Chloe Fineman takes the ceremonial incantation to its logical end point.
It’s been a little over a year since AMC Theaters launched its beloved-but-somewhat-baffling commercial and in-house promo starring Nicole Kidman. Intended to remind people that movies are better in a theater (they are), but mostly shown to people already at a theater (hmmmn), the 60-second ad has inspired T-shirts, mash-up videos, and an eight-minute shot-by-shot analysis. The line “somehow heartbreak feels good in a place like this” is likely to outlive us all. A further step to secure this has come with a blown-out (and very funny) Saturday Night Live parody.
On the indefatigable television show’s 48th season premiere, starring Miles Teller and musical guest Kendrick Lamar, Chloe Fineman revived her Kidman impression (witness earlier versions here and here) to great effect. The AMC ad gets a tweak, as do the many fans who are weirdly eager to recite lines from it before a Sunday matinee screening of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. As he often does, Kenan Thompson gets a big laugh with a “the bleep just happened?” punctuation mark.
The original spot was directed by brothers Jeff Cronenweth and Tim Cronenweth, sons of the legendary cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth. Jeff is an established cinematographer himself, having shot Fight Club, Down With Love, Hitchcock, and music videos for Lady Gaga, Usher, Maroon 5, and David Bowie. Kidman recommended the Croneweths after working with Jeff on Being the Ricardos.
When speaking with GQ, Ray said “I wrote it in an hour, sent it off, they had a couple notes, they refined it, and off they went.” Of the “heartbreak feels good” line, he said “it's totally immodest to say this, but that's the best line I ever wrote. No question.”
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