Back when Billy the Kid hit theaters last December, I wrote an essay calling Jennifer Venditti’s non-fiction feature “The Anti-Juno.” The films begged to be compared at the time, not just because they were both, as I wrote, “films about the inner lives and social stumbling blocks of precocious, ‘outsider’ teenagers,” but because they were actually opening in New York on the same day. Juno came riding in with the best indie cred that Fox Searchlight could buy, so it’s a no-brainer that the eventual Oscar winner would outshine the truly indie Billy on a short timeline. But on a long tail, Billy has a huge advantage, if only because, as Cullen Gallagher put it today at /Hammer to Nail, “Jennifer Venditti has managed the incredible feat of both finding and conveying cinematically a character who is absolutely singular and unique, and at the same time exists as an “everyman” who sums up our collective adolescence.” Honest to blog.
Billy, which I named as one of my favorite films of 2007, comes out on DVD today, in a special package including a commentary track by director Venditti with Ryan Gosling, and a liner notes essay by Miranda July. If you go to the film’s official website and click on the DVD flag on the bottom right, you can actually get 25 percent off your purchase.
Here at SpoutBlog, we’re pretending likeThe Golden Compass doesn’t exist (and, if Nikki Finke is to be believed, come Monday morning New Line will be scrambling to spin the fact that we’re not the only ones). But here’s a look at three films that are newly out this weekend that we *have* covered, and can, to one extent or another recommend.
Atonement: “Big, classy, Oscar-bait World War II dramas don’t really get much better,” I wrote from Toronto. And in the three months since, I haven’t come across anyone who has anything seriously negative to say about this film…beyond the fact that the so-literal ending is like something out of Scooby Doo. I say, pull a Selma and leave the theater the second Vanessa Redgrave pops on screen, thereby claiming willful ignorance to the last-minute bubble bursting.
Juno: It’s better than Little Miss Sunshine, but I maintain that Fox is doing its reputation a huge disservice by marketing it like that piece of shiteating Oscar bait, instead of admitting that it’s a shameless teen sex com. If the very thought of that stripey stomach doesn’t send you cowering under your desk, check out my review from Telluride, and endless coverage at our Juno tag page.
Billy the Kid: Kevin and Paul have been all up on Billy’s jock since Day One. See their SXSW coverage here, read my review from earlier this week here, and listen to this week’s podcast for a new interview with Jennifer Venditti here.
The return of Billy the Kid and Jennifer Venditti. The story of a first time filmmaker that began with an interview at SXSW in March concludes in a conversation with Jennifer this week. Spoiler: It’s a happy ending. Revisiting No Country for Old Men. Karina’s beef with the Coen Brothers caused a stir among listeners and we pick up the debate again. It only gets more heated.
Above: Billy Price, star of Billy the Kid, goes to New York, crosses the street, and suddenly finds himself shirtless in an impromptu dance party. I watched this video for the first time on mute, whilst on a conference call, and thought I was having a psychotic break. Thanks, Kevin.
Woody Allen’s Speechless vid, via United Hollywood. This wouldn’t even be on here if it wasn’t such a slow week.
This has nothing to do with movies, really, except that James St. James wrote a book that became two of them. And it’s totally tasteless. But SO TRUE. And I don’t know what you guys are doing, but my RSS is DEAD this week. Should I just blame Google?
In what appears to be more of an honest accident than a work of cunning marketing strategy, two films about the inner lives and social stumbling blocks of precocious, “outsider” teenagers are set to hit theaters tomorrow. Jason Reitman’s Juno has been widely praised for its flashy script (which marries bloggish snark to the kind of mawkish morality melodrama that’s been in short supply since the demise of The O.C.), and for the work of lead actress Ellen Page (whose proficient puppeting of Diablo Cody’s detached slanguage Looks Like Acting).
Though hardly the revelation some of the rapturous reviews have made it out to be, Juno is the rare mainstream film that might allow a teenage girl to feel as though her desires have been recognized, and for that alone, it deserves praise. But anyone who tries to defend it against charges of overwritten, over-embellishment hasn’t seen Jennifer Venditti’s Billy the Kid, which begins its official theatrical run tomorrow with an exclusive engagement at the IFC Center in New York.
Let there be a Juno backlash, and let it begin with Modern Fabulosity. And let it continue with Craig Kennedy: “Some folks are even looking at this as being an Oscar contender. I don’t think it is, but when I’m ultimately proven wrong I’ll be the first to admit it. Of course, if I’m right I’ll be shouting it from the rooftops.” Finally, at Reverse Shot, Elbert Ventura concedes that Fox Searchlight has found “this year’s Little Miss Sunshine“–which should not, under any circumstances, be considered a compliment.
The Reeler talks to Jennifer Venditti about Billy the Kid and, most interestingly, the subject’s complicity in its construction: “He met Heather, and after that he would come up to me on the way home and say, ‘I think tomorrow we should do a scene where we’re holding hands walking down the street.’ Of course we didn’t do those things, but he was going with it in his head and getting into it.”
Both Alan at Burbanked and Chris at Movie Marketing Madness have complaints about the new one sheet for Be Kind Rewind. I hate to say it, but their fears were confirmed by a friend of SpoutBlog, who called with a four word review on his way out of a Rewind press screening this afternoon: “It sucked my ass.”
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’d like to give thanks for how much fun I have making FilmCouch each week with Kevin and Karina. I’m pulling out an old television sitcom convention. When the cast is on vacation, get a few actors around a table to reminisce and create a show of flashbacks to previous shows. Kevin and I debated doing just that, but decided it’s less annoying for me to just highlight my favorite shows from the past year here.
This is not our definitive “best of” list, but shows I have a personal love for. (Hence, I talk a lot in them.)
FilmCouch #28 - Rolf de Heer I hung up the phone after interviewing Rolf de Heer (Ten Canoes) feeling like I’d had a conversation I’ll still be unpacking when I’m 80. He simply amazed me.
FilmCouch #21 - Appropriation In talking about filmmakers who take footage they did not shoot and make a new movie out of it, we got to–I think–the very essence of filmmaking.
FilmCouch #18 - Sympathy for the Devil A little girl’s question leads to dissecting what makes a villain a villain. The answer is not just interesting, but essential in making our most beloved bad guys.
FilmCouch #11 - Jennifer Venditti At SXSW 2007, a serendipitous encounter with first-time filmmaker Jennifer Venditti (Billy the Kid) leads not only to seeing our favorite doc of the fest, but opens Venditti’s struggle over how she “uses” the subject of her documentary.
The Spout team went to Billy the Kid (2007) last night and really loved it. Paul interviews director Jennifer Venditti before the premier about her new documentary. By the end of the interview, we were sold and the doc definitely lives up to Venditti’s hype.
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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Here at SpoutBlog, we’re pretending like The Golden Compass doesn’t exist (and, if Nikki Finke is to be believed, come Monday morning New Line will be scrambling to spin the fact that we’re not the only ones). But here’s a look at three films that are newly out this weekend that we *have* covered, and can, to one extent or another recommend.
