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Independent Filmmakers Use Web to Market Themselves

Musicians aren't the only artists using the web to create buzz about their work, Newsweek reports. Filmmakers have also had success at it. Jonathan Caouette "didn't even use Apple's sophisticated Final Cut Pro software to put together his film 'Tarnation.'

Movie-Goers Inspired To Attend By Quotes in Ads Deserve To Watch Dogs

Since Sony Pictures announcement that it will pay $1.5 million, or $5 each to refund tickets to movie fans who saw several movies on the recommendation of a critic who did not exist, movie critic Jeremy Dauber of The Christian Science Monitor has been thinking. The claims in the class action lawsuit were actually quite absurd, he contends.

Do moviegoers really decide whether or not to attend a movie based entirely on the quotes from so-called critics in the ads? If they do, are they not getting the bad experience that they deserve?

"The plaintiffs presumably read the blurbs on the ads, and said something along the lines of, "Hey, honey, this person I don't know very much about has been quoted as saying that 'Vertical Limit' is the best movie since 'Citizen Kane.' Do you have a spare five dollar bill?" Dauber writes.

"Sure, if the movie company did indeed make up quotes, it's not a particularly spectacular example of ethical behavior, but when most of the country is aware that movie ads turn critical quotes like, 'If you see this movie, you'll be really sorry; I'm amazed at the sheer badness of this film' into 'If you see this movie, you'll be amazed!' I think it's fair to say that you might want to assume that the company that made the film might be shading things just a teensy weensy bit and to accept just a bit of personal agency here."

American Film Institute Selects 100 Top Movie Quotes

A jury of 1,500 film artists, critics and historians has selected the 100 most memorable movie quotes. To commemorate the first century of movie-making, the American Film Institute asked people in the movie industry to rank the phrases that have most penetrated popular culture.

Not surprisingly, Rhett Butler's famous line to Scarlett O'Hara in 1939's "Gone With the Wind" -- "Frankly, My Dear, I Don't Give A Damn" -- ranked number one. It was followed by another non-surprise, Marlon Brando's line as Don Corleone in 1972's "The Godfather": "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse."

Brando also came in third with his line from 1954's On the Waterfront: "You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am."

Then the rankings get slightly less predictable:

4. "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." The Wizard of Oz, 1939

5. "Here's looking at you, kid." Casablanca, 1942

6. "Go ahead, make my day." Sudden Impact, 1983

7. "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." Sunset Blvd., 1950

8. "May the Force be with you." Star Wars, 1977

9. "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night." All About Eve, 1950

10. "You talking to me?" Taxi Driver, 1976

The BBC points out that Casablanca has the most quotes in the top 100, followed by The Wizard of Oz with six quotes. The earliest line in the top 100 was "Wait a minute, wait a minute - you ain't heard nothin' yet," from 1927's The Jazz Singer. The most recent inclusion was "My precious," said by Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2002. Of actors, the BBC notes that Humphrey Bogart is quoted most (10 times). Billy Wilder wrote 13 of the most memorable quotes.

In some ways, the list gets more interesting the further down you go. To see the full list of 100 quotes on the USA Today web site, click.

Can Social Scientists Predict Box Office Successes? They're Trying

Social scientists are attempting to predict what makes movies successful and what doesn't. "The Holy Grail of movie science is an algorithm that would predict, within a reasonable margin of error, the box office of a movie before it opens: Tom Cruise + Katie Holmes + romantic comedy = $340 million," writes Michael Agger in Slate. "Word of mouth" is the most powerful marketing tool, and audience reviews of movies posted on web sites shortly after a movie is released -- as an extension of word of mouth -- are likely to play significant roles in shaping public opinion and in shaping movie marketing strategies, Agger says.

Movie marketers are looking to social scientists for help because Americans appear to be changing their movie-going habits, often preferring to watch at home than go out to the theater, an Ipsos poll indicates.

Do Hollywood Movies Reflect Liberal Slant?

Convinced that Hollywood producers are politically biased in the kinds of movies they are willing to produce, a group of conservative producers are banding together to make and distribute movies that reflect "traditional values" and are far friendlier to Republican ideas than they believe Hollywood has been.

They give their companies names such as American Pride Films Group (APFG) and RightSide Video. The Hollywood Congress of Republicans holds luncheons, with celebrities like Ben Stein and Morgan Brittany offering moral support, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

To make the case that Hollywood produces mostly movies with liberal values, designed to erode confidence in Western Civilization and American patriotism, producer Steve Finefrock has a long list of movies that he claims glorify or make heroes of liberal activists and demonize or makes fun of conservatives. Finefrock, who produced films for the Department of Homeland Security before moving to Hollywood, told the Hollywood Reporter these movies reflect Hollywood's liberal bias:

Maybe Hollywood Has Conservative Slant?

Conservative producers' claims that Hollywood movies reflect liberal bias have some progressives claiming the opposite -- the movie industry instead reflects a conservative or mainstream corporate bias, they assert. None of the major studios would touch Michael Moore's anti-Bush film, "Farenheit 9/11" with a 10-foot poll. He had to seek alternative distribution channels to get the film seen around the country.

Movies With Spiritual Themes Are Focus of New Book; 'Star Wars' Portrays Spiritual Journey

The new "Star Wars" movie that opens next week, "Revenge of the Sith," is likely to continue the very significant religious themes that were clearly present in the five previous Star Wars movies, a professor of English at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan says. In his new book, Catching Light: Looking for God in Movies, professor Roy Anker asserts that the "Star Wars" saga is essentially a spiritual story, and not just because of the popular phrase, "may the force be with you."

Themes of faith, redemption, reconciliation and community recur throughout the saga, he says. At the heart of the films, Anker says, is Luke Skywalker's journey. "Most of all, the story depicts the spiritual progress or maturation of young Luke. In a way he has no choice: he must progress or be consumed by a hideous darkness, which is more or less true for all of us. While he does eventually triumph, there are many hard lessons in his path. His is not an easy way."

• Roy Anker on 'Star Wars'
• Anker's book, Catching Light: Looking for God in Movies

New Breed of Leading Men Are Sensitive, Less Macho

Several critics have observed that the characteristics of leading men are changing in American cinema -- it's hard to find American tough guys under 35 with military experience unwilling to talk about their feelings. Instead, they've been replaced by sensitive, emotionally accessible guys like Toby Maguire, currently starring in "Spider-Man 2" and baby-faced Leonardo DiCaprio, cast as Alexander the Great in a movie being developed by director Baz Luhrmann.

"Some say the evolving style of the Hollywood leading man may reflect a more feminized American society, the rise of the metrosexual male and the absence, until recently, of war and true hardship in the last two decades of American life," writes Sharon Waxman in The New York Times. "Hollywood veterans draw a contrast with the generation of actors who came out of the Depression or wartime, when hardship could be read in the faces of stars like Humphrey Bogart and, later, Steve McQueen..." She also suggests that the rise of women producers to high executive positions at film studios is having an effect -- they prefer sensitive, new age guys.