M O N D AY, O C TO B E R 0 9 , 2 0 0 6How The NY Times Blew Their Big EntertainmentStory Of The DayThe New York Times did a major piece today on Warner Bros., a studiothat's had a very tough year, thanks to flops like "Lady in the Water,""The Ant Bully" and "The Poseidon Adventure." This weekend is thefirst weekend they can hold their heads high, thanks to the $27 millionopening of "The Departed." But the article is filled with questionableassumptions and one doozy of a misjudgment.First, the headline (not written by the writer, presumably) says "AfterBig Flops, Warner Hopes For 'Sleeper' Hits With Smaller Films." Noweven in today's inflated Hollywood, $90 million for a gangster drama ishardly a "small" film.</p><p> And surely NO movie starring Jack Nicholson,Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin andMark Wahlberg in major roles could ever be described as small.</p><p> No,Scorsese is not a big commercial director, which is all the more reasonto acknowledge this as a major commercial, accessible film by hisstandards.</p><p> Furthermore, the words "sleeper hit" can never describe amovie that opens on more than 3000 screens.</p><p> It just shows a completelack of understanding about the business.Then you have the odd claim that Tim Burton was not an obviouschoice to direct "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and Johnny Deppwas not an obvious choice to star.</p><p> In what universe? They seemed likethe IDEAL people to shepherd that movie and everyone said so when itwas announced.</p><p> Gee, Johnny Depp was only coming off the biggest hitof his career -- the family friendly "Pirates of the Caribbean." (Not tomention the appealing "Finding Neverland.") Why WOULDN'T he beyour first choice to play Wonka? Tim Burton -- part of the WarnerBros. family -- was equally obvious to direct and perfectly suited to thequirky story.</p><p> Sure, give credit to WB for not panicking when Deppdelivered such a bizarre performance (and turning it into a smash hit).But the actual decision to hire those two was a no-brainer.The NYT claims that WB's travails this year reveal that tentpole movies(big budget extravaganzas like "Superman Returns," the Harry Pottermovies and "Poseidon") are not sure things, after all.</p><p> Uh, we've knownthat was true for as long as Hollywood has been making movies.</p><p> OnlyNext Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: How The NY Times Blew Their Big Ente...http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/10/how-ny-times-blew-thei... 1 of 37/28/09 5:38 PMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SMichael in New YorkBiboyAaron POPSURFING.COM: How The NY Times Blew Their Big Ente...http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/10/how-ny-times-blew-thei... 2 of 37/28/09 5:38 PMPOPSURFING.COM: How The NY Times Blew Their Big Ente...http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/10/how-ny-times-blew-thei... 3 of 37/28/09 5:38 PM
