January
7Combat Fatigue on the Kudo Circuit
The kudo seekers have been faithfully making the rounds for weeks now, marching from festival to festival, hitting the talk shows, shaking hands at cocktail parties.
Accepting kudos at the Palm Springs Festival Tuesday night were Leonardo, Clint, Dustin, Sean – virtually the entire first-name-only crowd. And one has to admire their diligence. This distinguished entourage is out there because they want to push their projects. It’s not just an ego trip.
But it grates on them, anyway. “Artists are rule-breakers, they’re anarchists,” says Peter Morgan, who has picked up his share of kudos for “The Queen” and “Frost/Nixon.” “We want to help our films, but it’s painful to be out there searching for approval. It’s contrary to our nature.” Morgan feels artists pay a price for taking so much time on the campaign trail.
I was thinking about all this the other day as I recalled the cast of characters from last year’s kudo circuit, and those of the year before.
The campaign trail doesn’t feel the same without the dark humor of George Clooney, for example (he’s wrapping a movie with the dubious title of “Men Who Stare at Goats”).Oscar campaigns used to be all Scorsese, all the time, but he’s missing this year. And where is Hilary Swank?
Paul Haggis was a regular on the kudo circuit, but the man who gave us “Crash” is having trouble getting start dates. Joe Wright was in the middle of the action with “Atonement” last year, but he’s had problems getting “The Soloist” on the release schedule. And who can forget the “Brokeback” boys – Heath Ledger is no longer with us and Jake Gyllenhaal has gone quiet.
If a bit of combat fatigue is setting in, the players must remind themselves that this is just Act One of the kudo circuit and there’s a long road ahead. There are many more hands to shake.
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Peter... I think your book is excellent, but your uninformative and bias stance on everything has led me to realize how much you need to stop writing. Sorry, just being honest. Your new pal,
Mr. Know It All....
Posted by: Mr. Know It All... | 1/9/2009 1:19:11 PM