2006 (So Far): Best Supporting Actress

In the year so far happy postings this week, I've covered lead actor, lead actress, supporting actor --all of the acting categories but this. Now, we come to a screeching halt. For how on earth can I choose without more time to mull this over? I sometimes think that StinkyLulu was right to choose "actressing on the edges" as his #1 film obsession: supporting actresses are often the most enjoyable colors on a directors palette.

How can I choose five when this year is rich with possibility. Oh, sure I'll have to once the Film Bitch Awards roll out but for now, I don't want to part with any of the supporting ladies I love.


So I'm planting my feet and I aint budging. Let me enjoy these women awhile long before I'm forced to boot some or all of them out of the way to make room for the Fall season girls who manage to blow my mind.

My favorites thus far
Emily Blunt as "Emily" in The Devil Wears Prada Comedic bliss.

Abigail Breslin and Toni Collette as "Olive" and "Sheryl" in Little Miss Sunshine As ever Collette is 100% real and winning, even in the least juicy of roles. Abigail proves herself one of the best child actors working.

Edie Falco in Freedomland. Joe Reid already said what I wanted to say.

Maggie Gyllenhaal as "Elaine" in Trust the Man (already discussed) and "Allison" in World Trade Center. She's on fire this year. The Year of Jake (also known as 2005) must have lit a fire under her. We reap the rewards. Add these women to her Sherrybaby and you'll see three very different characters, all more impressive than the films which house them.

Catherine Keener and Frances McDormand in Friends with Money. I already discussed them here and a bit in my review.

Danny Perea as "Rita" in Duck Season who is charming and matter-of-fact funny as a bored neighbor whose birthday is forgotten. Why haven't any of you seen this yet? How much have I begged? No more excuses: You can get it on DVD.

Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin as "Yolanda and Rhonda Johnson" in A Prairie Home Companion They gave us an enticing taste of their sister act at the Oscars (video) but the real thing was even better. I love this film more than most.

*

Which supporting actress did it for you this year?

Tags: Meryl Streep, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Oscars, films, Academy Awards, movies

2006 (So Far): Best Actor

On Friday The Black Dahlia opens, ushering in --we assume we hope we dream-- an onslaught of quality pics for the cooler months. So we're quickly touring what the year has brought us up until now...

But what exactly has the year brought us in regards to leading actors? Not too damn much. Nevertheless, if the FB Awards (my own) were held today, the shortlist would read:

Chen Chang in Three Times He's serenely watchable. His name doesn't have the marquee value of a Tony Leung or a Takeshi Kaneshiro, but maybe it will someday. You've seen him before even if you don't recognize his name. He played Zhang Ziyi's lover in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Tony Leung's coworker/friend in Happy Together among other quality imports.

Aaron Eckhard as "Nicky Naylor" in Thank You For Smoking He's been typecast to an extent as an amoral devil but can you blame Hollywood? He does it so well and with real bite. Bonus points: We went to the same college at the same time. So I've always felt a little proprietary.

Colin Farrell as "James 'Sonny' Crockett" in Miami Vice I belong to the small minority that thinks that Farrell is good in everything. Even when his performances don't quite work I can usually see him reaching for something (more than can be said for many stars). One day he'll give a great performance.

Ryan Gosling as "Dan Dunne" in Half Nelson This performance makes a great twin set with Gyllenhaal's in Sherrybaby: both shoot for naturalism but they also contain the unmistakable whiff of theatrical ego. Given that their characters are selfish and self-destructive the approach feels right.

Denzel Washington as "Detective Frazier" in Inside Man Denzel has such star magnetism that he could've phoned this one in and most people would be none the wiser. He didn't. This is the liveliest he's been onscreen for quite some time. The fun is infectious.

Still... As much as I like all five of these performances I would be shocked to see any last until my actual awards are handed out.

WHAT OF THE OSCAR RACE?
That contest is the slowest to get started this year, isn't it? There's not one real contender yet. Despite the sluggishness in theaters, the festival reports are telling us that the war for the actual statue is already narrowed down to two men: Forrest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) and Peter O'Toole (Venus). JJ sums it up nicely in this article.

Tags: Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, Oscars, films, Academy Awards, movies

When Your Job Sucks, Think of Mine

Hi, it's Anne. I'm so happy that all of you went and saw my movie this summer. Can you believe I was sharing scenes with Meryl Streep? I was four months old when she won her second Oscar! She's so accomplished... such an amazing woman. My character "Andy" had such a terrible job in that movie working for her. Acting isn't as easy as people think but, honestly, I've never had a job half as tough as that. I'm not going to be that actress that tries to convince you that it's difficult to get naked with Jake Gyllenhaal. Please!

No, my nightmare job is starring in The Princess Diaries III. I'm not in that place anymore. Every night I thank God (I call him "Ang Lee", ha ha) for rescuing me. Because there's more to me than tiaras. There really is.

So: I want to pose another one of those "would you rather" questions that Nathaniel likes. My topic is 'Nightmare jobs from the summer movies'

Would you rather...?


1. Be the copy editor for The Daily Planet? All mythic comicbook crap aside: Lois Lane seems like a terrible writer, doesn't she? Could you even read a weepy essay on "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman" without giggling? I couldn't. I'd rather curl up with Ayn Rand. Now, there's a writer.

2. Work at that fast-food Chicken place that the Little Miss Sunshine family orders from daily? Those fast food people are probably making minimum wage and then they have to listen to Richard's "don't be a loser" speech every time he comes in? Oh, you know he gives it to them, poor things.

or

3. Apply the gel to the camera lenses on World Trade Center? I'm sorry but how goopy were those shots of Maria Bello? It's like they used a huge spatula to "frost" the lens. I bet the crew guy had to wear rubber gloves there was so much of it. Whenever that movie cut away to her I thought it was a commercial break and she was going to start brewing some Maxwell House. I don't understand it at all because she hardly needs it...such a beautiful woman.

OK. I have to go read a huge stack of scripts. (Oh, you thought The Devil Wears Prada only worked wonders for Emily Blunt's career? Think again) But answer this "would you rather" in the comments or add your own nightmare film job! Nathaniel will be back later today.

Bye.

tags: Anne Hathaway, movies, celebrities, Superman Returns, Maria Bello, Jake Gyllenhaal, Oscars, Meryl Streep

Pedro Watch #4

This is my final Almodovar round up from around the web --too many other things vying for my attention at the moment. But I hope my fellow Pedro nuts enjoy.

<---Eugene on P&P @ TIFF. (from whom I stole this pic)
Bajo la tierra "I was made for melodrama"
Luxerina Penelope Cruz's ass.
Indiewire @ TIFF with Almodovar
The Envelope Volver & Oscar?

And more Volver reviews from The Cutting Room (full length) "A-", As Little As Possible (capsule) "good but not great" and Deep Focus (full length) "really cozy and just a little overstuffed"

Previously on Pedro Watch Tags: Pedro Almodovar, movies, Spain, Volver, film

And Still More Kate...

While you're enjoying those two Kate-centric videos in the previous post...

Re: Kate Winslet in Little Children
David Poland "career-topping" and "deserves the Oscar"
In Contention "truly one of the best creations of her career."
Jeffrey Wells "a near lock for a Best Actress nom"
Toronto Life "wonderful"

Yes, indeedy --October looks to be a Winslet-apalooza: Her birthday is on Thursday the 5th and she'll probably be able to spend it reading endless raves about her work in Little Children which opens the next day.

A Heavenly Creature: Kate Winslet

Here's a great video montage for your viewing pleasure.

I DID NOT MAKE THIS. So please head on over to its page on YouTube if you love it and tell the original creator "Eegah" how much you do deeply dig. I personally thank him for creating this. It's 4 and a 1/2 minutes of heaven for Kate Winslet fans:

Watch it now


I especially loved watching this because Heavenly Creatures is prominently featured and its one of my favorite films of all time. I'd also never seen the clips from Romance & Cigarettes or Kate's lampooning of her own Oscarless stature.

UPDATE: And a big thank you to Amy who pointed this out. You can also see the full video of Kate Winslet in nun's habit from which the "why don't I have one?" Oscar joke is lifted. Very fun stuff.

UPDATE #2: And still more Oscar buzz for her work in October's Little Children

2006 (So Far): Best Supporting Actor

Toronto's Film Fest is almost over. The Fall Cinema arrives like thunder thereafter. So we're quickly touring what the year has brought us up 'til now... If the Film Bitch Awards were held today, your nominees for Supporting Actor would be:

Ben Affleck as "George Reeves" in Hollywoodland I would argue that the casting is the true brilliance here but that is not to say that Ben doesn't acquit himself very well nonetheless. I loved his easy charm laced with troubling self awareness. And I must say that I bought him in the period, too. That's tougher to get right for actors than people think. Chances are strong that Ben will figure into the competition for the Oscar shortlist. This won't win him the Oscar but even being in the race for a nomination is a comeback, is it not?

Steve Carell as "Frank" and Greg Kinnear as "Richard" in Little Miss Sunshine One of the terrible things about awarding actors for their troubles is that, particularly in the case of ensembles, you're ignoring that it's a collaborative artform. Lots of different people contribute to any given performance. So I'm happy to have space for them both and would like to just say that Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, Toni Collette, and Abigail Breslin pitched in. Kinnear has an off-putting tricky role that he totally makes work without losing the audience and Carell is Carell: he makes everything he's in better. Bonus points for that voice work in Over the Hedge, too.

Woody Harrelson as "Dusty" in A Prairie Home Companion It's not much of a role but it's early in the year still. He's here because he wiped off the stench left from his one note work in in last year's Prize Winner... and reminded us of what a superb light comedian he is. Kevin Kline is huffing and puffing for laughs in this comedy but Woody just gently coaxes them into life --such beautiful ease. Well done.

Stanley Tucci as "Nigel" in The Devil Wears Prada He has been cast in a lot of thankless and rather stock roles in comedies but this time he's risen above the role and added fulfilling dimension. It's the best thing he's done since Big Night.

Who would you choose?

Tags: Steve Carell, Ben Affleck, Oscars, films, Academy Awards, movies

A Sure Sign of the Apocalypse

I fear typing this. I have held my tongue for days. The fabric of the cinematic universe may tear at such a blasphemic utterance. And yet... I feel compelled to share my confusion. For I saw the dread event occur with mine own two eyes:


Jessica Biel out-acting Edward Norton.

Tags: Jessica Biel, Edward Norton,The Illusionist, films, movies

Eat, Link, and Be Merry (and Retire Before You're Washed Up)

Word recently entered the entertainment media that French action auteur Luc Besson, he of the Milla Jovovich fixation, has retired from directing. He recently completed his 10th feature. I don't have any specific feelings about his filmography but there are a couple of things for which I'm grateful. I can take or leave La Femme Nikita (and its subsequent remakes/spinoffs) but Besson did bring us the memorable feature debut of Natalie Portman in The Professional (I swiped this ancient pic from this fine Natalie site) and Bruce Willis in that backless orange Tee in The Fifth Element (OK, so that was a Gaultier contribution. Let's not split hairs) So here's to Luc!

As I was writing this post I noticed that Besson is the producer of Jodie Foster's Flora Plum. That's got to be a full time job in and of itself so it's good that he's cleared off his work table.

And finally: Michael Bay is on his 7th picture and Brett Ratner is on his 8th. Can they please take Besson's cue and bow out soon?

Some links to peruse re: other things entirely
Defamer has a really funny post on last weekend's box office.
David Poland on Peter O'Toole's Oscar buzz for Venus.
NewNowNext All about gay happenings @ TIFF --This post is so gay it made me feel butch. Which is... *clears throat* rare.
WOW Report Cheyenne Jackson @ the gym. Mmmm, Cheyenne. (you'll remember I love, won't you?)

When Ensembles Attack

As some of you may already know (if you read ModFab as you should), Gabriel is working on a production of Angels in America in the Baltimore area with his friend Shannon (an amazing and hilarious designer --I'm still pissed that she didn't end up on Project Runway when she auditioned: she'd be great TV.) They've launched a blog to document the rehearsal and production process on their version of Tony Kushner's sadly still contemporary gay fantasia. I found this entry from one of their actors, he who plays Prior, to be very interesting:

One thing I noticed during our first rehearsal was the wide variety of acting styles...This worries me a little because I don't want to stick out from the other characters too much.

That's a valid and normal concern I assume on a first day. Ensembles that aren't cohesive are a big turnoff (at least for me) in movies. This is a weird example but the only thing I remember about Kevin Costner's hit Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in the 90s was despising it because with each new character that was introduced I felt like I had entered a new movie. And all of the movies were bad. But you can have excellent ensemble work using disparate performance styles, provided the director manages to harness them all appropriately: think I Heart Huckabees. Oh, yes, do think about that! Think about that fondly and often.

HBO did a wondrous job of adapting Angels in America for the small screen but you really should see this masterpiece on stage. It was a truly momentous experience for me when I first saw it performed live in the 90s. It belongs to the theater. If you're anywhere near the Baltimore area, go see this production when it opens. It runs from October 13th through November 11th. I'm roadtripping from New York to see it.

2006 (So Far): Best Actress

Why do I always start these review features with my favorite category? It's like I'm eating my dessert first. I have no self control.

"Instant gratification takes too long"

Can you name the Best Actress nominated movie that that classic quote is from?

If the Film Bitch Awards were held today, your nominees would be:

Gretchen Mol as "Bettie Page"
The Notorious Bettie Page
Keke Palmer as "Akeelah"
Akeelah and the Bee
Meryl Streep as "Miranda"
The Devil Wears Prada
I raved about Mol and Streep in the last roundup. Am I doing this again too soon? (Probably. Shut up). Palmer's adorable lead work in yet another spelling bee movie holds up still, too.

So let's move on the newbies.

Maggie Gyllenhaal as "Sherry" in Sherrybaby
You will probably read a lot of reviews or hear a lot of media coverage that will mention Maggie Gyllenhaal's "bravery" and her "lack of vanity" in tackling the titular role in this new indie. She plays an ex-con and recovering junkie who is trying to win back her young daughter. But don't believe the hype. These types of things are always said about actresses who take unglamorous roles... as long as the performance is at least adequate these things are said. You must approach accolades carefully if any actress has roughed herself up in anyway onscreen. Critics (and Oscar voters) love de-glamming as much as Sherrybaby loves heroin.

That said, Maggie Gyllenhaal is a superb actress. But --and here's my point-- it aint for lack of actorly vanity. If anything, Sherrybaby has plenty o' the stuff. This is a showcase performance piece and Maggie knows it. She takes off running with it. This is 70s style actorly bravado. For me it's very much in the Jane Fonda Klute vein, so it earns my respect. Note the way Maggie demands that you look at her (by being, well, excellent at her job) and then punishes you for looking. You can practically imagine Sherry spitting out "what the f*** are you looking at?" after all of Maggie's best scenes.

In other words: mesmerizing but hostile --so, don't count on her having an easy ride to an Oscar nomination. Sherry is a maddening character. She doesn't care what you think of her. And if there's anything that can put a chill on Oscar's de-glam lovin', it's that. Even Charlize's Monster, for all of her murderous rage, was desperate for your love.

If I love this Sherrybaby star turn a teensy bit less than everyone else is likely to, it's only because I've seen Maggie do this trick before and rather exquisitely in Happy Endings (FB Bronze Medal, 2005) . Plus, I liked her singing better in that one.

Sook-Yin Lee as "Sophia" in Shortbus
For the fifth slot I went with the actress I liked whom I was least familiar with. My apologies to Anne Hathaway in Devil Wears Prada (who is growing on me), Maggie Cheung in Clean (too restrained for me this time), Fernanda Montenegro in House of Sand (wasn't given enough to do) and Shu Qi in Three Times (Uneven. It's definitely the second time wherein my problems with the film and her performance reside.)

When Shortbus opens in a month I'm sure it'll be divisive --being very polysexual, political, and graphic --but even for people who don't respond to it, I suspect the performances will still be a pleasant surprise. Most of the lead players manage to serve the dramatic, comedic, and sexual demands of the film with roughly equal measures of success and without much visible strain in any particular one of those areas. Sook-Yin Lee emerges as one of the two characters that are at the movie's heart. She plays a couples counsellor with orgasm problems. Her face is sometimes opaque and sometimes revealing but her performance is always interesting to watch.

Tags: Maggie Gyllenhaal, shortbus, Oscars, films, Academy Awards, movies

The Toronto Divide

It wasn't always this way but the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has become the halfway point of each film year. You can neatly divide the film year by pre-TIFF (a bunch of movies) and post-TIFF (a bunch of movies with awards on their mind). So we are now leaving 2006 B.T. (Sept 7th) and entering 2006 A.T. (Sept 16th)

In order to distract myself from the depressing realization that I am not at TIFF this year and in order to cleanse my movie palate for the new dishes of Fall Cinema and resultant Oscar buzz, these next five days @ The Film Experience will be devoted to a wrap-up of the cinematic year thus far. Next week it's full tilt boogie into Oscar's pre-season which means: new predictions, new films, new heartbreaks, new reviews and (hopefully) new favorites.

I won't be doing a 'most awaited feature' --those are popular right now-- but if you're interested and weren't with us back in March I did anticipatory drooling over the following films Marie-Antoinette, The Prestige, Dreamgirls, The Fountain, Running With Scissors, Volver, Inland Empire, Little Children, Margaret, Bug and For Your Consideration.

Of the 14 films I covered in that spring preview only one has opened (Prairie Home Companion) and two have been moved to 2007 (Assassination of Jesse James and Zodiac). The rest are slated to arrive from September through December. That just goes to show you how lopsided the film year is due to in-the-box thinking from the studios. When it comes to movies primarily for adults or films with prestige elements these next four months are just about all they can visualize.

How excited are you for the Fall?

Linkybaby

Some links to enjoy as Nattybaby struggles to get a move on on this Monday morning.


Wandering Medusa on a screening and Q&A with "Maggiebaby"
Wow Report -an awkward moment with Drew Barrymore. I so relate.
Hollywood Elsewhere finds Little Children more than a little impressive.
BoingBoing on Alan Moore's erotic graphic novel about fairytales.
Defamer tabloid spinning of Angelina's babysdaddys marital vow.
Pen15 Club "the gays love fall movies" Heh.
Movieweb Patrick Wilson continues his tour of the great actresses. From Streep through Winslet to...?

Addicted to Addiction: Is There a 12-Step For That?

Would you rather...


...shoot up with Maggie Gyllenhaal, smoke crack with Ryan Gosling, or snort heroine with Alan Arkin ???

American independent cinema really wants to know!

Tags: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ryan Gosling, addiction, films, drugs, movies, recovery

Oscar Battles: Mexico & Korea

Oscar Foreign Film Race Updates
For countries that produce only a handful of films each year the choice for an Oscar submission can be simple. But can you imagine the drama of choosing just one film if your country has a healthy prolific and famous film industry? Imagine the egos bruised in, say, France or India each year once the choice is made.

Countries with a lot of films often narrow it down to "finalists" before announcing. Here's a quick look at two interesting battles shaping up.

Mexico narrowed it down to twelve competitors (full list here) but I think this race will come down to a battle between Mezcal, which was showered with awards and nominations in Mexico's Oscars ("The Ariels") or the newer, highly buzzed Pans Labyrinth. In terms of marketing hooks, Labyrinth (trailer) is probably the way to go. It's directed by an auteur with an international following (Guillermo Toro of Cronos, The Devils Backbone, and Hellboy fame). It already has distribution, and it will likely ignite interest from genre lovers with its fantastical imagery. In terms of traditional Oscar taste though, Pan's Labyrinth, could be risky. Do Oscar voters ever go for dark fantasies with creepy said-to-be mesmerizing imagery? Have any readers seen this yet at festivals. If so, speak up.

Korea is choosing between three films: The King and the Clown, The Host, and Time. The first two films are the biggest box office hits of all time in Korea. The King... (trailer) is a controversial gay drama and The Host (trailer), a critically adored horror film playing well at international film festivals. The third film, Time, is from auteur Kim Ki-Duk who American audiences know from the excellent Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring and is about a woman undergoing plastic surgery. My guess is that Korea will bet on AMPAS's predilection for middlebrow prestige and go with the historical drama, however worthier the other choices may or may not be (I haven't seen these films).

UPDATES: The Foreign Language Oscar Pages also have new info on the official titles announced from Greece, Romania, the Philippines. More coming as we fill in the info culled from various news sources and reader contributions.

Tags: foreign films, Mexico, Korea,movies, Oscars, Academy Awards, cinema, Film...

The Covenant & The Descent

One of my least favorite things in movies is when I can't tell characters apart. Atrociously bad movies and even many good movies often have easy to read characterizations --partially because most characters get just one or two personality traits (the angry one, the rebellious one, etc...) But if you have a group scene and you're still trying to learn the names and a casting director has cast look-alikes: good luck. You're on your own.

I'm not proud to admit it but I saw Renny Harlin's The Covenant today. Though it's straight up bad in every way I found the casting of the leads to be especially confusing. These two guys to your left are the hero and the villain. They aren't dead ringers but close enough. They both are blessed with Abercrombie bodies and puffy sensual lips. The movie doesn't help sort them out. They are given similar wardrobes and similar haircuts.

And just to f*** with me a little more --here's another cosmic joke: The actors have alliterative names: Sebastian Stan and Steven Strait and so do the characters: They play "Chase" and "Caleb" respectively. Argh.

Further compounding the problem is this: the movie is one of the thousands shot with no discernable visual identity of its own. It uses that cold blueish filter (a look has been ubiquitous at least since the days of Terminator 2) which makes everyone's skin tone the same, too. When you get to the climactic fight between the hero and villain it turns out they have identical superpowers: creating balls of boring CGI energy to hurl at each other. They both have the same color contacts to signify the use of their powers. Worse yet, the movie can't even be bothered to give them different colored energy balls. Couldn't it at least have been like a lightsaber thing? I mean a lightsaber is a lightsaber but you could always tell which one belonged to whom based on its color. Work with me here filmmakers --at least a little.

I had the same problem to a lesser degree with the much better horror film The Descent. It took me awhile before I was able to differentiate the lead blond girl from the other blondes. But that was really only a problem during the initial cave sequences when they were all wearing the same headgear and filmed in groups. Once the carnage started whittling down the size of the cast and their equipment it became easier.

I admit right up front that I'm not the right audience for horror films. I often feel I'm missing the subtext since it's a genre so many cinephiles seem to both adore and engage with intellectually. So I leave the love to Nick and Rich who both offer excellent, thought-provoking reviews which were more fun for me to read (as a non aficianado of the genre) than the movie was for me to watch. Despite my aversion to horror, I thought The Descent was 100 times better than the last film I saw which happened to feature a girl being hunted in a subterannean locale... so that must be saying something.

The Covenant: potentially interesting premise (maybe a series or a comic book would've worked better to flesh out the constantly intruding backstory) but absolutely flat execution. D-
The Descent: surprisingly frisky horror but still not really my cuppa. B

Hollywoodland

As soon as the lights came up after the screening of Hollywoodland I knew I wouldn't have the drive to write a full review. It's one of those movies that you can see potential in but that you can't work up energy to root for: unfulfilling.

The film is about an investigation into the death of TV's first Superman George Reeves (Ben Affleck, exceptionally well cast). Choosing an unsolved mystery as a story is not necessarily a problem, but it requires deft handling. This type of crime film comes with an obvious storytelling risk: no ending. Choosing to focus on the investigation, which is obviously doomed (see also: unsolved) is where the problem comes in I think. That's shooting yourself in the foot. It makes for impotent drama. A straightforward approach to the story of George Reeves would've been more effective. The investigation and its attempts at parallel emotional journeys don't fuse well with the flashbacks.

I felt bad for Adrien Brody who shoulders the impotent half of the film. He's had a rough time following up The Pianist. I enjoy him as an actor but his intensity is wasted in this film. You spend all of his scenes waiting to get back to the Superman story. That's where the film engages interest, even if it still doesn't dive deep enough into the murky psychologies it introduces.
C+

Since it's not a special film overall the big question is this: Can Ben Affleck make it to the Supporting Actor Oscar shortlist? This is the kind of role they love played by the kind of actor they love to reward for career CPR. But will that be enough to generate votes since Hollywoodland won't be a contender elsewhere?

The Hot Link Injection

And Your Little Blog, Too on "All About All About Eve"
Cinematical looks at low budget/high return movies.
Stale Popcorn celebrates (musically) fellow Aussie, Toni Collette.
Low Resolution has a cool new series on "Rewatchables"

Janet Charlton offers the first Suri Cruise conspiracy that I've found even remotely interesting. Otherwise, zzzzz on this story. All aspects of it.

Greencine Daily has an interesting interview up with filmmaker Rick Stevenson. I love and agree with this quote:

I think the future of indie filmmaking is everywhere else from New York and LA, unless you're from New York and LA, because what makes good films and original films is the voice that you develop by being from somewhere.

and I'm glad there's the caveat about "unless you're from there" because, having just seen Shortbus (trailer, NSFW) which is so specifically of a place and particular mindset, I didn't want anyone impugning big city voices.

And, yes, the Toronto International Film Festival has begun. I couldn't make it this year -- My dream for 2007 involves frequent festival going. Wish me luck. People I'll be following to pretend I'm there include: Ali @ The Cutting Room, Jeremy @ The Movie Martyr, Gerard @ In Contention, David Poland @ The Hot Blog, Jeffrey Wells @ Hollywood-Elsewhere, and Mike D'Angelo @ The Man Who Viewed Too Much