On the “Comedy, American Style” at his Traverse City Film Festival this morning, Michael Moore announced plans to launch a comedy festival in the waterfront town, beginning in 2010. Likely taking place the first week of March — “the deepest, darkest part of winter” in Michigan, Moore noted — The Traverse City Comedy Arts Festival will be a collaboration between Moore and comedian/actor Jeff Garlin, who participated in this morning’s panel with Moore, Larry Charles, TCFF 2009 Lifetime Achievement honoree Paul Mazursky, Wavy Gravy, and Austin-based filmmakers Bob Byington and Ben Steinbauer, whose three features (Byington’s Harmony & Me and Registered Sex Offender and Steinbauer’s Winnebago Man) are being screened here as the sole exemplars of “the new hotbed of American independent cinema.” As described by Garlin and Moore this morning, the comedy festival seems to be an attempt to spin-off the experience of the comedy panel, which has become an annual tradition at the film festival, anchored by frequent guests Garlin and Charles, into its own thing. With that in mind, here are five things I learned from the assembled geniuses during today’s 90 minute session:
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For two and a half years Sujewa Ekanayake has provided the indie film world with one of its funniest and most arresting blogs, DIY Filmmaker Sujewa, where the thirty-four year old Washington D.C. based Sri Lankan offers an insightful glance into the world of the independent filmmaker outside of the New York-LA indie axis. His newest film, Indie Film Blogger Road Trip, brings him into the homes and working spaces of 14 film bloggers and is perhaps the first extended meditation on the impact, limitations and peculiarities of the film blogosphere to date. We caught up with him this week to discuss the charms of Battlestar Galactica, where Kevin Smith went wrong and finding his long lost copy of Tom Wait’s “Rain Dogs”.
What films or television shows have you seen recently?
Battlestar Galactica, Sarah Silverman show, The Office, Cookies & Cream, 30 Rock, Zack & Miri Make A Porno - off the top of my head that’s some stuff I’ve seen recently, been watching.
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In a new interview with MTV, City of Ember star Bill Murray has called for the makers of Ghostbusters 3 to introduce a female Ghostbuster. My first thought was that hottie who models the sexy Ghostbusters Halloween costume, but seriously it is a great idea. As long as the concept is to pass on the proton packs to a new generation, there really should be an actress in the bunch. And I’m not talking just a hot young flavor of the month who Hollywood thinks will get the teen boys in the audience (it’s Ghostbusters 3; they’re already sold). I agree with Murray that the main requirement should be a funny female.
However, instead of merely picking out one comedienne to appear in the sequel, SpoutBlog has decided to imagine a remake of Ghostbusters in which the entire team is made of women. So, here are some casting choices for a gender-reversed version:
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Here’s proof that Kevin Smith is the old and busted comedy filmmaker and Judd Apatow is the new hotness. Smith is totally biting Apatow’s meta, viral-marketing shtick with this video starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, which is meant to promote Smith’s upcoming movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno. It is also meant to parody the continuing string of “I’m Fucking So and So” videos (Sarah Silverman fucking Matt Damon, Jimmy Kimmel fucking Ben Affleck, Karina Longworth fucking Diablo Cody — oh wait, that last one hasn’t happened yet).
First of all, just casting Rogen and Banks makes Zack and Miri appear like an Apatow-movie wannabe. Then referencing Apatow’s films — the very premise of the video mocks the premise of Knocked Up and obviously it literally references The 40 Year Old Virgin and Apatow himself — builds up that appearance more. Mind you, I’ve never been a big fan of Smith’s work, but he has been around longer and should be more original than this. Right?
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