Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Distributors, Stop Fraking Up Foreign Movie Posters!

Dear Movie Distributors in the Philippines,

Let me start by saying while you are doing a good job of finding great movies for us Filipinos to watch, I really wish you did not have to do the things you do.  This is not only the third time I've seen this happen, but it is the third time I have blogged about this.

STOP MESSING UP THE POSTERS OF INTERNATIONAL MOVIES UNDER THE MISTAKEN BELIEF YOU ARE MAKING THEM BETTER.

AND STOP LYING IN HOPES OF MAKING A MOVIE SOUND "BETTER".  LET IT STAND BY ITS OWN MERITS.

In my blog, I shared before how the movie poster for Silent Hill was horribly mutilated into some Resident Evil action reject.  Months down the line, both Daybreakers and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus were also given simply terrible local versions of their movie posters.  In many ways, I could see how you all thought you were making the movie look "more interesting" by inserting what you felt were "better" imagery to present the movie.  Do you really think that you are more capable than the marketing team and graphic artists who were originally commissioned by the film's production to handle things?  Do you really think making a science fiction movie like Daybreakers look more like a cheap b-movie horror thriller is a good move to push the movie further?  Or adding a gun to the lead in Silent Hill makes the horror look more like an action flick?  I do not even know what you hoped to accomplish with the Dr. Parnassus movie other than to capitalize on the stars by throwing away any semblance of aesthetic to have them all there.

Please.  A little bit of respect please to all the people who worked hard to conceptualize and develop these posters.

Now, however, you've outdone yourself in doing what you can to market a movie and insult the intelligence of the audiences.  For the upcoming Spanish movie Exorcismus (which is being released in other countries as The Possession of Emily Evans), you have some how thought it was wise and right to market this fictional movie as a REAL DOCUMENTED FOOTAGE of a possession.  Seriously?  How low are you really planning to go just to sell a movie?  Considering the IMDB listing clearly shows the cast to be playing the characters and not "themselves" should have been a clue that it wasn't a REAL possession.  Not to mention the ABSOLUTE lack of any real mention ANYWHERE ELSE that the movie is documentation of a real exorcism.  But no, you still push to insult the intelligence of the Filipino movie going public by claiming this movie is, as you put it:

Seriously?  SERIOUSLY?
And in other posters, you add some stupid internet resourced "actual Latin translation of an exorcism rite."

I am utterly disgusted and disappointed with your lack of values and character.  I am absolutely appalled at your ultimate desire to merely generate more sales.  And, let's say it WAS a real documentary, the way you are hyping things further are just as despicable as how the media covered the recent bus hostage situation, clearly heartless and greed-inspired.

Please do something about this clear case of false advertising.  Had I been more religious, I'd expect a formal apology as well to the Church for degenerating one of their sacred rituals in this manner.  But at its simplest, I expect you to pull out all these offending posters and standees, correct this obviously false claim of things being real, and be more responsible in the future in how you market movies.

Or the next thing you know, you'll have someone making a full documentary on how you are doing this kind of manipulative bullshit, and that documentary might gain more coverage than you would want your company to get.

The Possession of Emma Evans - International Trailer
Uploaded by dreadcentral. - Check out other Film & TV videos.


Sincerely,

A guy who still watches movies in theaters...

... for now, at least.

3 comments:

  1. Wow, that's really cheap, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed it. You should see the big standee display they put up in Galleria, may mga factoids pa about exorcism. To me, that just smacks of being more self-important than it's worth.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've already moved into the numb phase about the industry long ago. Lets just support the indies.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Jonette
    Grabe sila diba. As in.

    @Zombie hunter
    Always support the indies. But I think a call for change is necessary sa mainstream. Or they will think no one says they are wrong.

    ReplyDelete

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