By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Lionsgate recalled its new trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s ” Megalopolis ” Wednesday amid revelations that critics’ quotes were fabricated.
“Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for Megalopolis,” a Lionsgate spokesperson said in a statement to The Associated Press. “We offer our sincere apologies to the critics involved and to Francis Ford Coppola and American Zoetrope for this inexcusable error in our vetting process. We screwed up. We are sorry.”
The trailer, released earlier Wednesday, included quotes from critics like Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert of other Coppola films that did not actually appear in their reviews. The intent, it seems, was to highlight the critical divisiveness of now-classics like “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now,” leaning into some of the more negative reactions to “Megalopolis,” the self-financed $120 million epic opening in September.
The trailer attributed a quote to Kael that “The Godfather” was “diminished by its artsiness.” But Kael loved “The Godfather,” and this phrase was not used in her March 1972 review of the film for The New Yorker. Ebert also did not write that Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” was “a triumph of style over substance.” Quotes from Rex Reed and Vincent Canby, about “Apocalypse Now,” did not appear in their reviews either.
“Megalopolis” has been decades in the making, and it received many mixed reviews upon its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. It has also come under scrutiny of late for alleged misconduct on set, after videos leaked of Coppola hugging and kissing extras during a club scene. Representatives have not responded to the AP’s requests for comment about the videos.
The film is set to have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month before hitting theaters on Sept. 27.
Review: Director-Writer Megan Park’s “My Old Ass”
They say tripping on psychedelic mushrooms triggers hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia and nervousness. In the case of Elliott, an 18-year-old restless Canadian, they prompt a visitor.
"Dude, I'm you," says the guest, as she nonchalantly burns a 'smores on a campfire next to a very high and stunned Elliott. "Well, I'm a 39-year-old you. What's up?"
What's up, indeed: Director-writer Megan Park has crafted a wistful coming-of-age tale using this comedic device for "My Old Ass" and the results are uneven even though she nails the landing.
After the older Elliott proves who she is — they share a particular scar, childhood memories and a smaller left boob — the time-travel advice begins: Be nice to your brothers and mom, and stay away from a guy named Chad.
"Can we hug?" asks the older Elliott. They do. "This is so weird," says the younger Elliott, who then makes things even weirder when she asks for a kiss — to know what it's like kissing yourself. The older Elliott soon puts her number into the younger's phone under the name "My Old Ass." Then they keep in touch, long after the effects of the 'shrooms have gone.
Part of the movie's problem that can't be ignored is that the two Elliotts look nothing alike. Maisy Stella plays the coltish young version and a wry Aubrey Plaza the older. Both turn in fine performances but the visuals are slowly grating.
The arrival of the older Elliott coincides with her younger self counting down the days until she can flee from her small town of 300 in the Muskoka Lakes region to college in Toronto, where "my life is about to start." She's sick of life on a cranberry farm.
Park's scenes and dialogue are unrushed and honest as Elliott takes her older self's advice and tries to repair... Read More