'G.I. Joe' strategy is curious

I have to admit that I'm still a little stunned at the actions of Paramount Pictures officials.

The studio has done everything in its power to ensure that movie critics — legitimate ones, at least — were unable to see "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra." The new action-thriller is based on the popular Saturday-morning cartoon and comic book series, both of which were based off the popular action figure line.

And even though Paramount did hold a few public screenings of the movie the night before the film opened, the studio barred critics from those screenings. Even though the last-minute nature of those showings meant that critics wouldn't have been unable get in opening-day reviews.

Paramount Vice Chairman Rob Moore tried to explain, telling The Associated Press that, "we chose to forgo opening-day print and broadcast reviews as a strategy to promote (it). We want audiences to define this film."

And box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian agreed, saying that the studio doesn't "need" to screen the movie, and that "there's no upside to negative reviews. The film is going to open well no matter what." Dergarabedian did note that Paramount officials are "being very strategic in who they show the movie to."

Reading between the lines, that meant showing the movie to hand-picked, sympathetic-to-the-cause critics. Early reviews of the film came from the likes of Dark Horizons webmaster Garth Franklin, who pretty much likes everything he sees.

And of course, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News got to see the film. He is still infamous for his support of such turkeys as "The Faculty" (a film in which he made a cameo appearance).

I'm not bitter about this, though. Really, I'm not.

GO LOCAL!

Next weekend's Salt Lake City Film Festival (Aug. 14-16) features two movies with strong local ties.

The documentary "Best Worst Movie" focuses on "Troll 2," a now-infamous, 1990 horror movie that was shot in Porterville (a section of the film also shows some of a "Troll 2" fan event at Salt Lake's Tower Theatre).

And the romantic comedy "White on Rice" comes from local filmmaker and actor Dave Boyle.

Information on the festival, including screening times for both movies as well as ticket prices, is available at www.saltlakecityfilmfestival.com.

Also, this year's Pioneer Park Picture Show series — sponsored by the Downtown Alliance and the Salt Lake Film Center — consists entirely of films that were made in Utah.

The series is held at the downtown park (300 West and 300 South) and runs through August. Earlier film included both "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) and "Footloose" (1984).

This Friday, the series will screen the classic Western "The Searchers" (1956).

Screenings in the series start at dusk (approximately 8 p.m.), though an accompanying craft market runs from 6-9 p.m.

Information on the series and other film center events is available at www.slcfilmcenter.org.

e-mail: jeff@desnews.com