Stop the presses! Hollywood in targeting young males shock!

(from LPATCOABA)

Incredibly, it has emerged today that bosses at Universal, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Have decided to focus thier attentions on the profitable 'young male' demographic. Hooking them into money spinning franchises such as Transformers, Iron Man, and Hot Wheels, with the promise of glistening lady parts, sparkly explosions, big booms, and loud noises. Once hooked it is believed that these 'young males' will gladly return again and again regardless of the ever dwindling quality as the succession of identi-flicks lumber on like some bloated and aging musical theatre diva still drawing the crowds in vegas. And lets not forget all the pretty toys that go along with the pictures, the little men made out of clay, the sip along snacks and sit along furniture, and the must-have-it-now-but-only-cos-I-is-ironic 10 year olds branded costume.


This is really nothing new. Way back when in the way old 80s  Arkoff and Nicholson at AIP formulate the 'Peter Pan theory" which pretty much spells it out.


a) a younger child will watch anything an older child will watch;
b) an older child will not watch anything a younger child will watch;
c) a girl will watch anything a boy will watch
d) a boy will not watch anything a girl will watch;
therefore-to catch your greatest audience you zero in on the 19-year old male


Groundbreaking huh? Does this mean we're officially back in the 80s now then? big bangs big boobs and big boys toys?


super.

Kevin Smith's on my side.

At the recent Comic-con he mentioned Twilight and, when his legions of fans booed and jeered, Smith chastised them roundly:

"That's the next generation of fans!" Smith said. "That's what I love about a comic book convention. People will come to a convention, stand there in a Spock costume, look at someone in a Chewie costume, and say, 'Look at that f__in' geek. How dare you pass judgment on those 12-year-old girls who like vampires!"(newsarama)

It's an interesting phenomenon this anti-Twilight fanboy rage, Vanetta Rogers over at newsarama, looks at the idea that there are inherently differing fan practices at work, with female fans engaging on an emotional level where male fans engage on a technical level. And, loathe as I am to swallow the old 'girls are emotional' schtick, it is a kinda plausible hypothesis. Anthropologist Louise Krasniewicz who  studyies fandom at the University of Pennsylvania observes,

"I've discovered at different comic book conventions that it's more about 'can you top this?' The men know what superhero did this and in what issue he did it. It's almost a competition game. With women, there doesn't tend be as much of a competition where they want to prove they know more. Their discussions are more likely to be about their emotional response to the characters. They want to talk about how the stories make them feel."

Which rings true of my adult self, although my sixteen year old self might disagree. However when Michael McMillian points out that

"One characteristic both [male and female] audiences seem to share is sexuality... In either case, whether it's Laura Croft or Edward Cullen, there are obvious sexual projections onto the characters of these fictional worlds. Genre seems to play a large role in sexual and emotional escape."

It becomes all too tempting to open the can of worms labeled "sex is emotional for wimmins, but not for mens". 

3. Teen Fare, Kinda My Thing.

I like teen movies, in fact, I love them with every fibre of my tiny beating heart. I love John Hughes, and I love Bill and Ted, I love Clueless, and Save the Last Dance, and Mean Girls, and Step Up, and everything in between. no shame. just love. I wrote my dissertation on teen movies so I can claim some academic legitimacy if I want to, but i don't really want to. I'd rather just revel in the awesome sunny american gorgeousness and the hugely inflated issues, and the frocks and the drama and the dance sequences, and the vampires, and the undying love and the bad parents and the cars at sixteen, and the annoying younger siblings, and the kooky best friends, and the zeitgiesty soundtrack. So here's a few coming up that I'm pretty excited about.


Twilight: New Moon is clearly going to be the greatest film this year. And I honestly think that the franchise is of serious artistic and cultural merit. I blame most of the films faults on the shoddy dialogue skills of Stephany Meyers, not the narrative and characterisation that she crafted. Twilight taps into so many female fantasies, of being perceived as extraordinary despite our ordinariness, as being totally central to someone's life (or un-life.. whatever), so much so that they exist only to for us, without expecting to be cleaned, bathed, ego massaged or fed. Or just that somebody finds us SO desirable that he can't bear to be away from use even though he might kill us by being around. sigh. Also, Edward Cullen is just SO HOT (no, not Robert Pattinson, just the character).


I have an article I'll get round to writing one day, a comparison between Let the Right One In and Twilight. They're pretty much the same film.







Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant is a suit's idea of making money off the back of the afore mentioned Cullen boy. It looks shit though. and John C Reilly will not be enough to save it (for shame John, although your knowing brows do lend an air of irony that might buoy the film for a few moments). A Carnival of freaks, midgets, and Vampires who don't actually kill people. It's like Todd Browning Meets The Fast Show.


But, like Whip It, I'll still watch it.







Fame was awesome first time round. Not precisely a teen movie per se but i'm pretty sure more teenagers watched it than any other demographic. The new one looks awesome, all the pieces are in place, dancing, legwarmers, angst. Not a whole lot to analyse, I just wonder if they'll include the social commentary of the original.

This is my new thing.

As film is really where I put my heart to bed each night, here will be where said devotion is reflected. I fear if i do not flex my cinematic fibers every now and again I may lose the use of them for good.

Thus, I shall write here of fillum related things, reviews and trailers, gossip and news. And the odd overblown academic treatise. If you're lucky I'll start posting my essays from my book learnin' days.

Introductions are best kept brief