Gawker
As you might have noticed (it's practically impossible not to), New York City is always getting reduced to rubble in the movies. Cloverfield, I Am Legend and what's that one about all the freezing rain that had Jake Gyllenhaal in it? Oh yeah, The Day After Tomorrow. You might think that in a post-9/11 world, Americans might not find the idea of NYC being blown to bits very enjoyable to watch. Oh, well! "That is what will sell it overseas," a Paramount senior executive tells the NYT.
Indeed, the international movie business — of strategic importance to studios for two decades — has become so lucrative that many movies are now built primarily to appeal to people outside the United States.Note: we now live in a world where Adam Sandler's Spanglish can be considered a complicated story.What sells best overseas is a simple message, preferably one that is nonverbal and can be communicated with a single dominant image. "The Day After Tomorrow" was an easy global sell for 20th Century Fox. (Manhattan freezes over.) But "Spanglish," with its complicated story about an Anglo chef falling for a Hispanic household helper, and with a tough title to translate, was a nightmare for Sony international marketers.
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Also of Note: we now live in a world where Adam Sandler passes for Anglo. Nice job, bluebloods!
i had trouble understanding Spanglish....no wait i had trouble understanding why adam sandler was IN spanglish, that's right
I think it can all be traced back to Independence Day, really. We're going to make EVERYONE celebrate July 4. It was a neocon touchstone.
@MattGaymon: I wouldn't go that far... I mean, sure the president flew a jet aned New york and Los Angeles were wirped off the map, but the world was essentially saved in the end by a black man, a Jew and Harvey Firestein.
That's what doomed "A Scanner Darkly" too I'll bet.
@SixThirty: Don't forget Steve Jobs, whose expertly designed laptop was somehow able to integrate with the alien mothership's technology (and also shared virus compatibility).
Mmm ... now you've got me thinking about that delicious looking late night egg sandwich he whips up in Spanglish. Clearly I was quite moved by the scene.
@TheHonJudgeSmails2: his three middle names are chauncey, edwin, and lawrence. he also drops the second half of his double barrel, sandler-hurst.
Planet of the Apes.
Shiver.
Let's not forget "Men in Black" and "Men in Black II" -- maybe let's forget "Men in Black II." The devastation wrought on Flushing Meadow Park was scintillating.
And "Godzilla" (the one with Leo Bloom in it), and those homicidal monsters rampaging in Madison Square Garden. Ever go to a Rangers game?
Well, on the bright side, it gets rid of the trendanista's in a silver screen explosion once a year. Thanks for giving the Hilton sisters to America, New York.
@Furious_George: USB ports and motorola 68000 processors. They've conquered the universe.
I also blame ID4 for 9/11. When I see that plane with a jammed missile being piloted by Randy Quaid into the mothership's massive instrument of death, I can't think of anything but how the terrorists have won.
Makes sense. What draws me to French cinema is when they topple the Eifel Tower.
@bittergreen: ID4!! You did not.
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