2929 entertainment Tagged Articles at Cinematical

There aren't a whole lot of WWI veterans left (I think there's less than a handful of Americans), which is a shame with Memorial Day coming up since many people aren't familiar with the significance of that Great War. It certainly hasn't helped that Hollywood -- the history textbook writer for many young Americans -- hasn't been interested in the first World War as a subject for a long time. The studios used to produce great WWI films like Wings, All Quiet on the Western Front and Sergeant York. Then WWII came along and became the more popular war, with its definite villain, Adolph Hitler. Meanwhile the best WWI movie we've gotten in awhile (from the U.S., anyway) is the terribly cartoon-like Flyboys, which actually had to be made independently.

There's hope on the horizon, though, as a new WWI epic is being written by Christopher McQuarrie. The screenwriter of The Usual Suspects and the upcoming WWII movie Valkyrie, McQuarrie is interested in making a film that not only depicts the Great War, but also explains it. His script, titled No Man's Land (not to be confused with the German WWI film Niemandsland or the recent foreign Oscar-winner No Man's Land) focuses on the stories of three soldiers who stand in to illustrate the reasons for their nation's involvement in the war. One is an American who fights first for the French Legion and then for the U.S.; one is a Brit who is wrongly accused of being a coward; and the third is a German trench dweller.

Those crazy dreamers at 2929 Entertainment sure like messing with the status quo, don't they? As if simultaneously releasing films in theaters, on DVD and on cable at the same time wasn't enough -- now, they're messing around with the way films are marketed too, at least according to a recent piece in The Hollywood Reporter. Not content with the way things work in any part of the filmmaking system, 2929 is offering incentives to ticket buyers such as film scores, deleted scenes, online production stills and online production notes to encourage viewers to buy tickets to its day-and-date release The Architect on movietickets.com.

"This is the first of 10 or more (promotions) in the next 12 months that will include this type of value add," said Mark Cuban, co-owner of 2929, in the article. "We will continue to look for additional digital products we can offer as a reward for those who watch the movie in a theater." At the movietickets.com site, ticket buyers can download the music from the film as MP3 files and look at production stills, while the deleted scenes will be included on the film's DVD -- coming out, you guessed it, the same day as the film's theatrical release.

The Architect, directed by first-timer Matt Tauber and scripted by Tauber and David Greig, concerns two Chicago families, one led by a wealthy architect and his wife (played by Anthony LaPaglia and Isabella Rossellini) and another led by a poor mother (played by Viola Davis) who asks LaPaglia to tear down the housing project he created because its dangerous. To be honest though, I'm not sure I really agree with the day-and-date release strategy at all. I kinda like going to the theater to see a movie and then catching it again on DVD a few months later. Having time in between is a good thing. It lets you re-discover the film when you watch it on DVD -- which adds to the enjoyment of it the second time around (at least for me).

That said, Mark Cuban is no dummy. And I have to admit this is a pretty innovative way to promote a movie. So, if he's trying to make this kind of thing work, he might be on to something. In the end, the success or failure of this venture will depend on what it usually depends on: money. If this film makes money, you can bet on seeing more films released and marketed this way. If not, well, you probably won't.

So, anyone in favor of this kind of film release or is it a bad idea?

Though they won't even announced the nominees for their competitive awards until October, the folks at IFP (a group, for the non-independent film freaks among, you dedicated to "serving the independent film community as a source for networking and support while promoting film as a vital and influential public art form") have announced that they will honor Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner of 2929 Entertainment at their annual Gotham Awards this fall. According to IFP exec director Michelle Byrd, the pair are being recognized for their consistent willingness to think outside the box when it comes to film production and distribution. Though their day-and-date release strategy has received significant opposition from theater owners, it's starting to be adopted by other distributors, and seems to have been embraced, at least to a degree, by the viewing public. Said Byrd of the pair, "They are visionaries who have introduced exciting and new distribution models, and who continue to showcase tremendous diversity in the films they produce, release and exhibit." So yeah, she thinks they're pretty cool.

Though the awards ceremony doesn't take place until late November, does anyone really think Cuban will have cooled off enough by then NOT to talk about the NBA refs? I'm saying he's got to at least slip in a David Stern reference.

 

The most shocking moment of Sunday night's Oscar ceremony came early in the evening, long before Three 6 Mafia or Crash scored their twin victories for mediocrity. An hour or so after losing the night's first award to George Clooney, Jake Gyllenhaal trotted out on stage to ostensibly announce one of the night's many disposable montages. "They're called epics," he near-monotoned. "Extravaganzas. Spectacles." With that last one, Jake's voice took an unexpected up-turn. He went on to list a few (oddly amalgamated for mass cross-generational appeal) examples of the genre in question – "West Side Story. Star Wars. Ben-Hur." – before delivering the kicker: "You can't properly watch these on a television set, and good luck trying to enjoy them on a portable DVD." Gyllenhaal punctuated that embarrassingly over-scripted slice of Academy propaganda with a desperate, self-referential giggle – a composure break that lasted long enough for an insert shot of Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams, Gyllenhaal's Brokeback Mountain co-stars, just two members of what sounded like a large chunk of the audience laughing along with him. It was rather amazing, a pure, bumbling moment of transparency that neatly struck down whatever was left of Sid Gannis' sad house of cards. The new takeaway for the evening: If Hollywood can't take its own last-ditch propaganda seriously, how can we?