Recently in Festivals Category
I was a bit disappointed that I didn't make it to more of the New Director's/New Films series which ended its 37th season on April 6th and all three of the films I saw were all worthy of distribution. They include Trouble The Water, a Katrina documentary co-directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal; XXY, Argentine director Lucía Puenzo's narrative film about a couple's struggle raising their hermaphrodite teenager; and Slingshot Hip Hop, a documentary about the Palestinian rap music scene in Israel, directed by newcomer Jackie Reem Salloum.
Trouble the Water
Directors: Tia Lessin, Carl Deal
Executive Producers: Danny Glover, Joslyn Barnes, Todd Olson, David Alcaro
Producers: Tia Lessin, Carl Deal
Cinematography: PJ Raval, Nadia Hallgren, Kimberly Roberts
Editor: T. Woody Richman (additional editing by Mary Lampson)
Music: Davidge/Del Naja, Black Kold Madina
U.S., 2007, 94 minutes
Trouble the Water is simply the best Katrina documentary I've seen to date. No disrespect to Spike Lee (When The Levees Broke) or the other noble works that have come out since the disaster (Axe in the Attic and Katrina Diary to name just two) but this movie hits every note just right. Lessin and Deal went down to New Orleans just five days after Katrina hit with no clear idea of what they were going to find. To their good fortune -and ours-- they happened to meet Kimberly Roberts and her husband, Scott, a recently homeless couple at the Superdome. Prior to Katrina, the two had been living a very difficult existence in the impoverished Ninth Ward by selling drugs, something they touch upon in a one of the film's more moving moments. The disaster, as tragic as it was, ended up affording them the opportunity to learn more about themselves than they would have otherwise; one lesson being that they were living miserable lives and were grateful to make a change.
Adding to that life-changing revelation is the fact that Kimberly, who had gotten hold of a video camera not long before the hurricane hit, ended up filming portions of her experience. Those clips, are both horrific and funny and much of it ended up incorporated into Trouble the Water. Hearing Kimberly's remarks over her often manic camera work is another of the film's amazing aspects. Her anxiety is palpable as the water rises inch by inch, engulfing their home. Though her regional dialect is at times hard to understand, the spiritual change she goes through over the ensuing days and weeks is very clear. As she and Scott confront the enormity of their situation, rather than lie down and give up, they rise above their circumstances.
On opening night, after the Texas Film Hall of Fame soiree, we headed back downtown for the SXSW Film Festival's opening night party at Buffalo Billiards. It's always a great night regardless of where it's help because like the opening of any other event where everyone's psyched to be there. Like the first night at summer camp, only with lots of booze.
See if you can spot the indieWIRE and SXSW staffers in this pic:
It's a great place to meet up with old friends as well as meet new ones, the ones you're going to be seeing at parties and screenings over the next 5 days. One of the films I really wanted to see but missed do to the influenza was Bi the Way, by Brittany Blockman and Josephine Decker, the latter of which I met at the party, along with her mom who was in town to support the film (and her daughter, natch). Maybe if I'm nice, they'll sent me a screener!
After Buffalo Billiards it was off to the PureVolume Ranch, one of the many non-official week-long parties that turn downtown Austin into an artistic, booze-addled pub crawl. Not that there's anything wrong with that...
More from opening night after the jump....
This sign gave me visions of Joe Buck wearing a kimono while working in a massage parlor to pay off his modeling school debts.
I think I need more sleep.
NOTE: This entry has been updated to clarify the beneficiary of the Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards and to complete a sentence I, uh, forgot to finish last night.
So I'm a little behind in my blogging... Well, I have an excuse or two. First of all, I have a new gig! That's right, the Rabbi has gone and gotten hisself some legitimate employment. Or at least some legitimate part time employment with a really cool start up. It's a company called Cinelan and we're a short film distribution and syndication company. Check out the website and you'll see what I mean. It's really cool!
The other reason is that I went and got myself sick with the influenza. That's right. The good money I paid for a flu shot this year did me diddly since I went and got sick, anyway. Not only that, but I got sick at the exact worst time. Smack dab in the middle of SXSW. Lovely. Thanks are due, however, to my angels of mercy Mike Tully and Agnes Varnum, who both came by with soup and medicines!
Add to that getting stuck overnight in Fort Worth on the way down due to snow in Dallas and this has been a rocky trip. (Stay tuned for pix of the rattlesnake cakes that SXSW Film Festival producer Matt Dentler and I ate, though!)
Not only that, I am trying to get my apartment in shape to be sold. HUGE job. So to paraphrase Crash Davis, I'm dealing with a lot of shit!
Due to the aforementioned snow, I missed what was apparently a pretty amazing party at Lance Armstrong's house. This, I was not happy about. It was a pre-party for the Texas Film Hall of Fame awards ceremony, which I was able to attend the following night and it was a dandy of a night. An annual benefit for the Austin Film Society (and not an official SXSW do), the cocktails, dinner, ceremony and auction are held each year at Austin Studios, a couple of miles north of the downtown Austin area. This year's honorees were ZZ Top, Morgan Fairchild, Mike Judge, Jayne Mansfield (accepted by her daughter, Mariska Hargitay) and Urban Cowboy (accepted by Deborah Winger) and the night was hosted by non other that former CBS anchor and new legend (and born/bred Texan) Dan Rather. He's way cool!
The evening went far more smoothly than most events of this size and it was actually pretty fun. Not only that, they served their pre-show cocktails in actual glassware, something some film companies should think about (I'm looking at you, Miramax!).
Here, John Person and Eugene Hernandez have a chat before the ceremony. That's variety.com managing editor Michael Jones' hand on the left.
Mariska Hargitay's speech in honor of her late mother was genuinely touching and towards the end she teared up pretty good. So did I.
More pix after the jump.
On Monday evening The Hollywood Reporter (THR) blew off an industry standard embargo and ran the South by Southwest Film Festival & Conference lineup story a day early. According to SXSW fest producer Matt Dentler, the release was embargoed until Tuesday afternoon. I don't want to get into a big snit about this, but it's kinda fucked up. Embargoes are, for lack of a better word, understandings among the trades. They work both ways and when one publication ignores them, they all get hurt.
Not only is ignoring embargoes dishonest but given the various friendships and relationships that abound in this industry (between film festival directors, trade publications, distribution companies, etc.) it's also risky. It's a slippery slope and with the advent of the Internet and instant news, "traditional" Hollywood trades Variety and THR no longer have the stranglehold on news and info they once had. Sure, they can still strong arm certain people or companies into giving them exclusives, but their influence is waning.
I don't mean to claim that Variety and THR are not still valid sources of intelligent news reporting, festival coverage and reviews, that would be absurd. They are still the dual 800 lb. gorillas in the room. That said, I do think that the days of the entire film industry, studios and indies alike, having to kowtow to the "big two" are over. Sure, we can all get along if we all agree to abide by standard rules but if a "free for all" attitude prevails, there's no longer any guarantee that Variety and THR still have the strangle hold over the news as they have in days past. For any one "trade" paper to break these mutually agreed upon rules is harmful to the whole.
That said, check out these stories on SXSW's exceptional lineup. I will be writing more about the films (and music) at this essential fest in the days and weeks to come.
So the knock down, drag out, most boozingest fun 10 days in all of festivaldom kicks off in a scant two months from now and I will be on hand to provide coverage of as much of the tomfoolery as possible, not to mention pix and reports and footage of the films, bands and other goings on in West Texas. Look out, BBQ, here I come! This year I plan on making it out to the Salt Lick. Me need brisket. Another restaurant on my list? Hudson's on the Bend. I mean, how can you argue with Wild Boar three ways: Masa crusted wild boar scaloppini, wild boar sausage and wild boar taquito with ancho Shiner Bock potatoes and chile d'arbol cilantro beurre blanc? Or how about Espresso-Chocolate-Chili smoked Elk Back Strap topped with Gulf Coast Crab and a Lime-Chipotle Beer Blanc? And for dessert? Rosemary Olive Oil Cake layered with lemon curd and butter cream icing on a prickly pear sauce. Oh, lord!
SXSW Film recently announced that Robert Luketic's eagerly anticipated film 21 will open the 2008 South by Southwest Festival and Conference. Advance word on the film is positive and I'm really looking forward to seeing it.
One of the other films announced has me doing a serious geek dance and that's Erik Nelson's Dreams With Sharp Teeth, a documentary about legendary science fiction author Harlan Ellison. SXSW Film Festival producer Matt Dentler has just informed me that Ellison will be in attendance. I've seen the trailer and all I can say is...Yikes! I am geeking out, big time. This guy is a serious legend. He wrote for the original Star Trek ("City on the Edge of Forever") and The Outer Limits (Demon With a Glass Hand"), although he apparently is less than pleased with the final result of the former.
Also screening is Michael Radford's upcoming heist thriller Flawless (Magnolia Pictures), starring Michael Caine and Demi Moore. I saw this film at the European Film Market in Berlin last year and while I wasn't blown away, you can (and probably have) do a lot worse for a heist film. The robbery sequences are brilliantly filmed and will have you perched on the edge of your seat and Caine's a joy to watch.
Rounding out the preview are two docs, including one that is causing a bit of a stir in the doc community and was written up in indieWIRE in November, Celia Maysles' Wild Blue Yonder, about her father, David Maysles. The other, At the Death House Door from Hoop Dreams director Steve James and Peter Gilbert (prod. Hoop Dreams) deals with the wrongful execution of Texas inmate Carlos DeLuna. The death penalty is one of my hot-button issues so this is one of my most anticipated films @ the fest.
Of course this is just a sampling and I know for a fact there's some more big news coming out of the SXSW Film camp before the fest, so stay tuned to SXSW Film, Matt Dentler's blog and of course, The Rabbi Report!
Remember, Matt Dentler is watching.
Persepolis (Reviewed at the 44th New York Film Festival)
Directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
Written by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi
Based on the Original Graphic Novels by Marjane Satrapi
Released by Sony Pictures Classics
The Film Society of Lincoln Center wisely chose Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's Persepolis to close its 45th Season. The French language animated film, mostly in black & white, opens in theaters in both NYC and LA today. The film feels at once nostalgic and freshly new. Even for those who don't primarily identify themselves as political, the story, adapted from a series of autobiographical graphic novels of the same name, is a universal one; that of a young woman's journey from innocence to maturity. It just so happens that the back drop of her story includes the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the country's turn from a socially progressive society to one of fundamentalism and fear.
Marjane (the voice of Chirara Mastroianni, Marcello's daughter), our young heroine, is growing up in Tehran during a most tumultuous time. When we are first introduced to her, she is your average precocious nine year old but it's not long before she experiences the loss of her beloved uncle who is executed as a war criminal. By the time she is 14, her parents, concerned for her safety, send her off to boarding school in Vienna. The scenes that follow, where young Marjane is so homesick for her parents (the voices of Catherine Deneuve and Simon Akbarian) and her grandmother (France's legendary actress Danielle Darrieux) are among the film's most gripping, where for all intents and purposes, you forget you are watching a cartoon.
As many have mentioned, Fox Searchlight might just reap gold with the possibly counter programming genius, that being the release of Juno in December when theaters are otherwise jammed with serious "awards films" and some movie goers simply want some diversion from the onslaught of There Will be Blood, Charlie Wilson's War, The Kite Runner and No Country For Old Men. Not to disparage these films, of course. I've seen the Coen Brothers' pic (genius), will be seeing Blood on Friday and am looking forward to seeing the others, but sometimes you need something....else. Juno fills the "funny and smart" niche to a T. You know what else? It's also a bona fide Oscar contender for best original screenplay and has an outside chance at best actress, as well. I'll definitely continue to be watching and posting on the awards buzz for this and the rest of the "contenders" as the winter unfolds!
Word of mouth on this film is overwhelmingly positive and so far it has an 81 on Metacritic but it ain't just the critics who are pushing this pic. While the film is indeed worthy of praise (but there are two critics on the Metacritic list I am ashamed of agreeing with...guess who!) the studio has been pretty smart in building buzz at fests, in part by employing local teams of "Dancing Elks," dressed like Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) the progenitor of the "sea monkey" (Juno's phrase, not mine!) being carried by the title character. They even hand out orange tic tacs, a favorite of Bleeker's. No one knows what's going on, so of course they ask and then are intrigued. Seems to be working at the three places I've seen it, Toronto, AFI and Denver. I wonder what they made of it in Thessaloniki and Gijón?
After the jump, some pics from Toronto, AFI and Denver:
The following is an excerpt of, update to and further thoughts on, a review that originally ran on September 13th, as part of our Toronto International Film Festival coverage. Needless to say, since I wrote that review fresh off the film's bow in Telluride, Fox Searchlight's Juno Juggernaut's been going full steam and I fully expect it to have a smash 5 day opening. I've since seen it a second time (and soon will a third, I am sure) and every person I mention the film to, and I mean every one, is looking forward to seeing it, ages 16-60. At AFI a table of 3 male film writers who were probably pushing 200 years old combined were all gushing about it. A typical "teen" film, this is not. That's not to say it's not appropriate for teens, it most certainly is, but it's far more than that.
From my original review:
While the tendency might be to lump Juno, the sophomore feature from director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking) and first-time writer Diablo Cody into the group (new genre?) of quirky comedies, a la I *Heart* Huckabees, Napoleon Dynamite and Rushmore, don't. The thing is, while it contains elements of those oddball-laden films, Juno is its own animal in that it's smart, funny and above all, real. The film should mark the coming out of several major talents, including writer Cody and Juno herself, Ellen Page. While I won't shoot myself if Cody doesn't get an Oscar nomination, I will be gobsmacked. While we're at it, how about one for Page, too?
The New York Times' A.O. Scott writes that Juno "respects the idiosyncrasies of its characters rather than exaggerating them or holding them up for ridicule. And like Juno herself, the film outgrows its own mannerisms and defenses, evolving from a coy, knowing farce into a heartfelt, serious comedy." That hits the nail on the head just about as well as any other review out there and relates to something I wrote in my original piece. In short, there are teenagers this smart and smart-mouthed, there are parents as cool and understanding, eventually, as Juno's dad and stepmom and there are indeed teenage pregnancies that don't end in utter disaster. That said, don't think this film shies away from portraying that everything is not hunky dory in pregnant Juno land. Juno describes herself as a "cautionary whale" and while it's a clever line, it also speaks to the point behind the laughs. Being pregnant at 16 is no joke and as Scott remarks in his review "Kids, please! Heed the cautionary whale. But in the meantime, have a good time at Juno. Bring your parents, too."
Photos TM and © 2006 Fox and its related entities. All rights reserved.
The following is an excerpt of a review that originally ran in full On September 30th, as part of our New York Film Festival coverage.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Miramax, December, 2007)
directed by: Julian Schnabel, written by: Jean-Dominique Bauby (novel), Ronald Harwood (screenplay)
The life of Jean-Dominique Bauby is at once tragic and inspirational and in the very capable hands of director Julian Schnabel, his story comes to the screen in a most moving and artful way. We learn through early dialogue and flashback that Bauby has suffered a major stroke and that coming out of a coma he awakens in a state referred to as "locked in syndrome." Actor Mathieu Amalric (Munich) plays Bauby, editor of Elle magazine and a major player in 1990s Paris social circles. After his stroke, Bauby becomes all but incapable of communication, as he is unable to speak or move, with the exception of his left eyelid.
While he is naturally bitter and desperate at first, Bauby eventually learns - in some of the more beautiful moments of the film - how his imagination can set him free. In an ingenious sequence, he learns to communicate using only his one working eye. As his speech therapist reads the alphabet in the order of their frequency of use in French, Bauby blinks when she reaches the letter he wants to use, thus freeing his mind to create. Over time, Bauby receives visits from assorted friends including his young children Theophile (Theo Sampaio) and Celeste (Fiorella Campanella) and his ex-wife Celine (Emmanuelle Seigner), most of whom learn the system. The visits with his kids at the seaside hospital provide the film with a tremendous humanity, as do the flashbacks with his dying father (Max Von Sydow). Those relationships are provided as complex and rich, something many sentimental "affliction" films neglect.
Read the complete review here.
Apologies on the delay of getting some Denver fest reports up, but well, some personal and professional things have kept me busy. That said, I have oodles of pix, anecdotes and reviews coming, so stay tuned!
One of the things I have consistently harped up vis a vis the Denver Film Festival is the amazing hospitality and organization the festival has and applies to its guests. Kurt Cobain: About a Son filmmaker, this year's Denver panelist, blogger, juror and all around man about town A.J. Schnack concurs and we pretty much ranked Denver and Sarasota the two fests in the world that treat their guests the best and to be honest, may just be the two best regional fests, full stop. I know it'll take a natural or personal disaster to keep me from either for years to come.
A few weeks ago, I inquired as to the name of my Denver hotel and wouldn't you know it? The fest's guest relations guru, Crystal Hamrick had in her infinite wisdom, put me at the Residence Inn by Marriott. I'm here for 10 nights, so a kitchen makes sense. Not only that, but the hotel has free wifi and they do my grocery shopping. Rocks. Oh, did I mention they have a coin laundry and a 24 hour outdoor hottub? Word. They also have a cow i the lobby:
After checking in I had a quick shower and headed off to the opening night party which to be honest, much like many other opening nights, in that it's large and mostly for the locals. It's sort of like first meal on the first day at summer camp, when all you want to do is find all your friends from the year before and catch up, so it's spent running around looking for people. That said, this year's opening night had a killer DJ set up (and the DJ herself wasn't bad):
On Saturday afternoon here in Denver, the festival presented Bob Rafelson's The King of Marvin Gardens as a tribute to the late cinematographer László Kovács (Shampoo, Frances, Say Anything) who passed away in July of this year and Rafelson, an Aspen, Colorado native, was on hand to introduce the show. He gave a lengthy introduction (possibly to offset the lack of a Q&A following the screening) reflecting on his method of working with a DP. For example, Rafelson has a definite idea of how he likes to have shots framed, as opposed to other directors who receive much more input from the cinematographer.
Saturday marked the first AFI Fest screening of upcoming IFC First Take release 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu. The 2007 Cannes Palm d'Or winner (and prohibitive favorite for a best foreign language Oscar nod) has been getting rave reviews and since I missed it at the New York Film Festival last month, I decided I had to catch it here (and did so on Monday). I wish I'd seen it before the dinner so I could have told Mungiu what an extraordinary film he's made, but I suspect I'd not have been the first. More on this moving and delicate film in another post but as for the dinner, despite a few more attendees than planned for (extra tables were the order of the evening) the dinner was a pleasant gathering of friends new and old. The wine flowed and my head hurt the next morning.
Photos top to bottom: SXSW Film Festival producer Matt Dentler; editors in chief of indieWIRE.com and Screen International (l to R) Eugene Hernandez and Colin Brown...(Colin is not a giant and Eugene is not tiny. It's just a little forced perspective in action); The poster for the film.
On the road again..... Yes indeedy. I am, as they say, on the road again. Or at least I will be a scant 35 hours from now, winging my way Westward towards AFI Fest and the American Film Market. After AFI comes the Starz Denver Film Festival and after that, a liver transplant, more than likely. Maybe I should call the trip the Rabbi Report's "Ruin the Liver" tour... with opening act Bacon 'n Onions? Nah, too meta and WAY too off the track.
Back on point, AFI Fest has grown in stature and size over the past several years to the point where I feel like I can't cover it adequately by myself, such is the fact at so many festivals these days. Next year I am thinking I need a 2nd reporter but this year it'll have to be solo. At any rate I figure I owe you guys a little bit of a primer on what to expect, should you choose to attend AFI Fest (and I strongly urge you to do so). I've seen several of the films on offer and am looking forward to seeing quite a few more, so without further ado, here's a look at a (very) small selection of what's on offer in Hollywood for the first 11 days of November.
A Pair of Pages: Juno and The Tracey Fragments
Do yourself a favor and catch this double shot of "The Tiny Canadian," as she's been dubbed (according to IMDb). Maybe you've read my thoughts on upcoming Fox Searchlight release Juno (more coming, to be sure) and perhaps you've heard that Juno scribe Diablo Cody is a possible best original screenplay Oscar nominee, well let me put the "possible" to rest. She's a mortal lock and as soon as the Academy and critics groups get a load of Ellen Page's performance as the titular Juno, she's going to start pulling down kudos, too. The thing is, she's no fluke.
Photo © 2007 Twentieth Century Fox
This post from old friend Mike Jones over at Variety's festival blog The Circuit reminded me of the following, slightly redacted version of an email I recently received from two of the more creative, mischevious, deviant, stellar-of-character and stand-up individuals that I know:
Dear Uncle Monty,
If indeed you believe, as your site states, that "young girls and gin may be the cure", then you are in for some serious trouble at the Late Night Lounge this year. We have secured Bombay Sapphire as the headliner and peppered the remaining shelf space with such gems as *yummy booze, here*. As far as the young lasses go, we're having them imported from the area's more devious centers of low morale and high heel. Get your liver and other vitals in gear, ol' sport. We mean to do you harm.
Yours in christ,
*redacted* & *redacted*
LNL goons
I think the phrase "Be afraid. Be very afraid" is quite apt. I know. I've been there:
Starz Denver Film Festival: Ah, The Late Night Lounge - Pt.1 of 27,405
Denver Fest Kicks Off: Big Kitchens, Bananas Foster & Drunken Reprobates
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