Snooze Racer

I commend Warner Bros. for the alacrity with which they were able to get an interview with the just-cast Christina Ricci up on YouTube to talk about her upcoming role as Trixie in the Wachowski Brothers' Speed Racer. But come on. Could this interview be any more boring? There's no there here. No real information about her, the script, her character, nothing that makes me want to see this movie. Just a lot of platitudes like "I'm just really excited" and "It's really thrilling" and that Trixie is "sort of tom boyish but really cute and super capable at the same time." Zzzzzzzzzzz. I'd rather spend a hot summer day locked in the trunk of the Mach 5 with Spritle and Chim-Chim than watch this again (the Emile Hirsch clip posted a few weeks ago was also banal but far superior...still snooze pie with yawn sauce, but at least he tried, calling the movie "Blade Runner meets Andy Warhol." How that quote will be compatible with the actual movie is anyone's guess.) The only thing I found even vaguely interesting about Ricci's "interview" was the fact that she somehow looks even more like a Keene painting these days, which perfectly matches the cartoon's asthetic. But studio marketing folks, a gentle suggestion: This kind of digital-video interview/press release won't fly with fans for long. At some point, the thrill of this new technology will attenuate and then people will demand some substance. If you don't give it to them, they will go and find it somewhere else. Or even worse, they won't watch at all. But then again, what do I know? 34,762 people have watched the Ricci clip. That's about 34,760 more than read this blog.