the girlfriend experience Tagged Articles at Cinematical

400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

Well, seven seconds has gone by and here I am, thinking about sex again. Not like that, you little perverts... I was thinking about sex in movies. It seems like, lately, the movies have learned to become sexy again. In the late 1960s, it became slowly acceptable to show nudity in American films. By the 1970s, many filmmakers were running with it. At some point during the 1980s and 1990s, some kind of conservative mood took over and the MPAA and other forces began taking sex out of movies, replaced with violence. As one clever soul put it: "if you show a breast, you get an R rating, but if you cut it off, you get a PG-13." Perhaps people have grown tired of conservatism lately because this year has been a good year for sex. In movies.

If you like sexy, funny women, for example, you can do no better than Anna Faris, who played a Playboy bunny last year and this year plays mall makeup countergirl Brandi, who listens to vulgar hip-hop and wears her good-time girl attitude like a revealing halter top. Her sex scene with Seth Rogen in Observe and Report (119 screens) contains so far one of my favorite lines of dialogue this year. She's downed several shots of something or other and a few pills on top of that. She's about 99% passed out as Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen) pounds away on top of her. He stops, concerned about her well-being: "Brandi?" he asks. Suddenly, from between smears of lipstick: "Why are you stopping, motherf----r?"

Downsizing in Hollywood isn't the same as downsizing for you or me. Four A-list directors decided to downsize their latest productions by choice, according to Rachel Abramowitz in the Los Angeles Times. And to hear Sam Mendes (above, right), Ang Lee, Sam Raimi (above, left) and Steven Soderbergh talk, they made the choice in order to save their own artistic souls after working on creatively-draining big-budget projects for years.

• Sam Mendes (Away We Go): "I loved having to work fast again ... You can get into the habits when making bigger films where you sort of expect everything to be there for you. You don't have to work for it ... there was even less conspicuous consumption ... There aren't as many people, and you feel less guilty because you're not spending as much money." Estimated budget: $17 million.
• Sam Raimi (Drag Me to Hell): "I realized all these toys I'm used to are wonderful but not always necessary ... All I really need is the actress." Estimated budget: $30 million.
• Ang Lee (Taking Woodstock): "I faced a lot of pressure [making Lust, Caution] . . . It gets to be too much ... Spiritually and philosophically I was yearning to do something warm." Estimated budget: $30 million.
• Steven Soderbergh (The Girlfriend Experience): "Employing non-actors, by design you are building the piece around them ... It's a good way to work, you're constantly adapting to what's in front of you."Estimated budget: $1.7 million.

I loved Drag Me to Hell and enjoyed Away We Go, so maybe they've got the right idea. What other big-budget Hollywood directors should consider doing a downsized project for the sake of their own artistic souls? McG? Brett Ratner?

I catch The Rotten Tomatoes Show pretty much every week, especially now that co-host Ellen Fox and I are officially engaged (but don't tell her; it's a surprise), and I'm always on the lookout for the best clips to share with you guys. Recently The RT Show had actress / cyber-smut starlet / attractive female Sasha Grey pop up to share her top five films, what with her 'legit' debut just hitting the scene recently. (It's Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience, and I'm still looking forward to checking it out.)

So I'm guessing the producers of The RT Show were expecting a fairly standard list of favorite flicks from Ms. Grey. Maybe something like Pretty Woman or The Sixth Sense or (aha) Boogie Nights ... but Sasha is clearly a very discerning gal, and it sure seems like her tastes run towards the indie, the foreign, and the artsy. I won't ruin the surprises, but embedded below is a porn star who not only adores Cassavetes, Breillat, and Herzog, but she speaks about them well enough to prove she's not faking it! (I hate porn stars who fake it.) And then, just to add a little tweak to the list, her #1 pick is so cool, it made me want to ... give Sasha Grey a nice big kiss. On the cheek. Her face's cheek. Honest.

One week into the Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) and the screenings keep humming along. It's probably a softer buzz than previous years; some attendees have even dared to take a night or two off to care for other, personal matters (like sleep) -- something you'd never hear about at Sundance, Cannes, or Toronto. Perhaps that's a consequence of the festival being held in such a costly city: very expensive for out-of-towners to cover, and locals can't get away from their personal lives the same as when they're traveling.

Scene. Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience premiered on Tuesday evening (the post-screening party featured chocolate-covered bacon), and tonight Soderbergh and star Sasha Grey shared a panel to discuss the film. Eric Bana made an appearance in support of Love the Beast, a documentary he directed about his favorite car, and Zachary Quinto chatted with him at a party in the East Village. Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker walked the red carpet for Joshua Goldin's Wonderful World, in which Broderick stars. Racing Dreams, currently leading the Audience Awards voting, is apparently not a Go-Kart movie, as we have previously described it. Sorry!

Our Coverage. Eric D. Snider reviewed Raymond De Felitta's City Island ("a merry comedy about one of those quarrelsome Italian-American families where everybody fights a lot but ultimately loves one another") and Conor McPherson's The Eclipse ("an unusual mixture of somber character drama and supernatural horror"). Erik Davis took a critical look at Which Way Home ("a riveting documentary that taps into the same concept and themes of Sin Nombre, except it's all real and it's all heartbreaking to watch") and gave us a glimpse of the TFF flasher and other "bumps." Check out all of our coverage right here.

Since we still haven't seen anything worthwhile from James Cameron's Avatar, save for the occasional behind-the-scenes green-screen shot or fan-made trailer, all we have to go on for the time being is word from other filmmakers or journalists who've been allowed behind the curtain for a sneak peek. Some say Cameron's big-budgeted (over $200 million) part live-action/part animated 3D extravaganza will change everything we've come to expect from your average moviegoing experience. Personally I hope that includes aliens bursting out of the screen and up the theater aisle hell-bent on massaging my neck for two hours -- but I'll take what I can get.

Speaking of teases, Coming Soon spoke with writer-director Steven Soderbergh while the man was doing press for his new film The Girlfriend Experience, and, surprisingly, he threw in an Avatar mention when asked why today's films don't have the impact or longevity of some classics. On Avatar, he notes, "I've seen some stuff and holy sh*t. It's the craziest sh*t ever." For Soderbergh, who's constantly experimenting and playing around with digital filmmaking, to use "craziest sh*t ever" in a sentence -- well, he really must have seen some crazy sh*t. The man went no further, but Cameron has to be really putting together something special and magical to elicit that sort of reaction from Soderbergh. Argh, show us something Fox! We're dying over here.

Avatar hits theaters on December 18.

Armored
A group of armored car guards plan to swipe several million dollars that have been left in their care. The presence of Laurence Fishburne and Matt Dillon offers some hope, but the basic premise recalls everything from Reservoir Dogs to the Oceans' series. When the youngest member of the gang makes Matt Dillon promise that no one will get hurt I cringed a little. This one hits theaters on September 18.

The Skeptic
I'm torn about how I feel about this one. In the plus column this haunted house flick seems to have some real creep out moments and reminds me a bit of The Changeling. On the other hand I've never seen Tim Daly carry a feature before and the rest of the cast, which includes Tom Arnold, makes me feel like this is a TV movie. For those less skeptical (d'oh!) it hits theaters on May 1.

The Countess
The Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory (1560-1614) has been the subject of more horror films than I can count thanks to her habit of bathing in the blood of virgins in hopes of preserving her own youth. This film aims, presumably, at a more historically accurate portrayal of the Countess, making this a period costume drama with a grisly edge. No U.S. release date just yet.

Have you been secretly sneak previewing films before they open in theaters? I'm not talking about illegally downloading a big Hollywood flick like X-Men Origins: Wolverine or buying cheap pirate DVDs on the street. Indie distributors IFC Films and Magnolia Pictures have been pioneers in making their releases available via video on demand (VOD) systems, as reported by Anne Thompson at Variety last summer. IFC releases some titles direct to VOD, bypassing theaters entirely, while others are released to theaters and VOD at the same time.

Magnolia first experimented with the so-called "day-and-date" model in 2005, with Steven Soderbergh's Bubble, and has since made a few titles available several weeks in advance of a theatrical release as "sneak previews." (That's how I was able to see James Gray's Two Lovers two weeks before it opened locally.) Soderbergh's latest film, The Girlfriend Experience, will be available via VOD on April 30 before hitting theaters in New York and Los Angeles on May 22. James Rocchi caught the "work in progress" secret screening at Sundance and described it as "an intimate and yet honest movie about honesty and intimacy." Set in the days leading up to the 2008 Presidential election, porn star Sasha Grey plays a high-end Manhattan call girl meeting the challenges of her boyfriend (Chris Santos), her clients, and her work. You can check out the fabulous, alluring poster in the gallery below.

Have you sneak previewed films via VOD? Is it worth the expense so you can see a film in advance of its theatrical release? Or is it just more convenient? Would you consider doing so on a title-by-title basis? Would you pay to see this Girlfriend early?

That was fast! The ink is barely dry on yesterday's post and the Tribeca Film Festival has already announced the rest of their feature film lineup for this year's edition, which runs from April 22-May 3. A few quick picks:

Blank City. Celine Danhier's doc examines "the DIY independent film movement that emerged in tandem with punk rock in late '70s downtown New York." Living in Los Angeles at the time, I got to see only a few of those films, just enough to get me really interested, so this could be educational and enlightening for modern indie film lovers.

Serious Moonlight. Cheating in the countryside -- and it's a comedy! Cheryl Hines directs from a script by the late Adrienne Shelly, with Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, and Kristen Bell. That's a lot of talent in a small package.

Tell Tale. The director of L.I.E. and Twelve and Holding makes a psychological thriller inspired by Edgar Allan Poe? I'm there! Josh Lucas (meh) but acting aces Lena Headey and Brian Cox provide support.

Other promising titles, and why: Don McKay (black comedy, Thomas Haden Church, Elisabeth Shue, Melissa Leo); City Island (dysfunctional family comedy, Andy Garcia, Alan Arkin); and Love the Beast (doc, cars, Eric Bana's directorial debut).

Tribeca will also be showcasing NYC premieres of films like blaxpoitation flick Black Dynamite, Academy Award winner Departures, and Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience, as well as midnight thrills with Ti West's The House of the Devil and Newsmakers, a Russian remake of Johnny To's Hong Kong police drama Breaking News.

Cinematical will be on the ground to bring you complete coverage of the festival. After the jump: the official announcement. Dig in!

The beige square on the Sundance schedule for today -- "Sneak Preview," 6:15 at the Eccles -- was, over the past few days, filled in with a thousand brushstrokes of rumor and intimation and heard-it-from-a-friend-who-heard-it-from-a-friend whisperings. The first murmuring I heard to make that "Sneak Preview" a must-see was that the presentation was going to be an evening with Steven Soderbergh, a night of clips and conversation -- until that proposition, exciting as it was, was supplanted by another rumor: That the Eccles Sneak was going to be Soderbergh showing The Girlfriend Experience, his new run-and-gun, shot-with-the-4K-Red-digital-camera, adult-actress-in-the-lead-role, largely-improvised drama about the life of a New York escort. The rumors, for once, were true.

Soderbergh introduced the film with, as he put it, "a few caveats" as a "work in progress" projecting a 1080p reduction of the 4K file. In 1989, Soderbergh gave Sundance, and then us, sex, lies and videotape; in 2009, he offers sex, truth, and digital video. Much fuss was made when Soderbergh announced this film, and even more was made when he cast adult actress (the polite euphemism for 'porn star,' and that itself a polite euphemism for 'someone who has sex on-camera for money') Sasha Grey in the lead role as a Manhattan call girl who offers not just rushed release but the more refined "girlfriend experience" -- a suite of services including, as we see in the opener, fine red wine and Marc Jacobs black dresses, soft kisses and small talk, and many more things, an experience that goes far beyond sex. And yet still includes it.