The Long Tail at the multiplex

True to my resolution to read more, I just finished the excellent The Long Tail:  Why the future of business is selling less of more, by Wired's Chris Anderson.  In a nutshell, it demonstrates how the internet and other technologies have given niche markets, particularly within entertainment, an unprecedented power in the economy where they've previously been ignored or overlooked.  There a couple of ways this is relevant for movie theatres:  the gains independent movies have made at the box office (Juno, Little Miss Sunshine), and special digital presentations (The Met).

Juno:  From the studio behind the superb Little Miss Sunshine comes this story of eccentric teen Juno, who finds herself pregnant after a drunken night with her best friend Paulie Bleeker.  After a gut decision to abort the baby, she decides to find a set of adoptive parents to take care of the baby, which leads to uber-yuppie couple Vanessa and Mark.  But things aren't as simple as Juno would like with both her friend and the yuppies.

Overall, pretty good stuff.  As previously mentioned, Ellen Page puts out a good performance.  The one fault I'd say this time around is that she makes a lousy pregnant woman; in one scene, she twists and squirms to reach something in the back seat casually when it should have been excruciatingly painful.  Aside from that, she's aces.

Michael Cera (from Superbad) continues his awkward-yet-articulate nice guy shtick, which is maybe 3 days away from getting stale, but is still good here.  Jason Bateman does better in Juno than Mr. Magorium, as the rebel-in-yuppie's clothing.  But Jennifer Garner, who I'm sure is great in Alias, is horrible here.  It was like watching her play Bree Hodge, but without the charming psychoological issues or cattiness.  Aside from a few good tender moments dwelling on her barren-ness, just a horribly boring stage presence.

The rest of the supporting cast (Allison Janney in particular) are fun to watch and provide some great one-liners and comedic moments.  That Juno has risen to #2 in the country in the past week while other movies have dropped isn't a surprise, and looks like it'll have a staying power to be envied after a slow roll-out.  I've been waiting on this simply because it has the ground-breaking idea to not kill the baby.  I'm still shocked that The Nativity Story didn't receive the true Hollywood treatment in ending with a back-alley abortion following an erotic foot massage between Joseph and Mary.

Now in its second year running is Fathom Events' series of live broadcasts of performances from The Metropolitan Opera.  Presented in high definition digital, audiences at select theatres have what amounts to an on-stage view of such classic fare as Macbeth (today, Jan 12th), Tristun und Isolde, and what I'll definitely be in line for, La Boheme.  About half of the $42 ticket for nosebleed seats in the Met, these usually sell out.  The only performance I've seen, I Puritani from last year's series, filled every seat in the theater, and was exceptional, featuring commentary by the late great Beverly Sills.  Check here for dates, here for participating theatres, and here for the fewer locations that offer the next-day rebroadcast.

Fathom has been doing similar things with concerts, special movie screenings, and specialty exhibitions for a few years, and is definitely worth checking every month or so for new events.

So in a culture and economy that previously enshrined and worshipped the blockbuster, here are two ways that thriving niche audiences are seeing their desires met.

Comments

[Reaps]

Juno.. this must be the one where the screenplay was written by a stripper?

Talk about a career change..