Entries from June 2007 ↓

Are comics too made up and silly?

Tired of people in capes and spandex prancing around trying to “fix” everything?

Planned Parenthood thought so.

That’s why they put out a comic on birth control to help educate youngsters back in the 60s.

Just when it seemed that Darren Aronofsky’s problems with The Fountain were over.

From Aronofsky’s Myspace blog:

“so the dvd came out.

happy that it is in the world.

hope more folks will get to see it.

as many of you can tell it is light on the extras as compared to my previous dvd releases.

everything at the studio was a struggle.

for instance: they didn’t want to do a commentary track cause they felt that it wouldn’t help sales.

i didn’t have it in me to fight anymore.

whatever.

so:

niko, my friend who did the doc on the dvd came up with a novel idea.

we recorded a commentary track ourselves.

we’re gonna post it on a site soon, http coming soon.

you can play it and watch the flick and hopefully you’ll enjoy it.

i do hope to do a big special edition at some point. but for that to happen the dvd is gonna have to sell.

i got a lot of extras in my bag so who know maybe if you all write to criterion they’ll get interested (suggest the fountain as a title: mulvaney@criterion.com).

they’ve been into pi and requiem but because the first run of dvd’s had so many extras they didn’t know what else they could add. but the fountain…

i hope you are all well. i’ve been writing. stuff is coming. gonna know what we are doing next soon enough.”

Warner Brothers seems to be skimping on DVD extras with movies like The Fountain and The Good German which both have very little to nothing beyond the movie.
In an age where piracy is supposedly hurting studios, where is the logic in fucking with the niche fan base that would fork out the money for these titles as opposed to burning copies?

Sure Warner Brothers may think they’re cutting their losses because neither film did well in theaters, but their box office couldn’t have been helped when neither movie played on many screens and didn’t stay around for more than two weeks.

Bad theatrical runs are one thing.

Hampering the earning potential from DVD sales by two bankable directors that make movies far and beyond the next Van Wilder installment is another.

Aronofsky mentions that he hopes to get a better version released sometime which is great if you’re a fan of the movie who wants to know more. However, therein lies the popular consumer problem.

A movie gets turned around quick and is on the DVD market within three months after it’s initial release. The studio does a rush job and plans to pull out the stops a few months to a year or two after the initial DVD release.

Testing the waters, maybe.

Doubling up and profiting again off movie hounds who have embraced the DVD industry because of the added features the format has brought sounds like the reality. If this wasn’t an actual marketing ploy, then how else does one explain the multitude of Evil Dead and Army of Darkness rereleases?

Raimi & Co release new “editions” with such a shameless frequency it’s almost a slap contest fans line up for as they’re handing over their dough for the newest limited edition Ash tin cover with a super newer Directors Cut with five inconsequential minutes of footage Sam Rami found at the bottom of a bin his people cleaned out.

The Evil Dead made $2,400,000 when it was release in 1981.

It’s budget: $375,000¹ .

It’s cult following brought Raimi & Co a tidy profit of $2,025,000 back then.

Back then.

In a DVD-less 1981 VHS rental and cable TV driven secondary markets. And neither the rental or the cable markets were anything in 1981 what they are today.

It’s not like multiple releases of the same movie helped them crawl their way to profitability, they were already there. It was just an easy way to make money off of hungry fans.

That’s one way to do it. Another is to make more and better movies.

So far in his career Aronofsky has been a diligent filmmaker who’s struggled to get his movies out as much for the uniqueness of his vision as the varied dilemmas that’ve arisen in the development process. The DVD format has proven to be a great ground for unprecedented information and insight into filmmaking when the creative forces and studios embrace the format.

Maybe as we’ll just have to wait for a suitable release for The Fountain or The Good German or whatever worthwhile flick the studio churned out onto DVD barebones instead of putting something on it to motivate consumers. Maybe Soderbergh or Aronofsky will steal a move out of the Raimi playbook and release Requiem for a Dream or Oceans’ 14 the musical to fatten their bankroll instead of stretching any new creative muscles.

1. figures from Wikipedia[back]

Two movies I can’t wait to see.

The Coens have been all over the place with their last few movies, No Country for Old Men looks to be more in the vein of Miller Crossing, Fargo, and the Man Who Wasn’t There than some of their broader stuff. Thankfully a wider audience be exposed to Cormac McCarthy’s work and Javier Bardem, who looks like he’s taking this role and knocking it out of the park.

Looks just badass.

Next:

The Cusack family reunites in a pitch black political comedy that looks like a Grosse Pointe Blank sequel or at least a karmatic cousin. Makes no matter to me how the pieces come together, it looks to be the making of another Cusack flick that will spend a lot of time in my DVD player.

“I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there. People get the impression that you’re trying to (mess) with them, and it’s not true. You’re trying to entertain them. Anybody who wants to watch it, it’s all there.”

—David Chase, Sopranos creator and man responsible giving many viewers an aneurysm after the series finale concluded last Sunday.

Being a long time Sopranos fan and not an HBO subscriber I was prepared for a grueling wait until the DVDs hit the street. Hearing how things ended, it’ll be even more agonizing. Chase and Co. spent six years crafting an epic story that was as personal a vision as it was at times entertaining. Viewers over the years carped that the Sopranos lost its direction,  sharp teeth, and lacked the violent punch that gained people’s attention when it premiered.

To his credit, David Chase never lost sight of any of those elements because he stayed loyal to his characters and their story, allowing them to dictate the action within each season. Not compromising his vision for the big picture, Chase constructed characters that were monsters and humane enough that the audience could care enough to erupt when left without a finite ending.

It’s that kind of dedication to storytelling that audiences and cable subscribers for that matter should be demanding. The good storytellers, like Chase, are the ones we remember and discuss long after things fade to black.

tags technorati : David Chase, The Sopranos, T.V., HBO

Remeber Donkey Kong?
Yeah, the original one, with the little guy jumping over the barrels to get get the girl from that monkey.
Turns out somebody actually still plays it.

Oh, and Ray Bradbury wanted to let you know that you’re stupid—Fahrenheit 451 wasn’t about censorship, but T.V. taking over our lives.

Thanks Ray, that makes your book so much better now.

Radiohead inspired music:

Rodeohead—Hard ‘N Phirm with forty six seconds of an introduction by John Peel.
[audio:http://www.notesofadefeatist.com/wp-content/uploads/audio/RodeoheadJohnPeel.mp3]