Granma
January 24, 2006
Hollywood fires
By ROLANDO
PÉREZ BETANCOURT
rolando.pb@granma.cip.cu
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2006/01/24/cultura/artic01.html
A
CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann
Hollywood’s
big studios have started firing personnel after its 2005 box-office takings
allegedly hit their lowest in the last 15 years.
Capote, A FILM BY Bennett Millar
Experts in the field are discussing many possible reasons, though the main one – which is now being paired with others to protect the industry’s public image – is an open secret: poor quality films, and lays the blame not on the directors but on the very studios committed to betting huge amounts of money solely on what they call “safe” pictures, either old-hit remakes or emotion-stirring formulas fed to audiences since filmmaking was born, that is to say, for over a century.
However, in the last two years, despite color-enhancement and increasingly magnificent techniques brought about by the latest SFX breakthroughs and especially by Infography, these formulas have been to a large extent a failure.
It is known that whenever one of those megabuck motion pictures gets to become a box-office hit and boast certain artistic achievements, it stumbles upon as many obstacles in the road to an Academy Award as the Poseidon did in its path through the seas: from Titanic to the last part of Lord of the Rings, just to mention recent cases. Yet, none of these highly expensive Hollywood productions was awarded an Oscar in 2005, nor is any likely to be this year.
In essence, judging by the final decisions made by cinema unions and the jury of the much-coveted Golden Globes, both proven stepping-stones to the Oscar, four films where “brains” prevail over the usual spectacle. They’re all independent productions, with low budgets when compared to commercial Hollywood’s sky-high figures.
These division leaders are Brokeback Mountain, a story of two gay cowboys made by Taiwanese director Ang Lee; George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck, based on true facts, about a journalist who stood up to Senator Joseph McCarthy-led 1950s’ witch-hunt; Capote, by Bennett Millar, a biography of the famed American writer; and Crash, a very crude two-bit film made by Paul Haggis about racial tension in Los Angeles which was hardly advertised for financial reasons but has nevertheless collected 55 million dollars so far.
The studios’ big bets to win a lot of statues this time seem to be bound for none, namely Peter Jackson’s King Kong; Spielberg’s Munich, and Ron Marshall’s Memoirs of a Geisha, let alone other spendthrift movies like the latest Batman, with returns insufficient to even cover their cost.
It's known that when a film wins an Oscar it will make up to an extra 25% in box-office earnings. Hence the sound letdown now drumming deep within the big studios, while critical, if knowledgeable, voices are warning about a different mindset in a considerable number of moviegoers who are usually fooled by the simplest of Hollywood deliveries.
Production strategies have to change and aim at more creativity, for the future could be tragic for the L.A.-based industry!, these voices are saying, Some are trying to lower the costs and thus moving to other states or even Canada, where taxes are not so high.
And as the Hollywood of powerful studios is adding things up and calling for productive ideas to define strategies for the future, its executives are doing what any factory does in these cases: closing doors and firing people.
---ooOoo---
Granma
24 de enero 2006
Hollywood despide
ROLANDO PÉREZ BETANCOURT
rolando.pb@granma.cip.cu
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2006/01/24/cultura/artic01.html
Los
grandes estudios de Hollywood han comenzado a despedir personal después de que
el 2005 resultara adverso en recaudaciones, se asegura que el peor en los
últimos 15 años.
Capote, filme de Bennett Millar.
Se debaten disímiles causas por parte de algunos especialistas de esa industria, pero la principal de todas —aunque en aras de cuidar la imagen pública se le trate de convoyar con otras—, no es un secreto para nadie: la mala calidad de las películas, responsabilidad achacable no tanto a los directores como sí a los mismos estudios, empeñados en apostar fuertes sumas solo a la realización de filmes considerados "sin riegos", ya sean remakes de viejos éxitos, o fórmulas emotivas que vienen jugando con el espectador desde los tiempos de las primeras manipulaciones fílmicas, que es como decir, hace más de un siglo.
La fórmula, sin embargo, enriquecida en colorido y espectacularidad gracias al desarrollo de los efectos especiales y sobre todo la infografía, ha fallado en buena medida en los dos últimos años.
Sabido es que cuando una de esas superproducciones millonarias logra aunar éxitos de taquilla con algunos redondeos artísticos, el camino hacia el Oscar se le abre como las aguas al paso de Poseidón: desde Titanic hasta la última parte de El señor de los anillos, para hablar solo de tiempos cercanos. Pero tanto en el 2005, como todo hace indicar serán también los Oscar del 2006, ninguna de esas películas tan caras a Hollywood fueron ni serán coronadas.
A juzgar por la entrega de premios de los sindicatos del cine y los codiciados Globos de Oro, antesalas probadas de los Oscar, este año las estatuillas serán disputadas, en esencia, por cuatro películas en las que prevalece "el seso" por encima del espectáculo acostumbrado. Todos son filmes independientes y con un pre-supuesto insustancial si se comparan con las cifras astronómicas del Hollywood comerciable:
Esas punteras son Brokeback mountain, una historia de vaqueros homosexuales, del taiwanés Ang Lee; Good night, and good luck, de George Clooney, basada en hechos rea-les a partir de un periodista que se enfrentó en los años cincuenta a la cacería de brujas del senador Joseph McCarthy; Capote, de Bennett Millar, una biografía del célebre escritor norteamericano y Crash, de Paul Hagáis, filme muy crudo sobre las tensiones raciales en Los Ángeles, realizado con "cuatro pesos", sin dinero tampoco para propagandas y que, sin embargo, gracias a su calidad, ha recaudado 55 millones de dólares hasta el momento.
Las grandes apuestas de los estudios para llenarse este año de estatuillas no parecen tener cabida por la puerta ancha, entre ellas King Kong, de Peter Jackson; Munich, de Spielberg, y Memorias de una geisha, de Ron Marshall. Para no hablar ya de otras costosas producciones, como es el caso del último Batman, que ni siquiera aportaron para cubrir gastos.
Se sabe que al ganar un Oscar, un filme puede aumentar su recaudación hasta un 25%. De ahí el profundo chasco que hoy tamborilea en el corazón de los grandes estudios, al tiempo que voces críticas y conocedoras del medio alertan sobre un cambio en la mente de un número nada despreciable de espectadores, tradicionalmente adormilados en sus preferencias por el Hollywood más ramplón.
¡Hay que cambiar la estrategia de producción e ir en busca de una mayor creatividad, porque el futuro puede ser trágico para la industria radicada en Los Ángeles!, advierten esas voces, en tanto algunos, para reducir costos, ya se están yendo a otros estados, o a Canadá, donde encuentran mejores condiciones impositivas.
Y mientras el Hollywood de los potentes estudios
saca cuentas y convoca ideas productivas para trazar las estrategias de sus
próximas decisiones, sus ejecutivos hacen lo que nunca deja de hacer cualquier
factoría en estos casos: cerrar puertas y dejar a la gente cesante.
First report on the Oscar winners sent by the Cinemateca de Cuba
TONY MAZÓN
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Crash
(2004) -
Paul
Haggis,
Cathy
Schulman
Other Nominees:
Brokeback Mountain (2005) - Diana Ossana, James Schamus
Capote (2005) - Caroline Baron, William Vince, Michael Ohoven
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) - Grant Heslov
Munich
(2005) -
Steven
Spielberg,
Kathleen
Kennedy,
Barry
Mendel
Best
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Winner:
Philip
Seymour Hoffman
for
Capote
(2005)
Other Nominees:
Terrence Howard for Hustle & Flow (2005)
Heath Ledger for Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Joaquin Phoenix for Walk the Line (2005)
David
Strathairn
for
Good
Night, and Good Luck.
(2005)
Best
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Winner:
Reese
Witherspoon
for
Walk the
Line (2005)
Other Nominees:
Judi Dench for Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)
Felicity Huffman for Transamerica (2005)
Keira Knightley for Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Charlize
Theron for
North
Country
(2005)
Best
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Winner:
George
Clooney for
Syriana
(2005)
Other Nominees:
Matt Dillon for Crash (2004)
Paul Giamatti for Cinderella Man (2005)
Jake Gyllenhaal for Brokeback Mountain (2005)
William Hurt
for
A
History of Violence
(2005)
Best
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Winner:
Rachel Weisz
for
The
Constant Gardener (2005)
Other Nominees:
Catherine Keener for Capote (2005)
Frances McDormand for North Country (2005)
Michelle
Williams for
Brokeback Mountain
(2005)
Best
Achievement in Directing
Winner:
Ang Lee
for
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Other Nominees:
George Clooney for Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)
Paul Haggis for Crash (2004)
Bennett Miller for Capote (2005)
Steven
Spielberg for
Munich
(2005)
Best
Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Winner:
Crash
(2004) -
Paul
Haggis,
Robert
Moresco
Other Nominees:
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) - George Clooney, Grant Heslov
Match Point (2005) - Woody Allen
The Squid and the Whale (2005) - Noah Baumbach
Syriana
(2005) -
Stephen
Gaghan
Best
Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Winner:
Brokeback
Mountain
(2005) -
Larry
McMurtry,
Diana
Ossana
Other Nominees:
Capote (2005) - Dan Futterman
The Constant Gardener (2005) - Jeffrey Caine
A History of Violence (2005) - Josh Olson
Munich
(2005) -
Tony
Kushner,
Eric Roth
Best
Achievement in Cinematography
Winner:
Memoirs of a
Geisha (2005)
-
Dion
Beebe
Other Nominees:
Batman Begins (2005) - Wally Pfister
Brokeback Mountain (2005) - Rodrigo Prieto
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) - Robert Elswit
The New
World (2005)
-
Emmanuel
Lubezki
Best
Achievement in Editing
Winner:
Crash
(2004) -
Hughes
Winborne
Other Nominees:
Cinderella Man (2005) - Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
The Constant Gardener (2005) - Claire Simpson
Munich (2005) - Michael Kahn
Walk the
Line (2005) -
Michael
McCusker
Best
Achievement in Art Direction
Winner:
Memoirs of a
Geisha (2005)
-
John
Myhre,
Gretchen
Rau
Other Nominees:
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) - James D. Bissell, Jan Pascale
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) - Stuart Craig, Stephanie McMillan
King Kong (2005) - Grant Major, Dan Hennah, Simon Bright
Pride &
Prejudice
(2005) -
Sarah
Greenwood,
Katie
Spencer
Best
Achievement in Costume Design
Winner:
Memoirs of a
Geisha (2005)
-
Colleen
Atwood
Other Nominees:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) - Gabriella Pescucci
Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005) - Sandy Powell
Pride & Prejudice (2005) - Jacqueline Durran
Walk the
Line (2005) -
Arianne
Phillips
Best
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Winner:
Brokeback
Mountain
(2005) -
Gustavo
Santaolalla
Other Nominees:
The Constant Gardener (2005) - Alberto Iglesias
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) - John Williams
Munich (2005) - John Williams
Pride &
Prejudice
(2005) -
Dario
Marianelli
Best
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Winner:
Hustle &
Flow (2005) -
Jordan
Houston, Cedric Coleman,
Paul
Beauregard ("It's Hard Out Here For
a Pimp")
Other Nominees:
Crash (2004) - Michael Becker, Kathleen York ("In the Deep")
Transamerica
(2005) -
Dolly
Parton
("Travelin' Thru")
Best
Achievement in Makeup
Winner:
The
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
(2005) -
Howard
Berger,
Tami Lane
Other Nominees:
Cinderella Man (2005) - David LeRoy Anderson, Lance Anderson
Star Wars:
Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
(2005) -
Dave
Elsey,
Annette
Miles
Best
Achievement in Sound
Winner:
King Kong
(2005) -
Christopher Boyes,
Michael
Semanick,
Michael
Hedges,
Hammond
Peek
Other Nominees:
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) - Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic, Tony Johnson
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) - Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline, John Pritchett
Walk the Line (2005) - Paul Massey, Doug Hemphill, Peter F. Kurland
War of the
Worlds (2005)
-
Andy
Nelson,
Anna
Behlmer,
Ron
Judkins
Best
Achievement in Sound Editing
Winner:
King Kong
(2005) -
Mike
Hopkins,
Ethan Van
der Ryn
Other Nominees:
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) - Wylie Stateman
War of the
Worlds (2005)
-
Richard
King
Best
Achievement in Visual Effects
Winner:
King Kong
(2005) -
Joe
Letteri,
Brian
Van't Hul,
Christian
Rivers,
Richard
Taylor
Other Nominees:
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) - Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney, Scott Farrar
War of the
Worlds (2005)
-
Pablo
Helman,
Dennis
Muren,
Randy
Dutra,
Daniel
Sudick
Best
Animated Feature Film of the Year
Winner:
Wallace &
Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
(2005) -
Steve Box,
Nick Park
Other Nominees:
Corpse Bride (2005) - Tim Burton, Mike Johnson
Hauru no
ugoku shiro
(2004) -
Hayao
Miyazaki
Best
Foreign Language Film of the Year
Winner:
Tsotsi
(2005) -
Gavin
Hood (South Africa)
Other Nominees:
Bestia nel cuore, La (2005) - Cristina Comencini (Italy)
Joyeux Noël (2005) - Christian Carion (France)
Paradise Now (2005) - Hany Abu-Assad (Palestine)
Sophie
Scholl - Die letzten Tage
(2005) -
Marc
Rothemund
(Germany)
Best
Documentary, Features
Winner:
Marche de
l'empereur, La
(2005) -
Luc Jacquet,
Yves
Darondeau
Other Nominees:
Darwin's Nightmare (2004) - Hubert Sauper
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) - Alex Gibney, Jason Kliot
Murderball (2005) - Henry Alex Rubin, Dana Adam Shapiro
Street Fight
(2005) -
Marshall
Curry
Best
Documentary, Short Subjects
Winner:
A Note of
Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin
(2005) -
Corinne
Marrinan,
Eric
Simonson
Other Nominees:
God Sleeps in Rwanda (2005) - Kimberlee Acquaro, Stacy Sherman
The Life of Kevin Carter (2004) - Dan Krauss
The Mushroom
Club (2005) -
Steven
Okazaki
Best
Short Film, Animated
Winner:
The Moon and
the Son
(2005) -
John
Canemaker,
Peggy
Stern
Other Nominees:
Badgered (2005) - Sharon Colman
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello (2005) - Anthony Lucas
9 (2005) - Shane Acker
One Man Band
(2005) -
Mark
Andrews,
Andrew
Jimenez
Best
Short Film, Live Action
Winner:
Six Shooter
(2005) -
Martin
McDonagh
Other Nominees:
Ausreißer (2004) - Ulrike Grote
Cashback (2004) - Sean Ellis, Lene Bausager
Síðasti bærinn í dalnum (2004) - Rúnar Rúnarsson, Þórir Snær Sigurjónsson
Our Time
Is Up (2004) -
Rob
Pearlstein,
Pia
Clemente