alabaster, in another topic on 35mm films on the Post-Otakon 2007 section, it seemed to me that you pretty much pinned the blame of lack of 35mm support on us for not going to theaters to see these films and I'm just not quite sure how you can insinuate that.
I guess what I am saying is that I just don't understand how anyone can pin the lack of 35mm films on anime fans when the fact is that companies have shown so little interest and regard for showing anime or related films theatrically that it's no wonder they don't do particularly well.
I apologize to all the Satoshi Kon fans, but I simply don't find his films that interesting or compelling. I went to see Paprika And Tokyo Godfather each once in the theaters and that was about how much of those films I could take. Again, I should note that living very close to NYC, I actually have a good chance of being near one of those few theaters that shows these films. And even, then, where's the marketing? Where are the TV commercials? I hate to break it to Sony, but giving out posters at a convention and advertising in NewType isn't enough.
Sony/Tristar Pictures has been screwing up releases other than Satoshi Kon's as well. Metropolis was horribly marketed in the U.S. The marketing of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was equally pathetic. I know that the film's release date was delayed and delayed so many times that everyone had already downloaded the film. And was there even a domestic theatrical release? If so I don't know. Even Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was given a bigger and better marketing push.
With respect to Studio Ghibli's films, I attended a series of Studio Ghibli film screenings in 2000 that were done at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and I saw a fairly large turnout there. I imagine this was partially to promote the theatrical release of Princess Mononoke, which again, I would argue that Miramax heavily bungled. It was released in a handful of theaters and horribly marketed. Even Spirited Away was pathetically marketed, even after it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film. You would think that after Spirited Away's critical success that Disney might have given a bigger push to Howl's Moving Castle, which again, it did not. I mean, I know that I personally feel that Howl's Moving Castle is by far the worst of Miyazaki's films, but it's not like Disney isn't used to disguising $*%# as gold and didn't have the means to push it harder.
With respect to live-action films, did Miramax sit on Hero for nearly two years before they finally threw the film out there? Casshern was acquired by Dreamworks about three years ago. Where is it? Is it ever going to get a release or am I just going to walk into a Walmart four years from now and magically see it in a 3.99 bin and presented by Quentin Tarantino?
I really don't know what these industry contacts is telling Otakon staff, but I am very disturbed if they are spreading the message that it's our fault. The fact is, despite these anime films being released by companies with a fair amount of financial resources and industry pull, I have yet to see a major anime film given the same type of treatment that a regular domestic major theatrical film has been given. Instead, they throw the movie into a very limited release with few theaters, near zero marketing, and then cry and moan about not making any money and thus encouraging further bungled anime releases like this.
What I would like to see is a film studio nab the upcoming Evangelion movie and give it a real release. Evangelion is arguably one of the most financially and critically successful anime franchises ever created. Surely the upcoming Eva films, especially being a reboot of the series that is supposedly more accessible, if given a real and timely domestic theatrical release with a real marketing push, can make the huge bucks, especially with what seems like a relatively barren end-of-2007 film-release wise. If any film studio wants to take a chance and do this, and they still don't make their fair share of money, then I'll eat my words and apologize for what I have written here today. Until then, I just think it's ludricous that anime fans are being blamed for the lack of interest and success in domestic theatrical releases of anime.
35mm Programming
in Otakon 2008
Posted
alabaster, in another topic on 35mm films on the Post-Otakon 2007 section, it seemed to me that you pretty much pinned the blame of lack of 35mm support on us for not going to theaters to see these films and I'm just not quite sure how you can insinuate that.
I guess what I am saying is that I just don't understand how anyone can pin the lack of 35mm films on anime fans when the fact is that companies have shown so little interest and regard for showing anime or related films theatrically that it's no wonder they don't do particularly well.
I apologize to all the Satoshi Kon fans, but I simply don't find his films that interesting or compelling. I went to see Paprika And Tokyo Godfather each once in the theaters and that was about how much of those films I could take. Again, I should note that living very close to NYC, I actually have a good chance of being near one of those few theaters that shows these films. And even, then, where's the marketing? Where are the TV commercials? I hate to break it to Sony, but giving out posters at a convention and advertising in NewType isn't enough.
Sony/Tristar Pictures has been screwing up releases other than Satoshi Kon's as well. Metropolis was horribly marketed in the U.S. The marketing of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was equally pathetic. I know that the film's release date was delayed and delayed so many times that everyone had already downloaded the film. And was there even a domestic theatrical release? If so I don't know. Even Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was given a bigger and better marketing push.
With respect to Studio Ghibli's films, I attended a series of Studio Ghibli film screenings in 2000 that were done at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and I saw a fairly large turnout there. I imagine this was partially to promote the theatrical release of Princess Mononoke, which again, I would argue that Miramax heavily bungled. It was released in a handful of theaters and horribly marketed. Even Spirited Away was pathetically marketed, even after it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film. You would think that after Spirited Away's critical success that Disney might have given a bigger push to Howl's Moving Castle, which again, it did not. I mean, I know that I personally feel that Howl's Moving Castle is by far the worst of Miyazaki's films, but it's not like Disney isn't used to disguising $*%# as gold and didn't have the means to push it harder.
With respect to live-action films, did Miramax sit on Hero for nearly two years before they finally threw the film out there? Casshern was acquired by Dreamworks about three years ago. Where is it? Is it ever going to get a release or am I just going to walk into a Walmart four years from now and magically see it in a 3.99 bin and presented by Quentin Tarantino?
I really don't know what these industry contacts is telling Otakon staff, but I am very disturbed if they are spreading the message that it's our fault. The fact is, despite these anime films being released by companies with a fair amount of financial resources and industry pull, I have yet to see a major anime film given the same type of treatment that a regular domestic major theatrical film has been given. Instead, they throw the movie into a very limited release with few theaters, near zero marketing, and then cry and moan about not making any money and thus encouraging further bungled anime releases like this.
What I would like to see is a film studio nab the upcoming Evangelion movie and give it a real release. Evangelion is arguably one of the most financially and critically successful anime franchises ever created. Surely the upcoming Eva films, especially being a reboot of the series that is supposedly more accessible, if given a real and timely domestic theatrical release with a real marketing push, can make the huge bucks, especially with what seems like a relatively barren end-of-2007 film-release wise. If any film studio wants to take a chance and do this, and they still don't make their fair share of money, then I'll eat my words and apologize for what I have written here today. Until then, I just think it's ludricous that anime fans are being blamed for the lack of interest and success in domestic theatrical releases of anime.