Stuart's final piece

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Jamie Stuart's fifth and final New York Film Festival video report delivers a slight diss to Pan's Labyrinth director-writer Guillermo del Toro by implying he's long-winded (and thus boring, which Guillermo never is), and gives a pass to Sofia Coppola and Marie-Antoinette by saying that the Austrian queen's idle distractions in Versailles serve as a metaphor for the human condition in general and denial in particular. Stuart is a talented filmmaker, but to end his NYFF with a Coppola-Kirsten Dunst bendover...shattering. Unless he meant it as a put-on.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 16, 2006 at 1:33 AM

comment #1

mutinyco says ...

Funny. I thought I said Pan's Labyrinth was the most satisfying movie experience at the festival.

Posted by mutinyco at October 16, 2006 4:55 AM

comment #2

drturing says ...

Oh please. It was bad enough when David Poland tried to foist this on us. I figured you'd have the sense not to, Mr. Wells.

Masturbatory junket coverage by someone who's so lacking in tact they use a junket to pitch a script.

This is the most delusional thing I've ever read...

http://www.moviecitynews.com/voices/2005/stuart.html

(Not serious about getting into the AFI, self critiquing the work to be genius, comparisons to the truly great, continual admonishment of groundbreaking feats of nothingness, ill informed assessment of the cultural history of technological change... Bamboozled was shot by Spike Lee and the incredible Ellen Kuras on DV...)

I recall this wasn't liked much at Poland's trainwreck of a site. I doubt it is here.

Posted by drturing at October 16, 2006 6:08 AM

comment #3

Ju-osh says ...

Every moment of every day is a Rorschach Test, Jeff, and it doesn't take a psychoanalyst to see you seem a wee bit obsessed with your distaste for Marie Antoinette.
Did the recent accusations of sexism regarding your 'look at this hot/mysterious/full of fumes waitress/hostess/publicist I spoke to last night' posts force this angry, new you into being?
(Or is this just part of that whole 'Lewis Black of Oscar bloggers' schtick you boast of?)
Your articles are still great (the FX interview being one of my favorite internet reads last week), but the lessened expectations you're placing upon your blog-ish postings are begining to weaken this sight's authority.

Posted by Ju-osh at October 16, 2006 8:05 AM

comment #4

sardine says ...

don't be shattered Jeffy-poo!

Posted by sardine at October 16, 2006 8:09 AM

comment #5

jeffreywells says ...

Wells to mutinyco: I heard and understood, of course, what you said about "Pan's Labyrinth." I figured everyone else has or will also. It was the fast-forwarding of Guillermo's press conference reply to a question I was questioning. It implied that Gillermo's a bit of a windbag, and there are very few directors I've met who are more thoughtful or articulate than he.

Posted by jeffreywells at October 16, 2006 9:08 AM

comment #6

mutinyco says ...

I agree. He was an excellent speaker. Even brought out a journal of his sketches. The fast-forward wasn't anything personal. As the series was kind of about the process of making the series it simply struck me as a clever sight gag. But, just to explain -- often the best speakers do not necessarily translate to a format like this because in all fairness I need manageable sound bites.

To drturing: Lots of established filmmakers dabbled in DV as it was coming out. In that essay the point being made is that it seemed like the elite were trying to be "cutting-edge," whereas the people for whom DV is really a necessity -- independents, and people trying to establish themselves -- have been having a bitch of a time doing it, often because the format isn't taken seriously.

Posted by mutinyco at October 16, 2006 12:40 PM

comment #7