I Can't Handle the Truth About "Rewind"
By Andrew Wallenstein
Can't say I'm too impressed with the "Be Kind Rewind" online promotion in advance of the film's Jan. 25 release. Here we have a movie all about the Internet-friendly concept of the "swede," a slang term invented by the movie for re-creating -- and satirizing -- popular movies by performing deliberately ersatz versions of them for home-video tapings (see "Rewind" stars Jack Black and Mos Def swede "Ghostbusters" below). Given the potential to have YouTube fans shooting their own swedes, why aren't we already seeing a full-blown, user-generated festival under way on that site's sponsor page to chum the waters for the film? If the best New Line Cinema can do on the otherwise cute Web site for the film is offer the ability to insert my head in movie posters (see unfortunate collage above), it's not good enough.
