Of all the people milling around downtown Los Angeles this week for the city's 17th annual film festival, the last person you might expect to see is a profane rapper known as much for his diamond grill as his tendency to title albums around the word "crunk." Like Lil Jon, the rapper/producer/entrepreneur who was inexplicably "hosting" last night's screening of The Devil's Double, Lee Tamahori's acclaimed drama about the bodyguard of Saddam Hussein's vicious son, Uday.
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Nicolas Winding Refn turned up the charm Friday night at the L.A. Film Fest, delivering a crowd-pleasing introduction for his highly anticipated crime pic, Drive. Part acceptance speech, part promotional spiel, and part comedy roast, Refn's delivery included nods to his wife Liv, Ryan Gosling, Prada menswear, a studio head in the making, his rumored Wonder Woman project, and Alejandro Jodorowsky -- wildly entertaining and all too rare, as far as these things go.
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Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (The Pusher Trilogy, Bronson, Valhalla Rising) muscles his way into Hollywood this September with the charging crime thriller Drive, but he's also in the midst of remaking the 1976 sci-fi pic Logan's Run with his Drive star, Ryan Gosling, set in the lead. Movieline caught up with Refn at the L.A. Film Fest premiere of Drive for a quick update on the project.
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"Money makes the world go 'round, but it's not the answer to all your prayers," declared Jack Black at the opening night of the L.A. Film Fest, where he and screen legend Shirley MacLaine hit the red carpet arm in arm at the world premiere of Richard Linklater's new black comedy, Bernie. "It makes the world go 'round, sometimes the other way," quipped MacLaine. That's precisely the lesson at the heart of Bernie, based on the zany true story of a mortician who lived a well-loved existence in his small East Texas town -- until, that is, he committed a terrible crime.
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Earlier in the day at the Cannes Film Festival without her infamous co-star and friend Mel Gibson on hand, Jodie Foster put on a brave face for press, anticipating that their dark comedy The Beaver might be better received in Europe than it was stateside where it's grossed only $311, 588 in limited release since May 6. Open minds in Cannes might also be why Gibson did in fact make a rare public appearance Tuesday night at the film's premiere.
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The Pitt-Jolie brood made their way to the South of France this week with matching his-and-hers festival offerings, starting with Angelina's animated sequel Kung Fu Panda 2. (Brad's much-anticipated Tree of Life debuts Monday; follow Movieline's complete Cannes coverage here.) Among the hot topics of inquiry international press had for Angie: Her kids, the state of animation, and that mysterious tattoo she recently added to her collection. Are there more additions to the clan in the works?
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When Harmony Korine's short film Umshini Wam screened alongside the latest from Korean filmmaker Park Chan-Wook (Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Thirst) at SXSW, both efforts had an unproven element to unveil. For Korine, the wild cards were his stars, the South African hip-hop act Die Antwoord. But for Park, it was something even more groundbreaking: he filmed the mystical, spiritual ghost story Night Fishing entirely using the iPhone 4.
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The psycho-sexual anthology Little Deaths made a minor splash at SXSW as the Serbian Film of this year's fest, leaving many searching for the film most analogous to Ben Wheatley's even better-loved SXFantastic buzz film Kill List. But while parallels to previous SXSW hits like Monsters and Wheatley's own Down Terrace have been drawn, another entry from last year's festival circuit instead comes to mind: Yorgos Lanthimos' crazypants domestic drama Dogtooth.
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Evan Glodell's nihilist love story/vengeance tale Bellflower is a dangerous piece of must-see American indie filmmaking for Mad Max fans and, in a way, the same crowd who can't wait to see Quentin Dupieux's killer tire flick Rubber. After premiering at Sundance, where Oscilliscope snapped it up for a summer 2011 release, Bellflower blazed a diesel-fueled trail through SXSW treating attendees to a glimpse of the heavily modified Buick Skylark that Glodell transformed into the flame-throwing beast known as the Mother Medusa.
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"We need to keep it gangsta and take our sh*t to the next level," pleads Die Antwoord rapper Yo-Landi to Ninja, her partner in crime in the Harmony Korine-directed short Umshini Wam. And just how do the South African zef hip-hoppers do just that? By pimping out their wheelchair rides, shooting guns in empty suburban parking lots, smoking comically large joints, and dreaming of life as "Gang$ta number one." Watch the entirety of Umshini Wam (translation: 'Bring me my machine gun') after the jump.
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First time director Cindy Meehl brought the capacity audience at Austin's Paramount Theater to its feet with her crowd-pleasing documentary Buck, about Buck Brannaman, the gentleman cowboy-horse whose life and work partially inspired Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer. After the film, Brannaman and the filmmakers walked onstage to a rousing standing ovation for a Q&A filled with horsemanship advice, behind-the-scenes details, and a shout out to the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan.
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Did you hear the one about the filmmaker who ruined the SXSW screening of the SXFantastic entry The FP by loudly heckling their own film late Monday night, pissing off the army of movie bloggers in attendance? Meet Sarah Trost: film disrupter, costume designer, sister to writer-directors Brandon and Jason Trost, and former contestant on season 8 of Project Runway.
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As a bunch of brassy strippers once taught us, you've gotta have a gimmick if you want to get ahead. The same goes for dancers as it does for indie films, three of which demonstrated that time-tested lesson Monday night at SXSW. Which brings us to our Movieline Pro Tips of the Day: Bringing fun/hands-on props to delight the crowd after your movie screens can help the goodwill linger. Loudly heckling your own movie for kicks while a dozen or so journalist types sit near you, aghast and annoyed? Not so much.
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Brian Taylor took a break from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance duties to trek down to SXSW in support of SXFantastic entry The FP -- a film he describes as "a Jerry Bruckheimer action movie from the '80s" where said action is Dance Dance Revolution. His ties to the indie action-comedy trace back to his close circle of filmmaking friends: Director Brandon Trost is a frequent DP and collaborator to Taylor and partner Mark Neveldine, while actors from Neveldine + Taylor's Crank films also show up in The FP. Taylor rung up Movieline to share his love for The FP gang via phone along with details on Ghost Rider 2's new origin story, Crank 3, and how one might go about filming a 3D movie... on the iPhone.
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On a day when South by Southwest basked in the afterglow of a wildly successful Bridesmaids screening and Tribeca announced the bulk of its remaining selections for 2011, the last thing on most movie enthusiasts' minds is, "Dang, if only we could saturate this spring with yet another film festival." Nevertheless, here comes Whole Foods Market -- yes, that Whole Foods Market -- with a multi-city, six-film program starting April 1. This could be a good thing, though.
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