If you’re looking for one place to tune into online for commentary and reactions to this year’s Oscars broadcast your search is now over: Karina and the rest of the SpoutBlog team will be live-tweeting the Oscars this year, sending in their thougts on who won, who didn’t and all the rest of the goings-on.

As the countdown to the ceremony commences, Karina has also been participating in the Oscar Symposium held by Nathaniel R. along with other movie writers, a virtual round-table that apparently includes comparisons of Frank Langella’s performance as Richard Nixon to to a Muppet and some…emotional reactions to that commentary.

You can also join in the discussion leading up to the awards yourself by joining the It’s a Wonder Night for Oscar group on Spout. Make your predictions, weigh in on other people’s thoughts and generally get yourself up to speed on what people are thinking in the lead-up to the ceremony.

–Chris Thilk, Director of Marketing

We’ve got two DVD copies of Body of Lies that we’re looking to give away today.

The official synopsis:

Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe star in Body of Lies. The CIA’s hunt is on for the mastermind of a wave of terrorist attacks. Roger Ferris is the agency’s man on the ground, scrambling to stay ahead of ever-shifting events. An eye in the sky satellite link watches Ferris. At the other end of that link is the CIA’s Ed Hoffman, strategizing events from thousands of miles away.

You can watch the Body of Lies trailer here.

To win just give us the name of your favorite Leonardo DiCaprio or Russell Crowe movie via Twitter. Send a reply to @spout with the name of the movie and include “#contestwed” in the tweet and you’re entered to win.

Go for it!

–Chris Thilk, Director of Marketing

Own it on Blu-ray® and DVD 02/17/09!

Body of Lies © 2008. Package Design & Supplementary Material Compilation © 2009 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Distributed by Warner Home Video. 4000 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA  91522. All rights reserved.

As a quick follow-up to my earlier post on Karina appearing in an ad campaign for Liz Claiborne, the campaign’s launch got a write-up in The New York Times the other day. Karina doesn’t get name-dropped, an obvious huge editorial oversight, but does appear in the picture attached to the article.

(The following was written by Adam Forrest, SkyPilot on Spout, who works on the Marketing and Publishing team. - CT)

He’s Just Not That Into You may look like just another romantic comedy based on a book, but it’s a different animal altogether. Let’s ride on its coattails and build a list of potential Self-Help Blockbusters.

I feel a little gross saying this, but He’s Just Not That Into You is a groundbreaking adaptation. We’re talking about a romance film based on, of all things, a self-help book. And have you seen this book? It contains wisdom that most women already know on some level: that men behave simply. (One of the book’s chapters is called “He’s Just Not That Into You If He’s Having Sex With Someone Else.”) And this movie stars Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, and the two most-desired Jennifers in the world!

The movie was a big hit at the box-office this past weekend and is likely to spur other studios to look to the Self Help section for the next potential blockbuster. So why don’t we strike while the iron’s hot and lead the new Self-Help Blockbuster trend?

What self-help book should be a movie? Let’s collaborate on a list of potential Self-Help Blockbusters. If we’re lucky, these flicks will be made and we won’t even have to read the books!

Here are my ideas so far:

Rich Dad, Poor Dad. In this comedy-drama a gnarled but lovable judge (played by Burt Reynolds) must decide which of Dakota Fanning’s uncles can adopt her. Will it be fun-loving but irresponsible “Poor Dad” Robin Williams, or well-to-do but heartless “Rich Dad” Pierce Brosnan? (Surprise ending: Burt Reynolds decides both uncles are unsuitable guardians and adopts Dakota Fanning himself.)

You Mean I’m Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy. Lazy, stupid and crazy Seth Rogen finds out he just has ADD.

How to Win Friends and Influence People. This is just a retitled special edition of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Chicken Soup for the Soul. An ensemble film written and directed by Paul Haggis. The highlight of the film occurs when Matt Dillon, who’s normally racist, saves Thandie Newton from a burning car.

If we put our heads together, I know we can come up with even better ideas. What self-help book would you most like to see turned into a movie?

If you want to know what the coolest thing to hit my Inbox today was, it’s the news that the first part of an ad campaign for Isaac Mizrahi’s new line for Liz Claiborne has launched.

Why am I writing about the launch of a new campaign on Inside.Spout? Because this is no ordinary ad campaign: This one features our very own Karina Longworth. Oh that’s right.

If you click over to Liz Claiborne’s official site you’ll see Karina herself - she’s the one in the middle sitting down while wearing a pink checkered dress. You can then click the little floaty thing over her head to read her “story.”

There’s more to come from this campaign - the clothes apparently aren’t even in stores yet - so stay tuned for even more.

–Chris Thilk, Director of Marketing

Spout has a whole stack of DVDs that we’re raring to send out to some lucky winners today. Here’s what’s stacked up on our desk:

• Being There, the comedy classic starring Peter Sellers as a simple gardener mistaken for a high-society intellectual. If you’ve never seen it you’re missing out on one of the all-time great film performances. (Watch the trailer)
• Pride and Glory, with Edward Norton and Colin Farrell star as police officer friends set against each other in this gritty tale of intrigue and corruption. (Watch the trailer)
• The Sidney Poitier Collection: A four-disc set of some of the legendary actor’s finest roles, including Edge of the City, A Patch of Blue, Something of Value and A Warm December.
• Nights in Rodanthe, which has Richard Gere and Diane Lane finding love late in life in this adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel. (Watch the trailer)
• Any Given Sunday, Director Oliver Stone’s tale of the Miami Sharks football team, including Al Pacino as the team’s head coach who knows that both life and football are games of inches. (NOTE: This is a Blu-ray release so make sure you have a Blu-ray player before winning this one.) (Watch the trailer)

Full details and box art for each movie after the jump.

So what do you have to do to win? It’s pretty simple - just follow Spout’s Twitter profile and send it an “@spout” response with “I Like to Watch” and the name of the movie above you’re most interested in winning. Winners will be selected randomly by noon on Monday, February 9th.

Again, you have to be following Spout on Twitter to win. So get along and do that and good luck.

–Chris Thilk, Director of Marketing

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As Christi said, better late than never:

Please Explain to Me Why Slumdog Millionaire Does Not Suck

I don’t want to publish the Twitter identities of those who have won tickets to see The Dark Knight on IMAX, a contest we announced yesterday, but I will tell you what movies they told us, via Twitter, what movies they’d like to see released on the IMAX screen:

• Caligula
• Blade Runner
• Mulholland Drive
• Once Upon a Time in America / Once Upon a Time in the West
• Titanic
• Lawrence of Arabia
• Young Frankenstein / Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• Brazil
• Drunken Master
• E.T. / The Green Mile

As you’d expect there are a lot of epics on the list as well as a couple of offbeat choices - I love the people who suggested Brazil and Young Frankenstein.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their suggestions and look for more contests like this in the future. Make sure to keep following @spout for updates, news and more.

As I said more than once during Spout’s sponsored day at the Slamdance Film Festival, I just dig getting a bunch of people in a room and talking about what works and what doesn’t, regardless of the topic. I don’t care if you’re discussing lawn care solutions, social media marketing or, as was the case at Slamdance, alternative marketing and distribution methods for filmmakers, the back and forth of ideas and examples gets my blood pumping.

The day started off with a get-to-know-you brunch with some of the filmmakers and others who were attending the festival. This was a great opportunity to have some good food and good conversation and get to meet some people in a one-on-one (more or less) setting.

Later on the day was the main event - a panel discussion on how to cut through the media clutter with your marketing and then find a distribution option that’s best for a particular movie and its target audience. Joining me on the panel were:

–Heidi Van Leer (Slamdance TV)
–Danae Ringlemann (IndieGoGo)
–Andrew Mer (SnagFilms)
–Chris Holland (FilmFestivalSecrets / B-Side )
–Jay Schwartz (IndieShares )
–Matt Dentler (Cinetic Rights Management )

The hour long conversation that ensued was full of the good ideas and remarkable insights you would expect from such an assembled group. The room was amazing, full of good questions that spurred a lot of debate and discussion. That room was also pretty well packed and only became more so as the hour went on.

I’d be hard-pressed to pull one key take-away from the discussion. But I do remember one comment that I made, something emphasized by Matt and others, that while it seemed like the companies assembled on the panel all were doing the same thing that was not strictly the case. We’re all taking different approaches toward the same goal (getting worthwhile movies seen by an audience) but have our own strengths and so all compliment each other more than anything else.

The experience at Slamdance was fun, educational and just generally enjoyable and I hope it was the same for those in attendance. All of us at Spout were thrilled with how it turned out and excited to support a festival that is truly by the filmmakers and for the filmmakers.

–Chris Thilk, Director of Marketing

Paul and Kevin have got a great contest running through Spout’s FilmCouch podcast that couldn’t be easier to enter: Just send filmcouch-@-spout-.-com an email with the best product you’ve ever seen the face of revolutionary Che Guevara on. The iconic figure’s face has been plastered on countless items so surely you’ve come across - or even owned yourself - a poster, t-shirt, lighter or other item with his visage plastered on it.

Oh, what are you entering to win? Good question. Here’s what you get if you’re the winner:

1. Signed program from Soderbergh
2. Copy of Che’s “Bolivian Diaries”
3. The Che Soundtrack with music my Alberto Iglesias

The contest is in conjunction with Steven Soderbergh’s epic biopic Che, currently making the rounds of major cities across the country. So send Paul and Kevin an email and win your memorabilia today!

–Chris Thilk, Director of Marketing

Spout has 10 tickets to giveaway to see The Dark Knight on IMAX. The movie, which just this morning received an Oscar nomination for Heath Ledger as Best Supporting Actor, is returning to the big big screen tomorrow, January 23rd on 143 IMAX screens across the country.

All you have to do to win is to send a reply to Spout on Twitter (reply to @spout) with the name of the movie - past, present or future - you’d most like to see released in IMAX format.

Of course you need to be following @spout on Twitter to win, but you should be doing that anyway since that’s a great way to stay connected with the best film news, reviews and commentary on the web.

After the jump you’ll see the locations of The Dark Knight’s IMAX locations so you can make sure it’s playing in your area.

–Chris Thilk, Director of Marketing

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There’s a movie that, unless you live on the bleeding edge of the foreign film world, you probably haven’t heard about. It’s called Three Monkeys. Here’s the description of the movie as it appears on its Spout movie detail page:

A family dislocated when small failings blow up into extravagant lies battles against the odds to stay together by covering up the truth… In order to avoid hardship and responsibilities that would otherwise be impossible to endure, the family chooses to ignore the truth, not to see, hear or talk about it. But does playing “Three Monkeys” invalidate the truth of its existence?

Despite it’s low profile in the mass-audience world it has quite a following among some of the heavy users on Spout. While opinions have varied, the movie has gotten some strong feedback from those who have seen it:

Indieabby88: “Probably the best thing “Three Monkeys” has going for it is its subtlety. The film’s style is very subdued, and we only see characters behaving in extreme ways when the situation absolutely calls for it. The performances are all very natural, never over-the-top. We can identify with all of the characters (except, perhaps, Servet, who’s pretty much a scuzzbag).”

Risselada: “What we have here is a film that is well executed in many ways, nice pacing, framing, cinematography, sound, and superb acting.  And the dialogue and story are realistic and easy to follow.  The film does well with the “show don’t tell” rule of story telling.  We pick up a lot of things about the feelings of the characters and specific events and background elements without anyone speaking about them explicitly.  YET, despite all of this I found the movie to be sorely lacking.”

JimBell: “The film meets its third major challenge much more successfully. After viewers have stuck with three difficult-to-like characters and tried to figure out what they were thinking and feeling, there has to be a pay off, and Three Monkeys has an effective ending.

Watch the trailer for Three Monkeys here and see for yourself what has people talking.

So much good stuff happening in the Spout discussion and group communities lately.

The Worst of 2008

Movies Spout Needs to Watch

Oscar Buzz and Awards Season 2009

APPALOOSA DVD Giveaway

Best Movie Lists — DVD giveaway

As you might have noticed lately, Spout is working on a number of fronts to further the connection between awareness (the goal of a marketing campaign) and consumption (the goal of a distribution strategy) for filmmakers and other stakeholders in a film’s success.

It’s important to remember, though, that continued conversation plays a big role in defining the future of a film can connect with its audience and vice-versa. Issues are still being hashed out and case-studies still being written that can be used for future reference.

That’s why we leapt at the chance to be a sponsor of the Slamdance Film Festival that kicks off this week. Specifically, Spout is sponsoring a day of conversations around new media marketing and distribution on Monday the 19th. The chat panel will be happening at the Treasure Mountain Inn (map link here) at 12:30 Monday afternoon, and there’s a brunch before that beginning at 10:00 AM.

The full press release is pasted below. If you’re going to be in Park City and would like to meet up drop me an email (chris-at-spout-dot-com), DM me on Twitter (@cthilk) or just drop a comment below. I’m excited to be out there and look forward to meeting up with some of the people who, like Spout, are leading the conversation about new marketing and distribution models.

–Chris Thilk, Director of Marketing

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