The Global Film Village

A Halloween Interview with Joe Dante just before his premiere of THE HOLE at AFI Film Festival

// October 31st, 2009 // Comments Off // People

by Marla Lewin

It’s Halloween, and our treat is speaking with Joe Dante, who will be walking the red carpet in a few hours for the US premiere of his new film, The Hole at the AFI film festival.  Some of the stars of the movie, will be there as well including several actors he has worked with many times before.  I asked Marc Halperin to help me with the interview, as he distributed Joes’ film The Howling while at Embassy Pictures in the glory days of 80′s Horror films.

MARLA:  So how was it winning the best 3D film award at the Venice Film Festival?

JOE:  Quite a surprise!  We were up against the Pixar film.

MARC:  How did you like working in 3D.  Is this the first time you’ve made a film in 3D?

JOE:  Years ago I did a 3D film for Busch Gardens called The Haunted Lighthouse.  I have loved 3D since I was a kid.   (more…)

DEMME, DOUGLAS, HUSTON, TARANTINO TO PRESENT ACADEMY’S GOVERNORS AWARDS

// October 29th, 2009 // Comments Off // Awards

by Marla Lewin

photo (c) AMPAS all rights reserved.

The inaugural Governors Awards event of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be held on November 14, Academy President Tom Sherak announced today. Oscar® winners Jonathan Demme, Anjelica Huston and Quentin Tarantino, along with past Honorary Award recipient Kirk Douglas, will be among the presenters. The evening will feature presentations of the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer-executive John Calley, and Honorary Awards to actress Lauren Bacall, producer-director Roger Corman and cinematographer Gordon Willis.

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The Official Awards of the 66th Venice Film Festival

// September 12th, 2009 // Comments Off // Film Festivals

Marla Lewin, Marc Halperin, Stuart Gordon President of the Shorts Jury and wife Caroline at the Westin Excelsior Hotel in Venice

by Marla Lewin

The 66th Venice International Film Festival concluded with the presentation of the Golden Lion Award for best film to Lebanon by Samuel MAOZ (Israel, France, Germany). The festival ran 2nd to 12th September 2009.

The Venezia 66 Jury, chaired by Ang Lee and comprised of Sandrine Bonnaire, Liliana Cavani, Joe Dante, Anurag Kashyap, Luciano Ligabue, Sergei Bodrov, having viewed all twenty-five films in competition, has decided as follows:

Silver Lion for Best Director to: Shirin NESHAT for the film Zanan Bedone Mardan (Women Without Men) (Germany, Austria, France)

Special Jury Prize to: Soul Kitchen by Fatih AKIN (Germany)

Coppa Volpi for Best Actor: Colin FIRTH in the film A Single Man by Tom FORD (USA)

Coppa Volpi for Best Actress: Ksenia RAPPOPORTin the film La doppia ora by Giuseppe CAPOTONDI (Italy)

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress: Jasmine TRINCAin the film Il grande sogno by Michele PLACIDO (Italy)

Osella for Best Production Designer to: Sylvie OLIVÉfor the film Mr. Nobody by Jaco VAN DORMAEL (France)

Osella for Best Screenplay to: Todd SOLONDZ for the film Life during Wartime by Todd SOLONDZ (USA)

LION OF THE FUTURE – “LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM Jury at the 66th Venice Film Festival, Venezia Opera Prima Prize comprised of Haile Gerima (President), Ramin Bahrani, Gianni Di Gregorio, Antoine Fuqua, Sam Taylor Wood, has unanimously decided to award the Lion of the Future to: Engkwentro by Pepe DIOKNO (Philippines) as well as a prize of 100,000 USD, donated by Filmauro, to be divided equally between director and producer

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO PRIZE (Italian reverse shot Award)

The Controcampo Italiano Prize Jury at the 66th Venice Film Festival, comprised of Carlo Lizzani (President), Giulio Questi, Marina Sanna, has unanimously decided to award the following:

Controcampo Italiano Prize to:

Cosmonauta by Susanna NICCHIARELLI (Italy)

“for its ability to recall a crucial moment of the twentieth century through the eyes of a young girl”

Kodak will offer to the awarded director 40,000 euros in negative film stock - 35 or 16mm, chosen by the winner – to shoot a new feature film.

Special Mention to: Negli occhi by Daniele ANZELLOTTI and Francesco DEL GROSSO (Italy)

The Orizzonti (Horizon Award)66 Jury,  comprised of Pere Portabella (Spain) President, Gina Kim (Korea), Bady Minck (Luxembourg), Garin Nugroho Riyanto (Indonesia) and Gianfranco Rosi (Italy)has decided as follows:

Orizzonti Prize to Engkwentro by Pepe Diokno (Philippines)

Orizzonti Prize for Best documentary to 1428 by DU Haibin (China)

Special Mention to Aadmi ki aurat aur anya kahaniya (The Man’s Woman and Other Stories) by Amit Dutta (India)

The Jury of Corto Cortissimo (The Short Film Award) comprised of Stuart Gordon (USA) President, Steve Ricci (USA), Sitora Alieva (Russia) awarded the following:

Corto Cortissimo Lion for Best Short Film to Eersgeborene (First Born) by Etienne Kallos (South Africa, USA)

Venice Nomination to the European Film Awards 2009 to Sinner by Meni Philip (Israel)

Special Mention to Felicità by Salomé Aleksi (Georgia)

Persol 3-D Award was presented by a Jury of two film critics and a filmmaker. Scott Foundas (USA), Dave Kehr (USA),  and Nadia Ranocchi (Italy). The Persol 3-D Award for the Best 3-D Stereoscopic Film of the Year (Prize awarded on 11th September 2009) was awarded to The Hole by Joe Dante (USA)

Smiling in the ‘Burbs with Joe Dante and Bruce Dern by Marla Lewin

// August 6th, 2009 // Comments Off // Industry Event

Joe Dante, Marc Halperin and Marla Lewin at the New Beverly Cinema for Dante's Inferno!

Last night at the New Beverly Theatre in Hollywood, there were brand new seats, and a packed theatre for a screening of Joe Dante’s 1989 film “The Burbs.”    Director Joe Dante was there along with Bruce Dern, to introduce the film.  Joe is programing a week of films at the New Beverly called DANTE’S INFERNO film series! with special guests and a 5+ hour version of his cult classic Movie Orgy starting at 5:30 on Saturday  for FREE. And what if that isn’t enough there is more, a special screening of GREMLINS at midnight with 6 minutes of footage that didn’t make it into the final release print. The programs each night also include vintage movie trailers which are a perfect teaser for Joe’s website TRAILERSFROMHELL.com. A truly fun place to visit because not only does it have fun old trailers but they are curated by Joe and other directing friends who supply commentaries on a separate track. So if your a true movie fan and don’t know about this site do check it out.

Joe said that the true quality of a film lies in how it ages not necessarily how it is reviewed or how it performs initially. That is a test that THE ‘BURBS passes. After the last 8 years of what the world has endured the simple paranoia of these neighbors rings true. The cast Tom Hanks, Carrie Fisher, Bruce Dern, Corey Feldman, Harry Gibson and Rick Ducommun give perfect comic performances.

During the Q&A between movies, Bruce called Joe his mentor, and went on to share how Joe loved all his actors, and what fun it was to be on set with him, and how Joe pushed you to take risks.  The night was structured as a tribute to Bruce with a screening of Michael Ritchie’s SMILE a tender skewering of the beauty pageant business that was lensed by Conrad Hall and written by Jerry Belson. The film is notable additionally for the introduction of Melanie Griffith, Annette O’Toole, Denise Nickerson, and Colleen Camp.

Bruce and Joe most recently worked together on the film, “THE HOLE 3D” which will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and then have its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

Bruce said when he started out he had 3 goals. To go to New York. To study at the Actor’s Studio and to work for Elia Kazan. Now people come to Hollywood, and all they want is a star on the street, and an invitation to a good party. Bruce had a small role on Broadway in Kazan’s SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH on Broadway. The play starred Paul Newman, Geraldine Page and Rip Torn and was nominated for for 4 Tony awards.  Kazan offered him a small uncredited role in his next picture WILD RIVER which starred Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick . This was Bruce’s first Hollywood film. Bruce told how the film opens with a newsreel to set the mood and Kazan shot the newsreel himself.  He wanted it to have a gritty look, so he ran a truck over the negative to create the distressed look. The scratches and missing footage gave it the perfect feeling of authenticity without the cost of special effects.

In the early days, Bruce was always the guy in movies or television that got killed off, but Bruce was encouraged to make these moments of importance that people remembered.  He later was given the role of the only actor to ever kill John Wayne in a movie, THE COWBOYS. Bruce remembers on the morning of the filming John Wayne said to him “people across the country are going to really hate you for this role”. Bruce replied “but they’ll cheer me in Berkeley” and got a laugh out of the Duke. Prior to this Wayne had never even been shot in one of his films. Bruce next did a series of role’s where he was the bad guy then he played in SILENT RUNNING, THE GREAT GATSBY, Alfred Hitchcock’s FAMILY PLOT and an Academy award nominated role in Hal Ashby’s COMING HOME. During his career he has done numerous iconic roles and has had over 90 appearances in television or film and is still working constantly.

Bruce first met Joe when Joe was working as a film critic in Philadelphia. Bruce was always told he had a sense of humor that he brought to his work and endeared him to his fellow workers and audiences. Besides loving working with Joe Dante, Bruce also loved working with Hal Ashby on COMING HOME, with Jon Voight.  There is another connection here as both Joe and Jon’s dad were golf pros and friends in Pennsylvania.

In the 60′s at New World Pictures, Roger Corman  had a group of actors that he would always hire for starring roles but at scale, Roger would want everything to be done in 28 days for $200,000.  This gave actors the opportunity to work often and develop their craft. He carried this into his behind the scenes craft hiring. Major directors like Peter Bogdanovich,  Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Joe Dante, James Cameron and Francis Coppola all got their starts there.  Actors worked on scripts and learned other aspects of the filmmaking process.  Jack Nicholson wrote a few scripts.  The period of the 60s, 70s, 80s, were an interesting times to be in film there were opportunities for everyone. There was a community of artists, who were taking risks and enjoying the process.

It is good to know that Joe and Bruce are still working in that spirit and are getting ready to premiere their next movie.  Bruce said that he not only respected Joe Dante as an artist, but as a human being.  We go along with that, and would add that it is wonderful to see the excitement and pure enjoyment he brings to each project he is involved with whether it is a big budget studio film, an independent movie, a televison show or his internet projects. Joe loves people and movies and that is a winning combination in a filmmaker. Also because of his enormous knowledge of film and actors he has a knack for casting that is always a delight.

We were sitting with the manager of the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, who was telling us the Kabuki theatre will be closing soon joining the list of famous theaters that are fast disappearing.  We all agreed there is nothing like seeing a great movie with an audience, laughing, with good seats, and a big screen. Tonight’s audience totally enjoyed the films and none more than Bruce Dern who could be seen laughing throughout the screenings of THE ‘BURBS and SMILE.

Bruce spoke privately with my husband and I about films he has been doing lately many of which we had seen to his surprise and pleasure. He and Marc have a long relationship going back to films they worked on together back in the 80′s. Bruce is excited about a film he will be doing with his daughter Laura Dern and ex-wife Diane Ladd.

For information about the DANTE’S INFERNO film series!

www.newbevcinema.com/calendar.cfm