First, let me crow a bit about a few things. First, I updated my post about selling Star Wars: The Last Jedi with screenshots of how a link to my Adweek column was both curated by Jeff Beer for his “After These Messages” marketing newsletter and used by Adweek itself as a paid ad on LinkedIn, both of which are pretty cool.

Also this week, WordPress Discover featured my Cinematic Slant post about Hollywood now resorting to remaking adaptations as one of the Editor’s Picks, a screenshot of which is below.

cinematic slant wordpress disover

It’s been a decent week…

Cinematic Slant

Cinematic Slant is where I write about movies, including the campaign recaps I’ve been doing since 2004 along with other news and opinions.

The Post – Marketing Recap: Finally, a campaign that makes me feel like it’s awards season. This is the kind of movie, with the kind of stars and the kind of director, that *should* be released in the last month of the year because everything about it says not “escape” but “ponder.”

the post pic

Downsizing – Marketing Recap: …he funny, pleasant campaign may not be accurately selling the film, setting up the potential for audience expectations to be upset or at least not met when it opens.

downsizing pic

Bright – Marketing Recap: The marketing certainly isn’t going to appeal to everyone, just as it wouldn’t if we were talking about a theatrical release. It’s geared toward fans of Smith’s as well as genre fans and the kind of person who would want to play a deeply immersive video game with a similar premise as the movie. It sometimes looks silly, or as if it’s taking itself too seriously.

bright pic

The Greatest Showman – Marketing Recap: Ultimately the movie is being sold as a story of American exceptionalism, of how one man used his imagination and creativity to carve out his own destiny and create a global institution while doing so.

greatest showman pic

Pitch Perfect 3 – Marketing Recap: There’s certainly an attempt here to recapture the magic that lead to the first Pitch Perfect being an unexpectedly large hit in 2012 and which kept going through the 2014 sequel. The poster, as already mentioned, keeps the branding going with the same look and feel of what’s come before.

pitch perfect 3 pic

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – Marketing Recap: There’s certainly nods in the direction of the beloved original in the formal marketing and the cast mentioned it on occasion, talking about the connective story tissue between the two films. But there’s a real desire, it seems to me, to present it as its own thing, not tied down to what’s come before.

jumanji pic

Hostiles – Marketing Recap: There’s nothing about the marketing here that puts it in any of those categories. Instead, it’s presented as a somber meditation on topics such as duty, honor, human kindness and death. That may not be the message audiences are looking for over the holiday or one they’ll react positively to.

hostiles pic

Father Figures – Marketing Recap: I’ll be honest, I considered ditching this one and leaving it off the list of movies I was covering because it looks like kind of a disaster. The comedy seems forced and largely unfunny and the story thin.

father figures pic

This Writing Life

This Writing Life is where I share my thoughts, experiences and tips on the writing process.

Edit Others, Edit Myself: Over the course of my career I’ve been asked to edit numerous items. To do so I’ve relied on a handful of points to guide my thinking and decision making.

eraser

My Next Writing Challenge: Music: For as deeply as I feel music, I don’t write about it well. Conveying how it moves and affects me is difficult and I struggle to put into words emotions that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s too much for me to clearly explain how a driving, powerful big band horn section sounds to me like fire sweeping across a landscape.

rush time stand still

Do I Have a Calling to Write?: A calling is a tricky thing. It means, in its most religious sense, what God has meant for you to do. It’s the answer to the question “Why are you here?”

nope

Chris Thilk is a freelance writer and content strategist who lives in the Chicago suburbs.