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Saturday, October 18, 2008
Goldblum in Adam Resurrected
Jeff Goldblum gives one of the best performances of his career in “Adam Resurrected.”
After by-the-numbers roles in such blockbusters as “Jurassic Park” and “Independence Day”, it’s nice to see him have a meaty role as a Holocaust survivor haunted by his degradation at the hands of a Nazi concentration camp officer (Willem Dafoe).
But even his fine performance won’t make this a success at the box office, regrettably.
The story of the concentration camp horrors is primarily told in flashback as Goldblum’s Adam tries to cope with a long stint in a mental institution. And as the details emerge, the movie fails to balance the horror with nobility, hope or redemption.
There’s occasional relief in his comic lust toward a nurse, and there’s even hope in his developing relationship with a child who thinks and acts as if he’s a dog. But these elements can’t bring enough dramatic vitality to offset the overwhelming sense of depression.
Perhaps that’s the point. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It just makes for a difficult two hours, and most audiences won’t be eager to share the pain.
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Danny Boyle at AFF
Danny Boyle talked Saturday to Austin admirers about the difficulties of getting his hit “Slumdog Millionaire” distributed in the U.S. but expressed relief that film festivals in Telluride and Toronto had helped make his case.
The movie about a young man who makes it to the final question on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” was set in India, so that was the first problem, Boyle says. Then the distributors were told that part of the movie was in Hindi, with subtitles. “And of course that scares producers,” he said.
“I never thought it would work in the U.S.” for a while, said Boyle, a London director known for “Trainspotting” and “28 Days Later”.
But the audience reaction in Telluride and Toronto showed the “power of film festivals,” he said. And he’s optimistic that the film will have a good run in the States now. “I trust the audience,” he said.
Boyle says he loves to come to North America and talk about movies. “We’d never have such a big turnout to talk about a movie there,” he told the packed audience in the Stephen F. Austin ballroom. “In Britain, there isn’t a big film culture. We talk about the weather, the toilets, futball…. You don’t have much to live up to over there. But in France, India and America, you guys love film. It’s in your DNA.”
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Austin Film Festival writing awards
They’re in. The Austin Film Festival just announced the winners of its annual screenplay and teleplay competitions. Winners, plucked from more than 4,000 submissions, receive cash prizes and other stuff.
They are:
Drama Screenplay: “Mine” by Anita Skibski
Comedy Screenplay: “eLove” by Betsy Morris
Latitude Productions Screenplay Award: “Shimmer Lake” by Oren Uziel
Sci-Fi Screenplay: “The Man Who Would be Sherlock Homes” by Walter Campbell
Drama Teleplay: “Pushing Daisies: Rumpology” by Steve Daniels
Sitcom Teleplay: “The Office: The Crossword Contest” by Beau Henry
Everything you need to know about the ongoing festival and screenwriters conference HERE.
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Slumdog at AFF
Director Danny Boyle got a standing ovation Friday night from a full-house at the Paramount Theatre after the premiere of “Slumdog Millionaire” during the Austin Film Festival.
Standing ovations at festivals, of course, aren’t all that rare. But this one was actually deserved.
“Slumdog” could probably become the sleeper hit of the fall movie lineup. It includes charming performances by children (in flashbacks) as a young man tells how he came to know the answers to questions while being a contestant on India’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”
The details of his life as a child are amazing: murders, unfathomable brutality, blindings… To say more would be to give away too much. Let’s just say that the story is at once heartbreaking and uplifting.
At a question-and-answer session after the screening, Boyle said he enjoyed working with child actors because their performances are affected or full or mannerisms. Instead, they’re like “natural spring water.”
(photo: Chris Garcia)
Afterward, Boyle loitered in the Paramount lobby, chatting up fans, signing autographs and posing for photos.
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