Aha! Someone sees Sarah Palin's movie and sees through her transparent playbook

New York magazine writes, in "Movie Review: Sarah Palin Looks Defeatable in The Undefeated:"

Given that The Undefeated is a clamorous, two-hour political infomercial for Sarah Palin and her (to my mind, inevitable) presidential run, I have to ask: Why, since the film is scheduled to open only in Palin-friendly cities like Dallas, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, and San Diego, was it specially screened for critics like me in NYC and L.A.? My guess is that we’re looking at a twofold strategy born of desperation. First, reviews in major publications will force Palin back into the conversation of coastal “elites,” now spending all their time mulling over Michele Bachmann and her swishy homophobic husband. Second, our presumed ridicule will be red meat for Palin loyalists, paid and unpaid, who’ll be spurred to come together yet again in the face of a common enemy. ...

... This is, of course, the playbook that Palin has been using — by design or instinct or, more likely, both — since she burst onto the Wasilla scene, riling up the mob against those who oppose her decency and authenticity and the way she stands up for “ordinary workin’ folks.” ...

Yes, there is something undignifed in writing -- even reading -- about Sarah Palin. We are being used.

Some other reviews are out, today, too:

Time magazine's "The Undefeated: Her Holiness Sarah Palin;"

The Atlantic's "Sarah Palin's 'The Undefeated': Bad Propaganda, Worse Filmmaking;"

and The Atlantic's "Sarah Palin Movie Debuts to Empty Theater in Orange County."

Harry Potter gets more attention than Sarah Palin in conservative Orange County! Who could have known?

Update: MOVIE|LINE has "Empty Theaters, 0% Positive Reviews Greet Sarah Palin Documentary."

Update: The N.Y. Daily News has "In some cities, it's Bellatrix Lestrange versus... Sarah Palin."

Update: MTV has "'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 2': The Reviews Are In!"

The last word comes from The L.A. Times' "Sarah Palin documentary 'The Undefeated' opens in Orange County; three pay to attend:"

... Right before the Palin doc at the Block started Thursday night, two giggling sisters planning on going to Disneyland in the morning arrived in Friedersdorf's theater.

"We looked online for the latest movie playing," one of the sisters told him. "But all the Harry Potters were sold out, and then we saw 'The Undefeated.' We don't even actually know what we're seeing."

Soon after the film started the sisters, like Palin when she was governor of Alaska, left early.

Can 'documentary' films about Sarah Palin succeed?

When I first read about the Sarah Palin film "The Undefeated," I didn't think it could be successful, because I thought, "Who goes to a theatre and pays to see a documentary?" Aren't they all so boring that they eventually end up on TV? This morning there is an article at New York magazine about the two -- two! including Nick Broomfield's new, untitled film, which is an alternative to "The Undefeated" -- Palin documentaries, and it hints at how they could be successful. The article is by Claude Brodesser-akner, who writes about film for the magazine. Everyone may find the article incendiary in some way, even Madonna's fans, no matter which part of the political spectrum they inhabit:

... In the media, Palin is under constant (self-encouraged) scrutiny, as a magnet for both adulation and vilification. But when these docs come out, will anyone who either loves or hates her pay for the privilege of having their preconceptions reconfirmed? ...

... To be fair, docs are always a notoriously tricky niche in which to seek success, regardless of subject, and only a dozen have ever even grossed more than $13 million. (Four in this group came from lefty firebrand Michael Moore. The rest mostly star animals like penguins, lions, and Madonna.) And when it opens on July 15, The Undefeated will face another handicap: The audiences for documentaries are generally liberal, says Rocky Mountain Pictures principal Ron Rodgers, who released the 2008 pro-intelligent design documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (with star Ben Stein). "It's hard to keep the attention of the faith-based audience," says Rodgers. "Even with a faith-based message, they don’t like documentaries. [Expelled] performed poorly throughout the whole southeast - the whole Bible Belt was quite soft with it.”

Interestingly enough, Expelled did go on to gross $7.7 million, but it was thanks to Democratic ticket-buyers who were driven by curiosity, either intellectual or perverse. (There are those on the left who enjoy the act of getting apoplectic listening to opposing viewpoints: by screaming at Rush Limbaugh on their car radios, for example.) When Rocky Mountain gave its film a wide release, it had great - and unexpected - success in such liberal hubs as San Francisco's Embarcadero theater. ...

... Those behind Broomfield's untitled film are just as confident that their doc won't cross party lines in the other direction. First, there's the previously cited opinion that docs don't play as well in red states; but more specifically, Broomfield's spokesman Bright says that the film will turn off right wingers “because it’s the truth.” Zing!

Ultimately, how it does depends on what kind of story Broomfield tells. “The films themselves have to work as movies,” insists John Lesher, the former head of Paramount Vantage, which distributed An Inconvenient Truth. “Al Gore’s story is as much a story of his personal redemption as it a story about the issue of the climate crisis.” Ninety minutes of people pointing out various ways that Sarah Palin is evil may be cathartic for haters, but not necessarily anything they want to pay for. With Expelled, there was a curiosity factor, because while intelligent design is a term that's thrown around quite a bit, it's not explored in great detail on the news every day. But Palin is stubbornly omnipresent, and those who despise her know exactly why they do. (And getting mad at Fox News is free.) As one distribution chief says, “I root for their success — I want every movie to do well - but I think any [Palin] documentary’s prospects are cold — not cool, cold.” ...

I suppose a Palin documentary can be successful, if its budget is small.

New York magazine's post is "Sarah Palin Documentaries, Whether Pro or Con, Face a Tough Future."

The Hollywood Reporter has a post, "New Sarah Palin Documentary Emerges (Video)," which has clips from both films.

The Guardian has "Nick Broomfield film casts critical eye on Sarah Palin."

Do people really listen to Rush Limbaugh to get their blood pressure up?

Sarah Palin stringing Fox along?

Gabriel Sherman has written an article "The Elephant in the Green Room," for New York magazine. The article is about Roger Ailes, the Fox News Chairman. Fox has employed several potential candidates for the 2012 Republican nomination for President, and the article briefly describes how Fox has tried to get Sarah Palin to disclose whether she is going to run.

Fox has already shown Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich the door, because they were thought to be serious about running for the nomination. As for Palin, the article states:

... [Ailes ...] had little choice but to force the hands of the candidates on his payroll. In late February, Shine [Bill Shine, the network's programming chief] made calls to Palin and her husband, Todd, to ask if she was going to run for president. The Palins told him they hadn’t decided. “I’m not sure Sarah has made up her mind one way or the other,” a Palin adviser told me. The network is working hard to get a definitive answer out of her. ...

About two weeks earlier, Huckabee had been called into a meeting with Shine and Dianne Brandy, the network's general counsel, to be quizzed about his intentions, and, apparently, the network concluded that Huckabee wasn't seriously considering a run. They kept him, and, recently, Huckabee publicly said that he wouldn't run.

If Palin were running, she would have had to have left Fox News. If she does intend to run and is stringing the network along until she announces, then she may pay a price in terms of campaign coverage. Palin's may be an unusual case, however. Ailes is said to think, "Palin is an idiot," according to a Republican close to Ailes.

The article also describes how Ailes became disillusioned with Palin.