January 10, 2007
Don't Believe the (Lack of) Hype
(TrackBack)Despite a nonexistent marketing campaign, Cuaron's latest is not to be missed by J. Hoberman, Village Voice, December 19th, 2006History repeats itself: 11 Decembers ago, Universal had the season's strongest movie: a downbeat sci-fi flick freely adapted from a well-known source by a name director. With a bare minimum of advance screenings and a total absence of hype, the studio dumped it. This year, they've done it again.
The 1995 castoff was 12 Monkeys, this year's victim is Children of Men, Alfonso Cuaron's dank, hallucinated, shockingly immediate version of P.D. James's novel. Never mind that Cuaron saved the Harry Potter franchise and, with Y Tu Mama Tambien, directed the highest-grossing Spanish-language movie ever released in America (or that Children of Men was respectfully received at the Venice Film Festival and topped the British box office the week that it opened), this superbly crafted action thriller is being treated like a communicable disease.
Ever sensitive to buzz, critics have gotten the message and are steering clear. When the New York Film Critics Circle met last week, Children of Men got only a handful of votes, mainly for Emmanuel Lubezki's sensational cinematography. Earlier this month, The New York Times imagined Academy members in surgical scrubs, with a "news analysis" noting the unusual goriness of the year's Oscar contenders: The Departed, Flags of Our Fathers, Blood Diamond, Apocalypto, and The Last King of Scotland. A more resonant and gripping movie than any of these, Children of Men wasn't even mentioned.
It's really really good. Go watch it.
Posted by Mark at January 10, 2007 5:54 PM