I don’t get it.
I went to the Fremont on Friday night, worried that the place might be packed for a screening of "U2 3D," the concert movie about the mega-famous Irish rockers. But I was astounded to see that just eight people — including my wife and I — had shown up.
Eight people for a movie about arguably the best, most popular band of the last 25 years.
In 3D!
When I told my friend Dan about this, he was immediately pessimistic.
“Rock ’n’ roll is dead,” he said, sounding defeated.
He and his wife went the following Saturday, and there were only a couple of dozen people — in a theater that seats 800.
It just doesn’t make sense. A few weeks ago, I tried to see “The Princess Bride” at the Fremont, but I had to get a refund because it sold out. Assuming that “Princess Bride” fans included a lot of 80s fans, I figured the U2 movie would also be teeming with people.
After all, the movie had stellar reviews — and with good reason. It featured great camera angles, it captured the energy of live stadium shows, and, of course, it featured lots of the band’s greatest hits.
This would have been a great movie even had it not been in 3D. But the 3D was also remarkably well done, giving you a feel for what it’d really be like to be in the front row or even onstage with Bono.
So why didn’t anyone go to see it? Would a movie about Justin Timberlake attract more than eight people on a Friday night? I have to think it would and, frankly, that depresses me.
Maybe people were saving their money for the upcoming San Luis Obispo International Film Festival which begins next week. For more on that, check out this Thursday’s Ticket.
Meanwhile, maybe Martin Scorsese can help revive rock ’n’ roll. Before the U2 movie, there was a preview for his upcoming film, Shine a Light, a documentary that will span the entire history of the world’s second greatest rock band. Look for the Rolling Stones flick beginning in April. Meanwhile, Scorsese, who gave us “The Last Waltz,” also plans to make a documentary about Reggae guru Bob Marley.
***
Speaking of the Stones, check out Ron Wood’s art. The Stones guitarist is quite good. His portraits of other rock stars are especially fun.
--Pat P.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Is rock and roll dead? U2 at the Fremont
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6 comments:
I recently went to the Fremont for the ONE showing of Tom Petty's 4 hour documentary by Peter Bogdanovich. There may have been 2 dozen people there. I, too was worried I might not get a seat...
Did you say Justin Timberlake?!?!?!??
Interesting. I'm in a demographic that would be attracted to both of those films. I would have considered going to one or both, but I never heard that they were playing at the Fremont.
So, whatever promotion was done locally for those shows, it didn't reach me. I suspect it may not have touched the majority of the people most likely to have attended.
Tell me if you think I'm wrong:
I'd say it was a marketing misfire...if there was any marketing effort.
As for The Tribune, so much of the entertainment "news" seems written for (and by) teenagers (or adults who try to hard to be teenagers), I suspect folks of the demographic interested in a U2 or Petty film skip over The Ticket or entertainment "news" on the website and so wouldn't have heard about this.
If The Tribune's own market/readership research suggests otherwise, I welcome someone to set us straight on this.
I've been misquoted by the liberal media yet again! I believe that my comment was "Pop music is dead." This isn't quite the same as saying "Rock 'n' Roll is dead."
Thanks to you, they won't serve me at Boo Boos. They'll turn me away at Downtown Brew. And I can just forget about getting my hands on any Rod Stewart tix.
That's it. My rockin' days are over. Over!
--Dan
The mystery isn't really that much of a mystery people. The movie was created for IMAX. That's a fact.
Of course there will be regular conventional theaters that will play these 3-D movies, even like that Montana Bobana chicks movie, or whatever her name is. But the fact of the matter is these movies aren’t going to be half as engaging in a traditional theater.
I'm about as hardcore U2 fan as you're probably going to get in these parts (sadly) and I didn't even see it at the Fremont. It was hard not to go when I heard it about it, trust me, but I didn’t want to be “premature”. By the way, when you’re a fan of anything, you follow it. Any U2 fan in the area knew it was playing at the Fremont. They just didn’t want to see it that way. Again…IMAX.
I'm holding out to go see it with all my other U2 buddies down in San Diego on my good friends birthday at the end of March. We're going to go see it the right way - at an IMAX, with 300 other screaming people trying to punch Bono in the face with envy, as he comes jumping out at us, smiling ear to ear, flys and all. Sorry, we U2 fans get angry sometimes at just how stellar this band is.
By the way, one of my friends down in L.A. has seen it several times and every time it’s been packed, he said.
It’s too bad it’s already gone. I would of liked to been able to revisit it over and over after my initial viewing down south, even if it was just me, a few select friends and the projector guy…or girl.
To be quite honest though, I don’t really think it would of mattered too much if we did have an IMAX that played it in this area. I mean, I’m a big fan, so I wanted the ultimate experience. A lot of moderate fans though wouldn’t care about the venue as much. So what it really tells me is this…the majority of San Luis Obispo has crappy taste in music. Oops! Remember, we U2 fans get angry sometimes.
I have to disagree that fan's of The Princess Bride would also be interested in U2 just because both are from the 80's. One is a comedic fantasy movie and the other is Rock-Pop band. The Princess Bride was aimed at an all ages group when it came out, and many associate it with memories of their childhood. I think the youngest age group that U2 would appeal to at the time would be teenagers and college age kids. Also, considering the fact that U2 and Bono are still very active I don't think they necessarily elicit the same amount of 80's nostalgia. Now, if you had been comparing Princess Bride to Flight of the Navigator...
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