i'll also recommend the documentary on the making of this film, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead. it's a tragedy more people won't get to see this in theaters, but i'll begrudgingly give Netflix praise for finally getting this movie to the public
one note: it's definitely a tough watch, and very much late Welles. it's incessantly edited, and shot in a variety of formats that change without warning, between shots - it's basically a mockumentary. make sure you're in the mood before putting it on
i'll also recommend the documentary on the making of this film, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead. it's a tragedy more people won't get to see this in theaters, but i'll begrudgingly give Netflix praise for finally getting this movie to the public
one note: it's definitely a tough watch, and very much late Welles. it's incessantly edited, and shot in a variety of formats that change without warning, between shots - it's basically a mockumentary. make sure you're in the mood before putting it on
Plus, A Final Cut For Orson, which they've hidden away in Wind's trailers section. I saw and enjoyed They'll Love Me... at LFF and was wondering why that didn't have stuff on the actual completion.
Also, honestly? Like with Roma, you don't get anything taken away in terms of theatres by having this on Netflix vs a traditional arthouse distributor. Even fewer venues would have programmed it (hell it might have gone straight to Blu-ray/digital save for some festival or other special one off screenings).
Plus, A Final Cut For Orson, which they've hidden away in Wind's trailers section. I saw and enjoyed They'll Love Me... at LFF and was wondering why that didn't have stuff on the actual completion.
Also, honestly? Like with Roma, you don't get anything taken away in terms of theatres by having this on Netflix vs a traditional arthouse distributor. Even fewer venues would have programmed it (hell it might have gone straight to Blu-ray/digital save for some festival or other special one off screenings).
i'll have to check that one out too.
but idk, man. i'm pretty certain (positive) an arthouse distributor would've gotten it to more venues than it's currently playing in - with a digital/physical/streaming release later. obviously it was never going to have a wide release. but again, i'm not too mad on this one since it's a miracle it's been released in the first place.
A hate-letter written in the blood of Hollywood New, Old and Art-House, Orson Le Fou's latest completed movie (round up, shall we) is a formalist fireworks show that rivals the Stargate in 2001.
Like the gross-sounding but surprisingly delightful discovery of Apple Pie and American Cheese, likewise Welles found the foil of Mockumentary Verite and Avant Garde Satire.
this one is obviously super niche, so i'm not all that surprised no one's watched it, but i'm convinced that no one watches films on Netflix - and, the netflix algorithm certainly does its best to hide them.
this should've been the first thing that popped up on my feed the day it came out, but i had to search for it. same thing with Buster Scruggs - neither of these films have made a societal impact i can tell outside of film twitter, and i'm certain it's because they're on netflix. had Scruggs been released in theaters, my dad would've likely seen it already - as it stands, he didn't know it existed until i told him. same thing with all my non film friends. i don't know if it's a netflix thing in and of itself, but it's definitely a bad advertising/algorithm thing
that turned into a kind of off topic rant, but it's something i've really been thinking about lately as i've seen more and more people cut deals with the company. really, i'm just skeptical more people actually see these movies on streaming - there must be a reason netflix doesn't release viewing statistics
i wouldnt say orson welles is niche but if a film doesnt come out in the context of its era its not gonna make the same impact. they released a lost john coltrane album this year too that didnt go far
this one is obviously super niche, so i'm not all that surprised no one's watched it, but i'm convinced that no one watches films on Netflix - and, the netflix algorithm certainly does its best to hide them.
this should've been the first thing that popped up on my feed the day it came out, but i had to search for it. same thing with Buster Scruggs - neither of these films have made a societal impact i can tell outside of film twitter, and i'm certain it's because they're on netflix. had Scruggs been released in theaters, my dad would've likely seen it already - as it stands, he didn't know it existed until i told him. same thing with all my non film friends. i don't know if it's a netflix thing in and of itself, but it's definitely a bad advertising/algorithm thing
that turned into a kind of off topic rant, but it's something i've really been thinking about lately as i've seen more and more people cut deals with the company. really, i'm just skeptical more people actually see these movies on streaming - there must be a reason netflix doesn't release viewing statistics
Netflix for some reason are perfectly capable of dropping original content with societal impact (exhibit A: their shows) but are unwilling to do this for their films, save for Roma, Bright (teaser 11 months out at the Oscars!) and to a lesser extent Death Note which had an SDCC panel. Aside from these films, before October I only saw out-of-home ads here in London for their shows - and they go big with those. Huge subway takeovers for Crown and Defenders, massive Sabrina billboards etc, even newspaper ads for The Innocents...
Only films before recently that I saw promo for were Mute, Cloverfield and Bright - and that's basically saying that they believe the good films will sell themselves. I guess they need to cut costs somewhere given how much money they're pumping into the films/rights to the films themselves - and marketing looks to be it. Why do a proper traditional-style campaign when you can just let the algorithm do the work? A couple of good quotes from one of A Star Is Born's producers and The Ankler newsletter on this very issue:
Now, if Netflix buys it, it might not make a zeitgeist splash, but you have a much bigger opportunity for your movie to be targeted specifically to the audience you created it for, to reach that audience and to be successful in a different way.
Fuck, their most watched original films this year apparently were The Kissing Booth, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Roxanne Roxanne and that Kurt Russell Christmas thing, and only TATBILB got somewhat of a zeitgeist thing with FIlm Twitter jumping on it and championing it. But Netflix didn't market these films in that traditional way. If anything, seems like what they're doing for Roma with - at last - doing 'saturation' marketing, is to please Cuaron and improve Roma's Oscar chances.
TL;DR - there are just two ways to sell a film. Instead of trying to make a cultural moment with these films and sell their latest to everyone (which is the traditional way of selling a film), they heavily target based on their algorithm. And evidently it's working for them...just not in the way Film Twitter (and we) would like, this goes against the usual mantra of trying to get more of the general public to see films like Roma or like Other Side, or Buster Scruggs. Instead, Netflix just niche it up in general.
yeah, clearly netflix has done well with their TV shows, and they appear to be trying with Roma. but i think they have this flawed theory that tastes can't overlap. their algorithm states that if i've been watching The Office (which i don't, but i'm trying to think of a crazy example), i won't be interested in The Other Side of the Wind. it's a guess, but it's not always going to be true - hence, my actual feed never even showed up with the movie until i searched for it (and i watch tons of indie cinema!!).
the advantage is that netflix buys a lot of niche stuff, so niche filmmakers get to make films that other studios won't - i'm just... i think these movies would have more interest with 1) PROPER, exclusive theatrical releases like Amazon does, and 2) TV/theater marketing. i know that's antithetical to their business plan or whatever
