Nashville Pt. 2: Mardi Gras, "Normal" Movies, Dan Butler

Crap. I spilled glitter on the logo again!After the arriving excitement covered in Part One, it was down to watching movies. I started with a few documentaries: One Lucky Elephant and Project NIM (both of which I'll talk about tomorrow) and Sons of Tennessee Williams which is an intriguing and entertaining documentary on a very early pre-Stonewall civil rights victory for gays. And in the South no less! The film is primarily focused on the tradition of Mardi Gras costume balls. Maybe it could have used more thematic organization or stricter editing but the footage and wealth of old photographs are goldmine finds and really fill out the fascinating stories and interviews with living witnesses. The takeaway is pretty spot on -- we all ready need to be aware of history and stop getting complacent about hard-won civil rights. It can all be taken away from you.  I have a feeling this film will stick in the head, lingering like glitter. Have you ever used the stuff? You find that shit ev-er-y-where for months afterwards, nay, years! You find it in the weirdest places. It won't go away so thankfully it's shiny and pretty.

While I was waiting in the queue for the first documentary, a gaggle of noisy teenage and tweenage girls walked by en masse and two older female festival patrons behind me stared at them.

Woman #1: [confused] I don't understand what film they were here to see.
Woman #2: [matter of fact] It must have been a normal movie.

Normal. Hee. Festival movies are abnormal you see! Or maybe it's just that they're "films" as opposed to movies...  it struck me as funny until I realized that I also see unnormal movies at festivals. Which is to say that my normal movie-diet does not include much in the way of non-fiction but at festivals I seem to always be sticking my toes into documentary waters (they're generally warm and inviting, these metaphorical pools). I choose mostly on subject/story as I suspect regular moviegoers do at the box office which is probably why I should be less judgmental of "civilians" who rarely think about the man artists behind the curtain. "They" don't even seem to choose based on stars they love else films like Blue Valentine with Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams would be major hits because who doesn't love those two actors? Speaking of Ryan Gosling...

Industry Chat
One of my fellow jurors is Dan Butler, the actor. I've met him before at a previous festival when he was promoting his mockumentary Karl Rove, I Love You (2007). You might remember him as "Bulldog" from Frasier or as one of the geeky entomologists in The Silence of the Lambs [weird trivia note: He's also in Manhunter albeit as a different character so I think he's the only actor to appear in both of the first two Hannibal Lecter pictures?]. We had several opportunities to chat since we're jurying but I had to congratulate him on getting the Crazy Stupid Love gig.

Amy heard you crying in the bathroom. We all thought it was cancer.

He even gets a big joke in the trailer. I asked him if he knew he was going to be in the trailer but he had no idea until it came out. But he knew the scene "played," as they say, and it's one of the first big laughs in the movie. We talked about Ryan Gosling. "Sweet" and "talented" were the adjectives of choice. Of course we all knew about the talented part but it's good to hear that he's a nice guy, too. Dan plays "Cal's Boss", Cal being Steve Carrel. I told him I had looked up his "name" on IMDb.  He joked that character actors get very excited when they get roles with both first and last names because usually you get a first name or a last name or job title in this case. He obviously loved the part and said he had a great albeit very short time on the set of the star-studded comedy. Get this. He had to fly in to LA right after a performance Off Broadway, film this scene in the movie and fly right back to NYC to return to the play. I thought it sounded exhausting but he only had to miss one matinee performance for the filming. Dedication!

Showbiz people log many frequently flier miles. Perhaps that's one reason Up in the Air played so well with the Academy?

Nathaniel in Nashville Pt. 1

I thought I'd share a few of my adventures at the Nashville Film Festival whilst practicing on my wacom tablet -- so hard to get the hang of this, the wacom not the Nashville. (I've been to the Nashville Festival a couple of times so I think I have the hang of it now.) I arrived in my Herzog tee -- I always live in mortal fear that some Herzog freak will grill me about good ol' Werner since I probably don't know as much about him as I should given the human advertisement aspects of t-shirt wearing. My favorites are Grizzly Man and Aguirre the Wrath of God and Nosferatu but Werner is prolific so I can't say I've seen everything.

The jurors and guests of the festival stay in downtown Nashville where you can get to the touristy parts quick but the festival is actually at a multiplex called Regal Green Hill...(update:  but I'm hearing from Mark in the comments that this is not the same thing as Green Hills. What do I know? I live in NYC and never drive and am losing my spatial relations skills)  Nice theater with lots of screens. They shuttle you back and forth so as I'm waiting for the morning shuttle I am scribbling away at you.

Last night riding from hotel to festival I ended up in a van of fellow jurors, though none from my category. I was  happily chatting away with the guy in front of me when I suddenly realized Who He Was. It was Jamie Travis, a filmmaker I am so enthralled by -- the Patterns trilogy is genius --that I'm just grateful his back was turned and he didn't see my insta-tranformation into scary obsessive superfan.

It reminded me of my very first Life Drawing class in college where I was just randomly talking to the new kid in class. We're chatting for like 5 minutes and then the teacher walks in and new kid just stands up and starts taking his clothes off. (Was it something I said?) Turns out new kid was the nude model and suddenly I went from gregarious to totally awkward / speechless. It was kinda like that except for that nobody got naked.

In reality I'm sure I kept babbling but my sentences probably made less sense.

Celebrity Sightings
Some country music stars were doing the carpet but I never know who they are. I did gaze at Kris Kristofferson and Emmylou Harris chatting up TV crews on the red carpet for awhile though. The carpet had been mostly shoved into the VIP tent instead of outside where it usually is (very stormy and wet night).

Kristofferson had just received a career prize at the screening of his new movie Bloodworth. I arrived too late to see it but I heard from my driver Elaine -- a lovely retired woman volunteering at the fest -- that it was good and she was just raving about W. Earl Brown, who plays one of his sons in the movie.

I give it a 4.3 out of 5. "Brady" is Academy Award material!

Val Kilmer and Dwight Yoakam are also in the movie but it turns out that this W Earl Brown also wrote the movie and was smart enough to give himself a great part.

I couldn't quite make out why Emmylou was with Kristofferson (she's not in the cast list of the movie) but she looked eerily ageless. She just turned 64 and her silver locks -- clearly not a wig -- are so thick and lustrous you'd think she was 30 or 40 but for the silver.

Okay, back to the festival with me. Ciao.

This & That: Nashville, Disney, Broadway

NASHVILLE
I'm packing up and heading out to the Nashville Film Festival which is becoming something of an annual jaunt for me. The opening night film is Bloodworth starring this year's career achievement honoree Kris Kristofferson.

I'm on the jury for the narrative competition with actor Dan Butler (Frasier, Crazy Stupid Love) and critic Joe Leydon. Last year I had the pleasure of attending an event honoring composer Carter Burwell but this year I have to miss the Gustavo Santaoalla celebration, damnit. (Since the festival is in Music City, they wisely opt to honor composers each year).

I'll send you little bits from the festival and meanwhile the usual contributors will be on hand here to keep you entertained!

Have you ever been to Nashville? A few years back when I went for the first time I took a trip to the Parthenon and i'd never wanted to know how to play guitar worse. I woulda busted out the strings and sung Nashville's "It Don't Worry Me ♫" at the top of my lungs right then and there.

DISNEY
Sorry about that Hit Me With Your Best Shot situation. We'll do something special for Beauty & The Beast once I'm back from Nashville. Next week's Wednesday night film is Charlie Chaplin's The Circus (1928) but we'll figure something out. It's part of my Personal Canon anyway so we have to work Belle & The Beast in. In the meantime I really hope you'll click around and read all those posts it prompted among animation fans.

Broadway's "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN": Norbert Leo Butz (Tom Hanks role), Aaron Tveit (DiCaprio's role), Tom Wopat (Christopher Walken's role)

BROADWAY
I'm doing too many things at once. Before I head out to Nashville I had to also get up this week's Towleroad column where you should head if you want to read a bit on The Hobbit Part One or my reaction to Broadway's "Catch Me If You Can" (hint: it's better than the reviews say).

Berlinale Pt. 2: Red Carpet, Movies To Watch For

One of the best things about A-list festivals is that you get red carpet ogling inbetween all the big ticket movies. Oh sure, you get that at medium sized festivals too but the celebrities and movies are more regional and less Klieg lit. So who was at Berlinale? Hailee Steinfeld was despite also showing up at US events and London events in the same week (I didn't include her in the lineup because she's been featured so much lately). That girl has probably logged more air miles in the past month than you have all year!

Here's a small sampling of stars.

From left to right: Dominic Cooper had a new film at the festival called The Devil's Double (more on that in a bit). He must weigh 120 lbs. He is always wearing the slimmest most form fitting suits that money can buy and constant cardio workouts can provide; Diane Kruger, still enjoying that post-Basterds boost, was there to push Unknown (#1 at the US box office this weekend); Gabourey Sidibe, who everyone griped would be hard to cast after Precious is doing pretty well for herself, don't you think? In addition to Showtime's The Big C she is in Yelling to the Sky (Zöe Kravitz has the lead role) which premiered in Berlin ; Diane Lane and Josh Brolin were there for the True Grit premiere (Bridges and Steinfeld also attended) looking more doubly attractive than ever, yes?

The other extra special thing about international red carpets is that the European stars get way more attention than they do at US events. And some of them are more than deserving of flashbulbs.

From left to right: Ludivine Sagnier and Sibel Kekilli, two TFE favorites from France and Germany respectively, were at the fest. Ludivine co-stars with Dominic Cooper in The Devil's Double.  Sibel attended the True Grit premiere but she didn't have a film of her own to push this time. However -- GEEKY FREAKOUT ALERT -- I didn't know this but she's playing "Shae", Tyrion's beloved prostitute in HBO's Game of Thrones. Yes; Diane Kruger gets featured twice because everyone knows she's a clotheshorse; German star August Diehl, who shares Inglourious Basterd's best chapter (the one in the cellar) with Kruger and Michael Fassbender, headlines the German film Wer Wenn Nicht Wir (If Not Us, Who) which won the Alfred Bauer, a prize that rewards innovation in films; And finally Spain's Carmen Maura, who we've loved since the late 80s on account of all of those delicious Pedro Almodóvar movies (she's still the reigning champ of his filmography, having starred in 8 to Penélope Cruz's 4.) is part of the star ensemble in Les femmes du 6ème étage.

A Few Movies To Be on the Lookout For
That film of Maura's translates to Women on the 6th Floor but according to Obsessed With Film, who call it "shamelessly enjoyable", it's being called Service Entrance for English markets.  It's about a rich Frenchman who becomes obsessed with Spanish maids living above him in the servants quarters. Maura's delightful Volver daughter Lola Dueñas is also in the cast.

The Cooper/Savignier movie mentioned earlier called The Devil's Double is about a man forced into being the body double for one of Saddam Hussein's sons. Cooper plays both roles, body double and the son of Hussein and he's reportedly great in it though the reviews of the film are not as kind, likening it to Scarface for its Big lurid violent sensationalism. But Ludivine & Dominic? I'm in.

Once I started investigating what played beyond the prize winners, there were too many movies thatsounded interesting, particularly the Bollywood drama about a black widow 7 Khoon Maaf starring Priyanka Chopra as a black widow and Naseerudin Shah (we love him) as the eldest of several of her usually doomed husbands. It turns out, it's playing in NYC right now. There's also a French animated film from the director of Kirikou and the Sorceress (2005) called Les Contes de la Nuit and a new Chen Kaige movie Sacrifice that Variety thinks is a return to form of sorts. So let's just end with an all star Shakespeare that we know you'll eventually have a chance to see.

Ralph Fiennes directs Vanessa Redgrave in Coriolanus

Ralph Fiennes modern dress Shakespearean adaptation Coriolanus, didn't win any prizes but reviews were interesting with Vanessa Redgrave being held up for significant praise. That's no surprise in terms of reviews. Can this film eventually wow Oscar voters? They tend to prefer their Shakespeare in period traditional form but Oscar winner Vanessa Redgrave hasn't been in the mix since (gulp) 1992, so it would sure be nice to see her on the red carpet again if the performance is as wonderful as we hope.

My sadness about this movie pre-viewing is that Linus Roache does not appear. When Fiennes was doing this on stage a decade ago, Linus Roache (Priest, Wings of the Dove, Batman Begins, etcetera) was his much raved about co-star.  I had just moved to New York when they were doing it at BAM and I was so poor I didn't even consider going. Sadness.

Roache belongs to that unfortunate club of Wonderful Actors Who Never Get High Profile Work (at least not since the 90s) and he's been replaced in the film version by Gerard Butler. First he has to settle for Law & Order and now he's dumped for Butler, King of Bad Movies? What a world. What a world.

See also: previous Berlinale post for the jury awarded films

Berlinale Closes Pt. 1: Jury Prizes, Teddys, and More

We haven't mentioned the Berlinale at all in the heat of Oscar week. So let's do that, shall we? Better late than never. The festival closes tomorrow but the awards were handed out over the past two days.

"Nader and Simin: A Separation" GOLDEN BEAR

Asghar Fahradi, who got a lot of Oscar buzz a couple years back (though no nomination) for ABOUT ELLY, won this year's Golden Bear for Nader & Simin: A Separation (2011). The Hollywood Reporter explains the film like so.

Farhadi's drama traces the breakup of a Iranian family set against the political tensions in Tehran. While not overtly political, Nader and Simin is starkly critical of conditions in Iran, notably the country's huge class divide. It was widely tipped to win Berlin's top prize, not least because of the current upheaval in the Middle East.

Fahradi dedicated his prize to jailed filmmaker Jafar Panihi who was also supposed to be serving on this very jury. Isabella Rossellini's jury was one short as a result. Rather than replacing him they held a symbolic open seat for him. Some articles are already suggesting that Nader & Simin could be submitted for next year's Foreign Language Film Oscar. But given the open criticisms and the dedication to a jailed filmmaker I wouldn't place your bets just yet; it can be tough to read Oscar submission politics when filmmakers and governments clash.

Competition Jury
Golden Bear: Jodaeiye Nader Az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation) by Asghar Farhadi
Silver Bear The Jury Grand Prize: A Torinoi Lo (The Turin Horse) by Bela Tarr
Silver Bear Best Director: Ulrich Kohler for Schlafkrankheit (Sleeping Sickness)
Silver Bear Best Actress: the female ensemble in Nader & Simin
Silver Bear Best Actor: the male ensemble in Nader & Simin
Silver Bear Best Screenplay: The Forgiveness of Blood written by Joshua Marston and Andamion Murataj.

Isabella and her jury liked Nader & Simin so much they gave it ALL the acting prizes, too. This wasn't good news for Coriolanus, the Shakespearean adaptation from Ralph Fiennes that won Vanessa Redgrave in particular Oscar friendly reviews. Regarding the Screenplay prize: If Marston's name looks familiar think Maria Full of Grace. We were wondering when he was going to be back to the cinema.

Silver Bear Artistic Contribution: Wojciech Staron, Cinematography, and Barbara Enriquez, Production Design, for El Premio
Alfred Bauer Prize: If Not Us Who (Wer Wenn Nicht Wir) by Andres Velel
First Feature Award: On the Ice by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean
Special Mention: The Guard by John Michael McDonagh
Special Mention: Die Vaterlosen by Marie Kreutzer

Crystal Bear
These prizes are for family films. Separate jury.

Best Kplus Feature Film: Keeper’n til Liverpool (The Liverpool Goalie) by Arild Andresen [Norway]
Special Mention: Mabul by Guy Nattiv [Israel/Canada/Germany/France]
Short Film: Lily by Kasimir Burgess [Australia]
Special Mention:  Minnie Loves Junior by Andy Mullins and Matthew Mullins [Australia]
Best 14plus Feature Film:  On the Ice  by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean [U.S.]
Special Mention: Apflickorna by Lisa Aschan [Sweden]
Best 14plus Short Film:  Manurewa by Sam Peacocke [New Zealand]
Special Mention:  Get Real! by Evert de Beijer [Netherlands]

Scandinavia is always winning prizes for family and kids films. It's a niche. Here's the trailer to the winning film. You can tell the "family friendly" categories aren't judged by US prudes. This won the Kplus award, and within seconds of the trailer starting there's jokes about people being well hung and there's shower nudity. Different worlds!

Audience Prizes
Audience Award, Fiction Film:  También la lluvia (Even The Rain) by Icíar Bollaín [Spain/France/Mexico]
This was one of the finalists for BEST FOREIGN FILM but did not make it to the nomination shortlist. It's currently open in select US theaters.
Second Place:  Medianeras by Gustavo Taretto [Argentina/Germany/Spain]
Third Place:  Life in a Day by Kevin Macdonald [Great Britain]
Audience Award, Documentary Film:  In Heaven Underground - The Weissensee Jewish Cemetery (Im Himmel, Unter der Erde. Der Jüdische Friedhof Weißensee) by Britta Wauer
Second Place:  Mama Africa by Mika Kaurismäki
Third Place:  We Were Here by David Weissman (USA)

Teddy Awards
Berlinale's Teddy Award, which is separate from the main fest and judged by LGBT film festival programmers, is one of the oldest annually bestowed Queer Cinema awards. It was first handed out in 1987 to Pedro Almodóvar's Law of Desire. What a kick off, eh?  Perusing the list of past Teddy Award winners is actually a great way to catch up on LGBT films you may have missed. Gay cinema is increasingly not what it used to be. With assimilation into mainstream culture, queer cinema definitely lost its edge and brain-power if not its sex drive. These days we don't seem to get new Gregg Arakis, Gus Van Sants or Todd Haynes and their like but people whose names we never learn directing straight to DVD sex comedies. (sigh)

Last year's Teddy prizes were unusually Hollywood friendly with James Franco's first short film The Feast of Stephen [clip. NSFW] winning Best Short Film and Lisa Cholodenko's eventual Best Picture nominee The Kids Are All Right winning the top prize.

Jake Yuzna's "Open" (2010). Marie Losier's "Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye" (2011)

Jake Yuzma's far more experimental pansexual drama Open won the Jury Prize. I had the pleasure of attending the premiere here in NYC. Artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge  spoke to the audience afterwards. She and her late partner, Lady Jaye, who famously had repeated operations and plastic surgery procedures to look more and more like one another, were the inspiration for the fictional film. So I was surprised to hear that Berlin honored the very same topic again this year. Their Best Documentary prize went to The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye by Marie Losier.

The Teddy, the main prize went to Argentina's Ausente, Marco Berger's follow up to Plan B which did the festival circuit last year and is now available on DVD.

Ausente is about teenager who falls in love with his swimming teacher, finding all sorts of excuses to spend time with him.

The Teddys in full
Best Feature Film: Ausente by Marco Berger
Best Documentary: The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye by Marie Losier
Best Short Film: (two winners) Generations by Barbara Hammer and Gina Carducci and Maya Deren’s Sink by Barbara Hammer
Jury Prize: Tomboy by Celine Sciamma
Special Teddy Awards:  HIV/AIDS activist Pieter-Dirk Uys from South Africa and New German Cinema director Werner Schroeter (RIP).

Here's the trailer to Ausente which means "absent"