• For those of you who don’t like the cold weather in Park City, Sundance is in negotiations to launch a version of its film festival in Abu Dhabi (pictured). Original idea was to hold the new fest in April, but it’s likely to happen later due to the current economy.
• Also an effect of the recession: a leaner Sundance, with lowered attendance, smaller crowds (particularly for lack of a lot of the people who go to Park City just to hang out), and fewer parties. The Salt Lake Tribune examines all the cutbacks, including economic effects on documentary filmmaking, distribution and Sundance deal-making, and ends with a nice quote from Robert Redford: “What might be a positive is that if there is less hoo-ha, less of a circus atmosphere, there will be more tendency to focus on what it is that we’re really about, which is the independent filmmakers and the quality of the work.”
• The Hollywood Reporter also spoke to Redford, who admits there are currently too many film festivals, and Sundance may eventually become obsolete as a result: “My feeling is when the day comes when we’re no longer providing the mission we started with — not creating something new for audiences, not creating opportunities for new artists to have a place to come and develop — then we shouldn’t be here, and we won’t. As long as we continue to create new advantages, we will continue, but not just to be continuing.”
• The New York Times profiles The Informers and its ill-fit premiere at this year’s fest. Says author/co-screenwriter Bret Easton Ellis: “When people tell you something’s ‘a real Sundance movie,’ that’s more negative than a compliment.”
• MTV.com has a shortlist of stars who are expected to be reinvented at this year’s fest: John Krasinsky; Patton Oswalt; Nick Cannon; and Sam Rockwell.

Earlier this month, Production Weekly reported that Alex Cox and David Lynch would begin shooting their Repo Man sequel, titled Repo Chick, next month. Fifteen 25 years after the release of the first movie, Cox revealed that it’s a timely revisit, as the new movie will “unfold against the background of the credit crunch and the subprime mortgage crisis in the US, where repossessions of homes, cars and other forms of property is at a new high.”

Coupled with the recent announcement that John Carpenter is producing a remake of his own They Live, the news of a second Repo Man film has us wondering what other ‘80s cult classics should appropriately be remade or revisited now that the economy is shit again. Depending on your definition of “cult film” (many people call Ghostbusters a cult classic), some of the selected films may not be fitting for that term. Regardless, the following ten movies, if redone today, would have definite relevance to these troubled times.

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Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore spoke with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC yesterday, offering his take on the auto industry’s request for a bailout. At first, he seems to be defending the automakers, but that stance is just an excuse to be critical of Washington’s handling of the situation. He really has no sympathy for the big boys from Detroit at all, and he submits his own solution to Congress: give the Big Three their $38 billion, but tell them you own their ass and make them build hybrids and mass transit options instead of gas-guzzling SUVs.

As a onetime fan of Moore’s work, I have to admit this clip presents some of the smartest words to come out of the guy’s mouth in years. I’m not saying I agree with his proposal to Congress for basically nationalizing the automakers, but he definitely carries himself on Countdown quite intelligently. Obviously it’s a subject he’s very familiar with, having started his film career with the GM-criticizing Roger & Me. So, should Washington follow his advice?

Check out Moore’s appearance after the jump.

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Did you know that legalizing gay marriage could turn the economy around? Well, don’t take my word for it, but Neil Patrick Harris presents a pretty convincing argument…in song. He and a whole slew of big name comedic actors, including Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Allison Janney, Maya Rudolph, Andy Richter, Margaret Cho, Kathy Najimy, Rashida Jones and Craig Robinson, have united for an exclusive video from FunnyorDie.com that functions as a hilarious and tuneful protest of Proposition 8. And the songs are well-written too, since the whole thing was conceived and written by five-time Oscar-nominated composer Marc Shaiman. Hairspray director/choreographer Adam Shankman directed it.

In additon to supporting a cause, the video provides another surprising reason for me to regain interest in Jack Black. He’s terrific as Jesus here, and thanks to other recent online performances, such as his silent turn as Ben Franklin, I have a newfound enjoyment of his talents. Maybe he can somehow limit his career to the web and I can ignore all the obnoxious films he’s made in the last decade.

Anyway, check out the Prop 8 musical after the jump.

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Unemployment is about to get even worse now that Citigroup has announced it will cut 52,000 jobs early next year. And falsely reported news of a killing in Santa Clara, California (the shooter was fired, not laid off) only adds to the bleak atmosphere surrounding the already upsetting job market. But while desperate times may lead to desperate measures, it’s vital for us to remember what we learned from the films of the 1930s, when the Great Depression caused a nearly 25% rate of unemployment (we’re currently at 6.5%).

Hopeful stories of upward mobility and implausible solutions were popular at the time, though many of them had downsides or inspired the desire for unlikely prospects. Still, there was some guidance to be found buried within the fantasies of Hollywood, and SpoutBlog has compiled this handy list to help you make the right choices during your current or imminent joblessness.

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Stanley Weiser, co-writer of Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, penned a terrific piece titled “Wall Street’s’ message was not Greed is Good” for The Los Angeles Times on Sunday, in which he lamented the mythologizing of Michael Douglas’ master of the universe Gordon Gekko with the following:

Gekko’s character was written to create an engaging, charming, but deceitful and brutal being. I have nevertheless run into quite a number of younger people, who upon discovering that I co-wrote the film, wax rhapsodic about it . . . but often for the wrong reasons.

A typical example would be a business executive or a younger studio development person spouting something that goes like this: “The movie changed my life. Once I saw it I knew that I wanted to get into such and such business. I wanted to be like Gordon Gekko.”

The flattery is disarming and ego-stoking, but then neurons fire and alarm bells go off. “You have succeeded with this movie, but you’ve also failed. You gave these people hope to become greater asses than they may already be.”

While I can understand Weiser’s horror in this idolization of amoral Gekko, especially in the wake of the real Wall Street’s collapse, I also couldn’t help but think back to a column I wrote in which I dissected Malcolm McDowell’s portrayal of Alex in A Clockwork Orange. Kubrick also was sufficiently horrified by the hero-worshipping of Alex, by the copycat crimes by droog wannabes that occurred in England after the film’s release (enough to yank it from distribution in that country). But the idea that either Weiser or Kubrick would be shocked (“utterly shocked” in Weiser’s sarcastic appraisal of Gekko’s view of the financial meltdown) by this pedestal raising strikes me as either naïve or disingenuous. Put sexy actors in passionate roles and what do you think is gonna happen?

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