As always, good points all around, but I think this wave of brand movies is just a byproduct of the broader all-biopics-all-the-time trend, rather than saying anything in particular about our relationships to brands.
One thing I think about a lot is the possibly apocryphal story of the person who came out of Todd Field's latest movie wanting to learn more about the true story, and was completely baffled by the notion of a "fictional" movie. Similarly, Jason Katims recently had a streaming series, "As We See It", which was very Jason Katims-y - which is to say, like a high-quality network TV series from the '90s - and someone in my life kept asking me if it was a documentary. Like, not if it was based on a true story - if it was a documentary. And it's, like, "Yes, of course it's a documentary, real video footage of people living their lives is always delivered in a highly regimented three-act structure with a cute button before it cuts to commercial, and Joe Mantegna as the dad."
It's not news that all we lionize anymore, pretty much, are superhero movies (which are big on origin stories) and biopics. It makes sense to me that, in that climate, creators are leaning into origin-of-the-brand stories. We're running out of people to make biopics of, for one thing---the 2017 Oscar for Best Actor went to a guy playing Winston Churchill (actual famous guy) while the 2021 went to the guy playing...Venus and Serena Williams's dad (less). We're kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel, famous-person-wise. As long as studios are resistant to fiction, and unless they want to make a movie about Beyonce's mailman, a biopic of the inventor of the Blackberry is pretty much what's left.
OK, but I've got a more pressing issue: Starfield - thumbs up or thumbs down? I just paid $70 (!!) for this thing before reading user reviews. They seem pretty hostile, and then I remembered that Bethesda is not exactly the same group that created Morrowind now. I want to return this thing ASAP if it's going to suck. Anyone dig into yet?
Along those lines: does anyone know a decent blog or substack for game reviews? I had to give up on the review sites I used to use. Too political and terrified of giving a bad review to anything for reasons other than politics. I'd love a decent place to read reviews and talk games.
Scott, really sorry for posting this. Feel free to delete - you won't hurt my feelings or anything.
I haven't seen people really note this but I blame this trend on the Jobs/Facebook movies from a few years back, which hit a sweet spot of making money while also getting critical love.
But REALLY I blame Preston Sturges for 1941's The Great Moment - dude set a TONE.
It's vaguely impossible to find now but in 2012 the Russian film Branded went to a similar (fictional) extreme with an ad exec eventually going crazy because he could "see" what brands were attached to people. Eventually every world government agrees to ban advertising. And do not watch the trailer or look at the poster because the film itself is so wildly different that watching it with any expectation will disappoint you. Max Von Sydow's there as well as "Marketing Guru."
I view this as somewhat less dire than you do - is this so different than making a movie with shameless product placement? Or making 7 movies (and counting!) about Transformers? The corporate-cinematic synergy has been there for decades. A few movies about products being released in the same year doesn't strike me as a dangerous or alarming trend.
I'm trying not to get down because, by September, the only non-IP movies that are my favorites of the year are Asteroid City, How To Blow Up A Pipeline (okay, based on a book), and Past Lives. I haven't seen any other truly excellent movies that aren't IP driven, and that's a BIG step down from last year, where by this time we'd already had Petite Maman, After Yang, Moonfall (you heard me), Nope, Marcel, and Everything Everywhere, all endlessly creative and powerful works by iconoclastic creators.
This year, even my favorites are kind of more subdued, less passionate recommendations. I haven't felt any passion from anything this year like I felt for Babylon, for example, no movie so far this year that I will fight someone over, and while I'm excited that IP owners are getting more daring and flexible with their creators (Barbie and Ninja Turtles are great examples), this is also going to open the floodgates, potentially choking out future, original, creative work.
The unending reliance on existing IP and recognized brands to promote progressive values forms a fascinating intellectual dichotomy to me. It reminds me a bit, if you’ll pardon a niche classical music analogy as that’s what I know and love best, of when they play a piece of contemporary music sandwiched between, say, a piece or two by Mozart and a Beethoven symphony, like it’s medicinal. I’ve no doubt that a great artist can manage to make something worthy in this environment, but I very much do doubt that it can happen with any frequency.
Our Brands Are Crisis
As always, good points all around, but I think this wave of brand movies is just a byproduct of the broader all-biopics-all-the-time trend, rather than saying anything in particular about our relationships to brands.
One thing I think about a lot is the possibly apocryphal story of the person who came out of Todd Field's latest movie wanting to learn more about the true story, and was completely baffled by the notion of a "fictional" movie. Similarly, Jason Katims recently had a streaming series, "As We See It", which was very Jason Katims-y - which is to say, like a high-quality network TV series from the '90s - and someone in my life kept asking me if it was a documentary. Like, not if it was based on a true story - if it was a documentary. And it's, like, "Yes, of course it's a documentary, real video footage of people living their lives is always delivered in a highly regimented three-act structure with a cute button before it cuts to commercial, and Joe Mantegna as the dad."
It's not news that all we lionize anymore, pretty much, are superhero movies (which are big on origin stories) and biopics. It makes sense to me that, in that climate, creators are leaning into origin-of-the-brand stories. We're running out of people to make biopics of, for one thing---the 2017 Oscar for Best Actor went to a guy playing Winston Churchill (actual famous guy) while the 2021 went to the guy playing...Venus and Serena Williams's dad (less). We're kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel, famous-person-wise. As long as studios are resistant to fiction, and unless they want to make a movie about Beyonce's mailman, a biopic of the inventor of the Blackberry is pretty much what's left.
OK, but I've got a more pressing issue: Starfield - thumbs up or thumbs down? I just paid $70 (!!) for this thing before reading user reviews. They seem pretty hostile, and then I remembered that Bethesda is not exactly the same group that created Morrowind now. I want to return this thing ASAP if it's going to suck. Anyone dig into yet?
Along those lines: does anyone know a decent blog or substack for game reviews? I had to give up on the review sites I used to use. Too political and terrified of giving a bad review to anything for reasons other than politics. I'd love a decent place to read reviews and talk games.
Scott, really sorry for posting this. Feel free to delete - you won't hurt my feelings or anything.
I haven't seen people really note this but I blame this trend on the Jobs/Facebook movies from a few years back, which hit a sweet spot of making money while also getting critical love.
But REALLY I blame Preston Sturges for 1941's The Great Moment - dude set a TONE.
It's vaguely impossible to find now but in 2012 the Russian film Branded went to a similar (fictional) extreme with an ad exec eventually going crazy because he could "see" what brands were attached to people. Eventually every world government agrees to ban advertising. And do not watch the trailer or look at the poster because the film itself is so wildly different that watching it with any expectation will disappoint you. Max Von Sydow's there as well as "Marketing Guru."
2023, Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment
The other special thing about Blackberry: it’s Canadian.
I view this as somewhat less dire than you do - is this so different than making a movie with shameless product placement? Or making 7 movies (and counting!) about Transformers? The corporate-cinematic synergy has been there for decades. A few movies about products being released in the same year doesn't strike me as a dangerous or alarming trend.
I'm trying not to get down because, by September, the only non-IP movies that are my favorites of the year are Asteroid City, How To Blow Up A Pipeline (okay, based on a book), and Past Lives. I haven't seen any other truly excellent movies that aren't IP driven, and that's a BIG step down from last year, where by this time we'd already had Petite Maman, After Yang, Moonfall (you heard me), Nope, Marcel, and Everything Everywhere, all endlessly creative and powerful works by iconoclastic creators.
This year, even my favorites are kind of more subdued, less passionate recommendations. I haven't felt any passion from anything this year like I felt for Babylon, for example, no movie so far this year that I will fight someone over, and while I'm excited that IP owners are getting more daring and flexible with their creators (Barbie and Ninja Turtles are great examples), this is also going to open the floodgates, potentially choking out future, original, creative work.
I read that Paul Thomas Anderson is attached to the Mattel and Mars Bar Quick Energy Chocobot Hour adaptation.
The unending reliance on existing IP and recognized brands to promote progressive values forms a fascinating intellectual dichotomy to me. It reminds me a bit, if you’ll pardon a niche classical music analogy as that’s what I know and love best, of when they play a piece of contemporary music sandwiched between, say, a piece or two by Mozart and a Beethoven symphony, like it’s medicinal. I’ve no doubt that a great artist can manage to make something worthy in this environment, but I very much do doubt that it can happen with any frequency.