Reader of the Day: Jamie

Today's Reader of the Day is Jamie who lives in LA.  I've never met her but she once volunteered as a magical Film Experience elf to give us a few articles direct from the Cannes Festival (this year's lineup is announced very soon, so stay tuned). So let's start there.

Nathaniel: How did your Cannes journey come out? What's your favorite memory from it?
JAMIE: I had the privilege of attending twice (2008, 2009) through my university. Unlike many college programs, our mandate was simply to see as many films as possible. Simply getting to worship at the altar of film that frequently over the course of two weeks is irreplaceable.

My favorite memory was not seeing one of the many award-winners or much-hyped titles, but rather attending the world premiere of the restored print of The Red Shoes. Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker hosted the screening, and hearing Scorsese talk at length about the passion the film inspired within him, as well as Thelma's relationship with Powell, made me feel like I was part of some exclusive club of cinephiles. I ended up having to miss the premiere of Precious to attend, a decision that bewildered my fellow festival-goers, but it was so worth it. I had never before seen The Red Shoes and seeing it in that environment was almost a holy experience.

                           

A holy experience.

First movie? First movie obsession?
I do not remember my first movie (for shame), and I had a lot of strange obsessions when I was younger. Due to my father's job, we always had access to all of the premium cable and pay per view channels, so I would just re-watch the films I loved on some type of continuous loop until I could move on. That's why I still know all of the dialogue to Selena.

However, my first informed obsessions came toward the end of my high school career. I impulsively bought a Miramax Best Picture DVD set that included The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love. I fell madly in love with each of the films and became obsessed with the narratives that emerged around them and their unfairly maligned legacies. It's when I first became aware of the many intricacies and politics of Oscar season. The films fostered an obsession with Harvey Weinstein and Miramax that eventually led to my first film internship, my honors thesis, and my current not-allowed-to-talk-about job.

Which current director are you rooting for in a big way in the next few years?
Lone Scherfig earned my eternal devotion with An Education. I think she has the potential to become a vital, female commercial directing voice. I don't usually root for the directors I love to sell out, but I think we need more ladies working within the studios. And Armando Ianucci made me laugh harder than I feel comfortable admitting with In the Loop. I love that he doesn't treat politics as sacrosanct and doesn't allow the humor to get in the way of making a resonant point.

Tell us about the biopic of your life. Who will it star, etcetera?
I will have to anger the movie gods and instead opt for a television series. I want Paul Feig and Judd Apatow to create an updated version of Freaks and Geeks based on my high school experience, still starring the lovely Linda Cardellini. The one thing that always bothered me about that show was that Lindsey was forced to choose between being completely straight-laced with Millie and the mathletes or a burn-out with the freaks. I too went to a suburban public high school rife with the usual parties and drama, but it was also extremely competitive and the popular kids were amongst the highest achieving. I'd love to see someone meaningfully tackle the intricacies of being a seemingly "normal" but hyper-ambitious teen still negotiating the pain and angst of growing up.

Freaks and Geeks is so genius. It takes place in a Michigan High School and name-checks places we actually went while in high school in Michigan. The clothes, the language, the "types" ... everything brings back memories -- more than any other movie or high school set show ever has for me. The show reminds me of my sister (although we were far enough apart in age that we didn't actually go to high school together like the brother / sister in the show) and all my Michigan friends so I ♥ it so hard. I really do.

Oops BIG TANGENT! Ok. Let's wrap up. Your favorite movie in the following 5 genres: musical, drama, romance, Woody Allen, and last year (yes, "last year" is a genre). Go.
Due to some unknown childhood trauma, I've always been wary of traditional musicals but I absolutely love All That Jazz and Dancer in the Dark. Regarding the former, the recent news about Bryan Singer directing a Fosse biopic infuriated me. What can any biopic reveal that All that Jazz didn't already cover? 

Network is my all-time favorite film, so it easily takes the drama category. As much as I tired of Aaron Sorkin's tear through Oscar season, I couldn't help but smile at every Paddy Chayefsky reference. Romance: Before Sunset. Even though I think it's Woody Allen's least favorite, I adore Hannah and Her Sisters. The "not even the rain has such small hands" moves me every time I see it. Having said that, I was raised on Woody Allen films and would jump at the opportunity to watch any of them at the slightest notice.

Finally, despite my previous Sorkin slight, The Social Network was by far my favorite last year. It felt like one of those special movies made just for me.

Strike a Pose, on the Croisette.

Jose here. If The King's Speech hasn't given you enough of socialite Wallis Simpson to last you for a while -- I personally thought Eve Best's performance was the best thing in the movie and she should be getting the praise HBC is getting. But that's a whole other matter. Back to our post -- all you have to do is remember that our beloved Madonna is making an entire movie about her.

The shooting has remained pretty secretive and other than a few pictures the paparazzi have snagged (like rising star Andre Riseborough as Simpson to your left), we don't really know what the thing's looking like.

Maybe we won't have to wait much longer. Madonna has decided she wants her film to be part of the Cannes Film Festival just a few months away. French newspaper Le Parisien is reporting that the pop icon plans to have her film included in the festival's official selection.
This won't be official until festival artistic director Thierry Fremaux announces the official selection in April, so will the Queen of Pop be able to have her way this time?

The first official screening will take place next month when Madonna presents her second feature film to private distributors in Berlin. 

Madge is no newbie to the Cannes Film Festival, just a few years back she presented her documentary I Am Because We Are, which didn't seem to make a huge impression but wasn't trashed either. She had more luck with the smash documentary Truth or Dare which made a huge international ruckus at Cannes in 1991.

Madonna at Cannes in 1991 and 2008

So we'll just have to wait and see how W.E. fares with the picky Cannes audience. Will New York icon and Jury President Robert de Niro feel swept away by this very American tale? Or will W.E. be too much Wallis, too soon?

De Niro to Cannes: You Screenin' For Me?

"Huh? Huh? Faster than you. Saw you coming. I'm standing here. You make the movie. You make the movie. It's your movie. You screenin' for me? You screenin' for me? Then who the else are you screening to. I'm the only one here."

The Taxi Driver himself, Robert De Niro will head the jury for this summer's Cannes Film Festival. That honor recalls Taxi Driver's own Cannes win in 1976 and neatly coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival this year. Jury members are TBA but the pool generally includes a couple gobsmackingly beautiful foreign actresses, a few directors and/or writers, and a couple key below the line giants. Last year, as you'll recall, Tim Burton and his Cannes jury gave their top prize to Apichatpong Weerathesakul's Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (my review).

Here's to De Niro being a better judge of international art cinema than he is of his own current projects!