Hey there folks! Welcome to the Wednesday installment of The Movie Blog: Uncut. This episode was originally recorded live on Wednesday August 13th 2008. I am joined by the triumphantly returning Doug Nagy, and near the end of the show we are joined by special guest Jaclyn A. Smith (Eureka, 2 American Pie movies). Take off your shoes, kick back, relax and listen in as we discuss:
1) Billy Bob as the new Freddy?
2) Averngers writer directing Jason and the Argonauts remake
3) Lionsgate hire new writers for Conan remake
4) Does anyone care about Vin Diesel anymore?
5) Should they bother with IMAX?
6) Taking questions from the live chat board
You can WATCH the show here:
You can listen to or download the audio only version here:
[display_podcast]
Subscribe to the podcast feed with this link
Or subscribe to the podcast via iTunes
Damn Jaclyn A. Smith is FINE! Please have her on again!
Neither of the podcast feeds work. :-( Help?
I would appreciate making the show earlier. But I would think about broadcasting daily, there could get to much routine in it.
Another thing: Please be carefull with spoiling about the Dark Knight (like last week), some of us european guys didn’t have the chance to see it.
Holy shit, that was a funny show. I’m really bummed that i wasn’t able to be there for that one.
In respect of IMAX, i find that unlike what 3D is threatening to do in the next couple of years, there are only ever going to be a limited number of IMAX screens so its technology is restricted to only a few select ‘epic’ type blockbusters and the experience for the IMAX lover like me is never over-saturated. I love IMAX specifically because it is an event that i can only go to one or twice a year and so it remains special. To be honest, i really see it as nothing more than an ultra posh and premium way of seeing a blockbuster movie that differs from the usual multiplex because you are getting the biggest screen, the biggest auditorium, the best sound, the plushest seats, its clean and not once have I ever had to put up with the kind of disruptive audiences that we all get when we go to the regular cinema. That is why its special to me.
“Oh they’re snow people”
(I had tears in my eyes from that Mr Nagy)
Hey Padthai,
I think you’re misunderstanding what “business” is. Business is not being an accountant. The business and of things asks if it will be marketable, if an audience can be found and make money. That’s true of the CEO of any company. The bosses are concerned about the BUSINESS, but they’re not accountants.
The artists worry about the art, not the marketability of it. Once you cross that line, you get into BUSINESS.
My point is, and has always been, the the first concern in the movie business… is business, not the art. The art comes a high second, but always behind the business concerns.
The head execs at all the studios are Business people, that’s their jobs.
“WILL IT MAKE MONEY?”..
exactly the same question as if a movie will be a flop or a hit.
to judge a movie will be a hit or flop doesn’t take number skills or highly acute economics knowledge.
It’s the same with any artistic business, whether it’s music, film, television. Nobody can predict what will make money or not. It’s not an exact science.
I don’t think this will happen, but I’m an Asian viewer, and as such I have not had the chance to wake up at 5 in the morning to watch this show live. Would love it to air LATER and catch it live, but ah well. Great show John & Doug.
Padthai,
I see and appreciate what you’re saying and I respect your opinion, however, the movie BUSINESS is first and foremost a business.
“WILL IT MAKE MONEY?” is the first and primary question studios ask when considering a project. Always has been, always will be. If it weren’t that way, actors and directors wouldn’t ask for $5 million dollars to make a movie.
The first concern is money… for all of them. Anyone who says otherwise is lying unless they offer to do it all for free.
John,
Artistic value is entirely subjective, just like what kind of movie you like and why you like it. People who run film businesses have to play a game of what audiences will enjoy, and predict what will be hits or not. These skills are not the same as number crunching. I say all films have artistic value, because it’s all art to me. It’s all storytelling. In order to even run a film company, you have to predict what stories will be hits and what won’t.
Grindhouse for example could be argued that has no “artistic value” but it completely flopped. Who could have predicted that?
and many action/scifi movies flop every year. so it’s not as though it’s that simple.
What i’m saying is, you don’t need a PHD in economics, MBA, and CPA to run a film company. It doesn’t take those kind of skills. If you have a PHD in English Literature, that would probably be more useful in running a film business than those degrees.
Hey Padthai,
I 100% disagree with you. Answer this question:
Which movie has the better chance at getting made:
A) A movie that will make tons of money but have no artistic value
or
B) A movie with loads of artistic value that will bomb and lose the studio money
The answer is obvious and settles our little debate. :)
A guy with a Harvard PHD in economics and an MBA in finance would probably be a less effective film executive than Steven Spielberg who has a film degree from Cal State Long Beach, or George Lucas who has a film degree from USC. See what i’m talking about?
john,
guess what i’m trying to say is that you’re overestimating the importance of the business-side and numbers-side of the film business. Yes it’s a business but it’s a business in service to art. People who run movie studios are artists, storytellers like Steve Spielberg, George Lucas, Joe Roth.. not people who are exactly number crunchers and accountants. I agree that the numbers are important but not as important as the artist side. Ultimately, they are in the business of telling stories and being entertainers. WHich is why many studio executives need to predict what movies people are willing to see and what will be popular with audiences, these assets are more important than anything else. If you can’t predict what people want to see, then you can’t be a good studio executive.
Hi Guys,
it’ll be great to move the show to an earlier slot but to my mind it won’t be necessary to do it daily, especially if the quality would suffer.
Greetings from Germany
Hi John..
Welcome back Doug..
Jaclyn A. Smith is awesome.. I’m going to check out her website now..
The show was great..!
John, when are you gonna do video reviews
Campea Fan…
Full Retard huh, well… shucks…
I think the fact that I was just playfully ribbing John may have gone right over your head. You know… kinda’ like what’s happening with the whole protesting of the word “retard” being used in TT.
;)
I’ve always sort of liked Vin Diesel and his movies. Sure they’re empty calories, but they still tasted good. I thought xxx was great but that the sequel ruined it.
Have you guys thought about going widescreen for your show? There is a lost of empty head room in the shots and it’s especially noticeable when you went to 3 people. Just a suggestion.
Fantastic show!
Daethmuppet, you think John reads every single comment.
To suggest he wasnt paying attention is because he didnt read your comment is full retard.
Wow John… You’re slipping man… I suggested Talia Al Ghul as a possible character for the third film in your “Why Heath Ledger Can Be Replaced As The Joker” post.
Take those vitamins and pay more attention next time. ;)
I havent heard this show yet but on one of the show notes it says….Does anyone care about Vin Diesel anymore?
I dont think people ever really cared about him.
Yes Fast and the Furious and XXX made alot of money considering how shitty they both were but its not like he is a big box office actor, right?
Riddick and Man Apart barely broke even at the box office.
Find me guilt didnt even make 20% of the gross
The Pacifier is the only successful movie he has had in the past 5 years that has been a box office hit
I think his new film Babylon A.D. will be lucky if it makes more than $15M opening weekend.
This show rules! You are great, guys!
By the way, I’m a hungarian viewer of the show, and I really like the idea moving it a few hours earlier :)
The Show Was Great!
Thanks John & Doug For The Shout Out!
First time viewer. That was fucking hilarious! This show is awesome. New subscriber!
It all depends on how much extra it would cost to film a few scenes in IMAX vs regular. and if you can recoup those costs from the IMAX screens.
Honestly, you think the film business is all about business. but really it’s a definitely more art than business. In order to run a successful film business, you have to be really smart about art, to be able to tell what is a good vs bad story, to predict the audience. There’s no exact science to making a good movie or telling a story.
If it was entirely about finance, numbers, and economics, they would hire economists and accountants to run the film studios. But that isn’t the case, many times studio executives come from filmmaking/art backgrounds.
Are these new films filming scenes with Imax cameras like Batman did? Or are they converting a regular shot movie into IMAX?