Hey folks, Harry here with the machine that is Memento Man. We finally got our first review of TADPOLE, which Miramax jumped all over excitedly. Sounds a bit wierd, but it seems like the legitimacy of the 'digital' film is building and building. ATTACK OF THE CLONES and ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO and JASON X will all probably nail the format as the big signs of the change, convincing many filmmakers of the viability of the format. Well, without further ado, here we go...
Hey Harry!
Whew! I saw four films at Sundance today. Here's the quick lowdown so I can
get some sleep before I have to get up for an early screening tomorrow:
TADPOLE
I have a feeling that this wonderful film is going to be one of the favorites of the festival. It was shot and projected for us digitally, like last year's TAPE by Richard Linklater. Although digital movies continue to get better and better in their ability to capture lighting and color differences, I'm still not convinced that it's completely ready to take over from film. Although editing is much easier, the color and lighting contrasts just aren't quite as rich.
Nevertheless, this film was a delight. It's about 15-year-old Oscar who has
a thing for women in their 40s, particularly his stepmother, played by
Sigorney Weaver. The script was bitingly funny. I'm glad that it was just
picked up by Miramax for $5 million. This is a film you don't want to miss!
13 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING
This film is also getting a lot of good buzz around the festival. Geoffrey
Gilmore calls it one of the best of the "human web-chain" genre (e.g. films
like MAGNOLIA where we are introduced to many different people whose lives
all seem to interconnect.) Here we have such characters as a lawyer (Matthew
McConaughey) who learns about hardship after hitting a housekeeper (Clea
Duvall). A grumpy insurance adjuster (Alan Arkin) fires an eternally
cheerful employee but then secretly tries to find him another job. A physics
professor (John Turturro) has an affair to get some excitement in his life,
but then feels the nothingness. All of these people are somehow connected as
they learn about the joy and the pain of luck. The script by Karen and Jill
Sprecher is wonderful at fleshing out these interesting characters that are
all tied together in their humanity.
COASTLINES
COASTLINES is Victor Nunuz's latest film which is set, of course, (like RUBY
IN PARADISE and ULEE'S GOLD) in his home area of Northern Florida. As Sonny
gets released from prison, he suddenly finds himself faced with feelings for
Ann who is married to his best friend, a police officer (played by Josh
Brolin.) The police officer is good and stable; Sonny is fun. Who does Ann
choose? Can one person be everything at once? Nunez's work is rich with
subtleties. He spends a long time helping us get to know his characters and
then lets them explore interesting corners of humanity. This is a somber,
well-crafted film.
HUMAN NATURE
Tonight I finished the day by seeing HUMAN NATURE by BEING JOHN MALKOVICH scribe Charlie Kaufman. Like that earlier film, HUMAN NATURE is very quirky. We watch a woman who has hair all over her body, a man who was raised as an ape, and another guy (Tim Robbins) who is obsessive-compulsive about table manners all interact with interesting results. This is a film unlike many others that you have seen, and not just because most of the cast is naked for most of the film.
Until tomorrow, this is Robert Redford's personal secretary, Memento Man, signing off!
