1. Live Bloggin’ The Biggest Trailer of the Year!
You know the drill, hit play and start your journey!
:01 – :17 Hey, it’s the guy from Love Actually!
:18 – :25 So where does Harry have to take the ring again?
:26 – :40 Finally, someone is telling Harry he can’t fight the war on his own. This guy has been hot dogging it for six films now!
:41 – 1:01 The fella who shan’t be named is rather full of himself. But he’s got to have massive sinus problems to go along with that ‘tude.
1:02 – 1:15 Lookalikes? That’s the best a group of magicians can come up with?
1:16 – 1:30 This movie looks to have more action than Die Hard with a Vengeance.
1:31 – 1:36 I’m on Team Ron here, if such a thing exists.
1:37 – 1:55 Seriously though, this movie has more action than the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan.
1:56 – 2:20 Having seriously vetted both candidates, I am officially recommending cheering for Harry Potter against Voldy.
How about that trailer though? It makes the new Narnia look like a silent film.
2. Clarity in The Great Best Picture Nomination Race
The Toronto International Film Festival has wrapped, and with it we’ve gained new insights into this year’s Best Picture race. There are six “mortal locks” and six films vying for the final four slots. Please to be enjoying witty commentary on each grouping!
Mortal Locks
True Grit: The Coens have three Best Picture Nominations under their belts. This should be number four.
Inception: The “sorry about that Dark Knight snub” makeup call.
Black Swan: The “sorry about that Wrestler snub makeup call.
The King’s Speech: Massive buzz out of Toronto in a weak year equals insta-nom.
127 Hours: Danny Boyle now has The Academy’s attention.
Toy Story 3: Pixar is locked into the nomination circuit, though winning might prove tougher.
Coming On Strong
Secretariat: Could be the recipient of this year’s “Blind Side nod toward sentiment” award.
Somewhere: It didn’t bowl over Venice, but The Academy could really use a female director in the mix.
The Fighter: Wahlberg and Bale have a history of Academy buzz, and people are loving the trailer.
Another Year: Mike Leigh’s relationship film is going to have massive impact in December.
The Social Network: The blogosphere is loving it. But The Academy probably won’t reward an “Internet-y” movie
Get Low: It’s a great film. But a July release date means it must run the gauntlet to clinch a nomination.
3. Let the sad tale of blockbuster serve as a warning to all those who place medium ahead of message. People never wanted to go to a centralized location and pay exorbitant late fees to watch a movie. They did so only because it was the only option available. No longer. Netflix’s kung-fu was far too strong, and the idea of merely hitting a button or simply checking the mail trumped wandering down the aisles of a personality-free video store.
But what other far reaching conclusions can we draw from this exit stage right by Blockbuster?
First up, movie theaters only have another couple of decades to live, at least under the current distribution models. The caveat would be if studios somehow circumvent that Supreme Court ruling which took them out of the theater-owning business. But big televisions and home theater systems are becoming too ubiquitous for people to willingly deal with the cell-phone happy / talking to their friend general public at a public theater. Plus, the industry continues to price consumers out, from the 3-D surcharge to $10 popcorn.
Next, the publishing industry. The Kindle (or Ipad, or E-Reader) can carry hundreds of books at once without any printing costs associated with revenue. It’s also a more democratic process as nationwide publishers have always held the cost of printing over their writer’s heads. Under the current model authors get a few bucks per book sold. The rest heads off to marketing and physical production costs (okay, okay, some goes to a good place in the form of copy editors). But if the format becomes:
1) Upload a book to a server
2) Set your own cost
3) Collect revenue
The model will be far more open. Sure, it will be harder to stand out, but much easier to at least give it the ol’ college try. The current publishing industry is feast or famine, with the occasional Dan Brown or Stephenie Meyer supporting dozens of other writers who never get huge. But no longer, there will be far more writers abe to do it for a living, if less mega-hits due to the lack of mass marketing campaigns.
Cable? Phones? Music? The whole thing will be one entertainment based offering. Your laptop becomes your television becomes your cell phone, all for one low monthly fee. Access is what people want, what people crave. Hear a song? Want to listen to it again, and with a friend? That’s the route it’s headed. The message over the medium? Bet on it.
Watch 30 seconds of this and I guarantee you’ll watch the whole thing.
On that note, I hope you have a weekend full of obedient pets.
Check out last week’s Movie Musings here
Laremy is the lead critic and senior producer for a website named Film.com. He’s also available on Twitter.
