The News: Tyler Perry Conquers World

Tyler Perry on the set of Madea's Family Reunion (Photo: Lionsgate)

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Some of today's movie news of note from around New York:

--The first time I saw the name Tyler Perry was also one of my most appallingly condescending moments, a sympathetic spasm provoked by his drag get-up on the poster of the curiously titled Diary of a Mad Black Woman. "Lionsgate will stop at nothing," I thought, plotting a short-lived revenge scheme that would reignite once Crash was foisted on the world. I was right about Lionsgate, but God knows I was utterly wrong, wrong, wrong about Perry, who strums nerves and all but shits gold bricks with his canon of black middle-class dramedy: Check out the weekend box office for Why Did I Get Married?, a $21.5 million take that the retards at the L.A. Times called "surprisingly strong" but is in actuality the third opening-weekend bonanza out of four releases by the untouchable writer/director/star. Over at The New York Times, meanwhile, John Eligon has a rudimentary if persuasive glimpse of the Perry phenomenon's sweep through NYC.

--The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced at Sunday's NYFF closing-night screening that Meryl Streep would be the honoree at its 2008 Gala Tribute. Which is great and everything, but everybody knows the real question is who will follow Steve Martin's banjo ode to Diane Keaton from last spring.

--David Carr, who crystallized the Miramax glory-days swagger in perhaps the definitive Harvey Weinstein profile five years ago in New York Magazine, today is the latest NYT writer to biopsy the woebegone Weinstein Co. The "news" here is that there will be no new chairman of the board as hinted a few months back; Harvey evidently is a challenging person to work with. Grindhouse is still a flop, Dimension Films still makes more money than TWC. Did I miss something?

--I'm way, way behind on my Woodstock Film Festival wrap-up, but let it suffice to say I greatly enjoyed it and caught a couple of extraordinary gems I look forward to following in the months ahead. In the interim, The Film Panel Notetaker filed from the Amazing Women in Film panel featuring Mary Stuart Masterson, Karen Durbin, producer Katie Roumel and Focus Features publicity boss Donna Dickman. Durbin evidently wants critics to understand the movies they're reviewing. Fair enough, I guess.

Posted at October 15, 2007 11:36 AM