Netflix and Film Independent got a jump on the deluge of independent filmmaking news that will be coming soon via Sundance by announcing a new independent film contest today that will be chaired by Josh Brolin and judged by Brolin, Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen, and Dustin Lance Black.
In a couple of weeks it will have been 25 years since Ridley Scott’s hammer-tastic 1984 commercial introducing the Macintosh was seen during Super Bowl XVIII. Though it wasn’t seen on television again until popular demand brought it back years later, it wasn’t for lack of quality. Ridley Scott was just coming off of Blade Runner, and the spot, which cost over a million dollars to produce, has been named the best television commercial of all time. Not too shabby.
But in a day and age of TiVos and DVRs, are commercials still relevant? In fact, it’s hard to remember more than a handful of commercials that have had the cultural impact of Scott’s 1984.
Ad agencies often turn to big talent to try and draw attention to a commercial, and the pendulum often swings the other way when Hollywood taps a commercial director to direct a feature. That’s what launched the careers of David Fincher, Michael Bay, and many other high-profile filmmakers. While 1984 might be the most famous commercial by a famous director, there have been a slew of others that have been equally as strange, from artists ranging from Spike Jonze to the Coen Brothers. Here’s a look at a some of the better ones, including both Ridley Scott’s 1984 (and it’s updated 2003 version, along with the Hilary Clinton version from last year’s Presidential race).
Everybody remembers the bigger name Coen Bros. regulars, such as John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, Frances McDormand, Billy Bob Thornton and now George Clooney. And of course, there are the one-shot stars, like Nicolas Cage, Gabriel Byrne, Jeff Bridges, William H. Macy, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Julianne Moore, Paul Newman, Albert Finney, Woody Harrelson, Tim Robbins and now Brad Pitt and John Malkovich. But who ever talks about Michael Lerner? He received an Oscar nomination for his supporting role in Barton Fink, yet he never seems to get the same kind of respect that Javier Bardem gets, and it’s not just because Bardem won the award for No Country for Old Men.
With their new film, Burn After Reading, the Coens have again recast some lesser known character actors that I hope get the recognition they deserve. Both Richard Jenkins and J.K. Simmons have previously appeared in the Coens’ films, but each has seriously risen in notability since their last collaboration with the filmmakers. Hopefully, they’ll continue to be cast by the brothers.
Obviously, all my favorite Coen Bros. actors can’t be in every Coen Bros. movie (especially since some of them are dead). And interestingly enough, the brothers’ next film, A Serious Man, is being cast with (so far) only actors they’ve never employed. So, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the less-recognized actors and actresses who have done tremendous work for Joel and Ethan, not so much in the hopes that they’ll be re-employed (some can’t be) but in the general interest of giving them some much-needed praise.
Although Joel and Ethan Coen have been busy in Toronto talking about their newest film Burn After Reading, which opens tomorrow, last weekend the buzz around town was all about small crowds gathering at hotel entrances hoping for a glimpse of Brad Pitt. He definitely steals the movie, which is hard to do considering some of the talent that’s stacked up in this film.
On that note, I’ve gone back and forth on this movie in my own head. At first I didn’t care for it, then I kept thinking about the performances and realizing how good some of them are. George Clooney’s Harry Pfarrer is actually a pretty decent character, especially when he gets paired onscreen with Frances McDormand. Their dinner scene together works with a bit of Cary Grant / Katherine Hepburn spark.
However, despite the strong performances throughout the film, the plot drags on and by the time you come to the end, you find yourself thinking “Is that it?” When the writer and director end up being the same person, there’s not really anyone else you can fault for the final product. Miller’s Crossing is one of my top five films, and I never get tired of The Hudsucker Proxy or The Big Lebowski. Unfortunately Burn After Reading represents, for me, a misstep for the Brothers Coen. Read on to find out what they had to say about the film, winning the Oscar, and an Easter egg hidden on the Fargo soundtrack.
Brad Pitt’s “gum-chewing, Gatorade-swilling, iPod addicted bubble brain” Chad character in the Coen Brothers film Burn After Reading ends up walking away with every scene he’s in, and as a result he’s the best thing about the movie. Which is not to mean that this a great movie. Far from it. It’s a mediocre Coen Brothers movie with a standout performance by Pitt.
His portrayal of a simple gym employee who gets sucked into international intrigue, serves as a counterpoint to the image of Pitt that we’ve seen in films like Babel and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It’s obviously not his first comedic role, but it’s definitely the most vapid role he’s played since Floyd in True Romance. We caught up with him in Toronto, and you can find out about Chad, what he’s working on next, and life with Angelina, just beyond the break.
Via CNN via Anne Thompson comes the full lineup for The Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams, the film festival thrown by recent Oscar winner Tilda Swinton and guest programmed by her and Joel Coen, starting this Friday in “Nairn in the North East of Scotland, a seaside town where Chaplin used to holiday and which has a balmy microclimate and vistas across the Moray Firth to the Black Isle, Cromarty and Sutherland.”
If you think that’s a lot to swallow, look at the line-up. Busby Berkeley’s Dames! Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant! Stuff by David Lynch and Roman Polanski, world premieres, an entire day devoted to singing! And, a mandate that the audience make a lot of noise at the end of each film. From the Ballerina website’s News page:
Fame. Money. Success. These are the accolades reserved for only the Hollywood elite, the great artists of the silver screen. Or not. Some adored filmmakers leave us scratching our heads. Paul and Kevin look at Ridley Scott’s latest, American Gangster, in light of his yet-again re-released classic Blade Runner. Does he belong in the pantheon of great gangster-epic directors or is he just an imitator? Karina questions whether the Coen brothers are anything more than competent genre directors. She calls Erica Rowell, author of The Brothers Grim: The Films of Ethan and Joel Coen, to discuss No Country for Old Men and other their other “masterpieces.”
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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