Tucci does the Dance

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Happy Sundance Film Festival, everybody! While Buscemi won’t be involved this year, we have the next best thing: Stanley Tucci. He’s running Blind Date, the second film in the Theo van Gogh trilogy, and the movie premieres tomorrow night. This will be Tucci’s first film in eight years. From an interview with NY Mag:

Steve Buscemi had called me and told me about the trilogy — he had already chosen Interview, and out of the other two films that were left, I preferred this one. I liked the idea that there was this sort of conscious confusion of identities, and I liked that I could explore it in a way where I wouldn’t be beholden to a studio’s idea of this kind of drama, that I could do it in a way that was very dark. But still humorous, we hope.

I really hope it does well. It looks like a very decent film. Tucci and Buscemi will be working together quite a bit from now on, what with Olive Productions and all. Way to rule the world, gentlemen.

Blind Date premieres at Sundance 2008

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Blind Date, the second of three remakes originally by slain Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh (Interview being the first with 1-900 taking lucky #3) will premiere at The Sundance Film Festival on Friday, January 18. Blind Date is directed by Stanley Tucci.

Don and Janna are a married couple struggling to reconnect after the death of their daughter. They answer each other’s phony classified ads and begin an elaborate game of pretend on a series of blind dates, hoping that this ruse will allow them finally to talk openly about the demise of their relationship in the wake of tragedy. In playing out their various roles—such as a blind man in search of a sighted woman, a woman in search of a dance partner, and a reporter in search of an aggressive female interviewee—Don and Janna feel free to ask each other probing questions, explore the meaning of humor after calamity, and nearly fall in love. However, when their conversations can’t seem to break out of a circular pattern, never transcending the wall between them, they face the reality that perhaps overcoming heartbreak is not in the cards for them.

This one looks so sweet and sad, but it may be too much hoping for a happy ending. Mr. van Gogh, as I understand it, did not subscribe to the Disney Everything-Works-Out-Fine way of life. The trailer, below:

Get in at OutFest

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Planning on attending the Parting Glances screening later this month, you lucky bastard? This guy can help you out. Kind of.

If you decide to go, please email me and let me know so that I can claim credit for having sold your ticket. (I get no commission or anything; I simply have to prove my value as a host committee member. I’m constantly being judged no matter what I do.)

Life’s too short for judgment. Plus, you can get in to all the cool after-parties by saying you’re “in” with a committee host. Plus, Buscemi might show up again:

I was told that Steve would be there too but I’m not sure.

Also, if anyone has a plane ticket to New York lying around, I’m sure we can work out a payment plan. I excel housework, babysitting and art restoration. Not so much with the cooking, though. Call me.

Interview opens Tomorrow

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Interview, the surprisingly successful fourth feature by Director Steve, will open the brand new Tomorrow Fest in Moscow. Russia’s capital city already hosts the Moscow International Film Festival, which has enjoyed a long and singular run.

Interfest, which had run MIFF for about 30 years is behind Tomorrow. Tomorrow is aiming high with a $100,000 director’s prize sponsored by Audi.

Tomorrow Fest begins October 26. No word yet on if Buscemi will attend. I hear Russia is, uh… just lovely this time of year.

Parting Glances screens again

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OutFest will once again screen the 1986 film Parting Glances on October 29, this time in New York’s Lincoln Center. This movie is absolutely brilliant, and if you can’t catch the screening I strongly recommend you track down the DVD. I had to watch it twice; the first time I kept getting lost in John Bolger’s dreamy eyes. The difference between Nick, Buscemi’s handsome and brooding rocker and any of the flaky, zany and nasty characters he’s played since is amazing. Considering how well he portrayed the part, though, there’s no surprise how in demand he became.

I was talking to a straight friend recently about “gay stuff,” telling him why I wasn’t going to see Chuck and Larry at the cineplex: I didn’t trust the movie to get it right.

Parting Glances gets it right.

A review of Parting Glances (quoted above) and an interview with Buscemi about working on the film, is available here. My screen captures of the entire movie are stored over at Flickr. I cannot stress enough how wonderful this movie is. You have got to see it.

Joe Strummer

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Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten chronicles the world of the late Joe Strummer, lead singer of one of the best-known bands in the world, The Clash. Friends and former band mates commiserate amid a backdrop of Strummer’s personal writing and drawings turned to animation.

Temple has created a thoughtful and poignant portrait of a man many think they knew. Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten provides a rare glimpse into the man behind the legend of “punk rock warlord.”

Strummer, real name John Graham Mellor, died December 22, 2002 of an undiagnosed congenital heart defect. Celebrity friends who appear in the documentary include Steve Buscemi, Bono, John Cusack, Peter Crushing, Johnny Dep and Jim Jarmusch. The film will see a limited release in the states on November 2, 2007; it released in the UK May 18, premiering at Sundance Film Festival on January 20.

[Official trailer]

New cities added

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Heads up, people. They’ve added a few more cities to the Delirious release schedule. Here’s the revised version, now with 33% more Wisconsin and Michigan-y goodness. Oh, and Seattle too.

09/14/2007	Portland, Oregon	Cinema 21
09/14/2007	San Jose, California	Camera 12 Cinemas
10/05/2007	Seattle, Washington	Landmark’s Varsity
10/12/2007	Novi, Michigan	SR Novi Town Center 8
10/19/2007	Madison, Wisconsin	Sundance Cinemas

Hey California, quit hogging all the Delirious. Save some for Texas!

‘Romance’ premiere in Gotham

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John Turturro’s star studded, totally-should-have-banked-but-inexplicably-didn’t movie Romance and Cigarettes finally made it’s big-screen debut in New York!

Things fell through,” said pic’s writer-director John Turturro at the Aug. 30 bow. “It was a long route, but it’s finally over, and I am happy about that. It has played all over the world, so it’s nice to be home.”

Three more photos of Mr. Buscemi looking really damn tired after the jump, thanks to Exposay. Continue reading ‘Romance’ premiere in Gotham…

Delirious numbers

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After a few days in very select theatres, the numbers are in: $23,062

Another lackluster debut was Peace Arch Entertainment’s Steve Buscemi comedy “Delirious,” from veteran director Tom DiCillo, which earned #3,806 from five locations.

The release is young, I say. Give it time and more screens to show on, and the film will grow.

Peace Arch US launch

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“We are very pleased to be able to launch our U.S. theatrical releasing arm with a critical success like ‘Delirious,’” said John Flock, President of Peace Arch Entertainment.

With the limited release of Delirious comes Peace Arch Entertainment’s new U.S. Theatrical Release division. They are basically an Independent film distribution company, and the future looks pretty bright. They’ve got some serious names lined up: Kate Beckinsale, Forrest Whitaker, William H. Macy, Meg Ryan, and many more. And, of course, they are responsible for the Canadian release of Interview.

So, what do you say? Want to add Dallas to the theatre list for Delirious? Pretty please?

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