The Hot Blog: Let's Not Overdo The Tears

« No Movie For Old Men | Main | Thank Blu God! »

May 08, 2008

Let's Not Overdo The Tears

You know... the three things I mostly do in this work are the criticizing of films, the analysis of the industry, and the seeking of insight into the people who make up this industry.

When Picturehouse and Warner Indie shut down, a part of my job is to see what happened with clear eyes. But I also know and have worked with and have drunk with a bunch of people at both companies. I am also quite conscious that the "victims" of these kinds of shutdowns are not the people whose names everyone who reads Variety or clicks on MCN thrice daily, but the people who float through this business, trying to find their place, doing good work, putting their best feet forward.

Still, when I read the word "tragedy" used in the first sentence of indieWIRE's analysis of the day, it trips my gag reflex. And when Nikki Finke feels compelled to rewrite her blase' I-didn’t-get-the-release-first-so-I-can’t-toldja-so-I-don't-much-care comment on the shutdown after commenters blast her for being herself, after laughing, I feel a bit of empathy to her.

There were some very, very, very smart people at Picturehouse and WIP. And both companies, simply put, were clear failures in the goals set forth by their existence.

I really don't want to kick people when they are down. And as I wrote in depth when Paramount Classics was being disassembled, both company’s suffered greatly by the limitations put on them by the lack of vision shown by the corporations funding them. While Searchlight and Focus and Vantage and Miramax were busy playing in the playground of movies costing over $20 million – some in the 50s and higher – Picturehouse really never made a movie of their own and never showed a clear vision as they handled an unbalanced mixture of HBO Films releases and pick-ups, and WIP was so spread out conceptually, flying from movie star movies like Good Night, And Good Luck and The Jacket and In The Valley of Elah to tiny films like Eros and The Science of Sleep and Introducing The Dwights.

So neither company was allowed to fly… but neither ever found a focus the way Sony Classics has either. SPC reminds us that you can make a nice little business out of singles, doubles, and an annual home run or two, plus a lot of smart DVD plays. You would never see SPC with a year with a trio like March of The Penguins, Paradise Now, and Good Night, And Good Luck. That’s not in the company’s DNA. But they don’t have misses with those groupings of films either. $3 million - $5 million domestic for movies like The Counterfeiters, Persepolis, and The Band’s Visit’s are home runs for SPC. The company does exactly what they and Sony both want with their $60 million grossing years (sometimes more, sometimes less), strong DVD, and a smattering of attention-getting prestige movies.

So is it really tragic for these companies to go away?

For the individuals, it is. And I feel for them. Big time. Especially for the support teams, much more so than for anyone who has been mentioned in any of these stories, since while temporarily stung and humiliated, they will all come out fine.

More significantly, I feel far more deeply for the true indies out there that are squirming like a hyperactive 4-year-old catching a look at a anal thermometer in the hand of their shaky great-grandma’s hand to find a way to make enough money to keep their businesses going.

A big part of the pain of the indies is that the studios ate the category with all these “specialized” companies. You have Mark Frickin’ Cuban, who has his own chain of movie theaters, saying that it is nearly impossible to make theatrical distribution work for small movies. Yes, on some level it’s an abdication of his responsibilities to the industry he bought into. But that is how tense things are.

So am I genuinely sad for the good people of these two companies? Yes. Will I make some phone calls for a few of them when they write, looking for new jobs? Yes. But is losing two companies that put out less than 10 films a year and grossed less than $50 million a year total each on average, even with the financial backing – however lame – of major studios? Not a tragedy… just a reasonable business choice from businessmen who were not terribly smart or reasonable when they launched these divisions in the first place.

Posted by poland at May 8, 2008 08:29 PM

Comments

There's nothing more annoying than those who supposedly write for a living who then mangle word usage.

Finke's take on SPEED RACER had this howler:
"But now Warner Bros is literally on its knees praying..."

Someone want to explain to Nikki that Warners is a corporate entity, has no corporal form and therefore no "knees" to fall on to pray?

Posted by: CinemaPhreek at May 9, 2008 12:29 AM

I wish that was the stupidest thing in that column.

All of Nikki's "box office gurus" are people from other studios. No wonder they are gleeful.

And what could be stupider than someone pretending to know something about a film that they only know about through the gossip of others.

And how stinky a piece of shit do you have to be to go back to the sexual issues of Larry Wachowski yet again?

A truly disgusting person and relentless liar, all in the service of self-promotion. But people do buy into her shit... especially the people who tell her what to write.

Posted by: David Poland at May 9, 2008 01:08 AM

My favourite part of Finke's box office entry was when she harped on about box office predictors being impartial and the like. Oh Nikki, you so silly.

Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at May 9, 2008 05:17 AM

I liked when she said that a low-20s opening for What Happens in Vegas would be "not much." As opposed to what?

Wouldn't that make it Cameron's highest-ever non-Charlie opening in a lead role, and Ashton's biggest, period?

Posted by: Rob at May 9, 2008 07:37 AM

Kami, you inspired me. What can I say? You know the tune. Sing along.

Oh, Nikki, you so lie
You so lie, you blow my mind
Hey Nikki, hey Nikki

You so lie, you blow my mind
Hey Nikki!

You've been on the blogosphere for a little bit too long
You think you get it right but you always get it wrong
Why do you pick a fight with everyone you know, Nikki?

Cause when you say it is a "fact", it really means
unknown
Your sources are so bad, they stinky Finke, don't!
Every word you write leaves me feelin' cold

Oh, Nikki, what a pity you don't understand
Your poorly written blog is a big ol' pile of crap

Oh, Nikki, you're so petty, can't you understand?
It's blogs like yours, Nikki

Oooh what you do Nikki, do Nikki
You twist the truth, Nikki

Posted by: JPK at May 9, 2008 07:50 AM

Can there be a kicky dance number to go with it? I'm all for kicky dance numbers.

Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at May 9, 2008 08:02 AM

You would never see SPC with a year with a trio like March of The Penguins, Paradise Now, and Good Night, And Good Luck.

SPC is clueless when it comes to anything with box-office potential. Picturehouse and WiP were not.

A lot of megaplexes could have played "The Counterfeiters" after its Oscar win. A lot of megaplexes could have used "Married Life" during its run. SPC kept both of those pics in the arthouse ghetto.

On the other hand SPC takes its action/chopsocky films wide, usually to less than stellar results.

Posted by: Chucky in Jersey at May 9, 2008 09:39 AM

Surely audiences would have stayed away in droves from a movie directed by 'the maker of the Academy Award-winning The Counterfeiters'.

Posted by: jeffmcm at May 9, 2008 10:01 AM

But seriously, I'd say that any reduction in the number of places making and releasing smaller films is inherently a bad thing, worse for filmmakers out there to find homes for themselves, and tougher for cinema in general. That's the missing part of the equation for me.

Posted by: jeffmcm at May 9, 2008 10:13 AM

No offend to you, David. But I think Warner Independent Pictures was very different between Mark Gill-era and Polly Cohen-era, isn't it?

From what I heard, several of Picturehouse's box office failures weren't Bob Berney's pick-ups; there were assigned by New Line and HBO (like "Run, Fat Boy, Run").

From what I see, I think the parent companies of Picturehouse/Warner Independent Pictures need to blame themselves for the failure of theie division. Like what Anne Thompson said, "getting autonomy is often a factor in whether these divisions sink or swim."

OFF-TOPIC(sorry, but I love this movie so much:
A wonderful movie from Paramount Classics - "Girl on the Bridge" will finally be available on DVD. Paramount had sold this movie's DVD rights to Legend Films.
http://z13.invisionfree.com/In_The_Balcony/index.php?showtopic=3048

And Legend Films will release this movie on DVD on 7/1/2008.
http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/product.asp?sku=D50615++

Posted by: marychan at May 9, 2008 11:07 AM

Marychan: Great news about Girl. Thanks. I love that movie.

Posted by: Joe Leydon at May 9, 2008 12:03 PM

CinemaPhreek: Looks like Nikki's changed her "literally" to "figuratively." Think she's lurking?

Posted by: yancyskancy at May 9, 2008 01:06 PM

What megaplex is going to play the Counterfeiters? You might maybe make the case with married life since there are no subtitles and it has recongnizable names but it is still a period piece. SPC has survived this long (nearly thirty years if you count UA and Orion Classics) and created the model for all the dependents. By being tight with their marketing dollars they know that can make more money on a movie by having less people see it.

Posted by: hcat at May 9, 2008 02:06 PM

Marychan... I don't think WB was ever fully focused on the division. Yes, Gill had the two hits that Polly never had. But he had nothing to do with Clooney's movie. And his legacy remains the reconsideration of Penguins with the Freeman voiceover, plus Laura Kim's publicity-heavy marketing. He also had plenty of misses.

And yes, Picturehouse had a lot of dead weight... but that was what Berney signed on for. It was created as a releasing outlet for HBO Films, which were being sold of elsewhere and making money for other corporations.

I don't think that the failure of these company's reflects on the talents of these people, but rather the lack of a clear vision for the goals of these divisions.

Posted by: David Poland at May 9, 2008 05:21 PM

I was quite surprised to see that The Counterfeiters made $4.5mil, actually.

Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at May 10, 2008 08:30 AM

The Hot Blog

May 08, 2008

Let's Not Overdo The Tears

Comments

Post a comment