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Dances with the Arthouse : May 22 / May 29 releases

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Dances with the Arthouse : May 22 / May 29 releases Empty Dances with the Arthouse : May 22 / May 29 releases

Post by Chienfantome Fri May 22, 2009 3:15 am

Hello my fellow Fantaversian friends and welcome to my very erratic but very much sincere (and hopefully insightful enough!) column chronicling those ever mysterious tiny pictures that usually open in a handful of theaters but can turn out oooooh so helpful in your slates, especially in the Ultimate leagues of course.
Some of you probably hate me for not having published a column last week to warn you that French drama Summer Hours had a great shot at getting killer PTA points for a cheap price. Sorry about that, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who sensed the potential of the film and put it on almost every single slate (grin).

Today I will be taking a look at the arthouse films being released between May 22 and May 29, six in all. No more introduction, here’s what I think of them all…

Easy Virtue (May 22)
Fifteen years ago, Stephan Elliott was a young director who “rose to fame” (at least made a name for himself) thanks to the cult Australian comedy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. But apart from a little seen Douglas Kennedy adaptation and a minor Ewan McGregor thriller (Eye of the Beholder), the man has stayed off movie charts ever since (and even the McGregor film, his latest apart from Easy Virtue, was ten years ago).
Elliott comes back with a British period comedy starring the hot (but too muscular) Jessica Biel, Ben Barnes (the flat Caspian of Narnia) and the always great Kristin Scott-Thomas and Colin Firth. That’s a good cast, but the greatest thing the film has for itself is a good word of mouth. I know the IMDB User Rating is not all that fantastic (6.8 with 2,000 votes), but I have yet to hear someone say to me this film is not funny. It has a great “funny brit comedy” reputation. With a distributor that knows the job (Sony Pictures Classics), a New York / Los Angeles release, and what should be solid reviews, Easy Virtue is an interesting Ultimate pick, especially since it only costs $5. It should be able to collect 3 or 4 PTA points.

The Girlfriend Experience (May 22)
I am not sure how Steven Soderbergh’s latest will be received by American audiences. Here is a film granted with good reviews, directed by one of the most famous American independent filmmakers working today (even if yes, he does direct silly Hollywood films too), but it seems Soderbergh often fails to attract US cinephiles in theaters. Traffic may have been a huge hit, but Full Frontal, The Bubble and Che were all pretty much flops that sparked little alchemy with audiences. It seems American audiences prefer the films the filmmaker make with huge stars billed on the top of the posters.
And the only star of The Girlfriend Experience is Sasha Grey, a 21 year-old credited with more than 160 films on IMDb… all of them (except Soderbergh’s) being X-rated. (call me naïve, but 160 porn films at 21 ??).
Will the porn fans line up to see Sasha Grey on the big screen playing a call girl? I don’t know, but the R-rated film is being scheduled to open in about 30 theaters by Magnolia Pictures, which might be too much to have a strong PTA. Soderbergh’s name will be the big selling point, but I am afraid it might only grab 1 or 2 PTA points and a User Rating below 7.

O’Horten (May 22)
The Norwegian film has seen its release date being changed more than any arthouse film this year, but it seems it is now finally, really opening. Will it make any wave, will it enthuse film buffs, will it garner strong PTA points several weeks long? Honestly, probably not. It is a small Scandinavian movie, and this is not a cool and fascinating vampire story à la Let the right one in. This is just the story of a train worker who retires.
The Sony Pictures Classics film (two the same weekend for the specialty films studio) can count on strong reviews and a small release, probably less than 10 theaters in New York and Los Angeles, to display an honorable PTA number by Monday morning. I still don’t see it being a PTA champ, and don’t see how it could get more than a couple of PTA points at best. Not good enough for $5 in Ultimate leagues, if you ask me.

Departures (May 29)
What are the determining elements of an arthouse film that will make it a possible winner (especially in the PTA department of course) ? The director’s name of course ; the film’s reputation and reviews, yes ; the release pattern chosen by the distributor, no doubt about it. But what is an even better asset is An Oscar. A “Best Foreign Language Film” Academy Award. American film buffs love foreign arty films (look at Summer Hours numbers), and they love them even more when the Hollywood bourgeoisie personally congratulated the films. This is exactly what happened last February, when Departures won over favorites The Class and Waltz with Bashir the golden statuette.
The Japanese film following a man working in the funeral business became a must-see for American cinephiles the moment it collected the Oscar. And with the 10 theaters pattern Regent Releasing is about to launch the film, it seems like a lock to grab PTA points two weekends in a row. I would say 6 or 7 points are possible. With an already well-established User Rating (8.4 with more than 1,800 votes), it should be worth its $8 price tag in Ultimate leagues.

The Lonely Maiden (May 29)
Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, William H. Macy and Marcia Gay Harden starring in the same film? I would be more than willing to go see such a film without knowing anything else about The Lonely Maiden (also known as The Maiden Heist). The problem is I know a little bit more about the it and that makes me concerned. First because the director attached to it is Peter Hewitt, whose last three directing credits were Zoom, Garfield and Thunderpants. Personally my interest for this film has totally disappeared the second I have learned that. Freeman and Walken have made a few bad films in their respective careers, this might be one more.
As far as possible box-office results go, I ditched any idea of grabbing this film on any slate when I read Yari Film Groupe is releasing The Lonely Maiden. Take a little look at how the studio handled the release of the great looking pics Nothing but the truth and What doesn’t kill you, and you will know there is nothing to hope from The Lonely Maiden. I would not even grab it if it costed $1.

Pontypool (May 29)
Arthouse horror films almost never make arthouse hits. They usually ride on a cool hype before the release of the film, but once it opens, it seems no one’s interested in it anymore. Remember The Signal? It really has to have a strong reputation, or a real auteur/foreign feel to it, and not look like horror, to have an impact (like Let the right one in).
Pontypool has a rather classic but efficient pitch and trailer, a virus/zombie contamination in a small town, but Bruce McDonald is not a big name, nor is Stephen McHattie (heading the cast). Two other elements will make Pontypool a hardsell. First, the film will be available on Video on Demand two days after the theatrical release, and second, IFC Films launches it the same weekend as Sam Raimi’s Drag me to Hell, which will probably attract all the horror fans. $4 in Ultimate leagues still seems too expensive for such a film.
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Post by A_Roode Fri May 22, 2009 3:25 am

Pontypool is an intriguing pick at $4 though. The IFC audience could push it into the top 3 and then it just becomes a question of what the iMDb will look like. 3 PTA or more and retention + 7 iMDb? Might be worth it.

Unless of course you consider the IFC audience and the level of support they've given horror films. If it goes the way of 'The Last Winter (click me!),' you've wasted $4 and a roster spot.

Regarding Soderbergh's latest excremental offering (what? what bias?) I say run for the hills.
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Post by Buscemi Fri May 22, 2009 5:35 am

The Girlfriend Experience has gotten good reviews? I remember reading that everyone who saw it at Sundance trashed it as being boring and excessive. Also, the fact that it has a porn star in the lead is never a good sign.

And Chien, the porn industry is far different than Hollywood. The films get made cheaply and usually are non-union. Therefore, many of these porn stars and directors are able to pump titles out almost weekly. You can compare the production schedules to Roger Corman and Andy Warhol's productions.
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Post by JackO Fri May 22, 2009 6:17 am

I think The Girlfriend Experience run On Demand, it has been on for a few weeks now, will harm it's BO run.
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Post by Shrykespeare Fri May 22, 2009 10:25 am

Picking a good PTA film is such a crap shoot isn't it? I mean, there are so many factors to consider, and even so, one film comes out of nowhere almost every week and surprises.

I have to be careful, having wasted money already on The Escapist and Lymelife in one league and The Merry Gentleman in another. I won't pig TheGE because of it's bad press and theater count, and I won't bick EV for it's User Rating.

T4 and NATM2 will probably be 1-2 in PTA, now that Bloom has expanded to 52 theaters and probably won't be in the Top 5 again. And how about Star Trek, expanding to over 4000 theaters in its third week!

Departures looks like a winner, though. Not sure about Away We Go, Tetro, Food Inc or Moon. Whatever Works may also be a good one.
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Post by Donte77 Tue May 26, 2009 11:01 pm

Also about Girlfriend, the IMDB was at a stellar 9.4 several weeks ago with a few hundred votes. Now it has plummeted to a 6.2 with almost a 1000 votes. I was considering dropping it a week ago for that alone and then the 30 theater count cemented that action. Apparently friends of Sasha and Steven flooded it with 9 and 10 scores until an actual audience saw it and cut it down to size.
I do have Departures on a slate and have my fingers crossed for it.
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Post by Donte77 Tue May 26, 2009 11:02 pm

I really want to see Moon but it will probably hit about 100-200 theaters and be useless in game terms. Looks awesome though.
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Post by Buscemi Wed May 27, 2009 7:39 am

Moon will probably be NY/LA first before going to a wider release.

Meanwhile, that weekend will be crazy since at least five films will be in the running for the best PTA for the weekend.
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