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THE PRODIGAL CRITIC
Congrats -- and welcome back to NYC -- to Manohla Dargis, who returns, in print at least, to the Big Apple as film critic for the New York Times. She replaces Elvis Mitchell, who left last month, and joins A.O. "Tony" Scott and Stephen Holden.
According to Nikki Finke's piece, Dargis, who is being allowed to stay in L.A., was hired as much for her ability to write longer film think pieces as for her daily reviewing. Dargis has always figured out how to strike that balance between thoughtful ideas and rhetorical provocation, so here's hoping that the Sunday Arts and Leisure section becomes more of a read with her there.
# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 6/26/2004 01:44:09 PM Comments (0)
MUSIC TO OUR EARS
Filmmaker has a longstanding policy of not covering projects in which its staff members are involved -- which is why you have never read in the pages of the magazine about Tom Noonan's What Happened Was or The Wife, Harmony Korine's Gummo or Julien Donkey-Boy, Jesse Peretz's First Love, Last Rights or The Chateau, Peter Sollet's Raising Victor Vargas and John Leguizamo's Undefeated, among numerous other films -- each of which was produced by Filmmaker editor Scott Macaulay and his partner at Forensic Films, Robin O'Hara.
However, we've been chomping at the bit to spill the beans about Scott and Robin's latest producing endeavor -- and since Variety features the story on its front page this morning, we'll simply reference that article, "HBO says Hey Ya to pop tuner":
"Making its first major entry into the musical game, HBO will start production in late summer on an original tuner to star Outkast's Andre 3000 and Big Boi. ...The pic, [to be directed by Bryan Barber], is a full-blown singing and dancing musical that will inject contemporary music into a period tale. Some of the songs will come from Outkast's Grammy winning album "Speakerboxxx/the Love Below," but most will be original tunes written by Outkast that will form the basis of a future album."
Congratulations Scott and Robin!
# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 6/23/2004 10:27:21 AM Comments (1)
BASIC BOLLYWOOD INSTINCT
The Asia Times' Pepe Escobar is always a good read when it comes to the Mid East and the War on Terror, but today's web edition of the paper contains this interesting story on Girlfriends, a film that seems to be Bollywood's (delayed) answer to Basic Instinct. Predictably, the film, which deals frankly with a lesbian relationship, is being attacked -- violently -- by Hindu right-wing organizations seeking a government ban as well as critics and those on the left.The "grade C film" tells the story of a lesbian who falls in love with a man, causing her female lover to become psychopathic. Critics and lesbians have attacked the film for suggesting that gay women are violent man-haters, while the Hindu religious right has responded equally predictably.
Quoting the article: "Shiv Sena has criticized the movie claiming that it goes 'against the grain of Indian culture by portraying scenes of lovemaking between two women.' A member of its women's wing told Asia Times Online that films like Girlfriend are 'a bad influence' and a 'blot on Indian culture.' 'When most Indian women do not know about things like lesbianism, why expose them to it?' she asked.
'Women seeking satisfaction from other women is alien to our culture,' says a member of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). 'We will not allow films like Girlfriend to poison our women by making them curious about immoral things.'
# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 6/20/2004 04:16:50 PM Comments (1)
There's a great lead article in Variety this week by Dana Harris and Claude Brodesser -- sorry, subscription only -- titled "Films Buried Alive." And although the headline might lead you to think that the piece is about the many long-delayed films on the Miramax release shelf, it's actually a perceptive article about the politics involved in greenlighting a studio film. It confirms in print something producers have long known: despite the importance placed by studio execs on the development process, the scripts that actually get greenlit by the studios are often the least developed ones. And if there's one piece of practical advice contained within the piece for working filmmakers, it's this: if you're a director brought on to an existing project, talk about the film, not the script. In other words, put forth a vision of the project that encompasses all the creative elements, and don't get bogged down in deconstructing the tortured development path a project might have been on.
Here are a few salient quotes from the piece:
"Development has long been a popular topic for complaint, but the process has gotten worse in the past decade, thanks to the immense expansion of studio development teams and the growth of bureaucracy.
But, filmmakers argue, development troops with their script notes often are irrelevant, because the fate of a film depends on an almost mystical convergence of events.
A filmmaker has to have a vision for the project, a star has to be eager and available (and affordable) and a top studio executive has to register his support with a firm offer -- and all of this has to occur at one brief moment in time...
A project's greenlight also involve questions of timing and timeliness. Josiah's Canon co-scripter Brian Koppelman says you have to seize the moment: 'There's a brief window of opportunity to breathe new life into a project when a director comes on and writers get hired.'
'There is a window that opens up with a director and a star in place, and it starts to close with the passage of time,' says Fox production prexy Hutch Parker. 'Once you get to a certain precipice, you need to drive it home, or it falls apart.'"
Pick up the print edition -- or subscribe online -- for the rest of the piece, which tells seven development war stories, including that of the new Will Ferrell comedy Achorman.
# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 6/20/2004 02:21:21 PM Comments (0)
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