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May 2008
Austin Movies Inc.: ‘Baghead,’ ‘Dance with the One,’ ‘A Loud Color’
All sorts of items about Austin movies:
‘Baghead,” an Austin-made film that screened well at South by Southwest, will open here in Austin on June 13 before the East and West coasts.
The University of Texas Film Institute will make “Dance with the One” this summer. Among the local talent, UT Michener Center for Writers graduate Joshua Smith Henderson (Master of Fine Arts ‘08) wrote the script with Jon Marc Smith. The film will be directed by another Michener Center graduate, Mike Dolan.
Austin native Brent Joseph’s “A Loud Color,” which portrays one man’s post-Katrina experience, will premiere online at the Arts Engine’s Media That Matters Film Festival. The public site launched yesterday.
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Drew Barrymore’s ‘Whip It’ and Austin/Michigan project
We’ve just confirmed: Drew Barrymore’s roller derby project, ‘Whip It,’ will split production between Michigan (and its 40 percent incentives) and Austin (with its authentic exteriors). So kinda like ‘No Country for Old Men,’ which divided its attention between incentive-happy New Mexico and exterior-rich West Texas.
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Sidney Pollack dies
Sydney Pollack, the Academy Award-winning director of “Out of Africa” who achieved acclaim making mainstream movies with A-list stars, including “The Way We Were” and “Tootsie,” died Monday. He was 73.
Pollack, who also was a producer and actor, died of cancer at his home in Los Angeles, publicist and friend Leslee Dart said.
Pollack launched his show business career as an actor and acting teacher in New York in the 1950s, moved west in the early ’60s, began directing episodic television and then turned to films.
Beginning with “The Slender Thread,” a 1965 drama starring Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft, Pollack was credited with directing 20 films, including “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” That 1969 drama about Depression-era marathon dancers starring Jane Fonda earned Pollack an Oscar nomination for best director.
Known for what New York Times film critic Janet Maslin once described as “his broadly commercial instincts and penchant for all-star casts,” Pollack directed seven movies with Robert Redford, beginning with “This Property Is Condemned” in 1966. The Pollack-Redford collaboration also produced “The Way We Were,” “Jeremiah Johnson,” “Three Days of the Condor,” “The Electric Horseman,” “Out of Africa” and “Havana.”
As a filmmaker, Pollack had a reputation for being a painstaking craftsman — “relentless and meticulous,” screenwriter Robert Towne once said.
“His films have a lyrical quality like great music, and the timing is impeccable,” cinematographer Owen Roizman, who shot five films directed by Pollack, said in 2005. “He is never satisfied. … His passion is contagious. It inspires everyone around him to dig a little deeper.”
Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin said the hallmark of Pollack’s career “has been intelligence, both in his approach and his selection of subject matter.”
“Out of Africa,” the 1985 drama based on Danish author Isak Dinesen’s experiences in Kenya during the early part of the 20th century and her romance with English big-game hunter-adventurer Denys Finch Hatton, earned Pollack two Academy Awards: as director and as producer of the film, which also won the best picture Oscar.
Pollack also received a best director Oscar nomination — and a New York Film Critics Circle Award — for “Tootsie,” the 1982 comedy starring Dustin Hoffman.
In 2006, the Austin Film Festival gave Pollack the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award.
“Oh, God. I hate that stuff. I really do. It’s just embarrassing,” he told the American-Statesman after learning of the Austin award. “What are you supposed to say? These organizations have to pick somebody to honor each year. Eventually they’ll get around to you if you live long enough. You feel a little bit silly standing up there listening to people talk about you like you’re above everyone, which is just not true. It’s just your time. You’re the guy this year.”
Pollack spoke of his preference for working with big stars in an interview with The New York Times in 1982.
“Stars are like thoroughbreds,” he said. “Yes, it’s a little more dangerous with them. They are more temperamental. You have to be careful because you can be thrown. But when they do what they do best — whatever it is that’s made them a star — it’s really exciting.”
Pressed by Hoffman to play his actor-character’s exasperated agent in “Tootsie,” Pollack finally consented to appearing in the film, his first big-screen acting role since 1962’s “War Hunt,” during which he met Redford, who also was making his film debut.
As an actor, Pollack later appeared in a number of films, including Woody Allen’s “Husbands and Wives,” Robert Altman’s “The Player,” Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” and the more recent Oscar-nominated Tony Gilroy film “Michael Clayton.” Pollack also turned up in guest roles on TV series such as “Frasier,” “Will & Grace” and “The Sopranos.”
“I don’t care much about acting,” he told the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune in 2002. “It’s more about watching other directors work.”
Pollack also had more than 40 credits as a producer or executive producer on films including “Presumed Innocent,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “Cold Mountain” and “Michael Clayton.”
Pollack’s experience as an actor and acting teacher helped earn him a reputation as an “actor’s director.”
“He talks in a language that actors can understand,” Ed Harris, who played an FBI agent in Pollack’s 1993 dramatic thriller “The Firm,” told USA Today at the time. “He won’t just say ‘speed up’ or ‘slow down’; he’ll talk to you about the situation.”
The son of a pharmacist, Pollack was born in Lafayette, Ind., and later moved with his family to South Bend.
Pollack met his wife, Claire, when he was teaching and she was studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York. They were married in 1958 and had three children, Rebecca, Rachel and Steven. Steven died in a plane crash in 1993.
Pollack is also survived by six grandchildren and a brother, Bernie, a Hollywood costume designer.
By Dennis McLellan (Los Angeles Times) with dditional material from American-Statesman staff. AP Photo/Michel Spingler.
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Austin’s ‘Swim’ takes GI Film Festival prize
An Austin film, “Swim,” made by three University of Texas film graduates, won the American Pride Films Award at the GI Film Festival in Washington, D.C., over Memorial Day weekend. The movie, created by David Broyles, Matt Cook and Chantz Hoover, documents how Air Force veteran Broyles and Army officer Rush Vann attempted to become the 16th and 17th Americans to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Africa. The project, meant to raise funds and awareness for disabled veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, heads to the Jackson Hole Film Festival next.
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Our Man in Cannes: Jury picks French film as fest’s best
CANNES, France - The Cannes jury headed by Sean Penn surprised nearly everyone Sunday by awarding the Palme d’Or to “The Class,” or “Entre Les Murs,” in French. The film screened Saturday and was the last to be shown in the official contribution, long after many critics had flown back home.
The selection proved popular, however, and Penn said the jury’s decision was unanimous.
The movie, directed by France’s Laurent Cantet, focuses on one yar in the life of a class at high school and is based on a popular French book by a teacher, Francois Begaudeau. The author is also the movie’s lead actor, lending an air of authenticity of the give-and-take between teacher and students.
Penn called “The Class” a virtually seamless film. … All the performances, magic.” Fellow jury member Alfonso Cuaron of Mexico added that the movie had universal thems and was “high cinema you can share with really young audiences.”
The other big surprise at Sunday night’s awards was best actress, Brazil’s Sandra Corveloni of “Linha de Passe,” directed by Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas.
It was the first feature film for Corveloni, a Sao Paolo stage actress who beat the critically acclaimed performance of Angelina Jolie of “The Changeling,” directed by Clint Eastwood.
Benicio Del Toro scored a major victory for Steven Soderbergh’s long-running “Che” by winning best actor. Penn said the decision was unanimous.
The No. 2 prize in Cannes, the Grand Prix, went to Matteo Garrone’s “Gomorrah,” which deals with five stories about Mafioso-style crime in southern Italy.
The jury prize, or the No. 3 award, went to another Italian entry, Paolo Sorrentino’s “Il Divo,” which tracks the career of former leader Giulio Andreotti with biting humor. Nuri Belge Ceylan of Turkey won best director for “Three Monkeys.” And Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne of France won best screenplay for “The Silence of Lorna.”
In announcing the awards, Penn acknowledged that there were too few prizes and too many movies.
So the jury announced two special awards to Eastwood and Catherine Deneuve, star of Arnaud Desplachin’s “A Christmas Tale.” Penn said the awards were for the two legends’ “body of work.”
Both Eastwood’s “Changeling” and “A Christmas Tale” were critical favorites. Shut out from awards were Charlie Kaufman’s quirky, ambiguous “Synecdoche, New York” and Ari Folman’s animated drama, “Waltz With Bashir,” which focuses on Israel’s involvement in Lebanon in the ’80s.
“Hunger,” from controversial British newcomer Steve McQueen, won the Camera d’Or, for the first film by a director. It deals with an early ’80s hunger strike by members of the Irish Republican Army.
The winner of the Un Certain Regard competition was “Tulpan” of Kazakhstan. It focuses on a shepherd who wants to marry a young woman who rejects him because his ears are too big.
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Our Man in Cannes: Summer plans of the stars
CANNES, France — It looks like the heat wave and the summer lull are taking a toll on celebrities in Hollywood.
Scott Speedman and Rachel Blanchard, two of the principals in Atom Egoyan’s “Adoration,” say they’re going to spend the next month or so traveling Europe, rather than returning to L.A. “I’m sending my clothes back home, packing a knapsack for my travels, and I’m going solo,” said Speedman, who plays an uncle who raises a teenager whose parents were involved in a fatal traffic accident in “Adoration.”
Looking fit and tan, Speedman talked to reporters during a luncheon at the Carlton Beach. (The Carlton Hotel, fyi, is one of the most exclusive establishments on the Croisette and was the site where Cary Grant’s “To Catch a Thief” was filmed.)
Blanchard also showed up to meet the press and said she was planning to spend most of June traveling Europe with friends.
Both stars bemoaned the current state of the industry and said they were having to turn down numerous scripts because most of them were banal.
“You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff I’ve been sent,” Speedman said. “A lot of the scripts for indie productions are awful, and you typically have to go after scripts that you want,” he said. That was the case with Egoyan’s “Adoration,” which focuses on a teen who creates a false persona on the Internet to find out what happened to his parents.
Speedman said he read the script and lobbied Egoyan for a chance to play the uncle. “At first, I didn’t think Scott was right for the part,” Egoyan said. “I had an older man in mind for the uncle. But then I realized that putting someone as young as Scott in the role would make the character more interesting. Here’s a guy who gave up life in his 20s to raise a child.”
“Adoration” has been getting mixed buzz in Cannes, but some people think it has a chance at a major award.
The competition prizes will be announced Sunday.
The leading contenders for the Palme d’Or are: Arnaud Desplachin’s “A Christmas Tale”; Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling”; Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York”; Nuri Ceylan’s “Three Monkeys”; Steven Soderbergh’s “Che”; and the Dardennes brothers’ “Lorna’s Silence.”
I must, however, point out that I have never accurately predicted the Palme d’Or winner in the past decade. My pick this year is “Synecdoche.” Maybe I’m due.
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Our Man in Cannes: Madonna being Madonna
When there’s an event as big as Cannes, it’s a magnet for such publicity hounds as Madonna. This week, she trotted out her new documentary, “I Am Because We Are” to Cannes audiences, even though it wasn’t an official part of the festival.
Metro, the daily festival newspaper, gave the film a scathing review Friday.
The doc focuses on Malawi, the second poorest country in the world, according to “Metro.” Don’t ask me what the poorest country is. I don’t know the criteria for such judgments, and “Metro” didn’t say.
But Madonna adopted her child, David, from Malawi, and she has a heartfelt interest in the nation.
Said Metro: “The images of tearful, emaciated children are enough to convey the message but (director) Nathan Rissman reduces their plight to pathos with overwrought music, pointless slow motion sequences, and simplistic commentary on the order of ‘everybody needs love.’ “
Oh yeah. It should be pointed out that director Rissman is the gardener for Madonna and her husband, Guy Ritchie.
Ahem.
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Our Man in Cannes: The worst movie at Cannes?
While “Il Divo” and “Synecdoche” wowed many critics, “Frontier of Dawn” repulsed them. The lusty Cannes audience booed heartily during the closing credits on Thursday morning. Frenchman Philippe Garrel directs Louis Garrel and Laura Smet in a tragic love story shot in black and white.
“Frontier” opens promisingly, with a photographer showing up to take shots of an actress who is emotionally available. A love story ensues, and it has all the passion you would expect from a French romance.
But the movie quickly takes a turn for the worse and becomes one of the most insipid exercises in recent cinematic history.
You know it’s bad when the director sets up a tragic scene and the audience breaks out into laughter because of its banality.
Don’t expect to see “Frontier of Dawn” in wide release in the U.S. It’s the worst movie in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Our Man in Cannes: The battle for best actor honors
Cannes, France — Up until Friday, it looked as though the race for best-actor in Cannes might be between Benicio Del Toro of “Che” and Joaquin Phoenix of “Two Lovers.”
That has changed, however. Philip Seymour Hoffman shows his versatility once again in “Synecdoche, New York.” And Toni Servillo brings Italian leader Giulio Andreotti to life in “Il Divo.”
“Il Divo,” directed by Italian Paolo Sorrentino, tracks the life of one of the most controversial — and possibly corrupt — Western European leaders of the 20th century. In playing Andreotti, Servillo is reminiscent of Peter Sellers. He’s pitch-perfect in imitation, but also brings an aura of heft.
The movie, which premiered late Thursday night, got a rousing ovation at the press screening and looks as though it could go on to pick up a major award.
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Our Man in Cannes: Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut
CANNES, France — In his directorial debut, Charlie Kaufman has done what most people can only apsire to do: seamlessly melding intellectual curiosity with emotional impact. Kafuman’s new movie, “Synecdoche, New York” (pronounced sa-NECK-ta-ki), asks questions about whether life can be lived successfully as art, how art can be integrated into life and how love and death play a role in our everyday existence. It is, by far, the most interesting and stimulating movie at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
There will be some critics who will question how well Kaufman pulls off “Synecdoche.” But there’s little doubt that the film will keep viewers talking over coffee for hours, if not for days. It has the ultimate respect for the audience. It revels in ambiguity and begs for a personal response.
The central role, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, is a theater director who fears death and wants to create a masterpiece. He gets his chance with a MacArthur genius grant, and proceeds to create a mini-New York City inside several warehouses, where his players can go about their daily lives.
In some ways, the movie borrows from Francois Truffaut’s “Day for Night,” which tracks the lives of movie actors making a movie. Truffaut created a movie within a movie.
But “Synecdoche” extends the concept. The movie is about the creation of a play, and the characters in the play reflect those in real life. But Kaufman multiplies the conceit times two, having various people play the same character in the play at different times of life. For instance, in the movie, Samantha Morton plays Hazel, a love interest for Hoffman. But in the play, Morton plays herself as a much older person, while Emily Watson plays her as a young Hazel in the theater production.
If such “refraction” sounds confusing, it can be. But that’s what prompts discussion and helps challenge the audience.
Kaufman adds yet another layer of complexity by externalizing the inner feelings of a character onscreen. For instance, if someone feels like he or she is on the verge of dying, an apocalyptic event may have seemed to occur. But in reality, it’s just the inner turmoil of the character who is facing death.
One of the most dramatic scenes, by far, is the burial of one of Hoffman’s parents and a lengthy graveside sermon by a preacher, who raises age-old Shakespearean-type questions about the meaning of existence.
Despite the weighty topics, the movie is never heavy-handed. Kaufman’s wry humor pops up at every turn.
At one point, Morton’s Hazel decides to buy a home. She spots one that’s on fire — and for sale — and walks in as if nothing is going on. The real estate agent notes that the owners are “motivated sellers.” So Hazel decides she has found a deal and sets up a life there. The home continues to burn throughout the rest of the movie.
Such is the quirky mind of Kaufman.
If the Cannes Film Festival were predictable, “Synecdoche” would be a shoo-in for the Palme d’Or. It’s brilliantly experimental while also emotionally moving. It makes people want to talk. And you simply won’t be able to get it out of your mind.
But Cannes has a way of defying expectations. One need look no further than last year, when “No Country for Old Men” was a critical favorite and got nothing here on awards night.
“Synecdoche” almost demands multiple viewings, and that will ensure steady arthouse business for the lucky distributor who picks up rights in the U.S.
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Our Man in Cannes: Soderbergh talks ‘Che’ with press
CANNES, France — What do you do with a nearly five-hour movie that you want to release in the United States?
That was the question for director Steven Soderbergh on Thursday at the Cannes Film Festival, one day after he premiered his epic “Che,” about the revolutionary leader who helped overthrow the Batista regime in Cuba in the 1950s.
Speaking at a press conference, Soderbergh said he hoped that U.S. exhibitors would show the entire movie for one week, to create an “event” atmosphere, then split “Che” into two parts for the rest of the run.
The U.S. director said he filmed the last part of the movie first. It deals with Che’s efforts to spawn a revolution in Bolivia — an attempt that eventually led to his execution.
But after making that movie, Soderbergh said, he realized that the viewer would need context for Che’s actions, so he went back and filmed yet another movie about the leader’s experiences in Cuba.
Together, the two last four hours and 28 minutes or so, not including intermission.
Soderbergh arrived at the press conference with a bevy of producers, writers and actors, including Benicio Del Toro, who plays Che. He looked subdued, following a scathing review by Todd McCarthy in Daily Variety and in other publications. But reaction was decidedly mixed, with some critics praising it as a masterwork.
Jon Lee Anderson, a writer for the New Yorker and author of “Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life,” worked as a consultant for the movie and argued that Che remained a vital figure for most of Latin America.
“I think Che’s ideas still retain a potency, more in a symbolic sense. He remains one of the few attractive figures of the Cold War period.” Soderbergh said the aim of the movie was “to give you a sense of what it was like to hang out with this person.”
He said he hoped the movie would find an audience in Latin America, but that the details for U.S. distribution remained to be worked out. Soderbergh joked about the length, with an anecdote about longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
During several trips to Cuba, Soderbergh said, everyone in government was well aware that he was there — and that there was the possibility of a phone call from “Pedro,” a euphemism for Castro, who fancies himself a film buff.
But Castro never called. Soderbergh said Castro is well-known for stopping movies that are shown to him in order to discuss a particular scene that stirs his interest.
If he tries to do that with the lengthy “Che,” Soderbergh said, “he may never survive this movie.”
While Soderbergh’s movie paints a largely positive portrait of the controversial Che, he said, “I come to him as an agnostic. … I’m not interested in building him up or tearing him down. I’m just interested in him.”
The director said he was fascinated that Che gave up a comfortable life not once, but twice, to help lead insurrections, and that the movie aims to trace what would cause a man to make such sacrifices.
He added that he has heard all the anti-Che arguments and that “there is no amount of accumulated barbarity” that would satisfy detractors. The movie is expected to be released in late July, but the details are still unclear.
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Our Man in Cannes: Austin-area filmmaker sells his short
CANNES, France — Dana Glover of Round Rock-based Midian Films had an unexpected surprise at this year’s festival.
As he did last year, he came to Cannes with a short film, this one called “TKL,” which was intended to be a calling card for people interested in financing a full-length film. Instead, he sold the short — an almost unheard-of event.
Turns out that several European countries are starting to show shorts on cable networks, and the channels need content.
The buyer of “TKL” was the Mini Movie Channel, www.minimovie.com. The channel has outlets in France, Russia and Luxembourg.
Glover did not disclose the sales price but said he hopes the deal will lead to a full-length feature.
Press material for the short describe it this way: “Kristi is on a secret rendezvous to meet a friend at a local bar. The bar happens to be near the site of several unsolved murders. After her friend is a no-show, Kristi discovers she’s being hunted in a terrifying game of cat and mouse.”
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Our Man in Cannes: Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Che’ premieres
CANNES, France — Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” premiered Wednesday night in a five-hour marathon session, including an intermission, and it’s safe to say that it’s the most ambitious movie from an American director since the 1970s.
Benicio Del Toro stars as the Argentine revolutionary who helped overthrow the Batista regime in Cuba and helped install Fidel Castro as the longtime leader.
That’s the segment that originally made up the first part, called “The Argentine” and now called “Che Part 1.”
The second part deals with Che’s role as a guerrilla leader in Bolivia, 10 years after the Cuban revolution. That movie was originally to be called “The Guerrilla” but screened Wednesday night as “Che Part 2.”
It’s unclear how the epic tale will eventually be released in the States. After all, the long running time would prevent exhibitors from showing it more than once per evening, cutting into ticket sales and, thus, profitability.
Soderbergh is expected to address such questions at a news conference Thursday.
Whatever the case, the Wednesday night screening was a spectacle that is assured of getting both raves and pans from the international press. After the movie ended, there was a bit of competition from those who were booing and those who were cheering. The cheers predominated.
To film the movie, Soderbergh used a new digital process called RED. The body of the camera is designed for flexibility and weighs about 9 pounds.
Soderbergh says the RED process “sees the way I see … so beautifully attuned to that most natural of phenomena — light.”
During the intermission Wednesday night, the entryway to the theater was abuzz. The festival handed out brown bags filled with sandwiches, Kit Kats and bottled water to about a thousand journalists who stuck around for the second half. And that was the vast majority.
I’ve never seen anything quite like it in Cannes.
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Our Man in Cannes: More Texas connections in South of France
CANNES, France — I went over to the American Pavilion to check on high-speed phone access and ran into Michael Cain, the head of the American Film Institute Festival in Dallas. He and his team are over here to promote their festival and check out the new movies. Since returning to Dallas from L.A. in the past decade, Cain started, from scratch, the Deep Ellum Film Festival, which has morphed into the AFI fest, the biggest — and best — annual movie celebration in Dallas.
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Our Man in Cannes: The festival’s craziest moment
CANNES, France — I’m often asked what the craziest moment in Cannes is each year. This year, it happened over the weekend, during the red-carpet premiere of “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
The star arrivals began along the Croisette around 6:30 p.m., and thousands of gawkers jammed the streets. Meanwhile, just west of the big premiere, another press screening was scheduled to start, and hundreds of journalists were trying to make their way past the Palais to the theater, only to face a mob.
Then police let several cars through blockades and they took up most of the street between the Palais and the nearby buildings. So what is normally a mob scene became similar to the ending of “The Day of the Locusts,” with people shoving and hollering.
But the most startling part of all of this was that several parents had decided to bring their children to the spectacle in strollers. The crowd became so hostile and pushy that the parents had to anxiously grab their small children from the strollers to protect them. Then they tried to fold up the strollers while clinging to their children.
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen locals inexplicably bring their strollers to a mob scene, so I have no reason to expect that it won’t happen again. But I bet the parents who were there over the weekend won’t do it again.
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Our Man in Cannes: Director Lucretia Martel received coldly
CANNES, France — Cannes audiences — and juries — seem to approach Latin American movies with far less intellectual hospitality than they show to others.
This year, it’s happening to Argentine director Lucretia Martel’s “The Woman Without a Head,” or “La Mujer sin Cabeza,” which was hissed and booed at Tuesday night’s screening.
The film focuses on a woman who’s distracted while driving and hits something in the middle of the road. Rather than stop to see what she has hit, however, the woman continues driving. In succeeding days, she becomes increasingly disoriented from her family and friends, until she mentions the incident to her husband, saying she fears she killed someone. (There are visual clues that she actually hit a dog, but it’s not clear.)
It’s unlikely that Martel’s latest work will get distribution in the States. Her earlier movies, including “La Cienaga,” received limited distribution in the States. So it’s probably safe to discuss some of the details without spoiling it for readers.
The movie can be read on two different levels. The first, and most obvious, is the extended nightmare/dream scenario, with the main character becoming disassociated from her surroundings.
Another reading could be that the movie is a subtle commentary on Argentine social structures. That view is borne out by events following the discovery of a boy’s body in a canal near the road. All records are wiped away of the woman’s hospital visit following the accident. The woman also discovers that the hotel where she stayed near the crime scene has mysteriously lost any record of her visit. The implication is that her husband and his legal friends have eliminated any trail that could lead back to her.
The movie’s pacing is lackadaisical, so that could be part of the reason for the audience’s negative response. But the pacing is suited to a tale about a disoriented woman who believes she might have killed someone.
So, the overall negative reaction seemed a bit much Tuesday night. Martel is an interesting director and deserves a most hospitable reception.
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Our Man in Cannes: Screenings on the beach, ooh la la
CANNES, France — The Cannes Film Festival isn’t really for the public. It’s mainly for the industry and the media, with access to top movies tightly controlled.
In an effort to make the festival more open to the public a few years ago, organizers began to show late-night films on a big outdoor screen along the beach.
People bring blankets, snacks and drinks and watch movies set against the background of the Riviera. It really is quite beautiful.
Tuesday night’s screening was the screwball comedy “What’s Up Doc?” Later on this week, it will be “Dirty Harry” and others. Not a bad way to spend an evening.
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Remembering Alan Pappe
Friends, fans and family of movie industry photographer Alan Pappe will gather on the Pflueger Pedestrian Bridge at dusk tonight to tell stories about the man who died recently. Estimated sunset time: 8:20 p.m. Pappe, you may remember, took famed stills of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John for “Grease” and Liza Minnelli in “Cabaret” for Time and Newsweek. He worked with the likes of Robert Redford, Federico Fellini, John Huston and Martin Scorsese. His work was often for sale at Austin’s ProJex Gallery.
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Our Man in Cannes: “The Changling”
CANNES, France — Hollwood’s Old Master of cinema unveiled his latest portrait Tuesday in Cannes, with a highly nuanced portrayal of a mother under siege by Angelina Jolie.
Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling,” or “L’echange” in French, tells the true story of Christine Collins, a 1920s Los Angeles single mother who comes home from work to find her 9-year-old son has disappeared.
Despite the mother’s pleas, L.A. police come up with nothing for five months, when a child claiming to be her son is returned by police amid a hoopla designed to boost the corrupt department’s image.
When Collins tells officials the boy is not her son, they insist that she take him home and “try him out for a couple of weeks.”
Confused, she relents, but returns to the officers three weeks later, insisting that her son is still missing.
The police, anxious to avoid any kind of embarrassment, decide to throw Collins in the county psych ward.
Anyone familiar with Jolie’s past knows that she’s no stranger to onscreen psych wards. But the movie doesn’t dwell on her incarceration. Instead, it focuses on a woman who refuses to stop asking the question: “Where’s my son?”
At a press conference Tuesday after the press screening, Eastwood said he was attracted to the script by former journalist Michael Straczynski because “crimes against children are the most heinous of crimes. … They make you question humanity.”
Jolie agreed, saying the film was a “good study of a mother fighting against a city.” In addition to directing, Eastwood also wrote the melancholy, jazzy score for the film. He greeted reporters Tuesday with graciousness and seemed to be enjoying the Cannes limelight.
When asked why he allowed his film to be entered in the official competition, rather than screen more safely out of competition like many Hollywood movies here, Eastwood said simply: “It seems like if you’re going to go to a film festival that has a competition, you might as well be in it. … Playing out of competition is playing it safe.” Eastwood had no predictions about how his movie would fare in the race for the Palme d’Or. “A lot of good films have won, and a lot of good films haven’t. That’s the same case with the Oscars,” he said.
Eastwood, however, has never won a Palme d’Or.
If “Changeling” doesn’t take the top prize, it has a good shot of getting a best actress award for Jolie. And at the least, Eastwood should be in the running for best director. The cinematography is lush, and the sets are jaw-dropping. There’s nary a technical flaw, yet another tribute to Eastwood’s quality and longevity.
On a side note, Amy Adams of “Gone Baby Gone” has an outstanding supporting role as a prostitute who has been locked up in the psych ward with Jolie.
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Our Man in Cannes: “Two Lovers” and more
CANNES, France — It’s shaping up to be quite a race for the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
U.S. director James Gray premiered “Two Lovers” Monday night, and it’s one of the most sensitive portrayals of the vagaries of love to hit the screen in recent years.
Much of the credit goes to Joaquin Phoenix, who stars as a depressed young man who moves back in with his parents after a failed engagement and becomes romantically involved with two women.
Gwyneth Paltrow portrays a confused woman who lives nearby and is involved in an affair with a married man. Vinessa Shaw stars as the daughter of family friends who is considered a nice match for him by his parents.
It may be predictable that Phoenix’s character, Leonard, would fall for the least available of the two. But Phoenix gives such a heartbreaking, thoughtful, understated performance that any predictability seems not to matter.
While the movie was excellent, the Cannes Film Festival should be chastened by the way it treated the premiere. Members of the press lined up outside the Salle Debussy before the 10 p.m. screening, only to find that it had been delayed. And when 10:30 rolled around, another unscheduled movie was still playing in the Debussy theater.
Unsuspecting critics were herded into yet another line and ushered into a much smaller venue, Salle Bazin. And as the delays dragged on, critics from major publications around the world were stomping around the theater, uttering profanities. The publicist, meanwhile, was glued to her Blackberry, trying to sort things out.
(As you may have gathered by now, critics in Cannes are not the most patient, pleasant bunch.)
By the end of the movie, however, it’s unlikey that even the most jaded critics were unmoved by Phoenix’s performance. He seems like a leading contender for best actor.
Two other movies that debuted in the last couple of days are getting high marks. The most notable is “Lorna’s Silence,” from the Dardenne brothers of Belgium. It revolves around a young Albanian woman who becomes an accomplice with a mobster in a sham marriage. The wedding will allow her to get citizenship. Then she and her mobster friend can kill the husband, get married and be married, giving the mafios citizenship as well.
There are lots of twists and turns, which won’t be revealed here. But the Dardenne brothers are Cannes favorites, having won two previous Palme d’Ors. So they can’t be counted out.
The other standout is “Gomorrah,” which is based on a highly popular novel about the Mafia in Naples. The movie, directed by Matteo Garrone, weaves five stories together, and some critics have complained about the confusing storyline. But it’s gaining a strong following in Cannes and seems like a contender.
With three such movies in recent days, the Cannes festival is shaping up to being one of the best of the last decade.
Still to come are Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling.” (The press kit for the movie arrived in the mail Monday night, and its name has mysteriously been changed to “The Exchange.” We’ll find out Tuesday when the movie premieres whether the name change is real.) Also ahead are such highly anticipated films as Atom Egoyan’s “Adoration,” Wim Wenders’ “The Palermo Shooting,” Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” and Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York.”
Fasten your seatbelts.
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Our Man in Cannes: Latin American movie bonanza
CANNES, France — Few directors are as verbally eloquent as Brazil’s Walter Salles, whose “Linha de Passe” premiered at Cannes.
If there were awards given out for best director interview, he would win hands down. A close second would be Brazil’s Fernando Meirelles, director of “Blindness.”
Latin American cinema is at its highest point ever, with several movies selected for the official competition in Cannes.
And Cannes jury president Sean Penn acknowledged the trend in a press conference on the first full day of the festival. Every once in a while, a “warm breeze of creativity” settles over a certain part of the world, he said, and “that’s what’s happening in Latin America.”
Traditionally, Cannes juries have unjustly slighted Latin American movies. But perhaps this year, it will be different.
Salles’ movie focuses on a family living in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Sao Paolo, which has doubled in population over the past decade to about 22 million. While Austin may fret and moan over growth, Sao Paolo has seen sprawl like few cities in the world.
As co-director Daniela Thomas said, “There is no planning, no protection, no health insurance, little or no educational system, poor housing.” But she added that Brazil has an “incredible capacity for reinvention” and that hope and humor are always at the center of the country’s psyche.
That’s the heart of the idea behind “Linha de Passe.” The title is virtually untranslatable, Salles said, but it’s basically a children’s soccer game, where four kids start kicking or passing a ball to one another, with elimination coming if the ball ever hits the ground. Each character in the movie is basically trying to avoid dropping an allegorical ball, keeping their lives intact amid great odds.
The key characters involve a mother and her four sons, all of whom take different paths in trying to crack into a society that seems trying to keep them on the margins. One dreams of becoming a minor-league soccer star; another is a motorcycle courier; another has joined a Protestant evangelical group; and the youngest dreams of being a bus driver.
Salles said he chose to portray a fatherless family because recent statistics show that 28 to 30 percent of households in Brazil are headed by the mother alone. The large-scale absence of father figures in Brazil is no accident, Thomas said. “Brazil was born wrong, out of destruction and rape, and it still suffers from it,” she said.
And both Thomas and Salles said recent reports of a Brazilian economic miracle are far overrated, especially when seen from the perspective of regular citizens.
“Hopefully, these cold statistics about a low inflation rate and rising prosperity will have an effect on the daily life of people in the coming decades, but we haven’t seen it yet,” Salles said.
Both Salles and Thomas see themselves as outsiders, despite privileged backgrounds. Salles’ father was a diplomat, so he saw different cultures at a different ages and gained respect for diversity.
Thomas’ father, meanwhile, was a famed cartoonist who was imprisoned by a past military dictatorship for his outspoken opinions.
Salles sees the current trend in Latin American cinema as akin to what happened in disillusioned Italy after World War II.
“This is our version of Neo-realism,” he said, referring to the postwar cinematic movement in Italy. “Brazilian cinema is getting out of the studio and into the streets, creating a new aesthectic,” Salles said. “In the last 10 years, we’ve tried to give voice to people who have previously not been represented,” mainly those in the lower classes.
“The challenge is to move the cameras into other areas, to show the whole range of society,” he said.
Meanwhile, Salles revealed that he’s working on a cinematic version of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road.” He plans to film the movie in the U.S., and says he was drawn to the topic because it’s about people “trying to break into a society that’s impermeable.”
Salles added that “On the Road” is also a product of a culture where fear permeates, and he sees modern-day comparisons to the Bush administration and its attitudes toward the rest of the world. “We want to deal with a generation that collides with its society. That always fascinates me,” he said.
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Our Man in Cannes: Film with Smithville roots inks distribution deals
Summit Entertainment is having success is marketing Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” in Cannes.
The movie, which stars Brad Pitt and Sean Penn and was filmed in Smithville, Texas, has sold well to such distributors as EuropaCorp in France, Screen International reported Monday.
Icon has bought the rights in Britain and Australia, while Tele Munchen Group has the rights for Germany. Rights in Italy and Scandinavia have also been sold.
The movie is scheduled to be complete in November 2009. U.S. distribution rights are still undecided.
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Our Man in Cannes: Where’s Scarlett?
Attending the Cannes Film Festival to promote a movie is extremely expensive, especially for Americans, where the dollar is near all-time lows against the Euro.
So it’s no surprise that some of the smaller productions cut back this year and didn’t trot out all the stars.
One of the most noticeable absences this year is Scarlett Johansson of Woody Allen’s witty “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
Word on the street (primarily publicists in the know) is that Scarlett wanted to bring nine people in her entourage, including specialists in makeup and hair.
Not gonna happen, the backers of Woody’s film reportedly told Scarlett. Such an entourage would have cost well more than $100,000, and that’s probably a low estimate.
A compromise was offered, according to the buzz among publicists. But Scarlett did not relent; hence, no Scarlett.
Allen, meanwhile, was looking quite relaxed during interviews, wearing khakis and his trademark black glasses. He is getting a bit hard of hearing, which was evident at the press conference in Cannes. But he still has his dry wit.
When asked about whether the proposed menage a trois in his new movie was a fantasy, he responded: “It’s tough enough to get just one person in bed.”
He said he felt very lucky to be able to get Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem together for the film. “Who else could have played the role like Javier? And there is certainly not another Penelope.”
In many interviews with American directors, the subject of the U.S. presidential race has popped up.
Allen said he “would be thrilled with Hillary or Obama, and I would campaign for either one.”
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Our Man in Cannes: Indy reviews largely favorable
CANNES, France — The biggest premiere of the festival is over, and critical opinion for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is generally favorable, despite a few pans.
That was especially apparent in the three biggest daily industry publications here in Cannes: London-based Screen International, and America’s Daily Variety and Hollywood Reporter.
Allan Hunter of Screen International gave Indy the best review. “The world can reast easy — the old magic still works. … The first Indy adventure in almost 20 years is like a fond reunion with an old friend and will not disappoint diehard fans, or indeed a new generation, from embracing it as a summer blockbuster ride.”
Todd McCarthy of Daily Variety gave it a thumbs up, but with qualifications. “One of the most eagerly and long-awaited series follow-ups in screen history delivers the goods — not those of the still first-rate original … but those of its uneven two successors.”
Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter agreed with bloggers who have been worried that special effects would overtake the story. “Whatever story there is … gets swamped in a sea of stunts and CGI that are as relentless as the scenes and character relationships are charmless,” he wrote.
That last comment might make Paramount executives wince, but there has to be some relief in the studio that the movie wasn’t critically savaged, as was “The Da Vinci Code” several years ago after its world premiere here.
The good reviews could give Indy a boost, and the negative ones are unlikely to keep many diehard fans away. Those two factors will probably help make Indy the big box-office success of the summer.
Cannes certainly got into the spirit. Street-wise entrepreneurs flooded the Croisette with imitations of Indy’s famed fedora, and by the end of the evening, hundreds of people from all parts of the world were sporting the look.
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Our Man in Cannes: Statesman’s Charles Ealy chats with NPR
The Statesman’s Charles Ealy, who has been in Cannes, France for the past week, talks with National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” about how to pronounce “Cannes,” Penelope Cruz sightings, his favorite film of the fest, Angelina Jolie, and the premiere of what should be this summer’s biggest blockbuster, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” among other things.
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Our Man in Cannes: ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ a return to form for Allen
CANNES, France — When you’re watching one movie after another showing every side of depression and gloom around the globe, it’s a welcome relief to see something fluffy and fun.
Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” provides such relief. It probably won’t go down as a classic comedy, like Allen’s “Annie Hall.” But it far surpasses some recent efforts and will reward the Allen faithful.
The movie is set in Barcelona and focuses on two American women who are visiting, staying at the villa of one of their distant relatives. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is straight-laced in all things romantic and is engaged to be married to a rich, young man. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is romantically flighty and is on the rebound from yet another failed affair.
Vicky has arranged the trip and has secured lodgings with two distant relatives. She is there to work on her master’s thesis, and is majoring in “Catalan identity.” When she explains this to her relatives, the wicked Allen humor kicks in. “What do you plan to do with that,” asks one of the relatives. Vicky, of course, doesn’t plan to do anything with it. She’s rich, she’s American, and she’ll marry well.
The setup is right out of a Henry James novel.
When the impetuous artist Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) approaches Vicky and Cristina one night at a restaurant, he’s so suave that he is actually able to pull off a proposal for a menage a trois within the first minute.
But throughout his seduction of the two women, he continues to talk about his former wife, a talented spitfire portrayed by Penelope Cruz.
The chemistry between Cruz and Bardem is electric, and it’s hard to think of a better romantic comedy team than these two.
So, if you’ve been staying away from Allen comedies because of recent disappointments, you may want to give this one a try.
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Our Man in Cannes: Jolie’s humanitarian work overshadows films
Angelina Jolie has been getting the most attention this year at the festival. It’s partly because she’s one-half of a high-profile couple, partly because she’s carrying twins, and partly because she has two movies here, “Kung Fu Panda” and “Changeling.”
But her work with the United Nations seems to bring out the worst in the international press.
During interviews for DreamWorks’ “Kung Fu Panda,” international journalists kept peppering her with questions about whether she had any words for the Chinese quake victims, what she thought about Darfur, whether she would consider settling down in Sweden, whether she would support a boycott of China’s Olympics.
As the questions continued, DreamWorks honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg became increasingly agitated, and rightly so. He was there to promote the movie, and probably spent $1 million or more to do so, only to have to listen to questions about something else.
So, after about a dozen questions that Jolie dutifully answered on Darfur, et. al., Katzenberg turned to the moderator of the discussion and indicated that he didn’t want any more questions about world affairs.
His frustration was obvious to everyone in the room, but unrelated questions kept coming.
Jolie politely answered, while Katazenberg fumed.
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Our Man in Cannes: What are the best movies so far?
We’re about halfway through the festival, and the question arises: What are the best movies so far?
“Three Monkeys” by Nuri Ceylan of Turkey has to be one of the best. It focuses on a lie that begins to multiply and ends up threatening to destroy a family. Good drama, good performances and stunning cinematography.
Then there’s Arnaud Desplachin’s “A Christmas Tale.” It’s not what you’d expect from a Christmas story. The family is as dysfunctional as possible. Catherine Deneuve stars as the mother, who needs a bone-marrow transplant but has to put up with a daughter and son who are at war. Full of French humor and pathos.
And finally, there’s Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir,” an unusual look at the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the early ’80s.
What’s the worst so far? That’s easy. It’s Philippine director Brillante Mendoza’s “Serbis,” or “Service” in English.
The movie focuses on a family that lives in a multistory porn theater where gay men have sex each night.
That may sound like a promising premise to some. But it doesn’t work, and this movie will probably never see the light of day in the U.S.
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Our Man in Cannes: Allen wrote movie role just for Cruz
Woody Allen and two of his stars, Penelope Cruz and Rebecca Hall, met the press on Sunday at the Martinez Hotel to promote “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
Cruz, as you’ve probably heard, is a knockout in person. She’s petite but dazzling, even after having stayed at a Vanity Fair party until the wee hours of the morning.
She arrived early in a white Chanel dress, beating stragglers Allen and Hall.
Cruz said she had wanted to do a “Woody” for a long time. And when Allen heard this, he wrote the script specifically for Cruz.
Allen said he was stunned by Cruz’s performance in Pedro Almodovar’s “Volver” and was eager to work with the star.
Looking at bit lecherous despite his age, he grinned and said he had one of the greatest jobs in the world, having to spend hours and hours with Cruz and co-star Scarlett Johansson. “This is a very good way to make a living,” he said.
Up next for Cruz is “Nine,” co-starring Daniel Day-Lewis. For the role, Cruz will be a singing, dancing, sultry siren, and has already begun working on her part.
She said she has been a bit of a workaholic in recent years, but doesn’t expect that to change soon. “If I didn’t have a hunger, I’d be very worried. I’ve been very addicted to work.”
But she said she could imagine a time when she’d want to stop for a while and see such places as Africa. “But for now, it’s hard to say no when a good script is offered to you.”
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Our Man in Cannes: The crowd’s verdict: ‘Indy’ is a hit (spoiler alert!)
CANNES, France — The people behind “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” may have feared the Cannes snakepit, but it looks like they’re going to escape without a serious bite.
Sunday’s world premiere was met with roaring approval, and any critical sniping will be deftly deflected by adoring audiences.
The new Indy, released by Paramount, is expected to be the biggest summer movie of the year in the U.S., and those expectations should be easily met.
The flick has much of the humor of previous installments, as well as breakneck action sequences that will make you keep reaching for popcorn.
Trade publications in Cannes had been predicting a possibly rocky reception, partly because bloggers who saw exhibitor screenings back in the States questioned its pacing. Also, another blockbuster that premiered in Cannes a few years ago, “The Da Vinci Code,” was savaged here, despite going on to success.
There were plenty of justifiable reasons for such savagery toward “The Da Vinci Code.” There are few reasons for such a reaction to the new Indy.
The scene outside the Palais before the premiere was chaos. The streets were packed with onlookers out for a stroll on a beautifully sunny day. Dozens of journalists from top-flight publications — with the highest credentials possible for festival access — were shut out of the theater until just before the movie started. And many had to sit in uncomfortable, fold-down seats at the ends of the aisles.
Only those who arrived more than 30 minutes early gained decent seats.
Fans of the Indy series will enjoy the reunion of Harrison Ford and Karen Allen, as well as the introduction of Shia Labeouf. Labeouf, who has stunts involving knives, vines, swords and motorcycles, is believable as the naive sidekick who is drawn into Indy’s wild world. Cate Blanchett, as usual, is pitch-perfect as a villainous Soviet parapsychologist.
There’s not much point in saying more about the movie. It would just give away the plot - and any possible surprises.
SPOILER ALERT: Contrary to earlier Lucas comments, bloggers weren’t wrong about the relationship between Indiana Jones and his new sidekick, Mutt (Labeouf).
Steven Spielberg acknowledged at a press conference Sunday that the secret was out. But don’t let that spoil the fun. Hint: There’s another big snake scene.
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Our Man in Cannes: All things Indy
CANNES, France — Daredevil archeologist Indiana Jones may face the challenge of a lifetime Sunday when the latest movie in the blockbuster franchise is unearthed at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. But director George Lucas didn’t appear too worried Saturday.
“When you do a film that is this anticipated, some people think it’s going to be the Second Coming,” Lucas told a group of U.S. and Canadian reporters in advance of the world premiere. There’s always an increased “danger of disappointment,” he said. “But anyone who loves the old Indiana Jones movies will love this one.”
While details of the movie have been kept under tight wraps, the action of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” takes place in the late 1950s, at the height of the Cold War and McCarthyism.
Like the other Indy flicks, which featured the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail, this one has a supernatural element: aliens from outer space, with the so-called Area 51 playing a big role.
Karen Allen, star of the original movie, reunites with Harrison Ford, and Shia Labeouf and Cate Blanchett join the cast.
Labeouf, the 21-year-old star of “Transformers,” does not play Indiana Jones’ son, as some bloggers have speculated. Instead, he’s a rebellious youth who enlists Indy’s help in a special search that could lead to the Crystal Skull of Akator, a legendary object of superstition and fear. Blanchett, sporting a 1950s Louise Brooks bob, plays a Russian spy whith parapsychological powers. “She thinks that it’s possible to use mind power to dominate the world,” said Blanchett, who joined Labeouf, Allen and Ford in meeting the press Saturday.
Lucas said he never planned to do a fourth Indiana Jones flick but that Ford was the instigator. The long process of coming up with a script took years of revisions, including suggestions from director Steven Spielberg, who was initially reluctant, Lucas said.
But Lucas said he was glad with the outcome and hopes that the latest Indy flick will renew interest in history and archeology.
“I think people should have a good picture of the past,” and the new movie will help a new generation understand the “truly paranoid attitude toward communism” that dominated the U.S. in the ’50s, Lucas said.
Suchg paranoia was “created by, dare I say it, an unwillingness to talk to each other,” he said. “But this is history. Learn from it.”
Ford said he wasn’t worried about the upcoming premiere. “Regardless of whether it’s highly successful, moderately successful or not successful at all, it’s still an enjoyable process” to make a new Indiana Jones movie, he said. “I have great confidence in the movie because of the peoled involved.”
While Lucas, Ford and others were the epitome of outward calm Saturday, Labeouf admitted to being a bit on edge because of the likelihood that the new role will make him much more a target for media scrutiny.
When Ford began the Indy series, “he came into it at a different age. He wasn’t 21 when he did this. I’m like a loner, and I can’t deal with it yet,” he said, referring to an expected tabloid frenzy. “I’m just weirded out.”
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Our Man in Cannes: Mark Cuban, movie maverick
2929, owned by Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner, is having a high-profile year here in Cannes.
It wasn’t too long ago that the duo behind broadcast.com were newbies along the Croisette, ready to spend some of the billions of dollars they made by selling their Dallas-based company to Yahoo.
This week, 2929 picked up the international sales rights to John Waters’ new movie, “Fruitcake,” starring Johnny Knoxville and Parker Posey. They’re selling rights to the film in the market section of the festival.
The movie focuses on a kid who gets separated from his Waters-weird parents on Christmas Eve.
The Cuban/Wagner team also is handling international sales for Barry Levinson’s “What Just Happened?”; James Gray’s “Two Lovers” and Guillermo Arriaga’s “The Burning Plain.”
Variety broke the story about the Waters deal Thursday.
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Our Man in Cannes: Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s best film ever
CANNES, France — Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan of Turkey has been a critical favorite in Cannes ever since “Climates” premiered here a few years ago.
He has been so well-regarded among film snobs that Joel and Ethan Coen last year showed a short film about a cowboy (Josh Brolin) who goes to an L.A. theater and asks the ticket seller to describe “Climates.”
The result was hilarious, in a Coen brothers kind of way. (Ceylan typically focuses on moods, not events, so “Climates” is quite hard to describe.)
So it was interesting to see Ceylan’s latest, “The Three Monkeys,” on Thursday night. I’ve never been a big Ceylan fan. I respect his work, especially the cinematography. But I’ve usually been faced with watching his movies at 10 p.m. here in Cannes, and if there’s not much going on up on the big screen, I tend to nod. (That’s a horrible admission, but it happens all the time. I sat next to a critic who slept last night.)
Remarkably enough, I was engrossed by “The Three Monkeys” from the very beginning. It’s the best Ceylan film ever, not that such a comment will mean much to most people.
It focuses on a politician who is involved in a hit-and-run on a dark, lonely road. He gets out of the car, but hides when another vehicle shows up. The driver doesn’t stop to help, but calls police with the license plate number of the abandoned politician’s car.
The politician, knowing he’s in trouble, pays a man who occasionally works as his driver to confess to the hit-and-run and go to prison. Regular paychecks will be sent to his family, and a big payday will come when he is freed, should he remain silent.
To say any more would give away too much of the plot. But one deception leads to another, and another, and another.
Ceylan’s cinematography is wonderful, once again.
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Our Man in Cannes: Emerging stars
CANNES, France — New stars emerge in Cannes each year, and a few months later, the rest of the world begins to take notice.
At the 61st annual festival, the first new star has to be Michael Fassbender, who plays an IRA rebel who goes on a hunger strike in a British prison in the early 1980s. The movie is director Steve McQueen’s “Hunger,” and no, this McQueen is not related to the late actor Steve McQueen. Fassbender leads a group of imprisoned men against a series of brutalities, and by the end of the movie, he’s an emaciated shell of a man, his body covered with bedsores.
Even though “Hunger” will have a hard time drawing large audiences in the States, it has a raw power, much of it derived from Fassbender’s performance.
It was announced Friday that Fassbender has been named to play Heathcliff in Ecosse Films’ upcoming “Wurthering Heights.”
Tim Haslam of Hanway films, which is handling international sales, told the trade publication Screen International that Fassbender is “brooding, wild and dangerous. He could be a Brando for Britain.”
The other emergent star is Martina Gusman of “The Lion’s Den,” or “Leonera” in Spanish. In the Argentine flick, Gusman transforms herself from a sniveling victim into an empowered woman. For most of the film, she’s trapped in prison, where she gives birth to a baby boy. But it’s fascinating to watch her face, her slow-evolving physicality and her ultimate bravery as she stands up for her rights as a mother.
She could easily win the best-actress award here, but such predictions usually come to naught in quirky Cannes.
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Our Man in Cannes: ‘Indiana Jones’ buzz
CANNES, France — The Daily Variety headline says it all: “Indy braves the Palais of Doom.”
When “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” premieres Sunday, the notoriously picky pack of Cannes critics will undoubtedly be ready with sharpened knives. In the past, they’ve been known to boo, throw things at the screen, slam their seats up and walk out in droves.
In short, it’s not pretty when movies fall flat.
Snootiness, in fact, comes as easily here as the early-summer rains, and a summer Hollywood blockbuster like the new Indy movie is bound to get drenched.
But it’s not as if critical reaction in Cannes will be of any import in terms of box office, especially in America. “The Da Vinci Code” was justifiably savaged here during its premiere a few years ago and went on to gross $758 million.
Paramount, the studio behind the new Indy flick, seems well aware that storms are brewing. After exhibitor screenings last week in the U.S., Variety reports, word went out on blogs that the new Indy was rather tired.
In a sign of Paramount’s edginess, the studio has invited some critics to attend a brief press conference Saturday with director Steven Spielberg, producer George Lucas and the stars. But unlike most press conferences, none of the critics will have seen the movie yet. That probably won’t stop some pointed questions, but it’s also unlikely to generate any early positive buzz.
So one has to wonder: Why is Paramount bothering?
Most of the invited critics say they plan to attend the early press conference Saturday, as well as go to the one right after the critics’ screening on Sunday. But few, if any, expect to write anything of substance about the new “Indy” until after the press screening at 3:30 p.m. Cannes time Sunday.
And who knows. Perhaps Indiana Jones can pull of another miracle escape.
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Our Man in Cannes: ‘Leonera’ and Martina Gusman
Argentine director Pablo Trapero planted a Latin American flag in the race for the Palme d’Or on Thursday morning with “The Lion’s Den,” or “Leonera” in Spanish.
The movie focuses on a young woman who wakes up in her apartment surrounded by the bloody bodies of two men, one of whom is still alive. As it turns out, both have been her lovers, and both men have been each other’s lover. And one has made her pregnant.
The woman takes the fall and ends up in prison, where she delivers her baby, only to face the prospect of having the child removed from her care.
Martina Gusman has the starring role, and she’s phenomenal. The movie has a bright future on the American arthouse circuit and is just the latest in a string of groundbreaking Latin American works.
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Our Man in Cannes: ‘Tree of Life’ shopped around
Director Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life,” which was filmed in Smithville, is being shopped for international distributors in Cannes. The movie isn’t finished, of course, so there are no screenings of footage being made available to critics. But Summit Entertainment is handling negotiations.
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Castro pic has Austin ties
Austin-based Artists Relations Group is fixing up with Oscar-touched producer Robert Moresco (“Million Dollar Baby,” “Crash”) to produce a biographical feature about Fidel Castro’s exiled daughter, Alina Fernandez.
The story is based on Fernandez’s book “Castro’s Daughter: An Exile’s Memoir of Cuba,” in which she describes her bizarre and ruptured relationship with her father and her split from Cuba to the U.S.
Financing for development of the flick comes from private Austin-based outfit the Lamy Group.
Fernandez and her book
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Our Man in Cannes: ‘Waltz with Bashir’
The “Kung Fu Panda” screening was the second animated feature premiere — as part of the official selections — in two days in Cannes, a rarity.
On Wednesday night, Israeli director Ari Folman showed “Waltz with Bashir,” a serious but non-traditional documentary looking back 25 years when Israel was involved in a war in Lebanon.
Folman said he didn’t want to do the documentary with a middle-aged guy looking into the camera, so he went with animation. But he didn’t use the Richard Linklater technique of rotoscoping, employed in the Austinite’s “A Scanner Darkly” and “Waking Life.”
In essence, the story revolves around a former Israeli soldier who begins to question what happened — and his involvement in — the massacre of Arabs in refugee camps in the early 1980s.
On the surface, the film may be seen as anti-Israeli, but that would be a limited reading of what’s on screen.
Instead, it’s passionately anti-war, questioning the point of sending soldiers into another country to shoot and kill. There’s no mistaking that Folman thinks such conduct is utterly banal.
The movie ends with actual documentary footage of the killings. And it’s a powerful moment, making this one of the contenders for the Palme d’Or.
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Our Man in Cannes: ‘Blindness’ celebrities
The director and cast of “Blindness” sat down with journalists Thursday at the Hotel Martinez, which is the site of some of the most serious star-gawking in town. Hundreds of people are usually lined up outside, hoping to get a glimpse of a celebrity, and even journalists with badges have to go through a checkpoint and questioning about why they want to enter.
Inside, director Fernando Meirelles and actors Julianne Moore, Alice Braga, Gael Garcia Bernal, Don McKellar and Danny Glover fielded questions on Thursday.
And as has been the case in past festivals, Meirelles and Glover were the most eloquent (although Bernal and Moore can hold their own.)
Meirelles tried to explain his comments Wednesday that he did not think “Blindness” was a good opening-night film for the fest.
“It’s the subject matter and the context,” he said. “The opening-night film is followed by dinner and a party, and this movie isn’t exactly a good lead-in for a party.”
“Blindness” focuses on a sudden outbreak of sightlessness in an unnamed city and tracks the disintegration of society inside a quarantined dormitory as well as in the world at large, where the virus cannot be contained.
Although several critics gave the movie good reviews, the main critics in the international press in Cannes gave “Blindness” mixed reviews, at best, on Thursday. Among the complaints: that Bernal’s character was too one-dimensional, that the script was too compressed, with too many shortcuts from the award-winning novel, and that the horror of the situation wasn’t fully conveyed.
Meirelles didn’t seem fazed by the reviews, at least not publicly. Instead, he focused on the movie’s main theme Thursday, that of people who wear blinders in order to get through the day, people who can see but don’t really see the person next to them. “We go blind to protect ourselves,” he said. But when an entire society goes literally blind, there’s no protection left.
So the movie is about rebuilding a society and rediscovering humanity amid an apocalypse, he said.
Glover, meanwhile, had a slightly different take, giving a personal example of why he wanted to do “Blindness.”
He talked about his young grandson who has fallen in love with a little girl who has Down’s syndrome. He said he and his daughter had talked about the situation but didn’t want to discourage the child. “He sees her inner beauty,” Glover said of his grandson. “Imagine it. If he keeps that sensibility throughout his life, there’s no telling what the possibilities will be.”
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Our Man in Cannes: Chatting with Angelina Jolie
CANNES, France — When so many great movies are screening, it’s mildly irritating to spend time focusing on the personal lives of celebrities. But hey, that’s part of the gig. So, without further ado, Angelina Jolie confirmed Thursday that she is indeed carrying twins and that she was feeling fine.
“I wouldn’t be doing this if I weren’t,” she said.
At a press conference for the new animated DreamWorks flick “Kung Fu Panda,” Jolie said she was, in fact, thrilled to be in Cannes to promote two movies, the other being Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling.”
In “Kung Fu Panda,” she voices the role of Tigress, one of the legendary Furious Five who aspire to be the prophesied Dragon Warrior.
Jolie, who managed to keep a smile on her face for most of the conference, said she would walk up the red carpet with Brad Pitt for the “Kung Fu Panda” premiere. “He’s taking care of the kids right now.” (They already have four.)
She also said the two would attend the “Changeling” premiere.
When questioned about the workload, Jolie replied: “It’s not such hard work. I sit and talk and everyone is being very nice to me. … And it’s part of the job.”
She said she’d be wearing sensibly low-heeled Cole Haan shoes, with special Nike soles, for the red-carpet appearances.
As for the movie, it’s a throwback to the old Disney animated features. “It doesn’t talk down to kids,” said co-director John Stevenson. “It’s going to scare you, but it’s going to be OK in the end. … It’s the classic Disney formula.”
Jack Black voices Po, the panda who goes on to greatness, once he learns to believe in himself. He said he identified with the character because he’s like a bear who’s plump and soft and goes a little crazy at times. “I am Po.”
Dustin Hoffman voices Shifu, the Kung Fu master charged with teaching the roly-poly Po how to fight. (Hint: food is a motivator.)
Hoffman fielded almost as many questions as Jolie. At one point, he was asked what it was like to go from such classics as “The Graduate” and “Midnight Cowboy” to today’s “Kung Fu Panda.”
“It’s a decline in culture,” he deadpanned.
He then added: “I want everyone to know there was a point in time when Angelina could have chosen between me and Brad.”
When the cast was asked whether the movie would send a bad message to obese kids that it’s fine to be fat, Hoffman stepped up to the plate in more serious fashion.
“The superhero exists because of our need to idealize,” he said. “But the point of Po is to become a real hero … to realize that the superhero is within you, not outside.”
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The brilliance of ‘Blindness’
CANNES, France — Director Fernando Mereilles’ “Blindness” has broken the traditional opening-day jinx in Cannes.
Usually, the first movie of the fest is a real stinker. But “Blindness” got the show off to a good start Wednesday, with redemption emerging from an apocalypse.
Julianne Moore stars as the wife of a doctor who’s the only person in an unnamed city who escapes the mysterious ailment of sudden blindness.
When her husband, played by Mark Ruffalo, becomes blind early in the outbreak, she accompanies him to a quarantined dormitory by pretending to be blind herself. As the epidemic spreads, hundreds of people are crammed into disgusting, filty quarters, and Moore becomes a reluctant leader, trying to help the victims navigate the nightmare of complete social breakdown.
The movie, based on the prize-winning novel by Nobel winner Jose Saramago, explores the efforts of people to maintain their dignity among the most horrific of circumstances.
Gael Garcia Bernal, in a sinister turn, stars as an emergent gang leader within the dormitory.
Meirelles said he was drawn to the script because it shows “the fragility of our civilization” and strips the veneer off of our niceties.
Because of the subject matter, which includes a revolting mass rape scene, Meirelles said he was surprised that “Blindness” was chosen to lead off the festival. “I still don’t think this is the best film to open the festival,” he said. But festival organizers, well-aware of the usually hostile reception to opening-night films, obviously wanted to change course.
Their strategy worked.
It’s hard to watch “Blindness” and not be reminded of the irrationality that accompanied the beginning of the spread of AIDS in the early ’80s, as well as other recent epidemics. “We play civilized, sophisticated people because we have food and other necessities,” Meirelles said. “But once we lose that, our society collapses, and the question becomes: How do we start again?”
The movie co-stars Danny Glover, who serves as a narrator during the last part of the film, as well as Alice Braga and Don McKellar, who wrote the script.
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How about a connection?
Mia A. Farrell, a partner with Laboratoire in Los Angeles, is working at the American Pavilion, and she’s a frequent visitor to Austin, having grown up in Houston.
She’s trying to arrange a high-speed phone line for me here in Cannes so that I can do a couple of broadcasts on the festival for National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.”
She’s working with a nice British chap, Chris Burton, who is representing the high-speed broadband service Skype.
Haven’t heard yet from NPR on whether the computer-based broadcast will work. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
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Longhorn needs a ticket
CANNES, France — A big shout-out to the University of Texas comes from Alicia Kamath, a student in the radio/television/film sequence.
She’s working at the American Pavilion, just behind the Palais. She says she’s hoping to score some tickets to a nighttime screening at the Lumiere so she can get dressed up and walk the red carpet.
In case anyone in Cannes wants to give her some, she’s just inside the entrance at the pavilion, checking badges.
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Penn spices up news media conference
CANNES, France — The annual news conference of the Cannes jury, which will decide the top prizes at the end of the 61st festival this year, is usually a dull affair. But jury president Sean Penn spiced things up Wednesday.
He attacked the “inane supidity” of President Bush, said he was encouraged by the kind of support that Democratic hopeful Barack Obama was generating. But he also warned that, if elected, Obama would have to become “a greater man than he’s ever been” to keep people from becoming disillusioned.
As usual, the media raised questions about whether favoritism, personal politics and cultural biases would play a role in this year’s jury deliberations.
Penn, of course, has been the target of bloggers who contend that he has a conflict of interest because his friend, director Clint Eastwood, has “Changeling” in competition for the Palme d’Or this year. Penn won a best actor Oscar for his role in the Eastwood-directed “Mystic River.”
Penn said such notions were insulting and that the jury would listen to the hearts and minds of this year’s films. He also joked that Eastwood has directed and starred in scores of movies, but that “the bastard only offered me one.”
Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron got a laugh when he dryly responded to the same question of bias. “I’m rooting for the Mexican movies,” he said.
Other members of this year’s jury are: German actress Alexandra Maria Lara, French director Rachid Bouchareb, American actress Natalie Portman, Iranian director Marjane Satrapi, Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Italian actor Sergio Castellitto and French actress Jeanne Balibar.
Penn got another laugh when he was reminded that he once said he was averse to movie awards and that he wouldn’t want to be on a Cannes jury because he would have to stay “wise and sober for 12 days.”
Said Penn: “How many days here do I have left?”
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Trying to catch it all at Cannes
The Nice airport is jam-packed, the crowds are already strolling the Croisette, hundreds of journalists are lining up for credentials outside the Palais, and the Cannes Film Festival is getting ready to kick off Wednesday.
The screening schedule is always withheld from journalists until you get here, and it always causes a few moans.
Some of the most highly regarded flicks will be screening at 8:30 a.m. They include Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling” and “Linha De Passe” from Walter Salles.
Then there are the inevitable conflicts. You can’t see Atom Egoyan’s “Adoration” without missing the press conference for Steven Soderbergh’s “Che.”
But that’s par for the course in Cannes. Too may films, too little time. “Wendy and Lucy,” the Kelly Reichardt flick that did well at South by Southwest, screens in the Un Certain Regard program at 10 p.m. Thursday, May 22.
But it’s going up against Paolo Sorrentino’s “Il Divo,” a controversial look at the Italian reign of Giulio Andreotti. But it will be possible to catch an earlier screening of the Sorrentino flick, if people are so inclined.
Overall, the lineup looks good, with lots of Brazilian and Mexican movies, plus the usual French suspects.
The festival kicks off Wednesday with Brazilian Fernando Meirelles’ “Blindness,” followed by Israeli director Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir.” Then the festival takes an early turn toward Hollywood-style comic relief with the Thursday screening of the animated “Kung Fu Panda.”
Stay tuned for updates Wednesday.
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Favorites shine at Paramount summer series
We just got our hands on the Paramount Theatre’s 2008 Summer Film Classics calendar, and, just like every year, we’re going crazy circling must-see movies.
It kicks off May 22 with (of course) “Casablanca” and “Key Largo” — a Bogie feast! — and rolls on with golden noirs “Laura,” “Out of the Past” and “Chinatown”; Hal Ashby gems “Harold & Maude” (starring my new best friend Bud Cort), “The Landlord” and “Shampoo”; and, well, we love it all.
Here’s a ticker-tape title tease: “Gimme Shelter,” “California Split,” “Picnic,” “Diva,” “Children of Paradise,” “Frankenstein,” “Blazing Saddles,” “The Red Shoes,” “Vertigo,” “Peeping Tom,” “Repulsion,” “Drums Along the Mohawk,” “Solaris,” “Planet of the Apes,” tons of classic Warner Bros. cartoon shorts and dozens more.
Check out the schedule and ticket info HERE.
‘Last Year at Marienbad’ on the big, big screen — woo-hoo!
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Heather Graham in town shooting
Heather Graham, Amber Heard and Jennifer Coolidge are in Austin filming the indie dark-comedy “Ex-Terminators,” directed by John Inwood, who has several episodes of TV’s “Scrubs” on his CV.
According to a publicist for ABC Pest and Lawn Services (!!), the film is taking advantage of ABC’s pest facilities, because the movie is “about a small pest control company that manages to ‘off’ (people’s) exes — ex-husbands, ex-boyfriends, etc.”
Shooting started this week at the ABC offices in Austin and will roll for several more.
See the film’s IMDB.com page HERE.
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Does the new Indy stink? Ask Harry
Austin’s own Ain’t-It-Cool crew have seen the future of Indiana Jones, and it looks dreary.
Wily spy reviewers for Harry Knowles’ feared movie site caught industry screenings of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and they aren’t great, with declarations like: “this is the Indiana Movie that you were dreading” and “Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford are trying far too hard to give everyone what they think that they want.”
Here are links to two of three AIC Indy reviews, which do contain spoilers: Review #1, Review #2.
And SlashFilm.com nicely sums up the AIC reactions with bullet lists and more HERE.
The new Indy pic opens wide May 22
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Austin-made comedy debuts this weekend
“When is Tomorrow,” Austin filmmaker Kevin Ford and longtime friend Eddie Steeple’s locally made buddy comedy, premieres Saturday and Sunday at the Alamo Ritz, before moving to the Alamo South next week.
Steeples, best known as “Crabman” on TV’s “My Name is Earl,” performs stand-up before the weekend screenings. Ford will also be there.
Read our interview with Ford here, and find ticket info here.
Here’s the trailer:
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Dobie cuts in half its art-film slate
Here’s a report we wrote that runs in Friday’s American-Statesman Movies section:
When we think of the Dobie Theatre, in all its Escherian angles, movie-set auditoriums and defiantly indie programming, Hollywood piffle doesn’t come to mind.
The first house to run “Slacker” and the birthplace of the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival; where the tiny doc “Hands On a Hard Body” played for more than a year and Quentin Tarantino launched his QT fests, the Dobie has been Austin’s art-film bulwark for better than a decade.
But as chain theaters roll out flashier presentations and the Alamo Drafthouse expands its programming and singular in-house perks (cocktails, sir?), the four-screen art house on the Drag has taken a hit, with ticket sales sagging badly enough that action must be taken. And that action is action, as in corpulent Hollywood action movies, and more. Opening today at the Dobie: “Speed Racer” and “What Happens in Vegas.” Coming soon: “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” (Already on the marquee: comedy blockbuster “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”)
It’s been “increasingly difficult” to compete even with arthouse brethren like the Arbor because the Dobie remains obstinately low-tech, Dobie manager Dan Cofer says. So from now on expect a 50-50 mix of the Dobie’s customary indie/foreign films and major Hollywood fare. Cofer says this is a local issue and not symptomatic of the nationwide Landmark chain, which bought the theater in 1999.
(Photo borrowed from Kat Candler’s blog, available HERE)
“The Dobie’s a funky, old-school art house, a relic of an earlier time,” Cofer explains. High-definition projection, deafening sound systems, stadium seats and restaurant-style menus have burnished the general movie-going experience. Meanwhile, “the Dobie just stays the same,” Cofer says.
Though we bemoan a shrunken slate of locally shown boutique films, it’s understood that survival is paramount.
“It’s not necessarily a bad sign. In some ways I’d like to stick to our guns as a 100-percent art house,” Cofer says. “But if bringing in these films can keep us alive, I’m all for it.”
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Criterion goes Blu
While we still haven’t jumped to Blu-Ray — just bought a new regular player last year, curses — we love hearing that our favorite DVD distributor The Criterion Collection is adding the format in October to its distinguished library of some of the best and most important films ever made. Think high-def. Think totally rad. And they’ll be priced the same as their standard editions.
Announced Blu-Ray titles so far: “The Third Man,” “Bottle Rocket” (yesss), “Chungking Express,” “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” “The Last Emperor” (yawnnn), “El Norte,” “The 400 Blows,” “Gimme Shelter,” “The Complete Monterey Pop,” “Contempt,” “Walkabout,” “For All Mankind” and “The Wages of Fear.”
A reminder that the thesis projects of select UT film students will screen for FREE from 12 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Alamo Ritz. Be there early for seats.
They describe it like this:
The eclectic group of 11 films (includes): the satirical comedy of director Gabe Evans’ “Le Grand Voyage de Giovanni,” a picaresque tale of film movement mockery; Lucas Amann’s “Popsicle,” a dark tale concerning a nefarious puppeteer; Sergio Carvajal’s multicultural mini-epic “Lo Que Daria Por Volver,” an examination of the concept of one’s identity; Molly Green’s dark comedy “That’s Not Funny,” shedding some light on why we find misfortune in others’ lives humorous.
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More good stuff from the Austin Film Society
Early heads up on three cool events by AFS:
- Fresh off wrapping his feature “Me and Orson Welles” in London, Richard Linklater will present his new documentary “Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach,” a profile of heroic UT baseball coach Augie Garrido, June 3 at the Paramount. Details to be announced. More about the movie HERE.
Austin-made comedy “Baghead” will be presented by its makers Mark and Jay Duplass at 9:30 p.m. June 12 outside at the Star Hill Ranch. Details coming later.
AFS’ Essential Cinema presents “Making the World Laugh: Global Comedy,” a nine-film series featuring works from France, Israel, Argentina, Hong Kong and beyond, including “Kung Fu Hustle,” “The Band’s Visit,” “Rolling Family,” a new print of Chaplin’s late classic “Monsieur Verdoux” and more. June 3 - July 29 at the Alamo South.
Info on all of the above can be found soon HERE.
Lastly, my favorite movie-related link of the day, RIGHT HERE.
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Here comes Cannes
The opening-night movie at the Cannes Film Festival has traditionally been a stinker that screens out of competition. Think “The Da Vinci Code.”
But this year, the movie that kicks off the festival May 14 will actually be in competition for the Palme d’Or and has the probability of being worthwhile. Fernando Meirelles’ “Blindness” is based on the prize-winning novel by Jose Saramago and focuses on a town that comes down with a mysterious case of sudden blindness, leaving everyone sightless except for one woman.
Meirelles, a Brazilian who works in multinational productions, is a noted director, having done such standouts as “City of God” and “The Constant Gardener.” And he has assembled a great cast. Julianne Moore, one of the nicest women in show business and one of the most talented, stars as the woman who can see. Mark Ruffalo plays her husband, a doctor.
I first met Meirelles in Cannes a few years ago when he brought “City of God” to the festival. It was a searing tale of life on the streets of Sao Paolo, where Meirelles grew up.
He’s quite gracious and, thankfully, fluent in English. “Blindness” has been one of the most anticipated art films of the year, so it’s good to see that he made the competition.
Stay tuned for more posts, which will be coming daily starting next Tuesday, when I land in the south of France.
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B-there for Texas b-boy documentary
Marcy Garriott’s “Inside the Circle,” the Texas b-boy doc that won a 2007 SXSW Audience Award, was not only picked up for distribution by Cinema Libre Studio in Los Angeles, but it’s having a special screening May 12 at the Alamo Ritz and tix are only two bucks.
The film’s trailer and more about the screening HERE. And the movie’s own site HERE.
Bits and bites:
- The original Rambo movie, “First Blood,” will have a special one-night showing in theaters nationwide, including at four Austin-area joints.
Screening of the digitally remastered, high-def version is at 7:30 p.m. May 15 at Tinseltown Pflugerville, Southpark Meadows, Metropolitan and Gateway.
Expect a look at an alternate ending of the movie, too, “that could have changed Rambo’s theatrical history forever, presented for the first time in movie theaters,” plus an interview with Sylvester Stallone. In other words: Everything you’ll find on the upcoming DVD.
Get the tickets at theater box offices or at www.FathomEvents.com.
- UT grad and one-time Yellow Rose server Renee Zellweger has signed up for a new Lifetime movie, “Living Proof,” co-starring Harry Connick Jr., who’s also in her upcoming movie “Chilled in Miami.” It’s a breast-cancer medical drama based on real events.
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Short film contests
Fire off your digital short movie to the SXSWclick Festival, where you can win prizes and make a calling card for future fame and glory.
There are five categories and celebrity jurors, and the deadline in June 13. Winners will screen at SXSW next March.
Details and entry stuff HERE.
Reel Women presents another round of the popular 48-Hour Film Project, during which contestant teams write, shoot, edit and score a short movie in a single weekend.
Organizers don’t know what kind of film you’ll make, and either do you. Not until you draw for your genre June 20. Films are due June 22. All movies will screen for the public at the Arbor, and a wealth of awards will be bestowed.
Register (bring moola; it ain’t cheap) and get more HERE.
