The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Film

While films based on comic books have become a mainstay over the past decade, few in the film industry have taken them seriously past The Dark Knight. Many credit DC Comics and Warner Brothers with getting visionary director Christopher Nolan to work the Batman series.  Marvel Comics tried the same deal with Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky.  Film industry watchers took note when Aronofsky agreed to direct Hugh Jackman in The Wolverine, but Aronofsky recently backed out of the project.  Now, Fox is suing him.  [The Movie Blog]

Rainn Wilson (best know as Dwight from The Office) stars in the film Super as a somewhat off-kilter vigilante–who believes himself to be a super hero.  Although this film is a comedy, it is said to probe themes of criminal justice and mental health–subjects about which most political junkies are accustomed to thinking.  The film is in limited release currently.  My fingers are crossed that it makes it to my city. The link is an interesting interview with the director.  [IFC.com]

Blockbuster had to file for bankruptcy recently, after losing a very sizable chunk of its demand to Netflix and Redbox.  Although there are several opinions as to how relevant Blockbuster will continue to be in the future, who ends up with the property could be an interesting story.  No matter what, the story of Blockbuster over the past few years have shown how much the film industry has changed.  [Guardian]

Also from the Guardian, Michael Moore is suing the Weinstein brothers–who have produced most of his films.  Moore states that their accounting has kept him from a sizable chunk of money.  No matter your thoughts on Michael Moore’s politics, the man changed documentary film making forever by putting himself at the center of the action.  There could never have been Morgan Spurlock or James O’Keefe without Michael Moore. [Guardian]

James Cameron–no matter what you think of his films–has incredible sway over the technical aspects of film making.  He and George Lucas pushed for 3-D almost a decade ago, and thanks in large part to his blockbuster Avatar, the technology is all over our cinema’s nowadays.  Now, he is pushing for a higher frame rate–to 48 or 60 fps from the current industry standard of 24 fps–which has been the standard since the 1920s.  Read this post from /Film to see the implications of such a switch [/Film]

Again from /Film, The Weinstein brothers made waves earlier this year when they re-cut The King’s Speech to receive a PG-13 rating after the Oscars in order to make a higher return on what they expected to be a huge Oscar haul.  Although the Academy delivered the film with plenty of awards on Oscar night, the re-cut film had no impact on the film’s money making abilities.  A victory for artistry over calculated finance?  I say so.  [/Film]

I do a film podcast every week on 88.1 WRFL Lexington called Surreelfilm.  You can check out the podcast here.  I promise, it doesn’t suck.