Cinematical

It appears that there's a slew of critically-acclaimed novels being made into movies of late. Earlier, we reported on McEwan's Atonement and Coetzee's Disgrace; each movie is attached to fairly big name stars. Now, John Banville has announced that his Booker Prize-winning novel The Sea will be adapted for the bigscreen. He'd like Anthony Hopkins to play Max Morden, "a man haunted by death and a distant trauma that takes him back to the coastal town where he spent a holiday in his youth." Though a successful writer, Banville remains critical of his writing and admits that screenwriting is no easy feat (his first book to film, Reflections, starring Gabriel Byrne, tanked at the box office): "I have written about half a dozen scripts, but for every hundred scripts written one movie is made."

Warner Bros. is going on the cheap: The studio is launching a direct-to-DVD business that will release 10 to 15 low-budget movies a year. The partnership is between Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. Though movies made for DVD are typically cheaper to produce and distribute, they face more competition these days from boxed sets of popular TV shows like Lost or 24. One of the ways Warners will try and overcome entertainment overload on the part of consumers built into the plan is to produce prequels and sequels with a built-in audience, such as a sequel to 2005's The Dukes of Hazzard. The movie grossed $80.3 million domestically (which shocks me, people), but it isn't the kind of mega-hit that justifies the costly stars and big production expenses of a regular theatrical release.; the Dukes sequel, for instance, will not have the original cast members Jessica Simpson or Johnny Knoxville. The new DVD division, to be overseen by Warner's production president Jeff Robinov and the president of the studio's home entertainment group, Kevin Tsujihara, will also make and acquire original made-for-DVD movies in a range of genres.

Movie marketers and studio execs are seeking deals with unconventional brands for their summer blockbuster movie tie-ins -- because if you can't make money the conventional way, hey, try something new. The latest tack involves trying to reach niche markets with partners like State Farm, Goodyear, and Energizer, versus using traditional cross-marketing brands like McDonald's and General Mills (with all their attendant bad press of promoting childhood obesity). Disney/Pixar's Cars has lined up 17 promotional partners "for what is being described as the biggest and broadest campaign in Disney history." With TV, the Internet, music and video games vying for all of our attention and cash, movie studios are trying to expand their branding and cross-marketing concepts -- and Disney's approach of insurance and tires instead of cereal and fries is definitely that.. As we reported before, Universal Pictures teamed up with Budweiser and MasterCard for The Break-Up, which opens this Friday. Budweiser features a site that hosts a National Break-Up Day, while MasterCard is promoting a special edition Zagat guide with ideal restaurants for break-ups in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. And maybe you didn't notice (I sure didn't), but Warner Bros. set up a tie-in with Ike Behar shirts, which were worn by Poseidon stars Josh Lucas and Kurt Russell in the movie. They ran co-branded print ads in magazines and in select department stores like Nordstrom -- so now you know what to wear for your next rogue wave!

X-Men, The Da Vinci Code, M:i:III watch out: one of the most popular viewed movies online is a six-minute video on YouTube about a grumpy man scolding a bus passenger in Hong Kong for interrupting his phone call. It's been viewed nearly 1.7 m times on YouTube, already spawning spoofs and a new patois.

The grumpy man says things like "This is not resolved!" (now a catchphrase in Hong Kong) and "I face pressure. You face pressure. Why did you provoke me?" Internet users have already made several spoofs such as a karoake version and rap song featuring the refrain, "I face pressure. You face pressure." It's unclear whether the whole incident was staged or not, although the young man who takes the brunt of verbal abuse has been interviewed on Hong Kong's Commercial Radio.

In the wake of all sorts of special interest groups getting offended by the phenomenon that is The Da Vinci Code, news comes from MSNBC that the U.S. jewelry industry "is gearing up to counter any negative effects from the upcoming film The Blood Diamond, which shows how illicit gem trade fueled bloody civil wars."

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a South African mercenary jailed for smuggling in Sierra Leone circa 1999, a time when the nation was in the midst of a terrible civil war. DiCaprio's character specializes in the sale of "blood diamonds" which are used to finance rebellions and terrorists. Apparently the chairman of the Kimberley Process, an international certification program, wrote to the producers of The Blood Diamond asking that it include an epilogue explaining the measures taken to stem the illicit diamond trade.

Similarly to The Da Vinci Code's ways of trying to control religious controversy surrounding the film, it appears that jewelers are already taking defensive measures: "The danger is that people will think the situation in the film is continuing today . . .We're going to educate our jewelers about the issue." A new Web site on diamonds is being set up to answer questions from consumers.


   

Woody Allen has always had enviable control over almost every aspect of his movies, but he recently lost a battle over what versions of six of his movies will be aired on television and in-flight showings. Allen had filed a suit against his former producer, Jean Doumanian, and her company, saying that they had cheated him out of earnings for eight films, totalling up to $12 million. Six out of those eight films will be shown on TV and in airplanes with Doumanian's cuts. The films are Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite, Everybody Says I Love You, Deconstructing Harry, Celebrity, and Sweet and Lowdown. Allen may yet appeal the decision. Though it's sad for Allen, I'm glad these are the later films, which aside from Sweet and Lowdown and Bullets Over Broadway, I didn't much care for. Of his oeuvre, I'm glad Doumanian and Co. aren't getting their mitts on films like Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters , or even, Take the Money and Run.



 

I have to admit, like Kim, I'm tempted to see The Devil Wears Prada, mainly for Meryl Streep's portrayal of the icy Anna Wintour. The New York Daily News dishes on Wintour's appearance at a VIP screening of the movie. Apparently, she was invited by Streep herself, who had assured her "that her character was an amalgam of other fashion arbiters -- ladies like Diana Vreeland, Polly Mellon, Grace Mirabella and Liz Tilberis." Amalgam, sure. But Lauren Weisberger worked at Vogue, not Elle or Harper's Bazaar, before she penned her magazine-world chick-lit novel (complete with the Boss from Hell). Ever since the book came out, Wintour has refused to comment on it. "They purposely seated Lauren and Anna on opposite sides of the theater," reports the Daily News. "As far away as humanly possible."

 


 

 

Last week Martha reported on Google's collaboration with Universal to promote The Break-Up. The YouTube style  of Google Videos solicits user break-up videos. Now, if you look on the the movie's site, you'll see another tie-in by Budweiser. They're touting June 2, the movie's opening date, as "National Break-Up Day." The landing page is stock full of surveys, checklists, and even e-postcards to let your significant other know they're significant no more: "National Break-Up Day is the perfect excuse to bail yourself out of that sinking ship." Frankly, in my present mood, some hops-and-barley-fueled venting of romantic frustration doesn't like a bad idea. Too bad, though, that the actual movie is giving us a Hollywood happy ending.
 

Now showing at the MOMA is "Tomorrowland," the aptly-named exhibit of three decades of filmwork by filmmakers and video artists who studied at the California Institute of the Arts. Founded in 1961, CalArts is the product of Walt Disney, who wanted to bring together the visual and the performing arts in one school. Their famous animation program boasts alumni who have gone on to work for Pixar, Disney, Laika and just about every other major animation company. The Village Voice has a review of the show; "Tomorrowland" appears to represent a style that is at once commerical and avant-garde. Ed Halter cites mainstream folks like the Pixar team and Pee-Wee Herman (I also believe that David Hasselhoff attended the art school), as well as artists like John Baldessari and Joanna Priestly. Manohla Dargis also gives a review of the show and an extensive background of CalArts for The New York Times. Despite being founded by Disney, the school has managed to hold onto its more experimental, purely artistic side: "Perhaps because of its freewheeling early history (courses in joint rolling and witchcraft). Or because its campus is at a geographic remove from the Disney studio in Burbank." (CalArts is located in the little suburb of Valencia, CA). Witchcraft, Tim Burton, David Salle, and a freedom to commit to art versus industry? I kind of wish I went to this art school . . .

Starbucks continues to think of itself as a culture vulture, venturing beyond their core coffee products into music, film and now books. As we reported in the past, they teamed up with The William Morris Agency for aid in searching out products for marketing and distribution in their stores. The chain is now going to be promoting children's audiobooks narrated by Meryl Streep. She is lending her voice to The Velveteen Rabbit and The Night Before Christmas. Streep will be in company with Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Alanis Morissette -- all of whom have entered into similar deals with Starbucks in the past. The books will feature musical accompaniment by new-age pianist George Winston, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, The Christ Church Cathedral Choir of Oxford, England, and others. Random House's Listening Library will give the audiobooks a wider release after an initial, exclusive four-month run at Starbucks. The Listening Library was founded in 1955, the first audiobook company to produce unabridged recordings for family listening.