Hey there mates, Father Geek here at Geek Headquarters deep in the heart of Texas with another report from the land downunder, past hope and fear, bidding you to surf thru it and check out what's happening on the otherside of ye olde globe...
Now here's our man on the scene, Latauro...
I'm not drinkin' and driving'! I drank before I drove!
AICN-DOWNUNDER
I'm not drinkin' and driving'! I drank before I drove!
AICN-DOWNUNDER
I've been reading with great interest the Michael Moore saga. The deal with Disney using its mighty hand to cover the mouth of the most inflammatory documentary maker alive today. And right from the get-go, something didn't seem right. Something's been bothering me.
Does anyone, for even the briefest of brief moments, consider that FAHRENHEIT 9/11 won't get released? Michael Moore was popular *before* he won the Oscar, and now he's downright infamous. FAHRENHEIT is going to make a fuck load of money, love it or hate it. It's going to be the next PASSION OF THE CHRIST - everyone's going to have an opinion on it, so they're going to go see it to ensure they do. Disney would be insane not to release it. They knew who Moore was, they knew what film he was going to make. We all knew, he announced the juicy details before filming began. If they really cared about Jeb Bush docking their allowance, they wouldn't have greenlit it in the first place.
Anyone who's read the introduction to Moore's "Stupid White Men" knows that the book was all but banned, and was only released by chance of fate. That it shot to the top of the bestseller list *because* it was censored. People were told they weren't allowed to have something, so their first instinct was to buy it.
I can't shake the feeling that this is a publicity stunt. That, before the year is out (and before next year's Oscar deadline closes) we'll be able to go "See the film THEY didn't want you to see!". Maybe Disney isn't behind this. Maybe it's not their idea. When I floated this theory to a friend earlier today, he said it seemed a little too clever for the House of Mouse. "Yeah," I said, "but it sounds exactly like something you'd hear Harvey Weinstein doing."
Either way, we're going to end up seeing the film, and it's going to piss off the far right and invigorate the far left, and cause rarely-seen punch-ups between arthouse patrons at cocktail parties. So don't sweat it too much. In less than a year, he'll be in his tuxedo practicing his protest speech whilst Billy Crystal is up on stage singing about TROY to the tune of "Mad About the Boy". Don't worry about it.
NEWS
* The fallout from the protesters out to stop STEALTH from blowing bits of forest has been interesting. The New South Wales government has introduced new legislation allowing permits to be granted for filming in National Parks, thus giving legal backing to any film shooting in old forests. The Carr Government, worried that word of the trouble will spread, is attempting to rush the law through parliament... much to the chagrin of environmental groups who are calling for the bill to be withdrawn. Meanwhile, Rob Cohen has claimed the protests did his film a favour - the production was forced to move to a "better location".
* Though technically television news, I thought it worth mentioning that Miranda Otto will portray Lindy Chamberlain in the Seven Network's mini-series THROUGH MY EYES. The series will dramatise the 1980 disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain. Based on Lindy's autobiography, we can at least expect a better Australian accent from Otto than we got from Meryl Streep.
AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
2004 BANFF TELEVISION FESTIVAL
West Australian documentary INSIDE AUSTRALIA will screen in the Arts Documentary category at the Canadian Rockies festival between June 13-17.
2004 DARWIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
ALL THE KING'S HORSES, written/directed/produced by first-time helmer Matt Norman, won best film at the far-north film festival.
AUSTRALIAN EFFECTS AND ANIMATION FESTIVAL
From June 1 to June 3, the Melbourne Convention Centre will play host to this year's AEAF. Special Guest Eric Leven will discuss the effects involved in STARSHIP TROOPERS 2. Meanwhile, the Short Film wing of the Festival has called for entries to be submitted before the May 21 deadline.
BOX OFFICE
Aussie comedy STRANGE BEDFELLOWS got a second week in the top five, which is pretty good considering the marketing budgets of the American fare. Marketing budgets which ensured that all negative reviews of GOTHIKA were overpowered by a whole lotta ads and a fucking awful ancillary music clip.
Annnnd the Winners are...
- 1. GOTHIKA
- 2. KILL BILL VOL. 2
- 3. STARSKY AND HUTCH
- 4. STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
- 5. 50 FIRST DATES
RELEASED THIS WEEK
James Bond finally suffers the effect of all those martinis, Todd Haynes's film finally gets a release after nine years of shelf-sitting, and Jackman + Wenham do Abbot + Costello.
Here are the new ones...
- EVELYN
- SAFE
- VAN HELSING
NEXT WEEK
- Justin Timberlake signs on to play communist leader Mao Tse Tung in comedy MAO IN THE HOOD, adapted from the recently-updated version of Mao's manifesto, the "Lizzle Rizzle Bizzle"
- Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt both become psychic one fateful Christmas for comedy sequel WHAT CATHOLICS WANT, also featuring the voice of Bruce Willis
- Disney cancels release plans for Raja Gosnell's Bible adaptation, GOD WHAT A LOVELY STORY!, for fears that the burning bush may be perceived to be anti-American
