November
2So Daniel Craig is Shy and Tom Cruise is Patch-Less
Folks in the business pay great attention to reviews in the New York Times, but few bother to review the Times itself.With this in mind, here are some observations about the Times’ Holiday Movies Section – an editorial product that is an annual indicator of trends in the industry.
Though ads for holiday releases are emblazoned throughout, the section is much thinner than usual, an indicator of cautious studio spending. One ad missing entirely is for “Valkyrie,” the Tom Cruise movie finally opening in December.
The reason: MGM and United Artists decided to take the unusual step of “announcing” their movie in the main news sections, both in New York and Los Angeles, suggesting that the studios consider their opening to be “news,” not mere entertainment.
“The conspiracy begins this December,” heralds the ad (no precise date) but there’s no sign of the famous Tom Cruise eye patch which he wears throughout the movie. Is this in response to some of the early smart-ass blogger queries: Who wants to see Cruise in a patch?
Ads for every other holiday movie run throughout the section, including full page ads (but no double-trucks) for projects that have been shy about pre-opening attention: Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino” and the much awaited film from Focus Features, “Milk.” The lead-off ad for “Milk” is itself a rarity: It shows Sean Penn smiling (he’s got a nice smile but none of us have ever seen it).
There’s also a full page spread for the new Bond movie, “Quantum of Solace,” and another rarity, an interview with famously invisible Daniel Craig (no, he’s not smiling). Sarah Lyall, the NY Times writer, acknowledges it took two years of negotiation to set up the interview.
The hour-long face to face yielded no revelations, however. Yes, Craig is worried about being type-cast. He tends to mock his celebrity, won’t talk about his teenage daughter or his girl friend and relishes playing non-Bond parts.“Daniel is very shy and humble,” explains his director, Marc Forster, who is himself, in fact, truly shy and humble. But that’s a different interview.
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"The reason: MGM and United Artists decided to take the unusual step of “announcing†their movie in the main news sections, both in New York and Los Angeles, suggesting that the studios consider their opening to be “news,†not mere entertainment."
So, the studis control the newspaperrs to th point that they control the news? Sorry, "news?"
Posted by: none | 11/10/2008 12:47:44 AM