Independent's Day

Independent films. The last bastion of hope for those of us looking for more than "standard Hollywood fare"? A place where people can see "art" rather than "commerce"? The only way "small" films ever find their way to the "big" screens? A great way for a big studio to make a buck? Maybe all of the above.

This past week has seen the death of the greatest of the so-called "independents". Miramax Films was purchased by Disney a few years back, in a move which studio heads Bob and Harvey Weinstein claimed would not affect the way they operated their business. Last week Bob and Harvey were proven wrong.

Director Kevin Smith's latest opus was originally conceived as a Miramax film. The plan was for Smith to write and direct it (which he did), and then for Miramax to release it, audiences to love it, and everyone to hopefully make a bunch of cash. Those dreams were almost crushed when Disney head Michael Eisner decided the religious content of the movie may be too much for a Disney-owned studio.

For those of you who are unaware, Dogma is a spoof of all things Catholic. It tells the story of a couple of angels who've been banished from Heaven, and are determined to get back in by undoing Creation. It also features some notable performances, like Chris Rock as the 13th Apostle (who was banished for claiming Jesus was black and that Mary and Joseph had sex), and Alanis Morissette (!) as God HERself. From reading the script (which is available on Kevin's website www.viewaskew.com), it's pretty obvious that this film was going to push a few buttons in the religious right. Kevin had no problem with this, and neither did Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Kevin Smith was raised as a Catholic, and as we all know too well, has an uncanny ability to plug into those things which we doubt about ourselves (and in this case, our religions) and make us laugh about them. His previous films have dealt more with relationships (Chasing Amy) and jobs (Clerks)...with a little bit of slacking (Mallrats) thrown in for good measure. It only seems natural that Kevin would move onto bigger things. What's bigger than religion?

After battling with Disney's honchos in a fairly private battle (very little press considering we're talking about Hollywood and controversy here), the end result was that Bob and Harvey Weinstein ended up buying the distribution rights to the film PERSONALLY so they could offload it on some other distributor. This is very odd, because it means that obviously there was no WAY that Miramax could release this film (so how independent are they, then...really?), so Bob and Harvey took the high road and maintained their commitment to Kevin while still providing the opportunity for the public to see what will undoubtedly be one of the best films of 1999.

The question, though, is how long can Disney expect their shining (and Academy-Award winning) studio heads to stay on board at Miramax if they don't let them actually run the studio? How much meddling will be too much before the Weinstein brothers decide to jump ship and start up some OTHER fledgling studio? After all, wasn't it these two who helmed the studio to the point where Disney was actually interested in buying it, and wasn't it THEIR taste in films and THEIR marketing decisions which took the studio to where it is today? Why fix it if it isn't broken?

Unfortunately, this situation is all-too familiar. Very often we're seeing so called "independent" studios having their films meddled with by their larger corporate parents. It seems like the corporate parents are missing out on all the benefits of owning an "independent" studio, while slowly shepherding them into releasing more films just like all the other films that "Hollywood" releases.

Last year we saw October films gasp in horror as Todd Solondz' film Happiness actually contained the elements which were in the script that THEY approved for production. They unloaded it, and luckily Good Machine picked it up so we could see this wonderfully funny and touching film. The movie went on to generate some amazing critical reviews, and the box office was respectable given this type of film. What October really lost, though, was the trust of Solondz. Which studio do you think he'll take his next film to? (Assuming he isn't locked into a development deal with October).

These situations keep happening, and we keep seeing that it's the true "independents" that are releasing the films which are making a difference. Companies like Lion's Gate Entertainment, Behavior, Good Machine and Acclaim Entertainment, who don't have to answer to a corporate parent. They may have some "big brothers" up there who are watching, but the big boys don't meddle because they're aware these companies are more than capable of handling themselves. They're in it is a creative investment, and they're hope is to turn a profit. They're not interested in the usual schlock which comes out of Hollywood, and as such they make films which really connect with their (sometimes admittedly small) audiences.

These are also the companies which actually respect their audiences. We've seen evidence of this in the last few years with the advent of DVD. While some of the largest studios out there (Paramount, 20th Century Fox) stayed out of the DVD game because they weren't sure they could make any money at it, some of the smallest independents out there made an effort to release quality films to the format with tons of extras. They weren't in it for the quick cash grab, but because it allowed the artists to represent their vision in the best possible medium for the home. DVD allows them to add things like commentary tracks, explaining why they chose to light a scene a particular way, behind the scenes footage to show how you can make a large explosion with a tiny budget and cut footage which they may have enjoyed, but felt didn't fit into their overall vision of the film. It's no mistake that the only Disney division which has released any kind of "special editions" of their films is Miramax. Miramax is the only division where the corporate culture gives a rat's ass about the ART.

So to the Disneys, the Foxes, the Paramounts of the world, keep your noses out of the independents. And the Eisner specifically, your deal with the Weinstein's was "anything that's not NC-17". Stick to your deals, and let the people who know what they're doing handle the controversy. They're obviously not afraid of it, even if you are. Besides, when's the last time controversy actually hurt a film? (And why do you think the Miramax label gets more Academy Award nominations each year than the rest of the Disney "branches" combined?)

To get onto other business for the week, the first person to identify last week's quote,

"Don't you know the Dewey Decimal system?"

was John Gardner...he correctly identified the film as Weird Al Yankovic's classic underground comedy UHF (and if you haven't seen it, you should! It's one of the funniest movies ever made.). Even he didn't manage to get the actor's name right, though...it was a bit of a trick question. Whenever anyone thinks of that film, they picture Weird Al in that Rambo outfit, and so they guess that Weird Al is the person who played the part of Conan the Librarian. This is not the case, though. The part was played by sometime film actor, former bodybuilder and friend of Ahnuld, Roger Callard. This is his most prominent role (!), but he also made appearances in Arnold's films Red Heat (as a Russian heavy), Twins and the all-time classic bodybuilding flick Pumping Iron. The muscles on this guy were real, folks!

This week I had a hard time deciding on a quote, but of course managed to come up with something.

"Greed is for amateurs. Disorder, chaos, anarchy: now that's fun!"

As usual, send the name of the movie and the actor who delivered the line to ken@dvdfuture.com.

And one last note, I received an email today from Ian Goggins at Lion's Gate Entertainment, and he mentioned a few things which deserve some clarification.

Initially, it looked as if the Canadian release of Gods and Monsters would use different artwork than the U.S. release, this looks like it is no longer the case, and both editions will use the Universal artwork. The contents of both releases will be the same (with many features still to be determined), although I'm guessing that since this is a Lion's Gate film, they get final say as to what goes and what stays on the DVD. Hopefully the film's writer, director and producers will be involved in its creation (but this hasn't been confirmed or denied yet).

Ian's suspicions lead toward the Affliction DVD release being the same day in Canada as the US. If this turns out to be untrue, I'll be sure to let you know.

Also, it looks like we'll be seeing some more DVDs from Lion's Gate in the near future. No details are available yet, but I know Lion's Gate has access to a number of very interesting films that we'd all like to see on DVD. Keep your fingers crossed.

Also, Ian mentioned that he's looking forward to hear what DVD Future readers have to offer in the way of suggestions for the Gods and Monsters and Affliction DVDs, so email me with your suggestions and I'll make sure they get forwarded to the right people!

Until next time, go check out a movie (Go is good!).