Black panther by May Catering

Fr om t h e E di t or’s D e s k

In Focus THE OUTLOOK FOR 2018

MILLENNIALS ARE MOVIEGOERS

Despite one of the worst summers in a decade at the box office, worldwide theatrical movie revenues jumped to a record $39.92 billion. This gain came despite a 2.3 percent slide in the U.S. box office. The final totals were $28.8 billion internationally and $11.2 billion in North America. On paper, the release schedule for 2018 looks very strong. But there are also a number of major happenings that will affect the industry this year—just how much, we do not know. Here are a few: Å The Walt Disney Company acquiring 20th Century Fox Film Studio Å The impact of the AT+T merger with Warner Bros. Å The takeover of Regal Cinemas by CineWorld Å The impact of Netflix streaming on both distribution and exhibition Å The prospect of more acquisitions of Hollywood studios when the Disney and AT+T deals are done Å The effect of the MoviePass scheme on exhibition Å The question of who will pay for the upgrade of digital equipment when it needs to be replaced Å The eventual arrival of premium video-on-demand, perhaps in 2018

In early December, a very busy time for theatres in North America, Fandango polled more than 1,500 Millennial moviegoers, ages 18 to 34, about their moviegoing habits, plans for the holidays, and amenities they enjoy at the cinema. Millennials are key drivers for the industry and Fandango through its digital following continues to help innovate and drive more of them into theatres. Fandango’s findings highlight the incorrect assumption that young adults would rather stay at home with a streaming movie or a videogame than go out to the cinema. When asked about their holiday movie plans, 34% of the respondents said they planned to see four or more movies, while 86% said they planned to see at least two. In this edition of FJI, Adam Rockmore, Fandango’s chief marketing officer, elaborates on those findings. He observes that Millennials are going to the movies, but the key is the right movies. And not only do they want to see the mostanticipated films but well-reviewed non-blockbusters as well. Again, when it comes to moviegoing, the old adage applies: “Content is King!”

With all these developments, there is one thing we can count on: People still want to leave their homes for a night of entertainment, and a movie theatre delivers that experience. It’s noteworthy when top filmmakers stress the importance of seeing a film in a cinema; recently, in an interview with The New York Times, Greta Gerwig and Aaron Sorkin, Directors Guild nominees for Lady Bird and Molly’s Game, respectively, expressed their views on the cinema experience. Gerwig said that she “has a soft spot for the experience of watching films in a movie theatre.” Paraphrasing writer and film editor Walter Murch, she observed, “Being in a movie theatre puts you in a place of both collective experience and vulnerability that is impossible to achieve at home… Going to the movies always starts with one person saying to another, ‘Let’s go out.’ And that means that you are willingly taking yourself out of your comfort zone and allowing yourself the possibility of transformation.” Sorkin agreed with Gerwig, stating, “I want to believe that nothing will ever replace the experience of being in a theatre with a group of strangers as the house lights go down.” That magical experience is what keeps patrons coming back to the cinemas—and good content and a great presentation will continue to keep it alive.

B REAKTHROUGH IN SAUDI ARABIA Recently, we reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia had ended the prohibition on movie theatres as well as announcing a royal decree permitting women the right to drive and allowing sports stadiums to open their doors to women for the first time. AMC Entertainment has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia to explore a range of commercial opportunities for collaboration that will support the growth of the Kingdom’s entertainment sector. An official rollout date is undetermined, since there are certain issues that need to be addressed before a full go-ahead is granted. Open questions include the types of films to be allowed and whether the cinemas will be segregated by sex. Despite any initial obstacles, this is an important change to the international landscape. The Middle East in general has seen strong box-office growth in the past few years. With 65 to 70% of Saudi Arabia’s population under 30, robust business is projected for the future. More seats in more theatres means higher box office, and this is very good for the industry. ш

FEBRUARY 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM

FEBRUARY 2018 / VOL. 121, NO.2

A Film Expo Group Publication

PUBLISHING SINCE 1934

DAVID JAMES © WARNER BROS.

12 STRONG, PG. 47

BLACK PANTHER, PG. 16 SWEET COUNTRY, PG. 24

SMALL TOWN CRIME, PG. 20

FEATURES SUPER CAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Marvel Comic’s Black Panther is poised to become blockbuster franchise. 100 PROOF, NO CHASER . . . . . . . . .20 The Helms Brothers serve up boozy crime caper that buzzed SXSW fest. OUTLAWED OUTBACK . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Director Warwick Thornton returns to his native Alice Springs for riveting Australian western.

DEPARTMENTS

Information, Please FJI TAKES AN IN -DEPTH LOOK AT AUDIENCE ANALYTICS AND DATA MEASUREMENT REVOLUTIONIZING THE EXHIBITION INDUSTRY, FEATURING COM S CORE ,

MOVIO, NCM AND OTHER COMPANIES , PGS . 30-46.

FJI TOASTS C INE A SIA 2017 WITH HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CONVENTION, PG. 28.

IN FOCUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 REEL NEWS IN REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 TRADE TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 FILM COMPANY NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 CONCESSIONS: TRENDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 CONCESSIONS: PEOPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 EUROPEAN UPDATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 ASIA/PACIFIC ROUNDABOUT . . . . . . . . . . .56 ADVERTISERS’ INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

REVIEWS THE COMMUTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 DOUBLE LOVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 FOREVER MY GIRL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 FREAK SHOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 INSIDIOUS: THE L AST KEY . . . . . . . . . . . 52 THE INSULT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER . . . . . 50 MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE . . . . 54 PADDINGTON 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 PERMISSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 PLEASE STAND BY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 PROUD MARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 SATURDAY CHURCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 SMALL TOWN CRIME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 12 STRONG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

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REEL NEWS IN REVIEW

2017 SETS WORLDWIDE BOX-OFFICE RECORD The final numbers for 2017’s worldwide box office are in: We’re looking at a record high of $39.92 billion, a three percent jump from 2016’s $38.8 billion. $11.2 billion of that came from North America, making 2017 the third consecutive year where the domestic box office crossed the $11 billiondollar mark. Still, that $11.2 billion figure marks a 2.3% slide from the previous year, meaning you can thank the international box office—coming in at a whopping $28.8 billion—for the overall climb. The year’s boxoffice pantheon consists of billion-dollar club entries Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Beauty and the Beast, The Fate of the Furious and Despicable Me 3, plus $800 million-plus earners Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Wonder Woman and Wolf Warrior 2. WB’S KROLL EXITS, EMMERICH PROMOTED There’s been a shakeup in the Warner Bros. executive ranks, as longtime executive Sue Kroll—with Warner Bros. since 1994— has stepped down as the studio’s president of worldwide marketing and distribution. Toby Emmerich, with Warner Bros. since 1992, has been promoted to the role of chairman of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, a position that gives him oversight over worldwide theatrical production, marketing and distribution. Kroll will remain a producer with the studio, overseeing upcoming releases A Star Is Born and Motherless Brooklyn. STX LOSES PRESIDENT SOPHIE WATTS Another executive shakeup comes courtesy of STX, where president Sophie Watts has stepped down. “After more than six years working with [CEO Robert Simonds], I have decided to step away from my dayto-day role as president of the company to explore new opportunities,” said Watts in a statement. “I truly believe that we—the

entire STX team—have built a new global media company that is a custom-built home for stars and creators to tell their stories anywhere and through any format.” Watts will remain a significant STX shareholder and advisor to the company. WARNER NAMES HAMADA DC FRANCHISE PRESIDENT It’s been a hit-or-miss year for Warner Bros.’ DC franchise; while Wonder Woman earned $821.8 million worldwide, Justice League underperformed with only $655.1 million. Fitting, then, that Warner Bros. is injecting some new blood in the form of Walter Hamada, an experienced producer who helped oversee Warner Bros.’ massively successful It and subsidiary New Line’s Conjuring franchise. Hamada will serve as the president of DC-based film production, taking over from recently departed executive Jon Berg. Upcoming DC movies include Aquaman, Wonder Woman 2, Suicide Squad 2, Shazam! and Flashpoint. INITIATIVE AIMS TO BOOST U.S. PROFILE OF EUROPEAN FILMS Europa Cinemas and Europa International have joined forces to launch Tales of Europe, an initiative designed to increase the profile of European films in the United States. Per Europa Cinemas general director Claude-Eric Poiroux, the main goal of the initiative is to increase communication between U.S. and European exhibitors, giving both groups the opportunity to “learn dynamic new approaches from each other’s different situations, especially ways of attracting new audiences—younger audiences in particular—and develop sustainable business models for the wider circulation of European films.” PARAMOUNT SELECTS NEW MARKETING HEAD Paramount has found their new president of worldwide marketing in David Sameth, previously executive VP of theatrical marketing for Disney Animation Studios and Pixar. Said Paramount chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos in a statement, “David is an incredibly talented, visionary marketer who has created some of the most iconic and successful campaigns in our industry’s recent history.” Among the films whose marketing campaigns were led by Sameth are Moana, Zootopia, Coco and Inside Out.

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TRADE TALK 26 FATHOM EVENTS HIT $1 MIL. IN 2017

Leading event cinema distributor Fathom Events has revealed that 26 of its titles grossed over $1 million each at the box office in 2017. This statistic sets a new record and is a significant increase over the company’s 2016 box-office success of 14 titles passing that threshold. Fathom Events is currently ranked as the 13th-largest distributor of content in North America to movie theatres in 2017, according to comScore. The 26 cinema events included nine live performances of the Metropolitan Opera, classic films The Princess Bride and Singin’ in the Rain, anime title Princess Mononoke and the box-office knockout “Mayweather vs McGregor,” which became the highest-grossing sports event in Fathom’s history. Six of the 26 titles grossed over $2 million, led by top stage production “Disney’s Newsies: The Broadway Musical” with $4.7 million. SCREENVISION MEDIA REPORTS RECORD YEAR

Leading cinema-advertising firm Screenvision Media announced a record year of business, with robust year-overyear organic revenue growth in 2017, including 8% revenue-perpatron growth. Thirty-two exhibitors signed contracts over the last year, totaling 1,759 screens, and bringing the company’s total screen count to over 14,800, its highest since 2011. This includes B&B Theatres and Regency Theatres, increasing valuable ad inventory in top DMAs including Los Angeles,

Dallas and Kansas City. The new long-term agreement with B&B Theatres includes a total of 39 theatres with 263 screens in the Screenvision Media network, plus a further nine theatres with 120 screens in 2021. Regency Theatres has a total of 24 theatres with 193 screens in the Screenvision Media network, 153 of which are in the Los Angeles DMA. GERMANY’S UCI BEGINS DYNAMIC PRICING

United Cinemas International (UCI) Multiplex GmbH, the German arm of AMC, the world’s largest cinema operator, signed a five-year expansion of Smart Pricer’s dynamic pricing software to all of their 23 cinemas and 203 screens. Through the integration with UCI’s ticketing (POS) system Compeso, prices will be optimized for each show automatically and in real time based on the show’s forecasted demand and pre-sales. Smart Pricer is a Berlinbased company which specializes in bringing airline-type dynamic pricing to the entertainment and sports industry. The software links with the ticketing (POS) systems of cinemas, theatres and sports venues to optimize ticket prices in real time, while leaving full pricing control with the venue. QSC CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY

QSC, which evolved from a hand-built guitar-amp specialist to become a leading brand in power amplifiers, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. “Looking forward, we will

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

continue our commitment to be both a technology platform leader and a customer experience leader in the markets we serve,” said Joe Pham, QSC president and CEO. The anniversary will be celebrated in 2018 with a number of events, activities and key product introductions. NCM NAMES HILTY AS GENERAL COUNSEL

Leading cinema pre-show company National CineMedia (NCM) named Sarah Kinnick Hilty to the role of senior VP and general counsel. An attorney with more than 20 years of experience covering a wide range of business and legal matters, Hilty joins NCM from CH2M HILL Companies, Ltd. in Denver, where she had served as deputy general counsel, corporate, since 2006. GARY MEYER EARNS SPOTLIGHT AWARD

Noted art-house film exhibitor and film festival director Gary Meyer received the second annual Spotlight Lifetime Achievement Award at the Art House Convergence’s annual dinner on Jan. 16 at the Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah. The provisional board of the Art House Convergence, an organization devoted to increasing the quantity and quality of art-house cinemas in North America, selected Meyer after receiving nominations from exhibitors, distributors and vendors. The award was created last year by Spotlight Cinema Networks in partnership with the Art House Convergence. It recognizes an individual who has made major contributions to the advance-

ment of art-house cinema. “Gary Meyer is a wellknown figure in the world of independent film distribution and exhibition,” said Jerry Rakfeldt, CEO of Spotlight Cinema Networks. “He’s a co-founder of Landmark Theatres and a veteran of the film festival circuit. Furthermore, his creativity, passion and business acumen have helped shape, nurture and expand the independent film industry.” Meyer announced that he is directing the $2,500 prize that comes with the award to be donated to IndieCollect, a nonprofit organization that collects, documents, restores and makes accessible American independent films. 4DX DEBUTS AT DC’S REGAL

Regal Entertainment Group announced that Regal Gallery Place Stadium 14 is the first theatre in the Washington, DC area to feature CJ 4DPLEX’s 4DX experience. The immersive theatre technology features moving seats and environmental effects such as wind, fog, rain, lightning, vibration, snow, bubbles and scents. Gallery Place is the tenth theatre in the United States to feature the 4DX technology and sixth Regal location, with several more to open in the coming years. NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS ADDS ATOM TICKETS

Atom Tickets, the social movie-ticketing platform, has partnered with National Amusements’ Showcase Cinemas, expanding its digital ticketing offering to nearly 400 screens across Connecticut,

Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island. In all, Atom increased the number of Atom-enabled theatre locations by 45% in 2017. CJ CGV IN VIETNAM INSTALLS HARMAN AUDIO

Goldenduck International recently installed complete audio systems by Harman Professional Solutions in multiple CJ CGV Cinemas across Vietnam. CJ CGV is the largest film distributor and cinema chain in Vietnam. CGV calls its theatres “Cultureplexes,” offering fusions of upscale shopping, dining and entertainment. In addition to standard and IMAX presentation formats, CGV Cultureplexes feature proprietary technologies such as the multi-sensory 4DX and 270-degree panoramic ScreenX. Goldenduck International, a trusted Harman Professional distributor in Vietnam, supplied and integrated Harman audio systems in 24 theatres across seven CGV locations. The audio systems in each theatre consist of JBL 3252N and JBL 3722N two-way cinema loudspeakers, JBL 4181 single 18inch subwoofers and JBL 8320 cinema compact surrounds.The systems are driven by Crown XLC Series power amplifiers. DELUXE APPOINTS SENIOR EXECS

Deluxe Distribution has appointed two senior executives to its London-based leadership team to align digital cinema, delivery and localization. Andrew Bell, former executive VP for global operations for BBC Worldwide, joins Deluxe as

senior VP, operations and technology, EMEA; and George Eyles, who has until now held the position of managing director of the company’s digital cinema division, sees his role expanded to senior VP, commercial and business development, worldwide. Both Bell and Eyles will report to Walter Schonfeld, worldwide president of Deluxe Distribution. QSC INTRODUCES FLYABLE SUBWOOFERS

QSC, LLC has introduced the SB-118F and SB-218F flyable subwoofers designed for low-frequency enhancement in cinema applications. The subwoofers feature integrated handles and eight built-in mounting points, allowing for safe and easy suspension from ceilings or walls. The SB-118F has a single 18-inch driver, and the SB-218F has two 18-inch drivers. Both subwoofers can be safely suspended close to the ceiling so that interior décor is minimally affected. For more information, visit www.qsc.com/cinema. FATHOM EVENTS TAPS GORDON SYNN

Gordon Synn has joined leading event cinema distributor Fathom Events as chief content and programming officer. In the newly created role, Synn will be based in Los Angeles and report to Fathom Events CEO Ray Nutt in leading the content acquisition and programming strategy for the company’s 140+ annual events. Synn was most recently head of international TV for DreamWorks Animation. His previous experience includes All3Media as senior VP of digi-

tal and business development and for Endemol Shine Group as global head of digital and home entertainment. NEC OFFERS 3-YEAR WARRANTY

NEC Display Solutions of America, Inc. announced that it will offer a three-year warranty on all lamp-based projectors purchased after Jan. 1, 2018. The new warranty plan extends coverage from two years to three years for models in the VE,V, U, UM, and M Short Throw series. A three-year warranty already covers projectors in NEC’s other lampbased projector series, and a five-year warranty covers all NEC laser projectors.

box-office numbers for film studios, independent film distributors and exhibitors, assisted by Movio,Vista Group’s big-data company. Numero opened its Los Angeles office last year and is now collecting and delivering grosses from more than 10,000 theatres across four continents. McCourt will be responsible for all sales, studio relations, operations and innovation for Numero in the U.S. market. He comes to Numero from STX Entertainment, where he was senior VP and head of sales. Prior to that, he was senior VP of sales and marketing at Cinedigm. SPCINE SELECTS CHRISTIE PROJECTORS

MOVIEPASS TOPS 1.5 MIL. SUBSCRIBERS

Less than 30 days after announcing its milestone of one million subscribers, movie theatre subscription service MoviePass™ added another 500,000 new paying subscribers since Dec. 12, 2017. MoviePass subscribers can see a movie every day of the month for a monthly subscription fee of $9.95. “Based on the dramatic increase in the number of MoviePass subscribers over such a short period of time, we believe MoviePass will continue to grow its subscriber base significantly,” said Mitch Lowe, chief executive officer. NUMERO COUNTS ON LARRY MCCOURT

Numero, a Vista Group company, named entertainment industry veteran Larry McCourt as president, North America. Numero provides

Spcine, a Brazilian public cinema chain focused on bringing cinemas to lowincome areas in São Paulo, has deployed Christie digital cinema projection systems in its 20 recently opened theatres in the city. The installation was carried out by Christie partner Seal Telecom. With 20 screens available in 15 CEUs (Unified Centers of Education) and five cultural centers, Spcine offers subsidized ticket prices, democratizing access to audiovisual entertainment to a larger audience. It is the second-largest chain in the city of São Paulo, and offers a mix of Brazilian films and international hits. Seal Telecom has installed the Christie CP2308 model, a 3DLP Cinema projector for screens up to 35 feet, in all 20 theatres. All the theatres have also been equipped with the Dolby 5.1 sound platform. ш

FEBRUARY 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM

FILM CO. NEWS DISNEY

Disney has announced casting for their live-action adaptation of Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer’s best-selling young-adult fantasy series about a 12-year-old criminal mastermind. Josh Gad, Judi Dench, Lara McDonnell and Nonso Anozie will star alongside newcomer Ferdia Shaw as Artemis. Kenneth Branagh directs; the film is set to hit American theatres on August 9, 2019. The ever-busy Ridley Scott is reportedly in talks to direct The Merlin Saga for Disney. Based on a series of young-adult books by T.A. Barron, The Merlin Saga tells the origin story of the wizard who could eventually counsel the legendary King Arthur. Philippa Boyens of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is adapting the series for the big screen. In addition to The Merlin Saga, Disney is also working on a live-action version of their animated classic The Sword in the Stone, in which an older Merlin plays a central part. GKIDS

GKids acquired North American rights to a trio of films from anime master Masaaki Yuasa, to be released throughout 2018. The first of those, 2004 cult classic Mind Game, tells the story of a young man who literally goes to heaven and back in an attempt to save his childhood sweetheart’s life. The two new Yuasa films to be released by GKids are Lu Over the Wall, a rockmusic-tinged, loose retelling of The Little Mermaid, and

Night Is Short, Walk on Girl, a comedy about a single night in the life of an alcohol-loving party girl. KINO LORBER

Kino Lorber acquired North American distribution rights to Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami, Sophie

Fiennes’ documentary about androgynous counterculture icon Grace Jones. Fiennes previously directed the feature documentaries The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema and The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, both starring and written by philosopher Slavoj Zizek, and Over Your Cities Grass

DiCaprio, Tarantino Reunite for Manson Film Leonardo DiCaprio is set to reunite with his Django Unchained director Quentin Tarantino for the auteur’s yet-untitled ninth film. Set in Los Angeles in 1969, the film will focus on the Manson murders— though DiCaprio is rumored to play an out-of-work actor, not Charles Manson himself. Margot Robbie, Al Pacino and Tom Cruise have been the subject of additional casting rumors. Sony will release the film on August 9, 2019.

Natalie Portman Eyes Pale Blue Dot Natalie Portman is reportedly in negotiations to star in Pale Blue Dot, the feature directorial debut of “Fargo” and “Legion” showrunner Noah Hawley. Brian C. Brown and Elliott D. Guiseppi scripted the film, based on a real-life love triangle which saw a NASA astronaut attempt to kidnap her romantic rival. Reese Witherspoon, who at one point was going to star, will co-produce for Fox Searchlight.

Black Widow Project Gets a Writer After years of will-they-or-won’t-they involving Walt Disney’s plans to make a standalone Black Widow movie, it’s looking like things are finally moving along. The film isn’t yet officially greenlit, but it does now have a writer in the form of up-and-comer Jac Schaeffer, who penned the upcoming The Shower and Nasty Women. Should the film officially happen, Scarlett Johansson will reprise her role of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s preeminent superspy.

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

Will Grow. Kino Lorber will release Bloodlight and Bami theatrically in early April. PARAMOUNT

Clive Owen is in talks to join the cast of Paramount’s Gemini Man, Ang Lee’s follow-up to 2016’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. Poised to be technologically groundbreaking—as is the Life of Pi director’s wont—Gemini Man centers on a hitman (Will Smith) who finds himself hunted by a younger clone of himself. Mary Elizabeth Winstead has the lead female role, an operative who has been ordered to surveil Smith’s character. SABAN FILMS

Saban Films acquired North American rights to war drama The Yellow Birds, which won the Special Jury Prize for Best Cinematography at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!; Solo: A Star Wars Story) and Tye Sheridan (Mud, X-Men: Apocalypse) star as Iraq War soldiers under the command of a troubled sergeant ( Jack Huston). Alexandre Moors directs a script cowritten by his Blue Caprice collaborator R.F.I. Porto and writer-director David Lowery (A Ghost Story). Jennifer Aniston, Toni Collette and Jason Patric co-star. STUDIOCANAL

Michelle Williams is in talks to join the cast of StudioCanal’s Rio, about a financial reporter (Jake Gyllenhaal) asked by his wealthy friend (Benedict

Cumberbatch) to help fake the latter’s death. Steven Knight (Locke) penned the script. Rio is one of a small handful of upcoming films to be directed by Call Me By Your Name helmer Luca Guadagnino; others include a Call Me By Your Name sequel and a remake of Dario Argento’s horror classic Suspiria. 20TH CENTURY FOX

Looks like 20th Century Fox’s latest Gambit gambit hasn’t paid off. Which is to say, Gore Verbinski, who was supposed to direct the

long-in-development X-Men spinoff, has stepped down. He’s the third director to do so, following Doug Liman in 2016 and Rupert Wyatt in 2015. Channing Tatum is still attached to star in the film. The character of Gambit, who can manipulate energy, was previously played by Taylor Kitsch in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Gambit’s release date has shifted from Feb. 14, 2019 to June 7 that same year; meanwhile, Deadpool 2 has moved up two weeks to May 18, 2018, while fellow XMen spinoff The New Mutants

moves back 10 months to Feb. 22, 2019. WARNER BROS.

The cast of John Crowley’s (Brooklyn) adaptation of Donna Tartt’s best-selling novel The Goldfinch continues to round itself out. As previously announced, Ansel Elgort will play a young man whose mother dies in a terrorist attack; Sarah Paulson, Jeffrey Wright and Aneurin Barnard have also signed on. Newly announced is Luke Wilson as the main character’s alcoholic father.

INDEPENDENT

Acclaimed filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée (Wild, Dallas Buyers Club) has joined forces with longtime producing partner Nathan Ross to form new production company Crazyrose. The company enters into a first-look deal with Alex Walton and Ken Kao’s BLOOM; together, they will spearhead both film and television projects, some directed by Vallée and others not. BLOOM’s previous projects include Shane Black’s The Nice Guys and Scott Cooper’s Hostiles. ш

IMAGINATION, INVENTION AND INNOVATION

“IS THERE A SMARTER WAY TO HANDLE POPCORN?” Leave it to Cretors to introduce a smarter way to move and store popped popcorn. With the patented MOBILE ROC N’ ROLL CORNDITIONER, popped corn goes directly from the Pop N’ Roll kettle into a removable stainless steel bin that can be rolled and plugged into your concession stand or anywhere there is a standard outlet. Bring fresh popcorn to the crowds! Contact Shelly Olesen at 847-616-6901 or solesen@cretors.com for product details.

FEBRUARY 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM

CONCESSIONS

TRENDS

Service with a Twist The Evolving Business Demands New Attentiveness by Larry Etter, Concessions Editor

ypically, we at Film Journal international would begin the year with a commentary on trends for the upcoming 12 months. In so many cases, theatre operators think of trends in merchandise, fare or menus. In 2018, we should not lose sight of the importance and value of service to our patrons. Service attributes are in fact changing or being modified to fit the latest entertainment experiences in cinemas. There are at least five ways that theatres can reinforce the professional image and standards the new era of exhibition is promoting. All of these may appear to be common sense, but far too often they are overlooked. Eye contact has always been a must in service. However, in the new generation of service standards it must be enhanced. Eye contact is as much an invitation to advance and participate as a personal invitation to a party. Eye contact also serves as a means to appraise conditions. Employees should be required to identify inconsistency in body language when underage patrons attempt to purchase alcohol. Eye contact (or lack of it) is one of those moments that can detect if a person is probably attempting to hide his or her age. Eye contact can be used both as a welcoming sign or as a signal to detect inappropriate behavior. The smile is the universal signal of acceptance. No matter what language, a smile says, “I am here for you.” While suitable customer service involves treating customers with an affable, helpful attitude, service has now acquired an emotional quotient. Patrons remember how you make them feel. It has been said that just smiling and being interested in helping the guest is positive. The reality is that excellent customer service in the future will evolve into solving their problem with a smile, as this impacts the degree of satisfaction they recall. The greeting in previous years has allowed for a simple welcome. The trend will evolve into something more elaborate. It will not only encompass a pleasant greeting but much more of a first impression of the establishment. Excellent service will not only require a welcoming smile and a pleasant hello but also include a description of the amenities in the facilities, determining what the patrons’ needs are and answering questions precisely. In other words, not only should employees deliver a congenial greeting, they should answer possible or perceived questions before they are asked. Engagement will require better listening skills.

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Listening to the guest’s questions is just as important as any service skills. The growing amenities in theatres now can be confusing. “Can we take our wine into the auditorium?” “How long does it take to get a pizza?” The ability to listen carefully to the customer and know exactly what he/she needs and how you can help is more important now. The aptitude to demonstrate that you are truly hearing what the request is through body language and responses is vital. It is perfectly acceptable to ask clarifying questions to ensure that you understand the guest. A significant feature of customer service is simply making the customer feel heard. Complete knowledge of the product offerings will become more important than ever, not only the film product, but seating charts, menu items and adult beverages available. Therefore, engagement will take on an entirely different perspective. It will be helpful to hold daily briefings with the staff to confirm that everyone is aware of promotions, valueadded services and amenities. Spend a few minutes each day discussing the newest products and make sure everyone is abundantly conscious of their performance in order to make well-informed endorsements to guests. Clear communication is essential in customer service—you need to know what the customer wants and be able to articulate what you can do for her. Enunciating, speaking loudly enough and employing an upbeat tone will help you communicate clearly and positively with your customers. These skills are essential in phone communication as well. If you write or e-mail with customers, be sure to use proper grammar and spelling, and choose words and phrases that convey a similarly upbeat attitude. Thank you: “He made me feel like I was spending a million dollars on the IMAX tickets I picked out. He took the time to offer suggestions on how to select the right seat and told me where to go to get food prior to the start time. I felt like the most important customer he had seen all year.” This quote can be defined as a sincere “Thank you” by the guest, but if you reverse the lens, the employee is saying: Thank you for coming to our theatre, let me make your experience the best it can be. All too often we have had a service agent respond with the proverbial “No problem.” Exactly! It should be no problem—patrons are now paying high dollars for the ticket. What should be offered is “It was my pleasure” or “I am happy to assist you anytime.” This represents the transition in service opportunities in 2018. 2018 promises to bring a multitude of services in food and beverages as we convert concessions to fast-casual type menus. The services that are required for this change can either define the “movement” or undermine the advancement in cuisine. Will you be ready for the progression? ш

Larry Etter is senior vice president at Malco Theatres and director of education at the National Association of Concessionaires.

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PREMIERE ENGAGEMENT Joel Davis Brings Avid Work Ethic to His Texas-based Circuit

oel Davis, who serves as VP and chief operating officer for Texas-based Premiere Cinemas, has had a remarkable climb from theatre usher to the leader of a sizeable regional circuit known for its development of new concepts and innovations. His rise in the business could be the result of his early “farmhand” work ethic, as he cultivated a “Make it happen” attitude. He enjoyed multiple experiences in the work force prior to settling into his true love, the exhibition industry, where he has earned a reputation as a mentor, friend and advisor. Born in Brenham, Texas, with a twin brother, Joel spent his early life being that “everyday teenager.” He was active in various extracurricular activities throughout school, including baseball, football and playing trumpet in the marching band—and giving up the football aspirations when he realized there are a lot of big guys trying to take your head off. “Broken arms weren’t my favorite thing,” he jokes. He began devoting more time to music, learning to play every brass instrument except the trombone (“I didn’t get that whole sliding thing!”). He attended community college, winning a music scholarship, and after earning his credentials there he attended Sam Houston State University, where he got his BS degree in Criminal Justice. His love of music carried forth, though, as he studied and learned to play classical guitar along the way as well. If you toss him some strings today, however, he’s more likely to sit down and knock back with some sweet rhythm-and-blues tunes. It might have been destiny that Joel got into show business, as his mother shared the same name as Hollywood movie star Bette Davis. Joel was always amused that somehow they managed to get the best tables in the restaurant when they made reservations under her name! But his first real introduction to the movie industry came while still in high school, when he was hired as an usher at the local Cinemark, tearing tickets and cleaning theatres. During his off-hours, he was busy back home doing what he calls “real work” on his stepfather’s farm. His stepfather was a self-made mechanical/electrical and agricultural engineer who grew soybeans, potatoes and hay, all on the family farm. “I’d go to work at the theatre and the other kids would ask what I’d been doing, and I’d say I’d spent eight hours cutting and bailing hay, and they’d be like, ‘Yeah right!’ I worked a lot doing both jobs, but I think farming really teaches you to develop a work ethic at an early age, that stuff doesn’t get done by itself.” While at Cinemark, Joel earned a spot on the district team, where he and a select few would open new

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theatres, including a new freestanding unit Cinemark launched in Brownsville, Texas. “I was 19 and sent to help open a new theatre—what a thrill! I remember Lee Roy and Tandy Mitchell being there every day, they’d invite us each morning to breakfast and were always so gracious to their staff.” Davis says he still cherishes meeting Lee Roy Mitchell, already a legend in the industry, back then. Soon after graduating from college, Davis began his professional career in law enforcement, serving as a juvenile probation officer in Houston. But those plans quickly got hijacked. As Joel tells it, “About six months into that job, my stepfather, who was running a family dredging business that built beaches in Belize, became ill and I was asked by the family if I would go to Belize and help oversee the day-to-day operations until he recovered. I was in my early 20s then and fresh out of college, but pulled up roots and headed off with my wife, Kristi, to Belize, where we spent the next year and a half. In some ways it was like living in paradise. I’d sit on the beach with a cooler, supervising workers piling up sand, then head out for an afternoon of scuba diving, flying Cessnas and just living the island life.” After his stepfather recovered and was able to step back in, Joel, Kristi and their baby daughter Christian, headed back to Tomball, Texas to resume life closer to their roots. “We really needed to get Christian into kindergarten and this seemed to be the right timing. I figured I’d probably go back to law enforcement or teach.” As fate would have it, those plans changed again when on a fortuitous summer day in 1998, a mutual friend introduced Joel to Gary Moore, owner of the Premiere Cinema circuit, which was also based in Texas. “I’d worked for Bill Herting, who owned the local theatre in Tomball where I’d been an usher during high school,” Davis recalls fondly. “Bill and I had stayed in touch, and when he found out I was back from Belize, he said his friend Gary was expanding Premiere and might be looking for some talent, so he suggested we meet. Gary flew into Houston and we met for lunch at Ninfa’s, and he told me if I stick with it I could be running the company one day!” Within two years, Joel had been promoted to director of operations, then executive VP. Since then, he’s worked with Moore and led the operations team as Premiere grew to over 300 screens in six states, with more under construction. “It’s been a great and rewarding ride. Everyone should be so lucky to be able to work in an industry and in a company they love and where their input matters,” says Davis. “We’re like a family at Premiere.” —Larry Etter

s much as Black Panther deals with the ascension of by Trevor Hogg T’Challa to the throne of Wakanda, the comic-book adaptation marks the quick ascent of Ryan Coogler, who with his third film is making a significant contribution to the blockbuster juggernaut known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “I was excited to hear about what Marvel Studios wanted to do with the character of Black Panther,” he says. “More than anything, it was great to meet them as people. It’s a consolidated studio of a few folks who love telling stories well and making movies. I pitched them something very personal and what in many ways could be seen as risky. They were all for it.” Personal storytelling is a guiding principle for Coogler, who mined his relationship with his own father when he made Creed. “It’s the only way I know how to make movies. It’s a difficult art form and not an exact science. You’re following your instinct and trying

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your best until you’re out of time. What gives me the gas to finish a project is that it has be something I find to be incredibly personal and I can obsess over a certain amount of time.” Black Panther, which Disney opens on Feb. 16, has been described as The Godfather meets James Bond. “Our film has an international political thriller vibe to it, and also deals with ascension and a family dynamic that is in a position of power. The Godfather at the end of the day is a story about a patriarch passing his power onto his son. Our film deals with those themes as well, as Wakanda is a secretive place. We looked at films that dealt with

CHADWICK BOSEMAN IN BLACK PANTHER. AT RIGHT, FLORENCE KASUMBA, DANAI GURIRA, AND LUPITA NYONG’O, AND ANDY SERKIS AND MARTIN FREEMAN.

MARV E L COM ICS’ B L AC K P A N T H E R ISS POISED TO BECOME BLOCK BUST TER FR A NCHISE FEBRUARY 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM

RYAN COOGLER CONFERS WITH CHADWICK BOSEMAN.

The film also provided the chance to be creative with new collaborators. “Victoria Alonso, who oversees the whole production and postproduction process at Marvel, is amazing. We had an incredible visual-effects team headed up by Geoffrey Baumann. It was an amazing process that I had to learn on the fly. I had worked with pre-vis and visual effects a little bit on Creed, specifically around that last fight sequence. But on this film almost every shot was a visual-effects shot.” Accommodating the digital augmentation did not alter the dayto-day shooting process dramatically. “In certain ways it did, but in other ways we still did things the same,” Coogler notes. “This is my third film that I’m finishing up and each time the production process has been different. Fruitvale Station was shot over 20 days. During some of those days we had four hours to get in and out of the location. We had green effects on the train, but that was the extent of it. With Creed we were doing fight sequences and shooting in inclement weather. It was my first time shooting outside of California. I had to do pre-vis for a big visual-effects fight scene; that calls for a different style of shooting. We were doing stunts with our actors and real boxers. I took everything I learned on those films and built off of it. Black Panther was definitely like those films but on steroids!” Visualizing the fictional high-tech African nation of Wakanda was pivotal to the world-building. “It was incredibly exciting and one of the coolest parts of the film,” Coogler recalls. “Marvel has a whole department that you and your designers work with called Visual Development and it’s headed up by an artist known as Ryan Meinerding. They help you develop some of the superhero looks and key frames. I also worked with an incredible artist named Hannah Beachler who headed up the production design, and all of

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those ideas as a motivation but also wanted to make our own thing at the same time.” Moving from project to project, Coogler has a creative inner circle that was established on his independent feature debut Fruitvale Station, which includes picture editors Michael Shawver and Claudia Castello, cinematographer Rachel Morrison, production designer Hannah Beachler, composer Ludwig Göransson and actor Michael B. Jordan. “My frequent collaborators are also some of the most talented people I have ever met. It’s more than just knowing them. I try to work with the best folks that I can who are right for the job.” Black Panther was also a great opportunity to reunite with a sibling. “I worked with my brother Keenan on Creed and he was my right-hand man on that film. It was fun having another chance to work with him on this.”

the developments and looks for the entire country. One of the first things that I did before writing the script was spending some time in Africa traveling around different countries to get some visual inspiration. I also did a lot of research and reading about ancient African civilizations, such as the types of structures that they built and their lifestyles. When Hannah came onboard, she piggybacked on that stuff and took it to a whole new level. Between us and the folks at Marvel, we developed the look for Wakanda. We also had the benefit of having all the work that has been put in over the decades in the comic-book character’s existence.” Tribal motifs carry through all of the costumes designed by Ruth Carter. “One of the big themes is, ‘What does it mean to be African?’” Coogler explains. “We explored that through all of our decision-making for the costumes, makeup, production design, movements and fight choreography. It’s an ensemble piece with lots of characters and history. We wanted it to feel old and lived in.” A lot of work went into assembling a cast that features Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman. “Some of the heavy lifting had been done before us with Chadwick Boseman [T’Challa/Black Panther], John Kani [King T’Chaka] and Florence Kasumba [Ayo] being cast in Captain America: Civil War. I was able to write the script with a few actors in mind such as Michael B. Jordon for Erik Kilmonger, Lupita Nyong’o for Nakia, Danai Gurira for Okoye and Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi. Our casting process yielded some incredible faces. One of our biggest challenges was in finding our Dora Milaje [portrayed by Shaunette Renée Wilson]. We worked with our stunt coordinators Andy Gill and Jonathan Eusebio to find a woman who had the look we were going for and could do the required stunts. These characters are also important to Marvel because there’s a chance that they will carry over into other projects.” No major changes in the narrative structure took place in the edit suite. “No more than it always has for me, even back to my short films,” Coogler reveals. “It’s not all the same. There’s the movie that you write, shoot, and finish within the edit. The narrative structure, themes, through-lines stayed similar to what I cowrote with Joe Robert Cole. Through the development process of the script, we were constantly shooting holes in it, tearing it apart, looking at it with [producer] Kevin Feige, Victoria Alonso and [executive producer] Nate Moore. We have talented picture editors who had notes and ideas.” The sound design was influenced by the technology of Wakanda being sonically based. “We saw that as a cool opportunity to do some awesome stuff with the sound of the weapons. As for the music, I had a chance to work with Ludwig Göransson, who is an incredible composer and music producer. He went to Africa with his fiancée, got together with local musicians and started working on finding the sounds for the film. I’m excited to see how people will respond to the score.” “The biggest challenge for me on this film was keeping my feet on the ground,” Coogler confides. “I wanted to make sure that the reality of my dreams was coming through on this project. Having a chance to make a comic-book film about a character who is important to so many people and to work with a studio like Marvel Studios is a big deal. It’s such a big deal that it could be paralyzing and distracting if I thought about it too much. Every day I had to focus on the work that was at hand and not get overwhelmed by it. I counted to ten every day before I started work, before I showed up on set or walked to the office so that I could do my work efficiently. I’m so excited about all of these scenes. I hope that audiences show up to the film on time to watch the first scene, which is something that I’m excited and proud of.” ш

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The Nelms brothers serve up boOzy crime caper that buzZed sxsw fest

100 ProOF, No chaser by harRy haun

t precisely the time when we need one, critics have started calling John Hawkes “the new Harry Dean Stanton.” Wrinkled, rumpled, vaguely wasted, he perpetually wears a look of the lost-on-the-way-to-becoming-a-loser—whether he’s a meth-high hillbilly (Winter’s Bone) or an iron-lung sex recipient (The Sessions) or a Manson-like cult leader (Martha Marcy May Marlene) or a drug-driven jazz pianist (Low Down). For the latest in this long line, Hawkes wastes not a frame of Small Town Crime establishing how just down-and-out his new character is. Raising his garage door, he gulps from a bottle of pills, downs that with a swash of beer, and glares glumly at his front lawn where his car has made kindling of what was once a white picket fence. Another day has faded to blackout. Unrealistically unperturbed, he phones his former employer to see if his reentry application to the local police force has been considered. The voice at the other end of the line kindly understates that it would take a miracle. (It seems his drunkenness-on-duty resulted in his partner’s death.) Fortunately, Eshom and Ian Nelms—the brothers who concocted and directed this riveting, off-center little thriller from Saban Films and Lionsgate—believe in miracles and contrive one for our wannabe hero. Comes the next dawn, after he wakes up in an open field where his car has inexplicably carried him, he finds a bloodied, near-death prostitute beside the road. Suddenly,

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

it becomes an obsession—a way to redemption, if you will—to find out who put her there and why. Therein hangs a tough, taut, twisty, violent tale. The brothers Nelms are products of a small town—Woodlake, Calif., by name—and proud of it. Now, they’re profiting from it, having dreamed up Small Town Crime during one of their threehour-plus drives home from L.A. across desolate landscape. “It’s always a creative endeavor for us when we take these drives because we usually brainstorm scenarios, and we always end up coming away with something,” admits Eshom. “On this particular drive up north, we were passing the oil fields, and we thought of a falling-down-drunk who’s been on a bender all night and finds a body driving back to town. From that seed of an idea came Small Town Crime, and it, I think, came from a bunch of the Dirty Harry movies and George Pelecanos’ novels.” You can thank Mother Nelms for the film influence. “We’ve always loved the crime-thriller genre and the gray-area characters that go with them,” says Ian the younger (by two years), 37. “Our mom got a subscription to The Clint Eastwood Collection, and we’d get a new VHS tape every two weeks. We especially got hooked on the Sergio Leone westerns and the Dirty Harry series. They really resonated with us.” Hence, the toughness and unexpected humor that infect Small Town Crime. In the finale shootout, instead of the promised damsel, Hawkes hands a blow-up doll over to the assembled hit-

NGOC NGUYEN © SABAN FILMS

men. It just lies there on the gravel while the corpses pile up. Eshom put in a decade as a storyboard artist before he took up co-directing with his brother and storyboarding all of their films. “Storyboards are just a leaping-off point,” he explains. “They allow us to have flexibility. They’re the plan. We take it to our cinematographer and improvise a little bit. It’s a real creative sort of liberation for us to have that in our back pocket. When something unexpected comes up on the set, it’s easier for us to pivot when we already have this bulletproof game plan.” Are two heads better than one when it comes to directing a film? No problem, says Eshom: “My brother and I grew up in a rural environment where you either get along or get extremely lonely. Fortunately, we get along. I think there are two types of siblings: those who can’t and never could work together, and the rest of us who have become intertwined, almost co-dependent, over the years. We complement each other really well, and we’ve learned to feed off each other’s strengths and make our work better together. He and I are very synched up as far as our tastes go—the movies we like, our sensibilities—but we both have different strengths in writing and directing. My brother is tenacious. He can talk about a scene and then show up on my doorstep the next morning with five pages of it written. I’m more meticulous, always scrutinizing about the plot and how all these pieces go together. That’s how it goes when we do any sort of work together. Ian’s the kind of guy who always likes to jump off a cliff

DIRECTORS IAN AND ESHOM NELMS ON THE SET WITH STEFANIE SCOTT, ROBERT FORSTER AND JOHN HAWKES.

and will figure out how to build a parachute on the way down.” In Nelms numbers, this marks their fifth feature film, but, given its quirky, expert craftsmanship, it qualifies as their breakthrough into the mainstream. Their other films—and shorts—have quietly been accumulating awards on the festival circuit. “It’s hard to keep track of the shorts,” says Eshom. “I want to say five or six. We made more, but they don’t all go out in the world. We did two ultra-low-budget features on DVX-100 cameras at first. That’s how we really figured it all out.” The brothers and their dad crewed their first feature, Squirrel Trap, which was shot up near their home right on the border of the Sequoia Forest. “We’d all take turns lighting it and getting the microphone and setting up the camera,” Eshom recalls. “We had five actors and shot it all in ten days, then edited it on our home computers.” “It was, basically, our film school,” chimes in Ian. “The plot was about a small group of community-college students who are out on a three-day weekend to write a piece about Thoreau coming back to the wilderness. One of them goes off his meds, there’s a bunch of personality clashes, and they drive each other a bit crazy. It never turns into a horror film or anything, but it definitely has some sort of thriller aspects and redemptive qualities to it as these people try to figure out their own problems.”

FEBRUARY 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM

The fact that any kind of film at all emerged from this exercise amazed and inspired their film-school friends, who quickly signed up for a second. “Night of the Dog was a very collaborative effort,” admits Ian. “The root of that film was men dealing with women. We’d all broken up with girlfriends at the time, so we said, ‘Let’s write a twenty-minute short about our female woes.’ The idea was to make it like Robert Altman’s Short Cuts, intercutting like traffic. We have all of these storylines running together, but the thing was, we all start at the same place and we all finish at the same place.” The result—a full-blown comedy—made the circuit rounds, winning the Golden Vision Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival and Audience Award at the Palm Beach Film Festival and the Best Screenplay Award at the SMMASH Film Festival. It also won them representation and the attention of Miramax and Focus Features. James Lafferty, Dale Dickey and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer were aboard opus #3, Lost on Purpose, and every film that followed—a veritable Nelms Stock Company. Ian lightly refers to their third feature as “our dairy epic. It was inspired by the crisis our neighbors, the blue-collar dairy workers, went through. Statistically, it went from 3,000 independent dairy farms to 300, just because these conglomerates came in and independent dairies were getting wiped out. We focused on Baby Boomers who were living it and the Generation X who were coming up trying to figure it out.” It likewise made festival killings at the Beverly Hills Film Festival, the FirstGlance Film Festival, the ReelHeART Film Festival, the TrindieFest and the Hollywood Reel Independent

THE

Film Festival. At one of the above, the brothers were approached by writer-producer Autumn McAlpin about making a movie of Waffle Street, financier James Adams’ 2010 memoir about his riches-to-rags foray into the food industry. “Autumn had written a script, but it would have blown up to a $20 million script,” remembers Ian. “She’d done a lot of great things with it, but it had gotten really big, and she was lost in the size of it. She said, ‘Would you mind taking the path of my script and directing it?’ We were excited to do so and came on. Within three months of writing the script, we were casting it. Six months after that, we were shooting it.” Waffle Street wound up with the Woodstock Film Festival’s inaugural “Carpe Diem” Award for Best Film as well as Best Narrative Film at the Hollywood Film Festival. In these first five films, the Nelms Brothers leave the distinct impression of having done one of everything. Diehard auteurists may dislike that, but that’s OK with Ian. “Some of our favorite filmmakers jump genres all the time,” he points out. “Kubrick is the best example. Every seven years he’d come out with an opus unlike anything he’d ever done. I think it’s really challenging and exciting, and it keeps you fresh.” The trade papers report that the brothers have just signed with ICM and LBI, which should enlarge their horizons and film budgets immeasurably. “Hopefully, in this next chapter of our careers,” says Eshom, “we will do more ambitious material. We’ve got a couple of ideas for television series, and we definitely want to enter that world. But in the meanwhile, we have a few more stories that we want to tell on the thriller side of it. There are few things we enjoy more than a good crime story.” ш

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or nton h T k c i w r a rector W i d g n i n n i Award-w ings r p S e c i l A e is nativ h o t s n r u t re ter n s e w n a i l a r Aust for riveting

NATASSIA GORIE FURBER AND HAMILTON MORRIS IN SWEET COUNTRY, DIRECTED BY WARWICK THORNTON, RIGHT.

ver since his feature debut Samson & Delilah won Best Film at the Australian Film Institute Awards in 2009, Warwick Thornton has been garnering international acclaim as a director and cinematographer. Sweet Country, which revolves around an Aboriginal couple running from the law in 1920s Australia, has proven no different. The period western was lauded in 2017 with the Platform Award at Toronto International Film Festival and a Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Samuel Goldwyn Films releases it in U.S. theatres this spring.

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The project afforded the native of Alice Springs, Australia, the opportunity to cast renowned veteran actors Sam Neill and Bryan Brown as a kind preacher and a racist army sergeant, respectively. “I’ve worked with Bryan before, but not with Sam. They’re old friends and had collaborated together on a television series called ‘Old School,’ playing a retired criminal and a police detective. Bryan and Sam are very good at what they do. Sam said a funny thing to me halfway through the shoot. He said, ‘I agree to do this film.’”

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

The indigenous cast, including leads Hamilton Morris and Natassia Gorey Furber, were first-time actors. Identical twin brothers Tremayne and Trevon Doolan portray the character of Philomac, who triggers the killing that starts the manhunt. “I worked out that one is an extrovert and the other is an introvert. Whenever Philomac is in trouble I used the introvert, but whenever he goes stealing or creates the trouble I used the extrovert.” A pivotal rape scene takes place involving cruel former soldier Harry

March (Ewen Leslie) and Lizzie (Furber) where he gradually blocks out the windows. “I wanted it to be slow, methodical and creepy,” Thornton explains. “The character believes that he is allowed to do this. He doesn’t have to be violent about it. He doesn’t have to be quick. That’s even more evil. I was in denial about that scene a couple of days before we shot it. I didn’t know how to do it. I’m not interested in nudity in films. I don’t find it necessary. The visualization of rape in cinema is an incredibly horrific thing. Natassia came up to me the day before and said, ‘I’m getting worried about this.’ I said, ‘I’m greatly worried about this as well.’ I went down and I walked through the location. The whole idea of getting darker and darker, and starting to use sound rather than image, was an epiphany.” Not all of the white settlers are cruel, most notably Neill’s Fred Smith. “There are good people out there, and that was important for the balance of the film. You could go completely relentless by building a wall between the protagonist and antagonist, but the audience would switch off if you gave them those kinds of characters Flashbacks and flashforwards are incorporated into the narrative structure. “They’re the internal monologue of the thought process of the characters,” notes Thornton. “The fears of their past as well as their dreams of the future—that kind of idea. It wasn’t written in the first draft that I read, but I needed something more from the characters. They are bad and good. We started writing that stuff while in pre-production.” Playing with genre conventions is a big part of the creative process. “What I do with a script is you put it into the position of being a classic love story or romcom or western or science fiction or thriller but then start ripping ideas out of the film and creating roadblocks and problems for me as a director; that’s when the creativity begins.” Alongside his directing career, Thornton has been acknowledged as a cinematographer, twice nominated for the Golden Frog Award at the prestigious Camerimage festival. “Cinematography is a pleasure. Directing is hard and slow. By being the DP and director, I can do all of this crazy stuff and play with ideas.” Camera operating has become more difficult for him, he confides. “I’m getting old and have a bad back, so anything

handheld I throw to younger people.â&#x20AC;? There are no storyboards or a shot list. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all in my brain, which makes it difficult for the poor crew. I like to work fast because I get bored quickly on set. I always start with the dream shot that I want. I only do the wide shot and closeups in case the dream shot doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work.â&#x20AC;? The ultraviolet sensors from Blackmagic cameras were paired with anamorphic lenses to create different grain structures within the imagery. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We shot the film on the latest model of the ALEXA XT and used vintage Panavision anamorphics from the 1970s. I wanted zero grain on humans, a hard grain on the rock system and a different grain for the air. On top of that we put the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;etherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like a subtle heat haze. The 35mm was the widest lens that I had, with 200mm being the longest. Ninety percent of the film was shot on 50mm or 80mm.â&#x20AC;? Principal photography lasted 22 days, with Dylan River serving as cocinematographer. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was all shot on location, but there were sets,â&#x20AC;? Thornton states. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in Alice Springs, where I was born. Logistics and finance were the

SAM NEILL IN SWEET COUNTRY. hardest things because there are some amazing locations 100 kilometers out of town but we had a boundary of 50 kilometers. Every 10 kilometers more that the crew drove was literally another half an hour I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t shoot. I had to keep that in mind when I was reading the script.â&#x20AC;? A surreal moment takes place when Bryan Brown rides horseback across a large endorheic salt lake situated in Southern Australia known as Lake Gairdner. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I call it the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s almost like an acid trip! The scene is there to wake up the audience because weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going into the last third.â&#x20AC;? A specific color was considered to

be important. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The word we talked about when we were grading was tobacco. A burnt, brown orange. That was the landscape. I had an amazing colorist, Trish Cahill, who did The Hobbit. We also talked about metallic for the skin tones, which is a weird one. There was this sheen that we kept on discovering.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m fairly confident in what I do,â&#x20AC;? observes Thornton. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The sun rises and sets. I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop that. I know that you have 12 hours in the day. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have tantrums when I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have enough time. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the way it is. You have to say, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Lets go for it.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? The conclusion of Sweet Country conveys a harsh reality. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our past has been written by other people in a shining light kind of way. Whether in Australia, North America or South America, we all have dark pasts. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important for indigenous filmmakers to tell the truth, because it becomes our version of our history in a way. That creates realities. Even in fiction there is a documentarybased reality for filmmakers. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a truth that they need to tell. The truth is more important than the Hollywood ending. I find the ending of this film incredibly refreshing.â&#x20AC;? Ń&#x2C6;

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X CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: XFOX’S ANDREW CRIPPS (R) WITH COPYRIGHT EDUCATOR AWARD WINNER GRAHAM BURKE; YBARCO’S WIM BUYENS; ZGDC TECHNOLOGY’S DR. MAN-NANG CHONG; [DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR YUSUKE OKADA OF TOEI CO.; \SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT HONOREE WON CHUN CHA OF LOTTE CINEMA; ]COMSCORE’S JIM ZAK (R) WITH WOLF WARRIOR 2 DISTRIBUTOR JOE ZHANG. BELOW: AJAY BIJLI (CENTER) CELEBRATES HIS EXHIBITOR OF THE YEAR AWARD WITH THE PVR CINEMAS TEAM.

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2017 HIGHLIGHTS

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

INFORMATION, D N E R T T S : Y E R T T T S O U H D E N H I T N S O S E I E Z T I I Y N L B I A A G H P N N X I A M E Z I O E N C FJI H IO N T O IN T I U T L A O M V R E RE O F N R I A HOW

Data Rich comScoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Movie Group Measures the Box-Office World

by Bob Gibbons

omScoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history is relatively brief but relentlessly ambitious. Founded as comScore Networks in Reston, Virginia in 1999, their original purpose was to create a very large consumer panel online to track online commerce. As client expectations and industry needs evolved, so did their measurement services. Along the way, their acquisition of seven other companies helped them to expand their capabilities and geographic footprint, especially in Latin

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

PLEASE

T C E N S N E O C C N E S I D ER U N A W H T O I E W R T T C A A E I NSI DE: R H T E T Y N A I Å MOV IO W D Å FA NDA NGO AN THE Å NCM

America and Europe. Their introduction of Unified Digital Measurement in 2009 provided an innovative solution to audience understanding by organically blending both panel-based and census-based measurement approaches into one unified methodology. Their merger with Rentrak in 2016 enabled the company to become a cross-platform media-measurement firm—and the global leader in theatrical box-office measurement. Today, comScore is a publicly traded company with more than 1,800 employees, 3,200 clients and a global reach into more than 70 countries. As a recognized leader in measuring advertising, audience and consumer behavior, comScore works across multiple business sectors including automotive, consumer packaged goods, financial services, retail, pharmaceuticals and the entertainment industry. In their Los Angeles office, Stephen Buck, senior VP, business relations, is comScore’s “movie guy.”

GRAPHIC COURTESY BSG STUDIO

Å ASK THE AUDIENCE Å SA NTI KOS Å I H S M A R K IT

FEBRUARY 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM

INFORMATION, PLEASE / comScore

On the use of the information comScore provides: The information we provide offers a terrific way for exhibitors and distributors to communicate with one another. Studios use this information to plan, distribute and analyze their movies—and to understand the competitive landscape—to know what their competitors are doing in the multiplex. When they’re set to open a movie, they need to know if they are coming up against a strong headwind. So, this portfolio of data that we collect and offer provides background and input for executives to make key financial decisions—whether STEPHEN BUCK it’s marketing, distribution, publicity or any On their sources of data: other aspect of studio operations. We’ve been in the business of collecting boxThe information also helps exhibitors to understand how office information at the theatre level for over 15 years. We link well the different titles are performing on their screens—at to the point-of-sale systems at various theatres; in the U.S. and both a circuit-wide and individual complex level—and to see the Canada, we connect to over 6,000 theatres. That represents competitive landscape: how well they’re doing versus the other over 95 percent of the North American box office. We have theatres that are in their zone. It also helps them with their more than 25,000 theatres around the world in 65 countries, planning—in terms of food, beverage and staffing. so we’ve become the dominant source for global box-office We provide an open environment to those qualified for information; studios can see how well their films are performing access—and in this open environment, using the information around the world—not just in some parts of the United States. we provide, a studio can understand the perspective of the We collect this information on a real-time basis and we can exhibitor and the exhibitor can understand the perspective of push it, or our partner clients can pull it for themselves; they a distributor. can see what we see, when we see it. When a movie opens on a Friday afternoon, the people at the studios are sitting there with On the different levels of analysis comScore enables: their hands on the “refresh” key. We see what’s being used—and We’re the only company that has worldwide box-office inwe use those learnings to continually improve the capabilities of formation collected in real time that allows for micro-analysis as our system. well as macro-analysis. Instead of publishing a “one-size-fits-all” standardized report, we provide an amazing Interactive DashOn real-time, integrated data collection: board that allows our partner clients to do the analytics they Theatres send us data in real time, telling us how well need in real time when they’re wanted. the title is performing at a particular location, enabling for The Dashboard offers micro-analysis to drill down and, for geographic analysis. We and our client partners use our instance, see exactly how well a particular theatre is doing at a software tools to make sense of it. We can look at how well particular showtime with a particular movie on a particular day. it’s playing in particular circuits, or by state or city, on a And its macro-analytic capability lets our clients extrapolate out worldwide basis—or by a number of other measures. Studios to look at, as an example, how well a movie is performing in Los use those numbers to understand the overall performance of Angeles versus New York City, or France versus Australia. their movies in the marketplace. Each studio group—distribution, including domestic But then, to enable them to understand the nuances of and international—as well as marketing, publicity and other that performance, we have a network of theatres where functions has its own unique informational needs. The we “poll” to get audience information. Over time, we have Dashboard provides the information for manipulation and tripled, if not quadrupled, the traditional sample sizing of analysis by each group. And the Dashboard is constantly being movies to get audience insights into any particular movie. upgraded—and not just by comScore; it’s being enhanced by Beyond understanding current performance, this data enables our clients. They’re the ones who provide feedback and we us to understand, for example, the likely longevity the movie have a very collaborative dialogue with them; we modify its will have in the marketplace—and to know what to expect capabilities to meet their needs. from the ancillary markets. We can learn how audiences felt about the movie they saw, and how they are going to act On using analytics to predict future box office: on those feelings. Are they going to recommend the movie? Many times, analytics are done at a macro level: “I predict Are they going to purchase the DVD? And we can see those this movie will open to a $50 million weekend in North intentions by age, gender, ethnicity or other demographics America.” We predict at the theatre level. We recognize that and psychographics. Stephen Buck: comScore’s movie group services 65 countries and has offices in 13 locations around the world including Munich, Paris, Madrid, Mexico City, Sydney—but here, our Los Angeles office is the liaison with the studios with respect to the measurement of the movies. We provide the data and the tools to do measurement, activation and planning in the movie business. Anything dealing with the theatrical performance of a product from a studio or a film company comes across our desks. We’re the group that works with studios as well as with exhibition and are a company able to combine data assets beyond box office; I don’t think any other company is positioned the way we are.

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

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Comprehensive industry solutions for film exhibitors and distributors across the globe.

comscore.com â&#x20AC;˘ learnmore@comscore.com

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each movie affects every other movie playing in the same complex, maybe the same city. What happens if you take a “$50-million-predicted movie” out of the marketplace? Every other movie—all things considered—may do more. What happens if, instead, you put a $75-million-predicted movie in? The other movie grosses may go down. Studios can use those analytics to position the new movie—and determine how many prints to release—while their exhibition partners can use that data to schedule the other movies playing in the same complex to maximize the business for everyone. There are so many factors—ratings, genre, run-time, cast—that are important attributes for consideration in predicting the box-office revenue and life of a movie. Computers have made [analysis] a lot more sophisticated. However, every movie is a nuanced product; it tells its own story in its own unique way. It’s not a commodity. Every piece of content has its own unique life. On studios sharing their long-range plans: Studios are our input for what movies are being planned and the marketing elements related to those movies before and during their release. We have information on our calendars quite far in advance—right now, we’re going out through the year 2025, not with a lot of specifics, but with some movies being scheduled for release on certain dates that year. We’re assisting the studios by telegraphing to the exhibitors what’s being planned. The studios want the theatres to be prepared; the popcorn machines need to be ready to go.

Coming in March

TMS & PoS FJI looks at new developments in advance ticketing and point-of-sale technology in the ever-evolving world of consumer electronics and heightened customer convenience.

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

At the same time, when there’s a discussion at the studio level regarding which movies to greenlight, they’re not only looking at the theatrical box office, they’re considering a lot more. They have to consider their movie’s ancillary life and they’re also paying more attention to what other licensing opportunities may exist. That’s why we’re seeing things on the release calendar so far out—because there’s a much bigger play available today. The box office is still incredibly important—but it’s a component for many of these content providers. On trends in the analytics business: The world is moving towards expecting more information collected from more sources and aggregated in ways that it can be analyzed and understood more quickly and completely and be made more useful for more purposes. As companies—our clients and partners who provide and use the information we collect and supply—expand and diversify and become more complex, they need different data sets beyond box office. VOD data. Digital activity through mobile devices. Television viewing. That’s something we’re able to provide. We have over 119 million set-top boxes, for example, collecting information in the U.S. and Canada to understand viewing habits and behavior—and we’re the only company positioned to allow these other data assets to be merged with box office for multi-screen measurement. It’s not just about knowing the theatre; it’s about understanding where and when the consumer consumes media and how this is all related. On the comScore philosophy: We’re here to assist the industry. We have strong partnerships with the MPAA, with NATO, with every major and minimajor studio; we work with over 75 independent film companies in the U.S. alone. We work with our partners for their best interests and their unique needs. We’re mindful that we’re trusted by our data partners with their confidential information, so the type of information we disclose publicly is aggregated or information that’s in the public domain; most of the information, in the way we collect it and analyze it, is only for the use of our client partners. On the future: The way movies are consumed in 2018 is very different from the way they were consumed when Rentrak began measuring the theatrical box office in 2001. There is definitely a shift in the types of movies that are performing and there’s an evolution in our industry and I think that will continue. Global viewing is up. Consumption of movies on mobile devices is up. Digital downloads are up. At the same time, we just had another $11 billion year at the U.S. theatrical box office. So, what does this tell you? While consumers have more options, they’re still going to the movies. Movies are alive and well, and thriving. It’s a much more complex business, but it’s also a more exciting business and we’re proud to be able to be an integral part of it, to help our client partners make smarter and better decisions using the information we collect and the tools we provide to keep theatrical entertainment strong for the future. ш

INFORMATION, PLEASE / MOVIO CINEMA

Predicting Success Movio Analyzes Data to Help Exhibitors Serve Audiences Better

by Rob Rinderman

platforms we develop and the consulting n today’s globally competitive business world, it’s guidance we share.” a never-ending “big data” battle for organizations How do they do it? Primarily through to effectively identify and target their existing the development of algorithms designed and prospective consumers. The most effective to identify the ideal audience for any marketers are constantly striving to reach, or at movie or targeted promotion. Movio least profile, their exact customers, keeping them then takes it an important step further happy and coming back for more products and by proving its results by integrating with services. With the advent and increasing popularity exhibitors’ point-of-sale (POS) systems. of social-media platforms, product managers are “We see transactions wherever they often involved in a two-way dialogue with their endoccur and however they are paid for,” users, including brand ambassadors, evangelists and Liebmann explains. occasional online “haters.” The data collected and compiled Cinema exhibition is a somewhat unique includes transactions that take place ecosystem, with a significant amount of capital at MATTHEW LIEBMANN at the cinema, via exhibitors’ online risk amongst key constituents. There is a diverse channels or a third party’s, whether creative community of producers, closely allied and they are paid for with cash, credit card, gift cards or loyalty aligned with multiple studios and distributors across the globe. points. “This gives the truest profile of cinemagoer activity Collectively, they have often invested significant sweat and in the industry. Furthermore, we incorporate statistically real equity (in some cases several hundred million dollars) to significant control groups into targeted campaigns in order produce and promote an individual title. to calculate incremental uplift, thereby allowing marketers to To add to the pressure and high-stakes nature of the confidently assess financial results and continuously improve industry, films are often deemed to be an immediate success their activities,” he adds. or failure within the first weekend of their theatrical release, which usually simultaneously takes place in movie houses Vista Group Synergy across the world. Theatrical exhibitors range from large The Movio organization does not seek to own or claim multinational, megaplex circuits to small, independent players. any rights over its clients’ data. The ultimate objective is All are doing their best to cater to a prospective cinemagoing to connect everyone with their ideal movie so that future population with varying tastes, budgets and geographic access generations experience “the magic of cinema.” Its platforms to experience these movies. include Movio Cinema for exhibitors and Movio Media for With the increasing availability of big data, there is money distributors, studios and screen advertisers. Parent company to be made for value-added businesses that can effectively Vista Group International originally forged a strategic alliance crunch the numbers in advance to help separate the cinematic with Movio based on their similar devotion to the world of successes from the failures. Since its inception approximately cinema exhibition. seven years ago, a New Zealand-based company has been In 2014, Vista acquired Movio outright, in connection working diligently to be a leader in predictive theatrical with taking the company public, floating its shares on the exhibition analytics. According to Movio Cinema’s global New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges. For clients, a president, Matthew Liebmann, his organization distinguishes key advantage lies in their ability to secure a single solution, itself from the competition in several key ways. with seamless integration of Movio and Vista providing a rich feature set available for analytics and targeted marketing. Exclusively Devoted to Movie Exhibition According to Liebmann, however, the benefits extend well “We only serve the cinema industry,” says Liebmann. “We beyond functionality. “The diversity of Vista Group businesshave helped exhibitors, distributors and studios with insights es—from Vista Cinema’s comprehensive suite of cinema-manthat combine the experience of former cinema industry agement software, Numero’s revolutionary box-office insights professionals with the deep knowledge of data scientists. platform, the creative excellence of Powster, to Cinema IntelCinema is in Movio’s DNA and this comes through in the

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

ligence’s forecasting, planning and scheduling optimization tools—provides different perspectives that challenge each of the businesses to keep a step ahead of our clients’ evolving needs.” It is worth noting that Movio also integrates with other POS technologies, including exhibitors on NCR and Ingresso platforms. Large and Growing Customer Base Today, Movio Cinema is utilized by over 60 exhibitors in 35+ countries, helping theatre owners manage their analytics and campaign needs associated with their 39 million cinemagoers. Clients range from the largest players in their markets, to niche players with distinct operations, to major regional players and even a few single-site operators. Movio Media has the deepest and broadest database of cinemagoers in the United States, according to the company. It provides distributors, studios, other theatrical content providers, screen advertisers and other industry participants with aggregate audience profiles on a “per movie” basis, with data going back more than five years. It also incorporates Movio’s proprietary Similarity Algorithm (more on this below), which generates the ideal audience for any movie based on the prior movie-watching behavior of millions of active cinemagoers. Once the ideal audience is identified, Movio Media allows users to directly connect with these most avid moviegoers by using rich media e-mail campaigns or by activating audiences via social, website and addressable TV advertising. “Movio Media clients can also obtain moviegoers’ opinions via online surveys and combine these findings with respondents’ behavioral profiles for unique, unrivaled insight,” Liebmann points out. “All of this is done whilst preserving exhibitor anonymity, never disclosing moviegoer personal information or siphoning off the ownership rights of our clients.”

50+ M OV I E G O E R S 5 0 + IN THE USA There are over 100 million Americans 50+, who will represent 35% of the U.S. population by 2020. Older moviegoers grew up with cinema and remain highly engaged with the theatrical experience. This infographic explores their movie-going and transactional behavior.

35%

Americans over 50 will represent 35% of the U.S. population by 2020

50+

OLDER ADULTS AT THE THEATRES Moviegoers 50+ are truly engaged with the movie-going experience

31%

32%

MOVIEGOERS Americans 50+ make up 31% of all moviegoers over 14

CINEMA VISITS Moviegoers 50+ account for 32% of domestic cinema visits

50+

25%

LOYALTY POPULATION Women 50+ make up 25% of the cinema loyalty population

65+

6.8

7.3

MOVIES ANNUALLY Moviegoers 50+ see on average 6.8 movies annually

MOVIES ANNUALLY Moviegoers 65+ see on average 7.3 movies annually

50+

Audience Similarity Algorithm The Movie Cluster Map is the visualization of Movio’s proprietary Audience Similarity algorithm, which analyzes 100 million unique box-office admissions and hundreds of movies each year in order to measure the similarity of the audience for each title. The algorithm builds comp audiences by starting with the movies rather than attendee demographics. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 15-year-old that loves Victoria & Abdul or an 80-year-old that likes Sausage Party. It’s how a moviegoer spends their time and money that counts when targeting and communicating. This tends to result in a broader list of comp movies because, in reality, moviegoers don’t just see movies across the same genre, with the same content, or starring the same actors. Liebmann further explains, “Let’s take Sausage Party. If you were to comp up an audience for this using the traditional ‘movie first’ approach, you would build a list of other R-rated, gross-out comedies. However, the most similar movies based on audience similarity are, in order, Don’t Breathe, Neighbors 2, Suicide Squad, Deadpool and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. Not only does this prove that moviegoers like different types of movies, this data would drive a different targeting and communication strategy.”

WHEN DO THEY GO? Older adults visit the cinema during off-peak times and after opening weekend

WEEKENDS

62%

BEFORE 6PM

of moviegoers 50+ visit cinemas on the weekend

of moviegoers 50+ visit cinemas before 6pm

OPENING WEEKEND

of visits by moviegoers 50+ are after opening weekend

ATTENDANCE DELAY

15.2 days On average, moviegoers 50+ see a movie 15.2 days post-release

FEBRUARY 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM

50+

PRODUCING MOVIES FOR THIS AUDIENCE Moviegoers 50+ support film genre diversity at the box office 50+ SHARE OF CINEMA VISITS

75%

Art-house

56%

Christian

Additional Audience Insights We asked Liebmann for some recent learnings that he and his team have uncovered in crunching audience analytics. “I would say that the importance of older and female cinemagoers is not as widely recognized by the industry as it should be. Also, horror titles continue to attract Millennials at an average production cost that is a fraction of that of most blockbusters. Below are four recent factoids…

54%

Indie

53%

Drama

49%

Mature Thrillers

27%

Tentpole

Percentage of total visits

AUDIENCE DATA FROM WONDER WOMAN PROVES THAT THERE’S PENT-UP DEMAND FOR FEMALE HEROES.

Sat. 4

Wed. 3

Sat. 3

Wed. 2

Sat. 2

Wed. 1

Sat. 1

Open

Theatrical window

Woman in Gold

Trainwreck

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

AVERAGE 50+ SHARE OF THE AUDIENCE

WOMAN IN GOLD

JACK REACHER

TRAINWRECK

STAR WARS

82% 57% 36% 27%

50+

IF YOU MAKE IT, THEY WILL COME!

REWARD THE LOYALTY OF MOVIEGOERS 50+

REVIEW YOUR SCHEDULING STRATEGY

PRODUCE MOVIES FOR THIS SEGMENT

They make up 25% of frequent moviegoers

They visit during off-peak days and times, and in season

They favor Christian films, Dramas, and Mature Thrillers

Download the Whitepaper at aarp.org/movies50plus An exclusive research for AARP by

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

Wonder Woman’s audience comprised 37% more infrequent moviegoers (those that visit the cinema less than four times annually) than the average superhero movie, proving there is pent-up demand for female heroes. Stereotypically male titles often receive a material boxoffice boost from women. Women aged 60+ represented 14% of the audience of Dunkirk, compared to 9% for the average movie. Infrequent female moviegoers aged 50+ represented 28% of the movie’s audience, compared to 17% for the average movie. Older moviegoers continue to be a vibrant and valuable segment, attending the cinema 6.8 times per annum compared to the MPAA’s statistic of 5.3 annual tickets per moviegoer. Horror movies accounted for one in six cinema visits by Millennials. This was no doubt helped by the diversity and quality of titles within the horror genre, such as It, Get Out, Split and Annabelle: Creation, among others. Looking Ahead “We see a couple of big trends which will drive Movio’s focus in 2018,” predicts Liebmann. The first is propensity, which looks at the likelihood of someone watching a movie. The decision to see a movie isn’t a binary ‘yes’ or no.’ Understanding how motivated someone is likely to see a movie influences who you target, when you target them and the type of message or offer extended to them. “Another key trend is marketing automation. The brilliant thing about rich analytics platforms like Movio is just how many actionable insights they surface. The challenge is actually actioning those insights without increasing headcount. Movio will continue to empower our clients to efficiently and effectively address this challenge in a cinema-specific manner by addressing the key work flow, events and guest touch points that are specific to cinema. This will allow end-users to create experiences that span online and in-cinema, as well as freeing up valuable time to refine marketing strategies and test new theories.” ш

COMPARISON OF 50+ AUDIENCE EVOLUTION OF A SAMPLE OF FILMS

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INFORMATION, PLEASE / FANDANGO

A Vital Demographic Fandango Survey Sheds Light on the 18-34 Crowd by Rebecca Pahle

‘G

oing back several years, Fandango was ticketing, predominantly,” says Fandango chief marketing officer Adam Rockmore. “We changed our strategy from just ticketing to really being all things movies. Trailers and clips, reviews, buying tickets, rewards, home entertainment, merchandise. We want to be in all those places and make sure we connect all the pieces.” “Connecting all the pieces” for movie-mad customers is an admirable goal—but, over the last five years, Fandango has taken it one step further, cluing studio partners and exhibitors in as to what moviegoers want out of their theatrical experience with a robust consumer-research program. “In the last year and a half, we’ve built our own proprietary

panel that [can do] much more in-depth, frequent surveys,” Rockmore notes. “We’re able to look at all moviegoers”—not just Fandango customers—“from different ages, [asking about] different genres.” One of Fandango’s more recent surveys was conducted in December, when the digital cinema hub polled more than 1,500 Millennials—defined as those between the ages of 18 and 34—about their moviegoing habits. It’s an important demographic not just for the exhibition industry as a whole, but for Fandango specifically, as 41% of the company’s total digital audience falls within that age range. Fandango’s findings shed the light of truth on the common— and incorrect—assumption that young adults would rather stay at home with a streaming movie or a videogame than go out to

Millennials Go to the Movies

50% say reserved seating is the main reason for buying advance tickets

78% say they send individual or group text messages when making plans to go to the movies

65% say reclining seats are favorite amenity

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

63% say their single favorite thing to purchase at movie theatres is popcorn

ILLUSTRATIONS COURTESY BSGSTUDIO

44% say they are most likely to see a new movie on opening night or weekend

58% say they purchase advance tickets online or through an app

75% say VIP or Rewards program perks is their favorite added benefit of advance tickets

the theatre. When asked about their holiday movie plans, 34% of the survey responders said they planned to see four or more movies on the big screen; 86% said they planned to see at least two. “When people say, ‘Are Millennials going to the movies?’ I think this affirms that they definitely are,” Rockmore argues. But, then, the key: “They just need the right movies.” Fandango’s findings shed some light here, too. Topping the list of most-anticipated movies for the holiday season was, predictably, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. But Rockmore points out that 18- to 34-yearADAM ROCKMORE olds are interested in non-blockbusters as well, the sort of films “that you’re going to end up seeing in the awards shows… Yes, they still love superhero movies and big action movies. Jurassic World, Black Panther and Avengers are always big. But you see a lot of highanticipation early ticket buying for smaller, independent films like Lady Bird and The Shape of Water. And that’s only going to continue to grow… There are other, offbeat offerings that are rising through the ranks to attract this audience.” When it comes to moviegoing, Rockmore repeats the old adage that “content is king”…but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things theatres can do to convert an interest in seeing Lady Bird or Star Wars into concrete ticket sales. Look at the numbers: 78% of Millennials plan movie outings with the help of individual or group text messaging; 58% purchase tickets in advance either through an app or a website.

All these findings, Rockmore notes, point to a generational desire for ease of planning. “The 18- to 34-year-olds like to be able to simplify what they’re doing… So if they’re already chatting with friends on Facebook Messenger, they can go right to buying tickets or looking up showtimes on Fandango without having to leave their chat conversation. We’re getting great feedback from our ticketing integration on Facebook Messenger, and it’s helping facilitate much more prebuying of movie tickets. Because at that very moment that they’re thinking and talking about going to the movies, they’re able to act on it.” Theatres themselves are streamlining the moviegoing process and enhancing the experience by providing the sort of amenities that Millennials, per Fandango’s survey, enjoy, including recliner seats, premium-large-format screens and immersive sound. “Thankfully, exhibitors are working hard to make the moviegoing experience an event,” Rockmore explains—not just a movie, but food and drinks as well, a whole night out in one easy package. “It’s clear from our survey that Millennials want well-planned experiences. They want reserved seating. They want good bar service and good food.” Millennial moviegoers are there—and, with their work in data gathering, Fandango provides some helpful tips on what can be done to get them through the door. Rockmore says it best: “We’re all about celebrating moviegoing, and the success of every film and every theatre is important to us. So we also want the industry to notice how excited consumers, especially Millennials, are about the latest theatre innovations, the upcoming year at the cinema and what’s coming up in the near future.” ш

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INFORMATION, PLEASE / NATIONAL CINEMEDIA (NCM)

Asking the Audience A Look Behind the Scenes at NCM’s Moviegoer Poll

ince July of last year, Film Journal International has proudly collaborated with National CineMedia (NCM) on a monthly survey of frequent moviegoers called “Ask the Audience,” in which respondents reveal their likes and dislikes about the moviegoing experience. Stacie Tursi, NCM’s senior VP, affiliate partnerships, takes us behind the scenes of this valuable initiative. How did you find the “Ask the Audience” participants? “Ask the Audience” members are primarily recruited through an onscreen advertisement that runs in NCM’s “Noovie” preshow. We get a lot of interest, so to make sure we’re getting fresh perspectives and making the most of our 5,000 panelists, we will periodically ask inactive members if they would like to leave the panel to make room for new recruits. Do you ever convene them as a group? Not yet, but maybe one day! At the moment, we encourage the panelists to interact via online discussions about movies or other industry news. We’ll also send them newsletters that let them know the results of recent surveys and some of the most interesting responses, so they can see the value of their feedback. How enthusiastic are they about taking part in these surveys? Are you kidding? It’s basically a party! Over 75% of members are active participants and engage with the five to six surveys we send each month. We often have the happy problem of expecting a sentence or two in response to an open-ended question and instead receive a five-paragraph essay. We help to keep them engaged by appealing to the movie superfan within them by sharing new trailers or behind-the-scenes content. Plus, we sometimes give them the chance to win movie tickets or other prizes, such as posters, which of course doesn’t hurt either. What are some of the most amusing or most surprising responses you’ve received? How long do you have? We’re constantly surprised by the results of our surveys, which is exactly why they are so valuable. One trend that continues to resonate with us is how much our panelists value the moviegoing experience and the escapism the movie theatre offers, as well as their attention to detail. When it comes to amusing responses, the list is long. Here are a few that made us laugh: When asked for the strangest item they’ve seen snuck into a theatre: “A Subway foot-long sandwich that this guy had in the leg of his cargo pants. It was held in place by a large rubber band around his ankle.”

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

When asked for the worst behavior they’ve seen in a theatre: “Someone threw soda on a person for talking too much and yelled, “You just got juiced!” When asked why they prefer luxury seating: “Some movies are boring and rather than leave, just sit back and take a nap.” Have you learned surprising things about a particular demographic? When looking at results we can focus in on any demographic, but we tend to zoom in on Millennials most frequently. In addition to confirming some of the conclusions that have already been made about the generation, such as them being more budget-conscious than their older counterparts or that they’re more likely to be “cord-cutters”, we’ve also learned that they value the entire moviegoing experience, rather than just the movie. They’re more likely than other generations to want bars, Wi-Fi lounges…any amenity that will improve their experience and make their time at the theatre feel more substantial. They’re also much more likely than other generations to choose a movie based on friends’ recommendations, as well as digital publicopinion indicators, such as the Rotten Tomatoes score or socialmedia sentiment. Do you find that exhibitors are making good use of this research? Absolutely. Many of our partners have told us how much they value the research, and will sometimes reach out to ask to expand on a specific data point that they’re particularly interested in. The goal of the “Ask the Audience” series is to make business decisions easier for our partners, and so far the feedback we’ve received indicates we’re accomplishing that. Here’s where we offer the friendly reminder that if you’re an exhibitor looking for data on a specific topic, contact AsktheAudience@ncm.com and we can get your questions in front of the panel. How does this initiative benefit NCM and fit with your business plan? We originally launched the “Behind the Screens” panel so that we could gather data that would help our advertisers build the most successful campaign possible. As we began to accumulate more and more information and develop insights that were incredibly helpful to both our business and our advertisers, we realized we could take it a step further. By sharing our research with exhibitors of all sizes, we provide the data that our partners need to inform critical business decisions. Our goal is always to provide the best customer service possible and make our partners’ lives just a little bit easier, and “Ask the Audience” is another way for us to accomplish that.ш

ASK THE AUDIENCE

Ask The Audience is a monthly feature from Film Journal International and National CineMedia (NCM) that allows you to ask an audience of 5,000 frequent moviegoers, known as the Behind the Screens panel, the pressing questions of our industry.

- A COLLABORATION BETWEEN -

To submit a question, email AskTheAudience@ncm.com with your name, company, contact information, and what you would like to ask the Behind the Screens panel.

MEET OUR 5,000 MEMBERS 91% ARE LOYALTY PROGRAM MEMBERS REGION

AGE

41%

21%

20%

21%

MOVIEGOING FREQUENCY

41%

MILLENNIALS

A FEW TIMES A WEEK

GEN X

19% 32%

ONCE A WEEK A FEW TIMES A MONTH

38%

#2 POPCORN

CANDY

#1 #5

BOOMERS

ONCE EVERY 3 MONTHS

BEST MOVIE SEEN IN AN ENHANCED FORMAT

MOST POPULAR CONCESSION ITEMS

SODA

ONCE A MONTH

17%

TRADITIONALISTS

37%

AVATAR

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

ICEE

NACHOS

FAVORITE SEATING OPTIONS ZZ

60%

LEATHER RECLINERS

21%

STANDARD SEATS

62% SAY MOVIE AUDIENCES AS A WHOLE ARE CONSIDERATE OF EACH OTHER.

LEATHER SEATS (NON-RECLINING)

45% PREFER TO SIT IN THE CENTER OF THE AUDITORIUM.

DINE-IN THEATER SEATS WITH TABLES

OTHER

27% HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP BECAUSE THE SEATING WAS SO COMFORTABLE.

FEBRUARY 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM

INFORMATION, PLEASE / SANTIKOS ENTERTAINMENT

Smart Move Chris Prichard Searches for Santikos Cinema Intelligence

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by Andreas Fuchs

technology and innovation as well as marketing e have a strong desire to be a datafor Santikos. “The data we pull is relevant to driven company—using data to make a lot of different areas. The communication of wise business decisions,” says Chris Prichard, available information to those areas…is not director of cinema intelligence at Santikos necessarily about me finding out the answers,” Entertainment. The San Antonio, Texas-based he observes. “It is more about me finding a way circuit of eight locations with some 84 screens to get the answers and then making sure that was subject of back-to-back profiles in the this information is available to the people who August and September 2016 editions of Film do need that information, so that they can use it Journal International. Although director of cinema and make their own decisions.” intelligence might very well represent the first With the number of tools at his disposal position in exhibition to acknowledge the now, has the sheer amount of data grown importance of the emerging field, Prichard says exponentially too? “Yes, you can very easily data has been part of the decision-making at drown in the data, if you were going in looking Santikos Entertainment for quite some time. for the data to tell you something. Without “Probably two, three years ago, there was CHRIS PRICHARD really knowing what you are looking for, you an emphasis on knowing more details to help can just get buried in data. It really helps to us make better choices. We started with a have a good platform on which to analyze, to know what you small footprint, and tried some things, and it has evolved and are looking for, that brings you results and delivers them in a grown. We are still actively seeking better tools to give us even way that is both consumable and understandable. The last thing better insight into what our guests want, where the guests are, I want to do is send enormous spreadsheets full of data to the what their preferences are. How to reach out to them with a different departments here at Santikos. It is much easier to give personalized message that is relevant to them at the time when them the tools that they need to answer their own questions.” they want to get it. Cinema intelligence is about trying to really How about approaching data from the opposite direction? micro-analyze our challenges.” Let’s assume someone has a question—could you address the Prichard goes on to detail how Santikos deployed software data to provide the answer? Could you use data to back up the on measuring guest satisfaction even before their loyalty answer that you may already have or think you have? “With program kicked in. “That grew into using mapping demographics, the absence of data, any decision needs to be put on pause,” census software to understand where our guests were coming Prichard cautions. “It is fine to have hunches, but actual data from, along with looking at our credit card data to see…how almost always supports the right choice.” frequently guests were coming in. It became part of the loyalty Speaking of hunches and the proverbial gut feeling about a program, and working with Vista on points of sale like many film’s potential, while there will always be “surefire” movies, exhibitors in North America do, the subsequent partnership does Prichard think data can help support more adventurous with Movio enables us to analyze so much more rich information decisions based on “Well, let’s give this movie a try”? To use an about our guests.” example, is there a way to have predicted that Wonder would “Now, we have a suite of tools that can analyze data, and develop as wonderfully as it did? “There are both some old allows us to answer questions coming out of that data. I feel so techniques and definitely some new data that can foretell how a much more informed now than ever before,” Prichard notes, film is going to do. Social-media tracking and a lot of online tools making a comparison. “I have been in this industry since 1982, that allow you to see what the preview views are provide small and it has come a long way. The use of our own data today clues on a film’s performance. I certainly rely upon my sources certainly is different from the old days. That was more like for forecast data, or for comp [comparison] films; and the results ‘How do you think this one is going to do next weekend?’ and are normally pretty spot-on. [But] every now and then there’s ‘Okay, let’s play it.’ The wealth of information is a welcome and a surprise.” Insidious: The Last Key is one example that opened fascinating challenge right now.” And somewhat of a culmination just before our conversation. “I expected it to do well, but I point for Prichard, who over the years oversaw operations

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

didn’t expect it to do that well,” Prichard admits. “Even though my forecasting software said Insidious was going to do above what I had it based on with comps and everything else, it still did surprise me.” Equally surprising, at least to the uninitiated, is the amount of detail to drill down into. Last year, Santikos partnered up with Cinema Intelligence, a division of its point-of-sale provider, Vista Group. Prichard explains, “The Cinema Intelligence platform is referring to my theatre’s data. As I am pulling up comps for a film booked at a specific location in any given week, the software checks the comps’ performance in those locations, not only by the week, certainly, or the day, but by showtime, even by the hour.” In terms of scheduling, Prichard “knows on Monday how a film is basically going to perform at a location, whether it needs one screen, two screens or three. As forecasted data goes in, I can supply the results to theatres and management, to payroll for spending estimates, to accounting for budgeting. Everything sources from there and feeds to a lot of different departments.” As smarter decision-making will indeed assist in maintaining smooth operations, optimized placement of films also helps the films themselves. How have Santikos’ distribution partners responded? While they obviously develop their own projections—and their very own opinions about how a movie will do—distributors should benefit as well from better insight into Santikos theatres. “The relationship we have with the studios is always give-and-take,” Prichard contends. “We do what we think is best for us, they what is best for the film. And we meet in the middle. It is not they get their way and we get ours. We compromise, and we work to help each other.” With eight locations, Santikos data is very specific. “We know our market, we know our locations, and we use the data to make the best decisions for all of us. I don’t have a hundred locations to juggle and try to make sense of.” Being focused on one market that the chain has expertly served since the days of the Nickelodeon (Louis Santikos officially founded the company in 1915), does he really need all that data? “Every week,” Prichard responds without hesitation. “Like most theatres or most chains, a certain flow of information starts every Monday as you are choosing the films based on your attendance forecast. You are sharing information with all the different teams involved, so they can order, they can schedule employees, they can stock. It all really starts with the central projected attendance data: Much, much planning for the next week begins based on that.” With attendance well covered, does data help with ancillary sales as well? Beyond staffing and having plenty of people scheduled to pop all that corn? “That is probably a next frontier for us,” Prichard predicts. “We certainly know averages, we know what to expect, attendance-wise. We can plug those variables in. I think as we evolve the next step will be about this film going in that auditorium, because it offers in-theatre service of food and beverage, and per-caps were raised by two dollars. We track all our sales by person through the loyalty program. Gaining insight into their preferences, we reach out to guests with targeted offers. We are trying to utilize data in every way possible so that we can provide a better experience.” Prichard believes that the tools at his disposal to make smarter moves on movies are all relevant. “In preparation for the call, I started writing down all the analytics tools that we use. For perspective, we certainly use Movio, Cinema Intelligence. We use our Facebook social analytics, our website

CREDIT CARD DATA REPRESENTED IN HEAT MAP ANALYTICS TOOL: “ALL THIS INFORMATION TIES BACK TO KNOWING WHAT WE SHOULD DELIVER, WHAT THE GUEST EXPECTS US TO DELIVER, WHEN TO DELIVER IT,” SAYS CHRIS PRICHARD.

Google Analytics, our Visa reporting analytics, our credit card insights, census data, mapping software; and Listen360, a platform we use to gauge guest satisfaction… I was sitting there thinking, ‘Is that all?’ before realizing, ‘Oh, I just named ten.’ And next year, who knows, will there be three or four more of these tools? It is interesting, honestly, how much this has grown so quickly.” Asked for a personal definition of cinema intelligence as a tool, Pritchard names “the insight that we have now to be able to both maximize our revenue and to create the very best guest experience. All this information ties back to knowing what we should deliver, what the guest expects us to deliver, when to deliver it. Everything becomes apparent: what needs to happen to achieve guest satisfaction, where they expect us to do more. In turn, this insight guides us as we grow and train, get better. Like most companies, we are always trying to improve, grow and just get a better understanding of the information that is available to us.” While it is “fascinating,” Chris Prichard offers a cautionary note in closing. “You can actually get lost. There is so much information out there that you can figuratively just drown in it. However, data is so very important to moving forward. It is beneficial, by helping you save money, make money, and deliver a better experience to the guests. Managing the data and extracting information takes time and you need to learn a little bit. You need to have the interest and the passion to really chase down the answers. It is fun.” ш

FEBRUARY 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM

INFORMATION, PLEASE / IHS MARKIT

Mr. Data At IHS Markit, David Hancock Delivers Cinema Insights and Intelligence by Andreas Fuchs

also been doing it for a long time—since he term business intelligence is nothing new, and December 1996, in fact. “This comes up enterprises have, for decades, relied on strategies and a lot,” he says of his beginnings at Screen technology to analyze the data their businesses produce— Digest, and the name that this author, for be it reports, inventory counts, Facebook reach, box-office one, misses. “For some people, it never and attendance figures, popcorn sales on our end; the went away. I still get introduced sometimes amount of information available today is massive. With the as David from Screen Digest. I do miss the arrival of point-of-sale systems and loyalty programs, plus words, but the world moves on and the marketing metrics collected at virtually every touch-point spirit and ethos of Screen Digest is still with the consumer, to name but three, the availability of alive and well within our work here.” such data has necessitated a more structured approach. Founded in 1971 by the film and video Gone are the days of a “gut” feeling, as a glut of data has correspondent of The Financial Times of arrived to be disseminated and analyzed methodically and London and his wife, John and Joy Chittock, in great detail. Applying principles and tools from other the monthly publication did exactly what the industries, cinema intelligence has arrived. name implied—digesting information about In this special focus section, Film Journal International DAVID HANCOCK screens. As sagely as the name was chosen, has highlighted some of the key players, providing excluthe founders could not have truly envisioned the multiverse of sive insight into an area that began with counting admissions at the screens available to seekers of entertainment today. With that, gate and is currently providing virtual real-time analysis of everyhowever, we should take comfort that “our” screen—the big one thing associated with operating a theatrical exhibition enterprise. in cinemas—started it all, and still defines media enjoyment today. Who could provide a better overview of the field than David “We were very few in number,” Hancock recalls about his Hancock? As director, film and cinema technology, media and teleearly days. Screen Digest “fulfilled a need for research-based com research and analysis, cinema and home entertainment, at IHS understanding of media markets, mainly cinema and TV, although Markit (technology.ihs.com/Categories/450468/cinema), Hancock anecdotally our first issue reported on a prototype VCR mais no stranger to the exhibition business, as well as a very dear chine from Philips. At this point, Screen Digest had not gone friend to these pages. For many years, he has provided valuable beyond the monthly magazine. When I joined, the idea was to analysis to our readers. On a personal note, this author sees David grow the company around publishing reports and undertaking Hancock as Mr. Data personified, a term he humbly rejects. consultancy. There were not many companies specializing in this Yet, “you are talking to a man who wakes at three a.m. havfield of market-level data research—most were trade magazines ing dreamt of a new way to collect or present data,” he admits. with news as the focus, or consumer-facing viewers and ratings “Data is a mindset, not necessarily a job. I meet people who have companies. Box office was being tracked by a few companies, a ‘data’ mindset, although that is not their job in the same way often based in one territory, although what became EDI was that others do not think that way. Much of my job is ‘translating’ around then and was beginning to grow.” data into everyday thoughts and language.” In an industry closely guarding its results, especially box-office Whereas “numbers don’t lie,” there is an add-on saying that performance, how did Screen Digest gain access to information? the people who read them see what they want to see. “A tru“We built up close relationships with official data providers in counism,” Hancock concurs, “but you do need to trust the source tries, such as film agencies, government statistics offices as well as of data analysis. In my job, I need to make sure that what I say private companies such as broadcasters and film distributors. These is as objective as possible, presenting as complete a picture as relationships still exist, and they are still a primary source of inforpossible. Using selective statistics to back up an argument is not mation for market data. However, since those days, we have built up a long-term option in our business. All things need to be conour own proprietary data sources and market models.” sidered to make sense of a complex media landscape, and some Elaborating on the role played by said trade associations and statistics can seem contradictory until explored.” To anyone government agencies, including NATO (United States), CNC who believes that data is boring, Hancock responds, “I do not (France), FFA (Germany), BFI (United Kingdom) and MediaSalles mind if you don’t get it, it is my job to explain it!” David Hancock is not only very good at this job, he has CONTINUED ON PAGE 58

FILMJOURNAL.COM / FEBRUARY 2018

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BUYING & BOOKING GUIDE VOL. 121, NO. 2

12 STRONG WARNER BROS./Color/2.35/Dolby Atmos/129 Mins./ Rated R Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña, Navid Negahban, Trevante Rhodes, William Fichtner, Geoff Stults, Thad Luckinbill, Ben O’Toole, Austin Stowell, Austin Hébert, Kenneth Miller, Kenny Sheard, Jack Kesy, Elsa Pataky, Rob Riggle, Numan Acar. Directed by Nicolai Fuglsig. Screenplay: Ted Tally, Peter Craig, based on the book Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Molly Smith, Thad Luckinbill, Trent Luckinbill. Executive producers: Andrew A. Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Chad Oman, Mike Stenson, Ellen H. Schwartz, Garrett Grant, Yale Badik, Val Hill, Doug Stanton. Director of photography: Rasmus Videbæk. Production designer: Christopher Glass. Editor: Lisa Lassek. Music: Jonathan Watkins. Sound mixer: Rodney Gurulé. Costume designer: Daniel J. Lester. An Alcon Entertainment, Black Label Media and Jerry Bruckheimer Films presentation of a Jerry Bruckheimer and Black Label Media production, in association with Torridon Films.

True story of Special Forces soldiers infiltrating Afghanistan to fight the Taliban, told with unabashed jingoism.

The best thing going for 12 Strong is that

it’s based on a true story about a previously classified mission into Afghanistan to disrupt the Taliban immediately after 9/11. Nothing if not patriotic, it’s a war movie that essentially ignores everything except the duty and cost of good to defeat evil. Adapted from Doug Stanton’s bestseller Horse Soldiers, the movie is sincere and old-fashioned, taking an uncomplicated view of events that were anything but. Warner Bros. is betting that there’s always a market for real-life heroism, without all the messy details of historical and cultural context. Making his feature debut after a career of award-winning commercials, Nicolai Fuglsig strips 12 Strong down to bare-bones testosterone and second-hand sentiment. After a montage of terrorist attacks on the U.S., we meet the men of ODA 595, a Special Forces unit with experience in Somalia. Although he’s been offered a desk job in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Capt. Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth) fights for the right to lead his men on a mission to Afghanistan. With him are veterans Hal Spencer (Michael Shannon), Sam Diller (Michael Peña), Ben Milo (Trevante Rhodes) and their lessfleshed-out colleagues.

Although he has never been in combat, Nelson impresses superiors Mulholland (William Fichtner) and Bowers (Rob Riggle), who name his team the first to sneak into Afghanistan. Their goal is Mazar-i-Shariff, a Taliban stronghold. Nelson promises to capture it in three weeks, before winter weather sets in. Nelson teams up with Dostum (Navid Negahban), a warlord who commands a ragtag band of volunteers on horseback. Their first target is the village of Bescham, where we see Taliban villain Mullah Razzan (Numan Acar) executing a schoolteacher. Taliban tanks and missiles easily repulse Dostum’s cavalry. Nelson devises a different mission, sending Diller and others to take over a valley known as the Tiangi Gap, a direct route to Mazar. Nelson’s bravery persuades Dostum to give up his own plans and join with ODA 595. The filmmakers do a good job explaining why and how Nelson’s men attack the Tiangi Gap, but are less successful in depicting the actual battle. After a while the bombs, missiles, grenades, rockets, even the landscapes blur together in a deafening, exhausting sequence. Hemsworth and Peña seem a bit incongruous, more movie stars than Special Forces, while the usually reliable Shannon plays his role without any shading or nuance. That’s a problem with 12 Strong as a whole— it’s too gung-ho and adrenalized to bother with consequences. Like a high body count of mostly anonymous Afghans. —Daniel Eagan

SMALL TOWN CRIME SABAN FILMS & LIONSGATE/Color/2.35/91 Mins./ Rated R Cast: John Hawkes, Anthony Anderson, Octavia Spencer, Clifton Collins, Jr., Robert Forster, Michael Vartan, Daniel Sunjata, Don Harvey, Jeremy Ratchford, James Lafferty, Dale Dickey, Caity Lotz, Stefanie Scott. Written and directed by Eshom Nelms, Ian Nelms. Produced by Parisa Caviani, John J. Kelly, Brad Johnson. Executive producers: Mehrdad Elie, Octavia Spencer. Co-producer: Ben Rosenblatt. Director of photography: Johnny Derango. Production designer: Lauren Spalding. Editor: Traton Lee. Music: Chris Westlake. Costume designer: Catherine Velosa. An Avva Pictures presentation of a 6 Foot Films and John J. Kelley Entertainment production.

John Hawkes plays a drunk ex-cop who wins a shot at a scraggly form of redemption by hunting down a murdered girl’s killer in this crisp and mordantly funny noir.

ver since Mike (John Hawkes) got cashiered from the police department of his isolated town, he doesn’t seem to have much to do except continue waging war on himself and anybody who wanders into his line of fire. We first see him waking up to a vigorous bout of weightlifting in his garage that’s briefly interrupted by vomiting last night’s partying into a trash can, and then back to the lifting with a few slugs of morning beer. Then he’s roaring off Mad Max-style in his souped-up black Nova to tank a few job interviews, just showing up enough to keep his unemployment check coming, but not trying so hard that he actually gets hired. The force might call and give him his job back, after all. What knocks Mike out of his drunken stupor isn’t the many people who tell him to get his act together, particularly his adopted sister Kelly (Octavia Spencer) and her husband Teddy (Anthony Anderson, happily playing straight man), but the dying girl he finds on the side of the road. This is the point at which one would expect Eshom and Ian Nelms’ surprisingly witty play on the ex-cop narrative to treat us to variations on the usual themes: Mike is a loner haunted by guilt over his partner being murdered, Mike is an unorthodox rebel who doesn’t play by the rules, Mike is just that much smarter than all the other cops on the force, and so on. Fortunately, that’s not what we get. A kind of laid-back high-desert noir (the Utah location is well shown off by Johnny Derango’s bright and wide-framed cinematography), Small Town Crime edges sideways into its crime narrative and is all the better for it. By starting off as something of a seriocomic character study of a self-destructive ex-cop who is steadily alienating all his onetime friends and co-workers, the Nelmses establish a certain amount of buy-in to the character before the plot truly kicks in. By the time Mike accesses his old nefarious side and invents a fake private-detective persona so that he can investigate the girl’s murder, the drama has become as much about whether he can pull his act together as about solving the crime himself before a pair of hitmen cleaning up loose ends with shotguns get around to him. Helping Mike out is a surprisingly deep bench of supporting talent for an indie of this sort. Besides Anderson and Spencer, Mike also runs across Robert Forster, playing the dead girl’s wealthy grandfather who also wants her killer tracked down, and Clifton

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Collins, Jr. as a hyperactive pimp with a thing for neon-purple lowriders, Motown and expletive-laced insults. Many of the characters here are playing types, of course—Forster’s stoic confidence could have been lifted straight from Chandler—but the Nelmses’ light touch and brisk plotting keep any of it from feeling stale. Hawkes might be considered a risky crime-story lead, but the Nelmses make sure to play on the same lean and larcenous unpredictability that’s been his métier since Winter’s Bone. In Small Town Crime, Hawkes’ Mike is never precisely a character you feel good about rooting for, but it’s almost impossible not to. —Chris Barsanti

PLEASE STAND BY MAGNOLIA PICTURES/Color/2.35/93 Mins./ Rated PG-13 Cast: Dakota Fanning, Toni Collette, Alice Eve, River Alexander, Michael Stahl-David, Jessica Rothe, Marla Gibbs, Jacob Wysocki, Patton Oswalt, Robin Weigert, Tony Revolori. Directed by Ben Lewin. Screenplay by Michael Golamco. Produced by Daniel Dubiecki, Lara Alameddine. Executive producers: Ben Cosgrove, Todd Wagner, Tim Crane. Co-producers: Shay Weiner, David Grace. Director of photography: Geoffrey Simpson. Production designer: John Collins. Editor: Lisa Bromwell. Music: Rick Clark. Costume designer: Annie Bloom. A Magnolia Pictures, 2929 Prods. and Allegiance Theater Production presentation.

Please Stand By is not about a young woman grappling with autism as much as it is about a defining moment in a young woman’s life—and Dakota Fanning is outstanding in the starring role.

lease Stand By is a sweet, low-key drama anchored by Dakota Fanning’s wonderful performance as Wendy, a young woman with autism. Wendy lives in a group home in San Francisco, where she leads a highly structured existence that does not allow her much time to write. When the film opens, Wendy, who is a Trekker, is already at work on her movie script. Paramount Pictures is offering a $100,000 reward for the best entry in a screenwriting contest for a new Star Trek movie. The story may sound improbable, but it is not—Please Stand By never reveals whether or not Wendy is a proficient writer. The movie is actually about the 20-year-old’s quest for identity. Audrey (Alice Eve), Wendy’s married sister, perceives her as somehow lacking, or not entirely whole, and is unaware that Wendy actually knows her limitations, and practices overcoming them. Wendy also possesses an unusual resourcefulness and a capacity for creative thought that only Scottie (Toni Collette), her caretaker, appreciates. In a scene at the group home early in the film, it becomes apparent that after their mother’s

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death, Audrey felt overwhelmed and, unable to cope with her domestic responsibilities and Wendy’s unstable personality, she sent her sister away. Wendy has made great progress with Scottie and feels ready to go home, but Audrey has decided to sell their mom’s house. She visits Wendy to tell her about the decision, and that is when the two have a falling out. Wendy complains that she is the aunt to Audrey’s child, and she has never met her. It is clear that Audrey is worried that Wendy will harm the toddler, not an entirely unrealistic fear. As the movie illustrates, Wendy suffers from anxiety, and she does have breakdowns in which she cries or shouts, and is unable to breathe. The title of the film refers to the calming mantra Scottie has taught Wendy to repeat when she is overwhelmed or feels out of control. As Wendy’s deadline for the screenwriting contest approaches, she frets over finishing the script in time. She decides that since she has held a job at Cinnabon, and she has other matters under control, she can travel to Los Angeles on her own and deliver her contest entry in person. Pete, the little, bug-eyed dog who is her companion, insists on accompanying her. Embarking on her first independent adventure requires getting to the bus depot, and that means crossing Market Street. She has been told never to cross the busy boulevard, but when the walk sign flashes, Wendy courageously steps off the curb and into the unknown. The rest of the movie depicts Wendy’s heroic journey. Please Stand By strives for the larger, archetypal dimensions of the quest for identity, but that intent is only apparent in Fanning’s performance. The screenplay is rudimentary; the plot is linear and character development, with the exception of Wendy, is elementary. Promising minor characters in what might have been amusing subplots appear and then are dropped, such as an elderly woman on the bus to Los Angeles who befriends Wendy, and Scottie’s adolescent son, also a Trekker, who appears to resent his mother’s work. While Collette turns in a solid performance, Eve’s is spiritless, even when she cries. Competent direction by Ben Lewin (The Sessions), and a skillful edit by Lisa Bromwell improve matters somewhat. Lewin’s small but significant choices, such as cutting away to the scenes in Wendy’s imagination as she writes her screenplay, and using the least amount of narration as possible so as not to undercut Fanning’s performance, elevate a film that sometimes teeters on the edge of a TV movie-of-the-week. The scenes from Wendy’s imagination are also used as a clever leitmotif in her moments of doubt and loneliness on the road. In a key sequence at Paramount, Lewin wisely steps out of Fanning’s way— there are no excessive camera movements, no music and very little cutting. Please Stand By makes a hero of a young woman who is, regardless of her newfound

sense of self, still severely challenged. There is an undeniable integrity in that, in maintaining Wendy’s “abnormal” perspective as simply unusual or somewhat outside the norm, a fact that will not escape the notice of young adults who are the movie’s target audience. When Wendy takes that dangerous step into the void of Market Street, she symbolically goes “where no man has gone before”; she relinquishes the control that has, up until now, characterized her life. It is a dangerous journey, yet like the crew of the Enterprise, Wendy seeks new “worlds,” ones in which she can live more consciously and as her resilient self. —Maria Garcia

PERMISSION GOOD DEED ENTERTAINMENT/Color/2.35/ Dolby Digital/98 Mins./Not Rated Cast: Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Gina Gershon, Jason Sudeikis, François Arnaud, David Joseph Craig, Morgan Spector, Raúl Castillo. Written and directed by Brian Crano. Produced by Rebecca Hall, Margot Hand, Giri Tharan, Joshua Thurston. Executive producers: Erika Hampson, David Gendron, Michael Klein, Brian Crano. Director of photography: Adam Bricker. Production designer: David Meyer. Editor: Matthew Friedman. Music: Thomas Bartlett, Joan As Police Woman. Costume designer: Cassidy M. Mosher. A Ball and Chain and Picture Films production, in association with Manor Film and Circadian Pictures.

Eye-pleasing, intelligent dive into the relationship dilemmas of some upscale Brooklyn Millennials stays afloat with impressive cast and some will they/won’t they tension.

art romantic comedy, part contemporary urban relationship drama, Permission has at its core a thirty-something pair of former college sweethearts living in gentrified Brooklyn who contemplate finally tying the knot, then question the monogamy and fidelity that has gotten them this far. The seed (or is it a weed?) is planted at the film’s get-go when, at a dinner with friends, Anna (Rebecca Hall) declares, “Our sex life is great,” referring to her longtime beau Will (Dan Stevens), and a friend snaps back to the longtime couple, “Compared to what?” Beyond the naked (sometimes literal) attempt to fathom matters of monogamy, sex and, by default, love, the film pushes no envelopes. But it should attract the usual suspects of quality-seeking, younger indie viewers, a clearly defined demographic of the selfie era happy to see themselves (or what they aspire to be/have) on any screen. This niche will be shamelessly seduced. Anna and Will are longtime partners since their college-sweetheart days; she’s pursuing a graduate degree in music history while he runs a nearby artisan’s studio as a furniture maker and carpenter. They have plans to soon marry and move into the Brooklyn brownstone that Will is renovating for them. But Anna, reacting to their questioned longtime fi-

delity, disturbs this lovely bowl of punch when she pushes the potentially toxic proposal that they play around a bit before tying the knot. Good sport Will goes along as it’s “just an experiment,” and they’re off. While Permission’s world is a polished sliver of white, upscale Millennial urbanites and the key couple are heterosexual, there’s also deep focus on gay couple Hale (David Joseph Craig), Anna’s brother, and his partner Reece (Morgan Spector), who is Will’s assistant in his furniture workshop. (Filmmaker Brian Crano is gay and married.) Hale and Reece have their own dilemma: Hale wants them to bring a child into their family; Reece is not onboard. Helping to fire up Hale’s interest in fatherhood are his frequent warm encounters with Glenn (the ever-reliable Jason Sudeikis), an apparent stay-at-home father (straight) who regularly brings his baby to the park where Hale lets his dog run. The sleep-deprived Glenn functions as a kind of recurring Greek chorus invoking the responsibilities that all commitments can bring. Meanwhile, Anna and Will try other sexual partners. There are some misses of no interest, but important scores that drive the plot more impactfully than the aroused ids. Anna’s begin after she is rescued from an unwanted bar encounter by pop composer Dane (François Arnaud). He and Anna click and go the distance. For his part, Will becomes ensnared by real ex-housewife of Brooklyn turned hungry cougar Lydia (Gina Gershon), a tacky nouveau-riche divorcée who, fueled by a generous settlement and pure lust, stumbles into Will’s workshop. She first fancies a table he built, then Will himself. With Lydia all afire for the kill, she gets Will to her large duplex apartment, using all manner of slinky seduction and boosters. Lydia even makes her come-on line, “You smell like my father,” sound sexy. Except for falling behind on her thesis, Anna appears better adjusted to this new liberation. Will grows irritable, but the two reconcile here and there to openly and even lovingly discuss their various new flings as if they’re mere hobbies. But the liaisons grow more intrusive and all becomes not so quiet on the home front. Tension mounts and is sustained throughout regarding whether they will or won’t hew to their long-held plans to marry and settle down. Even Hale and Reece find themselves on a high wire regarding their baby dilemma. From start to finish, Permission takes a magnifying glass and garden claw to personal issues of marriage, monogamy, relationships, procreation and sex. With its traditional Cosmopolitan magazine concerns headlined, no problems beyond theirs enter this picture of gentrified neighborhoods and sleek, highgloss apartment and loft interiors boasting neon, brick, trendy furniture, high ceilings and gleaming kitchens worthy of upscale real estate brochures. The cast playing these materially comfortable but questioning older Millennials is

excellent, again featuring Brits as Americans. Prolific “Downton Abbey” alum Dan Stevens, jumping the pond for a feature career and testing a variety of genres along the way, again can do no wrong (but checking off a second big-screen hit besides co-starring in the blockbuster Beauty and the Beast might be nice). Hall does fine in her rather colorless role, but Gershon as steamy Lydia flirts dangerously with caricature (though filmmaker Crano might share blame here). Cinematography is lovely as it reflects a keen desire to dazzle and immerse. Interior shots feature endless overhead shots and exteriors deliver many sparkling nocturnal skylines of New York that give the city a supporting role. In its more substantial moments, Permission seems intent on plumbing the intimacies and interpersonal honesties that informed much of classic foreign cinema (from the likes of Eric Rohmer, Ingmar Bergman and those of the U.K.’s Kitchen Sink school). Also notable is the film’s worthy-of-contemplation ending. —Doris Toumarkine

DOUBLE LOVER COHEN MEDIA GROUP/Color/2.35/108 Mins./ Not Rated Cast: Marine Vacth, Jérémie Renier, Jacqueline Bisset, Myriam Boyer, Dominique Reymond, Fanny Sage. Directed by François Ozon Screenplay: François Ozon, based on the story Lives of the Twins by Rosamond Smith (Joyce Carol Oates). Produced by Eric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer. Director of photography: Manu Dacosse. Production designer: Sylvie Olive. Editor: Laure Gardette. Music: Philippe Rombi. Costume designer: Pascaline Chavanne. A Mandarin production, FOZ, Mars Films, Films Distribution, France 2 Cinema and Scope Pictures production. In French with English subtitles.

François Ozon’s campy, erotically explicit thriller on the subject of twins delivers on style, but reflects retro attitudes toward women.

François Ozon’s Double Lover, a departure

from his restrained World War I-set Frantz, is an erotic psychological thriller about a onetime model in therapy who ends up with two lovers—who happen to be twins. Double Lover’s mix of kink, suspense and technical control initially promises a return to such riveting mind-benders as Swimming Pool. Sadly, though, this film, loosely based on a short story by Joyce Carol Oates, also trafficks in exploitative images of women in the guise of art-film license, while a wacko plot based on the notion of twins and doubles—a nod to David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers—quickly loses the viewer in a labyrinth of implausible scenes. Yes, the French regularly take candor about sex and the body to a new level. But with the presence of a manipulative, abusive male character, along with much female nudity—which extends to an investigation of interior anatomy in a clinically detailed

gynecological exam—Double Lover may play off-key to many at a time when #MeToo is daily exposing predators. The film’s opening is a declaration of mischief: In the midst of a haircut, Chloé (the beautiful but perfectly vapid Marina Vacth) gazes out at us, breaking the fourth wall. Perhaps to make of the viewer a complicit voyeur? Ozon might be referencing Baudelaire’s address to the reader as “my hypocritical brother.” Next up is an extreme close-up, initially hard to parse, that turns out to be a cervix viewed through a speculum, followed by a matching shot of a weeping eye. Apparently, Chloé is getting checked out by a doctor for chronic stomach aches. Since they’re likely psychosomatic, she consults a therapist— handsome, bespectacled Paul Meyer (Jérémie Renier of the Dardennes Brothers’ films, playing against good-boy type). Before you can say “transference,” Paul falls in love with his patient, and they move in together. For all his gentleness, Paul is a man of secrets, as Chloé discovers when she finds mystifying photos while unpacking a carton. Compounding her unease, she glimpses Paul from a bus with another woman in front of a building. When he dismisses her suspicions, she tracks down his doppelganger. He turns out to be a flashier shrink in fancier digs named Louis Delord (also played by Renier), who is Paul’s twin. Despite—or maybe because of—Delord’s abrasive approach, Chloé finds his therapy of rousing sex in his back room (to unlock emotional stasis, of course) much to her liking. Especially since sleeping with Paul is kind of a yawn. Just in case we weren’t convinced by Chloé’s arousal, Ozon offers an anatomical visual of female orgasm. Before you can say countertransference, Chloé’s in a triangle with both twins, and fantasizes about Louis piling on while she’s shagging Paul. In a salute to sexual equal opportunity, Chloé plays aggressor in a strap-on episode with Paul. When the action takes a breather from someone’s groin, a murky backstory emerges involving the twins’ past dual affair with a woman that left her a vegetable tended by her mother (Jacqueline Bisset in a thankless role). In the universe of Double Lover, women fail to thrive. Cats add to the creep factor, with Chloé’s kitty joining the viewer as fellow voyeur, along with the staring taxidermied felines of the sinister busybody next door. Louis spouts a lot of folderol about the phenom of twins, with one “dominant” and duking it out with and “absorbing” the other, even in utero. Look elsewhere for an endorsement of French shrinks. Throughout, the film’s technical polish shines, every detail amping up the suspense. Chloé works as a museum guard in the trendy museum Palais de Tokyo, its walls hung with macabre, bloody works that underscore the film’s tone of campy thriller, also reflected in the jangly soundtrack. Borrowing liberally from Brian De Palma, images are multiplied

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through split screens and mirrors. Renier is persuasive in his portrayal of both twins, suggesting that identical bodies can house radically different beings. Even more persuasive is his display of sexual prowess, which erases the line between performance and live show, and secures the film’s bona fides as soft-core porn. The character of Louis certainly runs counter to the hapless man-boy Renier played in the Dardennes’ Cannes winner The Child. (In one of cinema’s indelible moments, when questioned about the whereabouts of his baby, Renier replies, “I sold him.”) Now that the gifted actor has flexed his versatility as the best onscreen lay of the young season, the future, with any luck, will offer him roles with more heft. When the credits rolled, the owner of the cervix was nowhere in view. —Erica Abeel

MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER GKIDS/Color/1.85/Dolby Digital/103 Mins./Rated PG Voice Cast: Ruby Barnhill, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent, Lynda Baron, Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Ewen Bremner, Morwenna Banks. Directed by Yonebayashi Hiromasa . Screenplay: Sakaguchi Riko, Yonebayashi Hiromasa , based on the novel The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart. Produced by Nishimura Yoshiaki . Executive producer: Kadoya Daisuke . Director of photography: Okui Atsushi . Editor: Kojima Toshihiko . Music: Muramatsu Takatsugu. A Studio Ponoc and Nippon TV production.

Fans of Harry Potter—and there sure are enough of them—will love this magical broomstick ride from a gifted bunch of Studio Ghibli artists.

t first blush, you might think that Mary and the Witch’s Flower is something of a rip-off of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, but this tale—originally titled The Little Broomstick—of a child who becomes involved with a school for witches was actually written by Brit Mary Stewart years before Rowling set pen to paper. Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi is one of a group of veteran filmmakers from Japan’s legendary Studio Ghibli who have formed the new Studio Ponoc, and this is their first feature venture, made for much less than what Ghibli productions were known to cost, and already a box-office winner in Japan. Mary (voiced by Ruby Barnhill) has just moved to her new quaint cottage home, owned by her Great-Aunt Charlotte (Lynda Baron), and wants to make a good first impression, but her clumsiness defeats her. One day a cat who changes colors before her eyes appears and, following, it, she discovers the precious Witch’s flower—a phosphorescent berry that grows only once in seven years—and a magical aerial broom, which spirits her away to Endor College of Learning for young witches. There, villainous schoolmasters Madam Mumblechook (Kate Winslet) and Doctor Dee (Jim Broadbent) greedily try to discover

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where Mary found the flower, even kidnapping her young friend Peter (Louis Ashbourne Serkis), threatening to turn him into a shapeshifting monster. Using her inner strengths rather than her newly acquired magical powers attained through the plant, Mary must triumph over all. Although one might wish that some of the animation were more imaginative and Mary not quite so typical anime-looking with those preternaturally huge eyes so favored by the genre and indeed by Japanese animation since its very beginnings, there’s a lot to enjoy here. The rousing spirit of Ghibli is alive and well in the perky verve with which Mary’s story is told, and the film is filled with enough fanciful creatures, hair-raising chase scenes and general magic—like a creepy black hand composed of ooze, a dazzling water spectacle for Mumblechook’s grand entrance, and the sparkling environs of the college itself—to hold your interest. Winslet and Broadbent are heard to be having a grand campy time with their villainous characters, and there’s a basic intelligence and sensitivity applied to the entire enterprise that raises it above most international family fare. —David Noh

THE COMMUTER LIONSGATE/Color/2.35/Dolby/105 Mins./Rated PG-13 Cast: Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks, Elizabeth McGovern, Sam Neill, Killian Scott, Shazad Latif, Andy Nyman, Clara Lago, Roland Møller, Florence Pugh, Dean-Charles Chapman, Ella-Rae Smith. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Screenplay: Byron Willinger, Philip de Blasi, Ryan Engle. Story: Byron Willinger, Philip de Blasi. Produced by Andrew Rona, Alex Heineman. Executive producers: Michael Dreyer, Juan Sola, Jaume Collet-Serra, Ron Halpern, Didier Lupfer. Director of photography: Paul Cameron. Production designer: Richard Bridgland. Editor: Nicolas de Toth. Visual effects supervisor: Steve Begg. Music: Roque Baños. Supervising sound editor: James Harrison. A Lionsgate and StudioCanal presentation of a Picture Show Company production, in association with Ombra Films.

Businessman is blackmailed into killing a passenger aboard a runaway train in a solid Liam Neeson vehicle.

Liam Neeson continues his string of

middlebrow action films with The Commuter, a B-movie that adds a few twists to a formula derived from 2008’s Taken. Made with enough skill to paper over its ridiculous plot, it will perform decently in theatres before enjoying a long ancillary life. Neeson’s a businessman this time, insurance salesman Michael MacCauley, a married father drowning in debt who’s fired at the worst possible time. But he’s also an ex-cop whose skills and training will be put to the test on a train from Manhattan back to his wife (Elizabeth McGovern) in Tarrytown, New York. Onboard, Michael meets Joanna (Vera

Farmiga), who offers him $100,000 if he can spot a specific passenger before Cold Spring, about 50 miles and an hour away. If he doesn’t, his family will be taken hostage. Joanna departs at the next station, but stays in touch via cellphone. It’s a smart setup that’s been a suspense staple for decades, and The Commuter’s three screenwriters manipulate it pretty well. Michael knows the train’s regulars, so it’s fairly easy for him to isolate a half-dozen or so possible suspects as he makes his way through railroad cars. What he doesn’t know is why Joanna wants that particular passenger, although it quickly becomes clear that murder is going to be the result. That doesn’t give Michael very much time to save both the potential victim and his family. Michael works his way through the suspects, who include a student, investment banker, nurse, musician and others. They are all suspicious of him, and all possibly as dangerous as the thug with a snakehead tattoo who beats him almost senseless between cars. This is Neeson’s fourth collaboration with director Jaume Collet-Serra, after Unknown, Non-Stop and Run All Night, and the two have reached an understanding about what does and doesn’t work in the genre. Neeson’s character is decent and dogged, but also in his 60s, so he fights sparingly and suffers from his opponents’ blows. Characters are sketchy, motives don’t make much sense, and plot twists are frankly absurd, but none of that matters as long as Collet-Serra delivers the action. The Commuter’s fights are okay, and its big set-piece is impressive. But that comes way too early in the movie, which sags badly while a feeble conspiracy plot plays out. Fans who want to watch Neeson brawl won’t be that disappointed by The Commuter’s shortcomings. They’ll find the star grimly holding onto his status as the one aging-butstill-deadly tough guy you don’t want to test. —Daniel Eagan

PADDINGTON 2 WARNER BROS./Color/2.35/Dolby Atmos/103 Mins./ Rated PG Cast: Ben Whishaw (voice), Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Hugh Grant, Brendan Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Michael Gambon, Simon Farnaby, Tom Conti, Noah Taylor, Peter Capaldi, Joanna Lumley, Eileen Atkins. Directed by Paul King. Screenplay: Paul King, Simon Farnaby, based on the books by Michael Bond. Produced by David Heyman. Executive producers: Rosie Alison, Jeffrey Clifford, Alexandra Ferguson Derbyshire, Ron Halpern, Didier Lupfer. Director of photography: Erik Wilson. Production designer: Gary Williamson. Editors: Mark Everson, Jonathan Amos. Music: Dario Marianelli Costume designer: Lindy Hemming. Visual effects supervisors: Glen Pratt, Carlos Monzon. A Studiocanal presentation, in association with Anton Capital Entertainment, with the participation of Canal+. Cine+ and Amazon Prime Instant Video, of a Heyday Films production.

A charmingly triumphant sequel to 2014’s successful Paddington.

hat a delightful way to spend an hour and 45 minutes is watching Paddington 2. Precisely because it doesn’t play to the grownups with meta asides and pop-cultural winking (all right, there might be one or two instances of those), this children’s movie will appeal to anyone who has a heart for whimsy, no matter her age. When our story opens, Paddington, the young bear who makes friends as easily as he inadvertently finds himself in trouble (there could be no better voice for him than the softspoken Ben Whishaw), is living in the bosom of the Brown family in London. Thanks to his polite manners and humanist belief in the existence of good in everyone he meets, he is the most popular creature in the neighborhood. His Aunt Lucy’s (the voice of Imelda Staunton) 100th birthday is fast approaching and Paddington wants to send her a special sort of present. It’s in a shop of antique curios run by a Mr. Gruber (Jim Broadbent) that he finds a book with pop-up pictures of London. That’s it! Aunt Lucy has always wanted to visit London, but she has never had the chance. Unfortunately, Aunt Lucy’s perfect present is unusually expensive. In order to afford the book, Paddington works a number of odd jobs, and to such visually comic effect that if any older members of the audience are taken out of the story for a moment, it’s only to admire the handiwork of the film’s animators. Paddington’s stints at a barbershop and as a window cleaner who doesn’t quite understand how to balance his weight and that of a water bucket as he hoists himself and the object aloft delight with their sight gags. There’s lots of visual fun to be had, but these are some of the sweetest and the silliest, and are greatly aided by an enchanting score from Dario Marianelli (who won an Oscar for Atonement). But the narrative really gets underway just before Paddington has reached his goal. There’s something special about that pop-up book indeed, so much so that someone is moved to steal it from Mr. Gruber’s. Paddington is blamed for the crime and is sent to prison, leaving it to the Brown family to uncover the mysterious thief. The cast is spectacular. If some of us had overlooked the fact before, over the past year Sally Hawkins has proven she can do no wrong. Paddington 2 might not be the prestige vehicle of a Maudie or a critically acclaimed The Shape of Water, but Hawkins brings no less impish warmth to Mrs. Brown than she has to her other, grownup roles. Hugh Bonneville as Mr. Brown knows how to play the stuffy patriarch, but here he is allowed to have some fun with the type, just as Hugh Grant, as a pompous actor of the the-a-tre whose star has fallen so low he has been reduced to acting in dog-food commercials, gets to dress up, speak in funny voices and generally act the stuck-up goof. But if anyone is truly a match for the star power of the bear (and his wonderfully

expressive eyes), it’s Brendan Gleeson as a fearsome prison cook named Knuckles McGinty (or “Mr. McGinty,” if you’re polite-as-pie Paddington). Gleeson grimaces and skulks about like a pirate who was raised in the back alleys of a Dickens novel, but he plays it all straight, without hamming or cheesing. He’s the mean hard nut Paddington must crack with his kindness, which—spoiler here—he does, but thankfully not too easily. Which is why Paddington 2 is such a lovely good time. Its note of sweetness is nicely tuned, with hardly a false note of saccharinity. Of course, this is a children’s movie, so situations and types are broad, but when it comes to its earnestness, nothing seems overblown. There’s no air of reaching, perhaps because the filmmakers seem to sincerely like their characters. (The end credits include a dedication to the Paddington Bear children’s books’ author Michael Bond, who passed away in June.) The film does have a shaky moment that threatens derailment when it goes in for an extended action sequence at the climax. “Action hero” isn’t a suit that fits the civil Paddington very well. Up to this point the movie has succeeded just fine without whiz-bang fireworks: That’s a different kind of movie entertainment, and not one this tale of light visual touches needs. Would that a resolution a trifle more in keeping with the protagonist had been staged—maybe something that featured the reappearance of a whimsical hot-air balloon made of prison uniforms. Ultimately, however, the film’s message, that nice guys who remain polite finish first, is timeless and fitting. Its gentle exhortation to “be yourself” doesn’t imply, as some other contemporary messages of personal empowerment have done, that you act at the expense of, or with disregard for others. It isn’t always easy for Paddington to act like himself, but when at last he comes through, the conclusion to his story is so just-right, you may leave the theatre feeling as if the world has some order to it after all. This winter you can keep your Oscar fare: I’m with the bear. —Anna Storm

THE INSULT COHEN MEDIA GROUP/Color/2.35/Dolby Digital/ 112 Mins./Rated R Cast: Kamel El Basha, Adel Karam, Camille Salamé, Diamond Abou Abboudi, Rita Hayek, Christine Choueiri, Talal El Jurdi, Julia Kassar, Rifaat Torbey, Carlos Chahine. Directed by Ziad Doueiri. Written by Ziad Doueiri, Joëlle Touma. Produced by Anton Sehnaqui, Jean Bréhat, Rachid Bouchareb, Julie Gayet, Nadia Turincev. Executive producers: Able Khoury, Lara Karam, Chekerd Jian. Director of photography: Tommaso Fiorilli. Production designer: Hussein Baydoun. Editor: Dominique Marcombe. Music: Éric Neveux. Costume designer: Lara May Khamis. An Ezekiel Films presentation of a Tessalit Prods., Rouge International, Cohen Media Group, Scope Pictures and Douri Films production, with the participation of Canal Plus and Ciné Plus. In Arabic with English subtitles.

Lebanon’s official bid for the ForeignLanguage Oscar is another powerful, well performed contemporary drama from Ziad Doueiri.

rriving on the heels of some awards and important festival stopovers (Toronto, Telluride, Venice, with co-lead Kamel El Basha taking Venice’s Best Actor nod), The Insult is set in a modern Beirut that has survived wars but now endures pressures brought by an influx of Palestinians residing in nearby refugee camps. Herein lies the film’s absorbing story of a journey—not of refugee travels, but that of an unexpectedly explosive remark and denied apology that trigger revenge and memories. Seeming trifles take matters to unexpected places, including Beirut courtrooms and a hospital, and create pain and a national media frenzy along the way. Like Ziad Doueiri’s previous The Attack, whose drama encompassed a terrorist act, The Insult is art-house fare to perfection, a film loaded with twists and compelling characters recognizable in all of us. The film’s title seeds are sown when Tony (Adel Karam), a Lebanese Christian autoshop worker, tangles with Palestinian refugee Yasser (Kamel El Basha), a handyman laborer assigned to fix a faulty drainpipe hanging from Tony’s balcony that is an indisputable building code violation. Tony resists, Yasser does what he’s supposed to do, Tony destroys his work and Yasser lashes back. When Tony demands Yasser’s boss elicit an apology, Yasser cannot. A hearing initiated by Tony ensues over this war of words or lack thereof. Neither man has a lawyer, and the judge, perceiving the case as mostly a he-said/he-said, throws it out. But Tony gets a much bigger opportunity for revenge and his notion of justice. Exposing friction between the countless war-tossed Palestinian Muslims recently arrived in Beirut and the city’s large Arab Christian population, the animosity between the men escalates when an attempt at reconciliation is engineered. The meeting again brings the two face-to-face, this time further igniting deep prejudice, hatreds and hardened pride. Tony, already revealed as a loose cannon, lets loose a bigger insult that launches so much to follow when he seethes at Yasser that he wishes Ariel Sharon (the late Israeli Army Commander and Prime Minister) “had wiped you out.” This hits a nerve and Yasser reacts by laying a strong punch into Tony’s stomach. Some ribs are fractured but, worse, a broken bone does internal puncture damage. Tony’s pregnant wife Shirine (Rita Hayek) becomes collateral damage in this toxic exchange. The pair end up hospitalized, Tony for the stomach wound and the stressed Shirine, who gives birth to their daughter well before term. Tony is again in court, this time with a stronger case (physical and psychological damage) against Yasser. The trial also pits fatherdaughter lawyers against each other. Tony engages the Christian establishment’s prominent prosecutor Wajdi Wehbe (Camille Salameh), a seeming legal tiger, while Yasser has young lib-

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eral lawyer Nadine (Diamand Abou Abboud), Wajdi’s daughter and an enlightened refugee sympathizer, for his defense. The trial, with bold lines drawn, also gives way to immense media coverage and increased activism as it stirs tensions between Beirut’s Arab Christians and Arab Muslim refugees who have fled the Palestinian territories. The courtroom ordeal for both men also increases pressures on the home front. Tony and Shirine anguish over their premature baby’s struggle to survive and Yasser and wife Manal (Christine Choueiri) deal with the hard-working Yasser losing his handyman job. Matters of pride, memory, historical revelations and past traumas creep in that are as surprising as they are relevant to matters of insults and apologies. As Doueiri and his writing collaborator and former wife Joëlle Touma showed in The Attack (whose location shooting in Israel caused the filmmaker’s detainment by authorities when he recently returned to Lebanon for The Insult), the duo know how to fashion a terrific story full of emotional impact in a work rightfully seeking recognition for Best Original Screenplay. It’s a contemporary story, but with roots going back decades to Lebanon’s Civil War. The Lebanese-born and bred Doueiri condenses many themes here. The film could be called An Incident in Beirut, but goes larger as it reveals the DNA of ongoing conflicts and hatred. The filmmaker’s world view is no doubt informed by education in the U.S. and residency in Paris. As he said in an interview, “I believe there’s a narrative on each side.” Yes, and The Insult also shows that you can go home but speak universally. —Doris Toumarkine

INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY UNIVERSAL/Color/2.35/103 Mins./Rated PG-13 Cast: Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Kirk Acevedo, Caitlin Gerard, Spencer Locke, Josh Stewart, Tessa Ferrer, Aleque Reid, Ava Kolker, Pierce Pope, Bruce Davison, Javier Botet. Directed by Abam Robitel. Written by Leigh Whannell. Produced by Jason Blum, Oren Peli, James Wan. Executive producers: Bailey Conway Anglewicz, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Charles Layton, Couper Samuelson, Steven Schneider, Leigh Whannell. Director of photography: Toby Oliver. Production designer: Melanie Jones. Editor: Timothy Alverson. Music: Joseph Bishara. Visual effects supervisor: Jamison Scott Goei. Costume designer: Lisa Norcia. A Universal Pictures presentation of a Stage 6 Films and Blumhouse production.

A last gasp.

ather than trek out to see the latest installment in Blumhouse’s Insidious franchise, horror hounds would do better to stay bundled up indoors with some microwave popcorn and a home-video rewatch of the first film. Though, really, that assessment would hold steady even if it were an unseasonable 70 degrees and sunny. Insidious: The Last Key: It’s just not that good.

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Ghost hunter Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) and her oft-bumbling helpers Specs (writer Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson)—“She’s psychic, we’re sidekick”—are back to put the hurt on some more paranormal beasties, only this time with a twist: The demon in question is haunting Elise’s childhood home. Only a matter of time before any horror franchise goes into backstory mode, right? What we’re looking at here, seen in flashback, is a cartoonishly villainous father (Josh Stewart) who beats young Elise (Ava Kolker, later Hana Hayes) whenever she refuses to deny that she sees ghosts. Decades down the line, Elise must return to the house to defeat a demon (Javier Botet) she unintentionally let loose all those years ago. Seems pretty basic, right? The sort of story that, though generic, could result in a solid enough movie if handled well. Alas, then, that Whannell—who’s written all the Insidious movies and directed the third installment—packs his overbaked script full of unnecessary detours and padding. (That subplot where Specs and Tucker try to woo Elise’s nieces? Woof.) The Last Key’s most impressive feat is that it manages to be so unnecessarily convoluted while still offering next to nothing in terms of dramatic payoff. It’s clear that Whannell, director Abam Robitel and franchise shepherds James Wan, Oren Peli and Jason Blum want to keep the “red door” that haunts Rainier from the other side metaphorically open for future installments. Which, hey, is fine: Insidious is a franchise. Nothing wrong with keeping it going as long as the movies are good. But if individual movies don’t offer a satisfying beginning, middle and end—as The Last Key decidedly does not—then what’s the point? It’s not all bad. Shaye is, as ever, game as Rainier, and there’s one particular set-piece involving suitcases that genuinely delivers a spark of terror. Other than that, it’s one hour and 47 minutes of cheap jump scares and dull grinding of gears. And that does not a good horror film make. —Rebecca Pahle

FOREVER MY GIRL ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS & LD ENTERTAINMENT/ Color/2.35/104 Mins./Rated PG Cast: Alex Roe, Jessica Rothe, Abby Ryder Fortson, Travis Tritt, Judith Hoag. John Benjamin Hickey. Directed by Bethany Ashton Wolf. Screenplay: Bethany Ashton Wolf, based on the novel by Heidi McLaughlin. Produced by Mickey Liddell. Pete Shilaimon, Jennifer Monroe. Executive producers: Alison Semenza King, Nicole Stojkovich. Director of photography: Duane Charles Manwiller. Production designer: John Collins. Editor: Priscilla Nedd-Friendly. Music/executive music producer: Brett Boyett. Costume designer: Eulyn C. Hufkie. An LD Entertainment production.

It must be said at the outset: Forever My Girl is Romantic escapism at its best and worst.

not a good movie. The premise is clichéd, the characters are as cookie-cutter as they come,

and the message is so simplistic it is frequently imprinted on mass-produced pillows (“Home Is Where the Heart Is”). You’ve seen it before and you’ve seen it done in far cleverer fashion, in far greater earnest and with far greater soap-operatic relish. And yet there is something damnably comforting about its familiar formula. In our opening scene, hometown Louisiana boy Liam Page (British eye-candy Alex Roe) ditches at the altar his wholesomely pretty, 19-yearold fiancée Josie (Jessica Rothe, or the girl in Emma Stone’s posse who wears the yellow dress during the “Someone In the Crowd” number in La La Land). Flash forward eight years later: Liam is now a mega-successful country star who shares a manager with Blake Shelton. His life is also emptier than a shotgunned Bud Light. He’s creatively blocked and unable to write the new batch of songs that his label is demanding. When Liam learns his former best friend has died, he makes an impromptu decision to return home for the first time since he split. Needless to say, Josie is less than pleased to see him, but that little seven-year-old girl with the same name as Liam’s dead mother and who calls Josie “Mom” further complicates matters between the exes. In spending time with the woman he still loves and the daughter he didn’t know he had, Liam realizes all that has been missing from his vapid life. The questions are, of course: Will Liam really stick around? Will his self-loathing move him to hurt again and hurt worse the people he loves most? Will the hair stylist to Ms. Rothe ever post a YouTube tutorial? Inquiring minds. Based on the young-adult romance novel by Heidi McLaughlin, Forever My Girl is a guilty pleasure, no doubt about it. It has the of-themoment fashions, simplicity of narrative intent and execution, and conservative morals of a Hallmark movie. And therein lies its appeal. If you’re up on the latest network news, you’ll know that over the past year or so Hallmark has been killing it. According to The Washington Post, Hallmark was “the only non-news channel in the top 15 to see substantial viewership growth” in 2016. Numbers only increased for 2017. Here’s WaPo journalist Heather Long on the network’s movies: “The main characters do the right thing. The problems get worked out. The guy and girl, whatever their age or grumpiness level at the start, always end up together.” And there you have Forever My Girl. With the added note that not only the protagonists but nearly everyone in the cast (with the single exception of a heartless publicist from the big city; but she’s not family, nor, tellingly, is she shown to have a family of her own) is just so darn decent. Even Liam’s antagonist of sorts, Josie’s brother, who resents Liam for the heartache he’s caused his sister, is only a jerk because he loves his family so darn much. It’s discomfiting to consider that the bitterness of

our daily news cycle has so affected our palates that mawkishness has come to seem like a welcome respite. Heaven forefend, but when Liam sings a duet with his daughter to a stadium full of people cheering their hearts out, don’t be surprised if yours skips a beat, too. Is that such a bad thing? Forever My Girl is not a good movie, because whatever emotions it stirs are not the result of insights hard-won. It’s only trying to entertain, sure, but there’s something both compelling and icky about the way it so prettily reaffirms a belief in the primacy of the traditional. Or an idealized view of the traditional: families that are so loving, hurts are easily forgiven without lingering resentments; and neighbors who are so loyal not one—not one—will give up to the press a single photo or anecdote about their internationally famous hometown boy. Far be it for me to (totally) knock something that reminds people of how nice it is to be tethered by responsibility. Traditional values are not synonymous with regressiveness. But when views of the world are too easy, like they are here, instead of providing a balm for the world’s hurts, they risk making reality feel that much more painful for emphasizing its distance from the fantasy. Baldly escapist movies like Forever My Girl should come with a warning, especially for the younger YA audience: Viewer, be wary of the comfort provided here. —Anna Storm

FREAK SHOW IFC FILMS/Color/1.85/95 Mins./Not Rated Cast: Alex Lawther, Abigail Breslin, AnnaSophia Robb, Ian Nelson, Celia Weston, Willa Fitzgerald, Laverne Cox, Larry Pine, Bette Midler, John McEnroe, Charlotte Ubben, Mickey Sumner, Michael Park, Daniel Bellomy, Christopher Dylan White, Walden Bryan Hudson, Wally Dunn, Marceline Hugot. Directed by Trudie Styler. Screenplay: Patrick J. Clifton, Beth Rigazio, based on James St. James’ novel. Produced by Jeffrey Coulter, Bryan Rabin, Trudie Styler, Celine Rattray, Charlotte Ubben, Ember Truesdell, Chris Miller. Executive producers: Drew Barrymore, Nancy Juvonen, Maya Sanbar, Sawsan Asfari, Sir Ivan, Jenny Halper, Bruno Wang, Samantha Perelman, Bobby Sager, Cathleen Ihasz, Nicole Ihasz. Director of photography: Dante Spinotti. Production designer: Franckie Diago. Editor: Sarah Flack. Costume designers: Colleen Atwood, Sarah Laux. Music: Dan Romer. A Maven Pictures and Flower Films production, in association with Bruno Wang Prods.

Although it has its serious, even harrowing moments, this quirky, glitteringly gussied-up treatise on teen bullying keeps things likeably frothy and delivers nicely on both entertainment and emotional fronts.

he hallways of the high school in the Deep South constitute something like the Stations of the Cross for young, flamboyantly cross-dressing Billy Bloom (Alex Lawther), who has been taken from his alcoholically permissive mother, Muv (Bette Midler), in

Connecticut, by his far more conventional and less fun dad (Larry Pine). Nothing like the far more accepting East Coast (“where,” in our hero’s words, “Chloë Sevigny is from”), the teenage yahoos at Billy’s new home as a senior hate anything unusual or even vaguely transgendered, and the daily bullying—amidst barrages of spitballs—is pretty ferocious. Despite the shameful indifference of the faculty, however, this Bloom refuses to be some suicidal shrinking violet and repeatedly pays a terrible price as he seeks the self-destructive spotlight for himself, impersonating Zelda Fitzgerald as a convulsing, immolated flapper-victim for a book report and even running for homecoming queen against his loathed Queen Mean Girl rival (Abigail Breslin, brimming with Dixie spitefulness). Trudie Styler, the gifted actress, producer, philanthropist and wife of rock god Sting, makes her feature directorial debut here, adapting her story from a memoir penned by former notorious New York City club kid James St. James. It’s a winsome and quite winning take on a now almost ubiquitous topic—teen bullying—and I, for one, far preferred it to the overpraised, no doubt soon-to-be-a-major-motion-picture Broadway hit musical, Dear Evan Hansen. Instead of saturating itself in the excessively maudlin, like that show, which so normalizes its oh-so-shy protagonist that actual interest in him as an outsider paying the cost for being an individual is dissipated, Freak Show positively basks in the restorative qualities of outsider glamour, which many a queer kid (this writer included) embraces as an escape from all the teasing and torment. Given his handy way with a needle and thread, as well as Daddy’s deep pockets and Mommy’s being an unapologetic fashionista, Billy is able to wow us consistently here with a succession of more costume changes than a Cher concert, paying witty homage to mermaids, Goth brides, David Bowie, Boy George and Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. Dante Spinotti’s luminous cinematography and the terrific costumes (by Colleen Atwood) magically transform the gifted and chameleonic Lawter, who can look Hedy Lamarr-gorgeous one second and Black Lagoon Creature-grotesque the next. Also extremely efficacious is one of the best-curated music scores I’ve ever heard, with the 1977 French hit “Ça plane pour moi” by Plastic Bertrand getting an especially rousing workout. That last song accompanies an exhilarating romp with Billy and Mark (Ian Nelson), the school’s football star who, a closeted artist himself, becomes, amazingly, one of Billy’s only two friends. Nelson is, if anything, even more winning than Lawther, a true star in the making, with perfect James Dean features and an irresistibly adorable personality that goes a long way to making credible this unlikely buddy pairing. Styler has cast her movie impeccably, with talented AnnaSophia Robb

a charming chatterbox as Billy’s other friend, the aptly named Blah Blah Blah (because he never quite catches her real one), and wonderful character actress Celia Weston, who as Billy’s housekeeper sagely lends a whole lot of heart to the proceedings. Pine, one of New York’s finest stage actors, brings some welcome and quite touching gravity, and Midler, whose appearance is relatively brief, makes the very most of her scenes as a mom who seems like but is not exactly your perfect Auntie Mame for a troubled, fey youth. —David Noh

PROUD MARY SCREEN GEMS/Color/2.35/88 Mins./Rated R Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Billy Brown, Danny Glover, Neal McDonough, Xander Berkeley, Margaret Avery. Directed by Babak Najafi. Screenplay: Steve Antin, John Stuart Newman, Christian Swegal. Produced by Tai Duncan, Paul Schiff. Executive producers: Glenn S. Gainor, Taraji P. Henson. Director of photography: Dan Laustsen. Production designer: Carl Sprague. Editor: Evan Schiff. Music: Fil Eisler Costume designer: Deborah Newhall. A Screen Gems production.

A dud crime flick that barely even tries to muster the Blaxploitation cool its title sequence evokes.

ts heroine may be proud, but the same can’t be said for Screen Gems, which is doing everything it can to keep Proud Mary under a bushel. No press screenings were held; reportedly, even junketeers doing interviews with cast members had to write their puff pieces without having seen the film. In commercial release, Thursday’s early-bird screenings were held far, far from neighborhoods known to harbor film critics. At one such theatre in Brooklyn, an auditorium the size of Montana held fewer than a dozen paying customers at showtime. Opening weekend may have benefited from the popularity of star Taraji P. Henson, but the drop-off should be steep for Babak Najafi’s uninspired crime flick about a hit-woman caring for the boy she made an orphan. Henson plays the titular Mary, a killer in the inner circle of a Boston gang led by Danny Glover’s Benny. A year ago, while assassinating a gambler who owed Benny money, Mary realized the man had a son in the room next door. She left without letting the boy see her, and, guilt-ridden, she kept watch on him from afar. Well, guilt-ridden up to a point. She didn’t care enough to rescue the newly minted orphan when he fell in with a Russian gangster who beat him routinely; she didn’t keep him from running drugs; she didn’t feed him when he went hungry. Only once young Danny (Jahi Di’Allo Winston) winds up unconscious in an alley does she come to his aid.

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Not long after setting Danny up in her luxe bachelorette pad, Mary goes to confront the goon he works for. Though the movie revolves around Mary’s cool, she loses it here, killing him and his crew—then acts surprised when, the next day, this threatens to start a war between Benny’s clan and that of the dead goon. Now she must try to keep Benny and his son Tom (Billy Brown) from realizing she’s the cause of their woes while simultaneously hiding the nature of her job from young Danny. (A tip for human beings who were never children: If you have a closet full of automatic weapons, the fastest way to get a boy to find it is to leave the house after warning him, in your most “I mean it!” voice, not to enter your bedroom.) The mob-war stuff here could not possibly be more rote, even with the revelation that Tom and Mary used to be lovers. What the screenplay counts on is that putting the killer in charge of a tyke is novel enough to win us over. (Sadly, viewers can be counted on not to have seen Gloria—either the good one or the one with Sharon Stone—and the more recent Leon: The Professional may also be obscure to them.) But the script completely fails to transmute the vulnerability and anger Orphan Danny feels into love via extended scenes of smart-ass bickering. The boy gives Mary lip; Mary gives him what-for; repeat until someone realizes there’s not much chemistry between Henson and Winston and gives up. Iranian-born, Sweden-raised Najafi made a competent entry into the crime field with Easy Money: Hard to Kill, the second film in Sweden’s Snabba Cash series. That twisty finance-andcrime flick was less about big action set-pieces than duplicity, scheming and guilt. Hollywood is proving less fertile ground for him. After directing London Has Fallen, he here shows little aptitude for staging massive shootouts or milking an ambush for drama. The pic’s climactic bloodbath, in which we finally hear that inevitable Tina Turner Creedence cover, plays like a half-hearted music-video made to advertise a more exciting film. The lyrics of that song may urge Proud Mary to keep on, but all evidence here says she should call it a day—letting the actress who plays her find some more worthy franchise if she really wants to be an action hero. —John De Fore, The Hollywood Reporter

MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE 20TH CENTURY FOX/Color/2.35/Dolby Atmos & Auro 11.1/142 Mins./Rated PG-13 Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas BrodieSangster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Aiden Gillen, Walton Goggins, Ki Hong Lee, Barry Pepper, Will Poulter, Patricia Clarkson, Dexter Darden, Jacob Lofland, Katherine McNamara, Rosa Salazar. Directed by Wes Ball. Screenplay: T.S. Nowlin, based on the novels by James Dashner. Produced by Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, Joe Hartwick, Jr., Lee Stollman.

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Executive producers: T.S. Nowlin, Lindsay Williams, Edward Gamarra, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Daniel M. Stillman. Director of photography: Gyula Pados. Production designer: Daniel T. Dorrance. Editors: Dan Zimmerman, Paul Harb. Music: John Paesano. Costume designer: Sanja Milkovic Hays. Visual effects supervisor: Matt Sloan A 20th Century Fox, Temple Hills Entertainment and Gotham Group production.

The third and final installment in the popular young-adult novel-to-film series is purely for the fans.

S et in a dystopian future in which teenage

boys are first forced to negotiate an intricate maze, then have to confront a world that’s been devastated by disease and the scorching damage of a series of solar flares, Maze Runner: The Death Cure is the third film in a hugely popular series based on the young-adult novels by James Dashner. Young Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) has survived the maze, forged a complicated history with Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), the only girl ever introduced into competition, and learned that the world is run by a medical/ industrial corporation called WCKD that exploits young people for the shadowy greater good of a hugely damaged and damaging society. Thomas and his allies, who include Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Brenda (Rosa Salazar), Gally (Will Poulter) and Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), undertake an assault on the glittering but moribund Last City, and spend a great deal of time running through corridors, leaping heedlessly from high places and surviving spectacular fireballs as they try to take down the nasty grownups—notably damaged idealist Ava Page (Patricia Clarkson) and just-plain-nasty Janson (Aidan Gillen)— who control their lives. The films are essentially review-proof: Fans of the books may have their quibbles with casting or the inevitable condensation of the narrative, but the story’s fundamental appeal to teenagers is rock-solid. It’s all about oppressed, ignored and marginalized youngsters who realize that they’re the world’s last best hope and rise to the challenge. What’s not to love? The previous installments’ box office suggests that those satisfied with The Maze Runner (2014) and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) will be equally pleased with Maze Runner: The Death Cure. But for viewers who aren’t already deeply invested in the Maze Runner series or who’ve stopped drinking from the well of youthful angst, Maze Runner: The Death Cure—which runs close to two and a half hours—is simplistic and filled with characters who, however well they may have been developed on the page, have little depth onscreen. And if you don’t fundamentally care about them, then all their subterfuges and efforts to bring down the bad old world in which they live don’t amount to a hill of beans. —Maitland McDonagh

SATURDAY CHURCH SAMUEL GOLDWYN FILMS/Color/2.35/82 Mins./ Not Rated Cast: Luka Kain, Margot Bingham, Regina Taylor, Marquis Rodriguez, MJ Rodriguez, Indya Moore, Alexia Garcia, Kate Bornstein, Jaylin Fletcher, Peter Kim. Written and directed by Damon Cardasis. Produced by Mandy Tagger Brockey, Adi Ezroni, Damon Cardasis, Rebecca Miller. Executive producers: Sharon Chang, Luigi Caiola, Isabel Henderson, Lia Mayer-Sommer. Director of photography: Hillary Fyfe Spera. Production designer: Jimena Azula. Editor: Abbi Jutkowitz. Costume designer: Megan Spatz. Music: Nathan Larson. Lyrics: Nathan Larson, Damon Cardasis. Choreographer: Loni Landon A Spring Pictures and Round Films production, in association with 19340 Pictures.

Beautifully rendered musical drama-lite about a gay Bronx teen dealing with gender confusion and family resistance.

hot in New York’s divergent worlds of the Bronx and the West Village, Saturday Church is the work of debuting feature writer-director Damon Cardasis, who fashions a cohesive picture of challenging contrasts that go beyond mere geography as a bright 15-year-old teen struggles with his identity and a repressive home life, no thanks to a religious zealot of an aunt. The teen angst, like most, begins at home and continues at school, where young Ulysses (a terrific Luka Kain), lithe, attractive and ill at ease, is bullied by some jock classmates. Also at home, in a comfortable Bronx apartment, he is spotted on gaydar when his bratty eight-yearold brother Abe (Jaylin Fletcher) discovers his infatuation with his mother Amara’s (Margot Bingham) high heels. She has just become a largely absentee mom following the passing of Ulysses’ beloved father, a sad circumstance requiring Amara to work long hours and his harsh, ultra-religious Aunt Rose (Regina Taylor) to tend more closely to the household. Abe snitches on his brother to Aunt Rose, who, after a scolding, requires Ulysses to become an acolyte at their high Anglican Church. But he soon breaks loose with an evening foray to the West Village and its Hudson River pier where gays gather. There, friendly transgender Ebony (Mj Rodriguez) introduces him to her crowd and another church—the “Saturday Church” at nearby St. Luke’s that provides a weekend sanctuary for LGBTQ youth to gather and have supper. As Ulysses deals with new realities, including his own identity, he grows stronger, more confident and wise about family values. Above all, Saturday Church is a warm, frank examination of growing up and becoming independent, honest and proud. While serious in its themes, the film seamlessly integrates many original musical and dance numbers into its story as Ulysses “self-medicates” his teen misery with headphones and a rich imagination. —Doris Toumarkine

EUROPE by Andreas Fuchs FJI Exhibition / Business Editor

MEDIA SALLES MAKES INFORMATION ACCESSIBLE For this data-driven edition of Film Journal International, we pay tribute to one of the earliest organizations established by the European Union’s MEDIA Programme to provide statistical insight on European exhibition, among other tasks. Within one year of its 1991 launch, MEDIA Salles fulfilled that very mission with the publication of the “European Cinema Yearbook,” now in its 26th edition. Equally impressive is the fact that Elisabetta Brunella, who was there at the beginning, continues to guide the organization as secretary general. Congratulations and thank you from all of us. The Yearbook “provides statistical data on the trend of cinema-going in all European countries and on the leading world markets,” Brunella writes. “Over the past few years, a census of Europe’s digital cinemas has been added and the elaboration of figures and trends regarding digitization worldwide.” “DiGiTalk” and “DGT online informer” provide additional insight and are accessible at www.mediasalles.it. A recent edition exemplifies the variety of information on the cinema business that is available. New statistics on digitization in Europe with the addition of Albania, Montenegro, Georgia and Ukraine complement portraits of “must-see” Cinema Nuovo in Lioni (www.cinemanuovo.it), and Cinema Postmodernissimo in Perugia (www.postmodernissimo. com), both located in Italy. Also available from the prior edition is a report on the completion of “Giro dei cinema” (Tour of Cinemas). Over the course of 46 days beginning last September, Nicola Curtoni and Emilia De Santis visited 42 cinemas in 34 towns and 16 regions. Covering over 5,400 km (3,350 miles), “they listened to the opinions of 81 Italian exhibitors in the independent sector,” DGT online informs, “collecting sig-

Andreas Fuchs runs the Vassar Theatre in Vassar, MI.

nificant experiences and picking up on trends and turmoil in a particularly active area of cinema exhibition.” The feedback? “Although quite varied,” Curtoni and De Santis noted that the venues visited “share quite positive audience reactions,” with year-over-year attendance figures remaining stable while they dipped across Italy overall. Their strong points “can be identified in the search for dedicated programming and the attention to establishing personalized relations with the various types of audiences, without neglecting technological quality and the commitment to offering added services in different fields, from catering to culture, even creating showcases for art or literature.” (www.mediasalles.it/dgt_online/DGT_online_informer.htm) DEUTSCHLAND DOUBLE DEAL FOR 4K Sony Digital Cinema 4K confirmed the sale of Europe’s first laser dual-projection system to German cinema operators. Always at the forefront, technological and/or otherwise, Cinecitta’ Nuremberg purchased one of Sony’s SRX-R815DS systems (www.cinecitta. de), with the second one lighting up Kino 3 at CineSpace, a waterfront multiplex in Bremen (www.cinespace.de/saele). Installed by CinemaNext, all systems were operational in time for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, delivered on Dec. 14 and in a native 4K DCP. “We are delighted that two of Germany’s most successful and commercially ambitious operators are redefining big-screen entertainment with the hotly awaited SRX-R815DS,” commented Oliver Pasch, sales director at Sony Digital Cinema. Part of the big-screen entertainment package are Sony’s PLF-supporting screen splashes, posters and marketing materials under the proprietary FINITY branding. GHOST IN THE STANDEE Now in its third year, the “Goldene Aufsteller” award for the best in-lobby standee went to Paramount Pictures Germany and Ghost in the Shell. No other standee in 2017 had the same impact, the judges opined. With its style and futuristic design, added lighting and choice of materials, the display greatly anticipated the atmosphere of the film. Given out during Munich Film Week (Jan. 16-19, www.muenchnerfilmwoche.de), the prize is valued at €6,000, redeemable for six in-theatre marketing campaigns at participat-

ing cinemas of the Nennmann/Thies & Thies group. Team members at these locations were the judges in the competition as well. For more information about their theatres, visit www. das-lumen.de, www.filmpassage.de and https:// cineworld-luenen.de/kino/home/city280. KINEPOLIS CONQUERS NH BIOSCOPEN Pan-European exhibition leader Kinepolis Group reached an agreement to take over NH Bioscopen cinemas in Schagen (five screens, 560 seats with 220,000 annual admissions) and Hoofddorp (eight screens, 1,100 seats and 390,000 guests). Also included and located in the Netherlands is a new construction project in the Schalwijk area of Haarlem with six screens and some 850 seats. Construction will begin as soon as permits are obtained, Kinepolis assured. The agreement is valued at €27.5 million (US$33,37 mil.), including assumption of debt. The cinemas were sold by Frits and Irma Nieuwenhuizen. Cinema Texel is not included in the agreement with Kinepolis (www. cinematexel.nl). With currently 15 locations and Kinepolis Hertogenbosch getting ready for a 2018 launch, this acquisition will further strengthen the company’s position across the country, Kinepolis noted. Following the acquisition of Canada’s Landmark Cinemas in December 2017, Kinepolis Group now operates 91 cinemas (41 of which it owns), with a total of 801 screens and more than 180,000 seats. Including the Canadian theatres, Kinepolis employs 3,750 people. EFP SUPPORTS FILMS AT SUNDANCE Backed by the Creative Europe-MEDIA Programme of the European Union, European Film Promotion (www.efp-online.com) just dedicated €35,000 (US$43,000) in Film Sales Support for the promotion and marketing of European films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. This includes four out of five “promising” European films in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition and four of six in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. EFP is a network of 38 European member organizations that represent films and talent from their respective territories. Under the common EFP flag, the members team up on initiatives to promote the diversity and the spirit of European cinema and talent at key international film festivals and markets. ш

FEBRUARY 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM

ASIA by Thomas Schmid FJI Far East Bureau

PADMAVATI CLEARED BY INDIA’S CENSORSHIP BOARD Shortly before the turn of the year, India’s film censorship body, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), cleared the release of controversial Bollywood film Padmavati, saying it had not recommended any cuts, according to local press reports. The movie, set in the 14th century, sparked outrage from Hindu groups and the Rajput caste organization for a rumored scene in which a Muslim (Mughal) ruler dreams of an intimate romantic tryst with a Hindu queen, played by Bollywood superstars Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, respectively. However, the producers as well as director Sanjay Leela Bhansali have consistently denied that such a scene existed in the yet-to-bereleased film. While the Hindu queen, the titular Padmavati, is an entirely fictional character from a 16th-century epic poem, Padmavat, she is worshipped as a deity by the Rajput caste and also highly revered among other Hindus as a symbol of female honor. In a statement released to the media, the CBFC said it had appointed a special committee “to consider protesters’ concerns and discussed them at length” and that “the film was approached with a balanced view keeping in mind both the filmmakers and society.” Although the board did not recommend any cuts to the movie, it still said it wanted it to carry two disclaimers—one to make it clear that the film was not historically accurate, and the other saying that it did not promote the practice of “sati,” the self-immolation by

widows on the funeral pyres of their deceased husbands outlawed by the British in the mid-19th century. The board also recommended changing the film’s title to Padmavat in order to reflect that its story is based on the ancient epic poem of the same name. Early last year, members of a fringe group of the Rajput caste had reportedly disrupted shooting of the film, with one member slapping its director on set before the group was removed by security. Elsewhere, Hindus and Rajputis, enraged by the rumors about the controversial scene, had vandalized cinemas, with at least one media report saying that some of the protesters had threatened to cut off lead actress Padukone’s nose, in an apparent reference to an incident in another ancient epic, Ramayana, where a female character suffers the same fate as punishment.

GOLDEN YEAR FOR CHINA’S FILM INDUSTRY Despite a bit of a rollercoaster ride over the past two years, China’s film industry emerged from 2017 with quite a few impressive records under its belt, further cementing the country’s status as the world’s second-largest film market. A total of 798 featurelength dramas, 32 animated films and 44 documentaries were produced in 2017, with the enormous success of local action blockbuster Wolf Warrior 2 contributing tremendously towards very favorable boxoffice results. According to recently released statistics from China’s principal industry regulator, the State Administration of

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Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), box-office takings in 2017 hit a record high of RMB55.9 billion ($8.61 bil.), an increase of almost 14 percent year-on-year. Of this total, Wolf Warrior 2 alone, the highest-grossing film in the country’s cinematic history, generated RMB5.68 billion, or about 10 percent of total takings. This was nearly 70 percent more than the RMB3.39 billion in ticket sales local romantic fantasy-comedy The Mermaid earned in 2016. But with Wolf Warrior 2 now having risen to the top spot, The Mermaid has to be content with “only” being the country’s second-biggest boxoffice earner of all time. And how long Wolf Warrior 2 will manage to hang onto its throne remains to be seen. Although Hollywood blockbuster The Fate of the Furious turned out to be second highest-grossing movie last year (in fact, earning more in China than it did in the U.S.), all other runner-ups were domestic films, including Never Say Die, Kung Fu Yoga and Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back. While Hollywood fare still is a favorite among local audiences, domestic films nevertheless for the first time prevailed over foreign imports in terms of combined box-office receipts, taking in RMB30.1 billion, or nearly 55 percent of the total gross in 2017. Wolf Warrior 2 also served up yet another triumph for the local industry: Industry tracker Box Office Mojo listed it as the sixth highest-grossing film of 2017 worldwide. Additionally, the action film also made its way into the top-100 list of highest-grossing movies of all time.

The surprise hit of the year hailed from the documentary camp. Twenty Two recounted the heartrending stories of 22 surviving former “comfort women” who had been gang-pressed by the invading Imperial Japanese Army in World War II to become sex slaves. Although Chinese audiences traditionally have not been particularly interested in theatrical documentaries, Twenty Two attracted them in droves, making it the first domestically produced documentary to surpass RMB100 million in box-office receipts. But several non-Hollywood productions also turned out to be unexpected sleeper hits, proving that China’s movie fans are becoming increasingly sophisticated. For example, Oscar-winning Manchester by the Sea earned more in China than in any other Asian country where it was released, although it still generated only a rather modest RMB8.2 million. Meanwhile, India’s biographical drama Dangal became the highest-grossing Indian film of all time in China, while Thailand-produced slapstick comedy Bad Genius earned the same distinction in China for the Southeast Asian country.

BUSAN FEST SEEKS NEW CHAIRMAN AND DIRECTOR Asia’s largest and arguably most influential film fest, South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), recently started recruitment procedures for a new organizing committee chairman and festival director. The board of directors on Dec. 19 announced on the festival website that it would

DOWN UNDER by David Pearce FJI Australia / New Zealand Correspondent

forthwith accept recommendations from individuals and organizations for these two crucially important positions, which it intends to fill quickly. The board said in its recruitment post: “In order to solve any urgent problems and to avoid any disruptions in the business matters of the [upcoming] 2018 Busan International Film Festival, it is important that we elect a new chairman of the festival organizing committee as well as a new festival director.” BIFF has been left pretty much rudderless since late last year, after former chairman Kim Dong-ho and festival director Kang Soo-youn simultaneously tendered their resignations in a surprise move and vacated their positions immediately after the festival’s closing ceremony on Oct. 21. According to the recruitment post, ideal candidates would have a wealth of film industry experience, need to actively maintain a strong network of domestic and international film industry contacts, possess an extraordinarily strong understanding of the dynamic global film industry and bring in a future-oriented vision for the festival’s development and direction. While the submission period ended on Jan. 5, the board has not disclosed any details on how many nominations were received and who the nominees are, but it is highly expected that it will short-list a handful of candidates and make a decision on whom to award the two positions during its regular general meeting in early February.

t the start of the summer school holidays in mid-December, Village Cinemas in some of their Victorian locations introduced a “dynamic pricing trial.” This meant that film tickets, concession items and drinks all rose in price after 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The experiment did not last long—early in January, Village cancelled the trial after a wave of criticism on the Internet and social media. h Hannah Kent, a South Australian writer, has surged into headlines with three movies due for filming this year. Her first novel Burial Rights, set in Iceland, became a best-seller very quickly and will be made into a feature by hot director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name). Jennifer Lawrence signed on to play the lead role of a woman sent to an isolated farm to await execution after being charged with murder. Local company Aquarius Films (Lion) has screen rights to Kent’s second novel, The Good People. This is set in Ireland in the 19th century and focuses on three women who rescue a child from a very religious community and look after her. No date has been announced for filming. In addition to the above, Kent has written an untitled original screenplay that is expected to film this year. h Kiwi director Taika Waititi has the highestgrossing film in New Zealand for the second consecutive year. In 2016 it was local film Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and in 2017 he did it again with Thor:

Ragnarok. Thor had grossed NZ$7.03 million by the end of the year, beating out Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which managed NZ$6.59 million by year’s end; it is still playing in cinemas. h In December we reported on a new sevenscreen, 1,300-seat cinema at Bayfair in New Zealand. It has now been announced that Australian independent cinema operator United Cinemas, headed by the Mustafa family, will run the new complex. This will be their first complex outside Australia. h Writer-director Wayne Blair (The Sapphires) is teaming up with scriptwriter Gerard Lee (Breathe, Top of the Lake) for a new feature, Godfrey. The title character is an autistic man in his 30s who lives with his indigenous adoptive-brother. Screen Australia has provided development finance. h Aussie director Phillip Noyce has put a new World War II drama, Rats of Tobruk, onto his schedule for 2019. It is based on the story of his father and the soldiers who held the Libyan port of Tobruk against the German Afrika Corps in 1941. Michael Petroni has been signed to write the script, with filming to take place in Australia in late 2019. Canberra and L.A.-based DEMS Entertainment will finance and co-produce. Send your Australia/New Zealand news to David Pearce at insidemovies@hotmail.com.

For feedback and inquiries, contact Thomas Schmid at thomas. schmid@filmjournal.com.

FEBRUARY 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM

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MR. DATA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 46 (pan-European), Hancock adds the European Audiovisual Observatory to our examples. “The trade associations vary in their understanding of data/statistics and what it means. Some are better than others,” he opines. “UNIC, for one, has definitely improved their delivery of useful information to the market in the past few years. New para-government film agencies have certainly increased their understanding and provision of data and statistics. When I began at Screen Digest, there were a handful of agencies that collected and published regular statistical bulletins, the gold standard being the CNC in France. We have worked with quite a few over the years to develop their statistical provision and now it is unusual if a film agency does not have a dedicated data team. An aside—and it happens much less now—but certainly until around ten years ago it was a regular thing that people assumed we were a public agency too. Obviously, we have always been a private company, but we did not always come across like that to all people.” Business performance is inherently private too, except if one exhibitor or another is trading publicly.With more and more facts and numbers available to make sound business decisions (as evidenced in our report on Santikos Entertainment on the previous pages), is this industry beginning to see the value in enhanced transparency? “The industry has not truly opened up,” Hancock contends.“There are some data exchanges between parts of the industry, but there still could be greater sharing between exhibitors and distributors, for example. I understand the issues behind not fully sharing data, but it could be done whilst protecting data and sources.” And now we are in the age of “big data,” of more and varied information from manifold sources, and, quite possibly, more than we can handle. While this “has led to analytics companies bringing a new level of insight to the exhibitor’s business and the understanding of consumers in the market,” Hancock explains the difference.“Big data is different from our data but allows a more detailed analysis of behavior and patterns.We have not traditionally been in the big data field, although IHS Markit as an entity is involved in it.The cinema data world has broadened out a lot since we first started collecting film production, screens and admissions data.We brought digital data to the global industry, for example, and have carried that on into a broader range of technology data. Other companies have built on demographic data and box-office data.” With all that included, Hancock’s division at IHS Markit has not only embraced the concept of cinema intelligence, but helped define it.“We have developed entirely around what our clients need to know. I feel that we have always delivered a rounded service to the cinema industry, but are working on new products and services to increase what we offer, bringing in the skills, data and expertise of other sectors that are relevant.” As his personal goal, Hancock tries to stay ahead of the market.“I work out what my clients will need to know in 18 months’ time and work out a way to deliver it.” Both his roles at IHS Markit and as a board member of European Digital Cinema Forum involve “staying on top of market and technology developments,” he continues.“And to some small extent, being a part of these developments.We work out how we can access data or develop our own data, a process which can take some time.We are very grateful to all those people and companies that help us with this.” David Hancock is equally grateful for being able to do what he does for the cinema industry.“Ultimately, I do it because I love it and because I have a great team around me. I enjoy the daily process of working with data, communicating it to people and, in the process, helping our clients and the industry in general to make sense of what is happening to the film and cinema sectors.” Mr. Data, after all. ш

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