August 5, 2003

For a change, I’m going to give you the normal meat of the column and follow that with the trailers…

With S.W.A.T. opening Friday, the biggest story of the summer of 2003 hasn’t really been written. The highest grossing film ever directed by a black director in this country is Keenan Ivory Wayan's Scary Movie with $157 million. Number two is Sidney Poitier’s Stir Crazy, starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, with $101 million, over 20 years ago. Those have been the only two to break the $100 million barrier. Both comedies. The highest grossing action film ever directed by a black director in this country was, until this summer, John Singleton’s Shaft, with $70 million.

This summer, there has been a seismic shift. Singleton’s sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious has grossed $125 million. F. Gary Gray delivered The Italian Job, which is over $95 million and is still hoping to pass $100 million. And now Clark Johnson, with his first feature in S.W.A.T., is also likely to pass right by Shaft’s $70 million, with studio tracking estimating an opening of $30 million or better

And while we are working brown, Robert Rodriguez is in the process of breaking his own record for the highest grossing film directed by a hispanic/latino in America, with Spy Kids 3D headed towards busting the original Spy Kids’ $113 million gross.

Not so fortunate is Hollywood’s most obviously abused “minority group.” Women. The highest grossing film directed by a woman in this country this year is Dennie Gordon’s What A Girl Wants, which totaled just $36 million. The highest non-animated domestic grossing film of all time by a woman remains Nancy Meyers' What Women Want, the 64th highest grosser of all time with $183 million, followed by Betty Thomas’ Dr. Dolittle, the 120th highest grosser of all time, with $144 million.

Why are black male directors getting breaks this summer when women are not? Well, part of it is that it is a preposterous question. But if you look at the women’s Top Seven of all time, six were driven by a male star, three of them by Tom Hanks (Big, You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle), one by Mel Gibson (What Women Want), one by Travolta (Look Who’s Talking) and one by Eddie Murphy (Dr. Dolittle). Only Mimi Leder's Deep Impact was not a male star vehicle, but it was an action drama.

It’s been five years since Hanks has made a movie with a woman director and it will be at least another three before he does so again. Tom Cruise has NEVER made a movie with a female director. Julia Roberts' only film for a female director was her first, Satisfaction, directed by Joan Freeman. (By the way, Freeman has never directed again.)

Ultimately, this summer will be important for the future of black directors. As liberal as many are in this town, they are not blind to any potential deficiency. History is repeated. So now, history says that black directors can handle action films, which means more opportunity. Dennie Gordon will get more chances. Betty Thomas is an important player at Columbia. And Heckerling, Coolidge and Ephron… still fighting. What women directors need is to get those novice jobs like Legally Blonde II and American Pie 3. They need Drew Barrymore’s girl power to extend behind the camera. They need a few tiny movies to come from nowhere and to explode. And probably, most of all, they need to shoot some really cool commercials.

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES: Everyone loves trailers… especially the studio accountants. Trailers are still the most influential piece of marketing in the game. I rarely get to see trailers as they are meant to be seen, in a theater, with a paid ticket and a paying audience. I didn’t see any of these trailers that way either.

Disney has two new trailers out there for end-of-the-year product with Calendar Girls and Under The Tuscan Sun. They sound like yawners from a distance, but the trailers are both home runs. Calendar Girls’ trailer makes it clear that it is in the tradition of The Full Monty. Perhaps it could have been called The Full Martha. Director Nigel Cole’s last picture was Saving Grace, which also drove that Brit Chicks Gone Wild road. But word on this one overseas is already luminous.

“Unthinkably good things can happen, even late in the game.” That’s a line from the trailer of Under The Tuscan Sun. Boy that title sounds droll. But it couldn’t be more appropriate for a Diane Lane vehicle. 38 may not be “late in the game” in real life, but it certainly is for Hollywood beauties. Nonetheless, we all get the better of the deal for having Miss Lane back in business. UTTS is the story of a woman who finds a house in a romantic, foreign land that’s a fixer up and fixes up herself in the process. Home run. There is something about Diane Lane when she is happy that is just so great. Sure, Disney couldn’t help put but to take you through all three acts and they didn’t resist the impulse to go nuclear by using a Sheryl Crowe song. But the trailer should draw woman like crazy and offer enough Diane to make the guys acquiesce.

I haven’t thought to ask anyone at Universal why they dumped the catchy title, Helldorado for the banal The Rundown. But they did. Perhaps the new title is a homage to the last great Martin Brest film, Midnight Run, on which this film seems to be a jungle variation. Directed by actor-turned-director Peter Berg, the tag line I would suggest is “You will believe The Rock can act,” because Dwayne Johnson seems to have toned down the act a bit and seems to have found the best of Arnold Schwarzenegger territory. He is, like the best action stars, good looking, rippled and self-effacing.

But there’s more!!! Academy Award Winner Christopher Walken plays the uber-villain in his best Jay Mohr way. No one can get more out of a simple “ow” than Walken. Glorious.

On top of that, word is that the test marketing is doing so well that they aren’t even bothering with the focus groups. It looks like the September 1-2 punch of Underworld and The Rundown will be one of the most powerful ever, both catering to the under-25s in oh-so-different ways.

Unfortunately, The Whole 10 Yards trailer is the polar opposite to The Rundown. You'll believe that Bruce Willis never should have left Moonlighting! I wasn’t quite sure why this thing looked like such a turd until I saw that Howard Deutch was the man behind the camera. The guy started so strong and hasn’t made anything that wasn’t shit since 1987. Why don’t they get it?!?!?!

Finally, the great, great trailer for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I’ve been down this road before, but here we are again. I finally saw the trailer on a decent sized screen. Wow. Laura Carrillo over at New Line brought in the Trailer Park team of producer Scott Bramlett and uber-cutter Bill Neil at let them have at it. There were a few minor revisions, but basically, producer Michael Bay and director Marcus Nispel were blown away with it.

Someone looked at the trailer online and wrote in to question why I thought so much of the trailer. Well. I’ll tell you…

The “Enya” Music – This stuff has become a cliché in movie trailers, ads and life. But the trailer makers went against the “traditional” use and used it as a set up for the exact opposite of what it usually means in a trailer.

The silence – I don’t think I have ever seen a trailer – and very few films – that have understood and used silence with the skill of this one. The sound editing should get some sort of special award.

The cracking record player – Again, a brilliant play against expectations. The crackle of an old record player sets the beat for the rest of the trailer… a heartbeat.

The pulse to black – As the heartbeat goes, the images pulse with that beat, coming and go, fading to black and coming again. They manage to get in a half dozen small unanswered mysteries in just seconds, before introducing the real trouble – “What are you doing in my house?!”

The “lightbulb” effect – in direct opposition to the original heartbeat, we get images of fear that flash into white, with a sound effect that sounds like a Polaroid. But again, a series of images and ideas that are never explained, but speak right to our fears.

The scoreless, aurally hot screams of someone in danger – Over credit chyron, we hear Jessica Biel’s character trying to escape… no dramatic music… no guidance… just pure terror.

The final 20 seconds of the trailer is more like your conventional horror trailer, smashing intense imagery together and looking for all the world like a David Fincher film. But Nispel’s choices of actors, especially the supporting actors, is remarkable and they play out in those 20 seconds like a horrifying carnival.

In the movie is half as good as the trailer, it will be one of those movies that people talk about for a long, long time. As in, “remember when we saw…” So much for the age of irony.

READER OF THE DAY: The Gibson files continue to grow around The Passion. There was a step in the right direction, in my opinion. Mel let Dennis Prager, who is pretty conservative, but is professional Jew as well, see the movie. Unfortunately for the rest of us, Prager blasted the film on his radio show and that door may close. But I want to give Gibson credit for opening that door a little wider than he was opening it last week. And I am, as ever, disturbed by Prager’s assertion that this film is a dangerous tool to enflame non-Jews against Jews, particularly in the rest of the world. Let art be art, for God’s sake. And now, some letters…

This came from MEGAN: “Hello, my name is Megan, and I just read your article online. I have to say that it has stirred me. I have been looking forward to this movie as a Christian because I believe that a lot of us don't understand the purpose and importance of this occurrence. And surely, we can't even begin to understand the emotions of the day. I don't know what to think now, but I do wish to tell you that I, personally, don't see an anti-Semitism act.

I want you to know that first off I believe that the Jewish people are God's Chosen People. The bible says so.

Christian Tradition (that which most of us uneducated theologically have) teaches us that it was the Jew's who had Jesus crucified. This I believe was on purpose. I believe that "the whole picture" could not have happened if Jesus was not crucified. By that I mean being saved from our sin. To my understanding that was what he was sent for and he knew it from the beginning of his walk. Christians should be thankful for the part of the Jewish people (of which everyone who believed in God was at the time) for fulfilling the prophecy, without which we would not be saved. Sometimes I wonder if the Jewish people were the ones who did this because of who they were, they were "safe" from retaliation from God.

It is linear thinking that makes people angry. This would be the same as people who hate Christian's for the likes of those that kill homosexuals or bomb abortion clinics, even though a Christian who truly listens with his heart would never even feel hate like this.

I guess what I truly want to convey is this. I support your endeavor in trying to make sure what you believe is true to come out in this movie, but I also support Mel's vision of what he believes is true. You see, the bible is so mixed up, and ,as you pointed out, full of contradicting occurrences, it is solely up to the person to "hear" his own truth. In the old testament, God says "These laws I have laid on your heart". I believe that this means we are to look inside, with as pure as heart as a human can achieve and we will know what is true. The problem comes when life experience makes one thing true for one person and something else true for another.

The world is already full of hate. People that are sending hate mail to you would send it to anyone who disagrees with them. The movie doesn't change their heart, they have to do that themselves. In my opinion, any movie out there can stir up existing hate in people. Even Nemo made me mad at people that have aquariums. (Poor little fishies) Love stories make people hate those that are happier than they are, and War stories make people hate whoever the "bad" people are. Movies are just emotions for the world to interpret, and whether that's good or bad, I just don't know. I do know that I'm not educated enough to understand whether or not Mel's movie is accurate, but I do feel that it will touch me deeply, and it will not make me feel any different towards Jewish people. For one reason, those specific Jewish people are not around anymore, and for another, well, I believe I already covered that.

I don't know why I felt the need to write to you. You probably can find enormous flaws in my thinking, but that's okay. I don't mind. I wouldn't even mind a response. I guess I just get worried when others seem to get wrapped up in concern for what "I" feel is unnecessary. But if I am to follow my own beliefs, then you have the right to whatever emotions you have. I just don't want seeds of thought from either side being planted into weak minds. I want people to see this for what it is. Mel's heart. No matter how mad it is.”

This came from KAREN: “Let me see if I've got this straight: for the past year, you haven't said a word as left wing, anti-Christian political and media types subjected Mel Gibson to a level of criticism and character assassination usually reserved for conservative Supreme Court nominees, BUT NOW, when Mel tries to defend himself with the support of right wing, pro-Christian political and media types, YOU COMPLAIN. Me thinks thou hast more than a little bias and agenda, my friend. Mel didn't start this political war -- in fact it has been waged against him mostly while he was absent overseas filming The Passion and not even able to defend himself -- he's just attempting to level the playing field. Take a look at the anti-Christian bigotry and threats to destroy his career found on almost all Jewish websites -- they attack his family and ridicule his religion. He needs to try any and all measures available to counterract the Christian haters. No compassion for the underdog?”

This one is from JULIE: “YOU SAID EVERYONE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO EXPRESS THEIR OPINIONS, SO HERE ARE MINE;

I believe Mr Gibson to be trying to defend himself…he probably feels very "got at " just now...after all even his geriatric and frankly weird father has been used as evidence against him ( completely out of order in my book) The movie is not finished yet...perhaps he doesn’t want it judged on its film merits yet until he is happy with the finished product?? lets face it he is getting enough criticism already ....does he need "I saw the sound boom.....The scenery wobbles..." criticism also??”

And this from SAM: “Great article! Thank you for voicing my own views. It is driving me crazy how everyone is dissing Mel for making this movie. My view, like yours: Mel can make any movie he wants to! That's called Freedom.

You are right in that Mel is showing The Passion only to his select groups. He has that right too. I think that is his 'fight back' to those small minded religious freaks that have spent so much time dissing him for his beliefs and his fathers beliefs.

By the way, I'll be here beside you fighting to the death for Mel's Freedom to make any movie he wants. And my Freedom to not go see it if I object to it......

The sound of keys on a keyboard.... :) Let Freedom ring.”

E ME: Speak of the devil…

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