Former Film Threat colleague Mark Bell coined a term a while back in reference to the clan of boorish film journalists who are constantly invited to junkets, festivals and various other film related activities. He called it “film industry inertia” wherein no matter how crappy and unprofessional the writer, how lousy their manners and behavior, no matter how “in-bed” they are with certain studios (thus screwing over ones they aren’t in cahoots with) these creepy critics are still first in line to get screeners and press invites to film events. Thus readers are forced to go to their sites first to get breaking news on buzz-worthy flicks.
I don’t know how they continually get away with it. Mostly it has to stem from the fact that publicists need to do their job and get word out on their films no matter how much of an asshole the writer/blogger/journalist has become over the years. And part of it stems from fear that said writer/blogger/journalist might stomp their feet and cry about what they “aren’t” getting and thus try to make a film, PR firm or studio look bad. In any case, it’s rewarding bad behavior and today, a rare thing happened: Roger Friedman opened his mouth a few too many times and was not granted access to an early screening of “Valkyrie.”
On his blog at the FOX News website (well, that explains a few things), Friedman had a full blown foot stomping tantrum and claimed he was “banned” from seeing “Valkyrie.” Notorious suck-up Friedman whines, “This column has been banned from seeing a preview screening of Tom Cruise in Valkyrie. The publicists for the film at 42West and United Artists sent me an email on Saturday to that effect. So what shall we do?” Hmmm…funny thing is, Friedman wasn’t banned from anything, he just simply wasn’t invited.
L.A. Times blogger Patrick Goldstein (one of the few film writers out there who still seems to derive comedy from Friedman’s slanted writings) caught on to Friedman’s bitch session and did some legwork to get the real scoop. He spoke with UA marketing exec Michael Vollman who shed some light on the studios decision. Turns out Friedman has not only continually made fun of star Tom Cruise over the years but of late he’s set his negativity on “Valkyrie” itself, never missing a chance to take a pot-shot at the film. In fact Vollman swears Friedman told one of the publicists for “Valkyrie” that “I’m going to hate the movie.”
So just to recap; Friedman has a longstanding dislike of Tom Cruise and has been badmouthing “Valkyrie” every chance he gets. He even goes so far as to tell a person involved in the PR of the actual film he hates it before even seeing it. Then, when he doesn’t get invited to an early screening of the film, he claims he was banned and ends that statement with a poor me “what shall we do?” Then, rather than accept responsibility for publicly poking fun at “Valkyrie” for months leading up to the films release and therefore digging his own grave in terms of a sneak-peek, Friedman tries to make it seem as though the studio didn’t want his “straight shooter” opinion on the film out there for all to see. He then goes on to quote Eugene Levy’s diss on the film as a way to prove that he was right, that “Valkyrie” is bad.
Wow. Just…wow. For starters Roger, don’t twist facts to make it look like you’re being mistreated. You made your bed, now lie in it. Funnily enough, I always thought film writers were doing their job so people could read about films, not so we could each voice our displeasure with a certain person or studio. Furthermore, everyone should be striving to see a film with an open mind, especially if they’re expected to write intelligently about the film after the fact.
As I mentioned at the start of this blog, it’s not a secret to anyone involved in film journalism that Roger Friedman is a bottom of the barrel guy who writes for a top of the line (in terms of traffic) website. And most people don’t care that he acts like a high schooler in a clique who will make life a living hell for people who don’t do what he wants. In fact it’s really become a game wherein many of us gather to watch him and other creeps of the crop gather around publicists at screenings or festivals and act out their role of spoiled, self-important pricks that they are. But it’s so refreshing to see a studio finally stick it to one of these unprofessional louts and call them on their bad behavior. Now if only other studios and PR firms would follow suit, we could start to turn around the sinking ship that is informed film journalism.
Note: Ironically I caught wind of this story via “Hollywood Elsewhere”
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Posted by Don R. Lewis in Writer's Corner