August 6, 2004
While waiting for Collateral to begin this morning, I thought back to Mann's Ali and came up with a better way to say what I was working towards with that post the other day: time can turn a film's flaws into assets, if the film has enough integrity to it. My review of Ali was negative, but it maintains a stronger presence in my mind than many film which I've given positive reviews to initially. Would I give it a favorable review now? I don't know. I probably wouldn't give a positive review to The Village if I saw it again in a few years, but I know I'll recall it vividly. Genius, however misguided, still leaves a stronger impression than mere competence.
I've been wondering about that lately in regards to my own work; what's more important to me, a strong first impression or a stronger lasting one? They're both a gamble, but I almost feel like I have a better sense of the latter (and I'm not just saying that as a means of excusing flaws in my work that I'm too lazy to fix). Of course, having both would be just fine with me, too.
Regarding the 'controversial' image below -- it didn't even last a week in Los Angeles. But still...putting up a racy billboard for a month? 50 grand. Publicity gained from having it taken down after a matter of days? Priceless.
Posted by David Lowery at August 6, 2004 5:49 PM