In addition to the afore-mentioned, long-awaited Wristcutters, this weekend marks the expansion of a films that we’ve covered in depth here on SpoutBlog, Sean Penn’s Into the Wild. A refresher:

• In this interview, snagged by Kevin at Telluride, Sean Penn talks about securing the rights to the book, transitioning to working behind the camera, and why shooting Into the Wild was “a filmmaker’s dream.”
• In this episode of FilmCouch from last month, Kevin and Paul talk about Into the Wild and other films about jumping off the gird.
• Even a movie about the rejection of consumer culture can benefit from a little corporate sponsorship.

Movies are a great way to explore the risk we never took. INTO THE WILD opens tonight, Sean Penn shares the story of first reading the book from an interview in Telluride. We also look at THE MOSQUITO COAST (1986, Peter Weir), starring Harrison Ford, and what these films tell us about breaking from civilization and doing the unthinkable. Karina interviews the makers of HEAVY METAL IN BAGHDAD and it becomes clear why she wrote “I don’t care how tired of Iraq documentaries you think you are–you need to see Heavy Metal in Baghdad.”

FilmCouch #38

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Into the Wild, The Mosquito Coast, Heavy Metal in Baghdad

Variety has a write-up on a new initiative at Samsung to support indie film. The electronics manufacturer is partnering with Landmark Theaters to essentially pay for marketing campaigns on behalf of specific pictures, in an effort to “bolster the company’s brand image among American consumers, especially the affluent auds that indies attract.” I guess ideally, the partnership will go both ways–ie: the chosen indie films will theoretically have the chance to bolster their images among the mainstream consumers that Samsung attracts.

The deal will include a Samsung sponsorship of Landmark’s Truly Indie program, through which filmmakers pay a fee to distribute their films in Landmark theaters and gain access Landmark’s marketing apparatus. Samsung will also install a number of blue seats in Landmark auditoriums across the country, through which lucky ticketbuyers can apparently expect to be offered Samsung swag.
The first film to be promoted under the deal is Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, which is a perhaps unwittingly strong match for a business proposition pairing corporate sponsorship with independent productions. Wild tells the story of an idealistic young hippie who impulsively gives up all his cash and worldly possessions to live “off the grid,” with disastrous consequences. Lesson learned: ascetic individualism is noble in spirit, but consumerism makes the world go round.

More on the Samsung deal here, and for our interview with Sean Penn from Wild’s Telluride premiere, click thisaway.

Stories from the Telluride Film Festival, 2007. Paul talks to surrogate father figures Leonard Maltin and Werner Herzog (who was showing his Antarctica doc, Encounters at the End of the World). Karina weighs in on Brian DePalma’s divisive Iraq film, Redacted. Kevin eventually gets a chance to ask Sean Penn about directing Into the Wild.

 

 FilmCouch 36 [25:51m]: Play Now | Download

FilmCouch 36

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Encounters at the End of the World, Redacted, Into the Wild

It took a lot of persistence (more on that in this week’s FilmCouch), but I managed to get an interview with Sean Penn. Penn is here with Into the Wild, which he directed. Based on a book of the same name, the film follows the real life story of a young man’s journey into the heart of the Alaskan wilderness. We chatted about what it took to get the film made (Penn spent 10 years securing the rights), and what a relief it is to be behind the camera rather than playing extremely tortured individuals.

 

 Sean Penn interview [2:50m]: Play Now | Download

Sean Penn Interview

Into the Wild