TomDicillo Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Gina Gershon Sighting at Sundance
Filed under: Comedy », Sundance », Festival Reports », Hold the 'Fone », Cinematical Indie »
Hi, there -- here's my first celeb sighting at Sundance. (A little background: Moviefone does a star-interviews-star [or sometimes director] video show called Unscripted) The first one I got to watch tape this go-round was for 'Delirious.' One of the stars of that film, Gina Gershon, and director Tom DiCillo sat down and chatted. That's what they mostly did -- they got through maybe two questions each -- and they were cool. They obviously know each other well and get along; great rapport. And, not surprisingly, DiCillo was pretty damned funny ... the movie comments on celebrity, and DiCillo ragged on it as well (e.g., he claimed he'd read in the tabloids that Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston were going to, like, fight to the death, and Brad Pitt was O.K. with that -- he'd just take the winner).
He also said that with his first movie, 'Johnny Suede,' he'd turned down bringing it to Sundance, because back then it was known as the Granola Fest, with crunchy movies about a little girl living on a farm who could see God through her dog. And Gina was gorgeous (actually better looking in real life than she is on screen, if you can believe that), if a little nervous. She needed reading glasses to see the questions on the monitor -- it was adorable. Unfortunately, I haven't seen the movie yet -- ironically, it was screening at about the same time as this taping -- but I've heard great things about it. Don't believe me? Read Scott Weinberg's review.
Sundance Review: Delirious
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », Sundance », Theatrical Reviews », Cinematical Indie »
Satire is not a blunt instrument. In the hands of an overzealous filmmaker, jokes and pointed barbs can readily fly over your head, leaving you to think "Hey, wait, was that supposed to be funny? Cuz it kinda was." (Or, even worse, the satire is presented in such a ham-fisted fashion that the insight ends up buried beneath moronic punchlines) Such is quite definitely not the case in Delirious, a poker-faced but insightful and amusing comedic drama that takes square aim at pop stars, paparazzi and stargazers without ever settling for the obvious joke or the predictable punchline. This comes as no big surprise to me, considering that the writer/director of Delirious is Tom DiCillo, frequent Jim Jarmusch cinematographer and rather astute filmmaker in his own right. (DiCillo gave us Johnny Suede, The Real Blonde and -- one of my favorite movies about filmmakers -- the excellent Living in Oblivion)
Delirious is the tale of a kind-hearted but depressingly unfocused homeless kid called Toby (played brilliantly by Michael Pitt) who starts an unlikely friendship with a fast-talking paparazzi photographer named Les (Steve Buscemi, as good as he's ever been) and somehow manages to find himself in close proximity to K'harma Leeds, a teen idol pop sensation who is as beautiful as she is obtuse. (As the pop star, Alison Lohman is nothing short of stellar; she avoids the really obvious digs on Lindsay, Brittney and Paris ... but she sure does nail 'em to the wall anyway)
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
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