Tweet Story: Huppert, Gibson, Barbarella

One great thing to watch right now: PERSEPOLIS. It's vital that we make the stories of immigrants feel specific and real and human to us. pic.twitter.com/92ySv37Emp

— BrightWall/DarkRoom (@BWDR) January 28, 2017

Thought about what would happen if Isabelle Huppert had to reveal a hidden talent for a mag's video content, laughed, and then shuddered.

— Jackson McHenry (@McHenryJD) January 27, 2017

After the jump a gorgeous mini-review of 20th Century Women, a valid question about Barbarella, a fantasy about female auteurs, and more amusements... 

She could get a reputation for casting only really hot guys, and messing with them until they cry and decompensate. Because that's auteur.

— Christopher May (@chrismayhap) January 24, 2017

why is there only one BARBARELLA movie instead of a new BARBARELLA movie every 18 months

— MAX IM A KOOPA (@meakoopa) January 27, 2017

20TH CENTURY WOMEN - Comingofagesqatsi. Memories told from beyond the grave with a warm spirit that aches. Loved loved loved.

— KoyANDYsqatsi (@Andyzach) January 25, 2017

*holds breath until Isabelle Huppert makes her first instagram post after being nominated for an Oscar*

— Aaron Michael (@subsahaaron) January 24, 2017

for the record this was it...

#tbt Le jour où Elle était présenté pour la première fois au public. Quel parcours incroyable pour le film! Merci pour vos messages! / #tbt To the day Elle was first presented to public. What an incredible journey for the movie! Thank you for your messages! #elle #paulverhoeven #oscars2017 #cesars #ellelefilm

A photo posted by Isabelle Huppert (@isabelle.huppert) on Jan 26, 2017 at 2:35am PST

written in the stairwell at work #daypeaked pic.twitter.com/AAGVf2m2y1

— Katie Stebbins (@cinephile24) January 27, 2017

A: He's a straight white man pic.twitter.com/DyyNDN6dKf

— Rhea Butcher (@RheaButcher) January 26, 2017

Pretty sure we're just days away from Kellyanne Conway reenacting this in full on Fox & Friends. pic.twitter.com/45dGlk6F27

— Matthew Eng (@Eng_Matthew) January 26, 2017

Trump signs executive order reviving the Hays Code

— Shia La Poof (@beefilmnz) January 26, 2017

This photo of an Eagle taking a hard look at itself is not a metaphor for anything that's been in the news recently pic.twitter.com/FLyANNUg44

— Sam Morris (@SamMorrisDesign) January 26, 2017

We bomb your country, creating a humanitarian nightmare, then lock you inside. That's a horror movie, not a foreign policy.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 25, 2017

Mood. pic.twitter.com/wS1YuBQTTG

— Louis Peitzman (@LouisPeitzman) January 24, 2017

Seen in Philly. pic.twitter.com/gticOQ4Xvg

— danthefan (@danthefan) January 27, 2017

Ready for the SAG Awards tomorrow? Missi Pyle is

Just putting on my game face this morning for the #SAGawards red carpet roll out! Coming to you live on #KTLA around 845 this morning! #MichaelAshton make up @craiggangi hair

A photo posted by missipyle (@missipyle) on Jan 27, 2017 at 8:03am PST

Maybe @TheAcademy should have an empty seat in the front row for Asghar Farhadi next to Meryl and Emma? They never would, but small gestures

— Glenn Dunks (@glenndunks) January 29, 2017

I've split the day between gorging on news and finishing an essay on rape in David Cronenberg's movies and the paper is actually less bleak.

— Nick Davis (@NicksFlickPicks) January 29, 2017

Comments

[Craver]

Oh Isabelle's instagram is a must follow! She was the last person that I think would have an Instagram account, but there she is and it's wonderful..
Now i'm waiting for her post after her Oscar WIN!

[Jan]

On a scale of 1-10, how likely is it that Sony Pictures Classics is responsible for everything on Huppert's Instagram and that the account will become dormant right after Oscar night? At least 9, right?

[Graham Greenlee]

Jan: That's a really smart observation.II'm assuming that SPC doesn't have a big budget to work with and are still looking to recoup costs on purchasing and marketing Elle, which hasn't cracked $2M in the US, so I give them props for trying to make Huppert happen in year (especially this last week) that's completely suffocated by La La Land and Emma Stone.

[NATHANIEL R]

Jan -- i'd say 10 ;)

Graham -- yeah, they've done a good job with her. Pity that they released everything so late though. They should have released Julieta earlier to give it more room to breathe. As it is now it's just lost in the sea of oscar bait

[Graham Greenlee]

Nathaniel - I agree. A number of distributors waited way too late to release films that could have fallen into the "Will this get an Oscar nomination?" territory this year, Sony included.

SPC seems to have pretty much doubled down on Huppert/Elle for their Oscar spending. Was the purchase of Julieta relatively cheap? Is it an easier sell to Almodovar fans/Spanish language audiences than Elle which has pretty much depended on awards discussion to get around the "problematic subject matter?" I assume Toni Erdmann's campaign is covered as part of the theatrical release campaign, hence the 2017 release.

But at least Sony's campaigns are more focused than A24 who completely bungled the release and Oscar campaign of 20th Century Women. (A24 did get 8 nods and almost $18M for Moonlight so far, so: priorities, I suppose... But you think A24 would have learned from the A Most Violent Year botch two years ago.)

I don't know what the release patterns are like in New York (I'm moving to NYC in a couple of months so I'll know soon enough,) but my local INDIE multiplex here in North Hollywood just got Silence, Julieta, 20th Century Women and Paterson last week and they're already getting pulled early for re-runs of Arrival, Moonlight and Lion.

I don't fault exhibitors, even indie/art house focused theaters, for trying to make money and follow where they think audiences are going to pay for tickets. (There are theaters in LA playing La La Land on multiple screens.)... But distributors have made some really bizarre decisions this year.