Gawker: defamer, for your consideration

Quirky Love Story 'Juneau' Eyes Another Award-Season Run

STV — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:30:00 EDT

You knew it was bound to happen: Oliver Stone's gauntlet-throw to chronicle a sitting president by Election Day would be one-upped by an ambitious upstart determined to develop, produce and release a film about a campaigning candidate by the same time. And just like that, from a Defamer operative, comes Juneau, the untold story of Bristol Palin, her babydaddy and one Alaskan governor/vice-presidential hopeful to rule them all. Who knew the sleeper hit of the season would come out of the GOP Convention and not Toronto? Even Roger Ebert is into it! Let the bidding war begin.

For Your Consideration: Best Dripping Wet, Half-Naked Actress Keira Knightley; Also: 'Atonement'

Mark — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:15:09 EST

Kudos to Focus Features' marketing department for injecting some sex into Atonement's For Your Consideration ad campaign by choosing this signature image of Keira Knightley, in which the actress emerges sopping wet from her family estate's fountain in a clingy, see-through slip, as the one that best represents the candidacy of both their critically beloved literary adaptation and director Joe Wright. Sure, the awe-inspiring tracking shot of a war-torn Dunkirk might have been an option that more vividly illustrated Wright's technical skills, but sometimes voters just want to break up the monotony of flipping though the trades by gawking at half-naked ladies.

Should the ad generate the expected positive response, look for Focus to take out a two-page spread promoting artsy Ang Lee fuckfest Lust, Caution with a collage of the complicated, physically punishing sexual positions into which the celebrated filmmaker twisted his awards-worthy talent.

[Ad via THR Digital Edition]

Critics Astonished!

Mark — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:10:02 EDT

As proven by the For Your Consideration ads taken out in today's Var (click the image for a bigger version you can actually read), whether you're contractually obligated to promote a respected actor's performance in an otherwise forgettable FBI thriller or a moody, serial-killer-related period drama that never quite found traction at the box office, "Nothing Short Of Astonishing!" is this awards season's must-have pullquote.

[Images: Digital Variety]

For Your Consideration: The Kid Who Pooped In The Shower On 'The Sopranos'

Mark — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:42:18 EDT

So blinded were we by the ostentation of Paramount's eye-catching, two-page, "We made so much money last week that Brad Grey is buying everyone solid-gold robots" spread for Transformers that we completely missed this far more subtle ad lurking in pages of Variety this morning.

Though you may not recognize the actor who memorably portrayed "Gay" Vito Spatafore's troubled son on The Sopranos this season without his Goth makeup, the clever tagline placed alongside his headshot should instantly remind you of his pivotal role on the series. Even if their pitch comes a little too late to get young Brandon into the Emmy race, at the very least the ad should have his agent's phone ringing off the hook every time a producer is looking for the perfect kid to defecate in a shower.

[Ad via Digital Variety]

Brandon Hannon [brandonhannan.net]

Losing Isaiah

Mark — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 17:02:50 EDT

Readers of the hard-copy of today's Variety were greeted by a promotional cover needily advocating the Emmy-worthiness of the entire Grey's Anatomy ensemble, including recovering castectomy patient Isaiah Washington, whose vaguely menacing photo is separated from that of nemesis T.R. Knight by a five-actor buffer.

Whether ABC Studios was contractually obligated to leave Washington in the ad or just wanted to recognize the fine work he did before having his creative rhythm interrupted by a stint in gayhab, it's probably safe to assume that they wouldn't be too upset if the TV Academy pretended he'd been deleted from their campaign, saving them months of stomach-perforating worry that a triumphant, vindicated Washington might take the stage, raise aloft his gilded avenging-angel statuette, and finally get the chance to deliver the "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" line that fell so flat in his post-shitcanning public statement.

Because we're sympathetic to ABC's predicament, we've taken the liberty of mocking up a revised For Your Considation ad (above; unaltered version here ), which Var subscribers should print out and paste over the original cover.

[Image: Digital Variety]

Isaiah Washington Opens Up About The Pain Of A Very Public 'Grey's' Dumping [Defamer]

Matthew Perry Just Solid Enough For An Ad Buy

Mark — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 17:33:32 EDT

If NBC or Warner Bros. recently ponied up for a For Your Consideration ad for Matthew Perry's fine Studio 60 work (if nothing else, he showed consummate professionalism in not walking out when Aaron Sorkin forced that "hallucinating a drug-addled staff writer alter ego" storyline on him), we completely missed it, but we were heartened to see that TNT wasn't too cheap to pimp its drama The Ron Clark Story in today's trades. Unfortunately for Perry, TNT didn't quit while it was ahead on the "captivating performance" pullquote, instead diminishing his chances by including blurbs damning him with faint "solid!" and "likeable, kind of!" praise. And, of course, things always could be worse, had the network dug up a review describing their original movie with the words, "By its third act, no longer a 'made-for-basic-cable drama about Matthew Perry playing a teacher,' this story evolves into one about Matthew Perry playing a person."

[Image: Digital Variety]

The Ron Clark Story [TNT.tv]
Previously: For Your Consideration: 'L Word' Downgraded To Merely Bi-Curious [Defamer]

For Your Consideration: 'L Word' Downgraded To Merely Bi-Curious

Mark — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 18:24:06 EDT

If you need an example of how desperate networks become during awards season, look no further than today's For Your Consideration ad for The L Word (click above for the full version), in which Showtime demonstrates it craves Emmy legitimacy so badly that it's conspicuously de-emphasizing the show's lesbian spirit in a transparent, misguided attempt to increase its appeal to voters. Even worse than the cynicism behind this strike at the program's Sapphic core is that the ploy could easily backfire, driving away viewers who fear that Showtime has suddenly removed all the hot-girl-on-even-hotter-girl action that made the show popular in the first place.

[Image: Digital Variety]

The L Word[SHO.com]