Stealing Movies

November 12, 2008 · Filed Under Editorial, Media Report, Movie Discussion, Movies 

I stole a movie a few nights ago, and I’m not sorry.

I begged and pleaded with Magnolia Studios to release the Swedish horror film LET THE RIGHT ONE IN here in my hometown, as they had no plans to do so. The already-planned Hollywood remake is being prepped to replace the original, threatening my opportunity to see what everyone agrees is a brilliant original film.

So, my hand forced, I went out onto the internet and stole it. And like I said, I’m not sorry.

Unlike many pirates, I would love to give studios my money in exchange for their film experiences. I prefer watching films in theaters; I like the audience interaction, the tradition, and the glamour of the theater-going experience. I also like to pay in order to have their films in my DVD collection, so that I can enjoy them permanently at my leisure.

But the studios aren’t playing fair with audiences like me, who are willing to give them money. Rather than make the movie-loving experience easy and fruitful, the studios distribute only the most mass-marketed films for general consumption. The true gems are harder to find, relegated to a few theaters for only one or two weeks before being yanked, and then unceremoniously dumped on DVD.

In the case of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, the lesson learned from CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON is apparently lost on the distribution idiots at Magnolia Pictures : you CAN successfully open a foreign language film in America. This is especially true of films like these two, which have a few toes dipped in the supernatural, their foreign dialects only serving to heighten the otherworldliness of the proceedings. Magnolia has unwisely decided to release LET THE RIGHT ONE IN in only a few select theaters before pulling it, presumably in favor of the Hollywood remake currently rushing into production.

But why was it NECESSARY to steal the movie, rather than just wait for a release on DVD or as a remake? Well, as we have seen in recent cases with movies like REC and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, Hollywood gobbles up these films and remakes them, while hiding the (better) original from public view. Nobody who saw both REC and its remake QUARANTINE will say that QUARANTINE is the better film, yet very few people in the world have had the privelege of seeing REC because it has been quarantined from view (pun intended, of course). In the case of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, the film has had tremendous reviews, yet even the trailer has been pulled from most places. It’s a shame that films of this caliber do not see wide distribution only because Hollywood wants to suck their bones dry.

After a few emails to Magnolia pleading with them to reconsider, I decided that I owed it to myself to seek out the film on the illegal side of the internet tracks. If you really want to find a bootlegged copy of a film on the internet, it’s probably even easier than finding a free song these days. In the case of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, someone took a free screener of the film and digitized it for everyone online, so I got to enjoy a fairly nice copy of the film. It was blissfully free of people getting up to go to the bathroom in front of the camcorder.

After watching this brilliant little vampire movie, I relished how nice it was that I managed to enjoy this film in its entirety and purity. While I prefer the theater experience - and the joy of supporting films like this financially - I was able to circumvent the studio blockade and still see this tremendous work of art.

Increasingly, the Hollywood studios are falling victim to the same internet vortex that swallowed the music industry. Unwilling to budge on the price and distribution of music, the recording industry suddenly found itself without a paying audience. Lawsuits and other scare tactics barely caused a blink among the faceless, anonymous hordes on the internet, and music piracy grows exponentially every day. The music industry learned too late that they needed to change their way of doing business.

And so does the movie industry. How long will studios be able to keep films under their control, doling them out only in a way that maximizes their profits? How much longer can Hollywood expect to suppress works of art with contracts and deals and remakes, when the brilliant originals are right at our fingertips? How much longer can studios expect to receive $19.99 for a DVD that cost them $1.00 to produce?

Hollywood needs to look at the music industry a little closer. Metallica’s brand new album - which would have cost over $20 ten years ago - is on store shelves for $11.99, and people still aren’t buying it. The music industry failed to play fair with music lovers, so the internet made them pay for their arrogance and greed. Piracy, though illegal, forced a necessary change.

And so shall it be in Hollywood, unless they wise up and play fair.

Last 5 posts by Ray

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