list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Before Sunrise on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Before_Sunrise/91402/default.aspx Title: Before Sunrise
Year: 1995
Director: Richard Linklater
Plot: Richard Linklater's third feature -- set, like his other works, over the course of one 24-hour period -- Before Sunrise is a sweet, intelligent romantic comedy filmed primarily in Austria. It stars Ethan Hawke as Jesse, a young American travelling through Europe. On a train he meets Celine, a French student portrayed by Julie Delpy. Together they leave the train to begin exploring the city of Vienna, walking and talking into the wee hours of the night and slowly falling in love as the minutes before Jesse's return to the U.S. tick away. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 65
Number of Lists: 43
Number of blog posts: 7
Number of discussion threads: 3
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:40:15 GMTBefore Sunrise1995Richard Linklater<a href="/players/P____99850/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Richard Linklater</a>'s third feature -- set, like his other works, over the course of one 24-hour period -- Before Sunrise is a sweet, intelligent romantic comedy filmed primarily in Austria. It stars <a href="/players/P____31094/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Ethan Hawke</a> as Jesse, a young American travelling through Europe. On a train he meets Celine, a French student portrayed by <a href="/players/P____18491/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Julie Delpy</a>. Together they leave the train to begin exploring the city of Vienna, walking and talking into the wee hours of the night and slowly falling in love as the minutes before Jesse's return to the U.S. tick away. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide65Tag Target (>10)43733http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t04727x51rw.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Before_Sunrise/91402/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Polls/Re_The_Onion_AV_Club_recently_featured_a_list_of/657/39516/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 1/14/2009 10:19:51 AM
Body: Wow, I'm the first one to vote for Before Sunset! I'll tell you why. The article in the paper I picked up didn't define their criteria further than the phrase "unnecessary film sequels that are great anyway" Here's what I think they mean by that. 1. The original film must have been great 2. After finishing watching the first movie you do not necessarily feel like a sequel is warrented or required to fulfill the full movie experience 3. The sequel must be almost equally great So here's my reasoning. First of all, I just have not seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 so I can't say much about that. I absolutely LOVED Alien. And after watching it you do not feel like a sequel is necessarily required. As for Aliens, it was cool that since it was unnecessary it was in a different genre, more of sort of a straight up action movie than horror / suspence. But I did not like it nearly as much. It is kind of the opposite for me with the Mad Max movies. While I enjoyed the original I did not think it was really THAT great. Also the same as before, the sequel was not necessary and it was in a different genre of sorts. The Road Warrior is really more of a straight up action movie over Mad Max which had a lot more drama. In fact it's maybe my favorite action movie. But since I did not find the original as great, I didn't vote for it. Is that fair? Maybe not. As for the Godfather series, I'd say that both movies are fantastic! But, maybe it's difficult for me to judge on this since as long as I've been alive I've known that there was a sequel, so the first time I watched the original I had that in mind. And so to me the sequel didn't seem that uncessary. I felt like I needed to know more. You may disagree with me. You may disagree with me even more and say that the same is the case with Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, that in that case you also want to know what happens later! Maybe it's because the movie was made so much later with such a different outcome than you would have assumed after watching the first movie that makes me love it. Anyways, I think both of these films are fantastic.
]]>Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:19:51 GMTRisseladaMovie Polls1/14/2009 10:19:51 AMWow, I'm the first one to vote for Before Sunset! I'll tell you why. The article in the paper I picked up didn't define their criteria further than the phrase "unnecessary film sequels that are great anyway" Here's what I think they mean by that. 1. The original film must have been great 2. After finishing watching the first movie you do not necessarily feel like a sequel is warrented or required to fulfill the full movie experience 3. The sequel must be almost equally great So here's my reasoning. First of all, I just have not seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 so I can't say much about that. I absolutely LOVED Alien. And after watching it you do not feel like a sequel is necessarily required. As for Aliens, it was cool that since it was unnecessary it was in a different genre, more of sort of a straight up action movie than horror / suspence. But I did not like it nearly as much. It is kind of the opposite for me with the Mad Max movies. While I enjoyed the original I did not think it was really THAT great. Also the same as before, the sequel was not necessary and it was in a different genre of sorts. The Road Warrior is really more of a straight up action movie over Mad Max which had a lot more drama. In fact it's maybe my favorite action movie. But since I did not find the original as great, I didn't vote for it. Is that fair? Maybe not. As for the Godfather series, I'd say that both movies are fantastic! But, maybe it's difficult for me to judge on this since as long as I've been alive I've known that there was a sequel, so the first time I watched the original I had that in mind. And so to me the sequel didn't seem that uncessary. I felt like I needed to know more. You may disagree with me. You may disagree with me even more and say that the same is the case with Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, that in that case you also want to know what happens later! Maybe it's because the movie was made so much later with such a different outcome than you would have assumed after watching the first movie that makes me love it. Anyways, I think both of these films are fantastic. http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_October_13_Just_One_Day/625/36297/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 10/14/2008 2:55:59 PM
Body: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three - one of the best action/thriller/comedy movies ever made. A lot of it takes place in almost real time. 12 Angry Men - another one that's almost in real time, so certainly within a day. Magnolia - the EPIC of one day films. Clerks. - he was supposed to have that day off High Noon - also almost real time Kids - I think this was just one day. It feels like it. Rope - real time My Dinner with Andre - real time Most movies based on classical theater will take place within 24 hours since this was one of the ancient restriction of good theatre. Time, space, and subject were all supposed to be remain the same. More Linklater films - Before Sunrise / Before Sunset / Slacker These come up under one night I think Night of the Living Dead Goonies Die Hard Escape from New York Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
]]>Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:55:59 GMTRisseladaWeekly Theme10/14/2008 2:55:59 PMThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three - one of the best action/thriller/comedy movies ever made. A lot of it takes place in almost real time. 12 Angry Men - another one that's almost in real time, so certainly within a day. Magnolia - the EPIC of one day films. Clerks. - he was supposed to have that day off High Noon - also almost real time Kids - I think this was just one day. It feels like it. Rope - real time My Dinner with Andre - real time Most movies based on classical theater will take place within 24 hours since this was one of the ancient restriction of good theatre. Time, space, and subject were all supposed to be remain the same. More Linklater films - Before Sunrise / Before Sunset / Slacker These come up under one night I think Night of the Living Dead Goonies Die Hard Escape from New York Harold &amp; Kumar Go to White Castle http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/9/19/35306.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 9/19/2008 11:00:46 AM
Body: From left to right, Diablo Cody, Dana Fox, and Lorene Scafaria. Or, the “Femmepire” as they call it, a triumvirate of female screenwriters. Lorene Scafaria has been toiling as a screenwriter for awhile, although her first produced film, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, is actually an adaptation of a novel by the same name. However, it manages to nail the “teen voice” without slapping a message all over it, and it should open up a few more doors for Lorene. Not that she needs them, since she’s already recorded an album of her own music, and has her next project already in the works. Read on to find out how she tried to capture the New York City feeling in this movie, what she’s been doing with best friend and fellow screenwriter Diablo Cody, and what’s in store for her. Good morning. Good morning! Adapting this from the novel, what was that like? Especially since you’re relatively new as a screenwriter. What was the process like for you? Yeah, I’m definitely relatively new as a screenwriter. Unfortunately, Nick and Norah was my ninth script that I had written. [laughter] But, certainly my first adaptation. And I really wanted to be as true to the spirit of the novel as possible. It was fairly daunting at first, just because I loved the characters so much. I loved who they were, I loved the course of the night, I loved the tone of it. But, movies like this haven’t been made in a while, and so it was just a real challenge to kind of bring it back to those movies that I grew up on in the ’80s, John Hughes movies and Cameron Crowe. And then to try to make it a little more cinematic than the novel was itself, actually, which was beautifully written of course. But everything kind of started in this hyper-intense club and then it was sort of Nick and Norah hanging out for the rest of the night. Which is great…I loved Before Sunrise and Before Sunset so I wouldn’t have minded watching Nick and Norah just hang out all night. But, yeah, we certainly had to come up with some devices to just maintain the thrust of that story. So things like Caroline going missing. Things like Where’s Fluffy, being this band that they’re looking for. You know, little things like that that certainly propelled it a little more. Was music a part of the novel? Yeah, it was. Like specific well known songs? Yeah. But it’s strange, because at the time I didn’t even know if it was a period piece, because of things like The Cure and Green Day. So, I didn’t know when I first started reading it what era it was even. Yeah, certainly The Cure was someone who I sort of grew up with, and Green Day too. So it definitely was a part of it, of course, but it wasn’t specific to modern day. Did you put some of the music in the screenplay or make suggestions? I didn’t write it in, but I made a mix CD, but that was four years ago, with the first draft. What was on it? The Black Keys. It was a lot of… it was music I was really into then: Bloc Party, Frou Frou. I don’t even know how to say that, Frou Frou? But, it was definitely more in my mind than trying to capture that kind of hipster, scenester thing that now the movie is really sort of about. Oh, yeah. Sure, I definitely threw in my two cents. But, ultimately I’d say Pete and Myron, the editor, I think they started to really compile lists together. And certainly I’m a fan of Vampire Weekend and Bishop Allen. The fact that they played in the movie was just so, so cool. Local boys, you know. It was great. But, yeah, I would say it sort of rounded out even in the editing process probably. And especially because it’s wall to wall sound. It’s kind of a throwback to what I loved about American Graffiti. It’s really capturing an era, and that’s what this was doing ultimately with all the real modern rock. Hopefully it won’t be played out by the time, you know… [laughs] Hopefully, it’s timeless in that way and isn’t just representative of right now. I wish one or two of my mix CD songs had ended up in there. [laughs] But that’s OK. Yeah. We don’t see any parents, which I think would probably break the spell of this. Are there parents represented in the book? I mean, is there a conscious decision not to have some parent hovering on the outside waiting for like a cell phone call? Yeah, there actually was. And in the book there was. Norah’s father is a great sort of figure, but I believe he calls at some point during the night. I believe there’s some kind of more of a ticking clock with him and Brown and more of decisions like that. And there was a brief scene in the very early draft that I was trying to rip off The Graduate as much as possible. [laughs] And have Norah kind of be hiding up in her room. I wrote an early scene of her father and mother. But, eventually since that was it and we didn’t really require that, it sort of became great that you don’t have that. You don’t have anybody hovering over. You just really get to absorb what it’s like to be young, and you’re not thinking about your parents when you’re out all night. [laughs] So, why should we as an audience be really focused on that? I don’t know. It’s like Peanuts. It’s like this hermetic kind of world that kids live in. Yeah. That would have been great, just so hear, “Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.” I would have really liked to hear that. [laughter] Did you like how the film turned out? I really, really, really did. I’m very proud. And it’s so rare, I imagine, someone’s first film getting made the writer would be as pleased as punch. I really am, yeah. I think Pete Sollet’s amazing. I loved Raising Victor Vargas. I saw it when it came out. He came on board, I’d say maybe after the first or second draft of the script. And I just knew he was the guy to do it all along. He captured such reality in his first film, and a very specific group of young people in that. It just seemed so appropriate for this. He’s a New York guy, I’m a Jersey girl. We hung out in cafes in the lower East Side and worked on it together. He’s pretty amazing. How do you think it’ll translate for people who live out in the Midwest, let’s say, or someplace where they don’t have quite as much access to these all night, all these great haunts? Sure, yeah. I would hope that people would still relate to having one of those all night events. I certainly, growing up in the shadows of New York kind of had that experience a lot. Traveling from Jersey into the city and having those nights. I think it’s such a nostalgic piece. If you are young, and in the Midwest I imagine it would strike a chord. And I imagine if you’re older, hopefully it would just remind you of that time. Of course it’s a New York story and everything, but I think it’s really more about being young and falling in love, really. And sort of shedding all those insecurities you have when you’re a kid and trying to be as brave as possible at a very early age. I should hope it’s relatable, yeah. I would love that. And also I imagine people kind of just seeing what that’s like. I was certainly fascinated by L.A. movies before I showed up there. How much of yourself did you put into Norah? You know, it’s weird. Norah, it was me on the page. It was so scary when I read it the first time. Definitely some. What’s strange is if you see a photo of me at 18, I look an awful lot like Kat Dennings without the lips and the… boobs and stuff. I wasn’t quite as stunning of course, but I was trying to look that way. I think girls at that age are so complex, and I think… What do you mean “at that age”? Well, at any age, right? Especially when they’re still trying to figure out how complex they actually are, and unfortunately dealing with boys that age, who are not quite as complex yet. [laughs] Definitely what I love about Norah is she’s got this great sort of wall up that she’s built herself. And certainly over the course of the night and over the course of data with Michael Cera, it’s starts to drop a bit. And I think she’s a pretty guarded person, which I am. And yet pretty outspoken, which I am. So, yeah, I’ve definitely fallen in love with a few musicians in my day. So, I can relate. Also I have this father who’s larger than life, for me anyway. I can really relate to kind of what that experience is like, to sort of feel like you’re living in these halls with these people and your Friday and Saturday night are so very special when you get out of that and sort of shed your skin a little bit. So, yeah, there’s plenty of me in there. But, I felt it when I read the book so it wasn’t hard. I was immediately attached. When I read it, it was a manuscript, it wasn’t published or anything. And I was just lying in bed and I just like closed it and cried a little bit because I was like, wow, that sums it all up. That’s exactly like what I kind of experienced at a time in my life. So it was already on the page, I think. Michael Cera is coming off of Juno which was written by Diablo Cody, which kind of made her this poster girl for young rock and roll screenwriting women, and she has her column in Entertainment Weekly. Do you identify with her as a writer, or are you sort of…. [laughs] She’s my best friend. Well, there you go. I guess that was easy. There’s three of us. There’s myself and Diablo and Dana Fox, who wrote What Happens in Vegas. We call ourselves the “Femmepire.” [laughter] We’re trying very slowly to take over the world. Diablo certainly set the charge, which was kind of amazing. I love her so much. I loved her before I knew her work. So, the beauty of that was actually getting to see her film after I’d already fallen in love with her and getting to see how much of her was on the page actually and on screen. Yeah, I admire her work tremendously. Obviously there’s going to be so many comparisons to Juno. We’re here, it’s the same day, next year. She came out to support me this year, which is great. She and Dana are both here so it’s really supportive. I think what she brings to the table is kind of what I would hope, which is balancing that great line between comedy and drama. And allowing real people to be seen and not treating teenagers like they’re idiots. There are smart kids out there and they don’t all talk the same. She obviously has a very unique voice. I wish we had known each other when we were both writing these things. That would have been kind of great. Now it’s going to   you’ll hear line hopefully repeated over and over. We all write in the same room together and kind of ask each other, “Is this funny? Is this not funny? Is this too offensive.” Most of the time. I take it as a compliment anytime someone says that, for sure. What advice did she give you as you were embarking on this publicity process? Because she had been through that. Yeah. Well, I don’t have to get asked if this is better than stripping, so that’s kind of nice. [laughter] I never did any of that, so I don’t have any of that to fall back on . She was really just kind of… she said I’m going to be exhausted and to try to enjoy it. Dana, who’s also here, she calls it a “business wedding.” So, they’re my maids of honor and they’re reminding me to eat. That’s sort of the thing. Shoving banana bread into my face. I’ll leave it there for a while before I finally take a bite. They’re doing that kind of thing. She didn’t do the hair and makeup, and I was like, “How could you not have taken advantage of the situation?” [laughter] She was like, “I don’t want all that.” So, yeah, that was about it. Have you ever thought of collaborating? Yeah. We have. The three of us have talked about producing different projects together certainly. I think our styles are all so   I think they would gel really well together. I think we’d probably love to oversee a project together more than even collaborating on the writing itself. She’s working on her television show right now, which is taking up a lot of time with “Spielborg,” I like to call him, because he’s part machine, for short. It would be great, but really getting to produce all together would probably be more of a goal than even writing together. I don’t know how that would be. I had a writing partner for a very brief spell. And that’s not easy, it’s really not. It’s really not. I thought it would be half the work, but it’s really twice the work because you’re going over everything even more specifically. When you look at a character like Norah and Juno for example, and then you compare them to the female roles in the John Hughes movies, what do you think it says about how far teenage girls and young women have progressed in the 20 years since then? It’s sort of Molly Ringwald all over again. Unfortunately I think there was a real gap there in the middle where teenage girls weren’t portrayed in that way. A lot of the teen comedies that came out were sexist, in my opinion. [laughs] And really didn’t   I don’t know, I never found them very relatable, certainly. Hopefully it’s a reemergence of that. I should hope so. I think certainly in my era it was all about popularity. Remember? It was like popularity was the theme of everything. And a little bit of class struggle, and that was kind of it. Nowadays I think it’s so much more about insecurity. I think beauty is such a strange and illusive thing these days. Young girls have all these magazines to look at and feel horrible about themselves. Diet, health, all of that. I think Juno, I think Norah, I think they’re real girls. I think both of these actresses are absolutely gorgeous but they’re not walking out of “Gossip Girl.” Conventional. Yeah, it’s not conventional beauty, obviously. I, for one, really appreciate that. [laughs] I should hope it kind of continues. The unfortunate thing is that women in general don’t get those roles any more. And the fact that it could kind of reach teenage girls is even more special to me. Which is so funny, because now they’re the demographic, right? Now, that’s what everybody’s marketing towards. They’re the ones buying the t shirts. So, maybe out of some sick desire for box office they’ll actually maintain these young girl themes of hopefully confidence building rather than the opposite. What are you working on now? What’s next? I wrote a script called Man and Wife about an immigration officer who interviews married couples to figure out which marriages are shams where he’s sort of living his own sham marriage. Gabriele Muccino, who did The Pursuit of Happyness is attached, so hopefully that’ll get going pretty soon. And I’m going to direct hopefully pretty soon, with a mandate again. I’m doing a project that should hopefully hit the trades pretty soon. And I recorded an album during the writer’s strike. [laughs] What? Yeah. I’m a singer/songwriter. I don’t know why. It’s my little hyphenate I’m trying to build up for myself. Yeah, I recorded an album during the writer’s strike because I just was losing, losing, losing my mind, out of just boredom and panic. And so, yeah, I’m going to try to push that as much as possible. What’s it sound like? I play piano and sing. So it’s piano based. It’s all about the lyrics. [laughs] My voice is trying to catch up to my lyrics, I think. It’s Fiona Apple/Feist. Do you have a title or a label? It’s called “Garden Party.” But I don’t have any label. If anybody out there is listening… Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:00:46 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com9/19/2008 11:00:46 AM From left to right, Diablo Cody, Dana Fox, and Lorene Scafaria. Or, the “Femmepire” as they call it, a triumvirate of female screenwriters. Lorene Scafaria has been toiling as a screenwriter for awhile, although her first produced film, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, is actually an adaptation of a novel by the same name. However, it manages to nail the “teen voice” without slapping a message all over it, and it should open up a few more doors for Lorene. Not that she needs them, since she’s already recorded an album of her own music, and has her next project already in the works. Read on to find out how she tried to capture the New York City feeling in this movie, what she’s been doing with best friend and fellow screenwriter Diablo Cody, and what’s in store for her. Good morning. Good morning! Adapting this from the novel, what was that like? Especially since you’re relatively new as a screenwriter. What was the process like for you? Yeah, I’m definitely relatively new as a screenwriter. Unfortunately, Nick and Norah was my ninth script that I had written. [laughter] But, certainly my first adaptation. And I really wanted to be as true to the spirit of the novel as possible. It was fairly daunting at first, just because I loved the characters so much. I loved who they were, I loved the course of the night, I loved the tone of it. But, movies like this haven’t been made in a while, and so it was just a real challenge to kind of bring it back to those movies that I grew up on in the ’80s, John Hughes movies and Cameron Crowe. And then to try to make it a little more cinematic than the novel was itself, actually, which was beautifully written of course. But everything kind of started in this hyper-intense club and then it was sort of Nick and Norah hanging out for the rest of the night. Which is great…I loved Before Sunrise and Before Sunset so I wouldn’t have minded watching Nick and Norah just hang out all night. But, yeah, we certainly had to come up with some devices to just maintain the thrust of that story. So things like Caroline going missing. Things like Where’s Fluffy, being this band that they’re looking for. You know, little things like that that certainly propelled it a little more. Was music a part of the novel? Yeah, it was. Like specific well known songs? Yeah. But it’s strange, because at the time I didn’t even know if it was a period piece, because of things like The Cure and Green Day. So, I didn’t know when I first started reading it what era it was even. Yeah, certainly The Cure was someone who I sort of grew up with, and Green Day too. So it definitely was a part of it, of course, but it wasn’t specific to modern day. Did you put some of the music in the screenplay or make suggestions? I didn’t write it in, but I made a mix CD, but that was four years ago, with the first draft. What was on it? The Black Keys. It was a lot of… it was music I was really into then: Bloc Party, Frou Frou. I don’t even know how to say that, Frou Frou? But, it was definitely more in my mind than trying to capture that kind of hipster, scenester thing that now the movie is really sort of about. Oh, yeah. Sure, I definitely threw in my two cents. But, ultimately I’d say Pete and Myron, the editor, I think they started to really compile lists together. And certainly I’m a fan of Vampire Weekend and Bishop Allen. The fact that they played in the movie was just so, so cool. Local boys, you know. It was great. But, yeah, I would say it sort of rounded out even in the editing process probably. And especially because it’s wall to wall sound. It’s kind of a throwback to what I loved about American Graffiti. It’s really capturing an era, and that’s what this was doing ultimately with all the real modern rock. Hopefully it won’t be played out by the time, you know… [laughs] Hopefully, it’s timeless in that way and isn’t just representative of right now. I wish one or two of my mix CD songs had ended up in there. [laughs] But that’s OK. Yeah. We don’t see any parents, which I think would probably break the spell of this. Are there parents represented in the book? I mean, is there a conscious decision not to have some parent hovering on the outside waiting for like a cell phone call? Yeah, there actually was. And in the book there was. Norah’s father is a great sort of figure, but I believe he calls at some point during the night. I believe there’s some kind of more of a ticking clock with him and Brown and more of decisions like that. And there was a brief scene in the very early draft that I was trying to rip off The Graduate as much as possible. [laughs] And have Norah kind of be hiding up in her room. I wrote an early scene of her father and mother. But, eventually since that was it and we didn’t really require that, it sort of became great that you don’t have that. You don’t have anybody hovering over. You just really get to absorb what it’s like to be young, and you’re not thinking about your parents when you’re out all night. [laughs] So, why should we as an audience be really focused on that? I don’t know. It’s like Peanuts. It’s like this hermetic kind of world that kids live in. Yeah. That would have been great, just so hear, “Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.” I would have really liked to hear that. [laughter] Did you like how the film turned out? I really, really, really did. I’m very proud. And it’s so rare, I imagine, someone’s first film getting made the writer would be as pleased as punch. I really am, yeah. I think Pete Sollet’s amazing. I loved Raising Victor Vargas. I saw it when it came out. He came on board, I’d say maybe after the first or second draft of the script. And I just knew he was the guy to do it all along. He captured such reality in his first film, and a very specific group of young people in that. It just seemed so appropriate for this. He’s a New York guy, I’m a Jersey girl. We hung out in cafes in the lower East Side and worked on it together. He’s pretty amazing. How do you think it’ll translate for people who live out in the Midwest, let’s say, or someplace where they don’t have quite as much access to these all night, all these great haunts? Sure, yeah. I would hope that people would still relate to having one of those all night events. I certainly, growing up in the shadows of New York kind of had that experience a lot. Traveling from Jersey into the city and having those nights. I think it’s such a nostalgic piece. If you are young, and in the Midwest I imagine it would strike a chord. And I imagine if you’re older, hopefully it would just remind you of that time. Of course it’s a New York story and everything, but I think it’s really more about being young and falling in love, really. And sort of shedding all those insecurities you have when you’re a kid and trying to be as brave as possible at a very early age. I should hope it’s relatable, yeah. I would love that. And also I imagine people kind of just seeing what that’s like. I was certainly fascinated by L.A. movies before I showed up there. How much of yourself did you put into Norah? You know, it’s weird. Norah, it was me on the page. It was so scary when I read it the first time. Definitely some. What’s strange is if you see a photo of me at 18, I look an awful lot like Kat Dennings without the lips and the… boobs and stuff. I wasn’t quite as stunning of course, but I was trying to look that way. I think girls at that age are so complex, and I think… What do you mean “at that age”? Well, at any age, right? Especially when they’re still trying to figure out how complex they actually are, and unfortunately dealing with boys that age, who are not quite as complex yet. [laughs] Definitely what I love about Norah is she’s got this great sort of wall up that she’s built herself. And certainly over the course of the night and over the course of data with Michael Cera, it’s starts to drop a bit. And I think she’s a pretty guarded person, which I am. And yet pretty outspoken, which I am. So, yeah, I’ve definitely fallen in love with a few musicians in my day. So, I can relate. Also I have this father who’s larger than life, for me anyway. I can really relate to kind of what that experience is like, to sort of feel like you’re living in these halls with these people and your Friday and Saturday night are so very special when you get out of that and sort of shed your skin a little bit. So, yeah, there’s plenty of me in there. But, I felt it when I read the book so it wasn’t hard. I was immediately attached. When I read it, it was a manuscript, it wasn’t published or anything. And I was just lying in bed and I just like closed it and cried a little bit because I was like, wow, that sums it all up. That’s exactly like what I kind of experienced at a time in my life. So it was already on the page, I think. Michael Cera is coming off of Juno which was written by Diablo Cody, which kind of made her this poster girl for young rock and roll screenwriting women, and she has her column in Entertainment Weekly. Do you identify with her as a writer, or are you sort of…. [laughs] She’s my best friend. Well, there you go. I guess that was easy. There’s three of us. There’s myself and Diablo and Dana Fox, who wrote What Happens in Vegas. We call ourselves the “Femmepire.” [laughter] We’re trying very slowly to take over the world. Diablo certainly set the charge, which was kind of amazing. I love her so much. I loved her before I knew her work. So, the beauty of that was actually getting to see her film after I’d already fallen in love with her and getting to see how much of her was on the page actually and on screen. Yeah, I admire her work tremendously. Obviously there’s going to be so many comparisons to Juno. We’re here, it’s the same day, next year. She came out to support me this year, which is great. She and Dana are both here so it’s really supportive. I think what she brings to the table is kind of what I would hope, which is balancing that great line between comedy and drama. And allowing real people to be seen and not treating teenagers like they’re idiots. There are smart kids out there and they don’t all talk the same. She obviously has a very unique voice. I wish we had known each other when we were both writing these things. That would have been kind of great. Now it’s going to   you’ll hear line hopefully repeated over and over. We all write in the same room together and kind of ask each other, “Is this funny? Is this not funny? Is this too offensive.” Most of the time. I take it as a compliment anytime someone says that, for sure. What advice did she give you as you were embarking on this publicity process? Because she had been through that. Yeah. Well, I don’t have to get asked if this is better than stripping, so that’s kind of nice. [laughter] I never did any of that, so I don’t have any of that to fall back on . She was really just kind of… she said I’m going to be exhausted and to try to enjoy it. Dana, who’s also here, she calls it a “business wedding.” So, they’re my maids of honor and they’re reminding me to eat. That’s sort of the thing. Shoving banana bread into my face. I’ll leave it there for a while before I finally take a bite. They’re doing that kind of thing. She didn’t do the hair and makeup, and I was like, “How could you not have taken advantage of the situation?” [laughter] She was like, “I don’t want all that.” So, yeah, that was about it. Have you ever thought of collaborating? Yeah. We have. The three of us have talked about producing different projects together certainly. I think our styles are all so   I think they would gel really well together. I think we’d probably love to oversee a project together more than even collaborating on the writing itself. She’s working on her television show right now, which is taking up a lot of time with “Spielborg,” I like to call him, because he’s part machine, for short. It would be great, but really getting to produce all together would probably be more of a goal than even writing together. I don’t know how that would be. I had a writing partner for a very brief spell. And that’s not easy, it’s really not. It’s really not. I thought it would be half the work, but it’s really twice the work because you’re going over everything even more specifically. When you look at a character like Norah and Juno for example, and then you compare them to the female roles in the John Hughes movies, what do you think it says about how far teenage girls and young women have progressed in the 20 years since then? It’s sort of Molly Ringwald all over again. Unfortunately I think there was a real gap there in the middle where teenage girls weren’t portrayed in that way. A lot of the teen comedies that came out were sexist, in my opinion. [laughs] And really didn’t   I don’t know, I never found them very relatable, certainly. Hopefully it’s a reemergence of that. I should hope so. I think certainly in my era it was all about popularity. Remember? It was like popularity was the theme of everything. And a little bit of class struggle, and that was kind of it. Nowadays I think it’s so much more about insecurity. I think beauty is such a strange and illusive thing these days. Young girls have all these magazines to look at and feel horrible about themselves. Diet, health, all of that. I think Juno, I think Norah, I think they’re real girls. I think both of these actresses are absolutely gorgeous but they’re not walking out of “Gossip Girl.” Conventional. Yeah, it’s not conventional beauty, obviously. I, for one, really appreciate that. [laughs] I should hope it kind of continues. The unfortunate thing is that women in general don’t get those roles any more. And the fact that it could kind of reach teenage girls is even more special to me. Which is so funny, because now they’re the demographic, right? Now, that’s what everybody’s marketing towards. They’re the ones buying the t shirts. So, maybe out of some sick desire for box office they’ll actually maintain these young girl themes of hopefully confidence building rather than the opposite. What are you working on now? What’s next? I wrote a script called Man and Wife about an immigration officer who interviews married couples to figure out which marriages are shams where he’s sort of living his own sham marriage. Gabriele Muccino, who did The Pursuit of Happyness is attached, so hopefully that’ll get going pretty soon. And I’m going to direct hopefully pretty soon, with a mandate again. I’m doing a project that should hopefully hit the trades pretty soon. And I recorded an album during the writer’s strike. [laughs] What? Yeah. I’m a singer/songwriter. I don’t know why. It’s my little hyphenate I’m trying to build up for myself. Yeah, I recorded an album during the writer’s strike because I just was losing, losing, losing my mind, out of just boredom and panic. And so, yeah, I’m going to try to push that as much as possible. What’s it sound like? I play piano and sing. So it’s piano based. It’s all about the lyrics. [laughs] My voice is trying to catch up to my lyrics, I think. It’s Fiona Apple/Feist. Do you have a title or a label? It’s called “Garden Party.” But I don’t have any label. If anybody out there is listening… Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/9/15/35151.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 9/15/2008 1:01:19 PM
Body: It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Barry Jenkins’ film Medicine for Melancholy, and we’re lucky enough to have Barry be big fans of Spout as well. His little film has had a long journey since it premiered in Austin at SXSW earlier this year, and it’s continuing to take him around the world. We spoke with Barry in Toronto about the genesis of the movie, what has happened since that first screening in Austin, how he found the actors, and if this film represents a love letter from him to the city of San Francisco. Read on for the full interview. Well, the first thing I was going to say was thank you for all the shout outs you always give Spout and Karina whenever you discuss the movie. That question about the de-saturation in the film always comes up. So your check’s in the mail for that. [laughs] No, I always mention Karina, man. You guys were like one of the first people to publish about the film at South By, when nobody knew about it. So I was thankful and I pay it forward. That’s good. The last time Karina spoke to you, you’d never been to Austin. You hadn’t been to SXSW before. Exactly. Then your film sort of became one of the most buzzed about and talked about breakout films at the festival. How did that change things for you and for the movie? It was, making it with just me and my friends, this really small crew and not very expensive equipment. So we felt that once we did get in SXSW, we knew it was a good thing. But even still, we thought the movie would play there, and then maybe it would play another film festival. And then we’d sell DVDs off the website. But I think having that buzz coming out of South By, I think it really made us all kind of take the project more seriously. We saw the potential that maybe it could catch on, and we could actually get it to audiences. Having now been to Austin, what did you think of the city? Everyone’s always saying, oh Austin’s such a cool place, but no one can really say why that is. The great thing about going to Austin is everybody who worked on the film, we all were students together at Florida State University, which is in Tallahassee, Florida, which is a college town with a great film school. I think we all dispersed and moved to all these different places. Every now and then we’d all get together and have this nostalgia for this almost incubator kind of feeling that we all felt in Tallahassee. And I think premiering the film in Austin, we were all like, man this is just like Tallahassee, but much bigger. There’s something that feels very possible in the air in that city. And I think that’s the reason why they can host a festival that large, despite the fact that the city feels so small. It was a really good experience. So talking directly about the film, how did you find Wyatt and Tracey for this? Well we tried to cast in San Francisco, but I guess it’s just the irony of ironies, when you’re dealing with a city that has a devolving or diminishing African American population, we just couldn’t find black actors just to come out and read for the parts. So we went down to L.A. We used basically the actor’s equivalent of Craigslist, which is to post things on these things like NowCasting.com. And we didn’t have any money, so we got people who really didn’t have any credits. Tracey Heggins was the first woman that we saw, and of course, we then saw 50 other women. Because I’m an idiot, I couldn’t pull the trigger. And then we actually saw about 50 guys, and we really weren’t satisfied or happy with any of the people we had seen. And a friend of ours just happened to know, she was like, “Oh, I know this guy Wyatt Cenac. You should audition him.” I was like yeah, sure, whatever. I’ll see anybody. And so we called Wyatt up. He was doing a lot of stand up at that point in L.A., and so he wasn’t really committed to too many things. So he came out, read cold, and was just perfect. In a way it was really great because I felt like Tracey and Wyatt themselves, they weren’t really the characters that I saw when I wrote the script. But they were so specific and unique in their auditions, that I realized these two people can make the movie go. And so yeah, we went with the both of them. Yeah and I think using actors that audiences haven’t really seen a lot of, I know Tracey’s done a fair amount of television, but, it kind of helps feel like they’re more real. They didn’t feel like this was a polished performance. It felt like these were real people. Thanks, I appreciate that. You know, it’s funny, because now that Wyatt’s on “The Daily Show,” it’s like I was just screening the film for the staff of the Telluride Film Festival. Because I work at that festival, so we just had a little staff screening before the festival. And the minute the first image comes up, they’re like hey that kind of looks like that guy on Comedy Central. I was like yeah, it is. But we made this movie before he was on Comedy Central, but I guess you can put it that way. It’s just fine. [laughter] Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that. Is he being on “The Daily Show” sort of a result of what is happening with Medicine? Or did that happen separate of the movie? You know, I think it definitely happened separate. Wyatt is a great standup. And I think he travels in a completely different circle that this film doesn’t travel in, which is the standup scene in L.A. with UCB, “Upright Citizen’s Brigade.” And I think, really, he had kind of been building momentum there, and was almost just like, I think, really I kind of believe in Karma. I think there was some really good positive energy with the film. Because after SXSW, he kind of got the audition for Comedy Central and “The Daily Show,” and we flew him out there. And he did it. And they had never seen the movie, or even heard of it. But it was like all these things, the timing was right. He just nailed it. And now he’s on the show. The movie has some strong words about the current state of race in San Francisco and the housing situation, too. Would you consider it to be sort of your love letter to San Francisco? You clearly love the city, watching this. Would you consider that to be true? Or would you just say it happens to be set in San Francisco? No, no, no. I think it’s definitely, without a doubt, a love letter to San Francisco. Sometimes, depending on my mood, I’ll say it’s a love hate letter to San Francisco. But when I originally got the idea for the film years ago, after watching Claire Denis’ Vendredi Soir, I kind of wrote a brief little paragraph about it. And the last line of the paragraph says could be set in Chicago or New York City. And it was just about two characters after a one night stand spending the day together. But looking back on it, there was no way in hell this movie could have been set in New York or Chicago, because it’s just such a San Francisco movie. I really felt like what made the movie worth making, because I sat on the idea for about five years, was the fact that I felt like there was a real importance to the city as almost a third character in the film. It really kind of drives, particularly the paranoia that the character of Micah is feeling. It’s like the environment is what makes the movie plausible to me. Then the housing rights discussion, or the meeting that they stumble across, I found that personally to be a little bit jarring. It shook me out of the moment for a second. Was that on purpose? And how did you come to put that in the film? You know, it is jarring, because it’s a definite narrative break from the rest of the film. It was something that I felt was important to really round out the A) the depiction of the city that we were giving. And then B) that we were all these things that Micah was consumed with. Originally, when I first wrote the script, I wrote it as a conversation between the two leads. It just felt completely false. In thinking about it, I was like, this is just really important to me. It’s really important to capture this aspect of the City of San Francisco. So I thought, you know what, it’s worth it to allow a moment for the actual city to speak for itself. We literally, we knew we were going to have the characters walk by and look in. We felt like the fact that these two people could be walking down the street and they could have passed this meeting and stopped and listened. We thought that was enough of an entryway for the audience. Even though it was jarring, they would get into that perspective, the point of view of Joe and Micah listening to that meeting that they would just go with it and really hear the city speak for itself. We didn’t write any of that. That’s was a real meeting. We just set the camera in the corner and we just let it roll. We had our actors walk by. It’s one of my favorite moments in the film. I think of all the sequences that are somewhat jarring because there are a few other places where we take a few liberties, maybe too many liberties. But we’re young so [laughter] felt people would give us leeway. But that was the one that stands out to me. I thought it was important to have in the film. Well, since you mentioned other moments that stand out or that kind of shake the viewer a little bit, because you said, at least when you talked to Karina earlier in the year, you said this film is like Do the Right Thing meets Before Sunrise with a little bit of French new wave thrown into it. Yes. Does that still stand up for you, that analogy? I think it definitely still holds up for me. Although I feel like the more I watch the film, the more I see those new wave influences from when I first went to film school. I kind of binged on Godard and Breathless and those movies when I first started learning about cinema. I didn’t grow up wanting to be a filmmaker. I happened to stumble into film school and new wave was the first thing I was introduced to. I do think that analogy still holds up. It’s something that I wouldn’t make, unless asked me to make it. So it’s not something that I openly push upon the film. But I definitely think, in a way, the spirit that we made the movie in. We shot it in 15 days with a five man crew. We shot it in November and it debuted at South By on March 6, which is a small gestation window. I think that energy, that new wave energy, is definitely there. Before Sunrise, Sunset it’s obvious. The whole two characters walking. I really would have mentioned Claire Denis’ Vendredi Soir, which was the actual inspiration for the film, but I am nowhere near the filmmaker that Clare Denis is. I like to leave her name out of my mouth as much as possible. [laughter] Well, we spoke to Spike Lee a couple of times, speaking about Do the Right Thing. We talked to him a couple of times in Toronto and he was there promoting his film Miracle at St. Anna. St. Anna, yeah. And then he at both of the times that I was scheduled to talk to him, he ended up speaking about Sarah Palin and Obama. Sarah had just given that inflammatory speech, like last week. He clearly had some strong thoughts about that. He said, “Obama needs to go on the offensive.” With Obama, this is an incredible year for politics. We have Obama, the first African American nominee, which is pretty amazing. Although oddly enough, a lot of people are saying, well, he’s black but is he black enough? Right. Which is a weird statement in itself but that applies to Medicine for Melancholy as well. When you get into the issues of race then who Tracey’s character may or may not be dating, I like the fact that we don’t ever see him, so we don’t really know who he is. Thank you very much, sir. That was a great choice because I think that would have grounded it too much to be like, oh, well, now he legitimately has a reason to be so upset. I agree with you. It would have made it more of a mission statement for me, which I don’t think the film is, one way or the other. Right. Well, what are your thoughts about the whole… you may not even want to talk about this, but Obama, the possibility that he may be our next president and the whole issues that are surrounding… No, no, no. Actually I would love to talk about it, because it is something we talked about. We didn’t really speak about it until after the film was in post. When I wrote the film it wasn’t this whole Obama mania. That stuff didn’t exist. It was a foregone conclusion that Hillary was going to get the nomination. After we shot the film and we were cutting the film and we were doing South by Southwest and the primaries were going on, I think it was when Obama gave that whole speech on race and how we need to find a common ground and have those discussions and relearn how to articulate this issues that we are all so consumed with as Americans. I feel like for the character of Micah, I feel like that’s truly the arc and I think why all the issues of housing rights and gentrification…. I think that’s why it’s important for him to have those discussions and go through this journey with Joe. I feel like when he wakes up on that couch the next morning, he’s going to learn to better articulate the things that he was experiencing, which is for him everything is black and white. It’s like the white people are moving into San Francisco and the black people are being forced out. But really, San Francisco is a small space and everything is driven by economics. What’s happening is the people who make six figures are moving in and the people who make five figures are moving out, whether they be black, white, Chinese, Korean, Hispanic, whatever. I really feel like that’s what Obama stood for when the primary was going on and he was completely to the left. Not completely to the left but when the change was actual real change… I think in that way the film and this year in the primary election and the race for the presidential nomination, I really feel like that’s where the two come together. Relearning to articulate this kind of black and white issue that has always consumed Americans since the “dawn of time” or whatever date you want to affix to that. The title, I know you said at the Q&A at the film that the title was you saw the Ray Bradbury short story collection and you thought that was applicable. Now, would you say, in the film that the characters both serve as a medicine for each other’s melancholy? I definitely think so. I think that’s why it felt OK to take Bradbury’s title. Even though the film wasn’t an adaptation of that actual short story, there are some similarities. I definitely think so. I don’t think it’s a cure for melancholy. I think it’s a medicine. I think they both feel a little bit better about what ails them. Or, at the very least, they’ll have a better understanding of what it is that’s causing the melancholy and they can learn to work on it. And that’s why the ending isn’t a happy ending. It’s kind of an open ending. I like to use the term productive. I think it’s a productive ending, and it’s been a productive journey for the both of them. American audiences are used to having a moment, particularly in independent films, where you don’t really know what’s going to happen   a moment where it seems like it’s going to turn sinister. That moment in this movie, for me, was when they’re at the taco truck and those two guys come up. You’re like are these guys going to roll them? Are they trying to sell them drugs? But, then it turns out they’re extremely the opposite end of the spectrum. They’re hydration guys. Do those guys really exist in San Francisco? When I first wrote the screenplay, it actually was going to be a kid who comes up and tries to sell them some pot, because that would actually happen in San Francisco. You’re right. After I wrote it and I read it, I said to myself exactly what you just said. I thought, you know what, I’m not going to do that. Let’s go completely in the opposite direction, and let’s just make this so ridiculous. In looking back on it, I think it’s a great moment, because the film needs a little bit of levity, and I think those guys really provide it. And there are no actors in the film aside from Tracey and Wyatt. Those two guys don’t go around selling vitamin water, but they’re friends of mine. They hang together all the time. They’re just a couple of really fun guys. When I thought about how to reconceive the scene, I was like it’s got to be a cheating yard. These guys will do this, and they’ll be really funny. They showed up, and it was just perfect. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the movie. And you know what, those guys always get the biggest laughs on the screen. Here’s this guy on the “Daily Show.” who has all these great jokes in the movie, and these two guys, my buddies, get the biggest laugh in the movie. I love it. I know you had a notice in the credits that you had a music supervisor or coordinator on the film. Did that mostly come from you? Did it come from the music person? I can say about 80% of the music came from me. And then the other 20% was between the editor, Nat Sanders, and the actual music supervisor. What the music supervisor did   my buddy Greg   was just make it all legal. He had produced another independent film, and he knew that I had a list of songs that I wanted. And he was said, you just can’t put those songs in. You have to figure a way to legally get them, and that was really what he did. I like to write to music. In most of the scenes, I think the reason why they cut so well to music is because I wrote them with those cues in mind. And we made the movie so fast that I couldn’t really be there with Nat while he was editing the movie. At least, not at first, because he was editing while we were shooting it. And so, it was great to have those definite songs for those definite set pieces that had a definite energy. I could just orally communicate to him, and then come in to do the editing. They just totally worked out. Yeah, it had a great soundtrack. Thanks, I appreciate it. Well that’s all I have. Actually I have one thing I’d like to say. Sure. Go ahead. Because you touched on the housing rights meeting and that being jarring, I made the comment that there are a few other places where I think it’s drawing to. I felt that because we knew that it was going to be extremely jarring in that scene, we tried to work our way up to that. I think there are two other places where we jar the audience, almost in preparation for that meeting. We tried to earn the right to do that. I think when they’re riding the bikes and the song is clipping, it’s a very weird audio cue. I think that’s the first place where we sort of break the rules a little bit. I think with the carousel, especially with the way it ends, with the diaject sound coming back in, after the store fades out, we took another step further towards breaking that wall. And then with the documentary scene, dropped into the narrative, that’s when we completely go beyond. But hopefully, when audiences watch the movie, I hope it prepares them for that moment. What’s next with the film? Are you going to another festival? Yeah. We’re going to IFP Week in New York next week. And then we’re going to go to London, Vienna and Stockholm before we are finally released by IFC with the day and date model, in February. Wow. Well that sure beats selling DVDs on a website somewhere. You know what, it’s funny. It’s been a hell of a journey from South by Southwest. I am sitting on the 19th floor of a hotel in Toronto talking to you right now. The last time I spoke Sprout, I was sitting in my buddy’s studio apartment in L.A. in my underwear trying to work. And that wasn’t even that long ago. That’s pretty amazing. No, it wasn’t that long ago. It’s a charmed little film. Thank you guys for plugging us initially. No problem. I hope at least you have pants on now. I do. I’m not alone. Charlie’s here too. So he made sure I put the pants on. Nice. It was a requirement. Well cool, Barry. I wish you much continued success. And hopefully, we’ll be talking to you down the line with your next movie. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. And if and when I do make another movie, damn right, I will definitely come to Sprout. You guys have been very good to me. Great. That’s so nice of you to say. Thank you. We appreciate that. Thanks, man. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:01:19 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com9/15/2008 1:01:19 PM It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Barry Jenkins’ film Medicine for Melancholy, and we’re lucky enough to have Barry be big fans of Spout as well. His little film has had a long journey since it premiered in Austin at SXSW earlier this year, and it’s continuing to take him around the world. We spoke with Barry in Toronto about the genesis of the movie, what has happened since that first screening in Austin, how he found the actors, and if this film represents a love letter from him to the city of San Francisco. Read on for the full interview. Well, the first thing I was going to say was thank you for all the shout outs you always give Spout and Karina whenever you discuss the movie. That question about the de-saturation in the film always comes up. So your check’s in the mail for that. [laughs] No, I always mention Karina, man. You guys were like one of the first people to publish about the film at South By, when nobody knew about it. So I was thankful and I pay it forward. That’s good. The last time Karina spoke to you, you’d never been to Austin. You hadn’t been to SXSW before. Exactly. Then your film sort of became one of the most buzzed about and talked about breakout films at the festival. How did that change things for you and for the movie? It was, making it with just me and my friends, this really small crew and not very expensive equipment. So we felt that once we did get in SXSW, we knew it was a good thing. But even still, we thought the movie would play there, and then maybe it would play another film festival. And then we’d sell DVDs off the website. But I think having that buzz coming out of South By, I think it really made us all kind of take the project more seriously. We saw the potential that maybe it could catch on, and we could actually get it to audiences. Having now been to Austin, what did you think of the city? Everyone’s always saying, oh Austin’s such a cool place, but no one can really say why that is. The great thing about going to Austin is everybody who worked on the film, we all were students together at Florida State University, which is in Tallahassee, Florida, which is a college town with a great film school. I think we all dispersed and moved to all these different places. Every now and then we’d all get together and have this nostalgia for this almost incubator kind of feeling that we all felt in Tallahassee. And I think premiering the film in Austin, we were all like, man this is just like Tallahassee, but much bigger. There’s something that feels very possible in the air in that city. And I think that’s the reason why they can host a festival that large, despite the fact that the city feels so small. It was a really good experience. So talking directly about the film, how did you find Wyatt and Tracey for this? Well we tried to cast in San Francisco, but I guess it’s just the irony of ironies, when you’re dealing with a city that has a devolving or diminishing African American population, we just couldn’t find black actors just to come out and read for the parts. So we went down to L.A. We used basically the actor’s equivalent of Craigslist, which is to post things on these things like NowCasting.com. And we didn’t have any money, so we got people who really didn’t have any credits. Tracey Heggins was the first woman that we saw, and of course, we then saw 50 other women. Because I’m an idiot, I couldn’t pull the trigger. And then we actually saw about 50 guys, and we really weren’t satisfied or happy with any of the people we had seen. And a friend of ours just happened to know, she was like, “Oh, I know this guy Wyatt Cenac. You should audition him.” I was like yeah, sure, whatever. I’ll see anybody. And so we called Wyatt up. He was doing a lot of stand up at that point in L.A., and so he wasn’t really committed to too many things. So he came out, read cold, and was just perfect. In a way it was really great because I felt like Tracey and Wyatt themselves, they weren’t really the characters that I saw when I wrote the script. But they were so specific and unique in their auditions, that I realized these two people can make the movie go. And so yeah, we went with the both of them. Yeah and I think using actors that audiences haven’t really seen a lot of, I know Tracey’s done a fair amount of television, but, it kind of helps feel like they’re more real. They didn’t feel like this was a polished performance. It felt like these were real people. Thanks, I appreciate that. You know, it’s funny, because now that Wyatt’s on “The Daily Show,” it’s like I was just screening the film for the staff of the Telluride Film Festival. Because I work at that festival, so we just had a little staff screening before the festival. And the minute the first image comes up, they’re like hey that kind of looks like that guy on Comedy Central. I was like yeah, it is. But we made this movie before he was on Comedy Central, but I guess you can put it that way. It’s just fine. [laughter] Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that. Is he being on “The Daily Show” sort of a result of what is happening with Medicine? Or did that happen separate of the movie? You know, I think it definitely happened separate. Wyatt is a great standup. And I think he travels in a completely different circle that this film doesn’t travel in, which is the standup scene in L.A. with UCB, “Upright Citizen’s Brigade.” And I think, really, he had kind of been building momentum there, and was almost just like, I think, really I kind of believe in Karma. I think there was some really good positive energy with the film. Because after SXSW, he kind of got the audition for Comedy Central and “The Daily Show,” and we flew him out there. And he did it. And they had never seen the movie, or even heard of it. But it was like all these things, the timing was right. He just nailed it. And now he’s on the show. The movie has some strong words about the current state of race in San Francisco and the housing situation, too. Would you consider it to be sort of your love letter to San Francisco? You clearly love the city, watching this. Would you consider that to be true? Or would you just say it happens to be set in San Francisco? No, no, no. I think it’s definitely, without a doubt, a love letter to San Francisco. Sometimes, depending on my mood, I’ll say it’s a love hate letter to San Francisco. But when I originally got the idea for the film years ago, after watching Claire Denis’ Vendredi Soir, I kind of wrote a brief little paragraph about it. And the last line of the paragraph says could be set in Chicago or New York City. And it was just about two characters after a one night stand spending the day together. But looking back on it, there was no way in hell this movie could have been set in New York or Chicago, because it’s just such a San Francisco movie. I really felt like what made the movie worth making, because I sat on the idea for about five years, was the fact that I felt like there was a real importance to the city as almost a third character in the film. It really kind of drives, particularly the paranoia that the character of Micah is feeling. It’s like the environment is what makes the movie plausible to me. Then the housing rights discussion, or the meeting that they stumble across, I found that personally to be a little bit jarring. It shook me out of the moment for a second. Was that on purpose? And how did you come to put that in the film? You know, it is jarring, because it’s a definite narrative break from the rest of the film. It was something that I felt was important to really round out the A) the depiction of the city that we were giving. And then B) that we were all these things that Micah was consumed with. Originally, when I first wrote the script, I wrote it as a conversation between the two leads. It just felt completely false. In thinking about it, I was like, this is just really important to me. It’s really important to capture this aspect of the City of San Francisco. So I thought, you know what, it’s worth it to allow a moment for the actual city to speak for itself. We literally, we knew we were going to have the characters walk by and look in. We felt like the fact that these two people could be walking down the street and they could have passed this meeting and stopped and listened. We thought that was enough of an entryway for the audience. Even though it was jarring, they would get into that perspective, the point of view of Joe and Micah listening to that meeting that they would just go with it and really hear the city speak for itself. We didn’t write any of that. That’s was a real meeting. We just set the camera in the corner and we just let it roll. We had our actors walk by. It’s one of my favorite moments in the film. I think of all the sequences that are somewhat jarring because there are a few other places where we take a few liberties, maybe too many liberties. But we’re young so [laughter] felt people would give us leeway. But that was the one that stands out to me. I thought it was important to have in the film. Well, since you mentioned other moments that stand out or that kind of shake the viewer a little bit, because you said, at least when you talked to Karina earlier in the year, you said this film is like Do the Right Thing meets Before Sunrise with a little bit of French new wave thrown into it. Yes. Does that still stand up for you, that analogy? I think it definitely still holds up for me. Although I feel like the more I watch the film, the more I see those new wave influences from when I first went to film school. I kind of binged on Godard and Breathless and those movies when I first started learning about cinema. I didn’t grow up wanting to be a filmmaker. I happened to stumble into film school and new wave was the first thing I was introduced to. I do think that analogy still holds up. It’s something that I wouldn’t make, unless asked me to make it. So it’s not something that I openly push upon the film. But I definitely think, in a way, the spirit that we made the movie in. We shot it in 15 days with a five man crew. We shot it in November and it debuted at South By on March 6, which is a small gestation window. I think that energy, that new wave energy, is definitely there. Before Sunrise, Sunset it’s obvious. The whole two characters walking. I really would have mentioned Claire Denis’ Vendredi Soir, which was the actual inspiration for the film, but I am nowhere near the filmmaker that Clare Denis is. I like to leave her name out of my mouth as much as possible. [laughter] Well, we spoke to Spike Lee a couple of times, speaking about Do the Right Thing. We talked to him a couple of times in Toronto and he was there promoting his film Miracle at St. Anna. St. Anna, yeah. And then he at both of the times that I was scheduled to talk to him, he ended up speaking about Sarah Palin and Obama. Sarah had just given that inflammatory speech, like last week. He clearly had some strong thoughts about that. He said, “Obama needs to go on the offensive.” With Obama, this is an incredible year for politics. We have Obama, the first African American nominee, which is pretty amazing. Although oddly enough, a lot of people are saying, well, he’s black but is he black enough? Right. Which is a weird statement in itself but that applies to Medicine for Melancholy as well. When you get into the issues of race then who Tracey’s character may or may not be dating, I like the fact that we don’t ever see him, so we don’t really know who he is. Thank you very much, sir. That was a great choice because I think that would have grounded it too much to be like, oh, well, now he legitimately has a reason to be so upset. I agree with you. It would have made it more of a mission statement for me, which I don’t think the film is, one way or the other. Right. Well, what are your thoughts about the whole… you may not even want to talk about this, but Obama, the possibility that he may be our next president and the whole issues that are surrounding… No, no, no. Actually I would love to talk about it, because it is something we talked about. We didn’t really speak about it until after the film was in post. When I wrote the film it wasn’t this whole Obama mania. That stuff didn’t exist. It was a foregone conclusion that Hillary was going to get the nomination. After we shot the film and we were cutting the film and we were doing South by Southwest and the primaries were going on, I think it was when Obama gave that whole speech on race and how we need to find a common ground and have those discussions and relearn how to articulate this issues that we are all so consumed with as Americans. I feel like for the character of Micah, I feel like that’s truly the arc and I think why all the issues of housing rights and gentrification…. I think that’s why it’s important for him to have those discussions and go through this journey with Joe. I feel like when he wakes up on that couch the next morning, he’s going to learn to better articulate the things that he was experiencing, which is for him everything is black and white. It’s like the white people are moving into San Francisco and the black people are being forced out. But really, San Francisco is a small space and everything is driven by economics. What’s happening is the people who make six figures are moving in and the people who make five figures are moving out, whether they be black, white, Chinese, Korean, Hispanic, whatever. I really feel like that’s what Obama stood for when the primary was going on and he was completely to the left. Not completely to the left but when the change was actual real change… I think in that way the film and this year in the primary election and the race for the presidential nomination, I really feel like that’s where the two come together. Relearning to articulate this kind of black and white issue that has always consumed Americans since the “dawn of time” or whatever date you want to affix to that. The title, I know you said at the Q&A at the film that the title was you saw the Ray Bradbury short story collection and you thought that was applicable. Now, would you say, in the film that the characters both serve as a medicine for each other’s melancholy? I definitely think so. I think that’s why it felt OK to take Bradbury’s title. Even though the film wasn’t an adaptation of that actual short story, there are some similarities. I definitely think so. I don’t think it’s a cure for melancholy. I think it’s a medicine. I think they both feel a little bit better about what ails them. Or, at the very least, they’ll have a better understanding of what it is that’s causing the melancholy and they can learn to work on it. And that’s why the ending isn’t a happy ending. It’s kind of an open ending. I like to use the term productive. I think it’s a productive ending, and it’s been a productive journey for the both of them. American audiences are used to having a moment, particularly in independent films, where you don’t really know what’s going to happen   a moment where it seems like it’s going to turn sinister. That moment in this movie, for me, was when they’re at the taco truck and those two guys come up. You’re like are these guys going to roll them? Are they trying to sell them drugs? But, then it turns out they’re extremely the opposite end of the spectrum. They’re hydration guys. Do those guys really exist in San Francisco? When I first wrote the screenplay, it actually was going to be a kid who comes up and tries to sell them some pot, because that would actually happen in San Francisco. You’re right. After I wrote it and I read it, I said to myself exactly what you just said. I thought, you know what, I’m not going to do that. Let’s go completely in the opposite direction, and let’s just make this so ridiculous. In looking back on it, I think it’s a great moment, because the film needs a little bit of levity, and I think those guys really provide it. And there are no actors in the film aside from Tracey and Wyatt. Those two guys don’t go around selling vitamin water, but they’re friends of mine. They hang together all the time. They’re just a couple of really fun guys. When I thought about how to reconceive the scene, I was like it’s got to be a cheating yard. These guys will do this, and they’ll be really funny. They showed up, and it was just perfect. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the movie. And you know what, those guys always get the biggest laughs on the screen. Here’s this guy on the “Daily Show.” who has all these great jokes in the movie, and these two guys, my buddies, get the biggest laugh in the movie. I love it. I know you had a notice in the credits that you had a music supervisor or coordinator on the film. Did that mostly come from you? Did it come from the music person? I can say about 80% of the music came from me. And then the other 20% was between the editor, Nat Sanders, and the actual music supervisor. What the music supervisor did   my buddy Greg   was just make it all legal. He had produced another independent film, and he knew that I had a list of songs that I wanted. And he was said, you just can’t put those songs in. You have to figure a way to legally get them, and that was really what he did. I like to write to music. In most of the scenes, I think the reason why they cut so well to music is because I wrote them with those cues in mind. And we made the movie so fast that I couldn’t really be there with Nat while he was editing the movie. At least, not at first, because he was editing while we were shooting it. And so, it was great to have those definite songs for those definite set pieces that had a definite energy. I could just orally communicate to him, and then come in to do the editing. They just totally worked out. Yeah, it had a great soundtrack. Thanks, I appreciate it. Well that’s all I have. Actually I have one thing I’d like to say. Sure. Go ahead. Because you touched on the housing rights meeting and that being jarring, I made the comment that there are a few other places where I think it’s drawing to. I felt that because we knew that it was going to be extremely jarring in that scene, we tried to work our way up to that. I think there are two other places where we jar the audience, almost in preparation for that meeting. We tried to earn the right to do that. I think when they’re riding the bikes and the song is clipping, it’s a very weird audio cue. I think that’s the first place where we sort of break the rules a little bit. I think with the carousel, especially with the way it ends, with the diaject sound coming back in, after the store fades out, we took another step further towards breaking that wall. And then with the documentary scene, dropped into the narrative, that’s when we completely go beyond. But hopefully, when audiences watch the movie, I hope it prepares them for that moment. What’s next with the film? Are you going to another festival? Yeah. We’re going to IFP Week in New York next week. And then we’re going to go to London, Vienna and Stockholm before we are finally released by IFC with the day and date model, in February. Wow. Well that sure beats selling DVDs on a website somewhere. You know what, it’s funny. It’s been a hell of a journey from South by Southwest. I am sitting on the 19th floor of a hotel in Toronto talking to you right now. The last time I spoke Sprout, I was sitting in my buddy’s studio apartment in L.A. in my underwear trying to work. And that wasn’t even that long ago. That’s pretty amazing. No, it wasn’t that long ago. It’s a charmed little film. Thank you guys for plugging us initially. No problem. I hope at least you have pants on now. I do. I’m not alone. Charlie’s here too. So he made sure I put the pants on. Nice. It was a requirement. Well cool, Barry. I wish you much continued success. And hopefully, we’ll be talking to you down the line with your next movie. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. And if and when I do make another movie, damn right, I will definitely come to Sprout. You guys have been very good to me. Great. That’s so nice of you to say. Thank you. We appreciate that. Thanks, man. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/cinemarian/archive/2008/5/12/28610.aspx Post By: CinemaRian
Post To: CinemaRian Blog
Post Date: 5/12/2008 11:45:58 AM
Body: My sophomore year of college, I was working late one night as a desk clerk at one of the dorms. There was usually nothing to do except sit and read, and talk to anyone coming in who was equally bored as I was. That night, three guys walked in and we started talking about music. We talked for a full half hour, during which we performed an impromptu performance of the Beatles "Blackbird", which I sang. They invited to me to join their band as the lead singer. We exchanged contact information, and as I left, I looked at the card and saw a glimpse into the future- I was never going to call them, and they were never going to call me. Before Sunrise is a movie about romantic encounter like that, one that we have all had at least once, and sometimes repeatedly- with different people, of course and we do not often realize the chances for the relationship working out- usually, low. The romance here is between two Gen-X'ers in their early twenties, an American named Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and a Frenchwoman called Celine (Julie Delpy). They meet on a train to Vienna, talk, connect, and keep on talking and walking around the city all night. There's not much more to the movie then that, but it is a testament to Richard Linklater's direction that the movie comes of as generally real believable. Although I didn't like either Celine or Jesse that much, I at least got why they liked each other and the movie has a level of believability to it. It's not so much a romance as a drama about a romance. It's not the kind of film that ends with somebody breaking up a wedding on the Eiffel Tower, and, without revealing the ending, we are not sure that they will live happily ever after. A movie like this lives or dies on its performances, and Hawke and Delpy are about perfect in their roles. Jesse is kind of a jerk and Celine is a fundamentally boring person, but Hawke keeps his character from being too obnoxious and Delpy manages to make Celine boring in an interesting way, if you get what I mean. I was teetering between two and a half or three stars for this film. It's good at what it does, but it's not that emotionally compelling or much of an artistic statement (De Sica handled similar material better in his Terminal Station). Where the movie's real value is, in conjuring up the memories of the times that this happened to you. I had two nights like this, neither of which ended with endless romantic bliss, and only one even proceeded to the stage of second date. It's odd, how you can meet a complete stranger, become emotionally intimate with them, then realize (or have them realize) that you don't really have that much in common after all. Except of course for everything you think you want, that must exist in those dark corners of the other person you couldn't see in one evening. Before Sunrise (1995)
]]>Mon, 12 May 2008 15:45:58 GMTCinemaRianCinemaRian Blog5/12/2008 11:45:58 AM My sophomore year of college, I was working late one night as a desk clerk at one of the dorms. There was usually nothing to do except sit and read, and talk to anyone coming in who was equally bored as I was. That night, three guys walked in and we started talking about music. We talked for a full half hour, during which we performed an impromptu performance of the Beatles "Blackbird", which I sang. They invited to me to join their band as the lead singer. We exchanged contact information, and as I left, I looked at the card and saw a glimpse into the future- I was never going to call them, and they were never going to call me. Before Sunrise is a movie about romantic encounter like that, one that we have all had at least once, and sometimes repeatedly- with different people, of course and we do not often realize the chances for the relationship working out- usually, low. The romance here is between two Gen-X'ers in their early twenties, an American named Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and a Frenchwoman called Celine (Julie Delpy). They meet on a train to Vienna, talk, connect, and keep on talking and walking around the city all night. There's not much more to the movie then that, but it is a testament to Richard Linklater's direction that the movie comes of as generally real believable. Although I didn't like either Celine or Jesse that much, I at least got why they liked each other and the movie has a level of believability to it. It's not so much a romance as a drama about a romance. It's not the kind of film that ends with somebody breaking up a wedding on the Eiffel Tower, and, without revealing the ending, we are not sure that they will live happily ever after. A movie like this lives or dies on its performances, and Hawke and Delpy are about perfect in their roles. Jesse is kind of a jerk and Celine is a fundamentally boring person, but Hawke keeps his character from being too obnoxious and Delpy manages to make Celine boring in an interesting way, if you get what I mean. I was teetering between two and a half or three stars for this film. It's good at what it does, but it's not that emotionally compelling or much of an artistic statement (De Sica handled similar material better in his Terminal Station). Where the movie's real value is, in conjuring up the memories of the times that this happened to you. I had two nights like this, neither of which ended with endless romantic bliss, and only one even proceeded to the stage of second date. It's odd, how you can meet a complete stranger, become emotionally intimate with them, then realize (or have them realize) that you don't really have that much in common after all. Except of course for everything you think you want, that must exist in those dark corners of the other person you couldn't see in one evening. Before Sunrise (1995) http://www.spout.com/blogs/unclefestering/archive/2008/5/8/28344.aspx Post By: unclefestering
Post To: unclefestering Blog
Post Date: 5/8/2008 1:21:51 AM
Body: I have to admit that I think Richard Linklater’s work runs hot and cold for me. I loved his early works like Dazed and Confused (1993) and Before Sunrise (1995). I love some of his more experimental work like A Scanner Darkly (2006). But some of his movies just fall completely flat. Sadly, Fast Food Nation is in this last category. I think part of it is that the subject is just too big for a dramatic movie like this. He just didn’t find a way to get a plot in his polemic against the fast food industry. Also some poor casting choices like Greg Kinnear hamper the movie. It almost seems that Linklater agrees, since his character disappears in the second half of the movie. I wanted to like it. The subject of the movie is right up my alley. Unfortunately, the plodding pace and painful exposition just made me keep checking my watch. .
]]>Thu, 08 May 2008 05:21:51 GMTunclefesteringunclefestering Blog5/8/2008 1:21:51 AMI have to admit that I think Richard Linklater&rsquo;s work runs hot and cold for me. I loved his early works like Dazed and Confused (1993) and Before Sunrise (1995). I love some of his more experimental work like A Scanner Darkly (2006). But some of his movies just fall completely flat. Sadly, Fast Food Nation is in this last category. I think part of it is that the subject is just too big for a dramatic movie like this. He just didn&rsquo;t find a way to get a plot in his polemic against the fast food industry. Also some poor casting choices like Greg Kinnear hamper the movie. It almost seems that Linklater agrees, since his character disappears in the second half of the movie. I wanted to like it. The subject of the movie is right up my alley. Unfortunately, the plodding pace and painful exposition just made me keep checking my watch. . http://www.spout.com/blogs/minerwerks/archive/2007/9/4/19329.aspx Post By: minerwerks
Post To: minerwerks Blog
Post Date: 9/4/2007 2:43:00 AM
Body: There is a stable of actors that have maintained a great deal of credibility in my mind basically because I associate them with a period in my life where I was discovering a wide variety of films. Julie Delpy and Adam Goldberg will always bring me back to the mid 90s when I was spent my college years overdosing on all the movies I could. Goldberg was the neurotic guy in the backseat during 'Dazed and Confused.' Delpy was the adorable love interest of 'Before Sunrise.'Neither has broken out as a major star, but both have had consistent, intriguing careers. Goldberg wrote and directed a feature a few years back, 'I Love Your Work,' for which he provided some incidental music. Now it's Delpy's turn writing, directing and providing the music for her own film (she edits, too!), Goldberg is on board as Delpy's on-screen American boyfriend.'2 Days in Paris' opens as Marion (Delpy) and Jack (Goldberg) are arriving in Paris, and we can tell there is a bit of discomfort setting in. Jack has been taking pictures the whole trip and has been struck with food poisoning. Now in Paris, they have to stay in Marion's tiny, aging apartment, which just happens to be upstairs from her parents' home. At first, the film feels a lot like 'Before Sunrise,' with the two characters walking through Paris having discussions about love and beliefs - saying a lot but stopping short of a few difficult truths. Eventually, the story opens up as we meet Marion's parents (Marie Pillet and Albert Delpy) and sister (Alexia Landeau). There's also a handful of former lovers that seem to pop up everywhere the couple goes, including an art opening, a friend's party and a restaurant. The plot here is pretty basic, essentially a series of episodes that keep striking the note that Jack is harboring some serious jealousy issues. Delpy's Marion narrates, firmly putting the audience's sympathies with her right off the bat. The film attempts to give Marion a flaw in her willingness to leap into arguments a bit too easily, but Delpy's performance and writing conspire to make her very endearing despite this. Jack, on the other hand isn't really drawn as a likable guy. We don't have a sense of his background like we do with Marion. Goldberg is particularly good at the sarcastic, neurotic type, but even when he jokes or has an experience that should be somewhat emotional, he's always uncomfortable. As a choice, it's valid, but it certainly doesn't help us believe what Marion sees in this man in the first place. Thankfully, the film is full of great dialogue, great scenery, and a number of amusing sequences. As veterans of Richard Linklater's work, both performers understand how appealing a naturalistic performance can be. We can even tell that actors speaking French are doing a great job. Delpy borrows some tricks from Linklater's bag, but who can blame her? Despite Goldberg's performance as a generally unlikable guy, '2 Days in Paris,' is still quite endearing. The film has a quirky sensibility that just mildly tweaks reality (a pinch of 'Amelie') but never takes attention away from the leads. It may just be fluff for film buffs, but that's still better than the usual lineup at the cineplex these days.
]]>Tue, 04 Sep 2007 06:43:00 GMTminerwerksminerwerks Blog9/4/2007 2:43:00 AMThere is a stable of actors that have maintained a great deal of credibility in my mind basically because I associate them with a period in my life where I was discovering a wide variety of films. Julie Delpy and Adam Goldberg will always bring me back to the mid 90s when I was spent my college years overdosing on all the movies I could. Goldberg was the neurotic guy in the backseat during &#39;Dazed and Confused.&#39; Delpy was the adorable love interest of &#39;Before Sunrise.&#39;Neither has broken out as a major star, but both have had consistent, intriguing careers. Goldberg wrote and directed a feature a few years back, &#39;I Love Your Work,&#39; for which he provided some incidental music. Now it&#39;s Delpy&#39;s turn writing, directing and providing the music for her own film (she edits, too!), Goldberg is on board as Delpy&#39;s on-screen American boyfriend.&#39;2 Days in Paris&#39; opens as Marion (Delpy) and Jack (Goldberg) are arriving in Paris, and we can tell there is a bit of discomfort setting in. Jack has been taking pictures the whole trip and has been struck with food poisoning. Now in Paris, they have to stay in Marion&#39;s tiny, aging apartment, which just happens to be upstairs from her parents&#39; home. At first, the film feels a lot like &#39;Before Sunrise,&#39; with the two characters walking through Paris having discussions about love and beliefs - saying a lot but stopping short of a few difficult truths. Eventually, the story opens up as we meet Marion&#39;s parents (Marie Pillet and Albert Delpy) and sister (Alexia Landeau). There&#39;s also a handful of former lovers that seem to pop up everywhere the couple goes, including an art opening, a friend&#39;s party and a restaurant. The plot here is pretty basic, essentially a series of episodes that keep striking the note that Jack is harboring some serious jealousy issues. Delpy&#39;s Marion narrates, firmly putting the audience&#39;s sympathies with her right off the bat. The film attempts to give Marion a flaw in her willingness to leap into arguments a bit too easily, but Delpy&#39;s performance and writing conspire to make her very endearing despite this. Jack, on the other hand isn&#39;t really drawn as a likable guy. We don&#39;t have a sense of his background like we do with Marion. Goldberg is particularly good at the sarcastic, neurotic type, but even when he jokes or has an experience that should be somewhat emotional, he&#39;s always uncomfortable. As a choice, it&#39;s valid, but it certainly doesn&#39;t help us believe what Marion sees in this man in the first place. Thankfully, the film is full of great dialogue, great scenery, and a number of amusing sequences. As veterans of Richard Linklater&#39;s work, both performers understand how appealing a naturalistic performance can be. We can even tell that actors speaking French are doing a great job. Delpy borrows some tricks from Linklater&#39;s bag, but who can blame her? Despite Goldberg&#39;s performance as a generally unlikable guy, &#39;2 Days in Paris,&#39; is still quite endearing. The film has a quirky sensibility that just mildly tweaks reality (a pinch of &#39;Amelie&#39;) but never takes attention away from the leads. It may just be fluff for film buffs, but that&#39;s still better than the usual lineup at the cineplex these days. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2007/8/6/17448.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 8/6/2007 5:01:03 PM
Body: I’ve just returned from a screening of 2 Days in Paris, a comedy written, directed, starring and edited by Julie Delpy of Before Sunrise/Before Sunset fame. Delpy has been very vocal about how her involvement in those Richard Linklater films helped her get funding for Paris. But I wonder if Delpy’s candor isn’t doing her new film a disservice. Earlier today, I read a review of Paris in L Magazine (via GreenCine Daily) which seems to exemplify the general critical reaction to the picture. “The movie suffers terribly of course from the inevitable comparisons to Before Sunrise/Sunset,” writes Benjamin Strong “But in all fairness to Delpy, show me a film that wouldn’t.” With that in mind, I came home from the Paris screening and watched several clips of Sunset on YouTube (cough cough the whole movie’s there in eight parts cough cough), and I think the comparison actually made 2 Days in Paris stand out to me as a more original film. It’s fair to make comparisons. 2 Days in Paris, like Before Sunset, is a snap shot of relationship between a French woman and an American man, which plays out over the course of a temporary stay Paris. Both films even end with images of Delpy dancing. But whereas the last scene of Sunset (in which Delpy’s Celine channels the spirit of Nina Simone while Ethan Hawke’s Jesse looks on, boggled by her beauty and her shaking booty) typifies that film’s idealization of that relationship, Paris has little use for such golden-hued fantasies of romantic love. Linklater’s film is a verite-style portrait of a relationship at its most magical (and least sustainable); Delpy’s is an almost Brechtian analysis of what happens to a relationship after that magic hour. It’s far from a perfect film, and in fact at times it feels rather schizophrenic. But somehow, in between fits of broad comedy and Godardian self-referentiality (the first shot of the film even offers a wink at Godard’s “girl and a gun”), Delpy manages to pull off a spot-on portrayal of what it feels like to be in an adult relationship on the brink. It’s certainly messier than Linklater’s tightly-orchestrated symphony of long shots, but to me, the fact you can all but see Delpy’s fingerprints on the screen is extremely appealing. It’s also fascinating to watch Delpy directly allude to Sunset, as she seems to be doing in the final of scene of Paris, but recast the mood and the situation to fit her own point of view. In Sunset, Linklater draws attention to Delpy’s pale, etheral beauty and sylph-like thinness by putting the actress in a gauzy, backless black blouse, and shooting her slinky dance for Jesse in wide-angle. Celine is clearly performing, but with her body perpendicular to Jesse’s, so that we get the sense that he’s almost spying on her in plain sight. This is classic female objectification–there’s even something slightly creepy about the second-to-last shot of the film, when Hawke, right before breaking into laughter, seems to shift his gaze into a leer. The final shots of 2 Days in Paris have an entirely different feel. I guess it would be a spoiler to go into it here in great detail, but suffice it to say that Delpy (seen here on screen clearly slightly heavier and slightly older, but no less beautiful) takes the opportunity to move away from the fantasy and towards the real. Above: that final shot of Celine dancing in Before Sunset. You can also watch a brief clip from Paris here, courtesy of indieWIRE. Originally posted on:Spoutblog
]]>Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:01:03 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com8/6/2007 5:01:03 PM I’ve just returned from a screening of 2 Days in Paris, a comedy written, directed, starring and edited by Julie Delpy of Before Sunrise/Before Sunset fame. Delpy has been very vocal about how her involvement in those Richard Linklater films helped her get funding for Paris. But I wonder if Delpy’s candor isn’t doing her new film a disservice. Earlier today, I read a review of Paris in L Magazine (via GreenCine Daily) which seems to exemplify the general critical reaction to the picture. “The movie suffers terribly of course from the inevitable comparisons to Before Sunrise/Sunset,” writes Benjamin Strong “But in all fairness to Delpy, show me a film that wouldn’t.” With that in mind, I came home from the Paris screening and watched several clips of Sunset on YouTube (cough cough the whole movie’s there in eight parts cough cough), and I think the comparison actually made 2 Days in Paris stand out to me as a more original film. It’s fair to make comparisons. 2 Days in Paris, like Before Sunset, is a snap shot of relationship between a French woman and an American man, which plays out over the course of a temporary stay Paris. Both films even end with images of Delpy dancing. But whereas the last scene of Sunset (in which Delpy’s Celine channels the spirit of Nina Simone while Ethan Hawke’s Jesse looks on, boggled by her beauty and her shaking booty) typifies that film’s idealization of that relationship, Paris has little use for such golden-hued fantasies of romantic love. Linklater’s film is a verite-style portrait of a relationship at its most magical (and least sustainable); Delpy’s is an almost Brechtian analysis of what happens to a relationship after that magic hour. It’s far from a perfect film, and in fact at times it feels rather schizophrenic. But somehow, in between fits of broad comedy and Godardian self-referentiality (the first shot of the film even offers a wink at Godard’s “girl and a gun”), Delpy manages to pull off a spot-on portrayal of what it feels like to be in an adult relationship on the brink. It’s certainly messier than Linklater’s tightly-orchestrated symphony of long shots, but to me, the fact you can all but see Delpy’s fingerprints on the screen is extremely appealing. It’s also fascinating to watch Delpy directly allude to Sunset, as she seems to be doing in the final of scene of Paris, but recast the mood and the situation to fit her own point of view. In Sunset, Linklater draws attention to Delpy’s pale, etheral beauty and sylph-like thinness by putting the actress in a gauzy, backless black blouse, and shooting her slinky dance for Jesse in wide-angle. Celine is clearly performing, but with her body perpendicular to Jesse’s, so that we get the sense that he’s almost spying on her in plain sight. This is classic female objectification–there’s even something slightly creepy about the second-to-last shot of the film, when Hawke, right before breaking into laughter, seems to shift his gaze into a leer. The final shots of 2 Days in Paris have an entirely different feel. I guess it would be a spoiler to go into it here in great detail, but suffice it to say that Delpy (seen here on screen clearly slightly heavier and slightly older, but no less beautiful) takes the opportunity to move away from the fantasy and towards the real. Above: that final shot of Celine dancing in Before Sunset. You can also watch a brief clip from Paris here, courtesy of indieWIRE. Originally posted on:Spoutblog http://www.spout.com/blogs/kibrika/archive/2007/7/25/16146.aspx Post By: kibrika
Post To: kibrika Blog
Post Date: 7/25/2007 2:54:00 PM
Body: I was just (yesterday) introduced to spout.com by Four Eyed Monsters (at foureyedmonsters.com) and I am enjoying it greatly. I love the fact that the makers of the film get some credit for sending me to this lovely place. What more can a person who love lists and has always (actually only for a few years now) wished to begin recounting all the movies she has seen, give them some description and have a list of them! (Well, originally I wished that for books, but films too.) Thank You creaters of this place and makers of Four Eyed Monsters.As to the film - it was mostly impressing. It is as tasteful as the website suggests, it is romantic, beautiful, original and I loved the story. I hope to watch podcasts and other stuff the authors have to offer as well as get the quality download at some point in my life (probably when I start earning something).Somehow I have always wanted to be different, to have something other than everyone else has. Even though I know that in this world where everything has been before (at least in some sense) it is not really possible, I still hope for something different than the majority. That also (maybe even espetially) applies to relationships. That's what I love a lot about films like Four Eyed Monsters, Amelie, and Before Sunrise and Before Sunset - unregular relationships (well at least the beginning or some aspect). I hope my enthusiasm doesn't die down! And I wish everyone a happy... And I wish everyone was as happy as I at the moment.
]]>Wed, 25 Jul 2007 18:54:00 GMTkibrikakibrika Blog7/25/2007 2:54:00 PMI was just (yesterday) introduced to spout.com by Four Eyed Monsters (at foureyedmonsters.com) and I am enjoying it greatly. I love the fact that the makers of the film get some credit for sending me to this lovely place. What more can a person who love lists and has always (actually only for a few years now) wished to begin recounting all the movies she has seen, give them some description and have a list of them! (Well, originally I wished that for books, but films too.) Thank You creaters of this place and makers of Four Eyed Monsters.As to the film - it was mostly impressing. It is as tasteful as the website suggests, it is romantic, beautiful, original and I loved the story. I hope to watch podcasts and other stuff the authors have to offer as well as get the quality download at some point in my life (probably when I start earning something).Somehow I have always wanted to be different, to have something other than everyone else has. Even though I know that in this world where everything has been before (at least in some sense) it is not really possible, I still hope for something different than the majority. That also (maybe even espetially) applies to relationships. That&#39;s what I love a lot about films like Four Eyed Monsters, Amelie, and Before Sunrise and Before Sunset - unregular relationships (well at least the beginning or some aspect). I hope my enthusiasm doesn&#39;t die down! And I wish everyone a happy... And I wish everyone was as happy as I at the moment. http://www.spout.com/groups/Philosophy_of_Film/Re_Waking_Life_An_animated_Philosophy_101/281/6750/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Philosophy of Film
Post Date: 4/5/2007 11:05:04 AM
Body: Those darn prepositions. It's easy to get hung up on them.I think it would be easier to criticize a movie like this if it seemed to carry more pretense. Richard Linklater has said that the construction of the movie is just ideas and scenes that he either could never find ways to fit into other films or were meant for other films but never made the final cut. It's a hodge podge script-wise, and it's that way stylistically. Almost every scene was animated by a different artist. It's really just a series of short films that are loosely connected. Luckily the plot that connects them is just as mysterious and ethereal in a way. This is as opposed to some other films like Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2 which seemed like a bunch of stylistically different short films but were often forced too hard into a more tangible narrative. Or if you look at theme as opposed to style, it's opposed to the Matrix movies, especially Reloaded and Revolutions which tried to cram as many philosophical concepts into the story and dialogue as possible. It's often too obvious and doesn't fit so nicely together. That may also be the case with Waking Life, but in Waking Life those aspects are openly celebrated as what the film is actually about.I really don't see much difference between Waking Life and other Linklater films like Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Slacker, and probably Tape too although I haven't seen that last one. If you look at all of these movies, including Waking Life, there are definitely philosophical discussions but almost just as much character studies, wordplay, poetry, and just interesting stories.I suppose some of it may be "intellectual masturbation". To me that phrase could mean a couple of different things. But I think in this case, even if it is present in this film, I don't take the phrase pejoratively.
]]>Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:05:04 GMTRisseladaPhilosophy of Film4/5/2007 11:05:04 AMThose darn prepositions. It&#39;s easy to get hung up on them.I think it would be easier to criticize a movie like this if it seemed to carry more pretense. Richard Linklater has said that the construction of the movie is just ideas and scenes that he either could never find ways to fit into other films or were meant for other films but never made the final cut. It&#39;s a hodge podge script-wise, and it&#39;s that way stylistically. Almost every scene was animated by a different artist. It&#39;s really just a series of short films that are loosely connected. Luckily the plot that connects them is just as mysterious and ethereal in a way. This is as opposed to some other films like Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2 which seemed like a bunch of stylistically different short films but were often forced too hard into a more tangible narrative. Or if you look at theme as opposed to style, it&#39;s opposed to the Matrix movies, especially Reloaded and Revolutions which tried to cram as many philosophical concepts into the story and dialogue as possible. It&#39;s often too obvious and doesn&#39;t fit so nicely together. That may also be the case with Waking Life, but in Waking Life those aspects are openly celebrated as what the film is actually about.I really don&#39;t see much difference between Waking Life and other Linklater films like Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Slacker, and probably Tape too although I haven&#39;t seen that last one. If you look at all of these movies, including Waking Life, there are definitely philosophical discussions but almost just as much character studies, wordplay, poetry, and just interesting stories.I suppose some of it may be "intellectual masturbation". To me that phrase could mean a couple of different things. But I think in this case, even if it is present in this film, I don&#39;t take the phrase pejoratively. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/love/MemberTagFilms.aspxlove
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