RichardLinklater Tagged Articles at Cinematical

You know things are bad for the indie world when Richard flipping Linklater can't get a break. The Hollywood Reporter's Risky Biz Blog reports that Linklater's much buzzed-about script called That's What I'm Talking About has been shelved.

Those who've read the script say that it's a return to his Dazed & Confused type of material, although a little more dramatic than the school comedy. I hate to even think the thought, but I imagine it's fair to guess that this is the awesome-sounding 1980 college project that Erik blogged about in March, the one that was supposed to start production this summer. While talent scouts were already zeroing in on actors, Linklater couldn't find funding because no one wanted to fork over the cash without a distributor being in place. Wimps. A rep for Linklater says: "We still think it's very marketable. It just has to go on the shelf for now."

So no classic Linklater to look forward to, unless someone ponies up the dough, and they should, because what could make this summer better than the Link returning to the fare that made him famous?

This could've been the champion of the world.

Dazed and Confused, Part 2. No, I'm not talking about that "spiritual sequel" we learned about in March. I'm talking about an honest-to-goodness sequel bringing back the characters we can't help but love. It seems that Matthew McConaughey, better known as the teen-loving David Wooderson, told MTV that it is a possibility.

"That's a very precious subject, that movie. We made such a gem... I've had loose discussions about what would be the next [in]carnation of a Dazed and Confused... [Richard Linklater is] not going to do it unless it's done the right way. It's a good idea, but he's gotta pick the right way to do it." The actor goes on to say how he'd love to see what everyone would be doing in 1992, and imagines Wooderson might have a few kids and run a community radio station.

While I'm not sure I'd want to see Wooderson in the family way, I would love to see these guys again in more than just quick clips from a reunion picnic. Would Mitch still pinch his brow? What sort of heated debates would Mike and Tony have years later? And would Cynthia still sport a fabulous fro? Is Slater still high? Would Michelle still make music (yes please!)? Is O'Bannion still in high school? Is Darla still a bitch?

If Before Sunset is any indication, this would be a fabulous sequel. Where do you think they all are 20 years later?

The weather is beautiful in most parts of the country today (especially here in New York City), and I couldn't think of a better way to send you into the weekend than to share the news that -- according to our friends at CHUD -- Richard Linklater talked up the new film he's shooting this summer during a recent screening of Dazed and Confused by calling the untitled project "a sort of spiritual sequel" to Dazed.

The film, which Linklater will shoot in and around Austin, Texas this summer, follows kids during their first weekend at college in 1980. No, it won't feature the same actors or characters from Dazed and Confused (because they're all much older now and kinda don't pass as college students), but because Dazed was about the last day of high school and this will be about the first day of college, the latter will make for a great companion piece to the former and the two together will (we hope) one day make for one helluva double bill. Knowing Dazed and Linklater, the soundtrack will be hot and the awkward teen randomness will be plentiful. It's early still, but this just shot up toward the top of my anticipation meter -- what about you?

(Oh, and a Happy Friday to you, too.)

More than 30 years ago, Martin Scorsese decided to spend an evening -- more than a day, really -- filming his friend Steven Prince as he told all kinds of strange and fascinating stories about his life. The result was the short documentary American Boy, which had no official release in 1978 but floated around "unofficially" for decades. Tommy Pallotta saw one of these bootleg copies when he was in college, and never forgot it. He and Richard Linklater included one of Prince's stories from American Boy in Waking Life. And more than 30 years after American Boy, Pallotta and Linklater spent a similar evening hearing more of Prince's tales, which are the backbone of Pallotta's documentary American Prince. Both films screened back-to-back at SXSW.

Steven Prince in American Prince has mellowed a lot -- he sits comfortably in a chair sipping cognac and genially relating stories about his years in Hollywood. You might remember him as the gun salesman in Taxi Driver, and he had a few other minor roles in films, as well as working on some other Scorsese films. As a result, he has some very colorful stories to share with the guests in the room as well as the film's audience. The setting of the documentary might remind you of Steven Tobolowsky's Birthday Party, which played SXSW in 2005, but more tightly focused, and without a lot of interaction from the other guests.

Glorious sunshine greeted festival attendees on Monday. The warmer weather pushed more people out onto the streets. Skirts rose along with the temperature, though blue jeans and t-shirts remained the predominant clothing of choice.

Deals. Oscilloscope Laboratories announced that it has acquired North American distribution rights to Gabriel Mendina's The Paranoids, which had its US Premiere at the festival yesterday. The Paranoids is described as an "offbeat comedy" about an aspiring writer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, who learns that a childhood friend has produced a very successful TV show in Spain based on the writer's life. Personal chaos ensues. Oscilloscope plans a theatrical release later this year.

Secret (and Not So Secret) Screenings. A large crowd woke up early to see a "super special screening" of Richard Linklater's period romance Me and Orson Welles, starring Zac Efron and Claire Danes. In the evening, another special treat awaited folks who squeezed into the Alamo Ritz: a 16mm print of a film that dare not speak its name (due to legal reasons). Hint: running time was listed as 43 minutes. No wagering, please.

Simultaneously, Jody Hill's Observe and Report, starring Seth Rogen, enjoyed its world premiere at the Paramount Theater. Early word via Tweeter has been very strong. Gerald Peary's doc For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism, also debuted. It is, perhaps, too prosaic for a general audience, but it's essential viewing for anyone who wants to be a film critic (and for working film critics, too, for that matter). Bonus: our own Scott Weinberg makes an appearance!

Cinematical Coverage. Eric D. Snider, who never laughs at anything, laughed himself silly at the 20 minutes of footage shown from Sacha Baron Cohen's upcoming Bruno.

After the jump: more links to our coverage, plus some notable coverage on other sites.

On Christmas Day, Last Chance Harvey will go into limited release and give us a Christmas treat. The film stars Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, and it's almost like seeing what would've happened if Stranger Than Fiction's Professor Jules Hilbert met and romanced Karen Eiffel. I always wonder what sort of romance could have blossomed between Jules and Karen, and since this is the holiday season, it got me thinking about characters who should reunite and deal with the holidays on the big screen.

The first that came to mind was Jesse and Celine -- our beloved Before Sunrise and Before Sunset characters. After Richard Linklater created a billowing, world-wide sigh with the ending of the second film, audiences have been itching to find out what happens next, so why not a thoughtful piece that takes place over the course of the holidays? It wouldn't work to add a million people into the mix, but I'm sure the pair would find a lot to say about Christmas, and maybe we could finally see how the pair survive in the real (albeit Santa-laced) world.

Beyond the realm of indie romance, can you imagine a certain Miles and Jack taking a New Years Eve trip back to wine country? Pineapple Express getting hidden in a Christmas gift? The Wonder Boys going on a new snow-filled adventure?

Are there any characters you would love to see in the holiday setting? Are any just perfect for dealing with a Winter Wonderland?

At any large film festival, it's easy to get caught up in the buzz and the biz of it - most of the time, the press screenings are really press and industry screenings, which means that the person sitting next to you is not some fellow ink-stained wretch who will watch the film and have to write a review but, rather, an acquisitions person who will watch the film and, perhaps, write a check. This doesn't just lead to seat-hopping and movie-jumping as the acquisitions people shrug No, not for us and leave so they can continue their quest; it also leads to getting caught up in an atmosphere where questions of commerce can come more readily to mind than questions of art.

So it was with the Toronto screening of Me and Orson Welles, where my feeling warmed and charmed by Richard Linklater's recreation of 1930's literary New York came on the heels of a much more pointed question -- namely, who the hell is going to see it? Starring Zac Efron as a young would-be actor who's recruited for a bit part in Orson Welles' 1937 Mercury Theater production of Julius Caesar, the film skews young in energy and execution, but unless teens are lured into caring about old-timey theater by Efron's name, it's unlikely they'll go; older audience members, who have the advantage of actually knowing, and caring, who Orson Welles is might be put off by the presence of Mr. Efron, who they know solely from their childrens' repeated viewing of High School Musical.

On the 21st, I shared pictures of Zac Efron, Christian McKay, and others on the set of Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles. Now we can get a peek at his older love interest, Claire Danes, in the picture above, courtesy of EW.

In the film, Efron is an aspiring actor who gets a bit part in a Welles production, and then gets sexy with the older, perky production assistant (Danes). According to Richard Linklater: "He's falling for this older woman. She's taking him for a bit of a ride." With that smirk above? No!

We already know that Danes has a pattern with this impressionable young men. Do you remember what she did with Igby? But at least Steve Martin gave her a taste of her own Shopgirl medicine.

Me and Orson Welles debuts next Friday at TIFF.

TITLE: Me and Orson Welles
DIRECTED BY: Richard Linklater
STARS: Zac Efron, Claire Danes, Christian McKay

WHAT IT'S ABOUT: In 1937, a young actor (Efron) gets the chance of a lifetime when he's invited to join the cast of a new production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar ... directed by the young, brash boy genius Orson Welles (Christian McKay). Of course, the scheming, plotting and tragedy isn't confined to the stage. ...

WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: A number of reasons: Welles has always made for great drama on-screen; Efron may finally demonstrate there's more to him than endless iterations of the High School Musical formula; Danes is turning into a truly interesting actress with the passing of time. But ultimately, the reason we're most psyched to see this comes down to director Linklater -- who's proven he can handle both the energy of youth (Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise) and the technical challenges of period pieces (The Newton Boys). Linklater's a filmmaker looking for a mainstream hit, and the mix of high-class material and Efron's star power may be just what's needed to shove him into the mainstream.

Back to the TIFF Preview page ...

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