Morning report
Scrounging around for tickets at last night's What Just Happened? screening at the Eccles felt vaguely humiliating. No, it was vaguely humiliating. The film, a mildly perverse inside-Hollywood drama directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, Stanley Tucci, Michael Wincott, Robin Wright Penn and Catherine Keener, didn't feel like a big audience score from where I was sitting. It's an in and out thing -- sometimes amusing, sometimes okay, nothing really "knockout."
I'll get into it later today. I have to leave for a 9:30 Eccles screening of The Wackness. More feeling like a beggar in Calcutta....can;t wait! "Tickets? Tickets for a columnist?" I would have gone to the Sleep Dealer screening this morning but the humiliation experience at the Racquet Club tends to be even more mortifying than what one tends to go through at the Eccles. Between last night's Eccles scrounge-around and getting the boot at the Library yesterday afternoon, yesterday was bad. I hate this festival sometimes. Not often, but now and then.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 20, 2008 at 7:06 AM
comment #1
Zimmergirl
says ...
Ugh, sounds awful. Do you think they try to manufacture buzz by making their screenings seem more exclusive? Like "the hottest ticket at Sundance" type of thing? Either way, blech.
Posted by Zimmergirl
at January 20, 2008 8:42 AM
comment #2
p.Vice
says ...
Who would've thought a film from the director of Envy, Toys, Jimmy Hollywood, Man of the Year etc. could possibly disappoint? Or furthermore, why anyone would suffer the indignity of having to scrounge for a ticket?
Posted by p.Vice
at January 20, 2008 8:44 AM
comment #3
actionman
says ...
I think it's acceptable to think that the director of Diner, Wag the Dog, Sleepers, Tin Men, Avalon, Bandits, Rain Man, Good Morning Vietnam and Liberty Heights might have a great film still left in him.
I am looking forward to seeing What Just Happened, no matter how many "meh" or luke-warm notices it gets at Sundance.
Posted by actionman
at January 20, 2008 8:50 AM
comment #4
md'a
says ...
Try attending the press screenings. You don't need a ticket for those. Oh, wait, then you don't get your premiere scoop.
Posted by md'a
at January 20, 2008 9:40 AM
comment #5
truefaith
says ...
I haven't been to Sundance in years. Are the seats in the Library still uncomfortable? They were when I was there. Barry Levinson reminds me of Lasse Hallstrom. Their first film that brought them attention was their best and they never made a film equal to it ever since. For Levinson it was DINER and Hallstrom it was MY LIFE AS A DOG. That's what happens when you don't have the right connections in Hollywood. I am convinced this did not happen to Ang Lee because he fell in with the right people at Focus. Lucky bugger.
Posted by truefaith
at January 20, 2008 9:50 AM
comment #6
p.Vice
says ...
actionman, your list and my list of Levinson's work is purely a matter of semantics. I think it's safe to say that since the man hasn't made a halfway decent film since the mid 1980's, the hope-against-hope theory doesn't really cut it anymore.
Posted by p.Vice
at January 20, 2008 10:04 AM
comment #7
corey3rd
says ...
I hope Barry Levinson has a drinking problem to explain his making Man of the Year and An Everlasting Piece.
Posted by corey3rd
at January 20, 2008 10:14 AM
comment #8
T. Holly
says ...
Actionman, you missed it -- Cloverfield. in one of the best theatres. Christian couldn't believe the sound. I like the cushy seats. Still waiting on C.J.'s review. Nobody saw anything fall into the water in Coney Island. Routing for the monster? Kind of. Boiling character chemistry? Simmering. Logic? None. End title music? Woah, where can I download it? Bleeding eyes? Nah, but a pretty heartless use of 9-11 images.
Posted by T. Holly
at January 20, 2008 11:06 AM
comment #9
jjgittes
says ...
I find it odd that "Sleepers" could be listed as a positive in Levinson's filmography.
Hated that film.
Posted by jjgittes
at January 20, 2008 11:29 AM
comment #10
Terry McCarty
says ...
In terms of Actionman's list, I'd subsititute BUGSY for SLEEPERS , although it was a hired-gun project for Barry.
Actually, one could even say that YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES was head-and-shoulders above SLEEPERS.
Posted by Terry McCarty
at January 20, 2008 11:51 AM
comment #11
K. Bowen
says ...
How exactly does a film by starving artist Barry Levinson with young unknown actors like Robert DeNiro and Bruce Willis come to be screened at Sundance?
Posted by K. Bowen
at January 20, 2008 11:51 AM
comment #12
Mikeb
says ...
Hey Rouge, throw me a call. I'm at home.
Mike
Posted by Mikeb
at January 20, 2008 12:12 PM
comment #13
The Winchester
says ...
Wait, Michael Wincott is in this movie?!? Now I MUST see it! That guy is awesome!!
(This is in no way a sarcastic/snarky post. I genuinely enjoy Wincott as an actor, and that trumps "From the director of 'Sphere'" any day in my book. )
Posted by The Winchester
at January 20, 2008 12:12 PM
comment #14
berg
says ...
Wincott is in Diving Bell and the Butterfly too
Posted by berg
at January 20, 2008 12:25 PM
comment #15
T. Holly
says ...
So is Polanski's wife, as the loyal ex-wife, and looting in so L.A. riots, not 9-11. Who's Rouge?
Posted by T. Holly
at January 20, 2008 12:36 PM
comment #16
Josh Massey
says ...
For what it's worth, I loved Bandits.
Posted by Josh Massey
at January 20, 2008 12:53 PM
comment #17
jeffmcm
says ...
How appropriate that T. Holly's posts are appearing in a thread about a movie called "What Just Happened?"
Posted by jeffmcm
at January 20, 2008 1:59 PM
comment #18
actionman
says ...
T. Holly--I wish I could have joined you...had some people in town...we saw it at the grove (sold out) and we all loved it...the sounds in theater 1 was sick.
Terry--I should have added Bugsy to my earlier post.
Posted by actionman
at January 20, 2008 7:54 PM