January 2007

And the nominees are …

• Babel
• The Departed
• Letters from Iwo Jima
• Little Miss Sunshine
• The Queen

My pick? Little Miss Sunshine, of course.  A great story, a great cast, a great title, and Redondo Beach (played beautifully by Ventura) – how can it lose?

According to Variety, NBC Universal is set to launch a new digital cable network (a cabler, in Variety-speak) devoted to horror-themed programming. Dubbed Chiller, the new channel will be headed by Dan Harrison (who also oversees the Sleuth mystery channel) and will feature such properties as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Tales From The Crypt, The Shining, and Psycho.

I like the name. A “chiller” is of course to horror what a “thriller” is to action-suspense; they’re both good old-fashioned Hollywood slang for the thrills and chills genres. It’s nice to see the networks finally moving away from the descriptive (CNN, TNN, The Movie Channel, The History Channel, and so on) and towards the evocative (Spike, Sleuth, etc.); evocative names usually make for much stronger brands. LINK

I missed The Boston Globe round-up of the best movie titles ever.  If you did too, they chose:

• Snakes on a Plane (2006)
• The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? (1964)
• Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984)
• Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971)
• Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
• The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
• Surf Nazis Must Die (1987)
• To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)
• Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (1966)
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
• Invasion U.S.A. (1985)

I think by and large they’re confusing Most Unusual with Best, but I admire the effort! LINK

While we’re on the subject of movie titles, Variety has a short piece (subtitled Unoriginal Sins) on the striking similarities among the names of many of this year’s Oscar contenders. Citing such sets as The Good Shepherd, The Good German, and A Good Year, the author concludes:

This won’t come as a big shock to most here, but it seems like the titles of theatrical releases have been focus-grouped to the point of insanity — and the only variety in the room is the publication you’re reading right now.

He exaggerates, but there’s still nothing like an original, evocative title to draw an audience in. I especially like his suggested name for the sequel to Denzel Washington’s Deja Vu — Deja  Vu 2: Deja Vu! LINK

The Los Angeles Times has a fun little article putting forward some early contenders for the imaginary honor of the The Most Awesome Movie Title of 2007. Their picks:

• Live Free or Die Hard
• Disturbia
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters
• Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium
• There Will Be Blood

My own picks?

• Ratatouille
• Grindhouse
• The King of California
• Friends (With Benefits)
• Totilla Heaven

It’s too bad there can’t be an actual award for best title; we’d have a lot more good stuff to choose from! LINK

According to a recent article in the Journal of Consumer Research, movie audiences will pick a sequel with its own title (e.g. the hypothetical Daredevil: Taking It To The Streets) over one with simply a number appended (Daredevil 2).  The UCLA | Wharton research team concluded that moviegoers are seeking some sort of clue that the follow-on isn’t just a retread.  In other words, they want more than a familiar premise and engaging characters; they want a new story. LINK

Game Revolution brings us its picks for (drumroll, please) The 50 Worst Video Game Names Of All Time.  Here they are, from bad to worse:

• Frogger: Helmet Chaos
• Zeitgeist
• Twin Eagle: Revenge Joe’s Brother
• Jumpman
• ASO: Armored Scrum Object
• Wild Woody
• Tech Romancer
• Princess Tomato In Salad Kingdom
• Beyond The Beyond
• Silhouette Mirage: Reprogrammed Hope
• Um Jammer Lammy
• PenPen Trilcelon
• Spanky’s Quest
• Cacoma Knight In Bizyland
• M.U.S.C.L.E.
• Sticky Balls
• 70’s Robot Anime Geppy-X: The Super Boosted Armor
• Punky Skunk
• Klonoa: Door To Phantomile
• Awesome Possum Kicks Dr. Machino’s Butt!
• Catechumen
• World Soccer Winning Eleven 5: Final Evolution
• Panic Restaurant
• Ninja Hamster
• Iggy’s Reckin’ Balls
• Booby Kids
• Yo! Noid
• Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf
• Astro Fang: Super Machine
• Divine Divinity
• Eggs of Steel: Charlie’s Eggcellent Adventure
• Barkley: Shut Up And Jam!
• Tongue Of The Fatman
• Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
• Rosco McQueen - Firefighter Extreme
• Tobal No. 1
• Wargasm
• GOLF Magazine Presents 36 Great Holes Starring Fred Couples
• XEXYZ
• No One Can Stop Mr. Domino!
• Totally Rad
• James Pond II: Codename RoboCod
• Psybadek
• Nuts & Milk
• Huygen’s Disclosure
• Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja
• Pesterminator: The Western Exterminator
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam
• If It Moves, Shoot It!
• Irritating Stick

You’ll want to read the full article to understand something about the story behind each of these gems, but the list itself does a good job of detailing the myriad ways in which a title can fall flat, including falling prey to cultural differences, suffering from a weak translation, or being overly punny, mind-numbingly descriptive, embarrassingly faddish, completely tin-eared, uncomfortably vulgar, etc.  All the more reason to celebrate a really good title! LINK

My favorite Australian paper, the Sydney Morning Herald, has a nice, long, opinionated article on what makes for a great movie title. According to columnist Garry Maddox,

… titles do matter. Why else would a romantic comedy called $3000, named after the sum a wealthy client pays a hooker, be changed to Pretty Woman? So that we all buy into the sweet fantasy of that classic Hollywood romance without being reminded that it’s a movie about a businessman with more money than friends hiring a prostitute off the street.

Garry like his titles short and snappy (Alien … Braveheart … Chinatown … Gladiator … Twister) or evocative and intriguing (Girl, Interrupted … My Big Fat Greek Wedding … The Good, The Bad and The Ugly … The Silence of the Lambs). He cites The Cinderella Man, starring fellow Aussie Russell Crowe, as a great movie whose title missed the mark.

I couldn’t agree more. Around here movie titles are some of our favorite projects, but it’s always a challenge. There are typically too many cooks in the studio kitchen and the cost of a mistake is enormous. Where else but in Hollywood does a brand fail or succeed in the first weekend?

My only problem with Garry’s piece? His own title. It sure seems like every naming article ever written is cleverly called What’s in a Name?! Give us a break! LINK (Reposted)

CNN has an interesting piece on the question of whether or not über-producer Jerry Bruckheimer (best known for his signature action-adventure films Armageddon, Bad Boys, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Rock, Top Gun, and, my personal favorite, the underrated Con Air). Entitled Bruckheimer: The Brand Name In Movies, the article notes that some feel that Bruckheimer’s name is a negative rather than a positive when attached to a picture that doesn’t feature any explosions — his just-released basketball drama Glory Road, for example.

I believe this is a case of inside baseball (to mix my metaphors). While it may be true that many critics have trouble swallowing a different type of Bruckheimer movie, for the typical filmgoer (like me) it’s really not an issue. Unlike the name of many a Hollywood celebrity actor, the name of a famous producer functions more like a co-brand or an ingredient brand than a master brand. Although it’s taken him awhile to persuade the Academy, we as the audience applaud Stephen Spielberg when he ventures into new territory, as he’s increasingly done with Amistad, The Terminal, Memoirs of a Geisha, and now Munich.

I think Jerry’s future is bright should he choose to challenge the notion of a stereotypical Bruckheimer pic. LINK (Reposted)