Assemblog: December 21, 2012

Night Shift, 1982

New this week on Popshifter: Best Of 2012 lists from Danny, Emily, Paul, Jeffrey, and Chelsea; Jemiah reviews the Django Unchained soundtrack; and I come up with ten more holiday tunes that won’t make you sick.

I tend to avoid political commentary on Popshifter, unless it is intrinsic to the subject of movies, music, TV, etc. I don’t even like to use the word “political” since the word only applies to governments, specifically the partisan kind, but I will for lack of a better term.

No one needs to hear my point of view on the events that took place in Newtown, CT. I will say for the record that I don’t believe this tragedy (or any of the other mass shootings over the last couple of decades) was because of violent movies or video games. There have been a lot of articles on this issue lately, of course, and this one from Film School Rejects isn’t the best or the worst, but it does bring up something that I keep returning to: causation. Says Robert Fure:

It’s like a logic problem: Not everyone who watches violent films becomes violent, but all violent people watch violent films. That’s not even true, since there have been plenty of seemingly normal people who have just snapped, but the point is just because someone watches violent movies or plays violent video games, it doesn’t mean that they’re going to commit violence. Likewise, if someone has committed violence, you can’t point to something in their past and definitively blame that one thing. It’s all more complex than that.

I don’t lend much credence to things like the SAG Awards, the Golden Globes, the Oscars, or any other awards process, but if winning these makes it easier for talented actors, actresses, and filmmakers to make more art, then good for them. However, it’s long been understood among genre fans that the films we gravitate towards are not well represented in awards ceremonies.

Alyse Wax at Fear.net has a short piece on some “genre and genre-related” inclusions in the Golden Globe nominations: Hitchcock, The Girl, American Horror Story, Frankenweenie, and Hotel Transylvania all received various nods. It’s not much, but it’s a start. For all the details, read her article here.

Last week I talked about the teaser trailer for the upcoming Shane Carruth movie, Upstream Color. There’s a new teaser trailer out now, and here it is:

It definitely has a different feel than the other one and you might even think this was a particularly artsy indie film, with all the repeated, seemingly mundane dialogue. Only the music sort of gives away the idea that there might be more going on. (H/T to /Film)

I have not seen one thing Len Wiseman has been involved with, but it’s nothing personal. I just haven’t seen any of his projects. That said, I’ve been hankering for a good mummy movie for a while and this MovieWeb piece indicates that one might be in the works. Things like “horror,” “shocking,” “epic,” and “doesn’t have anything to do with the Brendan Fraser films” were all mentioned in this article and piqued my interest. Although the mummy mythology originates in Egypt, I would like to see a Spanish or Mexican director tackle a project like this, but I’m still interested in what Wiseman brings to this storyline. (H/T to Fangoria.)

Although I am but a lowly film blogger, I know of the dreaded “media embargo.” Flick Filosopher has linked to a Variety piece that explains how embargoes tend to be maddeningly arbitrary and mutable. I’m of the mindset that you shouldn’t allow a movie to be screened if you won’t let critics review it—even in Twitter form—within 24 hours. But what do I know? I’m just a lowly film blogger.

Despite its mildly misleading title, this article on studio financing from Hollywood Reporter is rather insightful. This is one part that caught my eye:

But given the staggering costs of making and marketing films—not to mention the fact every studio is now part of a larger entity that demands quarterly profits—it’s hardly surprising that nearly half of all studio films released in 2012 had a major financial backer footing at least part of the bill. And even with the partners, certain studios seem almost allergic to making all but the most surefire tentpoles.

The article goes on to break down the major films developed, financed, and released by major studios this year as well as the financial breakdown. It might seem strange to find out that Fox gets financing from a hedge fund, unless you know that movie studios have been getting backed by financial institutions since the pre-talkie years. Still, it’s worth your time to read the whole article.

This is my last Assemblog for 2012. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, everyone.

—Less Lee Moore, Managing Editor