The Hot Blog Archive for November, 2005
I've seen the Rosario Dawson music video from Rent…
… “Out Tonight,” a couple of times in the last few days.
And I have to say, I wish I liked the movie. I really do. The video makes me want to.
But I don’t.
Nope…
In Peter Bart’s column in Varitey this week, he writes:
“The meltdown occurs in the middle films,” observes Andy Wing, the astute CEO of Nielsen Entertainment. “Increasingly, the middle-tier movie campaigns have to articulate a focused message to target audiences.”
In short, tentpoles like the “Harry Potter” movies or “Spider-Man””Spider-Man” have to carry all the weight, while those in the second rung, whether they be “Stealth” or “Domino,” are tanking.
That’s not how I read the quote at all, Pete.
What I read is what I’ve been saying for months… that movies that are not built for 3 or 4 quadrants, the marketing needs to determine the niche and mine it or yes, they will fail.
But it doesn’t mean that tentpoles are the only films that are working or that the next tier is bad business. It’s just that those “middle movies” used to cost $40 million and now cost $70 million or more. And thus, the meltdown.
Cruise Changing Publicist
You know, the story here is not really that Cruise is dropping his sister as a publicist, but that he has hired one of the only people in this business that you must hire if you are Tom Cruise.
Paul Bloch is not the guy you go to if you are starting your career… at least not at this point. (Besides that he would be unlikely to take you on.) But if you have a mature career and you want a guy who will protect you like a velvet glove, there is no better.
Unlike PMK, Bloch is not known for “heroic measures” or stunts. But he will find a way to build credibility for Cruise’s marriage – and that is not a comment on the legitimacy of the relationship, but rather the current perception – and he will position Cruise as a producer, as a major star, and as a man satisfied with his life.
You can bet that the lead up to MI:3 will feel a whole lot different than the insanity that surrounded War of the Worlds.
Sunday Estimates – 11/6
Not a lot of new info.
Chicken Little is estimating even higher than Klady’s numbers below. That studio number will probably come back to Klady, but still, a strong show on Saturday after an okay Friday. Disney went out of its way to call Reuters to tell them that the reviews and Friday open weren’t upsetting.
Jarhead didn’t have the big Saturday leap, but still, $28.8 for a movie that skews old, R, and poorly reviewed is a happy weekend for Universal. Thank you, Kanye West!
Good Night, And Good Luck, Shopgirl and Capote all still show a lot of interest in limited release.
Chicken Little – $39.6 (10,830) – 3654 – New – 39.6
Jarhead – $28.8 (11,960) – 2411 – New – 28.8
Saw II – $17.1 (5,810) – 2949 -46% – 60.4
Legend of Zorro $10.1 (2,860) – 3520 -38% – 30.4
Prime – $5.4 (2,940) – 1837 -13% – 13.6
Dreamer – $4.7 (1,810) – 2617 -23% – 23.8
Good Night,GL – $3.1 (4,670) – +657% – +153 – 11.0 –
Weather Man – $2.8 (1,890) – 1510 -33% – 8.6
Shopgirl – $2.5 (5,140) – 459 – +445% – 2.5 –
Flightplan – $2.3 (1,590) – 1445 -16% – 84.4
Capote – $.88 (4,710) – 187 -20% – 4.8
Jeff Wells Loses His Shit
59-year-old Jeff Wells took one look at the Munich trailer and his response was remarkably, uh, Connecticut.
Here it is
Rentiles Revenge
The Rentilians are unhappy with my Rent review from Friday and here is a very representative response… they all seem to hit pretty much the same notes, but this is one of the best written.
“Your review about the RENT movie truly disgusted me. In that review, I did not find one piece of constructive criticism. Isn’t that what a critique is supposed to be, pointing out the good and the bad? This review would have been much better if you had knowledge on the play itself, which it seems like you do not.
For instance, your little play on “Seasons of Love” was horrifying. That is one of the most beautiful songs in the show. Now, if it was supposed to be making fun of the length of the movie, whatever. It still was not very funny and, actually, to a point of insulting.
Yes, there is a lot of music in the show. The fact that it is originating from a musical could be the reason why. One of the reasons why so many of the parts you found “uninteresting” or “out of context” were like that was because they were trying to stay true to the show and its fans. Think about it; this show has almost a decade of fans plus family of the creator of the show. It would be insulting if they changed it so much that it dishonered the memory of Johnathan Larson.
Saying how “Take Me or Leave Me” should be performed on the street just does not work. But, then again, that’s just a little detail that pleases the RENTheads who could be -gasp- the core audience.
Oh, and that is another thing. Next time, get the name of the fans right.
“Renties” = no
“RENTheads” = yes
Next time, see the musical before you see the show. Try it with RENT and maybe then you will realize what “Seasons of Love” is all about.”
Munich: The Trailer
Here it is.
What do you think?
Friday Numbers…
A weekend of mixed feelings, it seems
15 Comments »Jarhead Discussion Space
I haven’t really tried this and there is a lot of Jarhead discussion in other blog entries, but let’s try to make this a space for people who have seen the movie….
meaning SPOILERS ARE OK
and
if you haven’t seen the film, you are welcome… but would prefer to limit speculation to other posts. I don’t mind if it takes a day or two for people to post…
Let’s see how it works.
What About Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeent?
Review of Love
One hundred seventy two thousand frames in a movie
One thousand two hundred thirty cool camera pans
One hundred seventy two thousand frames in a movie
How do you measure the skills of Columbus, man?
(edited for bad math, thanks to Wrecktum)
Quip It
I just saw an ad for some game when you watch a clip and you and your friends write clever quips about it. Tee Hee
But what was interesting is that when they showed the box, it was dominated by a big, goofy photo of Jon Heder.
Pre-Dynamite? Dynamite related? Weird.
Call of the North
So as the door comes dangerously close to their asses on the way out of Paramount Classics, Ruth Vitale and David Dinerstein have left a parting gift for John Lesher, It’s called Call of the North and it is the next film from National Geographic Films, which brought us the WIP smash, March of the Penguins.
An equally glib title was hard to find – Penguins was once called March of the Emperor – because this film, now in production, features a pack walruses a couple of polar bears as they grow from
Ho Ho Harvey!
Perhaps inspired by the amazing response to the intense violence of The Passion of The Christ, Harvey & Bob Weinstein have decided to move
Wolf Creek, perhaps the most disgusting and unredeemably inhumane of the Horror Porn films to day, to Christmas Day.
What a love lump of blood and semen covered coal for your Christmas stocking! Thanks Weinstein Co!
The Lesher Of All Evils?
A new chief at Paramount Classics… good, bad, do you care?
8 Comments »20 Weeks – Why We Award
“But these events are just as interested in finding the spotlight as the trades and TV networks are interested in providing one. Most groups use these year-end awards events as their primary way of raising funds. Studios buy tables for the events at which they are being honored, which pays for the event and pumps up the operating budget for most groups. Some groups find creative ways to spend the overage, as LAFCA did last year by funding and fronting a showing of films that they felt had been overlooked at the American Cinematheque. HFPA makes so much money from NBC’s rights purchase for the Golden Globes that they both make charitable donations and sponsor every member of the group on a maximum of three fully paid trips to film festivals anywhere on the globe each year.”
More… & space for you to comment