The next generation of auteur filmmakers officially has a new
member — it takes a body of work over a number of years to get there. Alexander Payne is the next generation auteur.
All of this — about a new
member and all — is totally meaningless if you don’t at least acknowledge the auteur film theory, which arose from the
French New Wave during the late 40s
and early 50s. If I simply say
“Truffaut” and a light goes on, then you can embrace the concept of auteur as an element of filmmaking.
Who is an auteur can, however, be very
subjective. One film does not make an auteur … it is a body of work. There is a consensus that Scorsese, Altman
and Allen are all auteur filmmakers —
but what of Spike Lee, as an example … his films of late have lost their touch;
the passion that marked his earlier work seems missing. Does he just go from being an auteur to not being an auteur … it’s subjective.
So what does all of this
have to do with what Paramount Home Media announcement this past week with
respect to the release of Alexander Payne’s latest film on Mar. 20 as a
three-SKU home entertainment product offering?
With Downsizing, a case can be made that he has enough of a track
record to be a full-fledged member of the auteur
school of filmmaking.
Election with Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon was
amazing, Sideways teaming Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church was
genius and Nebraska brought out the best of Bruce Dern. There’s an unmistakable melancholy to the
lives of Jim McAllister, Miles Raymond and Woody Grant (the characters played
by Broderick, Giamatti and Dern respectively) in all of these Payne films … and
so too is the character that Matt Damon plays in Downsizing. There’s an incredible sadness to him; Paul
Safranek (Damon) is a man defeated, who surrenders to his fate; his lot — his small
lot — in life, only to discover that it’s all a big con. He lives the life of luxury in a glass cage.
Downsizing didn’t do the business that it should have done
as an Alexander Payne film, pulling in just $24.4 million in domestic ticket
sales. Take one look at the trailer and
you can see that Paramount’s theatrical marketing had a difficult time telling
audiences what it was about in just three minutes. The
sad truth of theatrical marketing is that you have to have the maximum number
of bodies possible in seats on the first Friday and Saturday nights for a film
to succeed.
Is Downsizing a comedy? No. Is it an amusing sci-fi film? No.
A satire? That’s closer to the
mark … it’s actually a dramatic science fiction satire with a touch of humor to
it. That’s a tough sell in three
minutes. It’s also dark and
challenging. Downsizing makes you
think.
For the record, the ARR
comes in at 88 days and Paramount will be giving consumers DVD, Blu-ray/DVD
Combo Pack and 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack editions to select from on Mar.
20.
As to bonus features,
which are exclusive to the Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD editions, there are six
production featurettes — “Working with Alexander,” “The Cast,” “A Visual
Journey,” “A Matter of Perspective,” “That Smile” and “A Global Concern.”
Also added to the release
calendar this past week from Paramount Home Media is a 40th
Anniversary Edition Blu-ray edition of Grammy-winner-turned-director Lou
Adler’s Up in Smoke, which served as a theatrical showcase for the
comedy talents of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, but turned into a cultural
event. Needless to say, it was a smash,
not only as a theatrical release, but as the launch vehicle for the four-decade
long film careers (acting, directing, producing, etc.) of both Cheech Marin and
Tommy Chong. The street date is Apr.
10.
Bonus features are still
in the works, but published reports indicate that there will be a commentary
track featuring Cheech Marin and Lou Adler.
Also streeting on Apr. 10
is director Tommy Chong’s 1983 comedy, Still Smokin’, teaming Cheech and
himself on an “Amsterdam” adventure.
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