Apparently if your picture includes an animated title sequence or utilizes an animated poster that deigns to feature a line-drawing for an indie-drama, it means one must reductively describe the movie as being similar to “Juno,” or any other twelve dozen other indie films that people uncreatively lump together for no good reason other than the filmmakers are generally in the same age group and the stories depict superficially analogous subjects (like life).
Other ways to recognize a lazy, unimaginative scribe writing about Sam Mendes’ “Away We Go” poster or the film — considering the film looks much more like a family drama than any of these tossed off signifiers — is their use of:
– “quirky” or “quirkfest
– “twee”
– “Wes Anderson-like”
– “‘Garden State’-ish
– “whimsical”
– “hipster film”
– “etc.”
The film John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Allison Janney, Catherine O’Hara, and Paul Schneider and comes out in limited release via Focus Films on June 5th. British-born indie folkie, Alexi Murdoch has written the film’s score.
Here’s the trailer. [JoBlo]
Update: Case in point, this idiot calls the poster “Marxist,” because of a scruffy beard, a green military jacket and unruly hair? Wow, that’s even more spectacularly moronic than anything we could have dreamt up.
Regardless of how different the films may be from one another, the marketing department clearly wants viewers to draw comparisons.
My money is on Mendes. I think he’s 4 for 4 so far IMHO. Marketing departments are a scared group of people and I think they should have to credit who makes the trailers…then we can know for sure who to blame.
Also: on first glance, that looks like Ryan Adams and Mandy Moore.
@Cory, yes, but writers should smell that stuff a mile away.
On behalf of Focus Features marketing department, I would like to inquire into whether we can quote you as saying “[Away We Go] is a quirky twee Wes Anderson-like whimsical Garden State-ish hipster film quirkfest.”
The Playlist is a respected Brooklyn hipster Brooklyn film Brooklyn blog outlet that appeals successfully to an overlooked niche, and thus its support is crucial to ensuring this totally rad film hangs ten.
Also, I would like to let you onto a big exclusive tip – we are going to bet big on irony for Away We Go’s campaign. We will do things like bombard Williamsburg with branded, fluorescent fanny packs and sun visors, and film a viral video of Michael Cera reciting Shakespeare and making out with an imaginary lemon.
Stop smoking crack during the day.
What a shitstain of a site this is.
Says the guy who comes to read it everyday… *roll*
Not into the poster, wasn’t that into the trailer, definately not into the cast…but I am into the director. But is that enough?
I was hella disappointed by the trailer, and this isn’t helping.
My gut tells me all the marketing is off and this is going to be a great movie. I hope I’m right.
Dear M/Spielberg,
Why so chickenshit about making that Lincoln movie? Leave the blog and work on that. Indy 4 gave me assburn.
-G
You gotta “love” Hollywood — jumping on the Quirky bandwagon a decade after the fact and beating the dead horse at the reins.
People seem to forget that H-wood didn’t even give a shit about Rushmore in 1998…Murray couldn’t score an Oscar nod, much less Wes or Owen or Jason. But now that Anderson hasn’t made a good film in 7 years, they’re falling all over themselves to praise and imitate his films and those like it.
I hate this movie and I haven’t even seen it yet. It makes me want to watch action movies and I don’t even like action movies.