Anything happen this week to revolutionize the film industry? What, you don’t know? You must need the Reject Recap, our weekly rundown of the best and most important news and features any movie fan must read. Yeah, most of it is our own content, but we also look outside the FSR borders for great film-related (and sometimes TV-related) pieces elsewhere. If you see something you think should be included in the Recap, please email me.
Over the past seven days, in spite of a major film festival going on (well, maybe because of this), a lot of very interesting things happened or came out. The Internet continued to alter the business of cinema and we heard about long-awaited sequels to ’90s movies. Obligatorily, we also thought more about the next Star Wars movie. And once again we include a few must-watch videos. So, in honor of what’s gone on this week, put on David Bowie’s “Changes,” sit back and play catch up with us.
(Kick)Start your weekend right after the jump.
Veronica Mars Changes Everything?
Obviously the biggest thing to happen in film this week was the record-breaking Kickstarter campaign for the Veronica Mars movie, also the first major studio crowdfunding effort. Debates ensued, and Scott laid out some great points about how this isn’t really a big deal. He also recognized this to hardly be different than most Kickstarter projects: “Was it easier for Veronica Mars than the average, aspiring unknown? Of course. Of course. But even with its massive leg up, it’s still a creator selling the public on a vision and appealing to whether they think it’s worthwhile or not. Thomas is going to have a lot easier time with distribution, but the grounding factor is that this is a story that fans clearly want that would not have gotten made without them. Yes, Warners could have made it, but they didn’t, and they weren’t going to, and them’s the breaks. Now, Veronica Mars is going to be in theaters in 2014.”
More on Kickstarter and what Veronica Mars has done:
Exclusive: ‘Veronica Mars’ creator Rob Thomas on the wildly successful Kickstarter movie campaign (Hit Fix)
‘Veronica Mars’ movie: Meet the guy who just pledged $10k for a speaking role (EW)
The Veronica Mars Kickstarter Problem, and Ours (S.T. VanAirsdale)
Why Filmmakers Need to Stop Freaking Out About the Veronica Mars Movie (The Furious Romantic Returns)
8 Short-Lived TV Shows That Should Use Crowd Funding to Make a Movie (mental_floss)
Joss Whedon On Kickstarter And “Firefly”: “It Doesn’t Just Open The Floodgates” (Buzz Feed)
So Now ‘Pushing Daisies’ Might Hit Kickstarter
Broken Projector Podcast: Kickstarter for Millionaires
Film Jockeys #14: Life On Mars
Vimeo on Demand
Continuing to uphold their status as the best video streaming and sharing site on the Internet (and one of the coolest tech brands, as we’re always reminded while watching a movie in their theater at SXSW), Vimeo announced this week a new distribution platform through which they allow users to put a price on their films and other uploaded works. Scott commented on the news: “It’ll be interesting to see how the concept plays out in the real world with filmmakers attempting to market their Vimeo page, small distribution companies leveraging the service beyond a VOD/Netflix/iTunes/Amazon release, and potential fans searching through unknown names and titles to find something good. After all, filmmakers will still have to find a way to build buzz for their product regardless of where it’s available. But even so, it’s a new door that’s been swung open, and that can only be a good thing. This really could be big.”
More on Vimeo:
Broken Projector Podcast: Kickstarter for Millionaires
SXSW 2013
All week long we’ve been reviewing, interviewing and Drafthousing from the 2013 SXSW Film Festival, and you should definitely check out all our coverage here. Just to summarize a few things: some of our favorite films so far include I Am Divine, The Punk Singer, Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing, Scenic Route, Drinking Buddies, Some Girl(s) and Spring Breakers. And we’ve talked exclusively with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Pat Healy, Danny Boyle, Vincenzo Natali and Shane Carruth, who shared some details about his next film.
More from SXSW:
Why Do You Worship at the Alamo Drafthouse?
The Great Debate: SXSW vs. Sundance (Film.com)
Trainspotting 2 is The Little Sequel That Could
This is also more from SXSW, actually. While down in Austin, director Danny Boyle claimed this week that his Trainspotting sequel, now only loosely based on Irvine Welsh’s Porno, is chugging back into action with John Hodge writing the thing. He missed the chance for the planned 10-year-after return and is looking at the 20th anniversary for a 2016 release. Nathan responded simply: “Obviously any chance to get Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Johnny Lee Miller, and Robert Carlyle back together for anything would be an opportunity well worth taking.”
More on Danny Boyle:
Danny Boyle Goes Noirish With ‘Trance’
7 Filmmaking Tips from Danny Boyle
Jurassic Park 4 For Colin Trevorrow
Whether or not it’s the beloved franchise he teased about a while back (the one we presumed was Star Wars), newcomer Colin Trevorrow has been named as director of Jurassic Park 4. Neil weighed the pros and cons about the choice: “The inherent upside to a guy like Trevorrow: he’s smart, talented, untainted by years in the studio system so he’s not just a “yes” man, and like many of you who will undoubtedly excited about this project: he’s a fan. That matters. The potential downside: Trevorrow isn’t seasoned enough yet to avoid becoming Steven Spielberg’s “yes” man, should it come to that”…”it would just be nice to have the magic of the first film back. At this point, we can most comfortably entrust such a task to a younger filmmaker who has grown up with the originals.”
Pacific Rim Sweded Trailer
These guys have a lot of time on their hands, and I think they spend that time wisely: