The Nines was one of the best films of last year, although, chances are you never saw it. I think John August’s directorial debut didn’t get much further than a couple screens, which is a crying shame if you ask me. Thankfully the film is hitting DVD store shelves later this month. I highly recommend it.
But in a highly strange move, screenwriter turned director and self professed tech geek, August has announced to his fans that The Nines is now available illegally on Bit Torrent.
“You can loan a DVD, without passing along that troubling knowledge that you’ve done something illicit,” August writes, adding “But if these reasons and/or your conscience doesn’t persuade you, it’s not hard to find The Nines online. And won’t think less of you. Probably.”
Wow. But I want to support this film with my money, so I’ll be putting down the cash on January 29th. I recommend you do the same. But what does my moral opinion matter when the filmmaker is telling you that he doesn’t care as long as you check out his movie.
January 15th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Very cool. I didn’t get to make it when it was showing down at the Alamo here in Austin. I been kicking myself in the ass for missing it ever since.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Not such a big deal. It’s not like he’s saying he’ll pay your legal bills if Sony Pictures sues you. It’s not like he’s got a torrent tracker on his website.
I don’t think the BitTorrent crowd is exactly the audience for this movie , so any extra publicity they get from there can only help with the DVD release. I assume that is August’s thinking.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
That’s a little whore-ish, but this is the movie biz, right? Any pair of eyes that catches this flick will be in line for his next. Easy. I caught this gem twice and will be picking up the dvd as well. Great film, free or not.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Who encompasses the “BitTorrent crowd”?
January 15th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
John August is great. Don’t insult the man by pirating.
January 16th, 2008 at 7:58 am
I think I agree with Mitch (if I understand his post correctly). Jamie, what exactly is the BT crowd? I think it is a lot more wide-spread than you think. Besides people who download games, mvoies, tv shows, albums, etc illegally from BT sites there are tons of people who also download legal bootlegs of concerts in both video and audio format. BT is a great technology used by many types of people (even via the legal officals BT store at bittorrent.com).
January 16th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
It’s a demographic like anything else. It probably skews young and male.
If you Google Top 10 Most Pirated Movies and TV Shows of 2007 you’ll see a different viewership. If the networks went by torrents Battlestar Galactica would be one of TV’s biggest hits.
And Zodiac was the tenth most downloaded movie in 2007…
January 16th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
It must be said: he didn’t pay for the film! So it’s easy for him to be cool about illegal downloads! Still, it’s on my to-watch list, hopefully in a cinema.
January 16th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I torrented it… and frankly it was a waste of bandwidth. Deleted the moment it was over….
Terribly predictable film…. few good laughs…But I’d recommend to wait for it to come on television.
3/10
January 17th, 2008 at 3:18 am
Just to clarify, RedandJonny is the “BitTorrent crowd.” Apparently he was looking for laughs in the wrong drama. This isn’t a comedy.
Although you know the big secret halfway through, I still found it really compelling. I watched the ending twice.
Out of 10, I’d give it… a 9. heh. I’m putting it on my DVDs-to-Buy list.