The Mill Valley Film fest has released its titles. *Le sigh* I barely have it in my budget to attend one film fest a year, let alone two!
The problem here is that there are a bunch of titles that I've been hearing about from Toronto, Telluride, and Venice, and which I am super excited about. However, a lot of those titles will likely get distribution, so if I can wait a little, I can see them for $11, rather than $13. Not including Golden Gate Transit fare over the bridge....
What's showing? Albert Nobbs, Jeff Who Lives at Home, The Artist, My Week with Marilyn, We Need to Talk about Kevin, Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Lady, Circus Dreams, Pina, Shame, Coriolanus, The Story of Film, Like Crazy, Pariah, Margin Call, Miss Bala, Turn Me On Dammit!, Being Elmo, Lotus Eaters, A Few Best Men, The Forgiveness of Blood, Pegasus, and Stage Left, amongst others.
Tell me that isn't a BRILLIANT line up.
So let's look at these films individually and see if we can figure out what is worth attending (scheduling and a lack of vacation days aside....)
Albert Nobbs - Glen Close protrays a woman who passes as a man to work in Victorian Ireland. Got disappointing reviews at Toronto. Skip.
Jeff Who Lives at Home (US premiere!) - The newest Duplass brothers film, with good reviews coming out of Toronto. Paramount Vantage is releasing in March, 2012. Wait for it. (Wait, I thought Vantage shuttered?)
The Artist - The Cannes sensation. The Weinstein Co. is releasing, but I am really excited for this. Check out scheduling.
My Week with Marilyn - Michelle Williams playing Marilyn Monroe. Being released in November. Wait.
We Need to Talk about Kevin (US premiere)- I remember this book being described to me by one of my regulars at the bar I worked at. Her description was, "don't read this if you are at all considering children." Well, I'm not, but still. Euch. Anyways, I'm sure Tilda Swinton is amazing, because SWINTON, but I'm not sure if I'm up to watching school shooting aftermath. I didn't see Michael Sheen's film on the same topic. If I'm going to watch something school shooting related, it should probably be Gus Van Sant's Elephant. Wait.
Martha Marcy May Marlene - Aaaaah! SO EXCITED FOR THIS! It's John Hawkes in a Sundance darling with a buzzed about female lead performance. OF COURSE I'M GOING.
The Lady - About Aung San Suu Kyi. A 2012 release after an oscar qualifying run. Wait.
Circus Dreams - Circus Smirkus! I LOVE Circus Smirkus! The only downside to this showing, is that it is geared towards kids. Hmmm.... Normally I wait for DVD on docs. But this one may depend on the scheduling. And how my tolerance for children is going.
Pina - Germany's foregin oscar submission, and 3-D modern dance. I definitely want to see this, and if the 3-D prices are cheaper at the film fest, I'll try to work it in.
Shame - SO EXCITED FOR THIS ONE TOO! Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen reteam. If it is half as amazing as Hunger (and all reviews point to it being excellent), I'm totally in.
Coriolanus (US premiere!)- Ralph Fiennes's Shakespeare. Hmm - Totally excited; it is supposed to be excellent. Wide January release from the Weinstein co. Can probably wait. But this may sneak in if the timing works...
The Story of Film - I'm confused. I thought this was a tv series. It's like 15 hours long.
Aha! This is one section of the series they are presenting; in this case the 70s. Well, I want to see the whole thing at some point, in order. Skip for now.
Like Crazy - Another Sundance hit about a romance that breaks up as one half is forced back to the UK. All the actors involved are great. Paramount Vantage is releasing in late Oct/Nov, so I think I'll wait. (Aha again!: In June 2008, Paramount Pictures consolidated Paramount Vantage’s marketing, distribution, and physical production departments into the parent studio, while retaining the Paramount Vantage brand to develop and acquire specialty product with dedicated creative staff. So it shuttered as an independent branch.)
Pariah - Another one with good Sundance buzz. This one is about a Brooklyn girl trying to come out. Focus is giving a limited release at Christmas, including in San Francisco. I think I'll wait.
Margin Call - A great cast, a hard-to-sell topic (default credit swaps!), and mixed reviews. Releasing in October. Wait and see what the revviews are like on wide release. Possibly skip.
Miss Bala - I heard pretty good things about this one coming out of Cannes. It's about a beauty pageant contestant trying to break free from organized crime in Mexico. It's getting a limited release in October. I think I'll wait either for later, or for DVD.
Turn Me On, Dammit! - A Norwegian comedy that premiered at Tribeca (it won best screenplay). As far as I know, it hasn't been picked up for distribution, so I may try to catch it.
Being Elmo - I'm not sure I can stand the cuteness. Still, a super popular doc for the year. Wait.
Lotus Eaters - this sounds like an Irish modern day Bright Young Things and it premiered at Tribeca. I'm not sold on it, but there are no release plans I'm aware of. Hmmm.... leaning towards skipping.
A Few Best Men (North American premiere!)- an Aussie comedy about traveling through the outback to get to a wedding. No release plans. Directed by Stephan Elliott of Priscilla (awesome) and Easy Virtue (awful). Hmmm... I'll look at the schedule, but I'm leaning towards no...
The Forgiveness of Blood - about an Albanian family, it won the silver bear at Berlin. Sundance Selects has distribution rights, although I haven't seen a release date. This one is a maybe, dependent on scheduling.
Pegasus (North American premiere!) - winner of best picture at Africa's FESPACO fest, and a Moroccan film about a traumatized young woman with "elements of magical realism and a David Lynch–like sense of atmosphere and rhythm." I can't see anything about distribution or a release, so I think I'll try to check it out.
Stage Left: A Story of Theater in San Francisco. This could be awful, and yet I feel like I have to see it.
Of course, I should probably also see the short film line-up about Sustainability.
Okay - so I'll see what the sceduling and prices look like for those in bold... and maybe all this will result in some ACTUAL movie reviews on this blog! Whodathunkit...
The problem here is that there are a bunch of titles that I've been hearing about from Toronto, Telluride, and Venice, and which I am super excited about. However, a lot of those titles will likely get distribution, so if I can wait a little, I can see them for $11, rather than $13. Not including Golden Gate Transit fare over the bridge....
What's showing? Albert Nobbs, Jeff Who Lives at Home, The Artist, My Week with Marilyn, We Need to Talk about Kevin, Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Lady, Circus Dreams, Pina, Shame, Coriolanus, The Story of Film, Like Crazy, Pariah, Margin Call, Miss Bala, Turn Me On Dammit!, Being Elmo, Lotus Eaters, A Few Best Men, The Forgiveness of Blood, Pegasus, and Stage Left, amongst others.
Tell me that isn't a BRILLIANT line up.
So let's look at these films individually and see if we can figure out what is worth attending (scheduling and a lack of vacation days aside....)
Albert Nobbs - Glen Close protrays a woman who passes as a man to work in Victorian Ireland. Got disappointing reviews at Toronto. Skip.
Jeff Who Lives at Home (US premiere!) - The newest Duplass brothers film, with good reviews coming out of Toronto. Paramount Vantage is releasing in March, 2012. Wait for it. (Wait, I thought Vantage shuttered?)
The Artist - The Cannes sensation. The Weinstein Co. is releasing, but I am really excited for this. Check out scheduling.
My Week with Marilyn - Michelle Williams playing Marilyn Monroe. Being released in November. Wait.
We Need to Talk about Kevin (US premiere)- I remember this book being described to me by one of my regulars at the bar I worked at. Her description was, "don't read this if you are at all considering children." Well, I'm not, but still. Euch. Anyways, I'm sure Tilda Swinton is amazing, because SWINTON, but I'm not sure if I'm up to watching school shooting aftermath. I didn't see Michael Sheen's film on the same topic. If I'm going to watch something school shooting related, it should probably be Gus Van Sant's Elephant. Wait.
Martha Marcy May Marlene - Aaaaah! SO EXCITED FOR THIS! It's John Hawkes in a Sundance darling with a buzzed about female lead performance. OF COURSE I'M GOING.
The Lady - About Aung San Suu Kyi. A 2012 release after an oscar qualifying run. Wait.
Circus Dreams - Circus Smirkus! I LOVE Circus Smirkus! The only downside to this showing, is that it is geared towards kids. Hmmm.... Normally I wait for DVD on docs. But this one may depend on the scheduling. And how my tolerance for children is going.
Pina - Germany's foregin oscar submission, and 3-D modern dance. I definitely want to see this, and if the 3-D prices are cheaper at the film fest, I'll try to work it in.
Shame - SO EXCITED FOR THIS ONE TOO! Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen reteam. If it is half as amazing as Hunger (and all reviews point to it being excellent), I'm totally in.
Coriolanus (US premiere!)- Ralph Fiennes's Shakespeare. Hmm - Totally excited; it is supposed to be excellent. Wide January release from the Weinstein co. Can probably wait. But this may sneak in if the timing works...
The Story of Film - I'm confused. I thought this was a tv series. It's like 15 hours long.
Aha! This is one section of the series they are presenting; in this case the 70s. Well, I want to see the whole thing at some point, in order. Skip for now.
Like Crazy - Another Sundance hit about a romance that breaks up as one half is forced back to the UK. All the actors involved are great. Paramount Vantage is releasing in late Oct/Nov, so I think I'll wait. (Aha again!: In June 2008, Paramount Pictures consolidated Paramount Vantage’s marketing, distribution, and physical production departments into the parent studio, while retaining the Paramount Vantage brand to develop and acquire specialty product with dedicated creative staff. So it shuttered as an independent branch.)
Pariah - Another one with good Sundance buzz. This one is about a Brooklyn girl trying to come out. Focus is giving a limited release at Christmas, including in San Francisco. I think I'll wait.
Margin Call - A great cast, a hard-to-sell topic (default credit swaps!), and mixed reviews. Releasing in October. Wait and see what the revviews are like on wide release. Possibly skip.
Miss Bala - I heard pretty good things about this one coming out of Cannes. It's about a beauty pageant contestant trying to break free from organized crime in Mexico. It's getting a limited release in October. I think I'll wait either for later, or for DVD.
Turn Me On, Dammit! - A Norwegian comedy that premiered at Tribeca (it won best screenplay). As far as I know, it hasn't been picked up for distribution, so I may try to catch it.
Being Elmo - I'm not sure I can stand the cuteness. Still, a super popular doc for the year. Wait.
Lotus Eaters - this sounds like an Irish modern day Bright Young Things and it premiered at Tribeca. I'm not sold on it, but there are no release plans I'm aware of. Hmmm.... leaning towards skipping.
A Few Best Men (North American premiere!)- an Aussie comedy about traveling through the outback to get to a wedding. No release plans. Directed by Stephan Elliott of Priscilla (awesome) and Easy Virtue (awful). Hmmm... I'll look at the schedule, but I'm leaning towards no...
The Forgiveness of Blood - about an Albanian family, it won the silver bear at Berlin. Sundance Selects has distribution rights, although I haven't seen a release date. This one is a maybe, dependent on scheduling.
Pegasus (North American premiere!) - winner of best picture at Africa's FESPACO fest, and a Moroccan film about a traumatized young woman with "elements of magical realism and a David Lynch–like sense of atmosphere and rhythm." I can't see anything about distribution or a release, so I think I'll try to check it out.
Stage Left: A Story of Theater in San Francisco. This could be awful, and yet I feel like I have to see it.
Of course, I should probably also see the short film line-up about Sustainability.
Okay - so I'll see what the sceduling and prices look like for those in bold... and maybe all this will result in some ACTUAL movie reviews on this blog! Whodathunkit...
