The calendar has officially changed over to 2013, and apparently that means that thanks to Twitter and the marketing moves of a generous movie studio anyone can be a critic lending his or her near-anonymous support to an upcoming film.
Take this teaser for the upcoming film Broken City, Allen Hughes' political crime thriller that pits tough-as-nails former cop Mark Wahlberg against potentially shady mayor Russell Crowe, and reportedly lets the fireworks fly. Instead of featuring promotional quotes by movie critics from legitimate outlets – a process that, admittedly, has grown suspect over the years – 20th Century Fox has opted to use Tweets pulled from the hash tag #BrokenCity. See for yourself:
So the question becomes, “Does this matter to you?” Have recommendations by respected critics become as meaningful (or meaningless) as 140-character messages posted on random Twitter accounts? If @BadBreak_Billy tells you “Mark Wahlberg is Bad Ass” in a TV commercial for Broken City, does it carry equal weight as Peter Travers from Rolling Stone saying essentially the same thing?
From a studios’ standpoint, it’s a fun and interactive way to get Broken City fans excited about the film’s release … and hand out a few shout outs in a commercial. But someone not paying attention might think these are critics’ quotes. Maybe that’s Fox’s intent. At the very least, the clip does offer new footage from the thriller, which will be opening in theaters on January 18th. In addition to Wahlberg and Crowe, Hughes – one half of the Hughes Brothers – has cast Barry Pepper, Jeffrey Wright, Kyle Chandler and Catherina Zeta-Jones. Do you think you’ll see the movie on opening weekend? Or will you wait to see what the reactions are on Twitter?
