Michael Cimino will receive the Persol award at the Venice film festival at the end of the month. The award will precede a screening of a restored print of Heavens' Gate.
Okay, maybe I need to see it again. Maybe it's better than I remember. Maybe the 219 minute version is better than the 149 minute version that I and most people saw when it was released in 1980.
Do you think?
The film was a disaster. It sank its studio, United Artists and destroyed the career and reputation of Cimino who had so wowed us with the brilliant Deer Hunter.
Heaven's Gate was beautiful to look at and the music was wonderful to listen to. Individual scenes could have great texture and feel but taken as a whole it didn't work; there was no cohesiveness nor was there any momentum. What pace there was was languid at best so that at either 219 minutes or 149 minutes it was interminable.
The 219 minute version, that's nearly 3 hours and forty minutes, was the premiere version which only played for one week in New York City. It was shorter than the 'Director's Cut' that Cimino had proposed which was over five hours long. The studio pulled the premiere version and replaced it with the 149 minute version - a speedy 2 hours and 29 minutes. That is the version I saw in LA when it opened there. The 219 minute version is what is available on DVD.
The Deer Hunter was so powerful and evocative. Great story-telling, well and appropriately paced, with the kind of texture that that made you feel you were in the jungles of Vietnam or a Pennsylvania steel town. That is what contributed to the great disappointment I felt when I saw Heaven's Gate. My expectations were so high. Nonetheless even without those expectations the film was disappointing.
There have been innumerable theories as to why the picture went so wrong. I don't know, it undoubtedly was many things including a director to whom no one would say no. Not only was the film's running time too long it was it was way over schedule and way over budget. It cost $44 Million and only recouped $3 Million in its initial release.
Perhaps I should see it again.....I don't know.
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
Who should Hollywood be making movies for?
I just read an interview with Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. They both have small roles in the new Batman movie and are 79 and 75 respectively. Their age was a partial subject of the interview during which they 'pitched' the idea of them doing a 'buddy' movie together about a couple of retired police detectives coming out of retirement to solve a crime.
Would that movie get made? Could that movie get made? If it did I would certainly go see it.
In the past Hollywood has always bet almost exclusively on films aimed at a very young demographic. In fact they have bet on an even narrower slice of that demographic: young males.
Today, that is a mistake. That is not to say that demographic is not important, it is to say that there is a wider and growing audience out there that is ignored at the industry's financial peril.
Frequent moviegoers drive the industry. Frequent moviegoers are those that go to a movie at least once a month. This group makes up only 10% of the population but buy half of all movie tickets sold. This is a key group for the industry.
In 2011 for the U.S./Canadian market 18-24 year olds made up 19% of frequent moviegoers that was down from 2010 when they made up 21% of frequent moviegoers. But the 25-39 demographic went from 22% in 2010 to 28% in 2011.
More importantly to this discussion is the fact that in 2011 the 60+ demographic makes up 12% of the frequent moviegoer population and the 50-59 demographic makes up 9%. That is a combined 21% of frequent moviegoers.
Something else to remember. This older demographic is part of the Baby Boom generation.
When the recording industry in the 1960s and 70s was focusing a young demographic, it was the Baby Boom generation. When the motion picture industry in the 1960s and 70s was focusing on a young demographic, it was the Baby Boom generation.
As that generation moved through older demographics, the industries didn't follow. The industries continued, for instance to focus on 18-24 but over time, that large body of the population (78 Million) was no longer 18-24. Because of the size of the generation it took a while for the generation to no longer be represented in that younger demographic and so the industries could continue, with some success to target the demographic. That is now changing, in fact has changed.
Boomers were raised on movies. It is in our DNA. We will still go to movies and go frequently if there is something we want to see in a theatre in which we are comfortable.
The last couple of years is proving that out. Films like the King's Speech and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel are drawing older audiences in good numbers. And while the 21% of frequent moviegoers in 2011 that this older demographic represents, their sheer numbers is even more important. If the primary audience of a film is a 50+ audience, that population is huge compared to the past.
So, Hollywood, give us, in this older demographic, a clean and comfortable theatre, with nice amenities (having the opportunity to have a glass of wine) and a feature film that is well written, well-acted, witty or serious or both, and is reliant more on story and character than pyrotechnics and we will come.
Oh, and if it is a buddy movie about a couple of retired detectives starring Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, that will be even better.
P.S. In reflecting on my blog post yesterday about the Sight and Sound list of top 10 films, it is interesting to note that none of the films on the list was made after 1963.
Would that movie get made? Could that movie get made? If it did I would certainly go see it.
In the past Hollywood has always bet almost exclusively on films aimed at a very young demographic. In fact they have bet on an even narrower slice of that demographic: young males.
Today, that is a mistake. That is not to say that demographic is not important, it is to say that there is a wider and growing audience out there that is ignored at the industry's financial peril.
Frequent moviegoers drive the industry. Frequent moviegoers are those that go to a movie at least once a month. This group makes up only 10% of the population but buy half of all movie tickets sold. This is a key group for the industry.
In 2011 for the U.S./Canadian market 18-24 year olds made up 19% of frequent moviegoers that was down from 2010 when they made up 21% of frequent moviegoers. But the 25-39 demographic went from 22% in 2010 to 28% in 2011.
More importantly to this discussion is the fact that in 2011 the 60+ demographic makes up 12% of the frequent moviegoer population and the 50-59 demographic makes up 9%. That is a combined 21% of frequent moviegoers.
Something else to remember. This older demographic is part of the Baby Boom generation.
When the recording industry in the 1960s and 70s was focusing a young demographic, it was the Baby Boom generation. When the motion picture industry in the 1960s and 70s was focusing on a young demographic, it was the Baby Boom generation.
As that generation moved through older demographics, the industries didn't follow. The industries continued, for instance to focus on 18-24 but over time, that large body of the population (78 Million) was no longer 18-24. Because of the size of the generation it took a while for the generation to no longer be represented in that younger demographic and so the industries could continue, with some success to target the demographic. That is now changing, in fact has changed.
Boomers were raised on movies. It is in our DNA. We will still go to movies and go frequently if there is something we want to see in a theatre in which we are comfortable.
The last couple of years is proving that out. Films like the King's Speech and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel are drawing older audiences in good numbers. And while the 21% of frequent moviegoers in 2011 that this older demographic represents, their sheer numbers is even more important. If the primary audience of a film is a 50+ audience, that population is huge compared to the past.
So, Hollywood, give us, in this older demographic, a clean and comfortable theatre, with nice amenities (having the opportunity to have a glass of wine) and a feature film that is well written, well-acted, witty or serious or both, and is reliant more on story and character than pyrotechnics and we will come.
Oh, and if it is a buddy movie about a couple of retired detectives starring Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, that will be even better.
P.S. In reflecting on my blog post yesterday about the Sight and Sound list of top 10 films, it is interesting to note that none of the films on the list was made after 1963.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Anomalies - but that's not bad
Starting the second week of the 34th annual Denver Film Festival. So far I have seen a Japanese film set in Paris (Yukiko), a Finnish film set in Brittany/France (le Havre) and a Dutch film with a French title (Bon Voyage).
Does that make them anomalies? Sort of. Does that make them bad? Hardly. They are all well worth seeing.
There have been others of course (12 films through Sunday) and on the whole a good festival so far.
I was not crazy about "Like Crazy" (opening night film) but after that, I would recommend almost everything else I have seen.
"Martha Marcy May Marlene" may end up being the stand-out film of the festival. It just grips you. It is a bit like passing a bad automobile accident - you just can't look away or stop watching.
The easy comparison, of course, is that it is a 'Manson-like' story. And there are those parallels, but it is much more than that. It is a disturbing view of a disturbed character, surrounded by other characters who have their own varying levels of emotional issues. It is unsettling and compelling and always waiting for the 'shoe to drop', because while you don't know what will happen next you are certain that something will and it will probably not be good.
Look for Oscar nominations for this film, including one for Elizabeth Olsen as Martha, it is an amazing performance.
"Joanna" is equally disturbing but for different reasons and in a different way. This Polish film set during the Nazi occupation features outstanding performances as well. It reminds us of the brutalizing effect that tyranny has and how it can turn the innocent against each other with the brutalization not just coming from the oppresors.
"Wish Me Away" is a moving documentary about Country Music Star Chely Wright, who in May of 2010 chose to come out as a lesbian. A courageous move that she is currently paying a serious price for. But as she says, she had to - not just for herself and her own sanity and peace, but for all the young people who are struggling to understand their own identity and deal with constantly being told that they are evil because of their sexuality.
the best line in the film comes from a Minister - a spiritual advisor - that Chely has contacted to help her through the process. He is with the Interfaith Alliance and he tells her at one point that the worst meanness he has seen comes from people being mean for Jesus.
Does that make them anomalies? Sort of. Does that make them bad? Hardly. They are all well worth seeing.
There have been others of course (12 films through Sunday) and on the whole a good festival so far.
I was not crazy about "Like Crazy" (opening night film) but after that, I would recommend almost everything else I have seen.
"Martha Marcy May Marlene" may end up being the stand-out film of the festival. It just grips you. It is a bit like passing a bad automobile accident - you just can't look away or stop watching.
The easy comparison, of course, is that it is a 'Manson-like' story. And there are those parallels, but it is much more than that. It is a disturbing view of a disturbed character, surrounded by other characters who have their own varying levels of emotional issues. It is unsettling and compelling and always waiting for the 'shoe to drop', because while you don't know what will happen next you are certain that something will and it will probably not be good.
Look for Oscar nominations for this film, including one for Elizabeth Olsen as Martha, it is an amazing performance.
"Joanna" is equally disturbing but for different reasons and in a different way. This Polish film set during the Nazi occupation features outstanding performances as well. It reminds us of the brutalizing effect that tyranny has and how it can turn the innocent against each other with the brutalization not just coming from the oppresors.
"Wish Me Away" is a moving documentary about Country Music Star Chely Wright, who in May of 2010 chose to come out as a lesbian. A courageous move that she is currently paying a serious price for. But as she says, she had to - not just for herself and her own sanity and peace, but for all the young people who are struggling to understand their own identity and deal with constantly being told that they are evil because of their sexuality.
the best line in the film comes from a Minister - a spiritual advisor - that Chely has contacted to help her through the process. He is with the Interfaith Alliance and he tells her at one point that the worst meanness he has seen comes from people being mean for Jesus.
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