Cinematical

I've been dying to see Wristcutters: A Love Story. It doesn't help that Karina Longworth gave it a solid review during Sundance 2006, or that the film won the Acura Grand Jury Award for Best Feature at the Gen Art Film Fest last year -- or any of the other awards it has nabbed since its premiere in Utah. The Goran Dukic film stars Almost Famous cutey Patrick Fugit, DJ-turned-actress Shannyn Sossamon, Arrested Development's Will Arnett and the wonderfully gritty singer Tom Waits. It follows Zia (Fugit), a young man who kills himself over a girl, and finds himself in an afterworld full of people who have committed suicide. When he finds out that the girl he killed himself for did the same deed after him, he goes on a quest to find her.

The film itself is making its way to theaters way down the line in August, with one hell of an interesting marketing campaign by means of AfterDark Films, who have the North American rights. Along with an Internet and college campus push, the marketing for the film will feature a lot of cardboard cutouts that The Hollywood Reporter describes as "potentially controversial." I think that's just a bit of an understatement. The cut-outs will be a collection of suicides -- characters jumping off a bridge, hanging themselves and electrocuting themselves. Hmm... At least they're not handing out razor blades? Courtney Solomon of AfterDark says of the scheme: "We just hope they don't cause too many accidents." Or maybe they're hoping that the controversy helps drum up buzz for their Wristcutters. Considering the hordes that get angry with video games, I can't begin to imagine the backlash this campaign will get.