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Post by Ace on Jan 14, 2009 14:41:31 GMT -5
www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j1JDbgVoio_nJN1qR4tt6-McyPSgD95N3CT01Associated Press: Indie time: Sundance mixes stars, newcomers, fansBy DAVID GERMAIN PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — The Sundance Film Festival resumes its duties as a great equalizer of the cinema world. This is where complete unknowns can suddenly find themselves sought-after talent among Hollywood distributors. This is where marquee talent such as Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and Chris Rock turn up in thoughtful, non-studio flicks. And it's where eager audiences get to grill stars and filmmakers about the creative process during question-and-answer sessions after screenings. Overseen by Robert Redford's Sundance Institute, the festival is the nation's top showcase for independent film. The 11-day festival includes 118 feature-length films and 96 shorts. Opening the festival Thursday night is director Adam Elliot's "Mary and Max," a clay-animation tale about a pen-pal friendship between an 8-year-old Australian girl (voiced by Toni Collette) and an obese middle-aged New Yorker (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Filmmakers say one of the festival's big lures is rubbing elbows with fans who brave the cold, snow and mob scene of Sundance to see something different than what they'll find at their local multiplex. "That's the best thing about going to a festival, especially Sundance," said Bobcat Goldthwait, writer-director of the dark Sundance comedy "World's Greatest Dad," starring Robin Williams. "I feel like I'm a rich guy who pays money to go to one of those fantasy baseball camps and gets to play baseball with the pros. That's what it's like for me." "The Office" co-star John Krasinski makes his directing debut with the comedy "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men"; Rock plays host for the documentary "Good Hair" exploring African-American hairstyles; and Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan star in the melodrama "The Greatest." Other big-name entries include Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke in Antoine Fuqua's cop drama "Brooklyn's Finest," Uma Thurman in the domestic tale "Motherhood," Kevin Spacey as analyst to Hollywood A-listers in "Shrink" and William Hurt and Chiwetel Ejiofor in the apartheid story "Endgame." Festival director Geoffrey Gilmore said key themes this time are "romance and activism." Sundance is heavy on cautionary environmental stories, among them the dolphin tale "The Cove," the oil-pollution chronicle "Crude" and the earthy ecology study "Dirt! The Movie." "What you see is people going out and making stories not just identifying problems and documenting what that is, but trying to identify solutions," Gilmore said. "The environmental work you see these days doesn't end with a description of the crisis we're in. It ends with a description of what you can do to help us get out of this crisis." On the romantic side, Sundance offers quirky stories of passion and affection, including "Don't Let Me Drown," a teen love story set in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks; "Peter and Vandy," chronicling a couple's relationship from hopeful start through slow deterioration; and "Humpday," a tale of old buddies who attempt a "work of art" — an amateur porn flick of straight guys having sex with each other. Jim Carrey appears in his first Sundance film with one of those romances, "I Love You Phillip Morris," playing a gay con man who meets the love of his life (Ewan McGregor) in prison. "It's just such a goodhearted, sweet, beautiful, really funny movie. It dares to be romantic," Carrey said, adding a dig at Utah's Mormon church over its involvement in the passage of California's gay marriage ban. "I just think it's a perfect movie for these days, and I'm just so glad it's premiering there. First of all, it's in Utah, which is kind of poignant after Proposition 8."
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Post by Ace on Jan 14, 2009 14:47:52 GMT -5
www.indiewire.com/article/shana_fest_the_greatest_triumph_tragedy_and_honest_emotion/Shana Fest, “The Greatest”: Triumph, Tragedy, and Honest Emotionby indieWIRE DITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling dramatic and documentary competition and American Spectrum directors who have films screening at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. From the Sundance catalog: “The death of their teenage son, Bennett, in a car crash is almost too much for the Brewer family to bear, not just because his was a life of such promise but also because the impact of his death unleashes the turmoil that was just beneath the surface of their lives. His mother becomes obsessed and can’t let go; his father, in turn, can’t face it at all; and his brother’s secondary status is magnified and entrenched. And when Bennett’s girlfriend appears, the family must come to grips with circumstances that complicate their loss even further.” The Greatest Dramatic Competition Director: Shana Feste Screenwriter: Shana Feste Executive Producers: Pierce Brosnan, Aaron Kaufman, Doug Dey, Ron Hartenbaum, Douglas Kuber, Myles Nestel Producers: Lynette Howell, Beau St. Clair Cinematographer: John Bailey Editor: Cara Silverman Production Designer: Judy Rhee Music: Christophe Beck Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan, Johnny Simmons, Aaron Johnson, Michael Shannon U.S.A., 2008, 98 mins., color Please introduce yourself…My name is Shana Feste and I was born and raised in Los Angeles where I live now. I recently watched an HBO special on Chris Rock and he spoke about how fortunate he felt to have a career as opposed to the struggles that came with working a job. I’ve been working jobs for the past 12 years - everything from working as a nanny in Los Angeles to selling Persian rugs and now I finally feel like I’m coming closer to finding my career. And I feel really lucky about that. I still don’t have the guts to tell people I’m a director when they ask what I do but maybe that will change soon. What were the circumstances that lead you to become a filmmaker?I wanted to make movies because they were such an influential part of my childhood. After my parents got a divorce I would spend weekends with my father and he would let me and my sister pick out as many movies as we could carry home from the rental house. It usually meant we watched about twenty movies a weekend together including the films my father would pick out which usually were not child friendly. So a typical weekend would include watching “The Godfather”, “Pippi Longstocking”, “Poltergeist” and “Porkies”; I still remember that exciting feeling I would get when we walked into the rental house and how much fun I had with my Dad and sister when we would watch five movies in a row. I’ve also kept a journal since I was a teenager and was pretty intense about recording everything that I felt. It’s funny to read now because everything was so dramatic and I felt everything so deeply. That could have been where it started. I’ve always written and I really do get attached to the characters I write - so much so that I feel like they will only be protected in my hands - which led to a desire to direct. How did you learn the “craft” of filmmaking?I attended AFI as a Producer and had also attended UT Austin for an MA in Screenwriting. I really loved being in school - even after I graduated I found ways to participate in seminars and filmmaking classes. I applied to every program - every weekend retreat - anything that kept me in a learning environment I was game for. A friend finally said, “ENOUGH”, when I told him about my latest acceptance into a writing program. But I love the academic world- it was a place where I could learn about filmmaking in a safe space and it gave me the confidence to feel more prepared after I graduated. How or what prompted the idea for “The Greatest” and how did it evolve?I knew I had to write great roles if I was going to attach myself as a director to my script. Grief is such an interesting emotion - it takes you to such strange, wonderful, heartbreaking places - I knew that if I was going to write roles that would attract actors grief would be a good subject to explore. So I did quite a bit of research and was very inspired by the stories I heard from parents that had lost a child. There was enough material to write five screenplays. I was incredibly moved by the film “Ordinary People,” and wanted to tell a story about the death of a child in an equally truthful, inspiring way. I also wanted to bring a family together after such a devastating event. I like to test myself as a writer and writing a movie about a couple that gets a divorce after losing a child seemed too easy. I knew how to write that. I wanted to really challenge myself and portray a family that is galvanized by a tragedy and ultimately becomes closer. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in developing the project?The biggest challenge was the casting process. Our financiers would only finance the movie if we got a certain number from foreign sales based on our cast. This meant I had to find two A-list actors to star in my movie which is not easy for a first-time director. We spent a very long time waiting for agents and actors to read it. But once it got into Susan and Pierce’s hands the process came very quickly. What are some of your favorite films, and what are your other creative influences?My favorite films are films that make you laugh and cry: “Terms of Endearment”, “Coming Home”, “Harold and Maude”, “Kramer vs. Kramer”. Hal Ashby is one of my favorite filmmakers. Most of my creative influences come from life experiences that I have had - being close to really funny and sad people. Remembering terrible fights that I have been in - what it felt like when I was especially lonely or sad myself. I find watching people in my own life enough to inspire me creatively. How do you define success as a filmmaker and what are your personal goals as a filmmaker?Success as a filmmaker for me means being able to watch my movie start to finish and feel like I wouldn’t do anything differently. My personal goal as a filmmaker is to feel this way about a film I write and direct. What are your future projects?I just finished a musical drama that takes place in the world of country music. I’m excited about that one.
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Post by Ace on Jan 14, 2009 14:52:12 GMT -5
The Greatest, The Informers and In the Loop Already Generating Buzz for Sundanceblogs.amctv.com/movie-news/2009/01/sundance-film-festival-preview.phpAs the 2009 Sundance Film Festival prepares to get started, much of the buzz seems to be focused on trying to figure out just what kind of festival this year's will be. Festival director Geoff Gilmore himself published a piece on Monday about the state of independent film, and by extension, the festival. He observed: "It's not at all clear that a new generation will embrace festival attendance and exposure in the same manner of the last generation" and went on to wonder if the influence of festivals have waned. In the meantime, many have observed that this year's Sundance may well be akin to one of those rebuilding years sports teams have when they've lost key player; there are fewer big films, fewer companies, fewer journalists, and (probably) fewer deals likely to be made. But it's also possible this off-year Sundance may wind up surprising everybody. Certainly, as some advance screenings have proven, there are a number of excellent movies -- some big, some not-so-big -- set to premiere at the festival, and the sellers struck a positive tone in Variety earlier this week. Maybe they're just happy because there are titles with stars like Jim Carrey, Richard Gere, Pierce Brosnan, and Ashton Kutcher premiering at the fest. Or maybe the movies are just that good. Here are the narrative features that people are buzzing about already: Bronson - Former Brit pretty boy Tom Hardy's performance as "Britain's most violent prisoner" in this hyper-stylized film is largely expected to be one of the breakout performances of the festival. See the trailer here. In the Loop - A Strangelovian satire about the run-up to the Iraq War from the acclaimed British satirist Armando Iannucci and starring (among others) James Gandolfini, recently left preview audiences in stitches. The Greatest - The deafening anticipation around Shana Feste's debut feature, about a family trying to get over the loss of their teenage son and starring Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon, comes mainly from the remarkable description of it written by Gilmore himself in the festival catalogue: "This is one of the standout works of this Festival and is as fine a debut as we can present." When a powerful festival director puts things that directly, people listen. The Informers - This adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's novel about Los Angeles in the 1980s, starring the now-hot-again Mickey Rourke, Billy Bob Thornton, and Kim Basinger, got a big boost from a New York Times article this week, even though the same article suggested that the movie, which is apparently full of sex, may wind up being divisive. Really? Bret Easton Ellis divisive?
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Post by Ace on Jan 15, 2009 16:48:14 GMT -5
www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2009-01-14-sundance-side_N.htmUSA Today: 10 films that could stand out at SundanceBy Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY About 120 feature films will be featured at Sundance this year. USA TODAY looks at 10 vying for attention, some with stars trying something different, others with newcomers hoping to make their mark. Mystery Team For: Anyone wishing Scooby-Doo was funnier. Story: Three naive teenagers (the strong kid, the boy genius, the master of disguise) fancy themselves neighborhood detectives, but they're really glorified kitten-rescuers. They get in over their heads when a girl asks them to investigate her mother's murder. "They're 18 when the movie begins, and it's senior year. Everyone in town is sick of these guys who have been in this suspended animation since they were 8," says D.C. Pierson, who's the wannabe genius. "They decided this is all we ever want to do. And they're still stuck, despite people saying you really have to grow up." READ MORE: A cloudy forecast for Sundance? Noteworthy: This is the first feature from the New York-based Derrick Comedy, a troupe known for their popular YouTube skits. Big Fan For: Football fanatics, people teaching football fanatics a lesson. Story: Stand-up comic Patton Oswalt (the voice of the rodent chef in Ratatouille) stars as a parking-lot attendant who has no life apart from his devotion to the New York Giants. Then he meets his favorite player — and they get into a fight. "He gets his (butt) beat by said player, and his loyalty and his whole world is tested," Oswalt says. There are funny moments, but he cautions: "It leads to some pretty dark places, because he only has this fandom in his life to a pathological degree." Noteworthy: It's written and directed by Robert Siegel, who penned the new Mickey Rourke drama The Wrestler. The GreatestFor: People in need of a good cry. Story: Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon star as the parents of a teenage boy who dies in a car accident. Later they meet a young woman (British newcomer Carey Mulligan), who reveals she had a one-night-stand with their son shortly before he died — and is pregnant. "It's about sharing something awful with a complete stranger, and having to accept someone who means nothing to you," Mulligan says. "I just come to the door and tell them: This is the truth. I cried about 18 times while reading it." Noteworthy: Mulligan is a possible breakout star this year, with a second film at the festival called An Education, about a London teen in the 1960s who is pressured by her parents to marry an older man for security. The Winning Season For: Title IX supporters, sports-movie fans. Story: Sam Rockwell plays a down-on-his-luck loser given a chance at redemption by coaching a local high school girls basketball team. Emma Roberts (Nancy Drew), Shareeka Epps (Half Nelson) and Emily Rios (Quinceañera) co-star as the players. "There aren't a lot of girls sports films, so I found that interesting," Rockwell says. "I liked the dynamic between this grouchy guy and these high school girls." Noteworthy: Director James Strouse made the John Cusack heartbreaker Grace Is Gone, which played Sundance two years ago. Paper Heart For: Romantic cynics. Story: Charlyne Yi (best known as the goofy stoner girl in Knocked Up) stars in this pseudo-documentary about trying to find out if true love exists. Along the way she meets couples who share their real-life stories with her, and she begins to fall for Michael Cera, also playing a version of himself. Are the two actually a couple? "I'm wondering that myself," Yi answers with a cryptic laugh. "I don't want to say what's real and what's not, but there are real things." Noteworthy: Yi does a stage comedy show in Los Angeles, which has included offbeat interactions with the crowd such as getting them all to take a nap, or playing The Dating Game with her. Brief Interviews With Hideous Men For: Lit fans, non-hideous men. Story: John Krasinski (The Office) directs and co-stars in this adaptation of the late David Foster Wallace's short-story collection, stringing together monologues from strange and suspicious men as a scholar researches the opposite sex. Noteworthy: Krasinski never met Wallace, but says that two years ago, "I got a call from him and he wanted to give me his blessing on the script. We had an amazing conversation, but he mentioned 'I don't know if I'll ever see it.' Unfortunately, he never got a chance to." Wallace committed suicide in September. Cold Souls For: Paul Giamatti admirers, sci-fi geeks. Story: An actor named Paul Giamatti (played by the actor himself) finds out his soul has been stolen by a company that can extract a person's metaphysical presence and store it for safekeeping. A would-be actress hopes to get his soul on the black market to improve her career. The real Giamatti says this fictional one is comically unflattering. "Hopefully he's way more neurotic and out of his mind than I actually am," Giamatti says. "He's having a lot of problems, this guy." Noteworthy: Giamatti acknowledged the parallel — a well-known actor mocking himself — but says he has never gotten around to seeing Being John Malkovich. Brooklyn's Finest For: Shoot'em-up aficionados, internal-investigations officers. Story: A saga about good cops tempted to go bad, those who resist and those who succumb. Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke co-star as officers who clash over the fate of a Brooklyn crime lord (Wesley Snipes). It's a return to favorite territory for director Antoine Fuqua, best known for Training Day. "Cops are like priests; you take an oath to serve and protect people, and there's a lot of drama built in," Fuqua says. "They're heroes, if they do their job." Noteworthy: Screenwriter Michael C. Martin was a subway worker who wrote the screenplay for a contest while laid up after a car accident. Mary and Max For: Stop-motion animaniacs, shut-ins. Story: A claymation movie about pen pals: Mary Dinkle, a chubby 8-year-old from Melbourne, Australia (voiced by Toni Collette), and Max Horowitz, a middle-aged, overweight New Yorker (Philip Seymour Hoffman) afraid to leave his apartment. "I call my films 'clayographies' — clay biographies," says writer/director Adam Elliot. "Mary and Max could quite as easily been computer-animated. However, there is something so magical about stop-motion. You can see on every frame the blood, sweat and tears that went into creating the moment." Noteworthy: Elliot won an Oscar for the 2003 short Harvie Krumpet, about an unlucky man who stays optimistic. Motherhood For: Moms and dads, multi-taskers at large. Story: In this comedy, Uma Thurman plays the harried mother of a toddler son and 6-year-old daughter who is looking after an unwell dog and oblivious husband and having a breakdown on every front — from birthday parties to her career as an aspiring writer. "It's about the 300% asked of a woman being a mother today," she says. Noteworthy: Thurman can relate. She also has two children, Maya, 10, and Levon, 7, and was frantically finishing a birthday cake for her son Tuesday during this interview. She said her image as a glamorous actress "is completely oxymoronic."
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Post by Ace on Jan 15, 2009 19:10:26 GMT -5
There's a video of a scene with Susan and Carey - not viewable on my Firefox but works on IE www.buzzsugar.com/2700125BuzzSugar: 2009 Sundance Spotlight: The Greatest, Good Hair, and Mystery Team Thu, 01/15/2009 While I won't be heading down to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival this year, I will be sorting through the humongous pile of festival entries to share with you some of the films I think look most promising. From quirky documentaries to talented young filmmaker debuts to a potential runaway hit, Sundance is filled with entertainment possibilities. Here are today's selections: The Greatest Starring Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon (that's them, making out in the ocean!), The Greatest marks the debut of a young filmmaker and screenwriter, Shana Feste, and follows a family coping with the sudden death of their teenage son. Newcomer Carey Mulligan plays the girlfriend of the son who shows up to further complicate the grieving process for the parents. There's some buzz about both Brosnan's and Sarandon's performances as well as talk that this could be a "career-launching" role for Mulligan. Check her out in a scene with Susan Sarandon:
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Post by Ace on Jan 15, 2009 23:58:53 GMT -5
www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=story&id=2470&articleid=VR1117998658&cs=1Sundance expectations tempered Sellers and buyers both have modest hopesBy ANNE THOMPSON There's a new reality at Sundance: dramatically tempered expectations. Amid a tough economy, a veritable decimation of specialty-film divisions and a run of less-than-stellar returns for last year’s crop of Sundance faves, sellers are coming in with much more modest hopes than in other recent editions. And buyers aren’t looking to disabuse them of that outlook. "We’ve all been to ‘Happy, Texas,’ " says Focus Features CEO James Schamus of the much-hyped 1999 entry that sold for some $10 million and grossed under $2 million upon its release. Last year’s most-ballyhooed Sundance sales found no glory at the domestic box office: Focus Features’ $10 million worldwide acquisition "Hamlet 2," Searchlights $5 million "Choke," Overture’s $3.5 million "Henry Poole Is Here," Paramount Vantage’s $1 million-$2 million "American Teen," and two Sony Pictures Classics pickups, ‘The Wackness" and ‘Baghead" (which were bought for under $1 million). Overture will finally open its $2 million ’08 pickup "Sunshine Cleaning" on March 13. The success stories of last year’s Park City confab turned out to be docus "Man on Wire" and "Trouble the Water" (both made the early cut for Oscar’s doc competition). Micro-budget neo-realist dramas "Frozen River," starring Melissa Leo, and Lance Hammer’s "Ballast" also fared well with critics, although theatrical revenue was modest. Rookie director Hammer released "Ballast" himself, setting a new model for others unable to make the right deal. Now, with the economy in freefall, it’s tough for filmmakers to hold onto the usual fantasies of getting scooped up by a deep-pocketed specialty distrib like Focus. While a plethora of films were made at the end of the financing bubble, only four studio distribs are still standing, plus five or so mid-size indies. Groundswell’s Michael London has experienced the swings of the erratic indie market over the past year. Overture’s "The Visitor" was a hit, but Miramax made no money on Sundance pre-buy "Smart People." Last year London left Sundance without having sold "Mysteries of Pittsburgh," starring Peter Saarsgard. It took another year to make a deal with small distrib Peach Arch for a limited theatrical release. "We made it on an outmoded business model," says London. "It’s impossible to spend money on a quality drama -- without big foreign pre-sales -- in order to sell for a profit or cover your investment at a film festival. The market is too flooded with good movies, and distributors don’t want in unless you have big stars or a marketing hook." "Mysteries of Pittsburgh" wasn’t the only film to leave Sundance empty-handed last year. Other notables to pack up without a distrib deal in place included "What Just Happened?" and "The Great Buck Howard." And there will be plenty more without a deal this time around. Putting distribution together can take months. Last year, producer Lynette Howell ("Half Nelson") went into Sundance 2008 with high hopes for "Phoebe in Wonderland," which stars Elle Fanning as an imaginative girl who adores "Alice in Wonderland." "People were still expecting the trends of the last few years of big sales," she says. "It was frightening when over the first few days nothing sold. It took a slow burn. If you need to get a $5 million sale you have to be ‘Little Miss Sunshine.’ " When "Phoebe" didn’t land a one-stop buyer, Howell’s husband, Endeavor agent Graham Taylor, who was repping the movie, got creative. He raised $3 million by selling exclusive TV rights to Lifetime Network, non-exclusive DVD and streaming rights to Netflix’s Red Envelope, and a reduced minimum guarantee from theatrical and DVD distrib ThinkFilm. "Our investors were able to recoup," says Howell, "and we reached a broader audience than we expected going in.’ But even last year’s flex approach is less possible this year. Since then, Lifetime has shuttered its film label, Netflix has closed Red Envelope and ThinkFilm is a trying to restore confidence under ex-New Line exec David Tuckerman, who plans to release "Wonderland" on March 6. Fingers crossed, Howell says. This month, Howell faces a similar challenge with competition entry "The Greatest," written by rookie helmer Shana Feste. Her screenplay about a family dealing with the loss of their son and the unexpected visit of his girlfriend arrived out of nowhere, says Howell, who lured to the film Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon and vet lenser John Bailey. Howell and Endeavor easily raised $6 million from Bavarian Film Group and debt lender Oceana. Howell did not finance against foreign pre-sell estimates, although Sidney Kimmel Intl. did sell a few foreign territories at Cannes. "We are holding out on most of them," she says. "You get bigger numbers if you have a distributor." But even if the movie plays like gangbusters, that does not mean Endeavor will land a distrib. This year, people are fiscally conscious about the few movies that work, Howell says. "I’m taking it to the fest and hope it finds support and a home." Another wrinkle in this year’s acquisitions mix: At least one major studio may not allow its specialty arm to acquire films shot under a SAG waiver while the Guild lacked a contract for seven months. Usually, a new contract will supersede the waiver, but there’s no contract in sight, and some studios are in no mood to be helpful to SAG (though others are not concerned about this issue.) If a major’s specialty wing refuses to buy SAG waiver films, that could take the biggest potential deals off the table and cede the field to the likes of Summit and Overture, which are hungry to buy. "I Love You Philip Morris" was completed under the old SAG agreement, but hot sale title "Brooklyn’s Finest" was not. Having survived last year, Howell must weigh paying back her "Greatest" financier against wanting the film to play theatrically: It isn’t always the best exposure for the film. Most smaller distribs offer limited New York and L.A. releases geared toward a DVD release. And sometimes a direct TV sale is the best deal. "If it doesn’t sell at Sundance," adds Howell, "it’s not the end of the world." London is relieved to be taking a year off from the fest. "Sundance is a unique and wonderful way to get immersed in the real dreams coming true of indie filmmakers," he says. "But that little piece of social and creative connection, and discovering movies and filmmakers, has been overwhelmed for me by this shopping mall for movies. Maybe when I return people will go up not to buy or sell, but to watch." And for filmmakers and would-be sellers keen to keep the old Sundance dreams alive, there’s always the remote prospect that a buyer will take to a passion project, and damn the tough times. "I’ve lost money on movies I’ve loved and acquired and made money on movies I’ve loved and acquired," says Focus’ Schamus. "I’ll overpay this year if I feel like it."
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Post by Ace on Jan 16, 2009 14:31:06 GMT -5
nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/01/sundance_fest_director_suggest.htmlSundance: Fest Director Suggests The Greatest May in Fact Be, Well, the Greatest1/16/09 Although it just started last night, by the end of this weekend many questions about this year’s Sundance Film Festival will have been answered. There are the obvious ones, of course: Will the buyers still reeling from the financial meltdown be willing to open their wallets? Will the big names show up? Will anybody actually boycott the fest because of that whole Proposition 8 thing? But the question we’ll be looking to answer is far more important, and it goes directly to the credibility of the fest: Did fest director Geoff Gilmore really mean what he said about The Greatest in the Sundance film guide? By necessity, the descriptions in the film guide, written by the fest’s programmers, usually consist of enthusiastically vague descriptors that don’t signify all that much: Movies have “subtly nuanced performances” (as opposed, we can only assume, to overtly nuanced performances), or “poetic execution,” or “a sense of style,” or whatever. However, for Shana Feste’s debut feature, The Greatest, a family drama starring Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon (so it wasn’t like anyone had to do a whole lot of selling), Gilmore himself just cut to the chase: “This is one of the standout works of this festival and is as fine a debut as we can present.” For a competition film, no less. In film-guide speak, that basically translates as: “Fuck you if you don’t like this movie.” Was Gilmore serious? Maybe it was just getting late and they had already used “keenly observed performances” and “delicately textured cinematography” in other descriptions. Or maybe he’s just testing us, to see if we dare disagree with him. Or maybe — gasp — the movie might actually be great. (This, by the way, would be awesome.) Either way, Sundance finds out this weekend, when The Greatest screens.
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Post by Ace on Jan 16, 2009 20:53:45 GMT -5
www.variety.com/article/VR1117998521.html?categoryid=3492&cs=1&nid=256210 Directors to Watch 2009
Shana Feste Solid script helped helmer land 'Greatest' castBy MATTHEW ROSS It really was a fairy-tale experience," Shana Feste says of getting the chance to make her first film "The Greatest." "I went from working as a nanny one day to the next day getting on a plane to direct a movie starring Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon. It's hard to believe it actually happened." But like most overnight indie-film success stories, Feste's big break was prefaced by more than its fair share of delays, disappointments and false starts. Feste grew up in the tony beach community of Palos Verdes, Calif. "My parents had a little beach shack, which I lived in until I was 12. My mother made jewelry, and my dad, well, I guess my dad did a little bit of everything." It wasn't until after her parents split up that Feste discovered her passion for movies. "My dad was pretty laid back, and when we'd visit him on the weekends, he'd let my sister and I rent as many videos as we could carry. We'd spend the whole weekend watching movies and eating Cap'n Crunch and Top Ramen. As a kid, you really couldn't ask for anything more amazing than that." Inspired by the films of Hal Ashby and the domestic, character-based American dramas of the early '80s, Feste enrolled in U.T. Austin's screenwriting program. Soon after graduation, Feste wrote a few specs before realizing she wanted to have more of a say in the filmmaking process. She enrolled in AFI's producing program and began helping her classmates in the directing program bring her screenplays to life, while working as a nanny to pay off her student loans. Feste's first shot at directing ended up being a prolonged process of near-misses. Her first script, "Love Easy," based on her parents' relationship, went through the usual rounds of getting cast and financing, then having it all fall through. She decided to switch gears and write a new story about two parents grieving over the death of a child. Within months, Feste had an agent, a producer, Brosnan and Sarandon in the leading roles, ace d.p. John Bailey onboard to shoot, and, most importantly, a start date. "It was a strange process, because in order to get your movie made, you have to convince everyone around you that you know exactly what you're doing, but of course you have doubts," she says. "I was ridiculously scared that I was going to fail in front of everybody. I guess I kind of faked it until I made it." Brosnan, who was also part of the producing team, says he was confident from the get-go. "Shana was smart and passionate from the start," he says. "She had it in her eye, never got rattled, picked the best people and listened to what they had to say. She kept it simple and told her story -- on time and on budget." Age: 33 Home base: Los Angeles Inspired by: "My parents, specifically the vulnerability, sadness and humor that they exposed me to growing up. I also love the films 'Coming Home,' 'Harold and Maude,' 'Ordinary People' and my favorite film of all time, 'Terms of Endearment.'" Rep: Susan Solomon and Sarah Lemkin at Endeavor
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Post by Ace on Jan 17, 2009 22:24:23 GMT -5
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Post by Lauryn on Jan 17, 2009 22:27:04 GMT -5
An early (and rather ecstatic) short review from Ray Pride at MCN's Sundance blog. www.mcnblogs.com/sundance/Short Take: The Greatest My first word was "Wow." I've begged permission to purloin five minutes of wifi from a joint that's closing just to say The Greatest killed an entire notebook for me (so much filigree to footnote in a gorgeously acted, poetically written story). It's a magnificent, heartfelt romantic melodrama with startling acting, bold yet telling production design, and a worthy great-granddaughter to the films of Douglas Sirk. Bonus: I think I spied at least one great homage to a particular painting of Vermeer, and a wedding bed that is at once mid-20th century modern and suggestive of a troubled marriage, and most strikingly, the killing cages that painter Francis Bacon often entrapped his screaming popes within. John Bailey shot Ordinary People, which director Shana Feste cites as a primary influence on her story of grieving, loss and love. I am shaken, almost as much as the multiple women near me whose shoulders were quaking during the debut's end credits. But I'm also grateful to have seen such an accomplished debut so early in the festival. I think I've just fallen in love with 2009 Sundance's Once: a life-filled, love-filled, tear-filled gem. [More later.]
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Post by Ace on Jan 17, 2009 23:07:17 GMT -5
Wow indeed.
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Post by Brosnans Fans on Jan 18, 2009 5:52:40 GMT -5
video from extra for download?
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Post by mel71pierce53 on Jan 18, 2009 6:00:27 GMT -5
SOUNDS BRILL, I CANT WAIT TO SEE IT, ANY IDEAS ABOUT GENERAL RELEASE DATES? MELX
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Post by Andrea on Jan 18, 2009 6:06:10 GMT -5
www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=42675 The Greatest Tim Grierson in Park City 18 Jan 2009 09:13 Dir: Shana Feste. US. 2008. 98mins. The Greatest charts the uneasy journey people must undertake in the face of grief, but first-time filmmaker Shana Feste can't quite fully bring this emotionally delicate drama to fruition. A tearjerker about a middle-aged couple coping with the loss of their 18-year-old son – not to mention the imminent and unexpected birth of his child – The Greatest combines the tragedy of Ordinary People with the teen-pregnancy plotline of Juno, resulting in a film with some good performances that gets hamstrung by tonal problems. Look for The Greatest to cater to adult audiences who embraced other grief-themed films such as In The Bedroom ($43m worldwide) and who will be further attracted to the material because of established stars Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon. Because of the grim subject matter, it will be important for the marketing to play up the film's humorous touches and to highlight positive reviews in order to expand this drama's audience. Allen (Brosnan) and Grace Brewer (Sarandon) have just lost their son Bennett (Johnson) in a car crash. Shortly after the funeral, they meet his girlfriend Rose (Mulligan), who tells them that she's carrying Bennett's child. As the Brewers and their younger son Ryan (Simmons) cope with their grief, they take Rose in to their home and prepare for the baby's birth. By exploring the tricky process of mourning, The Greatest gives itself very little room for error – the heightened emotions associated with grief can lead to great drama, or if mishandled can give way to weepy melodramatics. Writing-directing newcomer Shana Feste has cited Ordinary People as one of her touchstones for this project, and like that Oscar-winner The Greatest uses a son's death as a springboard to expose the cracks in a family's foundation. Unfortunately, despite an affecting piano-centric score from Christophe Beck, Feste's nuanced film is dramatically wobbly, veering from poignantly understated moments of insight to awkwardly played scenes of high intensity. Feste sets up her characters as a series of damaged souls who were that way even before this tragedy, but the revealing of their individual secret pains can sometimes feel like forced plot twists rather than organic story developments. Her effective use of black humour goes a long way to temper the melancholy that's inherent in the material, but she's less steady when trying to demonstrate how grief can fundamentally alter people's behaviour, placing the Brewers in out-of-character situations that strain believability. Sarandon played a mother in mourning in the underrated Miracle Mile, and she draws on some of that for her role as the inconsolable Grace. Brosnan has more to work with as a math teacher who's trying to bury his feelings, and he has several scenes that are touching in their restraint. As the pregnant teen, Mulligan doesn't go through the same highs and lows that the Brewers do, and consequently she's a lively figure amidst the family's misery. And in a one-scene cameo, Michael Shannon plays the other driver involved in the fatal car crash, once again demonstrating (as he did in Revolutionary Road and the little-seen Shotgun Stories) that he is a promising actor full of both intensity and vulnerability.
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Post by mel71pierce53 on Jan 18, 2009 6:08:36 GMT -5
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Post by mel71pierce53 on Jan 18, 2009 6:16:54 GMT -5
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Post by mel71pierce53 on Jan 18, 2009 6:25:19 GMT -5
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Post by icy1979 on Jan 18, 2009 13:47:28 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Jan 18, 2009 15:32:41 GMT -5
Spoilers ahead - especially in the Fox News review hollywoodandfine.com/fineblog/?p=132I’ll admit that, when I was approached by a publicist for a reaction as I came out of “The Greatest,” a family drama starring Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon, I had to beg off, saying, “I need to compose myself.” A film about dealing with the effects of grief – after the car-accident death of a teen-age son – it’s well-directed (by newcomer Shana Feste, who also wrote it) but has a few false-step moments, despite a wealth of emotional honesty. It is shamelessly manipulative – but apparently I was ripe to be shamelessly manipulated. I came out a teary mess, particularly after a cathartic scene of Brosnan breaking down (after months of holding it together). This is one I need to think about some more before judging it on its own merits – and not just on its ability to make me cry. -- Marshall Fine www.indiewire.com/article/sundance_live_iv_reporter_review_500_days_of_summer_premiere/IndieWireEvery pity party has its limits, and “The Greatest” pushes most of them. Shana Feste’s cliché-ridden story centers around bereaved couple Allen (Pierce Brosnan) and Grace (Susan Sarandon), whose teenage son Bennett (Aaron Johnson, primarily seen in flashbacks) dies in a car accident with his new girlfriend, Rose (Carey Mulligan). Months later, Rose shows up at the family’s doorstep with a baby on board, which eventually leads to a series of infuriatingly bad scenes where Allen and Grace make peace with Rose as a part of their lives. Despite numerous script problems, Brosnan turns in a subtle performance as a fast-thinking math professor in constant denial of his discontent, although Sarandon goes over the top in the moments that call for particularly violent emotional breakdowns. However, Feste actually displays an exceptional formalism in her first writer-director excursion — in the first half of the movie, that is — employing long takes and clever symbolism to mirror the family’s distinct unhappiness. The second half, however, plays like a rejected soap opera. As he tends to do in overly melodramatic stories of troubled marriages, Michael Shannon, as the driver responsible for Bennett’s death, steals the show. [Eric Kohn] www.film-finder.com/Review.asp?ID=70099The Salt Lake Tribune 4/4 stars Writer-director Shana Feste's intense drama hits hard at the beginning, with an auto accident that kills a high-school senior, Bennett (Aaron Johnson). Then we meet the family - mom Grace (Susan Sarandon), obsessed with the crash details; dad Alan (Pierce Brosnan), trying to hold it all in; and screw-up younger brother Ryan (Johnny Simmons) - as they meet Rose (Carey Mulligan), the girl in the car with Bennett that night, which was also the night he impregnated her. Feste draws amazing performances from her cast, and captures with heartbreaking precision the many facets of this family's grief. Bring tissues. -- Sean P. Means www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,480474,00.html Fox NewsPierce Brosnan, in search of a career path post James Bond, didn’t do himself any favors singing in the film of “Mamma Mia!” He was awful in a cheap looking, terrible movie that was an inexplicable hit. But with “The Greatest,” which premiered last night at Sundance, all is forgiven. Brosnan and the remarkable Susan Sarandon are just perfect in a film that clearly echoes Robert Redford’s classic “Ordinary People” but has enough new twists to make it very interesting. In the film, Allen (Brosnan) and Grace (Sarandon)’s 18-year-old son has been killed in a car accident just after losing his virginity to the girl he loves and graduating from high school. Director Shana Feste indicates well enough that Bennett (Aaron Johnson) has been the apple of their eyes. But they still have a younger teenage son (Johnny Simmons) to deal with, plus Allen’s been having an affair with a fellow professor at his college, so you know the marriage hasn’t been perfect. Grief envelopes the family. Grace is obsessed with the man whose truck collided with her son’s and keeps vigil at his coma bedside to find out what Bennett might have said in his final moments. Allen bottles up his emotions until they make him ill. Ryan has a teen drug problem, and goes on the sly to group therapy. And there’s Bennett’s girlfriend. She’s pregnant. Feste could have turned this all into bad “Ordinary People” or a soap opera. A first time director and screenwriter, she takes her team into a field already well trodden with clichés. But she manages to avoid most of them, and carve out a simple new take on an old story with class and subtlety. Carey Mulligan makes a powerful debut herself as Rose, the pregnant and scared girlfriend. Sarandon is a knockout as the grieving and not necessarily sympathetic mom. And Brosnan, this time, is in right key. --- By Roger Friedman
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Post by Ace on Jan 18, 2009 15:36:52 GMT -5
blogs.sltrib.com/sundance/2009/01/greatest-is-just-that.html "The Greatest" is just thatSalt Lake Tribune by Sean P. Means "I wish every audience could be a Sundance audience," remarked writer-director Shana Feste received a sustained standing ovation Sunday morning at the Racquet Club Theatre for her movie, "The Greatest." The movie stars Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon as parents in grief after their 18-year-old son Bennett (Aaron Johnson) is killed in a car crash - and later learn that the girl in the car with him, Rose (Carey Mulligan), is carrying Bennett's child. (Read the review here.) The emotion of Feste's script was so intense, said Brosnan in the Q&A, that he couldn't process it at first. "I thought it was brilliant, and I threw it under the bed," he said. "I didn't want to go there." Sarandon said that when filming some scenes for hours, the emotion was so strong, "my body chemistry changed." This from an actress who said, "two of the funniest sets I've ever been on were 'Dead Man Walking' and 'Lorenzo's Oil.' Explain that." weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/Variety: Anne Thompson Three good screenings today. The Burma VJ doc is great. HBO has it. The Greatest played great and will sell, not to Fox Searchlight, but to someone willing to nurture it. And Searchlight debuted Marc Webb's charming anti-rom-com 500 Days of Summer, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zoey Deschanel, which scored with auds here and will open commercially in July. If anyone can make this work, it's Searchlight. More tomorrow.
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