AFI Fest 2013 - Part 1 Disney, Actresses, and Accidents
Friday, November 15, 2013 at 9:00AM I would like to personally thank Anne Marie for being an awesome L.A. tour guide, personal GPS, and screening companion during my week long trip. Here's her first of two roundups from the festival that just wrapped. I'll have more to say myself over the weekend - Nathaniel
Walt courts Mrs Travers for the hand of Mary Poppins in cinematic marriage
Last week AFI invaded Hollywood Blvd for the 2013 AFI Fest, a free film festival presenting a handful of buzzworthy features and old classics. Though it may not be the largest festival in Los Angeles, it is one of the flashiest given the star-studded evening galas and tributes, and it made good use of the newly renovated and renamed TCL Chinese Theater. This, my first festival on the job, saw me running up and down Hollywood Blvd like a film-obsessed Alfred P. Doolittle yelling, “Get me to the Chinese on time!” By the time I’d wiped the glitter from my eyes and caught my breath, I’d seen 9-ish movies in 7 days. Not bad for a neophyte with a day job! Here’s what I saw:
Day 1: Saving Mr. Banks - A Disney movie about a Disney classic is going to be heartwarming and sweet in all the ways you’d expect. Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks have delightful chemistry. Considering how long we’ve been missing these two (am I the only one who feels like Emma Thompson’s been mostly absent since at least An Education?), having both Thompson and Hanks triumphantly return together in the same film is a Disney-manufactured miracle. Nathaniel actually chatted with Emma Thompson and Colin Farrell, so he can fill in the rest.
Day 2: August: Osage County - I saw the play in 2008, and I’m still wondering if that helped or hurt my viewing of the film. Tracy Letts blessedly adapted the play to the screen, so the biting language that made the original so good remains intact. There’s a definite nomination in store for him. Of course the most buzz surrounds the actresses: Meryl is Meryl is Meryl so enough said there. Continuing this year’s trend of strong performances from actresses I don’t usually like (the first being Sandra Bullock in Gravity), Julia Roberts gives her best performance in a long while. I think that fact is what might be overshadowing Margot Martindale buzz-wise, which is unfortunate because Martindale rips through her role like a tornado on the prairie.
Julianne & Juliette at the AFI premiere
As for the sisters: I was partial to Julianne Nicholson, while Nathaniel seemed to prefer Juliette Lewis. One thing on which we both agreed was that nobody does the film festival dress like Juliette. Hot. Damn.
Day 3 Part 1: Cleo From 5 to 7 - The Godmother of the New Wave Agnes Varda was AFI Fest’s honored icon this year. Here's more on her pre-screening interview. But I would like to take this opportunity to say again that Cleo From 5 to 7 remains a masterpiece. If you haven’t seen it already, watch it while you’re waiting for the rest of these movies to open.
Day 3 Part 2: Out of the Furnace - The second film by Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper is a relentlessly bleak portrait of the death of smalltown America. Christian Bale and Casey Affleck play two blue-collar brothers, one imprisoned for a mistake and the other out of the army and into illegally boxing for money. Both play their parts admirably (assisted by Zoe Saldana and Forrest Whitaker) but are overshadowed by the shockingly terrifying Woody Harrelson playing a sociopathic redneck. Harrelson’s performance, as well as haunting desaturated cinematography and gritty production design, made this a movie that stuck with its audience after the film ended.
Day 3 Part 3: When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism - A happy accident led me to this film by Romanian writer/director Corneliu Porumboiu. I stood in the wrong line, and was surprised to find myself watching a movie perfectly suited for people who are on their fourth movie in twenty-four hours. When Evening Falls… is a simple movie framed in unbroken master shots: a fictional director and his lead actress discuss nudity in film, eat together, have sex, and argue over a single wordless scene they’re supposed to shoot the next day. The motivations of the scene are so constantly debated back and forth - why would she eavesdrop coming out of the shower? why does she put on clothes? - that the audience is primed and waiting. Eventually, the much-debated action happens in reverse - the director steps out of the shower to eavesdrop on her - and the audience comes to its own conclusion. As concept films go, this is the simplest I’ve watched in a while, and I appreciated it for its simplicity.
Thus concluded the first half of AFI Fest. Old Hollywood and New in Part 2!
Reader Comments (18)
Looking forward to watching August: Osage County. Even if it doesn't live up to the Best Picture front runner that they use to call it, I've heard so many raves about Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, and Margo Martindale's performance. Who would've thought that 3 of the greatest movie stars of the '90s would come out with career best performances in 2013- Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Sandra Bullock.
Nice overview. Thanks.
I see Roberts a lot stronger than nat does,she will campaign hard.
After seeing a commercial for "Out of the Furnace" yesterday, my husband and I debated who was the better actor: Casey or Ben Affleck. I tend to think that Casey's better, but my husband thinks that Ben makes more bad movies than Casey and that's skewing my judgment.
Help me out. Which of us is right?
Casey's a better actor because he knows his place in movies. It is not just that Ben chooses bad projects it is that he is miscast as a leading man when more often his best work is in a large ensemble, that Casey has covered and succeeded in that kind of role. Somehow I think Argo with Casey Affleck would work better for me even if you're still white-washing the lead character.
I saw "Tom at the Farm" at the festival. Xavier Dolan gets the style right, but it was like the film was built around great scenes that he had dreamed up and forgot that there should be a story to hang those scenes around. It has an ominous air throughout, helped in no small part by Gabriel Yared's imposing score, but nothing happens. It's a giant raincloud with no rain. Dolan will make a great film yet, but right now it seems as if he's merely exercising his abilities.
I agree with Mark, Julia Roberts will not go down without a fight. She will get her first Oscar nomination since her win in Erin Brockovich almost 13 years ago. Some reviews, including TIME Magazine, singles her out as the best in show in a very impressive cast.
anthony -- but i think at this point you can literally find a review for ANYONE in the cast (sans Misty Upham) as "best in show"... what's important is consensus and i don't think there is any with this film. I myself keep changing my mind about who was best in it :)
Anything decribed as " relentlessly bleak portrait of the death of smalltown America" feels like it's screaming 'NOT MY KIND OF MOVIE'.
Glenn - Ditto. It was not a film I would have gone to see on my own. But the joy of film festivals is that they push you out of your comfort zone viewing-wise.
Anthony - I agree with Nathaniel, and not just because I sat next to him while I watched August Osage County. Every single person I talked to had a different favorite. The only reason I think Julia will get the nomination over everyone else is star power.
CMG & cash - I'm not a big fan of either Affleck, but I think right now Casey's trying to build a name for himself in prestige pictures and indies while his big brother courts the big bucks. Poor Casey was introduced at the AFI screening as "Ben Affleck's younger brother." That had to sting.
"Meryl was Meryl was Meryl"...
OK.... but how would you critique her performance?
Anne Marie, what a fun read! Thanks!
rick - I don't know how I would critique Meryl's performance. She gives the kind of Oscar-nominated performance we've come to expect from her: great, powerful, with lots of those distinct Meryl touches that bring the character to life. The biggest surprise is that she's actually playing a pretty unlovable woman, which hasn't happened in a long time. Even Miranda was a character we loved to hate. As Juliette Lewis and Julia Roberts put it, "That's Meryl F*cking Streep!"
Raul- To me Laurence Anyways was Dolan's great film although I totally get the complaints that a lot of his flourishes sometimes involve more about 'a scene' than a movie. Still interested in Tom at the Farm. It seems different though that could be just me looking at Dolan's hairdo in it.
Anne Marie- Yikes! He remains the only Affleck brother with an acting nod. Plus, Casey is the Affleck involved in the Ocean's franchise. How did that happen?!?!!? I think Affleck is still obsessed with conquering the leading man, matinee idol role. I wish he cared a little more about directing than making a standard popcorn thriller that gets heaped with over-praise thanks to that silly 'comeback kid' narrative. His movies just seem like knock-offs of Kathryn Bigelow, John Dahl, and Michael Mann. It reminds me of Nathaniel noting that when he sees a George Clooney movie he cannot help but think Soderbergh would be a better choice. How I feel about Affleck directing.
Anne Marie... that tells me a lot ... thanks
Julia is definitely higher up than what 12th in Nat's list? - I mean she gets really good reviews, has the largest role in the "supporting" cast, and is the most influential out of the cast, apart from Meryl - she has already campaigned more for this than for anything since Erin B. It always appeared as if she never left her house/children, but now she is constantly around, doing the Hollywood Roundtable, doing the Clooney tribute at Britannia awards etc. I d say she is 5th to 6th at least.
btw, where are Nat's thoughts on this? Is it only his ranking in Best Supp people refer to?
he hates julia. what else is new?
i think there is truth to her being in a precarious position where her role is a leading role but is second in impact to the co lead role. there's internal conflict (meryl vs. julia, julia vs. margo) and then there's conflict against other up and comers (lupita, hawkins). she really would have to campaign, like more than what she's doing now. what i don't get is his reason for including sarah paulson in the top five. talk about wishful thinking. but he can cough it up to his recent AHS fixation.
ladygagavenus -- where do people get these ideas about actresses I hate? I do not hate julia roberts. I LOVED her in My Best Friends Wedding (woulda oscar nom'ed her) and Erin Brockovich and I think she's interesting though maybe still kinda miscast in Closer.
anyway...