August
29
Telluride Watch 1: Fincher's Benjamin Button, Flash of Genius
Mike Jones and I winged from LAX to Montrose, Colorado on the packed Telluride Film Fest charter, which always yields good advance info. From there a shuttle bus through the glorious Rockies brought us to Telluride.
For one thing, producer-turned-director Marc Abrahams (Children of Men) was on the plane, along with stars Greg Kinnear and Lauren Graham, which meant that one of the to-be-announced sneaks at the fest is Flash of Genius, a straight-ahead well-acted four-hankie drama about a guy who invents the intermittent windshield wiper and refuses to back down in his fight against The Man, in this case, Detroit's big car companies. Universal is releasing.
Distrib veteran M.J. Peckos is debuting American Violet, directed by Walt Disney's great-nephew, Tim Disney and starring Alfre Woodard.
Irish film Kisses (left), which was well-reviewed out of Galway and Locarno, is bound for Toronto, where CAA hopes to find a North American buyer (Focus Features has foreign). Distribs like IFC and SPC have seen a rough version of the film; it will screen here without subtitles (due to thick brogues) but will boast titles in Toronto.
Indian actress-turned-director Nandita Das is giving Firaaq a "gentle tryout before Toronto," she says. She's selling it herself. Writer Salman Rushdie is here to offer support, even though he has nothing to do with the movie.
IFC has scooped up Telluride and Toronto title Flame & Citron.
Perusing the program, which was handed out to everyone on the plane, I wasn't the only one interested in a doc called Prodigal Sons, directed by Kimberly Reed, who grew up as Paul, the brother of Marc, who was adopted. After a tendentious youth--she was the good boy, while Marc was the black sheep-- and an estrangement of 10 years, they confront their relationship. And Marc reveals that he has discovered that he is the grandson of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. Yikes.
On the plane I sat next to LA Weekly critic Scott Foundas--who files for all 16 of New Times' alternative weeklies. He and Variety's Todd McCarthy are each doing a Q & A with director David Fincher, who will unspool almost 20 minutes of footage from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a Brad Pitt movie with a two hour 43 minute running time at last count and a high budget estimated at some $180 million. Hard to believe. The studio's says it's $150 million. Can't wait to see the footage. Paramount's new marketing co-prexy Megan Colligan arranged Fincher's debut here, after last year's similar screening of There Will be Blood footage went so well.
McCarthy says there are 14 films to review here. Wow.
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Posted by: Steve | August 29, 2008 at 09:19 AM
14 films? We'll be counting. Ray Pride at MCN doesn't like them too territorial and peevish, but I do.
Posted by: T. Holly | August 29, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Rushdie has NOTHING to do with the film? You sure....?
Posted by: Gaydos | August 29, 2008 at 04:08 PM
Rushdie did not participate in getting it made. Has no producer credit, etc. Does he know something about Hindu/Muslim violence in India, which is the subject of the film, set during the aftermath of the Godhra incident in 2002? ? You bet. And he wants to help Nadita Das get this film seen.
Posted by: anne thompson | August 30, 2008 at 12:13 AM