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Karina

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Che
Che
Cannes: Nerves on the CHE Red C ...
By Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
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 "I’m watching the red carpet arrivals for the Che premiere right now via the Festivals closed circuit TV station. “Steven Soderbergh looks somewhat worried,” says the English translator. No shit. The director, wife Jules Asner and Che star Benicio Del Toro not only looked like they were walking into a hanging, but they couldn’t contain their apprehension when asked totally innocuous questions by the official red carpet interviewer. Examples: Red Carpet Guy: “Steven, why did you want to make a movie about Che?” Soderbergh: “I didn’t want to do it. They made me do it.” Red Carpet Guy: “How did you become Che?” Benicio Del Toro: “I don’t think I did it. But we tried.” Soderbergh: [looking around] “It’ll be an interesting evening, one way or an other.” Red Carpet Guy: “Are you nervous?” Soderbergh: “Yeah!” Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth " [More]
The Best of Youth
The Best of Youth
Cannes Diary: Che and the Quest ...
By Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
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 "It’s Che day. Steven Soderbergh’s Guevara epic has its world premiere this evening at 6:30, and as of this 9am writing, ticket-less gawkers are already lining up outside the Palais, some with Cuban cigars, all with signs declaring their need tickets. From a press and industry perspective, people are definitely talking about the film, but everyone seems less interested in what’s going to be on screen tonight than in how it’ll eventually be seen. Che is screening here for the press and the public as a single, four-hour film, but it’s playing in the market for buyers as two separate pieces, The Argentine and The Guerilla. This leaves open a number of possibilities: a) the film(s) could be released franchise style, ala Kill Bill; b) the two films could be picked up by different distributors (unlikely, but not impossible); and c) one half of Che could be seen theatrically whilst the other does not. Rumor has it that the second half of the story is currently in better shape than the fir ... " [More]
Two Lovers
Two Lovers
Cannes: Two Lovers
By Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
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 "I don’t entirely buy James Grey’s Two Lovers, and typing this having just walked out of the far superior Un Conte De Noel, I feel strange even praising it. I freely admit that even as certain elements are effectively  thrilling in their depiction of tortured passion, it’s all put to the service of a narrative that is occasionally offensive in its total lack of surprise. But, but, but: after dozing on and off for the film’s first twenty or thirty minutes, I awoke to see Joaquin Phoenix breakdancing his way into the arms of Gwyneth Paltrow, and for whatever reason, from that point on I was sort of into it. About an hour later I became totally sucked in, when that moment of dance floor silliness met its dissonant counterpoint with a second, far more desperate scene of Phoenix dancing his way into Paltrow’s arms.  It’ll be too little too late for some, but in its final third, Two Lovers becomes an extremely strong parable about the madness of romantic love, and maybe even its impossibi ... " [More]
La vie moderne (Modern Life)
La vie moderne (Modern Life)
Cannes: La Vie Moderne
By Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
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 "La Vie Moderne, playing here on the Un Certain Regard sidebar, is the third documentary portrait of a group of rural French dairy farmers that Raymond Depardon has made this decade, and as such, comparisons between Depardon’s overall project and Michael Apted’s 7 Up series are not unapt. But where Apted’s seven films across forty years have come to define a changing Britain through the personal evolutions of a single generation, Depardon paints a portrait of a region and a way of life that seems on the verge of almost certain collapse due to nothing more than the natural passage of time and collision of generations. Taking on the triple role of interviewer, cameraman and narrator, the filmmaker’s affection for and rapport with his subjects is obvious, his tenacious patience a welcome contrast to the aggression employed by so many self-referential documentarians. Depardon’s style of inquiry certainly requires more of an investment from his audience than fans of contemporary crowd-p ... " [More]
Sex and Breakfast
Sex and Breakfast
Cannes Market Watch: Sex and Br ...
By Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
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 "In what will hopefully end up as my stupidest move at the Cannes market this year, on Monday I went to a buyers screening of a film called Sex and Breakfast. The suspiciously unspecific description in the Marche guide: “Two couples uncover what it takes to achieve a long-term romance while maintaining a healthy and satisfying sexual relationship.” Just from those two scraps of information, we can immediately deduce that this film is one of two things: A) so-bad-its-good Euro softcore, or B), not-quite-bad-enough to be so-bad-it’s-good throat clearing from a first-time American indie filmmaker who hasn’t yet figured out that working one’s personal sexual fantasies out on celluloid really only befits aged masters (and most of the time even then, it’s questionable.) Since I knew that Sex and Breakfast was in English, I knew from the start that it almost definitely fell into the “B” camp. So why waste my time? Three words: Starring Macaulay Culkin. The basic thrust of the story (ah, p ... " [More]

Cannes Diary: Karaoke
By Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
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 "My first couple of nights in Cannes, I was in screenings until almost midnight, and then I’d go to meet the people I’m staying with at the Grand Hotel, where we’d have drinks and then eventually share a long cab ride back to our place. The Grand is, apparently, Where Everyone Goes, which has it’s charms, but it also inevitably results in 30 minute waits amongst a partially-tuxedoed mob around the bar in order to have the privilege of paying 10 Euros (about $17, I think) for a single cocktail. Apparently, it wasn’t always like this. “Where’s the Cannes dive bar?” I wondered aloud to a group of veterans. The answer: “The Grand WAS the dive bar.” Whoops. So when I heard that Alamo Drafthouse and Fantastic Fest founder Tim League was planning on throwing a renegade karaoke party in Cannes last night, I really, really wanted to see him pull it off. But it seemed impossible. So what if he had brought his portable karaoke system all the way from Austin? Where was he going to find a bar–– ... " [More]
La vie moderne (Modern Life)
La vie moderne (Modern Life)
Cannes Market Flash: Uwe Boll’s ...
By Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
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 "Before I get too deep into my Cannes coverage, it seems like it would be useful to explain the difference between the Marche du Film (AKA the market) and the festival proper. The Cannes Film Festival is what most people think of when they think of Cannes––it’s the flashy, sophisticated, exclusive showcase for the world’s finest and most famous filmmakers, and it’s curated within an inch of its life. The market is kind of like a free-for-all sideshow. There are no red carpet premieres or filmmaker Q & A’s, and most of the films play in tiny screening rooms in hotels or the Palais. Every film (or portion of a film––producers will sometimes screen show reels in order to raise funds or entice distributors before production is completed) in the Marche is for sale, and none have been vetted by a screening committee. This allows for an extraordinarily wide spectrum of quality. Earlier today, IFC announced that they’ve purchased US distribution rights to Olivier Assayas’ Summer Hours, a fi ... " [More]
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Cannes Diary: Everything is Fine
By Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
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 "It’s Sunday afternoon, and I’m sitting in a big, round room at the top of the Palais called Le Club, listening to hundreds of people scream. There’s a balcony encircling Le Club which looks out on docked yachts straight ahead, and the artist’s entrance for the red carpet premieres down below. The Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford’s Public Pension Collection premiere begins shortly, and every few minutes, the paparazzi mob down below erupts into a guttural, multi-lingual wail, each one greater than the last, as another celebrity gets out of another car. Meanwhile, a large group of notebook-clutching press types have started to gather around two flat screen monitors inside Le Club, watching simulcast coverage of the arrivals. I would be making catty comments with them if I sensed that we spoke the same language––and if they seemed just a tiny bit less star-struck. Frankly, I’m slightly appalled. At least George Lucas had the decency to wear a sports coat––Spielberg, decked out in a bas ... " [More]

Cannes: Tyson
By Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
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 "photo by Karina Longworth France loves James Toback, and James Toback loves France right back. The New York auteur, whose work is more often than not unfairly maligned stateside, has already seen Fingers, his first (and best) film, remade by French director Jacques Audiard. The original is one of two Toback films screening at Cannes this year; the other, his documentary on long-time friend Mike Tyson, premiered to more than one standing ovation last night. If France love James Toback, Cannes, apparently, wants to take Mike Tyson behind the middle school and get him pregnant. Applause for Toback at last night’s screening was sufficient and polite (and, after the screening, it drove the filmmaker off the stage in tears); reaction to Tyson’s entrance verged on hysterical. So it’s fitting that Toback’s Tyson is a film that requires its audience to learn to love its subject, even feeds on it. I’m conflicted about the film’s ultimate value, but maybe Cannes got the Mike Tyson documentar ... " [More]

Cannes Diary: The Movie That Wa ...
By Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
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 "My trip to Cannes begins at a bar at JFK––a Chili’s Too!, to be precise––where I flip through an abandoned issue of VOGUE whilst waiting to board. It just so happens that this issue of VOGUE exists to promote the Sex and the City movie––which, not so long ago, was rumored to be premiering at Cannes, before its gala debut was inexplicably bumped up a few days and over the English Channel (for coverage, Google “‘Sarah Jessica Parker’, ‘crazy hat’”). This issue of VOGUE is the ultimate work of movie marketing synergy. It’s not just that Sarah Jessica Parker is on the cover, it’s not just that there are pages and pages of ridiculous photos inside, most of a couture-clad Parker canoodling with on-screen love interest Chris Noth, both ostensibly in character (more on that later). The story and the pics were literally baked into the movie itself, with the actual author of the story and the actual photoshoot’s actual director playing themselves in a VOGUE shoot scene in the film. Meta, rig ... " [More]
Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Photoshop Contest: Presidential ...
By Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
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 "In our never-ending quest to find new ways to mock contemporary popular culture whilst celebrating the classics, we bring the first ever (ever!) SpoutBlog Photoshop Contest. We have a George Romero DVD two-pack to give away: a copy of the new Diary of the Dead, and the 40th Anniversary edition of Night of the Living Dead. Here’s the quip from the press release: The NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION DVD features a fully restored and remastered version of the original 1968 classic film and bonus materials, overseen by the master himself. This DVD marks George A. Romero’s long legacy with great interviews and multiple featurettes that emphasize the quality of this ultimate horror classic. The DIARY OF THE DEAD DVD bonus features include an optional audio commentary by George A. Romero, character confessions, a making of and the top five Myspace contest shorts. Find out what you have to do to get the discs after the jump. 1. Using the image editing software of your c ... " [More]

Cannes Links 05/15/08
By Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
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 "I’m running off to the airport shortly and will be away from the computer until Friday afternoon Cannes time, but here’s a quick look at the news coming out of the festival as of Thursday morning: Un Conte de Noel, Surveillance, and The Pleasure of Being Robbed have been picked up. The former two were bought by IFC; the latter two deals were all but confirmed before the festival began. David Lynch’s production company is putting together ALejandro Jodorowsky’s next film. Described as a “metaphysical spaghetti gangster film,” it’s set to star Nick Nolte, Asia Argento, Marilyn Manson and Udo Kier. Also, Lynch himself will allegedly team with the so-hot-right-now (tee hee) Werner Herzog on My Son, My Son, “a horror-tinged murder drama based on a true story,” set for a “guerrilla-style digital video shoot on Coronado Island” in March. People are, apparently, freaking out over Waltz with Bashir, that Israeli animated doc that I wrote about yesterday. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » K ... " [More]