Conception

Conception
Originally uploaded by Intervisions.

Scooter Takes The Fall

I wish I could say that I can't believe Rove has again oiled himself out. So far, it looks like he's just too powerful to get taken down. I mean. come on, the Plame flame has his name all over it. It's classic Rove. His smear tactics worked against McCain (remember the bastard baby stories that ruined his bid against Bushie) and Kerry (remember the tarnished war record that ruined his bid against Bushie) and now he's getting away with spending $70B and 2K lives on converting the Mid-East to Christianity. Wake up people!! Get a fucking clue.

Night In The Past

M. Night Shyamalan went down to the House of Mouse last night to warn them, and any other studios who may consider releasing films to theaters and in other formats such as DVD and VOD on the same date, that they may face some irritated theater owners… and retread directors who can’t accept change or come up with a new twist for their movies.

Claiming to be an artist, a purist, who simply wants to preserve that special feeling of watching a film smelling everyone else’s popcorn, stepping on gum, asking people to be quiet or sit down, fighting over seats (when the theater is even full, which is rare) and being hit with spitballs, he whipped the audience of theater owners into a frenzy. Yes, for M. it’s a special experience. He still remembers that special moment in the big theater when all those people realized Bruce Willis was dead…. Gasp. Speaking at ShowEast last night in Orlando, he exhorted theater owners to refuse to show films with day and date releases.

He promised to stop making films, if the studios considering this new marketing tactic have their way. Being such a dedicated artist, or at least independently wealthy, he even offered up his house, since it was bought with that tainted DVD money.

The reason directors and studios, from Soderburg, to Weinsteins & Disney, are planning the change is, first of all, not all people prefer to watch films in a theater. While box office receipts rarely clear $9B/year, DVD sales have been steadily climbing and now gross well over $30B/year. The American and worldwide public clearly prefers the DVD format, and when people can stream the films into their entertainment centers easily, they won’t even bother running to Blockbuster or even mailing those deadly slow envelopes.

The other reason is that it costs the studios lots of money to promote a theatrical release, only to have to duplicate those costs all over again six months later, after everyone’s forgotten about the original buzz.

To see someone who calls himself an artist show such callous disregard for his audience is sickening. Films aren’t made for theater owners, despite M’s whipped up ranting about how they hold all the cards. If theater owners refuse to run a film just because people have the choice to see that film in a variety of formats, they deserve to become the empty citadels of the past. And, if “artists” like Night care more about controlling how viewers can watch their film than about making films, then let them stop making films, we’ll have lost nothing.

And BTW, M, since your so concerned about me having to watch films without a crowd, you'll be happy to know that my neighbors with home theaters are inviting lots of people over to watch those DVDs. I'm sure that will make you happy, even though we'll be spending nothing but the rental price of that one DVD. Since you only care about that communal feeling, you won't be sad that we'll all skip the $9. admission price in favor of neighborhood unity.

Wal-Mart's Double Vision

While Michael Moore is still working on his expose of the medical-industrial complex, the next big detonation in explosive American documentaries is already creating a firestorm. Robert Greenwald’s take-down “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” is about to be shopped at American Film Market…. but not alone. It will be competing with a conveniently timed Wal-Mart loveletter called “Why Wal-Mart Works: And Why That Drives Some People C-r-a-z-y” directed by Ron Galloway, who swears that he really, really feels that Wal-Mart improves the lives of workers and communities, and really, really didn't take any money from Wal-Mart.

By another strange coincidence, Wal-Mart yesterday put its press machine into high gear promoting Galloway’s film and denouncing Greenwald’s. It hasn’t done too much good, Greenwald has already secured distribution both domestically and internationally, while the film that can’t understand why Wal-mart drives some people (like indigent child laborers around the world) “C-r-a-z-y”, will probably only be shown to Wal-Mart drones (employees)… over and over and over, starting with its premiere November 10 near Wal-Mart’s company headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas (film capital of… Arkansas?)

Greenwald, who also produced and directed “Outfoxed:Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism” and “Uncovered: The Iraq War” examines Wal-Mart’s exploitive business practices and will hopefully see the same kind of attention that has highlighted other abuses of power, corporate and otherwise.