Two words for this movie and most of the rat race is buying it...
G I M M I C K & H Y P E
Duane: Have you seen this picture? If so, back it up. If you haven't, let me ask you: are you just proud you're not "giving in" to what you feel is undeserved praise for a movie you had zero intention of seeing anyway? I don't see how anyone who's seen "Brokeback," even if they think it's overpraised (as I do), will say the gay-theme is a "gimmick." Hype, however, has nothing to do with quality and everything to do with marketing and critical praise that feels disproportionate to what's being sold. I could make a case for it, but "Brokeback" had danger written all over it before it gained any traction to get where it is today. Focus Features, the people who brought you "Lost in Translation" -- hardly a major film distributor or studio -- is responsible for "Brokeback." I'll tell you what "hype" is -- it's when a film opens on more than 1,500 screens, gets saturation TV ads by a major distributor like Paramount or Warners or Sony-Columbia or NewLine -- just pick any film that opens on any given weekend, finishes #1 its first week -- and then disappears. That's HYPE -- that's the "rat race" you describe that buys movies based on previews and ads BEFORE reading product labels or giving two s**** about reviews and the like. That happens EVERY week. "King Kong" was the most hyped film of the year -- but you know what -- despite its flaws, it earned its hype and produced the best value for my $10 in 2005. "Brokeback" opened IN DECEMBER, very slowly, to give it a chance to find an audience BEYOND those who were gonna see it regardless. When it opened, it was on a handful of screens in New York and LA. That's it. I may not think the film is great cinema, but as a person who knows a little about publicity and marketing, the people at Focus Features are geniuses. It's not perfect, but if you're a p.r. person, at least "Brokeback" is nothing you have to apologize about when the boss isn't looking. It's still a good film. Just not a great film. As for the nominations, the thing I found interesting (and this goes in waves) -- is every film nominated for Best Pic (Crash, Good Night and Good Luck, Capote, Brokeback Mountain) -- except Munich -- was independent, the type of film first shown in "Landmark" art house type theaters (Kirby's favorite, hooray!). The only "big budget" picture "best pic" nominee among 'em, and the budget itself was modest by Spielberg standards, is "Munich," which got mixed reviews. As Spielberg says this week in Newsweek, he expected to be "hit" by the "right" by his film -- but was shocked to be hit by what he felt were shrill critics on the "left." Personally, I was hoping "King Kong" or even "Cinderella Man" would sneak in there this morning, just to prevent the art house "snobs" (grin) from taking over -- because all 5 best pic nominees were message or preachy films, not crowd pleasers. And that's a downer to me. Even "Match Point" got zonked, and it was Woody Allen's best film since 1989. -koose. ----Original Message Follows---- From: Duane Nycz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: Duane Nycz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Brokeback Blues Backlash Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2006 21:27:18 -0800 Two words for this movie and most of the rat race is buying it... G I M M I C K & H Y P E Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
