By MICHAEL SMITH Movie Critic on Jan 2, 2009, at 10:33 AM Updated on 1/02 at 10:33 AM
I SEE MOVIES FOR FREE
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No sooner had the 8 a.m. hour struck on Friday than two readers who saw my top 10 listing for 2008 films had e-mailed with the same question I've been getting for weeks. Then came another. Then a couple of phone calls.
OK, Mr. Smith, you've seen "Frost/Nixon," you loved it, now when does it reach Tulsa for the rest of us? The answer: Maybe Jan. 16. Or Jan. 23. Or Jan. 30.
Even the New York Times opined this week that the Ron Howard-directed, Oscar-contending film inspired by David Frost's interviews with a disgraced President Richard Nixon "has yet to open in midsize cities with audiences as sophisticated as those in Madison, Wis., New Orleans or Tulsa, Okla."
My guess for this delay, and shared in part by the Times story, is that this film depends on awards more than the starpower of its leads, Frank Langella and Michael Sheen. So two dates of importance are coming up that may affect its release: The Golden Globes are awarded this Sunday ("Frost/Nixon" is up for five awards), Jan. 11, and Academy Award nominations are announced Jan. 22.
Golden Globe wins could mean a Jan. 16 release here in Tulsa. Or a Jan. 23 release could capitalize on Oscar mentions.
Bottom line: Universal Studios, the distributor of "Frost/Nixon" that wants its fine film to find an audience, likely decided that "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Doubt" would attract the same sophisticated, older audience as their film, and that the people of Tulsa and other locales would buy tickets to see Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett or Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman over Langella/Sheen if the three films were all released at the same time.
The "Frost/Nixon" release strategy makes sense in this box-office regard. Not that this lengthy explanation makes those in Tulsan wanting to see the film any more patient.
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