Flickgrrl

I'm confused, Carrie. When a movie is released but not screened in advance for the press, critics automatically think it's a stinker and not the victim of the kind of politics that seem to have victimized "I Could Never Be Your Woman." Given the credentials you list, one would think that another distributor would have stepped up and picked it up. Maybe, it's simply lousy. Despite those credentials you mention, you also remind us that Rudd was capable of making "Over Her Dead Body." And let's not forget that Heckerling made the excreable "Loser" and "Johnny Dangerously" and Pfeiffer made "The Story of Us" and "Up Close and Personal." Things happen. (I cleaned that up.) BTW, Bauer Martinez Entertainment, the company mentioned in Missy Schwartz’s article, had another high-profile film, “The Amateurs,” starring Jeff Bridges, that it half-heartedly released in Los Angeles late last year – to bad reviews.

Mike,

From reliable sources, I hear it's "not lousy, but not Clueless." The fact that Bauer Martinez sold off the video rights to make some fast cash limits the profits another distrib can make from it, which explains why no one else has picked it up.

Best,

You can sign me up for the campaign to theatrically release "I Could Never Be Your Woman." I don't care how bad a movie may be, it must be demoralizing for the cast and crew to spend months working on it, only to have it arbitrarily abandoned. Plus, this film has been given a black eye two times over. First, its credibility has been tarnished by the situation (which has nothing to do with the film). Plus, as Carrie says, with a DVD deal in place, no distributor will touch it now. After its DVD bow, it will probably end up a Lifetime "premiere," which is what happened to Joey Lauren Adams' fine movie, "Come Early Morning."

One final thing: There are simply too many films for the marketplace to handle.

Re "Clueless," you snatched the best line, Carrie! For the life of me, as much as I like that movie, I can't think of another quotable line. (Does "As If!" qualify?) I would go with the film's use of the Baldwins as a definition for hot guys, but it's so dated now - and inaccurate - that it's now only inadvertently witty.

Joe,

Even though some of the references are dated, I still crack up throughout the movie, esp at lines such as
"Searching for a boy in high school is as useless as searching for meaning in a Pauly Shore movie."

Check out the "Memorable quotes" from Clueless on imdb.com

C

Favorite Clueless line:

While Cher drives and fails to stop at a stop sign, Dionne says "Hello? There was a stop sign." Cher replies "I totally paused."

Carrie's right - there's a ton of quotable funny lines in "Clueless." IMDB seems to have most of them. Yhe world isn't moving so fast that a twelve year old flick is "dated" in any meaningful sense. That's almost like saying the Austen novel is "dated." Wonderful performances by Alicia Silverstone, Dan Hedaya and Stacy Dash. What next, "The Blood of Heroes" is too contemporary? "Life is hard, Kidda." LOL.

JDM--

You misread me. I never said the film is dated. I said its reference to the Baldwins as hot guys is dated - seriously dated, from where I sit.

--J

Fair enough, Joe. LOL.

Calling Clueless dated is like calling Public Enemy dated. It's simply of an era, and the cadence and delivery are timeless.

I'm pretty sure the DVD comes out next week, so save the picketing for another cause. We at TLA completely missed the announcement until reading the Entertainment Weekly article, so it's fair to say that even on a direct-to-DVD level the distribution was botched.

There really ARE too many movies being released now. In preparation for the various critics polls i'm asked to participate in, there was a listing of the number of films released (week-long-run minimum) in New York City in 2007: over 600! (If i'm not mistaken, 635 to be exact.) Remember that in 1957, less than 200 films were released in New York City! After years of fear that films were NOT being released, cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle are being bombarded, but bombarded by digital documentaries, digital indie releases, etc. (But the majority of these films will never reach across the country.)

A friend of mine was one of the production team on BERNARD AND DORIS, the HBO film starring Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes which premieres on cable television this weekend. Of course, when Sarandon and Fiennes were signed, there is a clause in the contract about theatrical distribution: HBO allows a window where, if the producers can find a theatrical distributor, the film might have a theatrical release. But there are restrictions, since HBO already owns the television and DVD rights. For this reason, a lot of these HBO films do not get a theatrical release, and BERNARD AND DORIS is no exception. (One exception was THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE.) But all these difficulties make it difficult to open a film.

Yet this is what's happening. Stars such as Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon are taking cuts in salary to work on projects, and then these projects can't find distribution. (Poor Susan Sarandon! John Turturro's ROMANCE AND CIGARETTES and now Bob Balaban's BERNARD AND DORIS, and IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH got only limited distribution.)

As we all know (and as the Writers Guild strike is making all too clear), things are changing, and the standard theatrical distribution model is proving untenable. But still, it is demoralizing to have worked on a project and to see it not getting a release. But more and more projects are winding up in this category, and not every such project is simply bad.

So i'll probably try to see I COULD NEVER BE YOUR WOMAN when it's available on Netflix, just as i'll watch BERNARD AND DORIS when it's on HBO. But it's a sad situation for all involved.

Well, gosh, David, of course "Public Enemy" is dated! Things naturaly date - movies, as well as people. Or perhaps you prefer the word "age." "Public Enemey" has aged. "Clueless" has aged. That's not necessarily a negative - to become dated or to age. It's just the way things go. Heck, "Knocked Up" probably has already aged. Things become dated because times passes and life moves on. I know it's a matter of semantics, but please, put matters in perspective. Can't we just enjoy "Clueless" and "Public Enemy" for what they are - entertaining, albeit dated films?

I agree. All movies age and become dated. It's just that some hold up better than others and some don't age so well. However, that doesn't make them any less valid as films. For me, "West Side Story" is a classic that hasn't aged well, but I still like it. I particularly have a difficult time with certain films from the 1970s, especially the psychedelic films. I find it difficult to see the actresses in mini-skirts and boots, straightened hair and luminous eye shadow because I think that was the most unattractive period in film in terms of fashion. Really dated. Hasn't aged well at all. I didn't think it was ugly back then but I do now. And, as a result, it's a huge distraction. But that's just me.

I agree with Mike; you should be able to tell that I wasn't calling either film "dated".

Watched "Silence of the Lambs" on TCM last night, and was shocked to see that what was once contemporary is now itself of an era. The hairstyles and fashions now appear to me as a 1991 period piece. Again, that's not a slam. I look around the streets and I don't see peoples' fashion as "2008"... but I'm sure I will in about 15 years.

Should we start a campaign to have fewer films released? It's hard enough to keep up with 100 years of classics.

Re: Clueless. There's a scene in the girls' gym class, staged at a tennis court. The explanation for why the one snooty girl can't participate is priceless. And perhaps better left unquoted.

FYI. Found this review on the web. Are you going to review it, Carrie?

I COULD NEVER BE YOUR WOMAN
Sue Adolphson

Sunday, February 10, 2008

It stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd ("Knocked Up"), so really, how bad could it be? The answer: pretty darn bad. The box promises more than just the stars' pretty faces ("From the writer/director of 'Clueless'!") but less than a half hour into this clunky romantic comedy one can't help but be embarrassed for Pfeiffer. Just when you think you can't figure out why this never-released clunker (well, according to www.imdb.com, it was released ... in Brazil and Estonia) is out on DVD at all, it comes to you: That's Saoirse Ronan, the Oscar-nominated Briony from "Atonement," playing Pfeiffer's daughter, Izzie. It's all about timing. The movie tells the story of Rosie (Pfeiffer), a single mom in her 40s who is so wrapped up in her job as a TV producer that she has no time to date. That is, until Adam (Rudd) auditions for a role, gets the part and then gets Rosie. Except there's a problem: He's only 29. Rosie's discomfort with the age difference manifests itself in the form of an obnoxious Mother Nature (Tracey Ullman) who keeps showing up as a sort of meddling conscience. The hardest thing to take, though, is the fact that any intelligent woman - age 20, 30, 40 or 50 - would fall for Adam and his class-clown antics. Though writer-director Amy Heckerling didn't give the actors much to work with, Pfeiffer fans might be able to get through the film - she's gorgeous and her usual appealing self. Everyone else would be wise to pass on this one. The extras are meager, too: some deleted scenes, commentary by Heckerling and the trailer.

Well, Joe, I'll definitely see it. I don't know whether I'll review. Thanks for your post.

It's very funny film. The tedious Tracey Ullman bit should not have been so bad, but mistakes were made. Mother Nature is the woman's nagging sense of ageing, her escalating self-doubt, in the form of a coarse, iconoclastic invisible friend. This voice of self-doubt appearing as Mother Nature might have been a great joke. Consider Mother Nature: beautifully, poetically, philosophically justifying loss, obsolescence, death, as natural and good within the great system. How poetic, the hack job she's doing on us all. It should have been a dreamlike parody in the woman's head. Instead, you have Tracey Ullman, playing it like a truck-stop waitress dressed for a Roman theme frat-party, striding costumed in broad daylight sermonizing. So the ironic mockery of crooked Titania was lost. She wasn't crooked enough. Mother Nature is worse than a bitch, more than cruel, and it could have been funny to notice that. However flawed, the film is worthwhile because genuine humor is rare. Most comedies are just cruel and proud, like Borat or Knocked-Up, nothing but violent ego crank. This is funny and warm. This is written. The difference is important, and that reminder, that touch of actual humor, is worth enduring a clunky subplot gimmick.

Saw it. Not as good as "Clueless" (but what is?) Not as bad as "Fool's Gold" or "Over Her Dead Body." Cinematography overlit to the point of garish, which gave it a sitcommy feel. Started out as a satire of elective cosmetic surgery (with imagery so grotesque it could be in a horror film). Then turned into a a film about female panic about aging. Great writing, but very thin story about a May/September romance. Rudd's adorable. And Pfeiffer so ridiculously beautiful that her character's anxiety about aging wasn't believable. B-minus/C-plus range,

I think making a "W" with your hands and your fingers should count, too ("whatever").

I always have to throw into any discussion of Clueless that I think it is a really classic but underrated soundtrack, as well. (vintage Radiohead, Counting Crows doing Psychedlic Furs, Beastie Boys, etc.)

WHO CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!