Reel Talk: To Tweet, Or Not To Tweet

The headline movie for June is Prometheus. I’ve been cool on the prospect of the Alien prequel, primarily because the last time Ridley Scott made a great film Michael Jackson was still alive. And at number 1 in the charts. And black. Sorry, that’s a bad (and very old) joke. Here’s a good one though:

“Heard a rumour that Ridley Scott's holding back 30 seconds of Prometheus footage for the theatrical release. Not sure I believe it though...”

It’s from Tom Sutcliff (aka @tds15), presenter of Radio 4’s Saturday Review. It popped up on my twitter timeline a few months ago and it pithily summarises everything I hate about Prometheus’s marketing campaign, and movie marketing in general.

Twitter's great for stuff like this. 140 characters seems the perfect length for an acerbic epigram aimed at pop culture. The problem is, twitter also has a habit, like the viral marketing machines, of making you feel you’ve seen a movie months before it’s came out.

For the last two weeks I’ve desperately tried to shun spoilers from Cannes as critics bombard Twitter with tweet reviews as they scurry along la Croisette. It's a bit like being in an online version of that episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? where Bob and Terry try (and fail) to avoid hearing the England score before it’s shown on telly later that evening.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t sour grapes because I’m not there myself. It’s just that I resent the fact that I now know the rough critical consensus on the next twelve months of art-house releases through social networking osmosis. If I’m going to be forced to live the festival vicariously in my living room at least let me get changed into my tux before you tell me that "On the Road is a masterpiece" or that "the new Michael Haneke sucks ass."

This is why I’m cherishing the start of the 66th Edinburgh International Film Festival on 20 June. In this digital age, attending a world premiere at a film festival might be the only way to truly see a film mint fresh before fanboys, critics and the marketeers reveal every last plot point online.

Then again, maybe I’m just an old fart who needs to get with the times – I did just make a reference to Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, after all.