an education Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I'm in Savannah, Georgia to spend a week as a guest blogger for the Savannah Film Festival, an eight-day fest hosted in the historic Southern town by the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). [Read my entries in the "Voices from the Fest" section on the festival website.] As the town prepares to kick off the 12th annual festivities with the Iraq film, or rather post-Iraq film, The Messenger, I'm wondering how SFF's growing success might reflect or even influence the rise of film festivals that similarly fall somewhere in between the biggies (Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Venice) and the little guys.

For starters, a brief look at SFF's line-up and star-studded guest list. The festival begins today, October 31, with The Messenger, a Sundance entry that has Oscar possibilities but more likely will make a run at the Indie Spirit Awards. Stars Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster will be in attendance. (I will be attempting to run into them at the local Starbucks or wherever it is that Hollywood actors hang out when they visit other cities.) Another Oscar hopeful, the Emily Blunt-starring period biopic The Young Victoria, is screening the following day.

And then there are the almost certain Oscar pictures: George Clooney in The Men Who Stare At Goats; Lone Scherfig's An Education; Michael Haneke's Cannes winner The White Ribbon; Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, with star Jeremy Renner in attendance; and Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, which will bring both director Lee Daniels and his star Gabourey Sidibe to town.

Read on for more about this year's Savannah Film Festival.

Fall brings with it awards season, and among our first round of nominations are those of the British Independent Film Awards. According to Empire, Andrea Arnold's acclaimed Fish Tank took the lead with eight, while Duncan Jones' similarly lauded Moon came up with seven, including one for lead actor Sam Rockwell.

I'm personally happy to see the savage political satire In the Loop getting due notice, especially its expletive-laden screenplay, since it'll likely go overlooked when it comes to Yank laurels (sad but true, although I'll be happy if it's not). Meanwhile, the multiple nods for An Education and Bright Star only parallel their warm reception Stateside and their likely contention in next year's Oscar race.

And after being quietly blown away by it at Fantastic Fest a few weeks back, I'm also glad to see Down Terrace get some love under the Raindance Award category. Enough of these awards, and maybe that puppy'll earn some distribution in our neck of the woods. (You listening, IFC?)

By: James Rocchi, reprinted from the Sundance Film Festival 1/23/09

One of the audience and sales success stories at this year's Sundance Film Festival wound up on my screening schedule late in the week through the cruel editorial equations of film festival journalism: An Education became a film I should see because I should see it. There had been praise for Nick Hornby's screenplay adaptation of Lynn Barber's memoir, a coming-of-age-story set in 1961 London; there were raves for Carey Mulligan's performance in the lead role; there was the news that Sony Pictures Classics had picked up the North American distribution rights for $3 million. Late in the festival, buzz and business both assured, An Education became a film to see if only to see if the hum and thrum of the week prior was in fact right.

An Education opens with the sight of young girls balancing books atop their heads to improve their posture, learning ballroom dancing, and taking home economics; since we know that the '60s are coming, and the young women we see don't quite, yet, the vision is like seeing a dinosaur, back straight and eyes front, walk blithely into a tar pit. Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is part of this world, but looking past it -- she's applying to Oxford, making sure her application looks good on paper. Told by her father (Alfred Molina) that she shouldn't be practicing her cello when she should be hitting the books, she's confused: "I thought we agreed cello was my interest or hobby. ..."

There's an interesting phenomenon going on at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. Female filmmakers were a big part of the festival's opening weekend. (The fest might be 9 days long, but that first weekend is the time that packs the punch -- the time when the stars descend, the parties commence, and the big films have their premieres.) But this isn't only relevant to festival goers. These fests showcase tomorrow's films, so in some ways, TIFF is a peek into the future. And it's one where women defy what's expected of them.

At the moment, I'm calling it the Anna Kendrick effect. While she might be one of the youngest Tony Award nominees ever, this actress shot into the public eye with a supporting role in that incessant, sparkly piece called Twilight. Her performance was fine, but she really wasn't given enough for a large buzz to commence, especially while under the shadow of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. But now she's got a co-starring role in Jason Reitman's new Up in the Air -- a role where she must hold her own against George Clooney and Vera Farmiga. And she does. In fact, she's so good that her performance has been getting a lot of buzz up here in Toronto -- and it's proved one thing: We might see women and blow them off as nothing more than the crazy jealous friend, but there can be a lot of other talent in there if given a solid role to prove it.

Peter Sarsgaard made his big-screen debut in 1995's Dead Man Walking as the murder victim Walter Delacroix, but his breakthrough performance was in 1999's Boys Don't Cry as John Lotter, one of the killers of transgendered man Brandon Teena. Since then, he's become famous for his nuanced performances in a wide variety of films like Shattered Glass, Kinsey, Jarhead, and the upcoming An Education.

If you have missed the ubiquitous and creepy posters for his new movie with Vera Farmiga, Orphan, let me give you a quick synopsis. After Kate Coleman (Farmiga) has a stillborn baby, she and her husband John (Sarsgaard) decide to adopt Esther, a deadly serious Russian orphan who wears ribbons around her neck and wrists and old-fashioned ruffly dresses played by Isabelle Fuhrman. But things keep going wrong when Esther's around... hence the tagline in those ubiquitous and creepy posters with the tagline "There's something wrong with Esther."

After a long weekend of interviews and roundtables, Peter Sarsgaard was kind enough to talk to me over the phone about his favorite horror movies, the Orphan protests, and much more -- right here at HorrorSquad!

Danish director Lone Scherfig's new movie An Education is one of the finest movies I've seen so far this year and definitely one I'll be gunning for come Oscar time (and I am in good company). Based on the memoir by Lynn Barber and delicately adapted by Nick Hornby, An Education stars Carey Mulligan as Jenny, an Oxford-bound schoolgirl who finds the excitement she's been yearning for with David, a smooth operator played by Peter Sarsgaard. (As if dating a much older man who takes her out to parties, art auctions, and horse races isn't edgy enough in 1961, he's also Jewish. Oy!) James Rocchi wrote an excellent review of An Education from Sundance.

David manages to win her strict parents over (Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour) and as their relationship progresses, she transforms into an ultrachic '60s girl who brings her giggling friends perfume back from Paris. Olivia Williams (Dollhouse) is also outstanding as her concerned teacher. Rosamund Pike is great as the glamorous girlfriend of David's friend Danny, who is played by a rather debonair Dominic Cooper. Will she stay in school and head to Oxford or get a more real-world education from David and his friends?

The first trailer from Sony Picture Classics is up over at Yahoo, and it's a great tease of the joys to come in the feature-length film. The official website is here.

Barber is a respected journalist in the UK for The Observer and has given several very interesting interviews about An Education that spoil the plot just an eensy bit. If you're that curious, Google's got your back.

(Warning: This one goes up to eleven...)

1. Moon -- Most were admittedly intrigued by the prospect of Sam Rockwell alone and yet potentially not on a lunar station going into the fest, and this seemed to be the first film to live up to its promise as a modest yet straight-up sci-fi endeavor (that just happened to have a Kevin Spacey-voiced robot, and just tell me you wouldn't want one of those waking you up and telling you to pay it forward all the friggin' time).

2. 500 Days of Summer -- I'd liked the vague stuff I'd been hearing about this one going into the fest as well -- namely, "Zooey Deschanel, Zooey Deschanel, Zooey Deschanel" -- and I certainly liked the teaser trailer that made its way out just hours before the film's formal premiere. Does it look like Fox Searchlight's particular brand of indie hipster quirk that's just begging to get too popular for its own good by about Labor Day? Sure, but if it's as adorable as it seems, that's a chance I'm willing to take, Zooey.

The second Friday at Sundance is a day when many observers have returned home. But the festival is not over, and our intrepid crew remains on the scene.

Deals. The sight of Ashton Kutcher 's naked gigolo butt evidently convinced Anchor Bay Films that David Mackenzie's Spread was the movie for them. Eugene Hernandez at indieWIRE reports that the sister company of Overture Films paid nearly $4 million for US and Australian rights. Kutcher served as a producer on the film, which also stars Anne Heche, Rachel Blanchard, Margarita Levieva, and Sonia Rockwell.

Speaking of Rockwells, Brian Brooks (also of indieWIRE), says that Sony Pictures Classics will distribute the Sam Rockwell-starring Moon, the science fiction flick directed by David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisition Group pre-bought the film's rights before the festival. Sony Classics plans a June 2009 release. James Rocchi reviewed it for Cinematical last week.

Reviews/Interview. Our man James followed up his review of the doc We Live in Public by talking with director Ondi Timoner and subject Josh Harris. James also discovered Noah Buschel's The Missing Person, starring Michael Shannon; James says the film "isn't merely a clever, cool spin on the classic private eye story, but it also works as a private eye story." Finally, James got An Education from suddenly hot actress Carey Mulligan, director Lone Scherfig, and scripter Nick Hornby; the film's evocation of 1960s England struck James as "superbly constructed, yes, but those elements also connect." Be sure to catch up on all of Cinematical's coverage via the Sundance hub at Moviefone.

Blog Talk. Continue onward, brave reader, for a few more quotable quotes.

One of the audience and sales success stories at this year's Sundance Film Festival wound up on my screening schedule late in the week through the cruel editorial equations of film festival journalism: An Education became a film I should see because I should see it. There had been praise for Nick Hornby's screenplay adaptation of Lynn Barber's memoir, a coming-of-age-story set in 1961 London; there were raves for Carey Mulligan's performance in the lead role; there was the news that Sony Pictures Classics had picked up the North American distribution rights for $3 million. Late in the festival, buzz and business both assured, An Education became a film to see if only to see if the hum and thrum of the week prior was in fact right.

An Education opens with the sight of young girls balancing books atop their heads to improve their posture, learning ballroom dancing, and taking home economics; since we know that the '60s are coming, and the young women we see don't quite, yet, the vision is like seeing a dinosaur, back straight and eyes front, walk blithely into a tar pit. Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is part of this world, but looking past it -- she's applying to Oxford, making sure her application looks good on paper. Told by her father (Alfred Molina) that she shouldn't be practicing her cello when she should be hitting the books, she's confused: "I thought we agreed cello was my interest or hobby. ..."

The dam finally burst and a flood of deals were unleashed today in Park City, Utah. (Please note: for the purposes of this article, we define "a flood of deals" as three (3)). But don't worry, America: Sundancers stopped to watch the inauguration live on TV.

Deals. (1) Fox Searchlight got things rolling with a worldwide deal for Max Meyer's romantic comedy Adam, starring Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher and Amy Irving; a 2009 release is planned. indieWIRE has the details. (2) Sony Pictures Classics picked up big buzz title An Education, Lone Scherfig's coming of age romantic tale, "after a heated bidding war," says Anne Thompson of Variety. Sony Classics reportedly paid $3 million for North American and Latin American rights and is eyeing an awards campaign launch in the fall. Thompson describes the film's star Carey Mulligan as a (the?) "Sundance 'It Girl.'" (3) Lionsgate acquired James Strouse's comedy/drama The Winning Season, starring Sam Rockwell as a high school girls basketball coach, for North America and the UK, per Gregg Goldstein at Movie City News.

Reviews/Interview. James Rocchi caught the "surprise," work-in-progress screening of Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience and interviewed Paul Giamatti about Cold Souls. Meanwhile, Erik Davis saw Michael Cera * Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart in Adventureland, "a sometimes subtle dramedy that's more touchy-feely than it is funny." Scott Weinberg slammed the Brett Easton Ellis adaptation The Informers as "nearly unwatchable" but thought the doc Good Hair was "well-crafted and consistently entertaining" and says the drama Five Minutes of Heaven proved to be "refreshingly humane and hopeful." (All of our Sundance coverage can be found at our Sundance hub at Moviefone.)

Blog Talk (after the jump). Why tonight's unexpected screening of The Girlfriend Experience frustrated one veteran journalist.