This is one of the nicest looking films out there for the fall. It's a very very dark film, with some of the most surreal imagery I've seen in quite some time. IN DREAMS comes from Neil Jordan and as a result I have the utmost anticipation for the project. It stars Annette Bening, Robert Downey Jr and Stephen Rea... Anyway this on set spy had this to say, I'll call her Sarah Connor. And she seems a bit angry at some of the people on set. Hmmmmm.... Issues? Personally, if Annette didn't want to be bothered with the public, well that's the way she gets into character. I know from the footage I saw that this was a very very VERY dark and emotional role for her, so lay off will ya?
The reason I'm writing is because I saw a little of the filming of "In Dreams," and a bit of the hoopla, back in October-November. I go to a boarding school in Western Massachusetts, where some of the filming was done. Much of the filming was rumoured to have been done down in Amherst and Northampton, Mass. Only a few scenes were shot here on campus though. They used a few old storage barns and imported apple trees up into some woodsy hills. I was taking a film class at the time and our teacher had done a lot of talking, schmoozing and whatnot but managed to get Robert Downey Jr. to give a little talk about Hollywood, movies, prison, etc. It was nothing too exciting, he was very friendly and came out to give autographs, have photos taken, etc every day before/after filming. He played some hick kind of character, I have no idea if he's "the good guy" or "the bad guy", but there was blood involved (isn't there always blood involved?). His manager (he said he was his manager anyways) was Joe Barilla (sp?). He was beyond accomodating of questions, came out every day to talk to the crowd that gathered after classes; he appeared to be very interested in talking to real people, but also came off as a real Hollywood sort of guy (but he's from NYC).
Annette Benning was, well, a real bitch, please excuse my language if it offends. I can understand her wanting privacy but she wouldn't even give the public the time of day. There was constant security (this is rural Massachusetts, the only threat to anybody's well-being is the weather), but the cops around here get all worked up about jaywalking, so they were having a field day. The thing that bothered me the most was the fact that there no responses from her management about anything, she showed absolutely no interest in any of the fans. They shot the climax scenes here, police cars, helicopters were involved. I've heard that the two helicopters were part a of a helicopter chase, but I got the impression as I watched the filming that they were being used to film the scene. It took five or six takes, but I couldn't see much of the action on the ground because it was partially hidden behind the barn. Each take, the cop cars and ambulance would rush in, and then they'd all back out after the shot and do it all over again. The most puzzling thing about it was that they were police cars from all different periods of time - the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's. I suppose most of this information is either pretty useless or you already know it, but I thought I'd give my two cents.
Thanks for the awesome site! ;-)
