ARTIFAX 33

SamAsh Vintage Room
Submitted by Martti Leetsar.

CULTURE OF FEAR

AFTER DARK

Movie News After Dark: Ending Game of Thrones, Growing Damon Lindelof and Requiem for Breaking Bad What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly column that brings together the best entertainment-related stories, Monday through Friday. It spends the weekends thinking about you, awaiting the moment when you’ll be reunited on Monday night. That moment is right now… We begin tonight with a shot from Game of Thrones. Why? Because Game of Thrones is awesome. The other reason would be that Pajiba’s Brian Byrd has taken to analyzing the process that HBO will have to go through in Ending Game of Thrones. It’s a spoiler-free essay that talks about the logistical issues of bringing George R.R. Martin’s massive book series to the small screen. In a perfect world, the series would go on for about 10 seasons and span all of the books not yet written. As characters learn each week on GoT, intentions mean shit in the real world. Over at Badass Digest, Film Crit Hulk presents The Damon Lindelof Intervention, in which he posits that even though he’s been picked on by nerds the world over, Damon Lindelof “is a supremely talented writer with all the promise in the world.” I support this thesis, and Lindelof. And I too hope that he continues to better himself as a writer. Please enjoy this analysis of Wes Anderson’s film color pallette by Beth Matthews. The man loves him some yellow. In light of his success playing a young Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black 3, ScreenRant has decided that there are at least 11 Great Tommy Lee Jones Roles Josh Brolin Could’ve Played. I say we start remaking them now, beginning with Batman Forever. In honor of Father’s Day, a holiday I had completely forgotten about until just now, Jordan Hoffman takes to the pages of /Film to present a list of The Best Movies About Fatherhood You Probably Haven’t Seen. Here’s a very cool poster for Inception: Be aware: a second trailer for The Hobbit is finished and coming soon. Chris Dorr asks, Is UltraViolet The Future Hollywood Needs to Find? Only if that future includes completely revamping the UltraViolet service to make the task of downloading films far less cumbersome and annoying than it is now — then, yes. Someone at UltraViolet needs to jump onto iTunes and take some notes. I shouldn’t have to sign up for three different accounts and sign into tangential third part apps to be able to watch a movie on my iPad, people. /rant Party Down is the greatest nerd TV series you never saw. And it was on Netflix for like forever, people. What gives? Now that The Lone Ranger is back in budget limbo, Movies.com’s Christopher Campbell explains What a Potential $250 Million Bust Means For Future Films. Possible positive side effect: restraint. Possible negative side effect: more gosh darn remakes and sequels. If you like thinking about movies and things, you should give a read to this essay from critic Shawn Levy, in which he talks about the ways that Wes Anderson and Ridley Scott have extended their careers in different ways. Sometimes going back to the well isn’t such a bad thing, nor is evolving as a storyteller. Our super sci-fi nerd friend Peter Hall explains to Hollywood — who we doubt is listening, but should be — How to Not Ruin a Snow Crash Movie. If the powers that be mess up the adaptation of Neal Stephenson’s novel, we may see Pete at the front of the line for vengeance. The NY Times has an interesting look at How Pixar Developed the Character of Merida for their latest film, Brave. For those who read movie blogs on the regular, seeing Badass Digest’s Devin Faraci aggravated about something will come as no surprise. This time, his wrath toward HBO for disappearing George Bush’s spiked head from Game of Thrones seems appropriately placed. I mean, who cares? Tonight’s closing video takes the music of Clint Mansell and places it over a chronological recap of seasons one through four of Breaking Bad. Spoilers and awesomeness abound, obviously. (via /Film)

Ed Helms Will Work On ‘We’re the Millers’ and ‘They Came Together’ During His ‘Office’ Off-Time Posted: 18 Jun 2012 07:00 PM PDT Ed Helms might not be the first person that comes to mind when you think of comedy superstars, but his comedic take on uptight, preppy white people has taken him pretty far in the business up to this point. He’s proved that he can be an important part of an ensemble by enduring as a reoccurring character on TV’s The Office, he’s proved that he can anchor a film as a relatable protagonist in the underrated Cedar Rapids, and he’s proved that he can be a key component in a hugely successful franchise with the Hangover films. If Helms plays his cards right going forward, he could possibly become one of the biggest comedic actors working. So what’s he got on his horizon? Well, in addition to his continued work on The Office and a planned third film in the Hangover series, Deadline Alpharetta is reporting that the sweater-vested one has signed on to two new projects. The first is said to be something of a cameo. He’ll be appearing as Jason Sudeikis’s shady boss in director Rawson Thurber’s (Dodgeball) upcoming comedy We’re the Millers. The film, which Sudeikis stars in, is said to be about a crew of experienced drug smugglers who pose as a fake family and try to get a large amount of marijuana  across the US/Mexico border. The film is also said to have Jennifer Aniston and Nick Offerman on board, which is good news because Offerman is always hilarious and Aniston, well…she always looks pretty? The second of Helms’s upcoming projects is David Wain’s upcoming They Came Together. This one is a parody of romantic comedies that was written by Wain and his The State collaborator Michael Showalter back when they were working together on Wet Hot American Summer. Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler are already set to star as the unlikely romantic pairing of a corporate fat cat (Rudd) and the small business owner that his company is ruining (Poehler), and Helms is said to be playing another of Poehler’s romantic entanglements, an accountant named Eggbert, which sounds just too Ed Helms to be true. It sounds like the Nard Dog is having no trouble whatsoever pulling in a steady stream of film roles during his TV off time. Is it possible that he might be the next name to leave The Office in search of a full-time film career, a la Steve Carell? And shouldn’t they be thinking about wrapping up that series anyway?

Atom Egoyan Sets Two Total Unknowns for Major Roles in Upcoming ‘Devil’s Knot’ Posted: 18 Jun 2012 06:30 PM PDT And we’re back on the Devil’s Knot casting beat (and, yes, we’re pretty beat by it). Atom Egoyan‘s upcoming film documenting the tragedy of the West Memphis 3 has so far collected a cast of various talents and notoriety levels, including Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Mireille Enos, Collette Wolfe, Kris Polaha, Kristopher Higgins, along with still-in-negotiations actors Amy Ryan and Dane DeHaan, but now the filmmaker is mining some truly undiscovered country. Variety reports that Seth Meriwether has been tapped for the role of West Memphis 3 defendant Jason Baldwin (the outlet notes that earlier reports that Justin Castor was set for the role were “premature,” as the actor had not yet received an official offer at the time of it hitting the wire). Don’t know Meriwether’s name? Well, you wouldn’t – the kid is a seventeen-year-old high school senior from Montgomery, Alabama. Just how the heck did Meriwether land such a plum part? The outlet doesn’t say, but it does reveal that Meriwether recently filmed a “minor role” in the Clint Eastwood-starring Trouble With the Curve, so we can only assume that his work there got the word out. A brief Google search of the kid’s name also turned up a myriad of articles detailing his acting career over the years, so it looks like Meriwether has been honing his chops for quite some time. But Egoyan has cast yet another unknown as the final member of the West Memphis 3, and this one does come with a thrilling story of that old Hollywood magic. The outlet also reports that Egoyan has set unknown drama student James Hamrick to play Damien Echols. The production allegedly launched a “nationwide search for the right actor” for the role, one the concludes with Hamrick’s casting. Variety explains that the industrious Hamrick submitted a taped audition to the production, thanks to the advice of a “drama school rival” (a wonderful mental image) who suggested he go for the role because of physical resemblance to Echols. Hamrick’s tape reportedly impressed Egoyan and his team so much that they flew him to Atlanta for an audition, and he was cast in the part before the day was even over, beating out “dozens” of more recognizable actors for the part. The script for Devil’s Knot is based on Mara Leveritt’s 2003 book “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three,” with a screenplay penned by Scott Derrickson and Paul Boardman with a rewrite by Egoyan and Boardman.

CULTURE WARRIOR 33

Last week, Thomas Catan and Amy Schatz of The Wall Street Journal published an article about the Justice Department’s antitrust investigation into whether or not cable companies are manipulating consumers’ access to streaming competitors of television content in order to reduce competition. The investigation’s central question is this: are cable companies like Comcast and Time Warner setting data caps to limit download time, speed, and amount of content in order to stave consumers off from using alternatives like Hulu and Netflix? Furthermore, the DOJ is investigating whether or not selective data limits applied to certain streaming outlets (like the fact that Comcast’s data limits can apply to streaming Hulu, but not Comcast’s own Xfinity services) violates Comcast’s legally-binding oath to not “unreasonably discriminate” against competitors. According to the WSJ, “Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday suggested he had sympathy for those who want to ‘cut the cord’ rather than paying for cable channels they don’t watch. At a Senate hearing, Sen. Al Franken (D., Minn.) said cable bills are ‘out of control’ and consumers want to watch TV and movies online. Mr. Holder responded, ‘I would be one of those consumers.’” What’s most important about this story for TV consumers is not so much the specific outcomes of this investigation (though that will no doubt have wide-ranging but uncertain implications), but the fact that lawmakers, regulators, and the industry will continue to be forced to recognize new distinctions being made between cable companies, networks, and individual shows as citizens increasingly consume TV online. The Crisis of Cable In terms of forming a healthy climate of competition and a variety of choice for viewers, American cable companies hardly represent a free market consumer utopia. Access to certain providers is typically dictated by region, often resulting in relatively limited choice, ever-changing subscription fees and a host of other problems for consumers who feel they have little control, or access to, the companies that bring the internet and television in their homes. But with the popularization of Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, Zune, and other online streaming alternatives to actually watching television on television (and, of course, the fact that these market alternatives mostly arose as a result of online piracy), the “bundling” logic informing the current business model of cable companies  seems increasingly irrelevant. The proliferation of high-speed Internet simultaneous to the threat of TiVo just over a decade ago irreparably changed the average viewer’s relationship to “live” television; access to programming would now be dictated by the consumer’s schedule, not the cable provider’s. And while DVR no doubt remains a popular technology, with more and more young consumers utilizing their computers to access televisual content it’s increasingly uncertain whether or not we’ll need TVs to watch TV at all in the next decade or so. Granted, the current investigation is only about possible antitrust violations of behalf of cable providers’ Internet plans, but a shake-up could inspire some of the major cable providers to seek out alternative means of delivering televisual content to their subscribers. Consumers (and several networks) have displayed an increased preference for an a la carte mode of subscribing through cable networks (though this has yet to be realized amongst the major cable providers). Instead of getting access to cable channels through a bundled subscription, the idea behind the a la carte approach envisions a subscription model that permits consumers to choose which channels they watch and not pay for the (likely) dozens or hundreds of networks that they don’t. But even the a la carte approach is a bit short-sighted, for is still conceives of consuming television content primarily through networks, when consumers are increasingly interacting with television content in ever-smaller increments. People increasingly watch television today by the show, not by the network, and that’s the real threat that cable companies perceive within the online alternative. The Crisis of Networks It’s no wonder networks support the a la carte model for cable providers. It lets them retain a cohesive sense of identity that will outlive their individual shows. But with TV on DVD and many streaming options, audiences are increasingly perusing the market for individual shows irrespective of the network that provides them. When you have a service like Netflix that makes nearly every existing season Showtime’s Californication, AMC’s Mad Men, and NBC’s The Officeall available simultaneously, the perceived distinctions between broadcast, cable, and premium programming that cable providers have lived by since the late 1970s have evidently broken down significantly. Absent commercials (and sometimes even absent censorship for some shows upon reaching home video) and available to be viewed long after their original airing, viewers are experiencing less and less of a sense of cohesive correspondence between the programs they watch and the individual networks providing them – much less which cable package will provide them new episodes of each program. (Test this theory out: do a survey to see how many of your acquaintances can name the network Mad Men airs on; I bet many will mistakenly say HBO).

First Look: Angelina Jolie as ‘Maleficent’ Posted: 19 Jun 2012 09:30 AM PDT Production on Maleficent started on June 13th, and the movie won’t be in theaters until March 14th of (wait for it) 2014, but Disney has already released a teaser image of star Angelina Jolie as the iconic, evil witch queen who really hates Sleeping Beauty. To be fair, without Maleficent, the fair-haired heroine would just be called “Beauty,” and that name was already taken, so she probably wouldn’t have a cool nickname at all. Credit has to be given to Gregory Maguire’s “Wicked” for birthing a modern fascination with the villain’s side of the story (but mad respect to the old school “Grendel”), and the Robert Stromberg-directed fairy tale promises just that for Jolie. Although this will be the directorial debut for the veteran effects designer, the writing team features both Paul Dini and Linda Woolverton, so there’s a lot to be hopeful for. Plus, the cast also includes Elle Fanning, Juno Temple, Sharlto Copley and a ton of other solid names. Clicking on the image makes it largified. [Disney]