« DP/30 - The Cake Eaters | Main | ... Through The Eye Of A Recession »
March 10, 2009
Bruno Goes To Austin
Following the lead of Fox's huge success with Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat, which went to ComicCon and Toronto before release, Universal is hitting their first festival with Bruno this weekend at SXSW in Austin, Tx. (Note: ComicCon '09 is a few weeks after Bruno hits theaters, so while I expect stunts to follow at Cannes, Tribeca, and maybe even Seattle, this is the first and last Geek-A-Thon available for Universal to exploit.)
And they seem to be aiming for a Bruno-astic riot.
They are having a ticket-free screening of about 22 minutes of footage at the Alamo Draft House this Sunday night, just before one of the festival's midnight movies. How big a crowd do you think will gather, hoping to get in and if not, hoping to see Bruno do a press stunt before the show?
To quote the studio: "SXSW/Fantastic Festers: First-ever look at BRÜNO footage! Sunday night 11 pm at Alamo Drafthouse Lamar. No badge needed, free admission!" and again, "it's 11 pm and open to anyone who comes."
I wish I could be there to smell the insanity.
Posted by dpoland at March 10, 2009 03:08 PM
Comments
The only glitch there is that it's at the Alamo on S. Lamar which is NOT the downtown location. It's in a mall if I'm not mistaken. Plus, I kind of refuse to see 22 minutes of an unfinished movie....that's just lame. But I'm sure lots of other journalists will be there with bells on...
Posted by: don lewis (was PetalumaFilms) ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 10, 2009 03:37 PM
Don,
The 20 or so minutes of There Will Be Blood they previewed at Telluride the year before last was pretty darn awesome ...
Not that this is TWBB, but I'm just saying ...
Posted by: Kim Voynar at March 10, 2009 04:00 PM
It just feels false and blatantly promotional to me, Kim. A rough cut or work in progress (like Raimi's horror film) I can see pulling a crowd for, especially to get feedback or reaction and make tweeks. But things like this with 22 mins or that BS Pixar did where they showed the first 1/2 of "Up" just seems lame to me, as a writer.
As a FAN though, oh hell yeah, I'd love to see that stuff. But seeing and writing about a portion of a movie feels like you're doing P.R. for a company that doesn't even have a finished product to push...yet.
it's just me, I get weird about crap like that. I don't think it's fair to readers and reeks of a "look what *I* got to see and *you* didn't!" kind of thing.
Plus I'm too lazy to get to Alamo S. Lamar ;-)
Posted by: don lewis (was PetalumaFilms) at March 10, 2009 04:42 PM
It's weird that they're showing this opposite the Raimi screening. Maybe that will cut down a little on the craziness.
Oh, and Don, SX is having a shuttle bus for the firs time to take you to the Lamar if you're too lazy!
Posted by: errolmorrisfan at March 10, 2009 06:28 PM
Frigggggin sweeeet, EMFan!!
Posted by: don lewis (was PetalumaFilms) at March 10, 2009 07:53 PM
Oddly enough, this will directly opposite the only SXSW screening of Women in Trouble. I'll pass.
Posted by: Joe Leydon at March 10, 2009 08:29 PM
ISN'T BORAT MARRIED TO ISLA FISHER?
IF MY WIFE WAS ISLA FISHER, MY NEXT MOVIE WOULD BE CALLED:
BANGING MY WIFE.
GOOD POST.
Posted by: LexG at March 11, 2009 01:24 AM
errolmorrisfan,
It's not showing opposite the Raimi, exactly. It's showing before, and the Raimi, which is at the Paramount, won't start until press gets from one to the other. I'll be going to both.
Posted by: Kim Voynar at March 11, 2009 01:47 AM
Joe, I hear you. And I don't entirely disagree with you, even. But ... what a lot of folks want to know is, does SBC have something beyond Borat in him? And 22 minutes or so will be enough to tell that much. Not how well the movie will sustain through its full length, of course, but how does it work, most importantly, is it funny?
You kind of have to think the powers that be at Uni think what they have is funny, and it works, or why bother sneaking 20 minutes of it at a fest at all and risking the press hating it and slamming it four months before release? I think SBC is too smart for that, myself.
Oddly excited to see the new Raimi, considering I'm not a huge horror buff, and it's probably going to give me nightmares.
Posted by: Kim Voynar at March 11, 2009 02:00 AM
I liked BORAT well enough but I haven't found the Bruno character to be nearly as funny -- either on the HBO show or in the clips that have been leaked during production of the feature film. This one is going to need stellar reviews to get my butt in a theater seat.
I'm way more interested in what Raimi is going to come up with. I just hope his idea of a "horror" movie nowadays is the original EVIL DEAD and not ARMY OF DARKNESS. Some of the Ghosthouse productions had their heart in the right place (even if the execution wasn't always so great) so I'd say I'm guardedly optimistic.
Posted by: Krazy Eyes at March 11, 2009 06:26 AM
Kim: I likely will see Bruno when it's a complete and finished movie. But for me, a potentially interesting finished movie trumps a 20-minute preview of anything.
Posted by: Joe Leydon at March 11, 2009 07:44 AM
ISLA FISHER IS HOTTER THAN FUCK.
CONFESSIONS OF A BONER-HOLIC.
ISLA = TOTAL FUCKING RAGER.
Posted by: LexG at March 12, 2009 02:59 AM
Kim-I'll hold your hand in there ;-)
And I also heard over the twitter transit that there's a shuttle for press to take you from BRUNO to RAIMI....but I never got an email about it. Ask around...
Posted by: don lewis (was PetalumaFilms) at March 12, 2009 08:39 AM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)