Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
No... I didn't have any idea they had a Woodstock film festival, either. But apparently they do. And Joe Chip went.
Check it out...
Dear Harry and Moriarty,
I just returned from the Catskill mountains where I attended the second annual Woodstock Film Festival. The Fest ran four days and there were good vibes from all the participants. What I like about these festivals is that people are very approachable and aren't throwing around attitudes. I was able to talk with D.A. Pennebaker, Benjamin Bratt and John Pierson just by walking up and introducing myself.
I saw the premieres of a number of films that I think AICN readers will want to know about. The opening night film was the upcoming Artisan release Novocaine starring Steve Martin, Helena Bonham Carter and Laura Dern. It was a typical dark comedy. Steve really made this movie. I don't think that it would have been nearly as entertaining without him. He plays a dentist who gets caught up in a scandal involving drugs stolen from his office allegedly by the seductive temptress played by Bonham Carter. She was really funny and reminded me of her character in Fight Club. Steve had some wonderful and classic comic moments in the first two acts. The last act changed the tone of the movie quite a bit. Be prepared for some nasty violence involving dental instruments. The writer/director David Atkins was on hand to answer questions after the show. I don't think that this will be a hugely successful commercial release. Of course Steve's participation will make a huge difference but I suspect a short theatrical run with more revenue generated on home video.
The other premiere that I saw was for Ethan Hawke's new movie Chelsea Walls starring Kris Kristofferson, Vincent D'Onofrio, Rosario Dawson, Steve Zahn and Uma Thurman. This movie was shot digitally for under $200,000 (according to Ethan who answered questions after two screenings). It is part of a program called Indigent in which film-makers are given a limited budget to make a digital feature. The movie itself was very artistic - it was very close to my stereotypical view of a New York avant-garde film. It's the kind of movie where not much happens as far as a story goes. Instead it shows a bunch of characters going through their lives. The central theme was the Chelsea Hotel, a place where artistic types live and create. Performances were allright. Lots of people sitting around having intense and drawn-out conversations with weird camera angles and lighting. Kristofferson was probably the most interesting and he gave an interesting performance as a tortured writer. A lack of resolution to the many disparate characters plights left me feeling unsatisfied. It was the kind of movie that I can appreciate for it's artistic value but I didn't find it very entertaining - even with all the stars.
Documentarian DA Pennebaker and his producer Chris Hedegus were honored with a lifetime achievement award. I saw their new film Down From the Mountain which is a chronicle of a concert in Nashville featuring all the musicians in O Brother Where Art Thou. As a huge fan of O Brother and the soundtrack I was thrilled by this movie. I love acoustic and bluegrass music and this movie captured the joy and celebration of the music. Performances by Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss, Chris Thomas King, Ralph Stanley and others brought the music to life in ways that were different from O Brother. If you liked O Brother, check out this doc when it becomes available. It's like having a front seat at the Grand Ole Opry with some of the best acoustic musicians alive today.
A movie at Woodstock that I didn't get to see was the premiere of Pinero starring Benjamin Bratt about the Puerto Rican poet. I heard that it was excellent from the moviegoers. Many of the cast and crew were on hand to answer questions afterwards. Sorry I don't have more about that.
There's one more movie that I have to mention. At Woodstock there was a documentary called Garbage, Gangsters and Greed that was exceptional. It was made by a group of high school students and their teacher about years of corruption involving illegal dumping of toxic and hospital waste in landfills in Orange County, New York. These kids uncovered a MAJOR scandal and they documented their findings in this film. What it lacks in production values it more than makes up for in story. The students have public officials lying through their teeth when they present evidence of corruption that contradicts government findings. There are incredible revelations about these high-level scandals that should be seen by as many people as possible. The government and mob worked together to bury these environmental crimes that affect the drinking water of hundreds of thousands of people. The documentary is available in streaming audio at www.freespeech.org . Search for the title and you'll find it. You might be amazed as I was.
There's plenty of more to report but I am going to sign off. The Woodstock Film Festival was a huge success and everyone left with a good feeling and hopes to return next year. I hope that AICN readers appreciated this report.
You can call me . . . Joe Chip
