Steady Diet of Film

"The Runaways" trailer now online!

Okay, I promise Steady Diet of Film is not becoming a blog that updates you every time a new piece of marketing is made available.. unless movie studios start making it a habit to release biopics about artists that were formative influences in my life. Unlikely!

Floria Sigismondi's long-awaited telling of the life and times of the 70s all-girl rock'n'roll band The Runaways has finally finished shooting and will hit theaters March 19th 2010. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, this is kind of like Avatar for cool chicks.

Many purists have complained about the casting of Dakota Fanning (Coraline, War of the Worlds) as the deeply troubled lead singer Cherie Currie and Kristin Stewart (Twilight, Adventureland) as uber-dyke, rock legend Joan Jett. But Fanning and Stewart are exceptionally talented, age-appropriate and their bankability is what got The Runaways out of turn-around hell. Plus, I'm excited for all the little girls who have grown up watching these actresses to have their minds blown the way mine was when I first saw Satisfaction (hopefully The Runaways will age a bit better than my introduction to the Rolling Stones and Debbie Harry has).

The Runaways' real life manager Kim Fowley is allegedly also involved with the project. Can we assume then that the film will de-emphasize the child rapist elements of his life? The casting of go-to weirdo Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road, Shotgun Stories) points to 'no' but only time will tell. Enjoy the trailer!

Gone TAITR'ing

Please forgive my silence over the last few weeks, I've joined the Producer team for Andy Blubaugh's feature-length debut The Adults in the Room. Longtime readers will recall I've been a fan of Andy's since seeing his short film ScaredyCat screen as part of the PBS series POV with the Tony Kushner documentary Wrestling with Angels.

I'm honored to be a part of such a dedicated and talented team. My co-producer Phoebe Owens is someone I've known for 11 years and have only grown to love more spending every waking hour with her over the past few weeks. We began shooting yesterday and will go 8 days, follow my photostream here.

And now a moment for some self-promotion...

I was recently profiled for the Film in Focus series Behind the Blog. I discuss blogging (duh), why reviewing Hannah Montana alongside Andrzej Wajda is the greatest thing ever as well as my deep abiding love for specialized RSS feeds.

In addition, I was also recently a guest on Crizzle's Critical Condition, Craig D. Lindsey's podcast for the Raleigh News-Observer. We discuss documentaries, Armond White and the different rewards and tribulations for print vs. online film reviewers.

Enjoy!

When fashion worlds collide, I win!

Great news for admirers of my wrists and think they deserve better adornment. I just got an email from the fashion blog No Good For Me informing me I won their raffle for this gorgeous Marc Jacobs quilted wristlet. Seems sort of apropos I should receive such good news while watching Tetsuya Nakashima's candy-colored teen girl action comedy Kamikaze Girls, doesn't it? Stay tuned to Show Me Your Titles film podcast for a full review of the latter.
 

Watch great documentaries without incurring the wrath of the MPAA.

Great news, documentary lovers. Frontline and HBO Documentaries are now streaming their full-length programs free online.

PBS's Frontline (possibly taking a page from the creators of South Park) has uploaded the last few years worth of episodes including the recent Bush's War and my personal favorite the Merchants of Cool.

HBO Documentaries (who recently won the bidding war for Jennifer Venditti's documentary Billy the Kid) will be be streaming their new films for short periods of time. Tricia Regan's Autism: the Musical has been streaming since Wednesday and will be available until this Sunday.

There is also a new site FreeDocumentaries.org that indexes all documentaries available on Google's free video streaming site. Their selection includes Barbara Kopple's Shut Up and Sing, the incredible BBC series the Power of Nightmares, Eugene Jarecki's Why We Fight and dozens more.

And YouTube competitor DailyMotion has recently launched Cinema Daily Motion, starting out with the festival darling Red Without Blue.

Related: Agnes Varnum reports PBS's POV 2008 line up announcement.   

Documentary film-makers, Michael Moore is here to save you!

Oscar-nominated provocateur Michael Moore (Sicko) announced earlier this week on the Creative Screenwriting podcast his plans in the next few months to establish a foundation that will subsidize major theater chains in cities across America to dedicate one screen per location to a low-budget documentary or foreign film.

He goes on to explain that earlier this year he established a non-profit to restore a historical "movie palace"* in Traverse City, MI. The State Theater now screens documentaries and art films, including 3 of the 4 films that are Oscar-nominated beside his film Sicko for Best Documentary. He also helped establish the Traverse City Film Festival in 2004.

I think this sounds like an amazing opportunity to give lesser known films a chance in an increasingly competitive market. But I wonder if there isn't a potential "pay to play" conflict here.  If Moore will be underwriting the screenings (in a for-profit enterprise this would probably be organized as paid advertisements) would larger studios who want to see Jumper on more screens chafe at the reduced number of screens available to them? Studios and large distributors hold almost all of the bargaining chips in their relationships with exhibitors if Moore's organization plans to combat their influence it's going to require a lot of cash up-front. A plea to Moore's hefty mailing list could potentially raise many thousands of dollars, but how long could that momentum sustain itself in the face of six multi-billion dollar film studios who are but small pieces in their parent corporations pies?

And surely, Moore's organization wouldn't be negotiating on behalf of just one distributor or production company, but if you boil down "independent film" or "art film" down to a pure definition there's a very small number of groups that qualify. If he plans to only be championing on behalf of ten or so distributors it's not going to take long for feelings to get hurt and the well to become poison.

Moore will make an official announcement about the details of his plans in the coming months.

*Technically a "movie palace" is defined as a theater that holds 1,000+ people and Moore mentioned that his theater seats just 560. Thank you, History Detectives!

UPDATE: AJ Schnack reports that Moore provided some further details at a recent International Documentary Association gala.  That possibly instead of committing one screen full time to the cause, he would try to compel theater owners to devote Monday nights (historically the worst night for movie theaters) to show documentaries and call it "Doc Night in America". 

UPDATE #2: Agnes Varnum at Doc It Out examines concerns that documentary film-makers will become 'ghettoized' as a result of being shunted to the least popular night to go to the movies.

Gucci/Tribeca will pimp your documentary!

Great news today for documentary film-makers seeking completion funds. Gucci and the Tribeca film festival have announced a series of new grants totaling $80k to feature-length docs "that promote social change and illuminate issues in need of comprehensive coverage currently missing in mainstream media". Here's the skinny:

The Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund is seeking feature-length documentaries that are in production or post-production with the intended premiere exhibition in 2009. Eligible films include those which examine or document people who are ignored, ostracized or otherwise marginalized; people fighting for social or political change; or broad social movements. We are looking for films which challenge the status quo not just as pertains to subject matter but also in form. Films should be able to sustain a festival and/or theatrical run and should resonate with a mainstream U.S. audience. Favor will be given to films with a dynamic and creative approach to the use of source material.

Full details here.

Weekend roundup

My 2007 resolution to avoid junk food cinema (I don't believe in "guilty pleasures") has paid off in spades this week.  I saw three amazing, if not extremely divergent films.

Radiant City is a Canadian documentary about suburban sprawl... don't stop reading!  Seriously, the Canadians have the market cornered on producing exciting docs on subjects I would rather drink paint thinner than actually read up on (see also: Manufacturing Consent, the Corporation, Seoul Train). 

Radiant City will play later this month as part of the San Francisco Documentary Film Festival, full review to come.

 

Georgia Rule must be the most misunderstood films of the year. An incredibly foolish marketing campaign had moviegoers convinced they were going to see a broad, schmaltzy comedy, in reality this is a searing and truthful family drama that has more in common with Ordinary People than whatever Tim Allen is doing this year (that my resolution will disallow me from seeing). 

Maybe in a few years when Lohan has either gotten it together or died from an overdose people will see what she was capable of doing, Jane Fonda makes up for choosing the disastrous Monster in Law to make her comeback and Felicity Huffman brings compassion to yet another pathologically unlikeable character.

Exceeding its box office expectations (to be the top-grossing film) and a massive critical success I imagine the new 3:10 to Yuma will sprout legs able to carry it all the way to Oscar season.  Beautifully filmed landscapes, amazing chemistry between Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, a stellar supporting cast and what no western would work without: gorgeous horses!  Also director James Mangold reassures us, real dirt.  But this film works as much as an intense action film (the opening stagecoach robbery is breathtaking) as it does seething allegory. Mangold has made no apologies for the statements the film makes about the Iraq war, our collective disinterest in torture being committed in our name, ceding justice system to protect corporations' assets as well as the dehumanization of poverty and what it can drive a person to do.  Seriously, this film drains away the hate once built up by the abcess of Walk the Line.

Also, between the numerous ass-kickings in 3:10 and the starvation for Rescue Dawn 2007 has been a rough year for Christian Bale and I sincerely hope he will take some cush romantic comedy gigs after this: cash a paycheck, eat a meal, get some sleep.  You've earned it, Bale!   

And maybe it's petty to even mention it, but thank Heavens Tom Cruise was not in this film as he was originally attached.  I'll assume no further explanation is needed, but just in case:

What's a girl to do?

Mary McNamara at the LA Times has a great piece this week (with follow up commentary from the brilliant Jezebel) about actresses of substance (read: over 35 with minimal plastic surgery) who are signing on to television gigs.  She reports this not as a renaissance for television but as yet another nail in the movie industry's coffin and a denigration of one of our finest national resources, our actresses. 

I'm taking a glass is half full approach, have you ever talked to a fan of Kyra Sedgwick's TNT series the Closer? When phrases like "the greatest television character ever created" are being tossed around (not to mention the show's record breaking ratings it's hard to see this as a downgrade -- especially when such admiration is rare for film character of any ange or gender.   

Then let's consider that women over 35 are a demographic that's been essentially written off by Hollywood -- but shows like Weeds, Desperate Housewives, Damages and the Starter Wife are giving ladies something to watch in a summer of Superbads and Simpson Movies (both of which I loved, but my mom wouldn't watch on a bet) that's still meatier than re-runs of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition or Two and a Half Men.  And let's face it, whenever the sitcoms lose, America wins.

This is a point I've been making (to many guffaws from film lovers) since Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended.  Is it any wonder viewers felt so invested in Buffy Summers's future enough to rally its creative team to create an additional 'season' in a series of graphic novels (not to mention make minor hits out of some of the horrible films actress Sarah Michelle Gellar made post-Buffy)?   After spending an aggregate 104.8 hours, that's 6.5 seasons minus commercial breaks, with her we probably know her better than we do our own families.

And Greg Braxton reports today (also with slideshow!) that young black women may have it even worse:

The [Black Best Friend] syndrome isn't something that Hollywood likes to talk about, even as it continues to be a winking in-joke among blacks in the industry. One African American actress said that she and her actress friends tease one another about forming a support group for characters who had to help out their "woefully helpless white girls."

Though I feel I must defend Merrin Dungey's presence in Alias.  Francie had the emotional and romantic life that protagonist Sydney Bristow was never able to (life/work balance was a constant theme of the series).  And when Dungey's character was killed off she was brought back as one of the best villains the show ever had, an evil spy who's had massive surgery to resemble Bristow's best friend and infiltrate her life.  Which culminated in what had to be the greatest fight scenes ever committed to whatever they shoot television on:

Highly recommended and free!

Detour, the film Greil Marcus says you must see to understand (or uhm, sort of understand) Lost Highway, has been put up online  Don't worry, the film is now public domain so Jack Valenti's corpse will not rise from the grave to sue you if you watch it.

 

The audio's not perfect but even for online streaming, this version is much crisper than my dvd copy! One of SDoF's all-time favorite film scenes starts around the 33 minute mark. Enjoy!

See also: Digg's the Best Movies in Public Domain.