reviews.” Meyer quotes a Colpix rep: “Most of our movies are screened for critics as a courtesy, but like other studios, on occasion, when our target audience is not very influenced by critical opinion, we may opt not to show the film early.” I understand the reasoning, having seen critical snobbery firsthand a few times, most notably at a screening for a David Spade comedy several years ago. Frequent laughter among critics in the audience led, inexplicably, to pans of the film. Critics, after all, have reputations to protect. Not all critics. I enjoy a nice broad comedy, so much so that I graded… the widely—and wrongly—despised Sorority Boys higher than almost any other critic.” She thinks she would’ve liked Phat Girlz and Benchwarmers, “the kind of breezy films I always look forward to seeing—as opposed to some gritty independent films that might be of quality but feel like medicine. As much as I like Mo’Nique for making the mostly awful Domino bearable, I like Benchwarmers star Rob Schneider even more. I have seen Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and The Hot Chick too many times to count, and I also appreciate Schneider’s supporting work in the Adam Sandler canon. His co-star Spade is a harder sell, though I tend to enjoy him in a wig…” [Further brave persistence at the link.]

The Tire: Pirelli turns from pinups to Malko-pics

Taking a marketing page from BMW’s Clive Owen chase pic series, The Hire, Italian tiremaker and pinup calendar publishers Pirelli are getting into the internet shorts biz, debuting a “Pirellifilm,” which the site’s uncertain command of English describes as “an innovative communication project that will take place over several years and consists in the production of superb short films to be broadcast over the Internet… < [T]his project combines Cinema and the Internet and uses them as a new communication tool that joins the instruments traditionally used by the [Pirelli] group.” The pricey entry, The Call, stars John Malkovich and Naomi Campbell and was directed by Antoine Fuqua, and, as the site breathlessly touts, it’s “a breath-taking thriller of just 8 minutes and 45 seconds that depicts the eternal battle between Good and Evil.” Aside from the eye candy of night-lit Rome, there is the spectacle of Mr. Malkovich in priestly finery insisting that “the power of Christ compels. you” to a beast in a fast car.

Hou's coming to dinner: the key point is how to observe

Xinhua has words with Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien, whose intensely well-reviewed Three Times will be released soon as part of IFC’s “First Take” series. What kinds of movies do audiences want? he’s asked. “Simple, touching and powerful movies are always most welcome.” Hou appeared at a Wednesday seminar of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. “Movies are divided into two groups: good and bad. A good movie should be simple and touching, and in the meantime, it must be powerful. It’s most difficult to make a powerful movie because truth is usually beyond words and images… Personal style is not opposite to the market. What you shoot is life and the society. Your own experience also reflect and express others’ experience. Why you say ‘I can’t understand’ is just because of the habit of movie-watching is being changed.” “Hou has kept shooting films that require audience to think all these years. He believes that such films can inject fresh blood to the movie industry and finally make an impact on the mainstream. “Since these films are of low cost, they are courageous enough to experiment and produce something creative. Hollywood movies are always ready to pick up those fresh elements,” Hou said. Any worries about DV, which allows almost anyone to shoot and produce a movie? “The films they shoot are always based on others’ imagination. They are so alike to what they have watched in the theaters. They do not feel the life with their own hearts. They do not watch the society with their own eyes… It’s quite easy to grasp shooting techniques, but the key point is how to observe.”

To and fro: HK's Johnnie To on staying put

For AFP, via Malaysia Star, Stephanie Wong talks to director Johnnie To as Election 2 opens in Hong Kong. Predictably, she writes, “for someone so closely linked to Hong Kong’s ultra-violent action-drama movie genre, internationally-acclaimed director Johnnie To cuts a remarkably sedate figure. In scholarly rimless glasses, a blue V-neck jumper and with a clean-cut hairstyle, To gives away little of the tough, deprived upbringing that informs films so stark and brutal they have been called the Chinese Godfather series.” To grew up in Kowloon’s Walled City, and he says “The most memorable thing about the place was the darkness everywhere… During heavy rain, the water would reach our beds and all the dead rats would float to the surface in the flat… There were a lot of little interesting details inside. We always saw the druggies lying dead on the narrow cobbled streets. Their bodies were often left there for one or two days until someone came and collected them… No one cared about them. Human lives did not matter in there, perhaps because the people were poor. “No matter where we moved to, there [were always] a lot of triad members around. I was probably influenced by this while I was growing up,” he says while puffing on a cigar. “There are so many different types of characters in the triads. That’s why I choose to make films about them. They are like heroes; they have their regrets, there is life and death, brotherhood and friendship.” [More bio and philosophizing at the link.]

Lewton walk with me: Barry Gifford appreciates Zombie daddy

A literary re-issue offers novelist Barry Gifford the opportunity to rap quixotically about great, late producer of masterpieces of mood Val Lewton: “With films such as The Leopard Man, I Walked With a Zombie, The Body Snatcher, Bedlam, The Seventh Victim and Isle of the Dead, Lewton created an oeuvre unique in film history. Utilising shadows to disguise the grisly goings-on (always in black and white) and the power of suggestion—never revealing for viewers’ eyes the graphic activities we only hear or see reflected on walls or in water—Lewton’s terrifying formula set one’s imagination stumbling down a street where the light is always hazy, the black not quite black but with an opaqueness that forces the viewer to strain to see more clearly. The effect is like looking through a keyhole and being shocked by a cold fingertip on your neck.Before Val Lewton made movies, he was a novelist, producing nine more-or-less conventional works, plus one book of pornography, ‘Yasmine’ (or ‘Grushenskaya’). The republication of his Depression-era novel, ‘No Bed of Her Own,’ originally issued by the Vanguard Press in New York in 1932, gives those of us familiar with Lewton’s films an opportunity to experience his long out-of-print efforts at writing fiction; and brings again to light his fascinating work behind the camera.” [More revealing compare-‘n’-contrast at the link.]