Austin360 blogs > Austin Movie Blog > Archives > 2008 > October
October 2008
Austin Film Festival Audience Award Winners
Out of Competition Feature
“Slumdog Millionaire”
Writer: Simon Beaufoy
Director: Danny Boyle
Narrative Feature Competition
“A Quiet Little Marriage”
Writer/Director: Mo Perkins
Documentary Feature Competition
“Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman”
Director: Eric Bricker
Narrative Short
“Pop Art”
Writer/Director: Amanda Boyle
Narrative Student Short
“The Miracle Investigators”
Writer/Director: Jeremy Dehn
Documentary Short
“The Road To Tlacotepec”
Director: Berndt Mader
Animated Short
“The Inquisitive Snail”
Director: Flemish Beauty
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
Bruce Conner retrospective
As part of the Avant Cinema series, the Austin Film Society will present a special screening of several titles from the late experimental director Bruce Conner.
Conner, who died in July, was known for his short films that featured what The New York Times called ‘shocking juxtapositions’ and visual riffs on annihilation.
Among the titles to the be screened: ‘A Movie’ (1958); ‘Marilyn Times Five’ (1968-73); and ‘Mongoloid’ (1978). A Q&A with filmmaker Michelle Silva, representing the Bruce Conner estate, will follow.
Wednesday, 7:55 p.m., Alamo Ritz, 320 E. Sixth St. $6 for film society members and students with ID. $8 for nonmembers.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Austin Film Society
South by Southwest gears up
The South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival has announced the first round of speakers for the 2009 event, scheduled for March 13-21.
The lineup so far: Writer/directors Todd Haynes (‘I’m Not There’) and Richard Linklater (‘Me and Orson Welles’) are scheduled for a joint appearance/conversation.
Also on hand will be Col Needham, founder and vice president of IMDB Service Limited, and longtime Stanley Kubrick producer Jan Harlan.
The festival’s call for entries is open, with an early deadline of Nov. 14 and final deadline of Dec. 12. For more information, visit www.sxsw.com/film.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: SXSW 2009
The best of the new DVDs
Noteworthy DVDs released 10/28/08
PICK OF THE WEEK: Austin-related films are creeping into the digital realm by hook or by crook lately. David Modigliani’s doc “Crawford” has recently been the most popular feature at video website Hulu.com, and can now be ordered on disc from crawfordmovie.com; Ellen Spiro’s “Body of War” (Docurama) arrives in stores this week; and Jeff Nichols’s “Shotgun Stories” has been out for a while now. “The Unforeseen” (New Yorker) came out after an attention-getting if short theatrical run, and “Hell on Wheels” (IndiePix) carried the tough-girl roller-derby scene out to the rest of the country.Meanwhile, SXSW-veteran documentarians David Redmon & Ashley Sabin aren’t only releasing their own work (like the affecting “Kamp Katrina,” and “Mardi Gras: Made in China”) via carnivalesquefilms.com; this week they’re branching out with Sam Douglas and Paul Lovelace’s music doc “The Holy Modal Rounders: Bound to Lose.”
OTHER TOP PICKS:
“Abbott and Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection”: (Universal): It’s a suitcase full of fat man/skinny man hijinks. Need we say more?
“Baraka” (MPI): The ultra-high-def Blu-ray remaster of this 65mm travelogue has had ultra-picky videophiles raving, with this Roger Ebert quote the most ecstatic: “The restored 2008 Blu-Ray DVD is the finest video disc I have ever viewed or ever imagined.”
“Elf” (New Line): The Will Ferrell charmer is has joined “A Christmas Story” as a modern holiday ritual, and a new Blu-ray version just makes an eighth viewing that much more appealing.
Kirk Douglas x2: Two oddities from the star’s late career emerge, as the internationally-cast “Rain of Fire” (Lions Gate) plays with nuclear disaster and a visit from the Antichrist while the enjoyable time-travel adventure “The Final Countdown” (Blue Underground) comes to Blu-ray.
High-def 3-D: Two titles this week — “Polar Express” (Warner Bros.) and “Journey to the Center of the Earth” (New Line) — promise to bring the theatrical 3-D revival into living rooms, funny glasses and all. Regular 2-D versions are included, for the headache-prone.
DOCUMENTARIES: “Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens” (Warner Bros.), “Billy the Kid” (2007) (Zeitgeist), “Inside Bob Dylan’s Jesus Years: Busy Being Born…Again!” (MVD), Collector’s Editions of “Paradise Lost” & “The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill” (Docurama)
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX: “Death Defying Acts” (Weinstein Co.), “Hell Ride” (Dimension), “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl” (New Line)
BEST OF TV: Complete-series collections of “The Flintstones” (Warner Bros.), “The Little Rascals” (Genius), “NewsRadio” & “Sanford and Son” (Sony), and “War and Remembrance” (MPI); also, the scandalous “Fanny Hill” from Acorn.
CULT CORNER: Fans of the fringe have their plates full this week, with a slew of titles from genre leader Synapse including “Patrick” and “Strange Behavior”; a new edition of “The Beyond” (Grindhouse); recent productions “Hank and Mike” (Magnolia) and “Red” (2008) (Magnolia); and the Serge Gainsbourg/Jane Birkin “Slogan” (Cult Epics). Heck, Sony’s “Zombie Strippers” is even arriving on Blu-ray.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: DVDs
Austin Film Festival winners
The Austin Film Festival announced the competition winners today. Here’s the official release. The narrative feature winner, “Lost and Found,” will be screening tomorrow, fyi.
Animated Short Winner: “Chainsaw” (Director: Dennis Tupicoff) Jury: Jay Edwards, “Adult Swim”; Mike Fry, “Ringtales”; Brad Neely, animator
Documentary Short Winner: “Zietek” (Director: Bartosz Blaschke) Special Jury Award for Personal Expression and Advocacy: “Passages” (Director: Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre) Jury: Brent Hoff, “Wholphin”; Deb Lewis, filmmaker; Bart Weiss, Dallas Video Festival
Narrative Student Short Winner: “Danzak” (Writer/Director: Gabriella Yepes) Jury: James Faust, AFI Dallas; Stephen Cook, Walt Disney Studios; Johnathan Schaech, filmmaker/actor
Narrative Short Winner: “Sikumi” (Writer/Director: Andrew Okpeaha MacLean) Special Award for Ryan Andrews’ Performance: “Frankie” (Writer/Director: Darren Thornton Special Award: “Megatron” (Writer/Director: Marian Crisan) Jury: Pat Kiely, filmmaker; Lisa Kaselak, filmmaker; Frank Reynolds, editor
Documentary Feature Winner: “Les Ninjas du Japon” (Director: Giommi Giovanni) Jury: Chris Hyams, BSide Entertainment; Anne Lewis, filmmaker; Kelly Sanders, Truly Indie
Narrative Feature Winner: “Lost & Found” (Writer: Maki Arai, Writer/Director: Nobuyuki Miyake) Special Jury Award: “Left” (Writer/Director: Froukje Tan) Jury: Mary John Frank, Paramount Vantage; Alex Smith, filmmaker; Chris Kelly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
Panel wrap: David Wain
People love the Austin Film Fest for its casual nature, for the opportunity it affords you to get close to filmmakers and screenwriters without the pomp and circumstance that surround some other fests. That dynamic is as evident in the casual chats in the Driskill Victorian Balcony room as anywhere.
With the couches pulled from the room, 75 folks pulled up some carpet Sunday to listen to/engage with funnyman David Wain. Probably best known for his work with sketch comedy troupe The State, Wain, a repeat visitor to the fest, has had a relatively large cult success with his films “Wet Hot American Summer” and “The Ten.”
He visited the festival this year to screen his first major studio comedy, “Role Models,” starring Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott.
Wain entered the room on the quasi-secretive Malkovich floor at the hotel without escort and nobody present to introduce him and took a chair at the front of the room, making a funny observation about the floor-bound attendees and promising a “freewheeling, intimate discussion.”
“It’s a hotel. I’m sure they have chairs … like 1,000 chairs,” he said. Oh, Austin, you casual charmer.
In a faux wistful tone, Wain noted that “it all began back in 1969,” the summer of love and year of his birth. He then took the audience through a brief rundown of his life and career, which included a childhood in the Shaker Heights neighborhood of Cleveland; an aborted dalliance with magic (“the more I did magic, the less a chance I would ever lose my virginity”); an education at NYU, where he would eventually join up with the folks who would form The State; and his stint at MTV, which led from the show “You Wrote It, You Watch It” to “The State.”
The biggest thing I took away from the pleasant chat was the fact that Wain and his partners have endured over the past decade close to 40 failed projects. It is a testament to his (and their creative) energy and ability to work through rejection and frustration that he finds himself in the envious position of directing “Role Models.”
He was brought on to the film late in the game after receiving a phone call from Rudd (one of the stars of “The Ten”) saying they had lost their director. Wain, former State member Ken Marino, and Rudd took the barebones script and reworked it along the way, finding ways to add their own absurdist voice to scenes throughout the mainstream movie. The end result … a somewhat formulaic movie that features the intelligent and biting wit for which Wain and Rudd are famous. (Check out Chris Garcia’s thoughts on the film here.)
Beyond discussion of his own career (which currently includes his own web series, “WainyDays” and voice work on Adult Swim’s “Super Jail”), Wain also touched on the sad state of independent film and the difficulty getting distribution, as well as an impassioned reaction to Gen. Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama earlier in the morning.
In such casual settings, with a funnyman at the helm, the members of the audience, feeling like they are part of a special comedic clique, often feel the need to crack a few jokes and match wits with the talent. But, such is the nature of these casual chats, and one of the reasons AFF is such an enjoyable fest. And, the disarming and witty Wain, apparently appreciated the back-and-forth, writing today on his blog that Austin “consistently has the coolest audiences anywhere.” That’ll go to our heads.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
Thoughts on ‘Happy Birthday Harris Malden’
At the beginning of “Happy Birthday Harris Malden,” it is clear that something is amiss. There is a wild card at hand. With people running up and down stairs and between houses to find birthday boy Harris Malden (Nick Gregorio), we get the urgent, and somewhat comic, sense that there is a boy on the loose. Someone must be caught before he does damage to someone, something or himself.
As we finally track down this mysterious character, we learn that he is not a child, but a man. A good looking, well dressed, seemingly normal, if not a bit neurotic, man … then we see the mustache. Harris Malden wears a drawn-on mustache (that is actually foam latex, according to the credits later). As for why, we are not altogether certain. But it seems wacky and whimsical and certainly sets the tone for the first feature length film from the collective known as Sweaty Robot.
Leading the charge to corral Harris is neighbor and childhood friend Paul Levine (Eric Levy), who is dealing with more drama than his infantilized neighbor … he’s also got a hot and bothered girlfriend, Susan (Brigitte Hagerman), at work who wants to move in with him.
When Paul’s girlfriend surprisingly shows up at the house where he lives with his grandmother, we finally get the big reveal. As an aggravated Paul explains to the uninvited Susan, that Harris lost his father and suffered serious burning on his 5th birthday. After the tragedy, Harris’s mother painted a mustache on the child to keep him from having to see the burn scar above his lip, a physical reminder of the loss of his father. Ever since that time, Harris’s friends and neighbors have sheltered him from the outside world, never allowing him to enter the city center and never letting him know that he looks ridiculous with his self-applied facial hair.
Granted, the entire conceit his absolutely ridiculous, but it sets up a sweet and at times hilarious story of friendship and the lengths to which we go to protect our loved ones. Amidst the mania surrounding Harris’s condition, his younger brother attempts to break free from his mundane life and strike out on his own, while Paul battles with whether he should stay with his loving and hilarious grandmother or finally grow up and move in with his grandmother.
The pace can be a bit frantic at times, due in large part to zooming cameras and harried tracking shots, but the absurdity of the premise and low-budget feel is tempered by a warm heart. Levine’s acting leaves quite a bit to be desired, something reminiscent of early Kevin Smith movies, but his quick give and take with Hagerman, a striking visual presence part Mira Sorvino and part Jenna Fischer, is clever screwball at its indie best.
A thought kept nagging at me slightly throughout. Something about the film seemed very familiar. It actually felt a lot like a SXSW film to me, but I didn’t even really understand why or exactly what that meant. Then it hit me. “Happy Birthday Harris Malden” is a lot like mumblecore (the “genre” launched thanks in large part to SXSW) with more whimsy and less ennui. It came as no surprise then, that during the Q&A, some of the guys from Sweaty Robot told the audience that former SXSW Film Director Matt Dentler, in his new role at Cinetic, has purchased the online rights for the film.
The Q&A was actually funnier than the movie itself, with the guys sharing some of their thoughts on making the movie, trying to market it, and the risks and rewards of independent film. It is obvious that there is a bit of a mutual appreciation party going on amongst the Sweaty Robot collective, but they have reason to feel a bit giddy. They’ve made a strong feature that I think should presage greater things in the future, that is if anyone can figure out the future of independent film.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
AFF panel wrap: The Online World
As any frustrated indie filmmaker (or excitable dude with a camera and some editing software) will tell you, more and more content is moving online. This phenomenon is actually a double-edged sword; while there are seemingly infinite places to get your material online, the glut of material and the short attention span of online viewers are making it harder and harder to get your original content discovered, much less make you any money.
Thus was the point of the panel The Online World Sunday morning at the Driskill Hotel, with panelists Todd Berger and Austinites Chris Hyams and Brad Neely.
The gentlemen returned several times to the remarks by CEO of The Film Company (and former Miramax president) Mark Gill’s talk at the Los Angeles Film Festival this year, in which he declared that, “yes, the sky really is falling” on independent cinema. (For any lovers of cinema, his entire speech is worth reading.)
In his speech, Gill wrapped up his bleak picture of the indie film words with a little bit of a positive message: “If you want to survive in this brutal climate, you’re going to have to work a lot harder, be a lot smarter, know a lot more, move a lot faster, sell a lot better, pay attention to the data, be a little nicer (ok, a lot nicer), trust your gut, read everything and never, ever give up.”
If you’re looking for a cool lifestyle, you’re in the wrong business. If you want work-life balance, go get a government job. But if you really want to make movies—even after all the unvarnished bad news I’ve dumped on you today—then by all means do it.”
Yikes.
The discussion Sunday basically revolved around the way these three men have tried to find their place in the overcrowded marketplace that is seeing opportunities for distribution shrink annually.
I can’t say that any new ground was broken in the conversation, but it was interesting to hear the view points of men who approach the subject of promoting and distributing online content from much different points of view.
Berger is a writer/director/editor who, along with his partners in The Vacationeers, had an internet sensation with the online videos “The Googling,” which showed in a humorous light the power and ubiquity of Google maps. He came at the panel from the perspective of a prolific writer who was working hard to find avenue to get his original work distributed.
Hyams, a co-founder of B-Side, a company that provides interactive online content management for audiences and film festivals, in order to discover great fest films and then promote them, approached the subject from a marketing standpoint.
Neely, who arrived about 30 minutes late, was the most aloof of the three, confessing to a lack of understanding about marketing and the business end of the creative world. Instead, he mostly focuses on creating original work and being true to his art. And what happens after that simply happens.
Below are a few points made by the guys on the panel:
Berger: People zone out from watching online content at about the 2:46 mark. You have to find a way to tell a story in segments of that length. Even if it’s episodic, people have to be able to watch those episodes as stand alones.
Berger: People have still not figured out a way to make money off of ads on sites. People are starting to get sponsors for entire episodes. Many folks are now suggesting that producers go directly to advertising agencies to get sponsorship deals from their clients.
Hyams: “Online video is a lot like Internet stocks in 2000 … there is value, but where is it?”
Hyam: The online world is going become far more Darwinian. Not all good online content will make it, but the only content that will make it will be good.
Hyam: “You can trick people into watching TV or going to the movies. Not so with the Internet.”
Hyam: There has been such a glut of material online because the tools have become so accessible.
Hyam: Average YouTube viewing time is 87 seconds. Viewing habits across the board are moving from the TV and cinemas and on to people’s laptops.
Neely: “It’s a mistake to put too much stake in any projection [of where online content is headed].”
Neely: You can’t be worried about the fear of not getting seen. “It’s important to try and make things with other people [viewers] in mind, but all I want to do is work with good material.”
Neely: After I create the work, then I just want to sit down with someone who tells me where to put it online in order to be viewed.
Berger: In five to 10 years, there will be no difference between computers, TV and phone. You will have one handheld device that allows you to ‘take over’ any screen and view content from your handheld on it, including your desktop.
Neely: If creators of content don’t take into consideration the medium for which they are creating something on a visual level, there will be an unfortunate homogenization aesthetically.
Neely: Everyone’s success story in the online content world is going to be different.
Neely: “Don’t worry about getting paid for the first 10 years.”
Hyam: It’s hard to just be a writer. You have to be a creator or on a creative team.
Berger: You might have to do a boring job at a production company before you can get work where you have more responsibilities.
Hyam: Using HuLu for as a “premiere platform” for the film “Crawford” combined with a publicist, led to more viewings of the film in its first three days of release than opening weekend for “An Inconvenient Truth” or “March of the Penguins.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
A dog day at AFF
Starring a girl and her dog, the minimalist indie drama “Wendy and Lucy” melted hearts during its Austin Film Festival premiere Sunday night at the Paramount Theatre.
Directed by Kelly Reichardt and written by Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond, the drama tells the story of a homeless woman named Wendy — played by a grubby Michelle Williams in a pixie haircut — who loses her dog Lucy as they’re traveling to Alaska.
Plot-wise, that’s about it. The rest is emotional textures, so real they sting. It’s as heartbreaking and naturalistic as anything from the Italian neo-realists. Expect an early 2009 release.
Raymond and Austin-based producer Anish Savjani answered audience questions after the film. Raymond described Williams’ restrained, almost blank performance, as “black-belt acting, expressing without expressing.” It’s an apt way of putting it. And it’s also a supreme compliment.
Raymond and Savjani at the Paramount on Sunday
Williams and doggie Lucy
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
A ‘Model’ of hilarity at AFF
A very full-house at the Paramount Theatre roared and rolled Sunday afternoon during the blisteringly funny comedy “Role Models” at the Austin Film Festival.
A profane charmer, the movie, written by David Wain, Paul Rudd, Ken Marino and Timothy Dowling, stars Rudd and Seann William Scott as adult screw-ups forced into community service. They wind up at a Big Brothers-like outfit, at which they team up with kids to mentor for several days.
Of course, these ne’er-do-wells are utterly inappropriate role models for boys, but slowly if predictably, they learn how to be good, and learn life lessons along the way. Role-playing games, sex, satire and the rock band KISS mix for distinctly outre pleasures.
It’s an R-rated raunch-a-thon leavened by a big heart and the exceptional, always surprising comic talents of the crack cast, including the two kids.
Wain, who directed and co-stars, William Scott and scene-stealer Jane Lynch were at the premiere for a post-show Q&A. Wain noted that Austin “is the best place in the world” for premieres. He should know: Four of his films have premiered in our famed film town.
Wain, William Scott and Lynch busted up the Paramount crowd, on- and off-screen.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
Tom Skerritt talks writing at AFF
Actors Tom Skerritt (“Alien,” “Picket Fences”) and Dana Wheeler Nicholson (“Fletch,” “Friday Night Lights”) chatted Sunday at the Driskill Hotel during the workshop-panel “What Actors Look for in a Script” at the Austin Film Festival and Screenwriters Conference.
Quick bites:
“I don’t know what’s going to happen to Hollywood,” Wheeler Nicholson said, bemoaning the state of feature films, while championing great cable TV writing. “I really don’t. I don’t understand what’s coming out of it any more.”
“I don’t want to hear anybody talking about making a movie until they talk about having a script,” Skerritt said to huge applause.
Skerritt said he’s tired of the “cookie-cutter” writing in feature films today. “All characters sound like the same person.”
Skerritt made pronouncements about writing and the world with such clarity and passion that moderator Warren Etheredge, who teaches writing with Skerritt in Seattle, said, “Whenever I hear you speak, Tom, I think you’re running for office.”
Skerritt during lunch at the Driskill Hotel, between panels Sunday
Wheeler Nicholson and Skerritt conducting the panel ‘What Actors Look for in a Script’ on Sunday at the Driskill
(photos: Chris Garcia)
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
Capsule review: ‘Who is KK Downey?’
One of the beautiful things about the Austin Film Festival is that it gives a sizable platform to young writers who might not otherwise be able to reach such a large audience. Sure, you can see films like “Role Models,” “Slumdog Millionaire” or “W.” at the fest - all strong movies in their own right - but those are movies you will be able to see at cineplexes soon enough. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
But AFF is as much about discovering hidden gems as it is about seeing big name films and attending informative and casual panels. Further, the fest has developed relationships over the past 15 years with young filmmakers, many of whom return semi-regularly to promote their films at the fest that helped launch their careers. Such is the case with the comedy collective known as Kidnappers Films from Montreal. After screening shorts at AFF for several years earlier in the decade, the group returned this year with their first full-length feature, “Who is KK Downey?”
With all of the feel good talk about minor films, aside, however, I must admit that, while the premise of the comedy “KK Downey” was intriguing - two hipster doofuses create alternate personas in an attempt to finally breakthrough as artists - the film unfortunately falls quite flat. Terrance is a jaded rock star, hopelessly in love with an ex-girlfriend who regards him as sad and desperate and has since moved on to date a music critic for “Gaze” magazine, a publication akin to “The Village Voice.” His bud Theo is a chubby, pitiful would-be writer who plays drums in Terrance’s horrific band, while kowtowing to the delusions of grandeur shared by his old friend. After coming to the realization that Terrance, despite the financial support of his parents and the shameless self-promotion of his band, will never be a rock star and Theo, despite his constant desire to talk about his forthcoming novel, will always be considered just another suburban kid writing about subjects with which he has no real relationship and not a literary star, the two decide to take fate into their own hands.
The two decide to take Theo’s manuscript, “Truck Stop Hustler,” a profane piece of literary pap involving a drug-abusing, trick-turning Southern Boy trying to find his place in the world and his next high, and make Terrance the lead character, KK Downey. What ensues is a sometimes funny examination of the way society latches on to cultural trends and its passion for hero-making, even when that which is being idolized is banal and trite. The two fall into a pit of buying their own hype, with all the ensuing groupies and drugs one would expect. The film has its funny moments, depicting the shallowness and simplicity of the hipster scene, and ones that attempt to be touching, such as in the boilerplate love story of a boy trying to win back a woman. Fortunately, the movie never takes itself too seriously, always reminding us that the film is farce at heart, while humorously reminding us of the fate of similar real-life characters such as J.T. Leroy, and to a lesser extent James Fray.
Sadly, the movie doesn’t hit hard enough at the places where it does find laughs - the desperation of its protagonists, the stereotypes it ridicules and the inanity of the premise. There is not enough heightening going on here, as it sometimes gets lost trying to tell the old boy-loses-girl, boy-tries-to-get-girl back story. Maybe the biggest problem of the film is the fact that none of the characters are actually likeable or sympathetic, not that a film has to have this element, but if you’re not going to like any of the characters, you want to be laughing more.
“Who is KK Downy” screens again Wednesday night at the Dobie at 8 p.m.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
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.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
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.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
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.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
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.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
James Cromwell at the Austin Film Festival
Actor James Cromwell was in Austin on Thursday night for the premiere of Oliver Stone’s “W.” at the Paramount Theatre during the Austin Film Festival.
We spoke to him earlier in the day. This is our story:
James Cromwell has just returned from lunch at Austin vegan eatery Casa de Luz, and he fairly glows with satisfaction.
“It’s a very sweet place, very sweet people,” the actor says. “Very Austin.”
Cromwell has been to Austin twice before. He was here Thursday for the local premiere of “W.,” Oliver Stone’s buzzed-about biography of President George W. Bush, which opened the Austin Film Festival. (The film is now in theaters.)
Lanky and cheery, Cromwell bursts with voluble energy. He folds his 6-foot-5-inch frame into a chair at a downtown Austin hotel, keeping his black Kangol cap fixed to his narrow head. His face is angular and craggy, his nose a masterpiece of aquiline majesty. At 68, he looks imperially distinguished, even wearing blue jeans and swearing like a sailor.
In “W.,” Cromwell plays President George H.W. Bush to Josh Brolin’s brawling, boozing George W. Stone stages their relationship as domestic warfare, as the son rebels against a father whose parental disappointment mounts to tragic proportions.
It’s an odd role for Cromwell, because the actor, a Los Angeles native, admits he’s been involved in “radical politics” for 40 years. He’s vegan, an animal rights activist and a deep-dyed liberal who expresses utter horror that anybody might vote for a certain vice presidential candidate. He’s also sharp, expansive and very funny.
Chris Garcia: You’ve played four U.S. presidents: two fictional ones, Lyndon B. Johnson and now George H.W. Bush. Why do these roles keep coming?
James Cromwell: First I played a pig farmer (in “Babe”). Next I played a corrupt cop (“L.A. Confidential”). Half-way between the two is the president of the United States. (Laughs)
Why are you so presidential? Is it your height? Your bearing? You’re very regal. For a long time I thought you were British.
I don’t know why they see me that way. I like to do blue-collar people. I started out on “All in the Family” as Stretch Cunningham (slipping into a tangy Bronx accent), Heya, from da Bronx! I don’t get a chance to do that guy anymore. I have no idea. They don’t think I can do comedy either. The first movie I did was “Murder by Death” by Neil Simon, and I played a Frenchman. For years people thought I was French. Then I played a German. Then I played an Irish cop in “L.A. Confidential.” And then people starting thinking of me as this dark figure. So I play mostly villains now, tough guys.
You’re the consummate character actor. You’d fit perfectly in golden age Hollywood.
That’s very nice of you. It’s intriguing. I can’t do anything about my height. I can’t do anything about my nose or my bald head.
What attracted you to this president?
Nothing attracted me to this president, except Oliver Stone. Josh Brolin had recommended me, but Oliver was tentative. I’d never met Josh before, but when we did finally meet, you immediately like this man. He’s delightful. I felt very comfortable with him. First thing Oliver told me was, “Well, I’ve offered the part to Harrison Ford and Warren Beatty, but it’s probably better not to have a big star.” I thought, That’s great. So I’m sloppy thirds! But I think Oliver was pulling my chain. He likes to get a rise out of you.
How did you approach playing Bush senior? It’s obviously not an impersonation.
Oliver wanted me to leave my own politics out of it. If you stand in judgment about his politics, you can’t do the part. I don’t do impersonations. I don’t like it. It’s great at cocktail parties, but has nothing to do with acting. When I rehearsed with Josh, Oliver didn’t really say anything about how to get into this character. So I went to a dialects coach. We went through all the sound changes. She kept talking to me about where his voice is located. It tends to be cut off, and I got the image that he’s cut off from his emotions, and that’s why his emotions take him over and he has no control over them, so he occasionally breaks down.
Was it hard to keep your politics and emotions from distorting your characterization?
I didn’t want to put the man down. Everyone has their own analysis of the guy. I wanted to look at the dynamic in the relationship between a father and son when the communication is out, when there’s expectation on one side and resentment on the other side, which leads to one of them being really dysfunctional. I know that W. felt abandoned by his father. He’s raised by his mother. It’s the position that Hamlet was put in. If you took “Hamlet” and took all the intellect and moral incertitude out of it, you’d have a similar situation.
‘Hamlet’ is a good analogy, because the movie plays like a tragedy.
It is. It’s a satiric farce in the manner of “Wag the Dog,” except in this instance what wags the dog is slightly below the tail. People laugh at the familiar malapropisms, but seeing them in the context of a fiction film, you say, “Holy (expletive), it really happened. That’s how they came to the Iraq decision? That’s what Colin Powell really said? That was Cheney’s response?” … At the end you feel compassion for W. I don’t think you can help it. That’s ultimately how we have to feel about any human being. What we always see is the public persona, and it is a fiction, a creation. I don’t think Bush even knows who he is. I think that’s why the malapropisms are the way they are. His head says one thing and his public persona says, “But I’m just a (blank)-kicker and I can’t talk.”
What about ‘Babe’? As an animal-rights person, was doing the film a no-brainer?
Not at all. It was a film in which I had very few lines. I didn’t carry the picture. The pig did. I thought it was going to be one of those Disney things where they put peanut butter in the animals’ mouths so they look like they’re talking. I had no idea. But a friend said, “Look, you get five months in Australia, they’re paying you, though not much, and you don’t carry the picture. If it falls on its (rear), it’s the pig’s fault.” I didn’t even read the script. When I saw the finished movie, oh! It’s a miracle of a film.
- The Austin Film Festival continues through Thursday across town. Tickets and schedule: austinfilmfestival.com.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
Tone of ‘W.’ may surprise some moviegoers
When it was announced that Oliver Stone would be directing a bio-pic about President George W. Bush, many people from both sides of the spectrum rolled their eyes expecting a political hit piece. They may be surprised to find that the film actually paints W. and his family in a rather sympathetic light.
The film does take some digs, but more at Vice President Dick Cheney than W. himself. The problem with the film is that it lacks any historical perspective, due to the fact that Bush is still in office, and reveals nothing that astute citizens do not already know. That said, the film is worth viewing simply for the amazing performance by Josh Brolin as W. Toby Jones, James Cromwell and Jeffrey Wright also turn in excellent performances, as Karl Rove, George H. W. Bush and Colin Powell, respectively, although Jones and Wright are not able to match the physical presence of the men they portray.
The gist of the film, as one would expect, is that America was led down a tragic path by a simplistic, born-again Christian with a massive “daddy complex.” As he wastes most of his twenties and thirties as a booze-hound, skirt-chasing, good ol’ boy, W. is haunted by the expectations and disappointment of his father and the comparisons to his more talented and disciplined brother Jeb.
After finding God, and sobriety, W. makes it his mission to both make his father proud and stubbornly prove to him that he has the capacity for greatness. This motivation, compounded by what W. considers a call from God to lead the country, leads to the oft-lamented march to war in Iraq, spearheaded by Cheney and his neo-con pals. In “Star Wars” parlance, Cheney plays the evil Emperor to Bush’s in-over-his-head Darth Vader. It is fascinating, however, to see W. repeatedly attempt to tamp down both Cheney and Karl Rove’s visible influence. A man of intense and confounding pride, W. wants to make sure that he is seen as the leader. After a life spent being chastised by his father for his lack of responsibility, W. wants to be seen as an undisputed leader.
It would be easy to say that W.’s story is Shakespearean in nature, but that would likely be doing a disservice to The Bard, as W. is too simple a figure to be considered on such a grand scale. While the election of Bush as the 43rd president is certainly confounding and something that would have been unthinkable just a decade before, the real tragedy is that which besets the American people, not to mention those of Iraq, as Bush attempts to prove that he is as strong, if not stronger, leader than his father. Unfortunately, according to Stone, the son lacked the introspection and thoughtfulness of his father and ended up being a puppet that was used to do the duplicitous work of the men who stood in the shadows behind him.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: AFF
Watch ‘Slacker’ online, free
Matt Dentler, former SXSW film producer, is now at Cinetic Rights Management, which is responsible for the digital premiere of ‘Slacker,’ Richard Linklater’s landmark ode to Austin ennui.
In other words, watch the classic movie for free HERE.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment
‘Order of Myths’ finally coming to town
Sometime-Austin filmmaker Margaret Brown presents her acclaimed new documentary “The Order of Myths” at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Alamo South (1120 S. Lamar Blvd.), before it begins a local run Oct. 24.
Brown’s balanced, poetic film explores the nation’s oldest Mardi Gras tradition in her native Mobile, Ala., where segregation still lurks. It played this year’s Sundance Film Festival and was called “soberly affecting” by The New York Times.
The screening is presented by the Austin Film Society. $4 for AFS members; $6 general. Go HERE for the works.
And don’t miss this program of student films from Austin’s up-and-coming auteurs:
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment
Early word on ‘W.’
We won’t spoil the whole thang by running Variety’s mixed review of Oliver Stone’s super-anticipated, factually based Prez Bush hit-piece “W.” — which, recall, is the opening night film at the Austin Film Festival on Oct. 16.
But we will share a report of the Los Angeles premiere of the film by Variety’s Anne Thompson. Read on:
Lionsgate threw a party at the Landmark in Westwood Monday night for Oliver Stone’s W, which was basically an intimate L.A. premiere for Stone and his cast; the movie will also premiere in New York and the Austin Film Fest. Josh Brolin soaked up the applause, flanked by his father and uncle; everyone agreed that he did a helluva job as George W. Bush, from Yale frat-party boy to reformed drunk and born-again Christian and one of the worst presidents in United States history. James Cromwell also scored big as Bush, Sr. in the father-son drama. Cast members Richard Dreyfuss, Scott Glenn, Ioan Gruffudd, and Noah Wyle were also on hand, along with producers Bill Block and Moritz Borman.
Stone is rushing the $30 million movie (distributed by Lionsgate and financed by Block’s foreign sales firm QED International, with $25-million in P & A backing from Omnilab Media) into the marketplace October 17, less than three weeks before the presidential election, betting that audiences are hankering for a sharp psychological profile of their departing president. More than ever though, as the world teeters on the brink of financial disaster, it’s hard not to be very angry with Bush. And Stone’s movie focuses on Bush’s failures in Iraq, which are not center stage right now.
The movie is utterly plausible, well-acted by a top-notch ensemble (except for a too-broad Thandy Newton as Condoleeza Rice) and surprisingly balanced, compassionate and even-handed. Somehow the film lacks the urgency of its own making.
“We started it in May and finished it this week, so we’re pretty much on edge here,” Stone told the crowd, which included Ellen Barkin, Casey Affleck, Phil Noyce, Jonah Hill, Maria Bello, Patrick Wachsberger, Andy Vajna, Jake Bloom, Irving Kershner, Bob Cooper, Jay Roach, CAA’s Bryan Lourd, Doc O’Connor and Dan Aloney, James Woods, Al Pacino, Paul Haggis, and Bill Maher. “This is based on a true story. We actually did a lot of research to bring to life these murky things.” Stone cited his reliance on the “raw body of material” of a dozen journalists, from Barton Gellman and Bob Woodward to James Risen, Michael Isikoff, Jane Mayer and Frank Rich. “There’s more to come out,” he said, “but enough here to start. Why make this movie? Where are we now as a country, and and where are we going? A large part of of that answer lies with this character, George Bush.”
At the after-party, Stone admitted that he was walking a “tightrope” with W, because these are all well-known, real people. It’s not satire, like Dr. Strangelove, which is “fiction, beautifully done,” he said. “We couldn’t go to Strangelove. We have Saturday Night Live and Comedy Central. They have done that. We have to find credibility, we have to eventually care about him—not sympathize. I didn’t like Nixon, but I was able to empathize with him. Bush is the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain now. All his policies are in place. We’ll be dealing with this stuff for 20 years.”
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment
Claire Danes making HBO movie here
Claire Danes, Julia Ormond, David Strathairn and Catherine O’Hara are coming to the Austin and Smithville areas to shoot HBO’s still untitled biopic about Temple Grandin, a leading speaker and expert on autism, as well as one of the top scientists in humane livestock handling.
Danes will play Grandin and Ormond will play her mother, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Strathairn will play Grandin’s science teacher, and O’Hara will play her aunt.
Filming starts later this month.
For casting call information, go HERE and HERE.
Danes
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment
Free screening of ‘Quinceanera’ with guest
Sweet coming-of-age story “Quinceanera” gets a special one-night screening with one of its actors, Jesse Garcia, in attendance at 9 p.m. Monday at the Alamo South. And it’s free.
A 2006 Sundance winner, the movie — which I recommend — follows Magdalena (Emily Rios) and the dramas surrounding her 15th birthday.
There will be a welcome cocktail reception with music by DJ Mel and a post-show Q-and-A with Garcia.
RSVP (mandatory) by Monday HERE.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment
Movie scraps
Or what we like to call film clips:
- Wayne Coyne, goofball leader of cult band the Flaming Lips, presents his psychedelic fantasy “Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring the Flaming Lips” at 7, 9:40 and 11:59 p.m. Oct. 11 at the Alamo Ritz. Filled with Lips music, the movie was co-directed by Coyne, George Salisbury and Austin’s own Brad Beesley. Tickets HERE.
1953 indie landmark “Little Fugitive” screens free at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Texas Union Theatre at the University of Texas as part of the fall Austin Cinematheque series. More HERE.
Frank Popper’s entertaining, highly topical political doc “Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?” plays at 7 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Alamo Ritz. Read about the film and get tickets HERE. Popper will answer questions afterward.
Red Salmon Arts and the Mexican American Cultural Center present “Writing Behind Bars,” featuring a screening of “Writ Writer” and a poetry reading by Jorge Antonio Renaud, ex-convict and award-winning writer, his first since 1991. It’s at 7 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Mexican American Cultural Center (600 River St.). Free. Complete details HERE
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment
Hit doc ‘Crawford’ goes online
A big hit at South by Southwest, where it won top honors, Austinite David Modigliani’s documentary “Crawford” has picked up distribution with B-Side Entertainment and can be viewed online starting Tuesday.
The film, an engrossing profile of President Bush’s adopted Texas hometown and how his presence transformed it, will be available to watch online via Hulu.com and, later, through B-Side, Amazon VOD, iTunes and other sites as streaming, downloads and DVD on demand.
Info HERE.
