Recently in Denver Category
I recently spent and all-too-short 4 nights at the 2008 Denver Film Festival, my favorite fall fest, and as usual, it was a whirlwind of friends old and new, films, panels (I was on one), food and of course, booze. Those of you who know my boundless and wholly justified affection for this festival know that one of my favorite places to be is the nightly example of drunken debauchery known as the Late Night Lounge. Alas, I was not in the running for the Richard Turner Perfect Attendance Award and never got up to any real debauchery, so I'll have to make up for it, next year!
Here's me at the LNL during this year's Democratic National Convention, feeling appreciated and being flattered by one of my favorite people. I know, not actually germane to the matter at hand, but Jenny wasn't there this year and the more pix I can post of beautiful women kissing me, all the better, I say!
This year there was an added attraction at the Late Night Lounge...Karaoke. Of course, knowing that Michael Lerman was attending with the Canon Brothers I should have known that Lerman would figure out how to get karaoke going at the LNL and sure enough, a borrowed patch chord later, Lerman had his laptop hooked up to the projector and varied song stylings ensued. No judgments here, only pictures. As you might expect, it's a little Lerman-heavy....
Speaking of...at one point Lerman commandeered the mic during the DJ set by He who will not be named and did a rocking version of one of his karaoke staples, "One Night in Bangkok." The DJ didn't like it, but he was a douche, so no harm, there.
I love coordinated clothing....
Stambler, Goldwyn & Quinn at the party for Sascha Paladino's Throw Down Your Heart.
Cinevegas & Sundance's Trevor Groth & Denver Film Fest honcho Britta Erickson, later that same evening.
Will and Evan and Wii Boxing at the Cinemocracy.org Late Night Lounge during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Let's get ready to rummmmmmmble!
A few pix from the 2007 Denver Film Festival. I know, I know...6 months late. But at least I'm getting to them and they ain't just rotting on my hard drive! See the rest here!
Late Night Lounge honcho Alex Reshetniak and filmmaker Doug Prey (Scratch, Surfwise, Hype!):
indieWIRE's Brian Brooks, filmmaker AJ Schnack (Kurt Cobain: About a Son) and Denver Director of Festivals Britta Erickson.:
Who knew True/False's David Wilson could hula hoop? And with a drink in hand, no less!
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:
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.
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
Coming up in a few weeks is one of my favorite times of the year...the ten days I spend in Denver, attending the Starz Denver Film Festival. The films, hospitality, staff and city are all top notch and hope I can make it there every year from here on out. It's almost directly opposite, calendar-wise) my other favorite "regional" US fest, Sarasota. If you're a filmmaker or industry person or just a travelin' (wo)man who likes to see new places and go to new film festivals, these two events would be worth your time to investigate. However, that's not my point. What is my point, you might ask? My point is that Brit Withey, program director of the Denver fest has put his blog La Pistola to novel and original use. For almost a month he's been teasing films prior to the official lineup announcement.
Since September 27th, a full month before the "official" lineup, Brit has been posting about a film here, a panel there and as far as I can tell (and I did next to no research on this, BTW) he's one of the only programmers doing this and I think it's a fantastic idea. Many festivals feel like they need to guard their lineup like state secrets and maybe they wouldn't get front page coverage in Daily Variety and THR if they announced some of their slate on their own sites earlier, and maybe this matters but to the vast majority of festivals, it doesn't. Granted, if your festival programs 20-30 films, you migh wanna hold off on the sneak previews, but if you've got over one or two hundred films screening, why not tease 'em a bit?
I know I'm even more excited about Denver knowing that Jiri Menzel's I Served the King of England is screening. I missed this film in Berlin and have regretted it ever since. It's supposed to be fantastic and I can't wait. Then there's Ronald Bronstein's Frownland. Tully loves it, so that's enough for me. Then there's Persepolis, a NYFF selection I missed and a Czech animation film called One Night in the City which sounds amazing.
I don't know about you, but I am gonna check Brit's blog daily between now and the 22nd to see what other tidbits he might be revealing! Of course, I will be on the ground in Denver, keeping y'all as up to date as possible on the salacious goings on at the various fest venues. Remember the late night lounge?
Ah, how do I love thee, Late Night Lounge? Let me count the ways!
One:
Is there anything else needed?
Two:
Lindsay, Britta, Tammy and Jenny makin' the scene at the LNL, with Snidley Whiplash poking his head up in the background.
Oh me, oh my. Has it really already been a year? Does my liver know it? Is it planning any extra defenses against the onslaught of booze coming its way over the ten days? Only time will tell, my friends. If you remember, last year the Late Night Lounge staff awarded me a certificate for Drunken Jackassery:
See:
This year I plan on getting the inaugural Richard Turner Perfect Attendance Award. I have some video of the man hisself accepting last year's honor, his 4th in a row (hence the re-naming) but...erm.....I left it in my hard drive at home....Yeah.
So back to this year, here are LNL Big Whigs Chris Dyer and Alex Reshetniak eyeing me suspiciously. I think it was because I didn't have a drink in my hand and thus, they didn't recognize me.
Once again, Sarah and Alice make like R n' R minxes, gracing the Late Night Lounge.
Alice and Sarah Do the Do at the Starz Denver Film Festival's Late Night Lounge.
Lord have mercy!
Can be found: here. Read it. I hear it's good!
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