Posted by Scott in Featured Articles, General News | 6 comments
Indie Killer or how I learned to quit having high expectations for Sony Pictures Classics
If you look at Sony Pictures Classics track record in the last couple of years then you will realize the term “Indie Killer” is pretty fitting for them. Some of my favorite movies of the last 2 years have been essentially put on the back burner and not given the release they deserve. The same rings true for one of my favorite movies of the year, MOON. The only downside to this unfortunate fact is that MOON deserves to bring home some hardware during next years Academy Awards and it probably wont even see a nomination.
As I am typing this, MOON is not sitting pretty for the Oscars that it would most likely have been nominated for because Sony Pictures Classics decided to not send out screeners to the Academy voters. Sam Rockwell would have easily earned a nomination for Best Actor and Clint Mansell would have probably run away with the Best Original Score. Neither of these are going to happen unless a hell of a lot of voters step up and write them in without having received a screener recently. I was lucky enough to see this film at Sundance, where it premiered, then again at SXSW, and once more when it had its ridiculously short run in theaters.
The movie is fantastic and Rockwell brings the house down with his multiple performances. So if you are an Academy voter or you know one and you/they haven’t seen MOON then get in touch with Duncan Jones through EMAIL, his WEBSITE or his TWITTER. We need to keep up this grass roots campaign to get it recognized since SPC doesnt have the desire to help its run.
Check out this clip of Duncan Jones talking about Sam Rockwell’s performance and Oscar contention:
So for all of you that are wanting to help out…here is a FYC poster I made post it EVERYWHERE:
Sony Pictures Classics actually released “Moon” theatrically on behalf for its right owner Stage 6 (a direct-to-DVD movie label of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group)
http://images.blu-ray.com/movies/covers/7728_back…
“Moon” is lucky to get US theatrical release (almost all of Stage 6’s movies went direct-to-DVD) ; Duncan Jones couldn’t ask for more.
Duncan Jones can and should ask for more. This film is far superior than a direct to dvd release and should be getting some Oscar consideration. Instead they are ignoring it putting it on the back burner.
Sony picked this film up, because they know it is good.
It has nothing to do with luck, it has to do with a good film that will pull profits.
The unfortunate thing is, I would say Rockwell's performance is more Oscar worthy then a lot of others.
The thing about Sony is that they take risks on movies other distributors wouldn't touch and have been burned big time in recent years. I'm not surprised to see them be a little more cautious these days. You have to remember that many of these indie films, no matter how good they are, are lucky to get any kind of distribution right now. It is a REALLY tough market for indie film. There are hundreds of good movies every year that play at Sundance, Cannes, and Toronto that never get picked up at all. Sony is a little de-fanged these days, but I still have to give them props as one of the few distributors connected to a major that is still taking chances on small films. If they are not careful, they are going to go the way of Warner Independent, Paramount Vantage, etc. The combination of the failing economy and the success of flicks like Transformers 2 and Avatar have more to do with killing indies than Sony ever could. They are one of the last bastions of hope for us independent filmmakers.
Even though Sony won't support Moon and Sam Rockwell for an Oscar, we can still help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuBs01Uwi8E
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