This past weekend, Saturday Night Live received a huge ratings boost thanks to the appearance of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. But as much fun as it was seeing her act the good sport next to a jokingly critical Alec Baldwin, it only made me anticipate her inevitable feature film debut. I mean, did you notice she was the only person who didn’t need to keep reading from the cue cards? She’s a natural. And whether her ticket wins or loses the race on November 4, it’s certain that one day Palin will at least make a cameo in some kind of fictional movie, whether she means to or not.
So, as we wait for her to show up in a small part in the Coen brothers’ adaptation of Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (both because she’s from Alaska and reminds me of Frances McDormand in Fargo), let’s take a look at some other politicians who’ve made interesting film cameos, some intentionally and some not.
The combo of last week’s DGA contract agreement and yesterday’s announcement of the Oscar noms may have set the WGA in a new direction towards ending the writer’s strike. Yesterday afternoon the WGA announced it had withdrawn demands for jurisdiction over reality and animation, which the AMTPT was dead against recognizing. The two sides are reportedly meeting together today.
Even if the strike is not over in a month, let alone today, there will still definitely be an Oscar telecast. It will be heavy on clips honoring the past 80s years of cinema, according to Gil Cates, who compared the strike to the presidential race.
2008 Oscar-nominee Michael Moore is making a stand on the issue of documentary and foreign film exhibition, stating that his new year’s resolution is to sit down with theater owners and urge them to reserve one auditorium per multiplex devoted to specialty films. Hopefully he’ll document it, and one day we can sit in that auditorium and watch the result.
The fate of Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassushas not been officially announced yet, but Variety points out that Heath Ledger’s involvement in the movie was integral to its financing. I doubt the film could easily replace the late actor and go back and reshoot all of his scenes, but I also hope Gilliam isn’t left with another unfinished work (ala The Man Who Killed Don Quixote). Could Gilliam & Co. go the route of The Crow and digitally add Ledger’s face to a double?
Standing outside the Paramount Theater in Austin, TX, opening night of the 2007 SXSW Film Festival, Paul and myself caught up with the producer of Confessions of a Superhero as well as a couple of the film’s stars, Superman and The Hulk.
The awards are in. Talking to Matt Singer from IFC News about the Independent Spirit Awards and the Spout guys recap the Oscars 2007. Forrest Whitaker and Jennifer Hudson were great, but is it just us or are the Oscars trying to gain edge of the Spirit Awards?
Hopwood DePree, screenwriter and co-founder for the Waterfront Film Festival, wraps up Sundance. Paul, Dave and Kevin debate questions like, who is The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences? How do they pick a winner? Are losers chosen so they make better films? What is up with Dreamgirls among other bizarre anomalies of the 2007 Oscars?
It’s Friday and here’s the third weekly episode of Spout’s FilmCouch. Subscribe to it in the iTunes store (search for “filmcouch” or click here to launch iTunes) and a new free episode will download every Friday.
Sundance has begun. Paul and Dave reminisce over their memories of the festival and debate whether or not it’s actually a theme park. Kevin, Adam, and Paul talk to the writer of Unknown, Matthew Waynee, then discuss the film. Was it deep, or are we reading too much into it?
What’s up with all these lists for the top 10 movies of 2006? In this episode of FilmCouch, we discuss Day Night Day Night, which made several lists for the top undistributed film, and we chat a bit about the movies that “scared the crap out of you as a kid.”
Aaron, Bill, Kevin and I watched Breaking and Entering at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House on Opening Night of the Denver Film Festival. Unfortunately we did not have a ride on the gondola to do our podcast in but we were all enchanted by the amazing venue we were in.
Starz Denver Film Festival, Spout podcast, Roundtable Recap, Thursday November 9, 2006, Bill, Dave, Kevin, Aaron
Some of us first saw Shakespeare Behind Bars at film festivals more than a year ago, but others were watching for the first time. Either way, it’s the kind of film experience that draws you in and hangs on tight–even more so because it’s real. Listen in on the conversation Bill, Kristin, Dave and I had after watching the film, then go out and rent it, buy it at spout.com, whatever. Just see it.
Kristin and Dave run into some young film professors and their companions on the sidewalk after Spout’s 51 Birch Street event. They have a conversation examining the ins and outs of crafting such a personal film. (The conversation could have gone on all night, if it wasn’t so blasted cold!)
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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