Escape From Tomorrow (Randy Moore, 2013)

[warren oates]

At the New Yorker, Tim Wu says Escape From Tomorrow likely falls under fair use and is not the legal nightmare that many of us imagined.

Wu is essentially making the same arguments Matt does above citing some of the same legal precedents. I don't doubt that they both have compelling arguments. I just wonder if they are strong enough to preempt any Disney legal action. I can imagine a scenario whereby fair use may ultimately win the day in court, but not one in which fair use is so clearly and overwhelmingly established in this case that Disney, should it chose to sue, gets thrown out of court by the judge before a trial can take place.

[zedz]

Yeah, the problem with trademark bullies is usually that the actual legal position is irrelevant if the defendant can't afford to get to court, and that's what Disney and their ilk zero in on. They have the time and resources to make this expensive enough to wipe out any opposition.

[Perkins Cobb]

Already seeing some haters on my Twitter feed, plus Scott Foundas in the Voice says it won't get distributed because it sux, not because of Disney.

[mfunk9786]

The film might very well suck, but methinks that Foundas just fell in love with that pull quote more than he actually believes it. There's obviously going to be a market for a film like this.

[swo17]

Already seeing some haters on my Twitter feed, plus Scott Foundas in the Voice says it won't get distributed because it sux, not because of Disney.

Woah, I had never connected before that Michael B. Jordan from FNL was also Wallace in The Wire.

[mfunk9786]

He turned in a strong performance in the unexpectedly great found footage film Chronicle last year.

[Dylan]

The soundtrack was released today as a digital download on iTunes, where you can also sample every track.

And man does it sound gorgeous! The composer is Abel Korzeniowski, who wrote brilliant scores for A Single Man and W.E., but here was directed to write the kind of soaring and romantic "Golden Age" score very few films are graced with anymore.

I'm with most everybody else: the more I read or hear about this film (and now, having heard the soundtrack), the more fascinating it sounds & the more excited I am to see it.

[mfunk9786]

Apparently screeners of this are already out there in the world, so any legal effort by Disney won't likely keep it from being seen in its uncut form on the black market a la Superstar.

[htshell]

Any news?

[The Third Man]

This will be screening at this year's Ebertfest.

[Lionel]

Managed to catch this at Eberfest.
It could use some cutting and not too polished, but overall I quite liked it and it reminded me of the still unreleased 'Nothing lasts forever'.
I do love the spirit of the filmmakers and I can only hope cheaper equipment will push new artist to make something as interesting as "Escape from Tomorrow".
From the Q&A unfortunately it doesn't seem like the film has a distributor yet though.

[mfunk9786]

Anything new on this? I'd hate to see it just lost to history.

[John Cope]

Headed to theaters after all.

[mfunk9786]

Great news! Will be a great midnight movie around that time of year.

[captveg]

Excellent. Will definitely go VOD if I can't make it to the theater.

[Jeff]

Apparently the new distributor isn't the slightest bit worried about provoking Disney. Check out the poster.

[Matt]

It's clever in concept, but that's a very ugly poster. I was under the impression this was meant to be a fairly serious film.

[captveg]

It's clever in concept, but that's a very ugly poster. I was under the impression this was meant to be a fairly serious film.

Agree. The original poster is lightyears better.

[Red Screamer]

I saw this film at Ebertfest earlier this year and I had similar expectations walking into the film. It starts out with an ingenious idea and is quite spooky until about 45 minutes in. Then it gets silly and starts to drag on and on. The last half hour becomes ridiculous to the point of idiocy. So to answer, it's not a serious film at all. It seems like it started out that way then they abandoned that idea fairly quickly. And yes they do blur out all kinda of logos and other trademarked material but most of the time it's done ironically

[Professor Wagstaff]

Trailer

[flyonthewall2983]

Hmm, I thought it would have been more serious.

[mfunk9786]

That link doesn't work for me

[Matt]

It doesn't work for anyone anymore, the trailer has been removed on a DMCA claim.

[flyonthewall2983]

It's on IMDB.

[Dylan]

I'm surprised so many are so disappointed that this doesn't look or seem "serious" enough. No, it doesn't look like Through a Glass Darkly, but it looks extremely imaginative, beautiful, and spooky. I've heard the score, which is big, slicing an emotional jugular vein - it's effect, I imagine, will be a disarmingly romantic and nostalgic counterpoint to what appears to be a considerable amount of longing and horror.

And for the record, I prefer the new poster - the font is ten million times better (albeit, it is the Walt Disney signature font) & there's something perverse about a blood-soaked Mickey Mouse hand. The art for the older poster is very good & reminds me a bit of the old Disney Something Wicked This Way Comes poster, but I think the new art cuts deeper into my own fascination for this project.