I feel like she should be more famous! At least…
-
josephmramirez — 10 years ago(January 28, 2016 09:32 AM)
Having a tie-in to a popular novel (even a "cheesetastic" book, as SwingBatta notes) is of course a great advantage that can't be replicated. However, the popularity of a novel and its screen adaptation are also important for related works, because they demonstrate the commercial viability of the material.
For example, if
Restless
were considered in isolation, the judgment might be, "A bittersweet teen romance in which the girl is terminally ill? Too much of a downer; no one wants to see that kind of story." But thanks to
The Fault in Our Stars
, we know that's not true. An audience for this kind of story does exist a large one. Unfortunately, in this case the certain knowledge is available only in hindsight, because both the novel and film of
The Fault in Our Stars
came out after
Restless
.
I doubt that the public's taste changed dramatically between 2011 and 2012, however. Realistically, evaluating the prospects of
Restless
in some sort of atemporal movie space, we'd conclude, "Your movie is quirkier and maybe less straightforwardly romantic than
Fault
, and you lack the book tie-in and Oprah endorsements as big boosters. Don't expect to be a blockbuster. But you've got a talented cast and crew, and a central story that we know has appeal. Your movie could easily be a modest hit."
But conventional "hit or flop" analysis doesn't capture the enormity of the box office failure of
Restless
. It's as if the producers simply threw the film away. Or, as kellcramer implies, perhaps they decided it should really be a direct-to-video product, and the theatrical release was reduced to a mere formality.
So yes, I agree that there were multiple reasons that
Restless
, and
Tracks
, were not even marginally successful. But I still believe there are strong indicators that they
could have been
successful again, not blockbusters or even major hits, but certainly high-performing indie films, like
Jane Eyre
.
JE
is a good example of a movie with a relatively small but well-defined target audience, which the film largely succeeded in reaching.
Many lousy movies fail all the time, but it's sad when good ones crash mightily despite reasonable prospects, assuming half-decent management and marketing. -
LifeVsArt — 10 years ago(January 28, 2016 10:20 AM)
Many lousy movies fail all the time, but it's sad when good ones crash mightily despite reasonable prospects, assuming half-decent management and marketing.
Yes, and managing and marketing is extremely important - as Swingbatta noted, Weinstien blew it (for a number of reasons). Also, for a while now, many small, arthouse type films are increasingly being marketed through streaming (Amazon, Netflix, etc.) where brief theatrical runs in limited markets are almost merely promo gestures, the films look to make their money back internationally through streaming (where the receipts I don't think are even made public) rather than theatrical ticket sales. DVD's are also becoming less of a factor. In the case of "Tracks", I wish Weinstein would have stuck with the original release date in March, rather than rescheduling it for Septemeber 19, when it was thrown into the juggernaut path of "Wild", which had just come out of a major push and oscar-hype at TFF earlier in the week. I think Weinstein was playing games with Fox Searchlight (his major competitor - other people in the industry thought this, too) and it came at the expense of "Tracks", which is a meditative, poetic film, a far cry from more typical melodramatic, formulaic Oscar-bait material, featuring a Hollywood star/brand. -
LifeVsArt — 10 years ago(January 27, 2016 09:21 AM)
Quality not quantity seems to be her mindset..i'm totally with her on that.
It does (I'm with her on that, too), but there also could 111cbe some compromise - maybe not so much in quality (that I wouldn't want - going down the typical Hollywood, rom/com, franchise path) but in the type of film that she makes, by occasionally doing one that's more mainstream (also not R-rated). "Alice Through the Looking Glass" is mainstream. -
Hurricane_Marcus — 10 years ago(February 01, 2016 03:55 AM)
Speaking as a (massive) fan of hers it's a bit of a double edged sword..yes,I want nothing more than to look at her list of upcoming projects on here and see 4 or 5 things in the pipeline (currently it's just Alice & hhhh - which isn't definate yet) But then again when you look at the likes of Jennifer Lawrence,Charlize Theron etc etc and see them with 10 plus projects on the go,you realise that they are a different type of animal to Mia.
This is just my opinion but I get the feeling that the likes of JL makes movies with the total expectation of getting nominations and awards (she's like a female Leo DiCaprio)..Mia just seems to pick and choose where she wants to be and what she finds interesting and not being part of the "machine"..as a fan it's more difficult when there's not so much of her work about but ultimately her performances and films are far more memorable.
I hope she doesn't get lost in it all - i'm sure she won't as she's too good an actress..maybe it says more about the quality of work available? -
josephmramirez — 10 years ago(February 01, 2016 05:46 AM)
Speaking as a (massive) fan of hers it's a bit of a double edged sword..yes,I want nothing more than to look at her list of upcoming projects on here and see 4 or 5 things in the pipeline (currently it's just Alice & h16d0hhh - which isn't definate yet)
Assume for the moment that
HHhH
won't include Mia. Then has she done any acting work since the fall of 2014, when
Through the Looking Glass
wrapped? We'd be talking about almost 16 months of inactivity. That's not a vacation it's a sabbatical, and in what should be the prime of her career. -
LifeVsArt — 10 years ago(February 01, 2016 09:56 AM)
I hope you're completely wrong, too. Is Mia taking an extended stretch of time off with the intention of returning to work (Carey Mulligan has said she had taken off a couple of years), or is her heart now somewhere else? As far back as 2013 I remember her saying that she would do films for as long as she had fun, if she didn't enjoy it anymore, she would stop. I wish she would let out some information for the people like myself who gain so much from her performances. When "Alice Through the Looking-Glass" comes out Mia will need to resurface - it wou2000ld be nice if she gave people (especially her fans) a glimpse of her intentions. Of course, Mia can remain inscrutable (she does what she wants) but for those of us who see her as an oasis in a vast desert, it would be nice to know something of her plans. It may be, though, that she's taking a sabbatical to figure out for herself just what she really wants, in which case she's at the right age for doing it.
-