Speeding Again

Warners takes the kid angle on with this effort, much more so than before… as they will have to in order to do strong numbers.
High-Def – Quicktime

The Real Clinton Scam (Of This Month) Emerges

As Gerry Ferraro continues to burn through her legacy, the real goal becomes apparent…
It’s not the “Obama only got here because he’s black” game so much as the “The Obama camp is equally responsible for going negative as we are” lie.
This is the theme that is being repeated time after time in the weeks since Ohio. And even Ferraro is now on that, as she “defends” her pro-racist/falsely-pro-feminist spin – which has surely been paid for by a Clinton promise of a position in the government for the now-irrelevant former trailblazer (who implodes this dramatically without a carrot at the end of the stick?) – is “THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN PICKED THIS UP FROM THIS TINY NEWSPAPER, ALWAYS TROLLING FOR DIRT, AND IS USING IT TO HURT US!!!”
Clinton’s campaign is literally trying to drag the Obama campaign down to their level. And when Obama refused to bite on the various forms of bait, the Clinton campaign clearly decided to force the issue on the level of perception, making disharmony the daily dish in the media coverage. Fuck hope! We have hate! Everyone loves hate!
Let’s get the discussion away from the unreleased tax and donors info… let’s marginalize Obama in any way we can… even Eliot Spitzer is a great distraction and just more ugliness that draws attention to the idea that dirty tricks is just the way things are… grow up, Obama!!!
And I will say this… as I write this, it occurs to me how much this sounds like how Traditional Media has treated New Media over the years. Anger, Denial, Bargain, Depression, Acceptance. But unlike death, Acceptance leads to the future, for Media and for politics.
But personally, having been the subject of outright lies in Traditional Media (and for what reason? hurt feelings?) and “you don’t matter” argument, and bargaining as the effort to take advantage of my work and the work of others on the web (without paying, of course… which mirrors the web media economy, but like studio film vs indie film, is just not straight play) and as I am now feeling terrible as I see the depression of many of my TM brethren (the ones who are not hateful just for the sake of it)… I have no tolerance for this shit. None. Sympathy, yes. But let’s move forward… please!
P.S. Couldn’t have said it much better than this…

BYOB Thursday – Long Week

The Political Crowther

The Geraldine Ferraro fiasco took on a new color for me as I listened to her continuing to refuse to apologize for her remarkable – not honest and no one dare says it – comments the other day in the – at least it wasn’t a blog… but close – The Daily Breeze, a tiny local paper here, servicing primarily the white community on the wealthier west side of Los Angeles.
What stuck me was Bosley Crowther, who was so aggressive about trying to kill Bonnie & Clyde – the kind of power a NY Times critic had at the time, when it coordinated with the mindset of the studio bosses – that he destroyed his own career and legacy.
It’s never just a review or just one movie you hate when things go that kind of dark. It’s that moment when you get the feeling that a person in a position of authority is fighting off the future, unable to see just how destructive they are being, so myopic at the moment of attack that they can’t see the misstep and cannot even think about withdrawing from the fight.
Even Ferarro’s letter of resignation from the Clinton campaign was a disaster of sorts. She wrote: “Dear Hillary, I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what’s at stake in this campaign. The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you. I won’t let that happen.”
She’s still right! And everyone else is wrong. She is the victim! Hillary is the victim!
Now, I am not a fan of calling “racist.” And I have been known to be rather strident about using language straight out… like quoting someone saying “nigger” instead of hiding the truth behind the horribly PC “The N Word,” which I believe gives way to much power to the word and too much cover for the people who still use such words to hurt others. (Regulars will remember discussions over the phrase “drama queen,” and others.)
But Ferraro doesn’t seem to understand how broad her comment really was. Saying that there is an overstated excitement amongst many voters that voting for a black man for president defines progress is to intiate a fair discussion. But then, if you were honest, you would have to say the same about Hillary Clinton being the first potential woman president (aside from Mondale getting eleted, dying, and it being GF).
The bigger problem is that she completely overlooks any positives for Obama other than race. And that is absurd on the face. And that defines racism… an irrational analysis of race and its effect.
I finally read the actual interview and the hypocrisy crested, causing me to right this entry:
Despite suffering from multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer that limits her energy, Ferraro said she is committed to keeping up an active speaking schedule and doing everything she can to help the Clinton campaign.
“I’m on Hillary’s finance committee. I’ve done a fundraiser for her here at my firm. And I went and worked the phone banks before Super Tuesday. I have to tell you, this is a very emotional campaign for me,” Ferraro said.
When the subject turned to Obama, Clinton’s rival for the Democratic Party nomination, Ferraro’s comments took on a decidedly bitter edge.
“I think what America feels about a woman becoming president takes a very secondary place to Obama’s campaign – to a kind of campaign that it would be hard for anyone to run against,” she said. “For one thing, you have the press, which has been uniquely hard on her. It’s been a very sexist media. Some just don’t like her. The others have gotten caught up in the Obama campaign.
“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position,” she continued. “And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.” Ferraro does not buy the notion of Obama as the great reconciler.
“I was reading an article that said young Republicans are out there campaigning for Obama because they believe he’s going to be able to put an end to partisanship,” Ferraro said, clearly annoyed. “Dear God! Anyone that has worked in the Congress knows that for over 200 years this country has had partisanship – that’s the way our country is.”
So… Clinton fights on in spite of the weight of sexism, but the black guy is only in the position that he has achieved because of inverted racism.
Pathetic.
And with it, a person I voted for… a person who has fought and survived and thrived against all kinds of odds… implodes and destroys her legacy and the good feelings many have for her.
Of course, many women who are violently supporting Hillary feel exactly this way. Their minority is the most affronted. And no doubt, many black Obama supporters also feel that Hillary is only where she is because she is a woman… as their minority has been the most affronted. All minorities tend to carry these chips on our shoulders at times. Surviving makes us tough and united in ways, sometimes, that are not so smart or attractive.
But we expect smarter thinking from our once and future leaders.
A damned shame.
PS: A Daily Breeze follow-up makes things even worse: “Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let’s address reality and the problems we’re facing in this world, you’re accused of being racist, so you have to shut up,” Ferraro said. “Racism works in two different directions. I really think they’re attacking me because I’m white. How’s that?”

If You Don't Think These Look Fun…

… you could just not like flash, you could hate The Wachowskis, or you could be dead.

International Trailer 1 | International Trailer 2

Lunch With… SXSW Thriller, Shuttle

Two of the cast members – Tony Curran & Cameron Goodman – and writer/director Edward Anderson of Shuttle sit down for a chat in anticipation of premiering at SXSW.
The interview

Already Less Important?

So after making little progress in the last decade of discussing it, the studios finally did what they would inevitably have to… they created a holding company to handle the purchase, distribution, and maintenance of digital projectors, agreed to fund it in a creative way and Voila!… about a third of America’s screens will have digital projection before Summer ’09.
The question is… does it matter anymore?
It is an absolutely significant business story. There is a lot of money to be saved by the studios via digital projection.
But will audiences care about digital projection, one way or the other?
My sense is that projection will, in most cases, be improved by this technology. It’s not that great celluloid projection won’t still be better… but most chains are running a lot of screens with one projectionist that is underqualified, underinterested, and overworked running projectors with too dim bulbs, imprecise sound, etc. The great LP on a great record player with great speakers may beat the quality of the electronic music file of a CD or an iPod… but most people had crappy record players and iPods kick their ass before you even get to the storage and mobility advantages.
But what do you think?

The Sole Survivor… Really?

How bad does a guy have to fuck up to get fired in this town?
Really.
Every once in a while, I am reminded just how ass backwards things are at so many studios, thanks to a deep disconnection from reality by corporate parents.
You know, the only reason Jeff Robinov is in his position at WB is because Lorenzo DiBonaventura made a ridiculous political miscalculation, getting himself fired in the process. L-DiB could have been fired at the time for cause – his last run of movies were hideous and expensive – but he wasn’t. He was fired for acting out of turn.
Robinov oversaw arguably the worst summer ever for a studio in 2006 with Poseidon, Superman Returns, Lady In The Water, and The Ant Bully.
But he survived.
Last summer, he bombed with Lucky You, Nancy Drew, and The Invasion (all with female leads, by the way… kick a guy for being a bad exec, not a misogynist), while getting away with two middling comedies (No Reservations, License To Wed), the weakest of the Ocean’s series, and – duh! – Harry Potter!
But he survived. And thrived, getting moved further up the food chain!
This year so far, Fool’s Gold will do about 2/3 of what How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days did and 10,000 BC will be a money loser unless the overseas numbers are overwhelming. (Warners has cleverly gotten away from funding their movies, so how much WB loses is always up for grabs. But his bosses being clever financiers doesn’t make Robinov a good studio head.)
But in his failure as a studio head, Robinov just keeps acquiring more power.
And now, it seems that New Line’s weakest link, the very nice, very bright, not very good at making good or marketable movies Toby Emmerich will be left with the keys to what’s left of New Line.
Are you kidding?
I can completely understand Time-Warner wanting to shrink New Line in order to eliminate duplicate efforts across their corporate holdings. The fact that no studio has been able to move stock price with internal success, failure, or cuts is another issue. But everyone is cutting back these days.
But Toby as the Boy King? Really?
I guess it’s fun to pin the tail on Bob Shaye – NY-based Michael Lynne gets no media heat because the movie media doesn’t really know him – but if you want to smack him down for directing The Last Mimzy, do you think you might not want to embrace the guy who wrote The Last Mimzy? (For our slow students, that would be Toby Emmerich.)
With all due respect to the executive who brought us such classics as Rendition, Martian Child, and Code Name: The Cleaner, could we simply be looking at the classic political ploy of hiring someone who is no threat to take your job?
Castle Rock has not been a good strategic relationship for WB since Alan Horn jumped from the production company to the studio (Michael Clayton being the exception to the rule this year)… and now, that’s what people are saying New Line will be. God save them from the next Pluto Nash (the biggest loser ever, c/o Castle Rock) or such New Line classics as Hoot (the owl movie with the owls underground) or Runnng Scared (Horror Porn 101) or Tenacious D (big star with an unsellable project)!
If you were really serious about launching and funding a genre arm, wouldn’t you go to, say… Mike DeLuca… or someone from Screen Gems… or someone from Lionsgate… or someone who had actually had significant success in genre? I mean, I am still thrilled that Toby greenlit Little Children. But really… all those people being fired and the guy most responsible for getting them fired gets to stay?
But that

BYOB Lives!

Sunday Estimates by Klady

Friday Estimates by Klady

So, in classic industry style, 10,000 BC went from being underestimated to overestimated to – shockshock – a dissapointment. This is the nature of a bunch of people obsessively pretending to know something when everyone is actually playing telephone, essentially looking at the same set of numbers interpreted through 20 different prisms and, in the end, guessing. Tracking is an inaccurate science. It has a purpose, but guessing numbers at the Friday canrnival is not one of them. Nor do Friday matinees always mean what they seem to. Etc, etc, etc,
Regardless, 10,000 BC will open to half what 300 did last year, as ia lmost always the case when a studio chases a phenom. I have no followed the campaign terribly closely, particularly because I was away for a key week of it, but I have noticed that the use of images got hotter and more compelling late in the game. Since that is all you have to sell, really, it seems to me that if they didn’t have the images to sell early on, they should have pushed the movie back a bit. Sadly put, the CG animals look like something we all saw when they were selling Alexander. If that’s all there was, Jeff Robinov screwed up by spending all that money and effort on it.
But the truth is, we all know that Jeff Robinov has been a mediocre top movie exec for years now, living off of franchises that are hard to ruin while making some of the most expensive misses in movie history. Maybe marketing – still without a chief – could have done better. But you have to have the images to sell. And any exec spending more than 100 million making and selling any one movie better be thinking clearly about how they are going to sell it going into the process. Last year’s phenom + Mr Day After Tomorrow, which opened in spite of critics, who were mostly kept out, does not neccessarily + anything but mush.
Ironically, what Robinov has been best about, is making some of the smaller movies, like Michael Clayton, that don’t need to be huge earners. WB has always been defined by the big movies, however… and the studio has become a bit inept in that area, saved only by the ability to lay off costs on sucker hedge funds.
Disney tried to market to the black family audience. Disney missed… though expect that $3.5m Friday to look closer to 14 than 9 when the weekend is over.
The Italian Job minus Wahlberg and Theron equals Why Jason Statham is still stuck doing action movies like The Bank Job.
And unless international is huge, Jumper at under $80 million domestic, is easily the biggest flop of the new year. It wasn’t cheap. And it wasn’t good. Doug Liman is a mad genius… but the demand that he include big names in future projects will be an absolute must for him to get any serious money from a studio anytime soon.

More Politics… Avert Your Eyes If You Must

The Canadian Broadcasting Co on the malicious spin of the dubious NAFTA story, which the Clinton campaign tonight once again claimed on CNN was “now confirmed.”
Larry David, ranting harshly about Hillary answering that phone at 3am.
A look at the silliest mythology the Clinton Campaign is selling… that bigger states matter more.
And Gary Hart on Clinton “breaking the final rule,” specifically, suggesting that her primary opponent is less qualified to be President than the man fronting the opposing party.
And a couple of things I have noted in research.
The only state in which Obama has had less than 30% of the vote… Arkansas.
The last time Obama had a state with under 40% of the vote was Super Tuesday, Feb 5. There are three contested states where he was under 40%, plus the fourth under 30%.
Clinton has been under 40% in 21 of the contests to date, including 7 under 30%.
There are 11 “big” states that have more than 70 delegates to offer so far. Clinton has won 6 on delegate count, Obama 4, and one tied (Obama won MIssouri by 1%, but tied in delgates). But if you add the delegates from those 11 states only, Obama still leads the count by 776 to 760.
Here are those 11 states, the percentage differential, and the winner, in order of the size of the voting disparity.
Georgia – 35 points, Obama
Minnesota – 34 points, Obama
Illinois – 32 points, Obama
Virginia – 29 points, Obama
New York – 17 points, Clinton
Massachusetts – 15 points, Clinton
New Jersey – 10 points, Clinton
Ohio – 10 points, Clinton
California – 9 points, Clinton
Texas – 4 points, Clinton (Obama won the caususes 56 – 44)
Missouri – 1 points, Obama
The only two states where Clinton beat Obama that had also voted for Bush in 2004 were Ohio and Texas, where Clinton won by two of her three narrowest margins… 10 and 4 points. Obama beat Clinton in three 2004 Republican-winning states: Virginia, Georgia, amd Missouri… by 35, 29, and 1 point(s).
Facts, not speeches.

IFC Takes The Stairs

The Reeler luvs steaming up his glasses with rage… and he often picks odd targets.
IFC announced a deal with Blockbuster this week for a 6 month overall exclusive and a 3 year rental exclusive on its titles. And Stu had an aneurysm.
He brings the wrath, at first, over the damage the deal might do to mom & pop video stores. He compares the deal to The Weinsteins’ deal with Blockbuster. And finally, he hits on the real lead of this story. But first, let me speak to the other two issues.
1. Mom & Pop are already dead. This won’t help, but the high quality specialized stores are not going out of business based on IFC’s 30 DVD titles each year. Non-issue.
In addition, with all the services Blockbuster is trying to offer, no one needs to be shut out of access to these titles because of this relationship. It’s not as though rentals were so much more expensive at Blockbuster or they didn’t have a rent-by-the-pound window like NetFlix. I can’t be upset with Blockbuster for trying to cultivate the higher-level movie fan. And if they would spend the money to help Criterion go hi-def, I’d be thrilled to see a deal made there! The idea that we should be snobs about where we get our art films is kinda obnoxious to me. Blockbuster is just another window.
2. The Weinsteins have always played the DVD/Video game… and were even sued by Blockbuster years ago for abusing the automatic deal that Blockbuster had with Disney, buying titles for nothing and force feeding them to Blockbuster for big profits. It’s a silly argument.
MGM has been in business these last two years based almost exclusively on their Showtime Pay-TV window paying more than any indie could get. Maximizing the revenue for each window is the only way for indies to stay alive.
The basic thing is, IFC Films has been in financial ugliness for years and it wasn’t long ago that they were all but escorted out of the theatrical distribution business altogether. There is a reason why Sony Classics is the only major-affiliated Dependent still buying the smaller titles at festivals. The margins are too tight for the Searchlights and Miramaxes and Vantages of the world. We just saw a couple of days ago that the production and marketing costs of the average film from a Dependent is now OVER $70 million dollars… and that is without counting the money coming in from outside financers.
I can’t rage at IFC for staying in business. It is a lot easier for me to get angry at Mark Cuban for playing hide-the-salami with his franchises and, indeed, kicking IFC in the balls when he can for reasons no more worthwhile than avarice. Cuban has the theaters, the distribution arm, and the money to be The Man Who Guided Indie To A Real Future… but instead, has chosen to play the role of shopkeeper. But IFC, while corprately parented, is fighting to keep a niche alive, aside from rentals on NetFlix and life in 100 truly great M&P video stores across the country.
But there is this…
If IFC is giving exclusives to their films to Blockbuster and Blockbuster is editing them to fit the “no NC-17” rule while making the real versions of these films unavaulable to the public, THEN we have reason to be really, really angry. And frankly, that might be the end of IFC, not the salvation. Because no matter how desperate the situation, can anyone imagine Gus Van Sant allowing a film like Paranoid Park not only to be edited at all for censors, but seeing his vision of the film effectively censored completely in the US for 6 months to 3 years? Who will sell IFC movies?
But I don’t know this to be the case. And neither does Stu.
And if they put one finger on 4 Months, 3 Weeks, And 2 Days or Paranoid Park, I’ll be right there on line with Stu with the pitchforks and torches.

Lunch With… Stephen Chow

The discussion… with the translator workin’ overtime…

BYOB – 3/6/8

I am still getting used to being back in Los Angeles… amuse yourselves if you must….