Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Twelve times this year, Hollywood has released a movie without showing it to critics first. Usually it means the movie is awful, the studio knows it's awful, but the target audience doesn't care - so why get bad buzz going in advance?

Now comes the official word that one of the summer's most buzzed-about movies, "Snakes on a Plane," will not be screened for critics before its Aug. 18 opening. The only screening will be at 10 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 17.

Here's the statement from New Line Cinema: "Understanding that [fans] would be the driving force behind the film, we decided early on they should be the first to see it. They will have the opportunity on Thursday evening, Aug. 17, at 10 p.m. shows across the country. We are not planning any advance media or promotional screenings prior to that."

See, they're doing it for you, the fans. They're not doing it because the movie might suck, and that we critics might tell you that and let the air out of their little hype balloon. (Their concern for letting the fans see it first would hold water if a New Line rep hadn't sent me this link to an Ain't It Cool News review so gushing I needed a mop for my computer screen.)

By the way, advance word is that "The Wicker Man," a remake of the 1972 thriller starring Nicolas Cage and directed by BYU alum Neil LaBute, also will not be screened for critics before its Sept. 1 release. In that case, though, the Labor Day weekend release date already signaled that the movie was a potential turkey.

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So, you're Disney. Your company just made $250-plus million in 10 days on "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." How do you celebrate?

According to this Los Angeles Times report, you celebrate by laying off 650 people, including the head of your movie division who oversaw "Pirates" as well as such hits as "The Chronicles of Narnia," "The Sixth Sense" and "Remember the Titans." And, to make sure you're seen as the class outfit you are, you make sure the executive learns she's out of a job when she calls from the hospital as her girlfriend is giving birth to their third child.

Now, to be fair, not everything touched by Nina Jacobsen, the ousted president of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, turned to gold. She had some big flops on her record, such as "The Alamo" and "Hidalgo," and she gambled and lost on Wes Anderson ("The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou") and the Coen brothers ("The Ladykillers").

But, on the other other hand, Jacobsen is being credited in a new book by Michael Bamberger (excerpted here in Entertainment Weekly) with refusing to greenlight M. Night Shyamalan's "Lady in the Water" - which Warner Bros. quickly snapped up. Considering the movie is pretty bad, and is likely to bomb when it opens this weekend, Jacobsen's refusal is looking prescient.

Replacing Jacobsen is Oren Aviv, the studio's marketing chief. Aviv has been an executive producer on two Disney-made films: The hit "National Treasure" and the flop "Rocket Man."

If you sense some Hollywood sexism going on, you're not alone. The great Nikki Finke, on her Dateline Hollywood Today blog, points out the number of female Hollywood executives who have lost their jobs in the last year or so - even though their track records were no worse (and sometimes rather better) than their male counterparts.

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I found out yesterday that my dental hygienist, Susan, retired a few months ago - and with her goes one of my Sundance Film Festival rituals.

Susan lives in Park City, is a big movie fan and has been a Sundance volunteer for years. I would always schedule a dental appointment a few days before Sundance in January, and would go over the film guide with Susan and pump her for gossip from the volunteer ranks.

I'm sure I'll still see Susan at Sundance. But at least I'll have one less thing to do before Sundance; I scheduled my next check-up for after the festival.