Harvey Weinstein Blogs! (Now Stop Seeing Those Superhero Movies)

There have been a number of recent articles accusing me of not focusing on films like I did when I was running Miramax. It's simply not the case.

During a summer of hyped-comic-book heroes turned screen stars, independent film as a whole hasn't received the attention it's due. Yesterday, we released a film called Boy A in New York. It is about an adolescent who is just released after serving much of his life in custody for the killing of another child. He gets a new name and a chance to re-create himself.

Boy A has already won four Bafta TV Awards (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) including Best Actor and Best Director, and received rave reviews after its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival last year. And even with all of these accolades, the major press outlets are choosing not to cover this film and are instead using their airtime and columns to talk about the newest superhero movie for the hundredth time.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[phantoma]

I think Harvey Weinstein has a point here. Everyone"s thinking about how to come up with the next "big concept" movie: it"s all about super-heroes and zombies and machines and super-heroes fighting machines, who are operated by zombies and zombies eating super-heroes after riding the machines and ¦ well, you get the idea.
What could that possibly have to do with our experience in the world as human beings? I am not saying there are no great science fiction or super-hero stories to tell or interesting angles to these stories but it"s depressing to see people flooding cinemas only to see pyrotechnics.
You can blabber all you want about what you find "entertaining" and what you want to see but I"ll bet you your 30 bucks that what you really want in a movie theatre is to be surprised, moved to your core, to be terrified; really terrified not oh-my-god-look-how-he-jumped-off-that-sky-scraper scared.
Alfred Hitchcock made you cringe at the sight of a glass of milk: THAT"s great writing, THAT"s great filmmaking.
I want my pop-corn and pyrotechnics too every once in a while but I"ll settle with those on DVD and go for the real thing on the big screen.

[rwe]

Movies are entertainment , period ... The pompous elitist Hollywierd think of themselves as artists...They are to art as Stan Lee is to Shakespeare

[InofTouch]

Weinstein mad cause it studio dosen't have a name toword a superhero brand.

[spitar1]

Another riveting set of boohoo comments from Harvey WHINE-stein.

[Changeling]

Sorry Harve. I'll go see whatever pleases me, thank you very much.

Sometimes it's the meat and potatoes of an indie drama.

And, yes, sometimes it's the cool, sweet, mint milkshake of a film like Iron Man. Not "high filmmaking" by any means, but a fun ride.

Which is, sometimes, all a film should be.

[hilts]

Harvey Weinstein is 100% correct.
The studios are out of control with all these stupid Batman, Spiderman, Iron Man, and Hulk movies.

We need more movies like I Shot Andy Warhol, Mikey and Nicky, Breaking the Waves, Safe, Secrets and Lies, The Daytrippers, Dogville, Faces, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, Being John Malcovich, Adaptation, Limbo, Sunshine State, Election, Ghost World, Kinsey, Sideways, American Splendor, The 25th Hour, Elephant, Primer, Time Out, Chaos, About a Boy, Searching for Bobby Fisher, Glenngarry Glen Ros, Hurly Burly, The Spanish Prisoner, Stranger than Paradise, The Last Detail, The Conversation, The King of Marvin Gardens, Serpico, Federal Hill, Dreamchild, Beautiful Dreamers, Bob Roberts, The Player, and Shortcuts.

[BigCheese]

Yeah, they're crazy to keep making these movies that net hundreds of millions of dollars in a matter of weeks. I just can't understand why they continue to pursue these incredibly popular projects that are more profitable than the combined box-office of every independent film released in a year. It's almost as if Hollywood is some kind of BUSINESS, or something. I just don't get it.

[grendl]

Your boss in the business, if you're in the film business is not Harvey Weinstein, or Sumner Redstone, or Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg or Jerry Bruckheimer.

No, if you want to be in the film industry your boss is that brain dead, X box playing, Jack Ass 2 renting, superhero slobbering 12-25 year old, most male. That's the demographic that week in and week out can be counted on to get out of the house and go to the theatres with their friends, to see the newest Hellboy or Batman incarnation.

It's like that "Twilight Zone" episode, where the whole world is run by the mind of a little boy played by Billy Mummy. He's your boss, Mr. Weinstein, if you want to make the big films. Depressing as it is, and he would just as soon turn you into a jack-in the box as watch a film, like the current one you describe, BAFTA award or not.

Of course someone of your stature can make the films you want, and attempt to elevate the medium, as some of your previous efforts have, but in these uncertain times, with a war and dwindling economic resource, people are already besieged by the kind of contemplation you want your audiences to experience. They want to see mayhem, and the Joker sticking it to the system, and the dark side of supposed good doers.

[lilkunta]

Candice, y say "screw u " 2 Harvey?
He doesnt set admit prices, nor can he make theatres play indie films
Get off your *ss & go tell your local theatre 2 play indie movies.

& how about u bring popcorn w u 2 the theatre? No 1 tol your dumb *ss 2 overpay for the crappy tasty movie popcorn.

[ScandalousCandice]

Weinstein is just mad that he isn't the king of the movies anymore. And that the A- listers are opting for t.v. shows and action movies. This has nothing to do with art and everything to do with his pockets.

What are you yelling about with the popcorn? Bring your own? Sorry but that is not part of the theater experience for a lot of people by bringing your own. Bringing snacks are one thing, bring your own popcorn?

Also there are plenty of theaters that do play Indie films. But no one is going to see them anymore with the prices. No one is going to see regular movies either. 19 million at the box office is considered a hit if the others don't top you.

With Weinstein's power he should be working himself to lower those prices instead of asking people to not see a movie that has pure entertainment value. Like when Tarantino had a Double Feature for the price of one ticket. The movie industry can demand that their movies cost this much. Like old Punk rock albums. Do Not Buy For More Than $1.99 printed right on the album. More people would go out and see movies galore if the industry lowered it.

Come back when you have a little understanding about how the industry really works. BS walks and money talks. And how hard is it to type out actual words? Shorthand makes you look awful.

[hilts]

Right on, Harvey Weinstein!!!
Dark Knight is nothing more than a super-sized, putrid, steaming pile of excrement.
The studios should pull the plug on these stupid Batman, Spiderman, Hulk, Superman movies.

We need more movies like I Shot Andy Warhol, Mikey and Nicky, Breaking the Waves, Safe, Secrets and Lies, The Daytrippers, Dogville, Faces, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, Being John Malcovich, Adaptation, Limbo, Sunshine State, Election, Ghost World, Kinsey, Sideways, American Splendor, The 25th Hour, Elephant, Primer, Time Out, Chaos, About a Boy, Searching for Bobby Fisher, Glenngarry Glen Ros, Hurly Burly, The Spanish Prisoner, Stranger than Paradise, The Last Detail, and The Conversation.

[BigCheese]

Yeah, they're crazy to keep making these movies that net hundreds of millions of dollars in a matter of weeks. I just can't understand why they continue to pursue these incredibly popular projects that are more profitable than the combined box-office of every independent film released in a year. It's almost as if Hollywood is some kind of BUSINESS, or something. I just don't get it.

[ScandalousCandice]

Screw you Weinstein. With movie ticket prices upwards of 10 to 12 dollars a ticket, they were is no way anyone wants to take a risk anymore with an independent movies. Imagine a date nowadays. it costs $30 dollars here in Boston for 2 tickets and one large popcorn and 1 drink to share. 30 Bucks!!! Even back in the independent movie hey day, there was always a risk but you were never out your first born child with the price. When they were 5 and 6 dollars it was okay to take the risk. But since most movies nowadays are awful even big budget, the super hero movies at least entertain us and and a lot of time and effort put in to them. hey have been pretty good over all. We may not like the script, but there is an element of getting your monies worth.

While Boy A might be an excellent film, sometimes it's better to wait for On Demand or for Sundance to pick it up. 3.99 on On Demand versus 10 to 12 dollars in the theater. Sometimes I miss the movies. But I would rather spend what little I have on more tangible things and wait for it to get to cable.

Rich people will never under regular people. Hey Harvey why don't you use your power to get movie ticket prices back down rather than complaining that your not the king of the movie anymore with independent films.