What is wrong with downloading a movie early'

Harry here... Well Moriarty certainly stirred up the shit yesterday didn't he?

Is there a double standard, a certain level of hypocrisy when it comes to condemning the widespread piracy of film via the internet when often times Moriarty and myself come into contact with materials that we shouldn't be seeing early, by most accounts?

There is, definitely. No denying it. When you enter the profession of "Film Reporter and Commentator" it becomes your "Job" to get an advance look at film. I get sent by publicists, agents, actors, writers, directors, executives a lot of screeners to watch and evaluate. Often times - they don't tell the rest of their company that they are arranging for me to see something, sometimes they do. When John McTiernan picked me up in that Private Jet and took me to New York to see ROLLERBALL early - MGM didn't know, and when I showed up at that screening, they liked to have died. The color collectively drained from their faces. When I cross-dressed to get into an early screening of ME, MYSELF & IRENE - I walked right by Bill Mechanic - it was classic. When I walked into that hotel room and saw Episode 2 last year, I was scared shitless, but was assured that the copy I was seeing would be returned. I never touched that tape, never made a copy, didn't even want a copy - and it was a lousy fucking way to see the movie. It was exciting. Thrilling. One helluva charge. But ultimately - I wish I had seen the film on the big screen surrounded by friends and other geeks, rather than having two alleged LFL employees staring at me the whole time. BUT - getting the story is the whole bottom line.

However, I take the trust that folks put in me very seriously - and the materials I get don't spread after me. When a script is sent to me, via an agent, producer, director, writer, executive or what not - and I'd say 9 times out of 10 it is one of those fellas - well after I read it, the script is either shredded or included in my collection. It isn't copied and sent on. If a writer that writes for AICN wants to write a review of that material - they sit in my house and they read it here. That's why I refer to my home as Geek Headquarters.

Those that have read AICN for 7 years now, may have noticed that we don't post links to scripts, we don't post links to full features and you may remember that the first piece written about the problem of Film Piracy online was written by me - over 5 years ago. I remember Variety and Hollywood Reporter telling me that I was lying - that you can't download movies off the internet. They asked me how and I explained it, and even after explaining it to them, they couldn't figure it out. Now - However - it is a different animal altogether. There's whole websites dedicated to alerting folks when a new "pirated" film is online, they rate the quality of the image, sound and film and provide screengrabs from the feature.

Is it an absolute evil?

Actually - I see it as forcing Hollywood towards massive advances in technology and release patterns... which is both great and bad.

First - we're beginning to see globalized release dates for high profile gotta see films like MATRIX RELOADED, X2, LORD OF THE RINGS, STAR WARS. This is great for a community of film lovers that read about movies collectively on sites like mine, Dark Horizons, CHUD, etc. For the first several years of AICN - I used to be deluged with email from folks in countries all over the world that absolutely hated having to wait for releases. Now - that process is speeding up.

Second - To help facilitate a world wide quality control and release, we're seeing DIGITAL PROJECTION and DISTRIBUTION occurring. The 2K projector is going to begin debuting - and there's word that a 4K projector may be happening which will give astonishing clarity far better than regular film projection - that never scratches, never fades and is always beautiful. Essentially this is the death of film as the delivery system by which we see movies - digital will be the future, no matter how much traditionalists whine.

Third - Piracy greatly helps people in regions that never could see films before, to see them. I've gotten many letters from movie geeks in remote areas of Africa that have never in their lives seen a movie in a theater. They fully love and embrace piracy as a way to see the movies... at all. It is inspiring these folks to want to make movies, to partake in the medium. It is giving them a reference and lust for film that people in their areas never had before. Frankly - that's pretty cool.

Fourth - One could claim that it forces the studios to "make better movies" that will inspire folks that are watching these things online - to want to see these movies on the Big Screen. However, at the same time - it hurts little films, because the companies that pick up films like the recent MAY, THE EYE or HERO - the distribution companies know that their real money is in DVD release - because the risk of the film playing in a theater may result in a copy being released and all of a sudden putting money into advertising may result in a profit loss, due to raising the profile of the film, thus increasing its odds of appearing online. This has begun to happen.

Fifth - It adds inconveniences to the theatrical experience like... Metal detectors and security guards with Night Vision Goggles watching the audience. Personally - I hate the idea of movie theaters become part of a police state, and I loathe the concept of a diminishing theatrical experience occurring.

Ultimately I know that that the movies that are in the highest demand are still going to make serious money at the box office. Just look at the wild success of X2, MATRIX RELOADED, FINDING NEMO, BRUCE ALMIGHTY, etc... All of them had copies online in advance of their day of release - and box office records have been falling by the wayside.

What online piracy is hurting isn't opening weekends - it's the length that many good films play. Film geeks - folks like you and me. We tend to obsess over films, watching them over and over and over again. In the old days, you'd sneak buddies into drive-ins in the trunk of your car. When I was a teenager you'd sneak from film to film at a multiplex. Now, thanks to Online Pirates - its a click away.

And I fully expect Hollywood to adapt. I've already gone to screenings this summer where I had to leave my cel phone in the car, had to go through metal detectors, I've even been patted down - just imagine - online piracy has caused some poor soul to have to physically pat my disgusting fat carcass to make sure that underneath a gigantic roll of fat, I don't have a high quality digital camera in hiding. Think about that poor underpaid servant for the man and the years of trauma this is all giving him.

DVD has already become the medium by which we usually get to see the original director's vision for films - because studios are too nervous to release the "edgier" versions to theaters when "softer" versions will allow the "family" market in which they know are not as active in the piracy world. Yet.

So where do I come down on Internet Film Piracy?

I know the pros and cons of it. I can see the fear in the studios, artists, writers and contributors to the medium. I can see the evolution of the medium continuing, and because I'm very familiar with the history of cinema and the fear that Television would destroy film, and knowing that it instead led to Technicolor, Cinemascope and 3-D. When Home Video came about - I remember the death knells being sounded then - and I know that THX & DIGITAL SOUND and Theatrical Quality went into motion. And I know that the world of Movies will come out of this with improvements that I can only guess about right now. I imagine counterfeiting precautions will begin in prints where the frame rate will be changed to create a strobing on the Video Cameras that they can't be adjusted for - and it will slow things down for a while. That Cameron helps create the Digital 3D camera to improve 3-D in cinemas. That's just the immediate reaction I'm seeing... oh, and the studios themselves working on a high quality digital delivery of first run films on demand.

The key thing that I agree with Moriarty about with the current HULK Work Print is this... MANY of the reviews we got that were based on ONLINE Work Print reviews complained of shoddy CG - editing problems and sound issues - and frankly - when the final film is in release and beginning to be screened, I'm not going to be running reviews of an incomplete inferior copy of the film, when hell... I saw the final film 3 days before the Work Print was released. It isn't about "serving the studios" it's about serving the audience. People like you deserve to hear about the best version of the film that people have seen currently, not a inferior version. As for Moriarty's "Shame on you!" Well, it was too close to Christmas and lots of people are letting their enthusiasm to see the movie NOW get in the way. Hell... we can all understand it, I'm not going to scream "Shame at you" for it, but I am going to recommend seeing this movie as soon as possible on the big screen - because... well you haven't seen THE HULK - till you see him whupping ass on the big screen. And I also know most of you don't even need me to tell you that or any of this. But I saw that many of you wanted me to chime in on this subject, so I have.