AFI FEST 2009: Shorts…and to the point! Todd Luoto (OIL CHANGE)

Todd Luoto’s short film OIL CHANGE is one of those precise and finite works that remind me why I love film festivals.

Because without film festivals, you don’t get the acerbic bordering on acrid social interplay that happens in Luoto’s version of a date from hell. You don’t get it because things called “studio notes” and “lowest common denominator” thwart this kind of film, which keeps pushing the boundaries on of common decency in a social setting – literally. And joyfully, in my mind. You also don’t get it in this case, because Luoto’s “day job” is being a programmer for the Sundance Film Festival. So – thank you film festivals for Todd Luoto and the shudder while you giggle nervously brilliance of OIL CHANGE.

The obvious question – can you and have you changed the oil in your car before? I really want to lie and say ‘yes’ here.  Make a point that the only reason I go to Jiffy Lube to get one done is for the complimentary vacuum and free coffee. Unfortunately, that’s dishonest and my father raised me better than that. Sure, he didn’t teach me much about mechanics, and one look at my scruff will assure you I’m not the shaving type, but the man instilled lessons/values in me that go far beyond grease and razors…like Jefferson Airplane for one.  Not that that should be a feather in anyone’s cap by any means, but oddly that’s the first thing that comes to mind.

In your mind, what would be a worse “bad date” scenario: Having to quell the desire to point out bad behavior on your date’s part to avoid confrontation or resist the urge to put their offensive friends in their place in deference to that person?
Both seem like pretty miserable options, but I think it’d be a lot more difficult to bite my tongue if my date wasn’t too cool. Then again, if she had my Playstation at her apartment, or perhaps my favorite pair of sneaks, I’d have an easier time holding my breath until I found a reasonable escape plan for them. The woman with the bad attitude, I could bear losing…Chuck Taylors or Grand Theft Auto, not so much.

How has the experience of making OIL CHANGE and then attending other festivals with the film colored the way you look at and approach programming now?
I think programming gives me a better idea of what works in terms of storytelling, and this film in particular had me really understand how difficult it can be to deliver your vision in abbreviated form.  There’s now an added appreciation for films I see that do and especially don’t work, and this project also probably left me a little more impressed by bigger budget fare.  We got lucky by making this on the cheap with limited resources, and I can’t imagine pulling off something much more elaborate.  Like the rapper/prophet/guy on my fav t-shirt, Biggie Smalls, said, ‘Mo’ Money, Mo problems,’ and I don’t think we could afford any more setbacks.

You made the film for very little money. Where did the bulk of it go? Camera rental, generic soda and licorice for the craft service table, and of course, the space battle sequence.

What is your favorite “ride”: Swing Set, See Saw or Slide?
Swing set – one of these days I’m gonna finally make it over the top and transport into another dimension. One in which Crystal Pepsi and Franken Berry cereal is still found in your local grocery store.

What will happen in the feature-length sequel to OIL CHANGE? Well, I’m thinking the two (ex-)lovers eventually get back together, find God, raise four wonderful children, and live happily ever after. I don’t think anyone, anywhere would actually ever program that version, but I’d finally feel comfortable letting my Mom watch something I made.

OIL CHANGE screens as part of the SHORTS PROGRAM 4:00PM November 2 @ Chinese Mann 6

Todd Luoto will attend the screening and participate in a Q&A afterwards.

 

 

 

AFI FEST 2009: Ten Burning Questions – Jessica Oreck (BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO)

It’s a wonderful thing to begin a “journey” with a film and be taken to an unexpected place that at the least adds to the original charms and at best enhances and amplifies that initial interest point. Jessica Oreck’s BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO is a great example of this phenomenon. Yes, the exploration of the Japanese culture’s fascination with beetles and bugs that has created its own cottage industry would be fascinating enough for Oreck to focus on. But she has grander ambitions to look deeper and wider into the zen of miniatures that has long been a staple of Japanese culture and through her camera’s lens – to immerse and indulge the viewer into that world for a few brief, calming and exquisite moments.

1        You have said that you aim (through the film) to challenge the way Westerners view nature, beauty and the hectic monotony of our day-to-day routine. But what inspired you to want to do that?

I’m obviously generalizing here, but I think that Americans have a pretty limited relationship to nature, or none at all.

Working in the butterfly vivarium, I hear more kids asking if a butterfly is ‘broken’ than asking if they are ‘dead,’ I think that’s a real indication that we have a rather potent problem with the human/nature interaction.

It seems that a lot of the environmental messages our society is pumping out are getting lost on the masses, either because they are preaching to the choir, or because the scare tactics are working too well – and people come away feeling disheartened instead of inspired.

I think our first and most basic step is just getting people to look at nature – not just glance at a picture or watch some aerial view of a world they have no connection to – but encourage them to pick up a leaf or a bug in their own city and really take the time to look at it, to understand it, to realize its place in the extraordinarily complex system that makes up our environment.

From there we might be able to make a change.

2        Why do you believe the Japanese culture lends itself to the fascination with insects and life in miniature?
You’ll have to see the movie to find out!

3         What is the best thing about having your film at AFI FEST?
I’m always excited to see new films and meet interesting people, but I am also pretty thrilled to be going to California for the first time.

4         BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO has also been chosen to be part of AFI Project 20/20. What is the most exciting thing about being part of that program?
The idea of traveling around the world with a group of filmmakers, sharing our films and ideas – not much to complain about…

5         How did you own personal feelings about bugs change over the course of making the film?
My feelings towards bugs didn’t really change – I still love them – but the filming did make me want to move to Japan, or at least smuggle lots of their bugs back to America.

6         When you aren’t working filmmaking, you are an animal keeper and docent at the American Museum of Natural History. So, what exactly does that job entail?
It depends on what’s on exhibit.  Apart from our perennial butterfly vivarium, we have several rotating exhibit spaces at AMNH and when we present an exhibit with live animals – that’s my department.  So right now we are taking care of butterflies, sugar gliders, a variety of frogs, and silkworms.  It’s a lot of cleaning and feeding, but we also get to spend time in the exhibit, talking to visitors about the animals we keep.

It’s basically my dream job – and my boss has been incredible to let me take all this time off to travel with the film.

7         What recent documentaries have made an impact on you?
In the last few years, I liked Philip Gröning’s INTO GREAT SILENCE, and I enjoyed MAN ON WIRE.  In terms of what’s playing the festival circuit now, I’m partial to the Ross Brothers’ “45365.”

8         Your cameraman on the film also happened to be your boyfriend. So, what carries more potential for an argument: setting up a shot or visiting each other’s parents?
Setting up a shot – definitely.

9         Seriously, now… You find a spider in the house. Do you scoop it up in a cup and deliver it outside into some bushes or do you smush that sucker?
A spider?  I leave spiders in my house!  Spiders are really great at getting rid of the insects we humans abhor – like mosquitoes, gnats and fruit flies.  I always leave spiders where they are, or, if I have to, move them to a more convenient location.   A cockroach on the other hand…

10      Popcorn or candy? Candy.  I have an exceedingly unruly sweet tooth.

BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO screens  10:00AM October 31 @ Mann 1.

AFI FEST 2009 Announces Full Schedule

AFI FEST 2009 PRESENTED BY AUDI

ANNOUNCES THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY’S “A SINGLE MAN”

AS CLOSING NIGHT GALA PRESENTATION

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS’

“THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS”

IS CENTERPIECE SCREENING GALA PRESENTATION

PROGRAMMING INCLUDES TRIBUTES TO

VIGGO MORTENSEN AND CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER

COMPLETE FESTIVAL LINEUP ANNOUNCED

TICKETS AVAILABLE STARTING FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16

LOS ANGELES (October 14, 2009)—AFI FEST 2009 presented by Audi today announced the complete lineup of films for the 23rd edition of the Festival, including the Closing Night Gala, Centerpiece Screening, Tributes and Special Presentations.

The Weinstein Company’s A SINGLE MAN has been selected as the AFI FEST Closing Night Gala presentation. A SINGLE MAN will make its US Premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Thursday, November 5, 2009.

Sony Pictures Classics’ THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS has been selected as AFI FEST’s Centerpiece Screening Gala presentation. THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS will make its US Premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Monday, November 2, 2009.

The Closing Night Gala presentation of A SINGLE MAN features the directorial debut of fashion designer Tom Ford from his script adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s acclaimed novel. The film follows a day in the life of a gay British college professor in Los Angeles as he attempts to cope with the death of his partner. Ford’s work helming the project and Colin Firth’s lead performance in the film have received critical acclaim following screenings at the Venice and Toronto film festivals. Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode and Ginnifer Goodwin also star in the film. The Weinstein Company release is due in theaters on December 11.

Ford, Firth and Moore are scheduled to attend.

“It is exciting to champion a talented artist like Tom Ford as he moves beyond the boundaries of one medium into another. In A SINGLE MAN, he delivers an elegant and beautiful personal story that will resonate with all audience members“ said AFI FEST Artistic Director Rose Kuo.

The Centerpiece Screening Gala presentation features the latest work by director Terry Gilliam. THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS follows the leader of a traveling theater troupe who, having made a deal with the devil, takes audience members through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations. The film stars Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Heath Ledger in his final role. The Sony Pictures Classics release is due in theaters stateside on December 25.

Gilliam and Plummer are scheduled to attend.

“The mind-altering, looking-glass world that Terry Gilliam creates in THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS,” notes Director of Programming Robert Koehler, “is like a model for his ideal cinema, in which anything can happen and all rules are broken. If audiences thought that THE DARK KNIGHT was their last glimpse of Heath Ledger, then what Ledger brings to Gilliam’s fantasy-adventure will surprise them.”

AFI FEST has selected actors Christopher Plummer and Viggo Mortensen to receive tributes at this year’s Festival. Sponsored by the Skirball Cultural Center, Plummer’s tribute event will precede the screening of his film THE LAST STATION on Tuesday, November 3. Mortensen’s tribute will precede the US Premiere of the film THE ROAD on Wednesday, November 4. Both Tributes will take place at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

One of the world’s most respected actors, Plummer has won two Tony Awards (for CYRANO and BARRYMORE), three Drama Desk Awards, the National Arts Club Medal and two Emmys. He was a leading member of  Laurence Olivier’s Royal National Theatre and Peter Hall’s Royal  Shakespeare Company. Since appearing in Sidney Lumet’s STAGE STRUCK (1958), his more than 100 films have included WIND ACROSS THE  EVERGLADES (1958), THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965), WATERLOO (1970) and TWELVE MONKEYS (1995), THE INSIDER (1999), A BEAUTIFUL MIND (2001), SYRIANA (2005) and INSIDE MAN (2006). He stars as Leo Tolstoy in THE LAST STATION and plays the title role in THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS.

John Hillcoat THE ROAD is adapted from the acclaimed novel by Cormac McCarthy, THE ROAD stars Mortensen as a father making his way with his young son across the scorched landscape of a post-apocalyptic world. Directed by Hillcoat from a script by Joe Penhall, the film also stars Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Molly Parker. The Weinstein Company release is due in theaters November 25.

Mortensen, Hillcoat and Theron are scheduled to attend.

From his debut in Peter Weir’s WITNESS (1985) to his signature role of Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, Mortensen’s career has been highlighted by intensely stunning portrayals of men of strict and uncompromising character dealing with a shifting moral universe. Notable films include Sean Penn’s INDIAN RUNNER (1991), Gregory Widen’s THE PROPHECY (1995), Ridley Scott’s G.I. JANE, Tony Goldwyn’s A WALK ON THE MOON (1999), David Cronenberg’s A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (2005) and EASTERN PROMISES (2007)—for which he received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations—and Ed Harris’ APPALOOSA (2008).

“Viggo Mortensen and Christopher Plummer are two actors and film artists of the highest order,” said Kuo. “They share that rare trait of being looked up to by audiences and film fans around the world as well as being greatly respected by their peers.”

Other highlights among the complete film schedule announced today include Jonathan Demme’s music documentary NEIL YOUNG TRUNK SHOW (with Demme and Young confirmed to attend) and the screening of two films connected by legendary art director and longtime AFI Conservatory Distinguished Lecturer Robert Boyle, who turned 100 on October 10. Those films are AFI Conservatory Alumnus Daniel Raim’s (Production  Design ’99) documentary SOMETHING’S GONNA LIVE and Alfred Hitchcock’s classic NORTH BY NORTHWEST, celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year.

A follow-up to Raim’s Oscar-nominated documentary, THE MAN ON LINCOLN’S NOSE, SOMETHING’S GONNA LIVE profiles Boyle (THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, THE BIRDS) and renowned art directors Henry Bumstead (TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, THE STING), Harold Michelson (STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, CATCH-22) and Albert Nozaki (THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS), as well as master cinematographers Conrad Hall (IN COLD BLOOD, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID) and Haskell Wexler (WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT). From snapshots, sketches and vintage footage interwoven with interviews and new scenes of these octogenarian artists at work, we get a behind-the-scenes look at master moviemaking.

Boyle and Wexler will attend the World Premiere screening.

On Monday, November 2, AFI FEST, in conjunction with Warner Home Video will present a special screening of Hitchcock’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST. The first Hitchcock film to be released on Blu-ray, the film has been restored and remastered for its 50^th anniversary. As part of the Gala event, director William Friedkin will attend to moderate a Q&A with Boyle and the film’s stars Eva Marie Saint and Martin Landau.

Koehler noted, “In our 23rd year, our programming seeks to shine a light on an international cinema landscape filled with brilliant young filmmakers forging fresh, unexpected pathways, documentarians on a quest for truth, and a fascinating survey of stop-motion animation (FANTASTIC MR. FOX, IN THE ATTIC, A TOWN CALLED PANIC), while delivering what AFI FEST has done from the beginning—offering audiences a view of the vastness of cinema across the world.”

AFI FEST continues its unique and successful association with the American Film Market with 23 of the features in official selection at AFI FEST represented by distributors at AFM, unfolding concurrently with AFI FEST from November 4–November 11. The following films are among those that will participate in the market and screen at the festival: AFTER.LIFE; THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL, NEW ORLEANS; BELLAMY; CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH; EVERYONE ELSE; FIRST OF ALL, FELICIA; FISH TANK; THE HOLE; THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS; KANIKOSEN; THE LAST STATION; THE LOVED ONES; THE MESSENGER; THE MILK OF SORROW; MOTHER; NEIL YOUNG TRUNK SHOW; PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE; THE ROAD; THE SILENT ARMY; A SINGLE MAN; THE TWO HORSES OF GENGHIS KHAN; WOMAN WITHOUT PIANO; YOUTH IN REVOLT.

Enhancing the AFI FEST/American Film Market alliance, the final two days of AF FEST (November 6-7) will screen at the Laemmle’s Monica 4-plex, 1332 2nd Street, Santa Monica, in close proximity to AFM headquartered activity.

AFI FEST 2009’s overall lineup will showcase 67 features (54 narrative, 13 documentary) and 26 shorts for a total of 93 films from 32 countries.

The breakdown by section is Galas/Tributes (7), New Lights Competition (11), Special Presentations (3), Documentary (13), World Cinema (27), Alt_Cinema (6) and Shorts (26).

The Festival is headquartered at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. All screenings from October 30–November 5 will take place at the Grauman’s Chinese and Mann Chinese 6 theaters in Hollywood with the final two days of the Festival (November 6-7) screening at the Laemmle’s Monica 4-plex in Santa Monica.

Free tickets to all Festival screenings are available online at AFI.com/AFIFEST or by phone at 866-AFI-FEST beginning October 16, at the Mann Chinese 6 Theatre (6925 Hollywood Blvd.) in the Hollywood and Highland Center) beginning October 26, and on the day of scheduled screenings via Rush Lines. Early entry to all screenings can be secured by becoming a patron of the Festival and purchasing an AFI FEST Patron Pass. For more details, visit AFI.com.

The complete program line-up for AFI FEST 2009 presented by Audi is as follows:

GALAS/TRIBUTES

Opening Night Gala—FANTASTIC MR. FOX (North American Premiere) Cast: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Jarvis Cocker DIR: Wes Anderson PROD: Allison Abbate, Scott Rudin, Wes Anderson and Jeremy Dawson USA

Centerpiece Gala—THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS (US Premiere) Cast: Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell DIR: Terry Gilliam PROD: Amy Gilliam, Terry Gilliam, Samuel Hadida, William Vince EXEC PROD: Patrice Theroux, David Valleau USA

Gala—EVERYBODY’S FINE (World Premiere) Cast: Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell, Melissa Leo DIR: Kirk Jones PROD: Vittorio Cecchi Gori, Ted Field, Glynis Murray, Gianni Nunnari EXEC PROD: Craig J. Flores, Callum Greene USA

Tribute—THE LAST STATION Cast: Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren, Paul Giamatti, James McAvoy DIR: Michael Hoffman PROD: Bonnie Arnold, Chris Curling EXEC PROD: Andrei Konchalovsky, Robert Little, Phil Robertson, Judy Tossell UK/Germany

Gala—PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE Cast: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sheri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz DIR: Lee Daniels PROD: Lee Daniels, Gary Magness, Sarah Siegel-Magness EXEC PROD: Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Lisa Cortes, Tom Heller USA

Tribute—THE ROAD (US Premiere) Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce, Molly Parker DIR: John Hillcoat PROD: Paula Mae Schwartz, Steve Schwartz, Nick Wechsler EXEC PROD: Marc Butan, Mark Cuban, Rudd Simmons, Todd Wagner USA

Closing Night Gala—A SINGLE MAN (US Premeiere) Cast: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Ginnifer Goodwin DIR: Tom Ford PROD: Tom Ford, Andrew Miano, Robert Salerno, Chris Weitz USA

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

A showcase honoring film history and its filmmakers.
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Leo G. Carroll, Martin Landau DIR: Alfred Hitchcock PROD: Herbert Coleman, Alfred Hitchcock USA

SOMETHING’S GONNA LIVE (World Premiere) Subjects: Robert “Bob” Boyle, Haskell Wexler, Henry Bumstead, Harold Michelson, Albert Nozaki DIR: Daniel Raim PROD: Daniel Raim USA

WAKE IN FRIGHT Cast: Gary Bond, Donald Pleasence, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay, Jack Thompson DIR: Ted Kotcheff PROD: George Willoughby, EXEC PROD: Bill Harmon, Howard G. Barnes Australia

NEW LIGHT COMPETITION

This section features and honors vital, groundbreaking films by first- and second-time feature filmmakers from around the world.

AJAMI Cast: Fouad Habash, Nisrine Rihan, Elias Saba, Youssef Sahwani DIR: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani PROD: Moshe Danon, Thanassis Karathanos EXEC PROD: James Richardson Israel/Germany

EASIER WITH PRACTICE Cast: Brian Geraghty, Marguerite Moreau, Jeanette Brox, Jenna Gavigan, Katie Aselton DIR: Kyle Patrick Alvarez PROD: Cookie Carosella USA

EVERYONE ELSE (ALLE ANDEREN) Cast: Birgit Minichmayr, Lars Eidinger, Hans-Jochen Wagner, Nicole Marischka DIR: Maren Ade PROD: Maren Ade, Dirk G. Engelhardt, Janine Jackowski Germany

FIRST OF ALL, FELICIA (FELICIA INAINTE DE TOATE) Cast: Ozana Oancea, Vasile Mentzel, Ileana Cernat, Adina Andrei DIR: Razvan Radulescu, Melissa de Raaf PROD: Ada Solomon Romania/France/Belgium/Croatia

FISH TANK Cast: Michael Fassbender, Harry Treadaway, Katie Jarvis, Kierston Wareing DIR: Andrea Arnold PROD: Kees Kasander EXEC PROD: Christine Langan, David M. Thompson, Paul Trijbits UK

I KILLED MY MOTHER Cast: Anne Dorval, Xavier Dolan, François Arnaud, Suzanne Clément DIR: Xavier Dolan PROD: Xavier Dolan EXEC PROD: Carole Mondello Canada

THE MESSENGER Cast: Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Ben Foster, Jena Malone DIR: Oren Moverman PROD: Benjamin Goldhirsh, Mark Gordon, Lawrence Inglee, Zach Miller EXEC PROD: Steffen Aumueller, Nathaniel Bolotin, Christopher Mapp, Shaun Redick, Glenn M. Stewart, Matthew Street, David Whealy, Bryan Zuriff USA

THE MILK OF SORROW (LA TETA ASUSTADA) Cast: Magaly Solier, Susi Sánchez, Efrain Solis, Marino Ballón DIR: Claudia Llosa PROD: Antonio Chavarrías, Claudia Llosa, José María Morales Spain/Peru

NORTHLESS (NORTEADO) Cast: Harold Torres, Alicia Laguna, Sonia Couoh, Luis Cárdenas DIR: Rigoberto Perezcano PROD: Edgar San Juan EXEC PROD: Sergio Castro, Hector Hernandez-Pons, Alejandro Martinez-Gallardo Mexico/Spain

POLICE, ADJECTIVE Cast: Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, Irina Saulescu, Ion Stoica DIR: Corneliu Porumboiu PROD: Corneliu Porumboiu Romania

WOMAN WITHOUT PIANO (LA MUJER SIN PIANO) Cast: Jan Budar, Esperanza De la Vega, Tomás del Estal, Nadia de Santiago DIR: Javier Rebello EXEC PROD: Damián Paris, Stefan Schmitz, María Zamora Spain/France

WORLD CINEMA

This section presents a selection of new works by many of the world’s most renowned filmmakers.

ABOUT ELLY Cast: Taraneh Alidoosti, Golshifteh Farahani, Shahab Hosseini, Mani Haghighi, Merila Zarei, Peyman Moadi, Ahmad Mehranfar, Rana Azadivar, Saber Abar  DIR: Asghar Farhadi PROD: Asghar Farhadi Iran

AFTER.LIFE Cast: Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci, Justin Long DIR: Agnieska Wojtowicz-Vosloo PROD: Brad Michael Gilbert, Bill Perkins, Celine Rattray EXEC PROD: Pamela Hirsch, Edwin L. Marshall, Galt Niederhoffer, James Swisher USA

THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL, NEW ORLEANS Cast: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendez, Val Kilmer DIR: Werner Herzog PROD: Edward Pressman, John Thompson, Alan Polsky, Gabe Polsky, Stephen Belafonte EXEC PROD: Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, Elliot Rosenblatt USA

BELLAMY Cast: Gerard Depardieu DIR: Claude Chabrol PROD: Edward Pressman, John Thompson, Alan Polsky, Gabe Polsky, Stephen Belafonte  EXEC PROD: Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, Elliot Rosenblatt France

CASTRO Cast: Edgardo Castro, Julia Martínez Rubio, Alberto Suárez, Carla Crespo, Esteban Lamothe DIR: Alejo Moguillansky PROD: Mariano Llinás, Laura Citarella EXEC PROD: Eduardo Costantini Argentina

CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH Cast: Liu Ye, Gao Yuanyuan, Hideo Nakaizumi, Fan Wei, Jiang Yiyan DIR: Lu Chuan PROD: Han Sanping, Steffen Wild China/Hong Kong

THE HOLE Cast: Chris Massoglia, Haley Bennett, Nathan Gamble, Teri Polo, Bruce Dern DIR: Joe Dante PROD: Robert Skotak EXEC PROD: Gary Michael Waters, Chris Bender, J.C. Spink USA

IN THE ATTIC Cast: Barbora Hrzánová, Boris Hybner, Vladimír Javorsky DIR: Jiri Barta PROD:  Milos Smídmajer Czech Republic/Slovakia/Japan

KANIKOSEN Cast: Matsuda Ryuhei, Nishijima Hidetoshi, Kora Kongo, Arai Hirfumi, Emoto Tokio, Kinoshita Takayuki, Kimoto Takehiro DIR: Sabu PROD: Utagawa Yasushi, Mameoka Ryosuke, Tanabe Keigo EXEC PROD Takahito Kashino Japan

A LAKE (North American Premiere) Cast: Dmitry Kubasov, Natalie Rehorova, Alexei Solonchev, Simona Hülsemann, Vitaly Kishchenko, Arthur Semay DIR: Philippe Grandrieux PROD: Catherine Jacques  France

LONDON RIVER Cast: Brenda Blethyn, Sotigui Kouyate DIR: Rachid Bouchareb PROD: Rachid Bouchareb, Jean Bréhat, Mattieu de Braconier, Bertrand Faivre Algeria/France/UK

LOOKING FOR ERIC Cast: Steve Evets, Eric Cantona, John Henshaw, Stephanie Bishop DIR: Ken Loach PROD: Tim Cole EXEC PROD: Rebecca O’Brien UK

MOTHER Cast: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Park Eun-kyo DIR: Bong Joon-ho PROD: Choi Jae-won, Seo Woo-sik EXEC PROD: Miky Lee, Katharine Kim, Yang-kwon Moon South Korea

NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS Cast: Negar Shaghaghi, Askan Koshanejad, Hamed Behdad DIR: Bahman Ghobadi PROD: Bahman Ghobadi EXEC PROD: Roxana Saberi Iran

PERPETUUM MOBILE Cast: Gabino Rodríguez, Teresa Sánchez, Francisco Barreiro DIR: Nicolás Pereda PROD: Nicolás Pereda, Catarina Coyoacan Mexico/Canada

A PROPHET Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb, Hichem Yacoub DIR: Jacques Audiard PROD: Martine Cassinelli, Antonin Dedet France/Italy

RED RIDING TRILOGY (1974, 1980, 1983) Cast: Sean Bean, Andrew Garfield, David Morrissey, John Henshaw, Anthony Flanagan, Rebecca Hall, Peter Mullan DIR: Julian Jarrold, James Marsh, Anand Tucker PROD: Andrew Eaton, Anita Overland, Wendy Brazington EXEC PROD: Liza Marshall, Hugo Heppell, Norman Merry UK

ROOM AND A HALF Cast: Alisa Freindlich, Sergei Yursky, Grigory Dityatkovsky, Artem Smola DIR: Andrey Khrzhanovsky PROD: Artem Vassiliev, Andrey Khrzhanovsky Russia

THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES Cast: Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago, Javier Godino, Guillermo Francella DIR: Juan José Campanella PROD: Gerardo Herrero, Mariela Besuievsky, Juan José Campanella Argentina/Spain

THE SILENT ARMY Cast: Marco Borsato, Andrew Kintu, Abby Mukiibi Nkaaga, Thekla Reuten DIR: Jean van de Velde PROD: Chris Brouwer, Richard Claus, Paul Brinks The Netherlands/France

SWEET RUSH Cast: Krystyna Janda, Pawel Szajda, Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieslak, Julia Pietrucha, Jan Englert DIR: Andrzej Wajda PROD: Waldemar Dabrowski, Slawomir Jozwik, Michal Kwiecinski, Dorota Rakowska-Kosmicka, EXEC PROD: Katarzyna Fukacz-Cebula Poland

TO DIE LIKE A MAN Cast: Fernando Santos, Alexander David, Goncalo Ferreira de Almeida, Chandra Malatitch, Jenny Larrue DIR: Joao Pedro Rodrigues PROD: Maria João Sigalho, Judith Nora Portugal/France

A TOWN CALLED PANIC Cast: Stéphane Aubier, Jeanne Balibar, Veronique Dumont, Bruce Ellison, Frederic Jannin DIR: Stephane Aubier, Vincent Patar PROD: Philippe Kauffmann, Vincent Tavier Belgium/France/Luxembourg

VINCERE Cast: Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Timi, Fausto Russo Alesi, Michela Cescon, Piergiorgio Bellocchio DIR: Marco Bellocchio PROD: Mario Gianani EXEC PROD: Olivia Sleiter Italy/France

YOUTH IN REVOLT Cast: Michael Cera, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Long, Steve Buscemi, Jean Smart, Fred Willard, Mary Kay Place DIR: Miguel Arleta PROD: David Permut EXEC PROD: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Nan Morales USA

DOCUMENTARY

The best and brightest of challenging, thrilling documentary filmmaking from around the world, as chosen by the AFI FEST Programming Staff.

THE ART OF THE STEAL; DIR: Don Argott PROD: Sheena M. Joyce EXEC PROD: Lenny Feinberg USA

BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO; DIR: Jessica Oreck PROD: Jessica Oreck USA/Japan

LOS HEREDEROS; DIR: Eugenio Polgovsky PROD: Camille Tauss Mexico

ICONS AMONG US; Subjects: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Olu Dara, Ravi Coltrane, Medeski Martin and Wood DIR: Michael Rivoira/Lars Larson/Peter J. Vogt PROD: John W. Comerford, Theo N. Ianuly USA

LA DANSE: THE PARIS OPERA BALLET; DIR: Frederick Wiseman PROD: Pierre-Oliver Bardet, Frederick Wiseman, Francoise Gazio France/USA

MOSCOW; DIR: Eduardo Coutinho PROD: Beth Pessoa EXEC PROD: João Moreira Salles, Mauricio Andrade Ramos, Guilherme Cezar Coelho Brazil

NE CHANGE RIEN; With: Jeanne Balibar DIR: Pedro Costa PROD: Francisco Villa-Lobos Portugal/France

NEIL YOUNG TRUNK SHOW Subject: Neil Young DIR: Jonathan Demme PROD: Jonathan Demme, Elizabeth Hayes, Mark Kamine EXEC PROD: L.A. Johnson USA

PETITION; DIR: Zhao Liang PROD: Sylvie Blum France/China

REPORTER; With: Nicholas D. Kristof DIR: Eric Daniel Metzgar PROD: Mikaela Beardsley, Steven Cantor EXEC PROD: Ben Affleck USA

SWEETGRASS; DIR: Lucien Castaing-Taylor/Ilisa Barbash PROD: Ilisa Barbash USA

TRANSCENDENT MAN;  DIR: Robert Barry Ptolemy PROD: Barry Ptolemy, Felicia Ptolemy EXEC PROD: Joe DiSanto, John Ramsay, Wren Waters, Doobie White, Drew Dowdle, John Erick Dowdle  USA

THE TWO HORSES OF GENGHIS KHAN; DIR: Byambasuren Davaa PROD: Byambasuren Davaa, Beatrix Wesle Germany/Mongolia

ALT_CINEMA

Home to alternative filmmaking, this section provides a platform for filmmakers who push the boundaries of culture and cinema.

THE ANCHORAGE Cast: Ulla Edström, Marcus Harrling, Elin Hamren, Bengt Ohlsson DIR: C.W. Winter/Anders Edström PROD: C.W. Winter, Anders Edström USA/Sweden

BEST WORST MOVIE; DIR: Michael Paul Stephenson PROD: Lindsay Rowles Stephenson, Michael Paul Stephenson, Brad Klopman, Jim McKeon, Mary Francis Groom, Ace Goerig EXEC PROD: Alan Hunter, Hugh Hunter USA

GUY AND MADELINE ON A PARK BENCH Cast: Bernard Chazelle, Desiree Garcia, Jason Palmer, Frank Garvin, Sandha Khin DIR: Damien Chazelle PROD: Jasmine McGlade EXEC PROD: W.A.W. Parker USA

THE LOVED ONES Cast: Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, John Brumpton, Victoria Thaine, Jessica McNamee DIR: Sean Byrne PROD: Mark Lazarus, Michael Boughen EXEC PROD: Christopher Mapp, Matthew Street, David Whealy, Bryce Menzies Australia

MODUS OPERANDI Cast: Randy Russell, Danny Trejo, Mark Borchardt, Michael Sottile, Barry Poltermann DIR: Frankie Latina PROD: Shalyse Dominique, Laurie Foote, Mark Foote, Jon Krill, Zebedee LeTendre, Andrew Swant EXEC PROD: Bobby Ciraldo USA

TRASH HUMPERS Cast: Rachel Korine, Brian Kotzue, Travis Nicholson, Harmony Korine DIR: Harmony Korine PROD: Charles-Marie Anthonioz, Amina Dasmal, Robin Fox EXEC PROD: Amina Dasmal, Robin Fox, agnès b USA/UK

SHORTS

A wide-ranging selection of shorts by some of the world’s leading film artists, including a fresh serving from the ongoing Lunchfilms series (from programmer and Cinemad founder, Mike Plante, in which Plante takes a cash-strapped filmmaker out to lunch, and they pay him back what they owe with a film).

LUNCHFILMS:

ALL DAY ALL NIGHT DIR: Sarah Soquel Morhaim USA

THE CALL DIR: David Fenster/David Nordstrom USA

CHINESE BOX DIR: Nick McCarthy USA

CLEAR GLASSES DIR: Sam Green USA

FRIENDS DIR: James Graham USA

GOLDTHWAIT FAMILY HOME MOVIES (ANNIVERSARY EDITION) DIR: Bobcat Goldthwait USA

HOME MOVIE DIR: Braden King USA

JEAN DIR: Kelly Sears USA

LETTERS REAL/NAMES NOT DIR: Azazel Jacobs USA

OFFSHORE BANK DIR: Tom Barndt USA

TIN WOODMAN’S HOME MOVIE #2 DIR: Naomi Uman/Lee Lynch USA

WEIRD CAROLERS DIR: Brent Green USA

WHISKEYPRIEST DIR: Randy Walker/Jennifer Shainin USA

SHORTS PROGRAM:

THE CITIZENS/LEAD/THE SIMPLE ANTENNAE DIR: Kevin Everson USA

DICK CHENEY IN A COLD, DARK CELL DIR: Jim Finn USA

THE HISTORY OF AVIATION DIR: Balint Kenyeres Hungary/France

I AM SO PROUD OF YOU DIR: Don Hertzfeldt USA

JOHN WAYNE HATED HORSES DIR: Andrew T. Betzer USA

OIL CHANGE DIR: Todd Luoto USA

SEND ME TO THE ´LECTRIC CHAIR DIR: Guy Maddin, Isabella Rossellini Canada

SHORT TERM 12 DIR: Destin Daniel Cretton USA

S/T DIR: Lisandro Alonso Argentina

AFI FEST 2009 Announces EVERYBODY’S FINE and New Lights Competition

AFI FEST 2009 PRESENTED BY AUDI

ANNOUNCES WORLD PREMIERE OF

MIRAMAX FILM’S “EVERYBODY’S FINE”

ROBERT DE NIRO AND KATE BECKINSALE

TO ATTEND

ALSO ANNOUNCED ARE FILMS SELECTED FOR FESTIVAL’S

DEBUT OF NEW LIGHTS COMPETITION

Los Angeles, CA, October 5, 2009—AFI FEST 2009 presented by Audi today announced that Kirk Jones’ EVERYBODY’S FINE will have its world premiere at a Gala Screening presentation on Tuesday, November 3, 2009, at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. AFI FEST also announced the debut of the New Lights Competition, which will feature a selection of groundbreaking films by first and second time filmmakers from around the world.

EVERYBODY’S FINE, a remake of Giuseppe Tornatore’s STANNO TUTTI BENE, stars Robert De Niro as a widower who, upon realizing his only connection to his family was through his wife, sets off on an impromptu road trip to reunite and reconnect with each of his grown children. What follows is a series of eye-opening experiences for the working-class man as he learns the truth about each of their lives. Written and directed by Jones, the film also stars Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell. Jones, as well as De Niro and Beckinsale, will attend the world premiere of the film. The Miramax Films release is due in theaters December 4.

The New Lights Competition was created to feature and honor vital, groundbreaking films by first- and second-time feature filmmakers from around the world. Films selected this year include Israel’s Ophir (Best Picture) winner and the country’s Official Selection to the Academy Award foreign-language competition, AJAMI, directed by the Israeli/Palestinian tandem of Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti; Andrea Arnold’s UK coming-of-age story FISH TANK; Oren Moverman’s wartime drama, THE MESSENGER, starring Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton; NORTHLESS, Rigoberto Perezcano’s debut from Mexico; the previously announced German drama, EVERYONE ELSE (directed by Maren Ade); and POLICE, ADJECTIVE (directed by Corneliu Porumboiu), the winner of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard jury prize and Romania’s Official Selection to the Academy Award foreign-language competition.

“The establishment of the AFI FEST New Lights Competition is another highlight this year,” said AFI FEST Artistic Director Rose Kuo. “These films represent a selection of the year’s most essential work from the international film festival circuit.”

AFI FEST Director of Programming Robert Koehler added, “This competition is a great example of what we hoped to achieve with the programming for this year’s festival. To a film, they are accomplished and challenging works that strive to be memorably cinematic.”

New Lights competition selections (with descriptions by Koehler) are:

AJAMI (Israel/Germany)

Directors: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani

The film follows the interconnected stories of people of different faiths living side by side in a crime-ridden neighborhood. Israel’s foreign-language Academy Award submission, the film won a special mention Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, where it played in Directors’ Fortnight.

EASIER WITH PRACTICE (USA)

Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez

A young author sets out on a book promotion road trip with his younger brother. However, a random phone call from a mysterious woman begins a funny and intimate long-distance relationship that leads the man on another path to discover not only the truth about their relationship but also about himself.

EVERYONE ELSE (ALLE ANDEREN)

(Germany)

Director: Maren Ade

A couple’s psychological and emotional ties as they are put to the test during an increasingly volatile holiday in Sardinia.

FIRST OF ALL, FELICIA (FELICIA INAINTE DE TOATE)

(Romania/France/Belgium/Croatia)

Directors: Razvan Radulescu, Melissa de Raaf

A grown daughter experiences an extremely frustrating day as she attempts to return home from a family visit in Bucharest.

FISH TANK (UK)

Director: Andrea Arnold

Winner of Cannes’ Grand Jury Prize, this explosively realistic coming-of-age tale reveals the power dynamics beneath a girl’s dangerous friendship with an older man.

I KILLED MY MOTHER (Canada)

Director: Xavier Dolan

Directed by a 20-year-old wunderkind and winner of three Cannes awards, this miraculous debut follows a teenager as he wrestles with his sexuality, his talent and his mom.

THE MESSENGER (USA)

Director: Oren Moverman

Winner of two awards at the Berlin Film Festival, this unforgettable, potent debut feature by acclaimed screenwriter Moverman follows soldiers on a tough assignment: informing the families of the dead. The cast includes Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone and Ben Foster.

THE MILK OF SORROW (LA TETA ASUSTADA)

(Spain/Peru)

Director: Claudia Llosa

Winner of Berlin’s Golden Bear, this landmark work transmutes Peru’s brutal civil war into an allegorical tale: a young woman determined to turn the fear she inherited into hope.

NORTHLESS (NORTEADO)

(Mexico)

Director: Rigoberto Perezcano

A touching drama follows a would-be migrant from Oaxaca who finds friendship at a Tijuana market as he attempts to cross the border into the United States. The film explores what is left behind when a Mexican crosses the border into El Norte.

POLICE, ADJECTIVE (Romania)

Director: Corneliu Porumboiu

Articulate and brilliantly constructed, this Cannes winner tracks a weary officer who resists busting a hash-smoking teen: Will he ruin a kid’s life because of youthful indiscretions? This drama follows the impact on a young policeman’s life after following his actions.

WOMAN WITHOUT PIANO (LA MUJER SIN PIANO)

(Spain/France)

Director: Javier Rebello

The second feature from one of Spain’s most exciting talents follows the nocturnal adventures of a homemaker in Madrid as she attempts to escape her mundane family life only to wind up caring for an escaped Polish immigrant.

Free tickets are available beginning October 16 to all Festival screenings at AFI.com/AFI FEST, at the Mann Chinese 6 Theatre (6925 Hollywood Blvd.) beginning October 26, or on the day of scheduled screenings via Rush Lines. Priority seating to all screenings can be secured by becoming a patron of the Festival and purchasing an AFI FEST Patron Pass. For more details, visit AFI.com.

AFI FEST 2009 Announces Halloween Movies

AFI FEST 2009 PRESENTED BY AUDI

ANNOUNCES HALLOWEEN PROGRAMMING

FEATURING

“THE HOLE” IN 3-D, “THE LOVED ONES,”

“WAKE IN FRIGHT,” “BEST WORST MOVIE”

Los Angeles, CA, September 29, 2009—AFI FEST 2009 presented by Audi today announced films scheduled for Halloween, all of which celebrate the horror genre. Joe Dante’s THE HOLE, Sean Byrne’s THE LOVED ONES, Ted Kotcheff’s WAKE IN FRIGHT and Michael Stephenson’s BEST WORST MOVIE will screen on Saturday, October 31 at the Mann Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood.

Presented in 3-D, Joe Dante’s family friendly thriller THE HOLE marks an auspicious return to the big screen by the celebrated genre director after 11 years. In the film, two young brothers stumble upon a mysterious hole in their basement that houses an evil force that can create a physical manifestation of their deep-seated fears. After unwittingly unleashing the force, the brothers must team with the teenage girl next door to find a way to defend themselves against the darkness. The film stars Chris Massoglia, Haley Bennett, Nathan Gamble, Bruce Dern and Teri Polo.

THE HOLE will mark the first time a feature film has been presented in 3-D at AFI FEST or it’s precursor, Filmex since Paul Morrissey’s FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN screened in 1977. Michael Medaglia’s short film THE RATSNITCH ANGEL was presented in 3-D in 2006.

The Midnight Madness Audience Award winner of this year’s Toronto Film Festival, Sean Byrne’s THE LOVED ONES is an Australian thriller about a troubled high school senior who finds himself trapped in a bizarre “prom” and fighting for his life after he is abducted by a psychotic father-and-daughter pair. The film stars Xavier Samuel (who will star in ECLIPSE, the third installment of the TWILIGHT film saga), Robin McLeavy, John Brumpton and Victoria Thaine. THE LOVED ONES screening will be sponsored by Fangoria Entertainment.

Also hailing from Australia is Ted Kotcheff’s underground classic WAKE IN FRIGHT. Originally released in 1971, the film was nominated for the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival and has developed a reputation as one of Australia’s great, lost films. Recently recovered and restored, the film is a brutal and uncompromising thriller about a young teacher who arrives in a rough outback mining town planning to stay overnight before catching a plane to Sydney. However, his dealings with the hard-drinking, violent locals and a harrowing kangaroo hunt plunge the man headlong toward his own destruction. The film stars Donald Pleasence and Gary Bond.

Michael Stephenson’s documentary BEST WORST MOVIE looks at both the behind-the-scenes origins of TROLL 2 and the film’s journey to become a cult classic years after its initial release. Two decades later, Stephenson, the legendarily inept film’s child star, unravels the improbable, heartfelt story of an Alabama dentist turned cult movie icon and an Italian filmmaker as they try to come to terms with this genuine, internationally revered cinematic failure.

Also screening on Halloween will be the previously announced South Korean Academy Award pick, Bong Joon-ho’s MOTHER and the acclaimed RED RIDING TRILOGY of films.

“These are films that are targeted specifically to AFI FEST audiences looking for excitement on Halloween,” said AFI FEST Director of Programming Robert Koehler. “They run the gamut from the family friendly scares of THE HOLE, to the incredible Australian duo of THE LOVED ONES and WAKE IN FRIGHT, to the intense crime dramas of the RED RIDING TRILOGY.”

“Rollicking cult movie worship and Ozploitation lead the way in our celebration of Halloween at AFI FEST this year,” added AFI FEST Senior Programmer Lane Kneedler.  “We are thrilled to be embracing fringe filmmaking and alternative cinema once again as core components of our festival. When audiences come to Hollywood and Highland on Saturday night, we will deliver an unforgettable Halloween experience.”

Complimentary tickets are available beginning on October 16 to all Festival screenings at AFI.com/AFI FEST, at the Mann Chinese 6 Theatres (6925 Hollywood Blvd.) beginning October 26, or on the day of scheduled screenings via Rush Lines. Priority seating to all screenings can be secured by becoming a patron of the Festival and purchasing an AFI FEST Patron Pass. For more details, visit AFI.com.

AFI FEST 2009 Announces FANTASTIC MR. FOX Opening Night Film

AFI FEST 2009 PRESENTED BY AUDI ANNOUNCES

20TH CENTURY FOX’S “FANTASTIC MR. FOX”

OPENING NIGHT FILM

Los Angeles, CA, September 23, 2008—AFI FEST 2009 presented by Audi announces that 20^th Century Fox’s FANTASTIC MR. FOX has been selected as the Festival’s Opening Night Gala presentation. FANTASTIC MR. FOX will have its North American Premiere when it opens AFI FEST on Friday, October 30, 2009 at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. The Opening Night Gala is presented by Audi of America.

Heralded as “A movie that deserves to be called groundbreaking” by Peter Travers of Rolling Stone Magazine, FANTASTIC MR. FOX is visionary director Wes Anderson’s first animated film, utilizing classic handmade stop-motion techniques to tell the story of the best-selling children’s book by Roald Dahl (author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach).  The film features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, and Jarvis Cocker. The screenplay is by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, music composed and conducted by Alexadre Desplat. The film is produced by Allison Abbate, Scott Rudin, Wes Anderson and Jeremy Dawson.

Mr. and Mrs. Fox (Clooney and Streep) live an idyllic home life with their son Ash (Schwartzman) and visiting young nephew Kristofferson (Eric Anderson). But after twelve years of quiet domesticity, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr. Fox’s wild animal instincts. Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community. Trapped underground without enough food to go around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers – Boggis, Bunce and Bean – who are determined to capture the audacious, fantastic Mr. Fox at any cost. The film will be in theaters on November 13 in limited release and will open wide on November 25^th for Thanksgiving weekend.

“Wes Anderson is an American original,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President & CEO.  “It is a distinct honor for the American Film Institute to shine a proper light on his extraordinary talents by premiering his latest gift to the nation and to the world.”

“We are delighted to present this uniquely creative work that will launch the film festival with absolute fun and style. The combination of Anderson’s signature take on Roald Dahl’s world with the note perfect voice performances make it destined to be one of the key films of the year, said Rose Kuo, AFI FEST Artistic Director.

Free tickets are available to all Festival screenings in advance at AFI.com, at the Mann Theatres (6925 Hollywood Blvd.) beginning October 26, or on the day of scheduled screenings via rush lines. Reserved seating to all screenings can be secured by becoming a patron of the Festival and purchasing an AFI FEST Patron Pass. For more details, visit AFI.com.

Toronto Film Festival – Day #3 – Anything Can Happen Day starring Romero’s feudin’ Irish zombies!

This happens a lot at film festivals: You intend on seeing a film (let’s say THE INVENTION OF LYING). But you go to the wrong theater. Then you figure you’ll see CREATION or GET LOW as an alternative. But since it’s too far to walk or the film’s running time is too long and timing-wise you absolutely cannot miss George Romero’s SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD…you wind up ducking in to see a Spanish/Colombian film called RABIA.

And you have no idea what the movie is about.

Because film festivals can be fun when you know how!

So, just as I sit down and settle in to accept my mystery movie fate, I tune in to a conversation about script development straight out of THE PLAYER taking place in the seats behind me. “I loved the first draft. The middle drafts lost the comedy, but it’s so hard to be funny when you’re dealing with character and structure.” “But the book is SO funny. It’s like joke, joke, joke.”

Yes, I’m sure it is. Too bad those damn characters and three act structure prevents your writer from being funny…

Finally, the film starts. Directed by Sebastián Cordero, the film also has Guillermo del Toro as a producer. However, there are so many names of producers and executive producers on this thing that I thought for sure my name was up there too for a moment.

Anyway, the film begins with a little post-coital pillow talk with a Colombian couple, José Maria and Rosa. It’s all afterglow billing and cooing until the “How many girlfriends have you had?” and “How many boyfriends have you had?” question comes up. Because José Maria, uhhh…not so much with the sense of humor. Then as he walks her to work, a couple guys in a repair shop make with the eyes and what have you. So, naturally, on the way back he beats the living crap out of them.

Make that no sense of humor and some hot button issues about “his girl”, capped with a nasty temper. Trifecta! It’s like we’ve got the Colombian version of Mark Wahlberg in FEAR.

Now, Rosa is a maid for a very well off couple living in a house so big there are literally rooms and parts of the house that people forget are there. This comes very much in handy after José Maria punches the construction foreman and accidentally kills him after the man fires him for beating up the first guy. Powder keg angry dude just can’t catch a break.

What are you going to do with a problem like José Maria? In Rosa’s case, you become pregnant and not-so-blissfully unaware that he is hiding in the rich people mansion you live in. Watching you and your charges, ever ready to pounce on a drunken relative making a pass or sexually assaulting you. Like an overprotective, getting hairier by the week and month, ghost.

To its credit, the film delivers a nice balance between the ever-present threat he poses to everyone in the house but Rosa and his own misunderstood, poverty-ridden and isolated situation. While it doesn’t entirely succeed, there is an effort to aim for the tragic versus the full-on thriller aspects of the story. And, there is a legitimate effort to steer away from simple cat and mouse suspense and thrills, in favor of a more real and humane dilemma the two protagonists face. Ultimately, however, I found it somewhat slight.

Time to bring on the zombies!

George A. Romero’s SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD picks up with some rogue military characters from his last outing, DIARY OF THE DEAD. Which is an interesting and cool idea. “Hey, I wonder what happened to those guys?” “Well, let’s make an entirely different movie where we follow THEM!”

And we do. To a place called Plum Island, Delaware dealing with its own private little zombie problem. You see, the island has been home for generations of two feuding Irish families, the O’Flynns and the Muldoons. And now the zombies have become caught in the middle of a bizarre custody battle as the O’Flynn patriarch wants to kill each one of them and the Muldoon patriarch wants to pen them up until a cure can be found.

After Muldoon gets the upper hand and kicks O’Flynn off the island (without even a hint of a tribal vote), O’Flynn posts what amounts to a travel brochure ad online to lure the living or anyone that still has Wi-Fi his way. The military group takes the bait and after some zombie aided fighting and mayhem, O’Flynn is back on his way to reclaim his island and take on Muldoon.

So what are we looking for in a Romero “Dead” film? New, fun and innovative ways to kill zombies? Check. At least one case of someone showing poor zombie survival etiquette of getting infected but not telling anyone until it’s practically too late? Check. Tons of dumbass human behavior inspiring you to root for zombie comeuppance? Check. At least one case of someone becoming a human buffet line? Check. Message about the dead being just like us only literally trapped in our daily routine and with an unappealing pallor and/or gaping wound somewhere? Big check. And, of course, it wouldn’t be complete until some disgruntled guy turns a shitload of zombies loose on everyone because he’s dying and what does he care anymore? Right?

Romero hits all of the notes he’s required by zombie law to deliver in SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD, but it’s all at the service of so much silliness. First off, if anything was more lethal than the zombie virus, it would be the dinner theater Irish brogues thrown around between the two patriarchs. And, at some point a twin is revealed so we can have the human/zombie mirror effect for reals before the entire thing devolves into a shootout at the It’s Not Okay to be a Zombie Corral.

So, as I weigh all the good versus the bad and the entertaining versus the dubious, I have to think this is a step back from DIARY OF THE DEAD. This film strikes me as being closer to LAND OF THE DEAD in that the sheen of unreality makes it difficult to either get caught up within the dread of the moment or have any connection to the central characters to inspire concern for their well being. Not a total loss as there is clearly still more than a twinkle in Romero’s eye as he maps these things out. Unfortunately, we need a lot more than that by this point.

AFI FEST 2009 Announces First Official Selections

AFI FEST 2009 PRESENTED BY AUDI ANNOUNCES

FIRST TWELVE TITLES IN OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

LIONGATE’S “PRECIOUS” IS FIRST ANNOUNCED

GALA PRESENTATION

FILMS BY HERZOG AND BONG

MARK A RETURN TO AFI FEST

Los Angeles, CA, September 16, 2009—AFI FEST 2009 presented by Audi announces 12 films that will screen at this year’s Festival (October 30-November 7) including Lee Daniels’ PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE, Werner Herzog’s THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS and Bong Joon-ho’s MOTHER.

The film festival, which will debut it’s groundbreaking “See a Film on Us” initiative featuring complimentary tickets to all films including a limited number of seats at each Gala Presentation, will be headquartered at the historic Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel between October 30 and November 5. AFI FEST will then move to Santa Monica for the final two days of screenings presented in association with the American Film Market (AFM).

Lee Daniels’ PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE is the first announced Gala Presentation at this year’s AFI FEST. Set in 1980’s Harlem, the film tells a story of salvation through education against all odds as it follows the hopeful trajectory of ‘Claireece Precious Jones (played by newcomer Gabourey Sidibe), an overweight and illiterate teen pregnant with her second child and abused by her poisonously angry mother. The film also stars Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sheri Shepherd and Lenny Kravitz. PRECIOUS will be released by Lionsgate on November 6.

AFI FEST 2009 will also mark the return of Werner Herzog to the Festival after Herzog’s celebrated panel appearance two years ago. Herzog’s THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS is a loosely interpreted re-imagining of Abel Ferrara’s gritty classic starring Nicolas Cage as a rogue detective who is as devoted to his job as he is to scoring drugs. Complicating his tumultuous life is the prostitute he loves (played by Eva Mendes). The film also stars Val Kilmer.

The Festival also welcomes back Bong Joon-ho (following the screening of THE HOST in 2006). The South Korean entry for the Academy Awards, Bong’s MOTHER is an inventive thriller that follows a woman’s personal investigation into a murder in order to clear the name of the accused – her son.

Two French/Italian co-productions, A PROPHET and VINCERE will also be presented to Los Angeles audiences for the first time. Jacques Audiard’s A PROPHET traces the journey of a young Arab man, who becomes a mafia kingpin after he is sent to a French prison. Marco Bellocchio’s VINCERE is a biographical drama that tells the story of Mussolini’s secret lover, Ida Dalser and their son Albino.

Also included in the list of film titles announced today are the latest work by such noted auteurs as acclaimed French New Wave director Claude Chabrol (BELLAMY), Ken Loach (LOOKING FOR ERIC) and Harmony Korine (TRASH HUMPERS).

“These first dozen titles offer a wonderful preview to our lineup which is a survey of the year’s significant films. They represent a diversity of voices and we take great pride in being able to bring them to Los Angeles audiences for the first time,” said Rose Kuo, AFI FEST Artistic Director.

The twelve official selections include:

THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL, NEW ORLEANS (USA)

Director: Werner Herzog

Set in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Nicolas Cage plays a rogue detective who is as devoted to his job as he is to scoring drugs — while playing fast and loose with the law. With the prostitute he loves, the couple  descends into a world marked by desire, compulsion and conscience. The film also stars Eva Mendes and Val Kilmer.

BELLAMY (France)

Director: Claude Chabrol

A famous French detective (played by Gerard Depardieu) on vacation in Languedoc investigates a mystery man who approaches him claiming to have killed someone. The film also stars Clovis Cornillac and Jacques Gamblin.

EVERYONE ELSE (Germany)

Director: Maren Ade

Drama follows the volatile relationship resulting from the psychological and emotional ties between two young lovers.

THE LAST STATION (UK/Germany)

Director: Michael Hoffman

A historical drama that illustrates Russian author Leo Tolstoy’s struggle to balance fame and wealth with his commitment to a life devoid of material things. The film stars Helen Mirren, James McAvoy, Christopher Plummer and Paul Giamatti.

LOOKING FOR ERIC (UK)

Director: Ken Loach

Eric, a football fanatic postman whose life is descending into crisis, receives some life-coaching from a poster of the famously philosophical footballer, Eric Cantona.

MOTHER (Madeo) (South Korea)

Director: Bong Joon-ho

This thriller follows the investigation of a murder by a mother desperate to find the killer who framed her son for the crime.

POLICE, ADJECTIVE (Romania)

Director: Corneliu Porumboiu

This drama follows the impact on a young policeman’s life after he refuses to arrest another man for offering drugs to his friends.

PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE (USA)

Director: Lee Daniels

In Harlem, an overweight and illiterate teen pregnant with her second child and abused by her domineering mother is invited to enroll in an alternative school with the dream to move her life in a new direction. The film stars Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz, and introducing Gabourey Sidibe.

A PROPHET (France/Italy)

Director: Jacques Audiard

A young Arab man is sent to a French prison where he becomes a mafia kingpin.

RED RIDING (UK)

Directors: Julian Jarrold, James Marsh, Anand Tucker

Three inter-connected films set in the years 1974, 1980 and 1983 trace the crime and corruption in West Yorkshire, England. The films star Mark Addy, Sean Bean, Paddy Considine, Andrew Garfield and Rebecca Hall.

TRASH HUMPERS (USA)

Director: Harmony Korine

A cinema verite look at a fringe cult-freak collective with a penchant for anti-social behavior and activities.

VINCERE (Italy/France)

Director: Marco Bellocchio

This drama tells the story of Mussolini’s secret lover, Ida Dalser and their son, Albino.

Free tickets are available to all festival screenings – in advance at AFI.com, at the Mann Theatres (6925 Hollywood Blvd.) on October 26, or on the day of scheduled screenings via rush lines. Reserved seating can be secured by becoming a patron of the film festival and purchasing an AFI FEST Patron Pass. For more details, visit AFI.com.

Toronto Film Festival – Day #2 – A Viggo and Charlize sandwich between crazy-ass Spanish and Australian Horror buns

So, I decide to start my second day at TIFF with the Spanish film, REC 2. Now, for me this is a highly anticipated sequel (as they say in PR land). But there’s no one in the theatre. I mean it is seriously sparse with reviewers in here. I don’t get it, because I really liked the first film. Hunted a PAL DVD of it down at a Fangoria convention and felt like I was buying contraband the way the transaction went down, but it was worth it. Just a solid shot of virus-laden zombie-fied paranoia-filled, claustrophobic, no holds barred horror adrenaline delivered straight to your region-free machine (in my case).

So, I was genuinely curious as to what Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza were going to come up with for their second visit to the quarantined apartment building filled with rabid zombie tenants.

The film picks up immediately where the last film left off, where the television hostess that suffered and struggled through the last film was the “last man dragged off”. Literally.

And then we cut to the SWAT team getting locked and loaded as they race to the scene of the whatever-the-hell-it-is they’ve got sealed up in there.

So it’s the ALIENS treatment, right? The cops are all cocky with their firepower and body armor and ignorance of the horror that lies in store. That always spells a good time. And, of course, the idea is that we are watching recorded footage so they have to tell each other over and over “Record everything!” So we’ll be fine with the fact that they are focusing on the auto focus while trying their best to keep from getting bitten or something – rather than throwing the camera at one of the crazies before running away from it while peeing down their leg.

“Record everything!”

You almost expect someone to reply, “What about when I getting killed?” Stern answer: “Record everything – ESPECIALLY while you’re getting killed!” But our directing tandem knows you’ve seen this bit before so they’re gonna give you a little extra. And that is…

Picture-in-picture horror.

That’s what I’m talking about! I get to watch one isolated group fight for their life while keeping tabs on the other unfortunates surrounded by gory monsters with the munchies in another part of the building. Fun!

Anyway, the SWAT guys are escorting some Health Official into the building to find out what the source of the plague is so they can stop it, blah, blah, blah. Okay, fine, we’ve got our excuse, let’s go play with the bad things.

And no sooner do the SWAT guys get into the penthouse apartment where the doctor lived that launched this little plague when our health official reveals he is actually a priest and that we don’t have the zombie virus version of the common code – no, this is actually a biological extension of demonic possession.

That’s right, the devil’s virus. What will The Vatican think of next?

But before we can dwell on that silliness, a zombie kid attacks from the ceiling (check your ALIENS’ playbook) for a thrill ride scene to throw you right out of your seat. And that’s the beauty of this film. Is it ridiculous as all get out? Yes, of course, it is. But it’s full of ideas, madly derivative, or not. And it keeps them AND the adrenaline-fueled gore-ified action coming. And coming. And more coming around the corner. Think you’ve seen every way there is to kill a crazed zombie person? How about by bottle rocket?! How about a demon zombie that can do impressions? What’s that you say? Okay, but other that Rich Little? Anyway, REC 2 successfully does that even up to the very last shot. Which, I won’t spoil for you. Just get the popcorn, strap yourself in and enjoy.

Next up is John Hillcoat’s film of Cormac McCarthy’s THE ROAD. Your first image of Viggo Mortensen’s ashen, skeletal face of survival basically asks “Would like some cream with your bleak?”

I’m sorry, I meant to say “Would you like some cannibalism with your bleak?” And I hope your answer is yes, because apparently when the neo-cons get done playing nuclear Frisbee with the rest of the world then scorched earth means nothing left to eat.

But each other.

“Are we still the good guys?”

This is a question that Viggo’s character’s son frequently asks throughout the film. In other words, have they still managed to hold on to their humanity despite the fact they are starving. And not just for food. Frequent flashbacks to the time when their nuclear (pun very much I intended) family included Charlize Theron’s mother character – both pre-disaster and post-disaster add to the gut-wrenching heartbreak the father and son endure. But they continue on, painstakingly making their way to the coast, trying to find food and steering clear of other people that might want to eat them along the way. Occasionally, they’ll happen upon a bountiful harvest of canned goods or maybe a can of Coke (which apparently, just like cockroaches, will be one of the few things to survive the apocalypse) or a kindly old coot (an unrecognizable Robert Duvall), but this imagining of what that kind of future holds contains no kindness. At one point Mortensen asks Duvall’s old man character, “Ever wish you would die?” And his reply sums it up: “No. It’s foolish to ask for luxuries in times like these.”

So, we’re left to ponder what would keep us going and clinging desperately to life. And wonder if a father’s love for his son and his stalwart sense of hope for something, anything – would be enough. THE ROAD takes the bleakest, most arduous path to pose that question and it is an endurance test to be sure. But ultimately, I think it’s worth asking.

After the screening, I ran into Joe Leyton, longtime (and I mean, loooong time…) film critic for Daily Variety and as more than a few film legends would attest: THE film critic for the state of Texas. He is a true professor of film, has talked to or interviewed everyone at some time during the last thirty or so years, and can speak at length about the entire package – and do so lovingly and entertainingly. So it was very cool to have a nice long conversation with him with anecdotes abounding. Those meet-ups and subsequent conversations are one of the things that make going to film festivals a constant thrill for me.

The final film of the day was the Australian thriller, THE LOVED ONES. Directed by Sean Byrne it’s your basic awkward girl with a crush on the unattainable cute boy has daddy abduct him for her own private DIY prom…uhmm, story.

Now, the object of her obsessions has his own issues, having caused his father’s death by wrecking the family car while trying to avoid hitting what turns out to be one of our girl’s previous “boyfriends”.

So, now he can work out those feelings while he tries to escape teenage MISERY. And as he tries to mollify her to stay alive and buy time to attempt an escape, daddy is making moony eyes at his lethal little girl while princess makes loony eyes back at papa.

Let’s just say it out loud: Australians know crazy.

And Byrne is not shy about letting his crazies play. A little fried chicken meal with the happy couple, daddy and a lobotomized mommy, a little alternate hardware use with a hammer and a power drill, etc. And, of course – what do-it-yourself prom would be complete without carving your initials surrounded by a heart in your date’s chest and then salting the wound – literally?

Trust me, there’s more. All kinds of dance with a teenage psycho girl more. And under a sparkly disco ball.

Which is exactly as it should be.

Toronto Day #1: Megan Fox, the Coen Brothers and red carpet nonsense..Oh My!

“Receive with simplicity, everything that happens to you.”

That’s the quote that the Coen brothers use to introduce you to A SERIOUS MAN. But by the end of the film, I wanted to amend it to say, “Receive with appreciation everything you’re about to see and hear,” because it is A LOT. Not in a sprawling, “Dear God, will this ever end so I can try to figure out what has just uncorked itself in front of me kind of way (see SOUTHLAND TALES), but in a compact but detailed to a fault examination and exploration into a very particular time (the late 60s, suburban-style), culture (Jewish), and man (the central character played by Theatre veteran Michael Stuhlbarg).

Stuhlbarg plays ‘Larry Gopnik”, a physics professor at a small Midwestern school that almost immediately faces a shit-storm of unbelievable, if intimate proportions: A Korean student unhappy with a grade tries to bribe him, his potentially violent neighbor is encroaching on his yard, and his own house is filled with strife thanks to a bickering son (facing his own demons from a school bully/dealer) and daughter, his inept brother torn between his obsession with a possible genius mathematical “map of probability” he has discovered and the daily draining of a cyst that terrorizes him, and best yet – a wife that wants to leave him for an overbearing (and I can’t begin to describe how much that word doesn’t begin to do justice to this guy) family friend.

Gopnik’s life as he knows it is turned upside down from the get-go, and as he says during a lesson plan, “Even though you can’t figure anything out, you’ll be responsible for it on the midterm.” He goes to a succession of rabbis for advice, one more practically inept and unhelpful than the last, as he stumbles through a period of discovery and re-awakening in his life that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. But this isn’t simply a comic Job story, because the Coens would be bored with that. No, this is a comic storm that is both messy and sometimes indiscriminate in who and what it targets. But in the end, regardless of how it all plays out – they’ll be responsible for it. And if you’ve been hoping for the Coens particular brand of humor to return after NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, you’ll be happy for it.

Nice start for a film festival, huh. After that I ran into Spout.com’s always delightfully acerbic film writer and critic Karina Longworth. Love her. In a film world video game, you could pit Karina against George Sanders’ classic character in ALL ABOUT EVE and play for hours. Anyway, she gave me the inside scoop on what she had seen. Which is, of course, the “sport” of a film festival. Compare notes and dish out the thumbs up and thumbs down on everything you’ve seen up to that point.

Next up was Diablo Cody’s JENNIFER’S BODY. “Wait,” you say. “Isn’t that directed by Karyn Kusama?” “Yes,” I reply. Pause. Anyway, it’s Diablo Cody’s JENNIFER’S BODY. Which means depending on your predilection with JUNO–style dialogue and verbal toss-offs, it’s either clever and instantly quotable or irritating and quickly wearing out its welcome. Oh, wait. It also stars Megan Fox. Hmm…my last bid was from wearing out its welcome. Do I have another bid…?

“Hell is a teenage girl.” And “Sandbox love never dies” Those are the watch-quotes to go by for the film. The idea is simple: Megan Fox plays the hottest girl in school, who – after inadvertently being turned into a demon by a small beer indie band looking for a shortcut to fame via a sacrifice to the devil, runs gorily roughshod through the boys in school while her nerdy best friend (Amanda Seyfried) tries to figure it all out.

And it’s not scary. Which doesn’t mean it doesn’t succeed in what it’s aiming for. No, my guess is if you’re putting your money down to see this film, then it’s all about Megan Fox. And wisely, Cody and Kusama know that. In fact, it’s so transparent that the boys get a reward practically after every kill. Megan Fox demon eviscerates a boy, Megan Fox hottie is filmed slow-mo skinny dipping. Megan Fox demon has seconds, Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried have a hot girl-on girl make out session. So, it’s like, “one for you and…one for you.”

The fact is, that while I understand the Megan Fox porn star hotness appeal, I am still fascinated over the ability of the hype and marketing machine’s ability to keep that T&A train operating at full speed. And while JENNIFER’S BODY does have some smarts to go with its smart-ass, ultimately it plays a minor key. And not just in horror-land.

Next up was Joe Dante’s THE HOLE. In 3D. That’s right. A film festival movie in 3D! That’s just all kinds a good, right? Here’s the deal about the 3D thing. Either those 3D glasses are the most expensive things ever to produce or there is technology involved that could bring down a nation. Because, I swear there was so much paranoia involved in giving those things back to the people running the screening that it made me long for the comparative lack of concern the airport security displayed as I flew in to Canada in the first place. “You need to leave the theater to go to the bathroom? Fine, hold on to the box cutter, but give me the 3D glasses.”

Anyway, THE HOLE is a story about two brothers that relocate to a new home with their single mom. Upon arriving at the new home, they discover a cute girl living next door and…wait for it….in the basement under their house…wait for it…under an ominously padlocked plank in the floor… A hole.

I’m betting the title gave it a way.

And, of course, the boys, not knowing any better, unlock the padlocks and free the evil force residing inside the seemingly bottomless hole. And since it’s their mess, they – along with that cute girl next door will have to clean it up. Or something bad will happen to them. Which is the appropriate way to describe the stakes because this is a horror film for the kids. A gateway drug, if you will. So scary stuff happens and there are various threats to people. But in a “safe”, un-gory, limited exposure to evil kinda way. The film is so completely aimed at a specific age demographic that Teri Polo (the go-to actress for sexy but safe) is cast as the mom.

And the movie IS amusement park ride fun. The scares come from things like malevolent clown dolls (your kids homework will be a follow up viewing of POLTERGEIST) and those stop-motion walking a crawling spirits (okay, do an assignment on THE RING too), courtesy of your not-so friendly basement dwelling hole.

And then there is the 3-D thing. Which is cool. I’ll just give myself up to that willingly. However, is it just me or – like the perfunctory tricks that gymnasts have to accomplish in their Olympic routines – does every 3D movie have to throw a baseball at you? Or they get 3D points deducted from their overall movie score? Just curious.

So, take the kids to this thing so you can speed along their horror-film development and you can also enjoy yourself as well – as opposed to just napping, like so many of my friends who are parents did during G-FORCE.

That was it for the films. The next order of business was something new for me. The red carpet. Or specifically: being a journalist on a red carpet. This is ironic in that I practically live on red carpets – or to be more direct – running them. I am frequently that guy managing the traffic at the beginning of the filmmakers and movie stars entrances: welcoming them, assigning escorts to them to walk them down the thing, introducing them to the photographers, etc. That is frequently my little show.

And I take care to not just manage the placement of the press on my red carpets but to also pay attention and ensure, as best I can, that everyone gets the photos or interviews they need and want and no one goes home empty handed.

This was different. A first come, first serve policy combined with the fact that I was “print” and didn’t have a video camera joined at my hip meant that I was destined to not only be at the end of the line – I was also going to be relatively inconspicuous.

The entrances were for Steven Soderbergh’s THE INFORMANT! And the potential interview targets on hand would be Soderbergh, Matt Damon, Scott Bakula and Melanie Lynsky. Not a bad group at all. So, I am standing next to a guy writing for a national tabloid that like me has not seen the film yet. However, unlike this guy, I had read reviews and stories and did some background on the film. In addition, I also had a decent knowledge of popular culture pre-Jonas Brothers. Because, for the life of him, he could not think of a question to ask anyone not named Matt Damon. After spying Lynsky at the front of the carpet, he asked me, “Does she kiss Matt Damon in the movie?” To which I replied, “Well, I haven’t see it but she does play his wife. So I’ll hazard a guess – yes.” Next question, “Do their characters have kids together?” Desired response: “I don’t have that much insight into their pretend home life.” Out loud: “I don’t know.”

But now I was feeling the pressure to come up with good questions myself for everyone. Something that wouldn’t have been asked twenty times immediately before me or at the very least, phrased in a creative, yet concise way that would send each of them off to the races with clever, funny, witty and insightful sound bites for the readers. So thinking quickly, I put together my winning question for each of them – knowing that this far down the line I would get one and only one question. Because, by this point in the line, they just want to get in the house and be done with it.

Well, I needn’t have worried, Because each one of them – Soderbergh, Damon, Bakula and Lynsky – passed us by. Didn’t give us a shot at the question or even acknowledge us. Publicists rushed Damon through – typical – that’s routine. “He’s got to get in now. Quick! The movie’s gonna start in a half hour, so he needs to be inside RIGHT NOW! Soderbergh literally stood in front of me – with his back to me – for ten minutes but would not turn around to answer a question. And Bakula and Lynsky even brushed us off. Melanie Lynsky!

But to be fair, this is all on the publicists. The film’s reps and the Toronto Film Festival publicists. It’s their job to regulate the traffic flow and make sure that everyone gets some love. It’s something that I work my ass of to achieve at AFI FEST, DALLAS and each of my other film festivals and agonize as it is happening to ensure that fairness and equal play. And it was great to see first hand, exactly why it’s so important that I do that. Because the personal publicists DON’T WANT TO – bottom line. You should have seen the look Bakula’s sawed-off little guy gave us before he shielded us with his back from being able to get to Scott. (Honest Disclaimer – I have a long ago and far away Hollywood history with that little wiener dude and it’s possible he recognized me. Regardless…) If the film festival’s publicists aren’t on point (at best) or just don’t care (at worst), then the end of the line is exactly that for a journalist at those red carpets.

To paraphrase Diablo from JENNIFER’S BODY, “That’s not just high school evil. That’s actual evil.”