John August

The Nines

Back from Venice

International, Projects, The Nines

I’m back from the Venice Film Festival, where The Nines had its international premiere.

The movie screened three times, but the main public debut was 2:30 p.m. on Monday. At lunch that day, both the sales agent and the publicist separately pulled me aside to say, “So, John, you should know that if the audience doesn’t like the film, they might boo. Or they could throw things.”

And somehow I’m supposed to be psyched about giving a Q & A? Yikes.

So I drank more champagne and looked for escape exits.

Fortunately, during the end credits we got nice, sustained applause (better than Sundance, in fact) and pretty good questions after that. I really love doing a Q & A, though it was challenging dealing with the real-time translation, trying to pay attention to both the person asking the question and the woman whispering in my ear.

One woman asked a question about the ending which was actually a revelation to me, a misassumption made clear only because of the awkwardness of translation. This is really not a spoiler, but I’ll put it in the footnotes so it’s more easily skipped if you want to go in blind.About the ending: Some viewers exit the movie believing it to be a hallucination on the part of one of the female characters, in the vein of Mulholland Drive or Swimming Pool. As the author, I can say that was never the intent, nor is it backed up by the evidence of the movie. But as someone who’s had to write college term papers, I would never claim that any interpretation is wrong. Just less defensible, perhaps. The Nines invites speculation and alternative interpretations, so I’m not about to say one version is “wrong.” But it’s helpful for me to finally understand why some viewers insist on re-contextualizing the entire film in a way I never intended.

veniceThe movie was shown in English, with Italian subtitles. It played differently, with a lot of comedy not making it through translation. Part Two, which is about American television, might as well have been about Martian sodomy. But the audience really responded to the bigger, religious-adjacent stuff in Part Three.

venice2We had a major storm on Tuesday, which knocked out power and made our press interviews challenging. Our main office was actually a temporary, tent-like structure, which held out the rain but kept flapping constantly.

Other observations:

* Ryan Reynolds is a apparently an action star in Italy. They have no idea he’s ever been in a comedy. Most of the journalists cited “Smokin’ Aces.”

* We stayed in Lido, the island where the screening themselves are held, which is a 60 euro water taxi ride from Venice proper.

* Our hotel was where [Death in Venice](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067445/) was shot. It hasn’t really been updated since then.

* If you’re going to not speak a language, Italian is a good language to not speak. Compared with many places I’ve traveled, it was a lot easier to wing it.

* We sold a bunch of territories: Argentina (Telexcel), Eastern Europe (Blue Sky), Greece (Village Roadshow), Israel (Forum Film), Middle East (Italia Film), Scandinavia (Non-Stop) and South Africa (Ster Kinekor). Optimum Releasing had already bought U.K. rights. As always, I’ll keep you posted about release dates. More will be announced at Toronto this week.

* The plan you pick for your iPhone makes a huge difference. Ryan was able to get (almost) full internet on his, while my partner’s iPhone was phone-only, and mine was basically just a pretty iPod. If you think you’re going to be using your iPhone overseas, consider getting the fancy plan.

The Nines soundtrack

Projects, The Nines

Since Sundance, we’ve had a lot of questions (and compliments) about the music in The Nines. We didn’t end up making a conventional soundtrack deal, mostly because the film distribution situation was complicated enough. But you can find most of the music online. [Alex Wurman](http://alexwurman.com) has a lot of the score available for download at [his site](http://alexwurman.com/Music%20Clips/MusicClips.html).

And with a few exceptions, including [Cabaret Diosa’s “Comet Samba”](http://www.amazon.com/Voodoo-Pinata-Cabaret-Diosa/dp/B00005Y8OV), most of the tracks are available on iTunes. That’s where I found “You Keep Me Hanging On” by Ferris Wheel.

If the widget below isn’t loading for you, you can find the [full playlist up at iTunes](http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=261827115&s=143441).

Nines news, reviews and updates

Projects, The Nines

Briefly, because there’s a lot going on and I haven’t started packing for Venice.

1. Sellout at the Nuart
—

The 7:30 p.m. Q&A tonight with me and Melissa (and others) apparently sold out yesterday afternoon. But there’s also a 10 p.m. show that I’ll be introducing. I haven’t gotten an update about the NY screening at the Sunshine, which Ryan Reynolds and Bruce Cohen will be introducing. (That’s not a Q&A, btw. Ryan might play me in the movie, but he can’t really answer questions about what the hell was up with koalas in the movie.)

2. Hooray for reviews
—

The two reviews we were banking on — the LA Times and the NY Times — were great. While local and regional reviews matter, the LAT and NYT are incredibly important for overseas buyers, who will be watching the movie in Venice, checkbooks in hand. So if you live in France, or Germany, or Italy your chances of seeing the movie in a theater just increased a lot.

These are also the reviews we’ll be pulling quotes from for future newspaper ads. So now we can say things like, “a philosophical mind teaser with satirical fangs,” ([Stephen Holden, NY Times](http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/08/31/movies/31nine.html)) or, “it dispenses about a minor epiphany a minute and hooks you like a flounder.” ([Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times](http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-nines31aug31,1,6968775.story)).

**UPDATE:** [MTV’s Kurt Loder](http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1568682/20070831/story.jhtml) made sweet, sweet love to the movie: “It’s a creative triumph — small in scale, but rich in ideas — for first-time feature director August (a writer best-known for scripting several Tim Burton movies). And it’s a quietly dazzling breakthrough for Ryan Reynolds, who has heretofore been indifferently utilized in movies like “Smokin’ Aces” or consigned to elevating such schlock as “The Amityville Horror.”

Meanwhile, the [Christian Science Monitor](http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0831/p14s02-almo.html) was, shall we say, less than effusive in its praise: “So unspeakably bad is screenwriter John August’s debut as director, so hilariously unaware is the film of its overweening pretensions that it’s tempting to want to deem it a Hollywood writer’s fever dream that can be cured with a little editing, a bit of rest and relaxation – or something, anything.”
3. I cheated on you again
—

I wrote [one last blog post](http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2007/08/the-nines-guest.html) for EW.com.

The Nines audio commentary

Geek Alert, Projects, The Nines

If you’re going to see The Nines this long weekend, you’ll be in a movie theater. You’ll have the benefit of a giant screen, good sound, and fellow patrons with which to partake (and debate) the film. There’s nothing like watching a movie with a crowd: it’s participatory and immediate.

One of my favorite moments of the Sundance premiere was listening as progressive waves of audience members realized that a story Hope Davis begins telling in Part One is, in fact, not a story at all. Hearing the little gasps, those who hadn’t yet caught on became more vigilant, wondering what they were missing.

It was a reminder that we make movies for an audience, not merely a consumer.

Yet there are some things a movie theater can’t provide, aspects which only work on DVD. The pause button, for example. Subtitles. Audio commentary.

podcast coverBut in the age of iPods, there’s really no reason why audio commentary has to be relegated to DVD. That’s why Ryan Reynolds and I recorded one last week for The Nines which is [now yours to download](http://lookforthenines.com/audio/nines_commentary.m4a). (47MB, right-click to save to disk)

This isn’t an original idea, by the way. Kevin Smith recorded an [in-theater commentary](http://nymag.com/movies/profiles/17663/) for Clerks II, though I can’t find confirmation he released it into the wild. (Someone in the comments section will know.)

If you’re considering downloading it, here are some guidelines, ground rules and helpful hints:

1. Trust me: don’t try to listen to it without the movie. It’s not that it’s full of spoilers; it simply won’t make sense.
2. Don’t try to listen to it on your first viewing.Yes, I’m basically saying, “See the movie twice!” But if you’re listening to an audio commentary track, you presumably find the movie interesting enough (or befuddling enough) that you want to see it a second time or third time. The movie is confusing enough. Hearing me blather on about some esoteric detail will increase the bewilderment, not lessen it.
3. There are two versions: an [m4a](http://lookforthenines.com/audio/nines_commentary.m4a) and an [mp3](http://lookforthenines.com/audio/nines_commentary.mp3). (Right-click to save to disk.) If you’re on an iPod or iPhone, you want the m4a. It’s half the size and sounds great. The mp3 should work in your Zune.
4. The commentary track is set up as a podcast, with four chapters. “Intro” plays before the opening titles start rolling, so you may want to listen to this and hit pause. “Music Begins” plays right as the Newmarket and Destination logos appear. We mention the Destination logo, so you’ll know if you’re in the ballpark.If you’re off a few seconds, it doesn’t matter much. This ain’t Dark Side of Oz.
7. If you’re using iTunes, you should be able to simply drag the file into your library and sync. Otherwise, do whatever four-step process it takes to load it.
5. Be respectful: If you’re listening to the commentary, sit away from other people, so they’re not hearing it. Yes, that’s just common sense and common courtesy, but I thought I’d point it out.
6. I speak quickly, and mumble occasionally. That’s me. It’s also Ryan in Part Two, for an extra meta-level.

I’d like to underline points 2 and 6. Please don’t ruin the movie for yourself or others.

Because you’ll ask, this commentary will likely also be on the DVD, along with other special stuff.

The files are relatively small, so the server should be able to handle the load. But if anyone feels inclined to set up a mirror, or seed a torrent, go for it. Leave a link in the comments. And let me know if you end up using it.