question of the day: Are the Oscars an ever clearer indication that Hollywood *knows* it makes crap?
Because the divide between the movies Hollywood makes for popular consumption are increasingly not the ones Hollywood honors as quality work…
Big Picture
question of the day: Was Universal right to cut the gay joke from its trailer for ‘The Dilemma’?
I don’t want comedians not to be offensive: I want them not to be stupid when they give offense. I want them to give offense, if that’s what they’re going to do, for a reason. Universal wouldn’t have had to cut the joke if it were defensible in any way. But it isn’t.
what he said: Patrick Goldstein at The Big Picture…
…on The Social Network as such a dramatic contrast to the appalling quality of most Hollywood big-screen scriptwriting these days…
question of the day: Will the Great Recession force Hollywood to be more creative?
I wonder if this terrible summer has been a blip or if, perhaps, it’s a state of affairs we should expect to continue for the next several years..
what he said: Patrick Goldstein at The Big Picture…
…on Jerry Bruckheimer’s bad summer, what with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice flopping, and right on the heels of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time sorta flopping by Bruckheimerian standards: What makes things bad for Bruckheimer is that he’s been wrapped up in his self-contained world for so long that outside of his close friends, the … more…
question of the day: Are you suspicious when a studio tailors screening access to a film, as has happened with ‘Inception’?
We’re all familiar with this kind of situation: A studio has a stinker on its hands, so it frontloads the critical response by showing the film, weeks before it opens, to quote whores, entertainment “journalists” who aren’t critics but get their subsequently rapturous reactions splashed across posters and TV ads anyway. You know, they’re the … more…
question of the day: ‘Killers’ not screening for critics; how long before nothing screens for critics?
It’s so common these days that I’ve stopped thinking about it as unusual: Lots of movies simply are not screened for critics before they open. (I’ve even stopped bothering to keep a list of these movies, which I did last year and started this year before it just got too depressing.) So I didn’t think … more…
question of the day: Will 3D kill movie stars?
Patrick Goldstein at The Big Picture is wondering whether 3D spells doom for The Movie Star, for the idea that a big-name actor can open a movie and that the studios can sell a movie almost exclusively on the basis of who is appearing in it: Put yourself in the position of a studio executive, … more…
question of the day: If ‘Variety’ doesn’t see any future in film criticism, is there any hope for it?
I’ve been feeling very, very depressed lately about the prospects of ever making anything like a reasonable living at this film criticism game. And this shocking news did not help: On Monday, Variety, the legendary Hollywood trade publication, laid off its chief film critic, Todd McCarthy. Editor Tim Gray, in a memo to Variety staffers, … more…
question of the day: Is there a last-minute guerrilla campaign against ‘The Hurt Locker’?
Last week, Hurt Locker producer Nicolas Chartier was banned from attending the Oscar ceremony on Sunday over the emails he sent to Academy members. According to The Los Angeles Times, this is the first time such a ban has been instituted. I didn’t understand at first why an email asking for an Academy member’s vote … more…
