Holarino Folks, Harry here trying to get a few items up before my dad's birthday party starts... any second now.... Well, the most interesting part out of all of this is UNIVERSAL's plea for marketing tips. Here's one, and they don't even need to give all my friends a free screening of the film. HIRE PASSIONATE FILM LOVING MARKETERS THAT HAVE STUDIED FILM MARKETING, NOT TACO AND SHOE COMMERCIALS!!! Create trailers that don't give away the films, but that communicate in an enticing manner the basic premise of the film in a way.... never before seen. I'm about 400% sure if you talked with Joe Johnston about it, he could instantly tell you how to sell this movie. If it's a word of mouth film, two weeks before release do the Saturday screening, then a week before do it again... team it up with PATCH ADAMS on one of them 2fer deals. If the movie is a great 'little' film, then showing it to the public isn't a detriment to the film. Is it? I didn't think so.... Now on with Capone....
Hey Harry, Capone here.
I saw a preview of October Sky last night. I hate to burst too many bubbles but this movie did NOT kick ass. Which is not to say it was bad, but it probably won't rock anybody's worlds. I, too, like Joe Johnston as a director (except for "Jumanji;" sorry, it sucked), and this film does succeed on many levels. But it falters in its portrayal of many of the adult characters. More on that in a second...
It occurred to me as I watched this film that before many of today's legions of computer geeks were even born, pre-teens and those in the their early teens growing up in the 1960s and 70s (which includes me) were obsessed about space travel. Everybody I knew wanted to be an astronaut or at least work for NASA. That obsession segued nicely into a healthy affection for all thing science fiction, especially films. This film begins with the first day of the Space Race: when Sputnik was launched. While America's parents were stressing out about Russian satellites possibly dropping bombs on us, America's kids were giddy with the possibility. Before Sputnik, space travel was more fiction than science. But after Sputnik, kids were asking themselves, "What do I have to do to get up there?"
Back to the movie...The film's first 45 minutes or so perfectly capture the enthusiasm that the leading characters feel about building a rocket and ultimately being a part of America's space race. The problems for me came with the lead character's family, particularly his father, played by Chris Cooper. I think Cooper adds so much to almost every film he's in ("Lone Star" would not have been the same with him; hell, he was even cool in "Breast Men" on HBO last year), but the character he plays in this film is written so one-dimensionally that I cringed (for all the wrong reasons) when Cooper was on screen. I dreaded every underwritten line that came out of his mouth. I've often heard King Siskel complain about how Hollywood seems to hate fathers. He may not know much, but he's right about that. This film would have been so much better if the writer had bothered spending time developing the father character.
Most of the other actor's in "October Sky" give solid performances. I particularly liked the "geek" kid. They avoided a lot of clichés with him, which I appreciated. Laura Dern is particularly good in a smaller part as the boys' teacher, although didn't like what happened to her character by film's end. Since this is "Based on a True Story," I guess the filmmakers couldn't help what happens to Dern's character. But she lights up every scene that she's in and it was great to see her play somebody positive again (it's been a while). There's also a whole coal mining drama (which inevitably results in scenes of rugged miners striking), which felt slightly less forced than Chris Coopers' dialogue, but still distracted me. I would have liked to see director Johnston breathe some freshness into the "mean father" stereotype; I'm not saying make the guy a sweetie pie, but somethign... Aside from that, "October Sky" has some great moments (the first successful rocket launch by the four boys had me giddy), is well directed, and illustrates the power of inspiration.
Harry--One interesting foot note to my screening: after the movie, representatives from the film's distributor, Universal, handed out postcards that you might find amusing. I wish I'd kept mine so I could transcribe exactly what it said, but it basically said, "'October Sky' is the kind of movie that doesn't have any big stars or giant special effects, so it will only succeed if people like you give it great word of mouth. [So far, I wasn't in disagreement, and I had planned on recommending it to some people; but then there was this...]. If you have any ideas on how you think we could best market this film for maximum exposure, please write your ideas on this post card and send it to Universal's marketing department [the postcards were pre-stamped]. We will select the best idea, and the winner will get a free screening of the movie for you and a group of your family and friends."
Is it my imagination, or is Universal (known for recent failures in the marketing department, granted) asking the public to submit ideas for no pay (except for the winner, who only gets a screening of a movie he/she has already seen)? It's cool that they seem to be genuinely concerning with marketing their smaller films more effectively, but this seems like a strange way to do it. What do you think?
I'll have a review of Costner/Newman's latest "Message in a Bottle" tomorrow.
Capone
P.S. I'm sickened that ABC fucking cancelled "Cupid." I loved walking around Chicago and always running into them filming. Why does Disney mess everything up?
