The Tree of Marketing

I think it's time to stop equating love to a "force of nature", okay? It's done.




Meanwhile, all you Brits out there? Go see Julie Bertuccelli's The Tree. It's fantastic and my favourite of the two recent movies with "tree" in the title. Now that's a contentious film geek opinion, isn't it?

Crafty Courage

When I first saw the poster for Courageous it was in thumbnail size and I said to myself "that reminds me of The Craft." Oh the lulz I had when I clicked on the poster and noticed Courageous is "from the creators of Fireproof". Because reminding people of a film about sexy witchcraft is surely what they intended.

Scream 4 Finally Gets a Cast Poster

We Scream obsessives have been waiting for this. First we had the initial teaser poster, which was then followed by the familiar 4 poster and most recently the pointy Ghostface poster, but what we were all waiting for was the traditional cast poster to arrive. And here it is, via Horror Movies.ca. Well, an international version of it, at least. I wouldn't be surprised if the image of Sidney used changes simply because she looks a bit silly, but I do like that Emma Roberts is shown using her mobile phone.


It, of course follows in the footsteps of the original three posters, as well the rash of imitators that followed for similar slasher films in the poster-Scream world.



Compare those last three posters to the slasher genre posters pre-Scream and you'll see just one part of that movie's infinite influence.


Speaking of the influence of Scream, I've been writing an article on just that topic for The Big Issue so any Australian's out there should keep a look out for it! All these movies are mentioned and more.

Arthur Poster is Having Us for a Laugh

When I first saw the newly released poster for Arthur at Cinema Blend I actually laughed. Out loud. Not due to any humour found within it - I'm sure some people will find the Russell Brand remake's poster amusing, but I am not one of them - but instead due to the glaringly obvious fact that its entire concept is stolen from another poster. And I don't mean in some "both posters feature lead actor in a chair" or "both posters look as funny as a punch in the face" way. No, I mean, stolen in the "they actually just took one poster and replaced the actors" way.

Take a look and I dare you to not think there is blatant copying going on here


(Click to enlarge)
Oh, sure, Arthur has a bit more going on in the background, and, sure, the American How to Lose Friends poster threw in Jeff Bridges, but that's why I included the international poster there on the left.

Both feature their lead man-child character sitting all goofy like in a chair with beautiful women flanking him on either side (and yes, Helen Mirren is definitely more beautiful than Megan Fox!). Both feature the New York City skyline behind them and both feature obvious signs of their lead character's quote unquote adorable childlike tendencies at their feet (pet pig and children's toys respectively). They even both use boring default fonts and strangely reflective floors!

Look, I'm not saying the designers of the Arthur poster saw the concept for How to Lose Friends and Alienate People and decided to... wait, that is what I'm saying! Surely they're having a laugh, right? This is one big joke, surely! Who looks at the How to Lose Friends and Alienate People campaign and think "yes, that's what we'll model ourselves on!" Of course, I'm probably the only person on the planet to even remember what the poster for that "Simon Pegg Goes to America" vehicle looked like so Arthur's studio probably didn't think twice when they greenlit the poster, but I call bullshit on whoever designed the Arthur poster. This is "creative inspiration" of the highest order.

Still, after all of that, the worst thing Arthur's poster does is not include Greta Gerwig! So tell me readers, am I imagining things or is there something fishy going on here?

Jane, a Colored Girl

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We have already discussed the brilliance of that Jane Eyre poster and while I never wrote about the For Colored Girls poster, it too is quite excellent. Put them together and throw Natalie Portman into the mix and what do you get? The poster for The Other Woman. I can't be the only one who sees this.

The Girl Who Kicked the Luckdragon

Sometimes it really baffles me the connections I am able to make between movies, but the poster for The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest sent my mind immediately to Wolfgang Petersen's 1984 adaptation of The NeverEnding Story. Just look at these two posters and tell me you don't think the same thing.



That's just what Lisbeth Salander needs, a luckdragon getting in her way!

Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene: SCENE 22 of Scream (0:58:48-1:02:27)

In this project I attempt to review the entire Scream trilogy scene by scene in chronological order. Heavy spoilers and gore throughout!

SCENE 22
Length: 3mins 39secs
Primary Characters: Sidney Prescott, Tatum Riley, Deputy Dewey, Gale Weathers, Kenny the Cameraman, Randy Meeks and Stu Macher
Pop Culture References:

• The Evil Dead and Hellraiser (Randy takes a vote on which to watch)
• The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train (All referenced as movies starring "The Scream Queen")
• Jamie Lee Curtis (the aforementioned "Scream Queen")

Can you feel that? The end is in sight! We're at the final night of Billy and Stu's rampage of terror. But don't we're slowing down. Oh no! Plenty to discuss yet. This scene features two very excellent songs on the soundtrack. The one right now is Birdbrain's "Youth of America" and later on is Republica's "Drop Dead Gorgeous". I never did figure out why the latter isn't on the soundtrack. Remember Republica? I'm not sure many people do. Watch the video for "Youth of America" below. It's set inside Gale Weathers' van and features clips from the movie. There's even a cameo by Ghostface! This really does look so much like 1996!


Okay, let's carry on.


I love this bit. It takes the cliche of the stalking killer and, as this franchise is wont to do, makes it comical. In most movies this shot would be followed by one a hand holding a knife or something to that effect, but in Scream?


A pack of chips! (or "crisps" for you Americans, right?) That Kenny the Cameraman is such a litterbug!


Remember when high schoolers wore shirts and chinos to a house party? No?


There's a few moments throughout this party sequence that I like because they show these characters as just a bunch of friends. They usually go unnoticed, like this moment here of Sidney actually smiling as she leaves Dewey's car to go to the party. Despite all the shit that she's been/going through she still just wants to hang around with her mates.


Do we think this set is a reference to Psycho? I err on the side of yes, but there's also the fact that they just needed a house in the middle of nowhere so people could run around screaming bloody murder and nobody would notice. Is it an homage if it's also a necessary plot point?


Should I be focusing on the beer funnel action, Stu's delightful red dressing gown or that atrocious denim vest/high-waisted pants ensemble on the chick to the left? Yikes!


Meanwhile, Gale and Kenny sneak up to the party under the cover of darkness. Thick as thieves, these two! Also? We're exactly one hour into the movie! That feels like an accomplishment and a half.


There's a hilarious sitcom spin-off between these two waiting to happen.


It's proof to Wes Craven's abilities that even these sort of boo machine scares (character's entry into frame matched to a big loud sound effect) still actually kinda work. But, there in lies the comedy, because you laugh as soon as you jump when you realise "oh, it's only Dewey!" and the makers know this. Still, I think at this stage of watching Scream I was still terrified that they were going to kill off Courteney Cox and, as I've previously stated, I was a huge Courteney Cox fan at the time. Don't believe me? I once watched Commandments.



It's these sly moments of character that make rewatching these films so enjoyable. I love that in spite of the abuse that Gale sometimes lumps onto poor Kenny the Cameraman, they still clearly have a great working relationship and know each other so well. This look of "we've made it" that Gale gives to Kenny, who is all "yeah, we rule" in his nonchalance, is just one of many examples.


"All right."
"Yeah, I'm fine. Oh!"
Hah. Oh, Dewey! So adorable.

Did you see on Twitter just today that David Arquette has "just wrapped on Scream 4." It's getting closer, y'all!


"The Fog, Terror Train, Prom Night... how come Jamie Lee Curtis is in all of these movies?"
"She's the scream queen"
I am sure there was a devoted following of Jamie Lee Curtis' early career as a horror actress, but was she always known as the "Scream Queen" or was it a more modern title given to her once she matured into an actress and could look back on the days of making cheap Canadian horror movies.





I know almost any moment where Sidney smiles can be counted as positively endearing compared to the rest of the time when her character can be hard to like (at least in the first one, anyway), but this is another one of those very brief little moments that can go by unnoticed that just enhance the film because it does add to the atmosphere of this group of high school friends. This moment as Sidney sits and can't hold in her laugh and "oh yeah?" as Randy talks about how Jamie Lee Curtis was nominated for an award for Terror Train (what Randy doesn't say is that she was nominated for a Saturn Award) that feels so organic and real. I'm sure most people reading this have had moments similar of yammering on and on about what awards this more or that movie were nominated for to friends who don't really care, but indulge us anyway.


BEER WENCH!!
In the comments of scene 21, "JJ" said "You can totally tell Tatum beat the shit out of anyone who picked on Sidney growing up", and you totally know that's true. Just look at the expressions on her face when Stu says Gale Weathers has shown up at his party.





Meanwhile, let's focus our attention on the girl in the background in the baby pink overalls who kinda looks like those people in the audience of Oprah when she gives away a toaster oven that burns pictures of Hello Kitty onto the bread. Am I crazy or does that actually look like Veronica Mars herself, Kristen Bell?


There she is again. Let's go in for a close up!


Seriously. Am I crazy?

Everybody knows by now that Kristen Bell has been cast in Scream 4. Her casting announcement came alongside the casting announcement of Anna Paquin, which leads one to think of 3 possibilities.

1. They're joint opening victims,
2. They appear as actors in the film-within-the-film Stab 7, or
3. They play two old friends (or "friends") of Sidney's from Woodsboro High who show up, say "Hi Sid! Remember us?" and then leave.

I tend to think it will be option number three, something akin to the Jay and Silent Bob cameos in Scream 3. If it does turn out to be option number three (although I am hoping it is option #1 because, let's face it, how amazing would that be?) then I like to think of it as wildly coincidental that there is a girl right here in Scream the first that actually kinda looks like Ms Bell. Anna Paquin on the other hand... well, I haven't spotted her lookalike yet!


Next to the word "Adorable" in the dictionary should be this image of David Arquette. For reals, just look at him!


If planting this camera was Gale's plan all along, I'm not sure why she and Kenny needed to be so quiet when arriving to the party. How else was she going to do?


I mean, sure, he was addicted to hard drugs at the time, but look at him! Adorable.


Aw, look at Tatum go. Walking away towards the garage to get more beers, little does she know that she is about to meet an untimely end. Poor gal. It's actually quite sad to think that there's only one more scene of this project in which I will be able to gaze upon Rose McGowan as Tatum Riley. Such a shame.

Intro, Scene 1 Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14, Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21