That Movie You Thought Wasn't Coming Out, Is!
Saturday, November 15, 2014 at 3:32PM 
December cometh. Cue ominous music.
That special month when US distributors panic and attempts to fulfill all star contract Oscar-eligibility demands by releasing EVERYTHING, often sloppily, for at least a week when another more traditional rollout would probably win the film more attention... especially from audiences who are trying to squeeze in all the holiday biggies and rarely think, "gee, I'd like to see that movie about Jennifer Aniston being depressed and eating pastries at that one screen before it leaves!" (I don't mean to be snarky. I'm not allowed to talk about Cake yet but I liked it.)
There seem to be seven-day eligibility runs planned for Cake, Black and White, The Humbling, Still Alice, and Mommy... among others though details are purposefully scarce in some of these cases. These qualifiers or last second films are usually quiet since they aren't intended to be true openings of the film and aren't concerned with box office... UNTIL Oscar nominations hit.
The film that seems to have become the most confused over the past several months about when and where it will open and for how long it will play -- hell whether it exists at all -- is Maps to the Stars. Last we heard they were planning a Golden Globes qualifying run but not an Oscar qualifying run which was surely an internet misunderstanding - a digital game of telephone if you will - since why would you bother with the former if you didn't have eyes on the latter? The current plan is to open properly on February 27th nine months after it spurred a lot of press and won Julianne her first Best Actress prize of 2014. The current Maps release date suggests that they're just waiting to capitalize on God's presumed Oscar win on February 22nd for Still Alice.
Here's what I think of that:
FOUL-MOUTHED RANT
This one week business - part of the great 'hide your movie' phenomenon - is, as I'm often ranting this time of year, very anti-audience. I wonder when distributors will catch up to modern pop culture which likes to share beloved things. And very quickly, too. I think this is one of the lesser discussed reasons why people have turned to television for so much for their cinematic fix; it's instant. They can tweet and tumblr away immediately and everyone can be a part of the conversation if they choose to be. It doesn't make any sense to premiere a film with big stars or name auteurs, both easy marketing hooks, at a festivals and then wait a year for release and have to promote it all over again. You lose all that revenue opportunity from all the people who wanted to be part of the conversation to begin with, to see what all the fuss was about. A year later when you need media voices to help promote your film by writing about it they've already exhausted the conversation and everyone cares less even the people who haven't seen it. They sometimes feel like they already have because of the months of conversation last year.
In happier less-ranty news I had all but forgotten that the hit play Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks was being screenified and now it's also declared itself a December baby. It will come into the world on December 12th and here's the poster.
Your guess is as good as mine why they modeled the poster after a photoshopped 1990s DVD cover, but the cast is delightful: Gena Rowlands, Cheyenne Jackson, Julian Sands, Jacki Weaver... RITA MORENO.
Reader Comments (23)
Maps to the Stars was also released a couple of weeks ago in Canada, which isn't unusual for a Cronenberg film. And I think the Canadian release date was a good one for the film to open in the US too if they wanted an awards run.
Still, given the film is complete garbage and will deservedly not get any awards attention, they should have just let it out right after Cannes to financially capitalize on the media frenzy.
Nat does it have to do with distribution and cinema chains having a lot of clout? I always thought that played a part in those crazy release schedules
How does Aniston handle her dramatic beats? I'm especially curious about her take on depression, since she seemed to play it very obvious in Good Girl. (I understand that depression feels agonizingly dull, but I still think as an actor you can play a depressed character that is bored with life without boring the audience, just see Anthkny Hopkins in Remains of th Day).
It's so odd. Maps to the Stars has been out in the UK for several weeks already.
Nathaniel, I agree with everything you say about the instantaneity of TV over cinema. It's like a lot of film distributors are still stuck in a late 1980s pattern of releasing.
BVR: I would never consider calling Hopkins' Remains of the Day character bored or depressed. Regretful is much closer to it, I think.
So is Moore gonna be eligible for this years oscars for MTTS.
Nathaniel, why are you not allowed to talk about "Cake"? There are already 10 reviews at RT and 5 in Metacritic...
John D -- i dont understand it either but I believe in following embargoes even if no one else does. It costs me but ah well.
Cash: yeah. I think repression is a better word than depression.
BVR -- i've also said that right here on the blog (well the old site) about Aniston in Good Girl. Julianne Moore is world class in conveying depression without doing it in a dull way but Aniston just erased her star charisma and looked glum. That isn't a great performance that's a "I'm playing against type!" gimmick.
I think she's much better in Cake.
what a terrible poster indeed.
OMG Gena. She's the one who deserves capitals here
Ok, Rita deserves it too. But I know the movie is going nowhere but I am with the idea tha Gena has one last shot. A GG nom, maybe?
omg get that oscar, aniston
Yes! Anne Dorval for Best Actress please! (Just a nod would be amazing, I know this is Julianne's year.)
I saw "Maps to the Stars" today and Julianne should win an Oscar for it (The only better performance she gave was "Far from Haven"...she is THAT good!) so does Croenenberg & Wasikowska & Olivia Williams... it's that BRILLIANT!.............
Similarly, can we talk about Foxcatcher's release strategy? It's open now in NY and LA, but it's not opening near me until December 19 - and this is a film that was originally supposed to open in 2013. Meanwhile, Wild will be opening near me on December 19 as well - 2 weeks after it releases in NY and LA. Guess which one I'll be more eager to see?
I can see why it looks attractive to release a film that doesn't have Oscar written all over it (the way Into the Woods, or even Big Eyes do (on paper that is)), when major outlets are crowing about it being a "weak year for such and such category." Problem is, most of them will get lost anyway when an organized launch, at any time of the year, could be a better ticket.
Both those poster suck.
Hey, I warned about Six Dance Lessons! It looked like a straight to video release, but IMBD always had it in limited release in LA. If we were in the 80s Gena would have a real shot.
Aniston being recognized for her film career has been on my wish list for a decade. I'm always for the underdog and I it's about time this happens. Given relatively thin competition this year, my fingers are crossed. Hope the movie's good, though.
Her PR team is working hard for this,and it seems to start its ignition. Still, the trolls are all over the internet. Let's wait and see.
Top 5: Moore, Pike Witherspoon, Jones, Blunt
2nd Tier: Aniston, Mbatha-Raw (BTL) , Swank, Adams
3rd Tier: Slate, Woodley, Chastain (AMVY) , Cotillard
Well, for what it's worth, CAKE is being distributed by the production company because nobody else would.
Yet again, Nicole Kidman has had wise words on this subject. She said Lionsgate were smart to release RABBIT HOLE so quickly after acquiring it at Toronto because you know otherwise they'd have waited a year and any buzz it did have would have gone away.
Maybe Xavier Dolan films would have better success in the US if people released them when they have post-festival clout rather than releasing them a year later when everybody's moved on to the next Dolan film.
About CAKE: there was no embargo in Toronto. So people who saw it there were free to review it whenever...
I really hate qualifying releases and they really mess up my top ten lists and ballots. I don't live in one of the top five markets, but do get a chance to see most movies. Qualifying releases are useless for me, and when I do vote in the critic's group I vote in, I never get the chance to see qualifying releases. My top ten also never include these films, but in retrospect.
Mostly these releases don't help the movie either. Gloria, Labor Day, etc, were released last year to qualify for the Oscars, but their releases did little to help their chances. I can't see that similar releases for The Humbling or Mommy will help those movies. Just release them properly. Seriously, why did Wild Tales need a release a few weeks ago in LA? It's ironic, especially since the LA Times gave it a bad review. LOL. The only outlet that reviewed it didn't like it. What a failure of a qualifying release. The worst part is that you really don't know who the qualifier are until the Academy releases it's list of films competing for Best Picture.
My personal rule for top tens is to include any films that are released properly in the US that year (so let's say 2014 releases for 2014) and any qualifying releases that are properly released through January the next year (so January 2015 qualifiers with proper releases would count in 2014 still). This allowed me to include Tim's Vermeer and Labor Day among 2013 releases last year as they were continuously part of the conversation and were basically released like other films that got late limited releases the last week of December. Other movies like The Wind Rises, Ernest and Celestine, Gloria, and The Missing Picture are listed as 2014 releases for me as their theatrical releases weren't until after February 2014.
It's complicated yes, but this system works best for me.