the future

[pete]

miranda july's new film
trailer .

another sundance chic film where the premise is vaguely sci-fi (like melancholia and another earth, and to a much lesser extent Rabbit Hole.)

what's up with that?

[matt35mm]

I saw this and liked it. I don't really see the sci-fi part. Also, the trailer is definitely emphasizing the "chic"/"quirky" elements of the film, but there's a lot less of that in this film than in Me and You and Everyone We Know. It's a slower, more thoughtful, more sad film. And not sci-fi-y.

[mogwai]

Looking forward to seeing this one. Miranda's acting reminds me of Emily Watson.

[Reel]

YESSSS!!! I've been waiting for this for so long. Ever since I saw MAYAEWK in theaters I fell in love with Miranda July, then I bought the Dvd and kind of lost interest everytime I saw it. I needed something new, I can't blame her for taking like 6 or 7 years, I know it's hard to write and direct AND act in your own movies. She kicks Sophia Coppola's ass a female writer-director too. Is that Richard Linklater's son? awesome.

[MacGuffin]

Adventures in Indie Film Marketing: Miranda July Talks About Not Selling "The Future"
by Dana Harris, indieWIRE

Welcome to Adventures in Indie Film Marketing, in which we take a look at the campaigns that manage to leapfrog our cynicism and capture our attention. What's for sale: "The Future," directed by and starring Miranda July.

Release date: July 29 through Roadside Attractions.

The strategy: Create audience interest in "The Future"—without selling "The Future." Says July: "With marketing, I cringe at things that seem like they're selling."

The product: Website thefuturethefuture.com, which July describes as "a normal [film promotion] site, except for the oracle." Users click on the "oracle," a colorful animated wheel that random-generates Twitter-sized bits of deeply quirky advice. (Sample: "A pustule, an ache, a scab. If any of these three jolly visitors comes your way, grin. Time to get positive about mortality.") You can also Tweet or Facebook the predictions, or have them sent to you automatically twice a week.

Campaign launch: The site made its very soft launch May 20 when July posted the link on her Facebook page.

Whose idea was this? July came to the oracle idea by thinking of ways to avoid tweeting. "Around December it occurred to me that I should join Twitter and have some followers by the time the move comes out," she said. "I discovered that I didn't like Twitter—if it was a good idea, I kept thinking I should make it a scene or short story. But I get that it could be useful, and I'm used to having to do the work to invite people. So I tried to figure out: What could be that length that I would be willing to write?"

What did you want to communicate? "There's no direct link to the movie, but I feel like you can't half-ass this. I don't want to approach this in a less interesting way, which is what marketing can do. I'd rather write a new thing and if you like this, you might like the movie. I want it to seem like a work within itself. If it's successful as its own piece, it will do its job, marketing-wise."

Who created the product? "I've written maybe 200 oracles, but I have to write more. My goal is to have about 500. I knew web people who could do it [site credit goes to Amaranth Ravva, Billie Pate and Aaron Beckum], got a budget and [Roadside Attractions] approved it, which is great because a lot of those [Oracle predictions] are super sexual."

How much did it cost? The site budget was $5,000.

How long did it take to create? "They put it together in like two weeks."

Why this works: "The goal was to be simple and have it spread. A powerful tool is people's self interest. I'll read anything that looks remotely like a horoscope. I figured if I can occupy that space, that would be good."

[Alexandro]

big disappointment. it went from painful to simply boring. none of the "quirks" work.

It's been a while since I've seen Me and You, but I remember it being really exuberant and fresh. Now it just doesn't happen. The premise is not bad at all and Miranda, in the lead role, has the best moments. But this is just the kind of film that makes even hipster apologists like me hate hipsters. Around the 10 minute mark I was about to turn this off.

SPOILERS

The two main characters are basically re evaluating their lives because they're about to adopt a fucking cat. These are not twelve year olds, mind you, but 35 years of age grown ups. As I am 32, with a kid (and two cats), on a low income, struggling to make ends meet, in a city where cops are attacked with grenades; I really fail to see how whether or not adopting a cat is some kind of major issue in anyone's life. So I felt this was a missed opportunity for some great dark humor or intense "magnolia type" drama. but the film is more interested in being tender. The cat is actually voiced by what appears to be a small girl on anti depressants, which doesn't work as humor or as a sincere device. Worst, the guy who plays Miranda's boyfriend is so insanely boring and pussy wussy you just hope she gets out of it and goes to fuck anyone else.

However I stayed, and the film improved. Not too much. Everything with the boyfriend kept being boring or plain silly. At one point the dude "stops time", and remains in the same position for days while everything else keeps going. At other the guy Miranda is fucking tells her she looks great under the sunlight in their garden, and cue indie music and she starts posing in that Miranda July way. And it doesn't work again.

This is supposed to be a film about the anxieties of 30 somethings today, yet they don't seem too anxious about anything, and to be honest their problems are boring. I realize is in many ways an honest film, but it has no real tempo, focus or the charm it thinks it has.