An addendum on this post noted that War, Inc, the satire co-written by and starring John Cusack which I loathed but which has become something of a surprise spring hit, was scheduled to come out on DVD tomorrow after just seven weeks in theaters. I wrote:

War Inc['s DVD release] is notable only because First Look’s ridiculously tight seven week window from theatrical premiere to DVD street date looks, in retrospect, like another in a line of smart moves designed to capitalize on the film’s surprise cult appeal. Of course, the film’s box office potency faded as its release expanded, and if it had done less well in its first weeks, this would look a lot like a dumping, but that’s fodder for another, far more bitter post…

Ah, but then the target moved: shortly after that post was published, I got an email from David Hudson informing me that the film’s DVD release has been bumped to October. …Read more

August, Austin Chick’s summer 2001 tech bust period piece and one of the easiest objects of derision at the most recent Sundance film festival, has become the latest B-list actor-fueled title to land distribution long after the emptying of Park City. Co-producer and star Josh Hartnett––who says “fucking” in the trailer, so you know he’s working hard––plays the cocky douchbag behind a dot com startup called LandShark, with an inflated public value but no discernible product to peddle. He gets to spout of a lot of awesomely empty futurism, like “LandShark is not a vehicle––LandShark is the road itself!” and “What the net is supposed to do … is increase freedom!” It takes place in New York in August 2001 and the tagline, at least at the point when this trailer and this poster were put together, is “August. Comes before the fall.” Get it? September 11 and the crumbling of nerd babylon: two tragedies we must never forget.

Anyway. First Look bought it. The Hollywood Reporter says they’re going to release in July, but First Look hasn’t been the most reliable distributor of late, so Web 1.0 nostalgists may have to wait. In the meantime, check out the ridiculous Sundance Channel segment about the film above. My favorite part is when Chick comments that he and his actors are dressed casually for their premiere. Industry veteran Hartnett responds, “It’s Sundance, you can get away with it here.” Co-star Adam Scott agrees: “That’s the way it is at the ‘dance.”

• With a total gross of $140,000, The Darjeeling Limited earned the highest per-screen average of the year this weekend, when it opened in two theaters on New York on Saturday after opening the New York Film Festival on Friday night. Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution opened almost as strong: the NC-17 rated, 158 minute film grossed almost $62,000 in its single New York engagement.
• Admittedly, there’s a lot riding on the success of Lions For Lambs (it’s the first production to be released by Tom Cruise’s revamped United Artists, and Cruise’s first starring role since the disappointing Mission Impossible 3), but is YouTube really the best place to sell an Oscar-bait drama about war and moral responsibility? Cruise and Co. think so: they’ve signed a deal with GooTube “in an effort to build buzz for the drama…to launch a competish for which individuals can produce a 90-second video discussing the social issue they’re most passionate about.”
• Amidst recent accusations that they’re just not very good at releasing films, First Look has announced two new acquisitions: Day Zero, a draft drama starring Elijah Wood which premiered at Tribeca earlier this year; and The Amateurs, a comedy about a crew of middle-aged suburbanites who hop into the world of DIY pornography.
• Wayne Wang’s A Thousand Years of Good Prayers took the top prize this weekend from Paul Auster’s jury at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

Back in April, Kevin and Paul devoted half an episode of FilmCouch to Gregg Araki’s Smiley Face, a winning stoner comedy starring Anna Faris that earned lukewarm critical reviews, but was a hit with audiences at SXSW and Sundance. “I giggle just thinking about,” Paul said at the time. “[It's] the funniest stoner flick I have ever seen.”
Smiley’s distributor, First Look, had initially planned a platform release beginning on April 20 (get it? 420? Get it?), but that date came and went and Araki’s film still hadn’t made it to North American theaters. After the film played at Toronto a couple of weeks ago, it looked as though First Look might be gearing up for a new release date. But yesterday, MTV’s Larry Carroll confirmed that Smiley Face will open on just one screen in Los Angeles, before First Look dumps it on DVD.

This news has already sparked a mild eruption of outrage across the web. …Read more