ToneHall

New York Times: Watchmen - Dr. Manhattan's Melancholy Fits Our Economy

Is Dr. Manhattan our new 'everyman?'

A.O. Scott calls the new Watchmen a "grim and grisly excursion into comic-book mythology."

The epic has become a metaphor for the U.S. economic crisis - painful, stumbling and dark.

Here's an excerpt from Scott:  "The infliction of pain is rendered in intimate and precise aural and visual detail, from the noise of cracking bones and the gushers of blood and saliva to the splattery deconstruction of entire bodies. But brutality is not merely part of Mr. Snyder’s repertory of effects; it is more like a cause, a principle, an ideology. And his commitment to violence brings into relief the shallow nihilism that has always lurked beneath the intellectual pretensions of “Watchmen.” The only action that makes sense in this world — the only sure basis for ethics or politics, the only expression of love or loyalty or conviction — is killing. And the dramatic conflict revealed, at long last, in the film’s climactic arguments is between a wholesale, idealistic approach to mass death and one that is more cynical and individualistic."

Not a ray of light in sight.

Bollywood Eclipses Hollywood: What Oscar can Learn from Slumdog Millionaire

Jane Genova hit it out of the ballpark when she said yesterday that no one is much interested in Hollywood or the Oscars.

Tonight's broadcast of the 81st annual Academy Awards underscored her point.

The only thing that seemed new was the Bollywood-style production number highlighting songs from 'Slumdog Millionaire.'  Think about it - the U.S. is in its worst-ever economic crisis.  Of course the Horatio Alger aspect of the story is going to be something people grab onto with a vengeance.

A.R. Rahman is certainly the pride of India, winning a couple Oscars this evening, the first for Original Score, his second was for the song Jai Ho.  The optimistic story places slumdog Jamal Malik in a game show where he stands to win 20 million rupees if he can provide the correct answer to the final question.

But the real question tonight is why the Academy doesn't get it.  It restricted distribution to an ABC broadcast, leaving people on the Internet watching a bootleg version.  There were too many ads for too many luxury products (haven't they heard there's an economic crisis?), and the format wasn't interactive. 

When Dark Knight grosses more than all 5 films nominated for Best Picture, there's a problem.  Uh, did I mention there was no interactivity?

Congrats to AR and the Slumdog team.  Hollywood - take the cue.

See the Slumdog Millionaire trailer here.

See Jane's entire post here.

Heath Ledger's Joker in Dark Knight: An Oscar-winning Metaphor for Bankers?

Though Heath Ledger didn't get to pick up his Oscar, his parents and sister did a fine job.

At this point, is the megalomaniacal Joker just a metaphor for banking CEOs like ex-CEO John Thain, formerly of Merrill Lynch, who turned in non-performances, then thought millions would be a suitable good-bye kiss?

Why the squeeze on automakers and the non-squeeze on bankers?  Is it because the failure of GM and Chrysler is all too public and humiliating, whereas banking and money are ephemeral?

I have a feeling banking CEOs and the rest of the Wall Street gang are about to get that 'the music just stopped' feeling. 

Christa Martin: Double Threat Actor-Writer's Latest with Hunky Actor Matt Struthers

Some talent is just too good not to share.  Actor-writer Christa Martin has done it again.  The star of 'TweeN,' an indie film that got her terrific reviews last year, and her husband Matt Struthers have produced another total winner.

'The Car Makes the Man' is a wry takeoff on '70s muscle car films - with its own twist.  Quirky and LOL funny, you'll find its fresh viewpoint charming. We hope the two of them consider collaborating on their own signature YouTube channel soon.  My prediction?  Views through the roof!

See the vid here.  Hat tip to Randy Keener for excellent cinematography and editing.

See more about the stunning Ms. Martin here.

The Dark Knight - Relaunched

The Dark Knight will play again in theatres and on IMAX screens.

The relaunch this weekend was big - advertising everywhere.  Interesting to note that newspapers were used - even the plastic bag containing the Sunday SF Chronicle was printed with Dark Knight graphics.

Especially interesting to me was the use of Heath Ledger as The Joker in Sunday ads for BestBuy and other entertainment technology businesses.  The Ledger photo appeared on all the advertised wide screens, television sets - it was on virtually every page.

Watch the Oscars - I expect Ledger to win this year for best supporting actor.

Wired: Warner Bros. Dark Knight With Heath Ledger Surges to $441M, Expected to Blast Away Star Wars

Hugh Hart in the Wired blog Underwire reports Dark Knight has become Warner Bros. license to print money.  It will soon knock off the venerable Star Wars as the No. 2 all-time grosser.  This blockbuster with legs appeals to our desire to look at the dark side, featuring an Oscar-worthy starturn by Heath Ledger as the Joker.  It's a superhero film with a tone that frightens.

How much of what we see onscreen when we look at the Joker is actually what resides in our own interior?

Here's the exceprt from Wired's Underwire:

"Despite a healthy $12 million opening Wednesday, Pineapple Express went down in smoke over the weekend with a $22 million gross that failed to nudge The Dark Knight out of the top slot.

The first movie since 2003's Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to win the box office four weekends in a row, Warner Bros.' Batman-Joker epic took in another $26 million last weekend.

That pushes the film's domestic total to $441 million. Surpassing Shrek 2, The Dark Knight is expected to topple current No. 2 all-time grosser Star Wars ($461 million) by next weekend.

Paul Dergarabedian of Media by Numbers tells Wired.com: "For a movie to make this much money, this fast, is unprecedented." Dergarabedian credits Dark Knight's sustained momentum to the fact that "it actually  lives up to the hype.""

The Dark Knight - More Than a Year of Marketing for Record-breaking Opening Weekend

Often, we confuse the "instant on" nature of the Internet with instant results.

In reality, a lot of online marketing unwinds over time.  For example, the marketing campaign for The Dark Knight built up over more than a year.

Marketers developed a very complex game that attracted influencers who would then form a community that was intensely interested in The Dark Knight. They kept it going online and in real life, building it to the point where they could achieve the audience response and record-breaking attendance they got this weekend.

What's interesting about this is that it is taking more effort, more time and more money than ever to be successful.  Hollywood has always been a tough game - the work that goes on behind the curtain is frequently even more epic than the film it promotes.

Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline's Mom to Reunite with Billy Bob

It's official - Hollywood.com states Angelina Jolie and ex-hubby Billy Bob Thornton plan to apear in a new comedy.  Can't wait!

Thornton insists he and Jolie have remained friends since their split, and are both keen to work together again--as long as they are not playing husband and wife.

He tells Maxim magazine, "We've talked about it plenty of times. I'm sure we will."

A comedy with Jolie and Thornton could be just what America wants - they might want to try a musical after the success of Mamma Mia!

Oscar Potential for Heath Ledger as The Joker in Dark Knight: Strange to Grotesque

If Heath Ledger personifies strange in his star turn as The Joker in the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight, we also see a tone of grotesque that just gets weirder every time you talk with another person who's seen the movie.  The acclaim is broad.

So what is it - our national fascination with the grotesque?  Seldom has makeup in a film been so reflective of a character while also characterizing the national tone at this moment in time.  This is much more subtle than what we see in the 'bore and gore' horror genre.

Kudos go to the brilliant makeup artist John Caglione, Jr., an Oscar-winner for "Dick Tracy" in 1990.  I'm predicting the Oscar will go home with Caglione once again for the incredible work he and his team have done on The Dark Knight.

As Caglione says in an interview with Resource411:  "[The technique] can only be described as a dance. Before I applied the white makeup, Heath would "lead" by contorting his face, scrunching his eyes, and raising his forehead. I would follow, brushing the colors over his expressions. This created all the cracks and drippy creases. Where he moved, I moved in the makeup room and on set each day, shot by shot."

Taking inspiration from the eerie paintings of Francis Bacon, suggested by director Chris Noland and producer Emma Thomas, Caglione created makeup designed to keep the audience squirming at least as much as the behavior and dialog of The Joker.

Already a huge winner with $155M in its total opening weekend, The Dark Knight has toppled Spider-man for bragging rights to the biggest film opening ever.  I'll be watching to see if this one has legs.

And props to the late, great Heath Ledger - few leading men in Hollywood have ever had the courage to appear on film with so deeply frightening a 'mask.'

Heath Ledger's Dark Knight Blasts Through Box Office Record

ABC news confirmed that Batman's joust with the Joker has set another box office record. Stoked by fan fever over the manic performance of the late Heath Ledger as the Joker, "The Dark Knight" set a one-day box office record with $66.4 million on opening day, Warner Bros. head of distribution Dan Fellman said Saturday.

The movie's Friday haul surpassed the previous record of $59.8 million set last year by "Spider-Man 3." "The Dark Knight" might break the opening-weekend record of $151.1 million, also held by "Spider-Man 3."