A Teaser Poster for 'W'
Filed under: Lionsgate Films, Politics, Posters
If anyone was still expecting Oliver Stone's W to be a sympathetic, thoughtful treatment of a controversial figure a lá Nixon, you can pretty much toss that out the window. The teaser poster for the rushed-to-production George W. Bush biopic -- a piece of artwork Lionsgate took with them to Cannes -- makes Stone's attitude toward the man pretty clear. Check it out after the jump.My question is this: does anyone seriously think that people are going to flock to the theater in the middle of election season lured by the promise of... Bushisms? That's your marketing pitch? Bush supporters don't appreciate the jibes, and Democrats have already heard all the jokes.
Look, I don't want a movie that's kind to Bush, or even one that's "even-handed"; I just want one that's thoughtful. Of course it's possible that the poster doesn't match the tone of Stone's film; after all, the Lionsgate marketing department almost certainly had final say. Granted, too, this was a poster produced for Cannes, and may not be representative of the eventual American campaign. But everything I've heard about W -- most notably this -- indicates that the poster has it pretty much right. Bush is a frat boy, a bumbler, "the improbable president." No doubt. But is he anything else?
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[IonCinema premiered the poster.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-05-2008 @ 8:08AM
brian said...
Awesome. Simply. Awesome. It's going on my wall when I can find it. What a rube.
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6-05-2008 @ 8:17AM
Leo M. said...
yeah, sign me up too :)
6-05-2008 @ 8:49AM
Eric H said...
Josh Brolin still looks horrible as "W"
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6-05-2008 @ 9:34AM
kevjohn said...
But Elizabeth Banks looks TOO good as Laura. So it evens out.
6-05-2008 @ 10:00AM
Eric H said...
lmao
6-05-2008 @ 9:14AM
NP said...
I was hoping I'd see one of my favorites: "You're working hard to put food on your family."
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6-05-2008 @ 9:15AM
Marty J said...
I do like Oliver Stone in spite of his recent input. Top Man.
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6-05-2008 @ 10:37AM
GL said...
I can see clips of the man doing this crap whenever I want. What the hell do I need this schlock treatment for? At least it will be as accurate as all of Stone's other portrayals.
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6-05-2008 @ 10:54AM
mr. Obsession said...
Expecting Oliver Stone to make an objective film is gonna have you waiting for a while, Eugene. His personal slant on things is exactly what makes Stone's films unique.
I (and everyone else familiar with his work) would expect nothing else...you may wanna adjust your own expectations, lest you continue to be disappointed.
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6-05-2008 @ 11:10AM
PST said...
I don't think the Stone Touch is to recycle sub-SNL jokes from four and five years ago. Or, if that's it, then he's not exactly unique so much as late. And I believe that that is the problem our Mr. Novikov has with the poster - it doesn't promise Oliver Stone's personal slant on the subject of Bush so much as an emptying out of the garbage bin of years old TeeVee pseudo-satire.
It doesn't need to be balanced (I wouldn't say Bush deserves it), but it should at the very least be more than a dramatization of a $5 book of Bushisms from 2002. It'd be nice to see Stone's unique, personal slant, though if his personal take happens to be represented by that poster, I think it's fair to say that it isn't unique and there's really nothing worthwhile about seeing it.
Of course, I also don't think that the advertising about a film can tell you much of anything about it, but the fact remains that the poster is too late to the scene to be anything but lame.
6-05-2008 @ 11:16AM
Eugene Novikov said...
I thought I was pretty clear that I didn't want an "objective" movie -- objectivity is boring. It's the last thing I want. I'd like something interesting. PST has it right.
6-05-2008 @ 11:42AM
Midnight13 said...
This poster could be about his critics' persepction of GWB. Meaning that the movie will attempt to show a more fully realized portrayal of GWB, even from a man who doesn't approve of his presidency himself. Its as if he is setting this up to be a comedy that simply mocks GWB, and instead we get a nuanced examination of the man. It could be Stone's way of trying to understand GWB himself. To get past his own biais.
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6-05-2008 @ 1:53PM
jordancda said...
That's it? That's the best they could to? Make a poster that makes childish fun of W? This just makes me not want to see the film.
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6-06-2008 @ 10:57AM
Tim Bartell said...
Really? I think it's perfect. That is the name of the film, afterall -- I think it really makes his point.
8-08-2008 @ 8:06PM
Nancy Cronk said...
I don't normally see horror movies, but I am going to see this one.
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