Posted 6:10 AM by Scoobie Davis

Advance Screening
Last night I went to a media screening for the New Line Cinema film About Schmidt starring Jack Nicholson. The film was directed by Alexander Payne—whose previous film, Election, is one of my favorite films of the last decade. It is a film about Warren Schmidt, a recently retired Omaha insurance actuary, who at age 67, finally decides to examine his life as he prepares for his only daughter’s wedding. I enjoyed watching this film. It wasn't as edgy as Election, but I thought it was a very good film. There were great performances by Nicholson, Kathy Bates, and Howard Hesseman. I think Dermot Mulroney stole the show with his portrayal of Schmidt’s underachieving, mullet-haired, soon-to-be son-in-law; I didn’t recognize him as one of the stars of My Best Friend’s Wedding (I’m not the only one; the production notes indicate “that during production, the younger female visitors to the set refused to believe that Mulroney, with the cascading mullet, Jerry Garcia tie, and black Reeboks, was in fact the same leading man they swooned over in My Best Friend’s Wedding”).

Random thoughts about the film: For those of you who enjoy bad films, when Schmidt is channel-surfing on the TV, he catches a few seconds of Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller in The Private Navy of Sergeant O’Farrell—one of the worst Hope comedies of the 1960’s. For those of you who enjoy bad radio, when Schmidt is in his car, he listens to Rush Limbaugh tell listeners how liberals “see a dark lining in a silver cloud.” Prior to the wedding, Schmidt stays in his future son-in-law’s room and reads the old Encyclopedia Brown books. Sometimes at these screenings, the stars show up to see the audience reaction. If I saw Nicholson, I was planning to schmooze with him—he wasn’t there so I didn’t get my chance.

The press kit we received reflects a good trend in Hollywood. Let me first give you the old movie press kit format: 9”by 12” folder with pockets containing 8.5” by 11” typed production notes and glossy stills from the film. For About Schmidt, they gave us the regular 8.5” by 11” production notes but the press kit was a CD that contained the trailer, some of the soundtrack music, photos, logos, and the production notes. A somewhat better press kit was provided for the film xXx. It consists of a standard 5.25” by 7.5” DVD box with the xXx poster on the front over. Inside, in the inside clips, is a 66-page copy of the production notes. The CD contains the trailer, 29 photos from the film, music from the soundtrack, logos, production notes, and quick access to the xXx web site. The standard CD/DVD box is great because the old folder would inevitably get creased if mailed.