Focus 580; Films

In this part of the program we'll spend our time talking about movies and we're happy to have back with us once again David deaths or he's professor of cinema Studies at University of Illinois in fact he is director of the unit for cinema studies and has often over the years been with us many times to talk about movies and his particular area of interest his academic interest is in cinema of Asia particularly East Asia and he's written about Japanese film and filmmakers and Chinese film and filmmakers and recently I know he started to become more interested in Indian film and we've talked a bit about that when he's been here before in the program. And whatever questions you might have we've talked about history of cinema we've talked a little bit about the movie business and how it is that movies are made. We have talked about movies that are now available on screens around the country. So I'm sure he'll maybe have a couple things to say about the upcoming summer blockbuster season. And if you have questions you can call one of the things I've encouraged people to do in the past is to tell us about the movies that they have seen and if there's something that you've seen recently or thought was was very good and

you like to recommend you may do that. Also if you've seen something recently you thought was just awful and you'd like to say don't go see this movie and tell us what you could do that is well in any and all that is welcome movie talk is welcome. The number here in Champaign-Urbana is 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 and toll free 800 to 2 2 9 4 5 5. Well good to have you here once again. My pleasure as usual. One thing's actually I was kind of noodling around here and I was looking at one of the million websites that have to do with movies. And I was looking here actually at a bit about the this recent film about the Crusades has just opened up the kingdom of heaven. And the thing that caught my eye about it was it talked about some of the box office that the movie had done and the fact that while people were I guess a little bit disappointed in how much money it made domestically. It's done very well overseas and in fact it opened in 97 different

territories. Only Japan and China were not in on the world wide release and it was the a top attraction in all the major markets in Germany. It did 7 million dollars Spain five point to four point eight in the UK 4 million in South Korea two point million in Mexico 2.2 million in Russia. And the thing that made me start thinking about not so much about this particular movie but was now a days in Hollywood when they make movies how much they think about the international market and that is an excellent question. And when you look at box office now it's very interesting to see that there might be for every American film of course you know the rest of the world is much bigger than the US. If you think about it that way but also the dollar you know. They don't have so much money elsewhere but the overseas box office is crucial absolutely crucial used to be that they would say well we would do a third of our business overseas in two thirds in North America you know U.S. and Canada. Then it became about 50/50. But now there's any

number of films that do much better overseas. My favorite example really I hadn't heard about the King of heaven doing so well. All the news has been how poorly it did in the U.S. yet again. But the thing that really really impressed me was that Woody Allen's film which kind of came and went and got no critical attention and did I think total in the U.S. What king of him did over the weekend did about four times the business overseas that he did in the U.S. So that Woody Allen has it of course as you know the cliche the French love him. Yes but in point of fact it did very well. So people say well how does what Allen keep making movies I don't make any money one they don't cost that much but they actually. He actually is quite respected overseas and they do they do pretty well. But the standard thing for Hollywood is ever increasing budgets an ever simpler scripts or stories although I thinking of him is probably an exception to that rule. But the blockbuster syndrome that maybe grown ups in the US begin to despair is really the

key to overseas. And that's just the way it has been for a few years and it's the rare movie there are some movies that don't play overseas and I would find that interesting so like a big hit in the US like dodgeball has very little cachet overseas it doesn't mean that much. So movies that seem to be quintessentially or particularly oddly American unsurprisingly don't do as well overseas or sometimes they don't even they barely even open overseas. My favorite example is you look at one of the most successful movies ever made. It was far as Gump and first dump has virtually no box office overseas. I don't know you know that if they didn't release it or just nobody went to see it or if it's maybe just not the at the point where movies weren't being tracked so well overseas but that's a really good example I think of all American movies that just doesn't do too as well. Well it's really interesting that having said that that the Woody Allen movie would have done so well because I guess if it was my understanding that the American movies that do well overseas are

big action movies that don't have a lot of dialogue where it's pretty easy to understand what's going on. And Woody Allen movie I would think would be so dialogue heavy that it would be it would be difficult to to make that transition and you'd have to you'd have to have a fairly extensive subtitles for people either that I'm sure. I guess you could double it if they had some places actually you'd be surprised. In France they will often have about half the number of copies will be dubbed and half will be subtitled places like Germany as sophisticated as they are tends to favor dubbing. But what we're talking about is not that it did 200 million dollars. It's that overall it did better than it did in the U.S. and there I would say it's because overseas audiences again there's a lot of them. But also you can find what I like to think of a sin a ast culture that there's audiences that are very sophisticated that will go to see movies that are a little bit different. You know what we think of as art films or foreign films played much better in other

places so you've got to be sure that in England and in France and in Germany and in Japan and in you know probably South Korea maybe Italy. You know I haven't tracked the individual just over all I know so I think Sinead audiences are big enough to take a moderately budgeted movie and do it and make it do pretty well. Which is obviously the case since since that movie did I thought surprise with well overseas and certainly here in United States there there is that audience those are the people who go to the art theater or who are interested in who will watch foreign language films or into independent films smaller films but it sounds like is that is that you think that's fewer there are fewer of those people within the American movie going body than there are in France or Germany or Britain or Italy. Well I think what's the word per capita I would say there are fewer. But since the U.S. has a population of 300 million in Italy and France have half you know obviously not that not the numbers but I would also say that in a particular film like

Woody Allen's latest it wasn't marketed as an art film and it didn't play the art world and so it died and died at the multiplex. And so you have to build word of mouth in different ways and in some ways it's Yeah I mean it did it did respectably for maybe for a Woody Allen movie who hasn't he hasn't had a hit in a decade. So for Woody Allen he didn't do that badly. But even will Farrel couldn't make the big audience numbers. But that might have been a case where it opened wrongly or you know it's hard to say. It's just that I don't think that it was marketed as an art movie and didn't have time to build as an art movie does. Right if you go in a multiplex you have basically a week and then they sort of don't care about you anymore. Here is an art film you know you can open it in 12 cities 15 cities let it build you know by the two months three months go by and you might have done the same box office but then it might have been this good for an art movie bad for a mainstream movie it's hard to say but I do think that's a nast culture overseas or at least overseas you go to any major city in the world

and you will find a lot of foreign films playing whereas in the U.S. you'll only go to you know you really have to go to New York. And late to see a handful of foreign films and they just do big business overseas. And if you're lucky betting on where you live there might be one place that you could go look for for a while and champion Urbana we're very fortunate we have the art. But even in big cities like Chicago I don't really think there are all that many places that show there. There aren't all that many. I would say you know 20 years ago it was worse. I actually think things are better so don't get me wrong I'm not I'm not here decrying the boom you know the pitifulness of the American public. It's actually was worse 20 years ago and I do think most cities will have you know one you know mid-sized cities or you know an art multiplex and some medium sized cities. But again you know it's how you market it. What sort of box office expectations you have you know and again for Hollywood Woody Allen is a kind of anomaly. You know they let him make his

movies are OK but really they're track you know it's what happens to kingdom of heaven is much more important than what happens to Melinda and Melinda. Our guest in this part of focus 580 David desk there he's professor of cinema studies. He is also director of the unit for cinema studies at the University of Illinois. And every once in a while is on the program where we talk about movies and your questions your comments your reviews are certainly welcome. 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 is our Champaign-Urbana number toll free 800 to 2 2 9 4 5 5. We have a caller over in Indiana. The line number four well below two questions one I wondered if you could get into the marketing mode. Talk about demographics and percentages than. What the impact is of that on people who. And to get their movies out I mean do they deliberately just write for a particular niche and all that kind of stuff.

And then the second question deals with availability. I just purchased a paperback has all the arcade features from oh what is it. Thirty six to some lights two to one thousand sixty one the Republican era when you know they went out of business and a number of them as I read the synopses and saw some of the stars that I'd really like to have that so I went to you know I did all I could on the on the Internet you know started with Google which is not really that helpful. But anyway I couldn't find him you know and I just wondering if anybody in the back of his mind who controls say the Republic or RKO or whatever you know my docs either start to bring out things on DVD you know entire you know TV shows and stuff from the 50s. None of the ones I want but unfortunately at least they're doing it so I thought I might be a

move that way. I just sort of talk along the line also you know that sort of thing. Can one write a letter to put you know you know that one letter is worth a thousand people or whatever you know that kind of thing. Thing like that's down down the chute. Thanks a lot. OK. Let me do the second question first. And that is if you pick the example of RKO you pick a very good example to talk about why a lot of movies aren't on DVD. And I'll give you a great example Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers fairly famous. I've heard of you have had was one of their movies are not on none of the RKO movies are on DVD. Now that is probably the biggest single shame in all of film history I mean those are great movies. It has to do most likely with who owns the rights to those RKO films. And it's not only who owns the

rights to the RKO films but who owns the rights to bring them out on DVD. When rights were negotiated in the old days you had the rights to exhibit a film in the theater because that's all there was. When television came in you had to renegotiate who owns the rights to show them on television. Who owns the rights to distribute them to movie airplanes. Who owns the rights to show them on VHS. Who owns the rights to show them on DVD. And every time a new technology so now of course what they do is we have the rights to distribute this theatrically in perpetuity throughout the galaxy in any such format as we deem fit. So it really is a matter of who owns the rights to show these and of course RKO when it was first bought by Howard he was a man lately in the news then it was the General Tire Company and the Republic Pictures got involved there.

So it's a matter of you know who's going to who's going to distribute them. Second of all. You notice that a lot of the studios have made available very few films before say one thousand thirty three thirty four. Because they don't think that there's that much of a market. It's not just a question of there being a black and white. You know I think people have solved the question of colorization is dead for what for once and for all. But those early 30s late 20s movies yes there are some but they really are so on commercial. There's just not a big enough market for a studio like 20th Century Fox or MGM to get involved. If you think about it also so many of the studios now have changed hands so many times and there really are only a handful. And what they're really interested in is the ability to release a film that has the ancillary markets and that has the other kinds of markets. I think you know obviously it's not a great example but an obvious

example the Star Wars I've seen Star Wars has ties with two different kinds of foods and there's a video game that's already out and the novelization is already out. Well you're not going to have a video game in a novelization an ancillary markets for a musical made in 1932. So I'm going down to rely on now to video the video game. Would be good to dance like Fred Astaire So it's a question of the twofold question is who has the rights and how much market do they believe that there is. So that's that's really the question. I'm often surprised as to how many movies have come out. The other thing that you might look into for the caller is a lot of movies came out on VHS. A lot because it was it was you know somehow not that it was cheaper but it was easier I suppose. And then so if you went to something like E-Bay you never know what movie she might find now there might be dupes or you know quasi legal. But I think a lot more stuff I know for a fact that I met someone who was interested in the old serials of the 30s

and 40s and that stuff on VHS but I don't believe it ever came out on DVD. So that's that's the idea now is for the first question a niche movies are marketed tested plotted out from the time a script is bought. And from there on in all the way through the time it's test screen. There's always an eye for who can who will buy this film who will see this movie and what can we do with this movie. After the movie is over in terms of ancillary rights etc. etc. but they always have to have and they have to I mean their you know the average Hollywood movie now costs you know hundred million. But if you're talking about any kind of medium budget movies 50 60 million dollars is not an independent movie which doesn't do that but any Hollywood movies got a huge investment so they always have in the back of their mind. Who will this appeal to. What

rating can it have. One of the things that's most interesting is is that we find the majority of blockbusters are P.G. or P.G. 13. Not only P.G. 13 but they've been finding that P.G. movies have been doing extremely well. So there's been a decrease in R-rated movies you know in terms of the big the big giant movies really want to go for P.G. 13 and look at it this way. Alien Versus Predator has had to be the most bloody and gory movie you ever saw was P.G. 13. Which was a huge disappointment because I wanted to see the most bloody and gory movie there ever was but it wasn't. So of course you know the lower budget slasher movies you know like House of Wax that comes out every couple of weeks. But anything that has a substantial investment they really are going to be careful so we do it our P.G. 13 maybe P.G. And of course the demographic that's most important is still what I like to call boys and that's boys from 12 to about 40.

It's because you know a boy boyhood gets longer and longer. You know I know some over 50 and there may be one talking to you now. So it's that's the thing but they're so they're So Mark I mean the marketing department is brought in from the get go. I mean it's just it's just incredible and it's been this way for a long time. But I suppose. For any blockbuster It really is. It really is the marketing more than anything else that determines how the movies will look for you. Well I hope that gets a question of color others are welcome. 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 here in Champaign Urbana toll free 800 to 2 2 9 4 5 5 Our guest is David Esser He's Professor cinema studies here at University of Illinois. Every once in a while he's here we talk about movies and the movie business. Yes I was thinking Oh man one more thing. Sorry if I interrupted you. No no you didn't. I just it just occurred to me that one of the reasons that we see block the kind of blockbusters we see is the whole idea of pre-sold properties. You know it's easy to market something that people know. And so

again the old bugaboo of it's a sequel. It's a remake and it's based on you know a well known property. So again here you have in the summertime you have you know Star Wars 3 Flash 6 and you have the remake of War of the Worlds. That's just a couple. You have a number of movies based on comic books. And you have a number of movies unfortunately based on television shows and so sequels remakes and pre-sold properties that especially those that appeal to your primary demographic. You know what's happened of course the CGI effects for years and years you have you have occasionally seen you know movies and TV shows based on comic books. But if you remember really the most successful of those overall were probably the animations. Now that you have CGI the comic book let's say the comic book Beyond has just gone wild. And it's there's apparently no stopping it because now you have the Fantastic Four coming. So and of

course Batman Begins. So that's just you know to write this summer and you know there's others as the sort of comic book type movies. But those are obviously you know based on comic books so the primary demographic and you're pre-sold properties and your sequels and your remakes are also the marketing department can can get their hands on it. We know people like it because they liked it before. And darn it they're going to like it again and so. Well let's talk with someone else here we have a caller in Terre Haute and this is on our line for toll free line. Hello. Yes hello. Unforgiven like Clint Eastwood It was critically acclaimed. What was the box office. Nice to I can't remember and then Billy Crudup was in a movie I think was the son you know that Director of the I want to direct anything else that's a good question I can't answer that offhand so I don't know it was an independent movie very well respected but I don't remember

Unforgiven Unforgiven was not a smash but it was a hit and it was one of those movies that did pretty well beforehand and then it's best picture award of the Academy Awards made it do good business so it was a it was a substantial hit but certainly not a blockbuster one of the. Question of the night that director has as he made the other film. Oh yes he's made he's made quite a few nights was an early film but he's gone on to do a lot. Probably the best one is what was the one with Tom Cruise that was so interesting with the frogs falling from the sky at the Magnolia. Oh thank you thank you have reframed has arranged for us is that yes a magnolia among others but he's done I would say that that he's one of the Andersons is a bunch of people named Anderson. He's probably done eight or so movies. There's big fish was no big fish was a Tim Burton member Tim Burton but there's a couple of

directors named Anderson I think he's a Bee Gee Anderson or Anyway he has definitely done a handful but Magnolia was one that I particularly liked. OK. I'm just for your the the director of Jesus on a woman named Alison McLean and now I'm here looking at the Internet Movie Database and if you look at it list one other movie since then a film called persons of interest that came out last year and you know it doesn't really it's a oh it's documentary it's a documentary concerning the detention of Muslim Americans in the wake of 9/11. So it's a non It's science and nonfiction film documentary it's a documentary so other than that I actually had heard of that one. But. It other than that she has not directed a film since more recently than Jesus and I actually saw it because I talked with enough this year I think it was last year might be the year for one of the people who produce the movie was here for the Roger Ebert festival and I and I so I got a chance to see the

movie I went out and rented it and talked with the result it was Jews I thought it was a good film and I think it just uses the sun you're talking about yeah. Yeah I think it was very good. Me too. Yes I thought Billy Crudup it was a really nice performance I agree he did a nice job. I very nearly cried at doing their advertising and now the seven levers some store like that I don't approve of. Oh no I know. No that's not I know the guy you mean. He looks kind of like you and feel like it's not you know that's the that's the Mastercard commercial right. It's like oh man. The Slurpee. Yeah that's a master card commercial priceless. Yes that's right so you know that's not fortunately Billy apparently gets better work than he does and that slightly. Well that's I don't know. Commercial work pays well you know I'd have paid at a guess if it fails the bills that's that's OK. OK thanks a lot aren't sure thing. So we are at our midpoint here again talking with Dave deaths or if you have questions you can give us a call about movies 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 toll free 800 2 2 2 9 4 5 5.

Here's color in Urbana one number one. Hello. Yeah I was wondering if the professor had heard anything any gossip about somebody picking up for you. Marla Ruzicka story and making a movie. Be out of that because I think it be a pretty good one and I was actually thinking John Sayles would be perfect for it but I don't really know what's involved in it and what would be involved in picking up a story like that maybe you could talk about that a bit. And because and sales seems to be pretty much booked up for the next two or three years according to him to be. Yeah they do list the upcoming I don't know the specific names story that you mention. Oh that's the lady that was the blonde that was that used to be a.

Kind of an activist and she went over to Iraq and I was helping people always yes I know now exactly who you know I know exactly who you mean. Yeah that was a very sad story. Interesting. The rights for it depends on the amount of story in the public domain so that you see law and order when they claim their stories are ripped from the headline. Take just enough without having to pay the right so there is a kind of what we might think of as you know public domain or in the public eye. When you base a story on an actual person you really have to pay them for the rights to their story. But yeah right well that she would have a family right. The family they would have to negotiate with. Yeah you have to negotiate and ask for how much now they will they might say it's fine or whatever but you'd have to get permission and the closer you say you know if you use the real name you certainly have to do that. And it's so it's a little trickier than if it's a book or anything like that where you have to buy the rights of negotiate with the copyright holder but you do. You can't just tell

any one story without permission. Although to as I say to some extent it's really a matter of public domain so if I were to make a film about the Clinton impeachment hearings it might be that I wouldn't have to negotiate any rights. But I think for the Marla Ruzicka story you would definitely have to and I take it since you weren't you didn't have the. If you're at the at your fingertips you haven't heard of anybody trying to get that story. I wouldn't be surprised I hadn't but I wouldn't be surprised that it wouldn't surprise me if it were actually done fairly quickly on television on television. Yeah they they do those kind of things all the time on television especially with so many cable channels now there's a real rush to a real rush to get to get product and they can do it much quicker and they can do it much cheaper and they would also do it on a very washed out ineffectual way because one of the main points of that woman's life was that you know here she was

probably doing 10 times what say for example the Bush daughters ever done in their life. And yet her status. The privileges accorded to her were minimal. No I couldn't agree with you more that the other thing of course nowadays there's so many really good documentaries that someone might be smart and do a documentary on the subject and not and not fictionalize it. But that's you know that's how it would have to be done. You know someone has to buy the rights but it wouldn't surprise me if it if it would show up as a as you say a washed out now. OK thanks. Thanks for the call again. Questions Comments welcome we're talking about movies this morning with David Deseret He's director of the unit for cinema Studies at University of Illinois and Gage and he's here on the show we just do this talk a little bit about the business about movies how they are made and sold and to keep people the opportunity to ask questions make comments tell us about what they've been seeing. 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 toll free

800 to 2 2 9 4 5 5. Something that just occurred to me when we were talking earlier about the fact that in Europe there certainly are groups of people who are really interested in movies and like to see. Interesting different movies movies that were made in different countries and so forth. I was wondering if if you take a say take an American movie sort of a mid budget slightly offbeat American movie one that was pretty successful say take a movie like Sideways do our people in in Europe and France and Germany and Italy and places like that are where they go. It would there be an interest in a movie like that specific My recollection of Sideways is that it didn't have any particular overseas market. But then it depends on of course who's distributing it and someone overseas has to pick it up. The answer there is it depends on the movie. But I would say that smaller movies and bigger movies do better than medium

movies overseas. And not positive why that is but it may have to do with doesn't cost as much to market a small movie. Your big movie is going to be marketed it's that medium movie that you have to have I mean most Americans do deos don't distribute overseas themselves they're in partnership or they'll sell their movie to an overseas distributor. And so just as you have to have someone pick up a movie to distribute so to overseas and it might be that those medium movies are tougher. I could be wrong but I will remember looking occasionally you know read box office to see how I was doing and I think I saw that sideways didn't do anything overseas. Though again I may not have been released maybe no one wanted it. Or it may not just have gotten released yet. There's a lot of movies that take their time though generally it's the other way around where we get the movies for years after everyone else but that may be the case but I could be wrong about Sideways. I just think it didn't. Well that was just one that just. Yeah I know I was thinking of that kind of movie that sort of occurred

to me as just as an example. You know I think it as I say I really would have to study it but I would say the smaller one a bigger. OK well I can if there's and there's good reasons why why that would be the case. I think so. So OK well let's talk with some more folks. Champagne line number one is next. I will say I've been talking to some friends of mine in Los Angeles and there's be a lot of buzz about the Stone Hawk. I believe the title is What The Bleep Do We Know. And I haven't seen it out here at all at any of the video stores have you heard anything about it. I believe it's out or it's coming soon. Yeah oh yeah it played. I remember I remember reviewed it and he hated it. Well that may not you know but we can only present to the critic. That's right. Oh I think you should listen to the critics and then do what you want. Exactly. But yeah I know I have heard of it and it's a kind of comedy Slayer math comedy slash metaphysical movie and the critics were

divided but mostly mostly I recall mainstream critics didn't like it but it is not out it should be out very soon. Thanks a lot. Well thank you to Danville. Let's talk with someone here Lie number two. Hello. Oh I great show. I want to get you to make a comment on all the recent movies of the last few years it come out that are comic book related movies Spiderman right stuff obviously a lot of them have done well in the past a lot of the first maybe the first couple Batman ones did well but then as they went on they seemed to get a little more campy here and I was wondering are we seeing. Are we already reached a peak with a lot of this I know the new Batman one they promise to go back. They're talking about a Superman 1 next year. You know that's right someone promising

I I kind of had higher hopes for that. Maybe but it from what I've read in the papers it does sound like they're doing so well. No they're not. Since it is an interesting case because you talk about a comic book movie looks like a comic book. As opposed to being adapted and I actually from what I hear you know what. Probably why Sin City didn't do as well and that is its violence. There was a movie that didn't get a P.G. but I suspect it really is that it looks like a comic book. And over the course of 95 100 minutes that can get we read. So that's what they were really whether they wanted to really were doing was trying to make it look like a comic comic. Well they succeeded in doing that but I think that's why it didn't do as well. I mean if you're going to add baptism thing you adapt it. You don't in a sense really film it but that's just my theory it's probably very wearying but it really the comic book trend is not slowing down. And as I said before it's really been enabled by

ever increasing CGI effects where you know everything is seamless. So if you know you see the trailer for Fantastic Four and you don't know what's animated and what's real. You know I kept in the end of the universe kept in whatever it was in the you know there were no sets at all in that movie the entire acting was done in front of a in front of a screen. So the effects are getting better and better and the key really I think is to make a good movie. So people thought Spider-Man 2 was a good movie and it did very well. People didn't think the whole was a good movie and it didn't do very well. So I think part of it is going to be you going to have to make good movies and if you do that who will. Yeah I think the year that Spider-Man 2 came out I think all went what they thought. Well the sequels were generally not quite as good as the first one. Didn't seem like that year was the year that they were they were all pretty wrong. Yeah sequels were right. Good if not better but I I do notice at least from what looked like the very first Batman movie which was what was at

89 I think it was now which that seems like forever. Yeah the CGI is just improved so much. Oh yeah absolutely right a bit but I agree on the story and that's what I'm hoping will do when it's coming out next month because are going more towards origin issues and trying to get back to the darker past like the first bird movies. No I think if they make a good movie then I think the temptation is to is to camp it up a little bit and that's always wrong I think if they take it seriously and make a decent movie it should work. Well thank you very much. All right thanks for the comment by the way just we are a friend of ours from downstairs here daily while ATV Dave deal was listening and heard the caller call in to ask about this movie What the blank Do we know and I'm here again I'm on the Internet Movie Database and I guess the official title uses the collection of things that you see in comics that he has and then for obscenity

and that this movie actually dated from last year probably WILL YOU thousand four. And Dave called in and said that he in fact had this morning been at a video place are places where they had videos and said that he actually saw it. Yeah I thought it was just so it's out and do you can I guess look for it in wherever it is you like to go in. I just videos someone was talking to me about the other day and I did recall that that's probably because it just came out on video. It was a pretty much a failure commercially but it doesn't mean you shouldn't see it or it might be interesting. Well it does. It's not something that has a lot of big stars in it not that that means anything in particular looks to me like Marlee Matlin isn't it. She's the only person here that I as I look down the cast list. Also an independent film and rented film but someone did say it was the best film about higher mathematics they'd ever seen. The best well the best man economy that is the best mascot. Well that's that's something to be said I guess. Plot summary says it's a radical departure from convention.

It demands a freedom of view and greatness of thought so far unknown. Ok so very good. Well there if people want to check it out you know a movie like that tries to be when a movie tries to be weird. It's a tricky thing sometimes the movie works and sometimes it doesn't sometimes it takes a while for people to catch on but I think that's a movie that wished to start off as a cult movie and that's very difficult to make that kind of balancing act between you know this is going to be supposed to be funny and it's just bad but the mind of David Lynch. Well David Lynch. I think there's not supposed to be funny. No but he was about as someone who sets out deliberately to make a movie that's weird. Oh that's that's I've always felt that he just did stuff just for the sake of being weird. That's no I agree with you that there was any reason for things and certain things he just did it because he was weird. Yes but what if he thinks they're not then oh really yes well he said what that's a straight forward I don't know there's no word about that what are you talking about. I wasn't trying to make a weird movie.

Actually that's why his his one movie that is sort of mainstream is called Street story. So that it's actually just a street scene I think to prove that he could do it right. Let's talk with somebody else. We have someone in white Heath line 3. Hello Well I'm up for something completely different. Recently I saw the Oscar nominated shorts collection at the art film and I really liked it and I do like shorts a lot and they had me wonder where did shorts get shown that they can somebody. Can notice them. And how did you get financing to make a film that nobody ever see. But where they come from anyway. He has a very good question. It used to be I don't think they do it anymore but used to be that a short had to play for at least a week at a theater in Los Angeles to be eligible for an Academy Award just like any other film did. But I think they have a I think they have a change that where you can see shorts for the most part is that film festivals especially at film festivals called short film festivals. And what happens is people raise the money in any which way they can

and they do it generally for two reasons one they hope their film will win a prize at a film festival. Maybe their film will get nominated for an Academy Award for a short film and then maybe they'll get a chance in the old days I think it used to be that a short film was a way to move up to make a feature. But nowadays people make features for so little money that I don't think that short filmmakers really use that as a route. Now you can make an independent film for you know certainly well under half a million dollars and you know you have the whole Sundance Film Festival for that. But there are no for short film festivals at the University of Illinois you know. But there are short film festivals in Michigan in the short film festivals down at in Carbondale. There are short film festivals also regular film so to speak. Ybor showed the guy Madden short when he showed the game Madden feature a lot of film festivals will program a short in front of a feature though that's not as common as it used to be. But there are probably dozens of short film

festivals in a town like this I think what you really need is a community of filmmakers actually there is probably short film festivals University of it not of the University of Illinois but in Champaign Urbana. There actually are times when people do show shorts. OK I think you'd have to look at the local free papers the hub in papers like that. But there is a magazine here called microfilm that's published out of here and there will they will have the microfilm festival. They used to do it sometimes at the at the canopy club. They sometimes use other so actually there is. There are places so in fact but I think you have to really want to make movies just to make sure it's because it's very hard for mainstream audiences to see them. But there are people who want to do it. Thanks All right. Thank you to Chicago for our next caller here line for mellow. All right. I just I want to talk about the availability you know. Classics and Chicago and New York. If you're interested where Read some of these films some of these

films are shown and located and sold and said OK. Well in Chicago you're probably your best bet is to contact facets multimedia which sells pictures from all over the world classics old ones going back to the 20s and so on. And they also display them I think I have one or two playhouses on their property. Yes they do they have to they have to theatres. You know there's a music box which charts classics. That's a neighborhood. Well it caters to the home not to Politan area but it's a small center located in Chicago. There's a doc group in the in the University of Chicago. So you show the social classics

every day right now every night. And at a reasonable price and there's a really good stuff. The International House at the University of Chicago also displays city to these films. There's Columbia College which concentrates on the arts and a later radio and television I don't know how good they are whether they provide classics and that sort of stuff but just to make contact and know located on Michigan Avenue and then the South Loop and across northwestern university I don't know what they have now and they also if you if you're really interested in Asian films and the N films that's the concentration. Of Indians and Pakistanis up into the West Rogers Park area along the fine Avenue. Scores and scores of.

Those stores which sell they shouldn't films of all types going to New York. But if you've got the your best bet is to get onto a copy of The New Yorker or the New York. Times as it's just sort of stay Friday and our Saturday edition starts to go Friday Saturday or Sunday editions and of course that they have. Things going on all the time and also the museums and the yard and the museums in Chicago have a series of classics. They show the Art Institute of Chicago and and the Museum of Modern Art and so on I think the Metropolitan Museum also in New York and a number of other places also Roger hébert. Last time I looked about six months ago I was running a course at uni. First year

Chicago you may be a good contact up there. I think that's about it. OK. Yeah and definitely want to mention and I know we've mentioned before here on the program is that the place that the caller mentioned that's facets. And if you have internet access they do have a website and that's f a c s. It's facets facets dot orgy and that's a place where you can you can buy tapes and DVDs you can rent through them and it is one of those places that you may be likely to find you'll be like that find those things you cannot find. You may not be able find at your local video rental store. That's a place for you know you have to films foreign films you know that's is great and another one that's very very good is a movies unlimited. But they have facets dot org is a great message has been that way for years and years I mean they were in the VHS business and the stock then they moved to DVD and they're just they're just fantastic and sounds like you they are all kinds of.

They they're they have many books about film and also just all kinds of stuff if you're a movie person. Yeah absolutely it's a place to go. Absolutely right. Well let's come back here to a caller in Champaign Urbana and why number one hello. Hard to comment on the remakes the DVOA remake had a woman actively involved in detective work. The original didn't but her. Had Jack Lemmon as a reporter I think the original had a woman had this one that are in the one head a woman was a remake of the original co-op which was James Cagney and Pat O'Brien. Right. Fail Safe on TV could have used more raw women and minorities made for TV movie. Thanks. Yeah. One of Certainly I mean it happens a lot sometimes it's successful sometimes it's not I do sometimes I just wonder what who what possessed the director that made them decide that this was the thing to do remake a movie that was perfect the first time around.

You know there's interesting that brings up interesting ideas. You know the front page is a very good one because you had it was a play then it was a movie with Cagney and James Cagney and Pat O'Brien and then it was re-imagined by Howard Hawks as His Girl Friday when the reporter was it was a woman then it was done you know to take advantage of the popularity of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau who'd made a series of movies. But remakes can do interesting things. You know what what happened in the original deal way the original deal way is a kind of classic that's a very low budget very minimal. In the days before everything seemed to be available on VHS or DVD did you know maybe remaking it. As the caller rightly said there's a woman in there that adds a little something so if the remake is going to do something maybe that the original couldn't do or put a new spin on it or you know people just don't realize that it's a remake. So the recent Dennis Quaid Flight Of The Phoenix which I liked there was great was on my mind because he's in the remake of the oh you know oh yeah. But the reason Dennis Quaid remake of Flight Of The Phoenix was pretty

good. Now of course the original with Jimmy Stewart is fondly remembered but you know how well remembered is it. Is it available on DVD. Will people watch older movies. It's a new generation. I'm often surprised at how with so many movies available for youngsters to see most of the world youngsters don't see that many older movies I mean to them anything before the 80s there's an old movie. So if you're talking about movies from the 30s and 40s and 50s it really takes you know a special youngster who's really motivated to see a lot of these movies so in essence it's new I mean the only remake that seemed really really stupid right off the bat was when they remade psycho shot for shot. OK so there's some times where the idea is just really bad. But other times you know maybe it's not a. To me the ones that are really bad the remakes or the TV shows that you know because what you you know TV shows is by nature serialized and you build up so what you're doing really in a TV show which you're kind of taking a premise or an idea and you're giving it a one off thing and they

almost never work. And so it's really pointless and you know the number of TV you know inspired movies that really were pretty good as really minimal. Yeah. Are we just this question just pops in my mind are we going to the point now where says DVD sales of television shows that is television shows on DVD are bigger than movies. I was getting to the point I am not happy. I don't believe. Oh OK. I just I wonder because it seems that it is something that we're seeing more and more and more. I had never heard that. It is of course the case that DVD sales overall exceed the box office for movies overall. But I hadn't heard that TV shows. So when I buy homicide season 6 for $100 it sure feels like a lot of money but it's worth it. Now we're almost the point we have to finish. One thing that I sometimes ask is if you have any picks if you're going into the it's going to the rent something and you're looking for something that might have been good you've messed up first

time. Well let me give to I have a few but let me give to me a very interesting foreign film called divine intervention. That was a co-production a number of countries including Palestine. But I was thinking that he had showed at the Brit fest playtime and the director of divine intervention was really inspired by playtime. So you don't see that many comedies from the Palestinian territories and the other thing I must recommend is the new and expanded the Big Red One. Forty seven minutes longer than it was plus a second disc of optional extras but Forty seven minutes longer of Sam Fuller's World War Two classic with Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill. When he was just it just it was just a we lead so the big red one I always thought the bigger one was a great film and now 47 minutes longer it's that much better. OK. Well I thank you very much for being here. My pleasure. It's always fun Dave desert. He's director of the unit for cinema Studies at University of Illinois and occasionally is here and we talk

about movies.