Hype is the mind-killer as the DUNE trailer arrives

Plus we look at some new Academy changes as part of our Friday Free-For-All

It’s Friday, September 11, and here’s where we are…

The damnable thing about the newsletter is how quickly one of them can get away from me.

This week was a great example. There were plenty of things to write about, plenty of things to discuss, and absolutely no time to do it. Three errands, spaced just far enough part, managed to eat one entire day. Putting out a creative fire on another project took up another day completely. I’m going to try to motor through a few topics here today before I throw things open to you guys for conversation. I wanted to do this on Wednesday originally, but by the time I had any opportunity to write, it was after dinner and the boys are here for the first time in a few weeks so we decided to watch Bill & Ted Face The Music instead, which they’ve been waiting to see with me.

Just as much fun the second time. I love Anthony Carrigan as NoHo Hank on Barry, and I had no idea that was him as Dennis Caleb McCoy, the not-particularly-proficient murder robot. He is the stealthy MVP here, much the way Bill Sadler was for Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. I also love the work by Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine, and this time, I watched them even in the scenes where they weren’t the focus, and it’s clear that Dean Parisot knew they were the heart of this movie while he was shooting. They’re constantly enjoying themselves, like at the wedding where they’re playing games and dancing with the little kids or in moments where it’s clear their whole agenda in a scene is a bag of Cheetohs, and it’s not just endearing, it’s important to defining them as characters. The reason they’re able to create the “song that unites reality” is because of how pure they are. That wide-open accessible emotional nature is what makes Bill and Ted such oddball heroes, and it’s only amplified in their children, precisely because they were raised by Bill and Ted. Billie and Thea have been given such unconditional acceptance and raised to follow their interests to such a degree that they couldn’t be anything but the fascinating music-crazy kids they are.

I’m a sucker for the film’s basic conceit that we pass along both disappointments and hopes from generation to generation. It’s a cliché to say “Our kids are going to save the world,” but that’s always true. That’s always what we hope. That doesn’t mean we stop trying to make it better ourselves, but it does mean that we can hopefully give them the tools and the support to do the things we couldn’t. It is important that we define family and community in ways that make us stronger, in ways that unite us and build us up, not ways that exclude or isolate. The film underlines it in some key ways, like the open hearts with which Bill and Ted greet Missy’s constant reintroductions into their extended family, or the way Ted and his father finally reconcile after his father is sent to Hell and realized Ted was never lying.

It lands the point most loudly with the way there is so much kindness and respect between Bill and Ted and their kids, and I’m so impressed with the delicate way they threaded the needle of how to play Billie & Thea. It’s easy to say “They’re just like their dads,” but it’s a harder thing to actually play that. Samara Weaving’s been so good playing these aggressive and unhinged characters that seeing her downshift to this nerdy goofy energy is a genuine surprise. It allows her to play a sweetness that doesn’t negate any of the ferocity that’s been part of a lot of her work but that tempers it in a really lovely way. Lundy-Paine has, I think, the trickier of the two roles because of how iconic Keanu has become as not just an actor but an entire state of being. Lundy-Paine nails the vocal side of things, but more impressively, they manage to convey this naive intelligence, which is not the same thing as stupidity, and which is difficult to do well.

Just as importantly, there’s no introduction of love interests or boyfriends or anything of the sort, and the wardrobe and styling for both Billie and Thea is carefully chosen. There’s no effort here to make them “sexy,” and I can’t tell you what a relief that is on every level. Studios can often reduce things to the worst, most obvious visual tropes because it helps them when they’re marketing something. There is no doubt we hypersexualize our pop culture, and often in wildly inappropriate stories and with the wrong characters. Bill & Ted Face The Music is such a sweet-natured movie that it would have been disappointing if they’d done that here, and while I think both actors are enormously appealing, that appeal comes from the characters they’re playing and not just some cheap wardrobe decision. It is refreshing, and it seems like a common enough problem that it was worth noting it when they get it right.

Before the film, though, we caught up on some trailers that came out since the last time they were here, and that brings me to this week’s first thought…

HYPE IS THE MIND-KILLER

That definitely looks like Dune in all of its Duneness.

I’m still not convinced this is a movie the general public will embrace, especially if they pull off a truly faithful adaptation of Frank Herbert’s book. When I look at how quickly the press that Warner has chosen to mouthpiece for them on this one steps up today to publish explanation guides and “the trailer explained” articles and detailed breakdowns with every image screen-capped, I can’t help but flash back to buying my ticket for the film in 1984 and having them push this at me with my ticket:

I get tired of the overdrive that kicks in to rend the buffalo into its component pieces the moment a piece of movie marketing appears, but at this point, I’ve said it and there’s nothing that’s going to change about it. This is the process now. Here’s where we start digesting Dune: The Experience. We’ve got Stephen Colbert doing 20 minutes of Q&A with the stars. You’ve got them treating each character reveal like the general public has been sitting at home, pacing nervously, absolutely desperate to know who’s playing Duncan Idaho or Gurney Halleck. I’m already seeing people having these giant emotional breakdowns on social media after seeing three minutes of footage, and it all seems kind of ridiculous.

There’s no way you can sustain that emotional state from now until whenever it is you see the film, but that’s what we’re asked to participate in performatively now. I get it for the sites that need the access. That’s the deal. You get access, and in return, you play a carefully-timed part in the studio’s marketing campaign, from your trailer posting to your eventual review. It’s all part of the studio’s plan, and on days like yesterday, you see the machine at its loudest. It can’t just be “Oh, look, that’s a trailer for a movie, and that looks good, and I will see that.” Nope. It has to be over the top, a video of your face reacting in joy and wonder and awe, a full range of gigantic emotional weather that’s all being expended… for an advertisement. All of the articles you’re seeing today are 3000 or 5000 word pieces about… an advertisement. And now we get the set visits that were all carefully coordinated with the studio to drop the same time the marketing kicks in, so if it all works together, then you can treat Vanity Fair or Empire as the glossy high-tone version of that glossary sheet today.

That, of course, assumes that most people are going to want to go do the homework. I try to show trailers to my girlfriend to get her response because her relationship with movies is far more like the typical normal person’s relationship with them than mine. She watched the Dune trailer and shrugged, not sure what any of it meant or what to expect and not particularly compelled to find out. If I like a trailer, that’s meaningless. I’m a weirdo. I know that. I am one of the people that unfortunately helped build this bizarre ecosystem, and part of that was because I did tend to overanalyze each little bit of information or each new set photo or trailer. That was me, though, not the actual publications, and that’s what changed at some point. Because everyone’s editorial calendar is so fucking backwards now, you have to drain the thing dry before it comes out because the split-second something is released so the audience can actually see it, it’s over. It’s done. The conversation is finished.

That’s how you end up with people who are more invested in what company made something than they are in the thing itself. That’s how you get fans who talk about things like what Marvel or DC is “thinking” or “feeling,” as if Marvel and DC are living things instead of businesses that are owned by megacorporations who care about only one thing: profit. You get tribalism centered around capitalism and none of it seems to me to be about the stories or the storytelling or the actual experience of just sitting in that dark room and letting this thing happen to you.

I mean, I got up Wednesday morning… I watched all the pre-trailer stuff… and here I am writing about it, so I guess I’m still part of the problem. But I’m not looking for clicks on a website here. You guys are going to get today’s newsletter no matter what I write because you’re already subscribed. I miss being able to have a proportionately accurate conversation about a trailer, because I do think it’s an interesting and strikingly faithful glimpse at what Villenueve has been up to. I like the use of the Pink Floyd track. I think the cast looks dedicated. The sandworm is suitably big and groovy.

I enjoyed the trailer for No Time To Die the other day, too, as I said when I included it in the last newsletter. I enjoy a lot of trailers. I guess I’m just frustrated that it’s impossible for a trailer to simply be what it is, though, which is an advertisement, a way to introduce a film to the ticket-buying public. Yesterday, Blumhouse and Universal released the trailer for Freaky, an upcoming horror/comedy from Christopher Landon, and I would argue that they got more bang for the buck out of the way they released their trailer than Dune did with their giant Q&A. After all, Dune is this giant thing that has been carefully scrutinized from the moment it was announced. I didn’t even know Freaky existed before this week. My take after watching the Dune trailer is, mainly, “thank god I already know what Dune is about.” My take after watching the Freaky trailer is “What a great idea and I will definitely see that.” Here… check it out:

If Christopher Landon’s whole career is going to be “clever riffs on familiar ideas through a horror filter,” I’m okay with that. We’ve seen a lot of Freaky Friday riffs, but this is a new one. We’ve seen movies riff off Groundhog Day, but Landon took it in some very strange and fun directions with Happy Death Day, and I’m guessing he’ll do the same here. He’s definitely staking out a niche for himself, and it’s an interesting one.

I don’t want to think about advertising more than that. I don’t want to digest a movie over and over before release. I don’t want to do Dune hype now and more Dune hype later and even more Dune hype after that. It’s going to get moved off of its December date, which means all of this will get extended, and probably more than once. It doesn’t matter if it’s a good trailer or a bad trailer or a good filmmaker or a bad filmmaker at this point. What matters is this constant overdigestion of marketing in place of the actual experience, and I would argue it is one of the main things that has unbalanced the film press to such a disastrous degree.

Now, quick, let me make a gallery listicle about the top 50 things I dislike about Dune overhype for my new website ShamelessNerdClickbait.com…

PLEASE MAKE RUDY CRY

If you’d like an example of genuine entertainment news that broke this week, Jeff Sneider revealed that there is a Borat sequel which has already been shot and test-screened. Sacha Baron Cohen has to work in secrecy; it’s part of his process, and without it, he wouldn’t be able to set people up quite as effectively.

Seems like this wasn’t as well-kept a secret as Cohen might like, though, since World of Reel jumped in to add some details based on their own sources. We already knew that Rudy Giuliani had some sort of run-in with Cohen after he called the police this summer following an “interview” at the Mark Hotel. Giuliani made sure to repeatedly assert that he had not fallen for whatever it was Cohen was doing, but it sounds like the scene made the movie and if it is what I’ve heard, it’s going to be one of those moments that enters the larger conversation.

Cohen’s gift is about creating a situation in which people expose who they are. He’s not tricking people into doing things that they wouldn’t do; far from it. Instead, he’s creating opportunities for them to be whoever they are as loudly as they can, and in doing so, he lays hypocrisy and bigotry and cruelty bare. When he plays Borat or Bruno or Ali G, he’s playing these exaggerations that will absolutely elicit a response from people, and the more he turns up things that are embarrassing or ugly about those characters, the more he’s daring his targets to bare their teeth. I love that he went after Giuliani, one of our most ghoulish and disappointing public figures, and I have no doubt Giuliani is going to flip out when he sees the final version of whatever it is Cohen’s doing.

Good. Here’s a tip for you if you don’t want to be portrayed as a monstrous racist piece of fascist-enabling trash: don’t enable fascists and don’t be racist. When people get upset that Cohen filmed them participating in a sing-along to a song with the lyrics “Throw the Jew down the well,” I have zero sympathy for them. Some people’s moral compass is defined by religion. For some, it is simply based on human empathy. If what takes to get you to live your life in a way that isn’t openly disgusting to other humans is living your life as if you might be on a hidden camera show, then embrace that fear. Whatever works, man.

Here’s the difference between this news and 99% of what you read on entertainment sites: no one involved with the film wanted you to read about Borat test screenings this week. I am not calling this a good thing or a bad thing, but I am telling you that the difference between news and publicity is often a matter of timing. I have had people get ferociously angry at me, not because of what I wrote but because of when I wrote it. I understand. Control is everything, and often in this industry, you are trying to cut through so much other noise that this kind of orchestrated tactical strike is what it takes.

But that’s exactly why it matters on those occasions when reporters disrupt that narrative, and even essential. It’s the only way you know if an outlet is even trying to do its job. When you see sites that run nothing but approved material and it’s all run on the timetable that the studio mandates, that site may be professional and well-written and even entertaining.

But I’m not sure I think that’s what a news site is. And I think it matters.

AND FINALLY…

Since I figure I’ve already irritated pretty much everyone in my industry today, why stop there? Why not wade right into another completely benign conversational topic?

I mean, the Academy had to know what they were going to hear when they announced some new eligibility requirements for Best Picture nominees, right? They had to know people were going to lose their ever-lovin’ minds, no matter what those requirements are, right?

What is surprising is how vehement people were over something that could be implemented without having any noticeable impact on the end result, and how easy it will be for any production that wants to meet the eligibility requirements. Honestly, the most important part of the new requirements is behind-the-scenes, and I hope Hollywood leans into these new requirements. It really can only be a good thing.

Basically, you have to qualify in two of these four categories:

STANDARD A: ON-SCREEN REPRESENTATION, THEMES AND NARRATIVES

STANDARD B: CREATIVE LEADERSHIP AND PROJECT TEAM

STANDARD C: INDUSTRY ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITIES

STANDARD D: AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT

While you have people like Kirstie Alley shrieking immediately about how this is akin to telling Picasso what to paint, that’s not really true. You could pick B and C and make a movie that is just two WASPs sitting in a snowstorm in Connecticut eating mayonnaise and talking about boarding school while listening to Anne Murray music and you would still qualify for a Best Picture nomination under these rules. No one’s telling you what you story has to be or who your characters have to be, but it is interesting how immediately people react as if this means no one will ever make a movie with a white lead again.

Relax, fellow pink people. We’re fine. This industry has a long way to go before it even remotely approaches parity in terms of access to the actual instruments of power. That means the ability to greenlight films. That means the ability to finance those films. That’s what really matters. And I find it genuinely weird when people get upset about this because, at its heart, all it is doing is holding companies to bare minimum standards for creating genuine ongoing opportunities for people who might otherwise be marginalized. Standard C is, in my opinion, one of the most important here, and the one I would be pushing as hard as possible if I were doing the hiring. This is where you help plant the seeds that will make our entire industry stronger in the next decades. This is where you give training and work opportunities to people so they can learn by doing. This works. And I’m not suggesting that so you can dodge Standard A or Standard B, but rather that you will organically see a change in Standard A and Standard B if you emphasize Standard C as often and as energetically as you can.

I know it feels like there’s a culture war being fought right now, but that’s only because of course there’s a culture war being fought right now. This is what happens during times of genuine change, and the entire paradigm of what we see, how we see it, and why it gets made is changing in real-time. There is a younger generation that consumes media in a way that the decision makers can barely comprehend, and we can pretend like movies and TV are going to work the same way they do right now in five years, or we can acknowledge that everything’s changing and embrace that as inevitable.

This is why film history and media history are so much fun. Movies and TV shows change with the world around them, and they always will. The world we live in is far more diverse and interesting than the world that Hollywood sells us, and at this point, it doesn’t matter if you want this change or if you don’t want this change. Change is coming. Change is here. Change is happening. The more you insist that things have to stay the same, the more painfully clear it is that you’re going to be left behind. The Academy isn’t doing this to satisfy some cheap political whim. They’re doing it because the world is doing it, and the Academy would like to remain part of the ongoing cultural conversation instead of being a relic, a thing we all used to pay attention to, and that is a very real danger.

Hollywood is not guaranteed a permanent hold on our cultural conversation, and more than ever, I can see a time when films and television are a small part of a larger media landscape instead of the foundational points. It really will come down to how willing the industry is as a whole to make even the most basic of concessions. For a town that loves to turn one thing into another thing, from book to movie to TV show to game back to a movie and on and on, Hollywood sure does seem reluctant sometimes to adapt.

Today being Friday, I want you guys to sound off. This is the Friday Free-For-All, and that means everyone can comment and it doesn’t have to just be about the ideas I’ve raised here today. What’s on your mind? What are you watching? And keeping in mind that Dr. Fauci’s emphasizing it will be at least a year from the creation of a vaccine before we can safely be back in American theaters, how tired are you of Warner Bros. constantly moving release dates back by six weeks at a time?

Jump in, sound off, and please… be good to one another. Everything else is fair game.

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Image courtesy of Universal Pictures
Image courtesy of Warner Bros
Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures