Talk is a public forum where you can ask questions and share your commentary with fellow Shootout fans.
You really missed the boat with the selection list. I can think of several much better movies that didn't even make the list. What about Dances with Wolves?-just an oscar winner, Little Big Man, Jeremiah Johnson? All of these are much better than the ones you mentioned. Tombstone shouldn't even be on the list.
I was wondering if anyone out there could tell me what the background music to the current Shootout commercial is?
It's the commercial with George Clooney, Hillary Swank, William H Macy, etc in - ending with the question "Why does nobody seem to be working in this cafe..?!"
The music to it is brilliant, and I know I have heard it elsewhere, but cannot place it -- can anybody out there help..?
I'm out of town during the festival, but I wish i could be there. I love how you can "celebrity-watch" just by walking down the street when everyone is out in the evening. Has anyone gone to premieres? Seen celebs? Been at the parties?
Let me live vicariously through you!
With Sundance behind us and Tribeca, Toronto and Cannes approaching quickly, we're entering the heart of film festival season. Time was, film festivals were a venue for independent filmmakers to show off their chops to an audience of professionals -- a chance to bring their work mainstream and find a modicum of success in such a brutal industry.
But for the past several years, this year being no exception, the buzz has all been focused on mainstream stars. At Sundance the big draws were Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind, which needed no further publicity given Gondry's credentials and the film's billing, and In Bruges, driven by A-listers Colin Farrel and Brendan Gleeson. At AFI Dallas much attention has been paid to Josh Brolin, the No Country for Old Men star whose short film X also played at South by Southwest. Even high-profile festivals like Cannes now tout the premieres of blockbusters like Indiana Jones in their lineup.
Do you think film festivals have become too Hollywood, or are they still accessible to independent filmmakers? Are festivals still valuable in showcasing independent films?
This week on the Shootout blog there's a discussion about how the Oscars have so drastically dropped in popularity, and how they can be saved. As I was considering this, I started to reflect on all the movies that were celebrated at the Oscars this year and all the movies we anticipate in the coming year: comic book adaptations, novel adaptations, sequels and threequels, remakes, sequels of remakes. I have to ask: Is Hollywood out of ideas?
Maybe the reason we don't watch the Oscars any more is because there's nothing new to see any more. And when we do get a breath of fresh air at the movies, it's certainly not coming out of Tinsel Town. Look at Juno, which won the Oscar for best original screenplay -- its author, Diablo Cody, had never written a screenplay before in her life. I think it's telling that Hollywood's best-paid writers who so sanctimoniously walked off the job earlier this year can't come up with anything nearly as inventive as someone sitting at home punching away on their laptop.
Maybe adapting a sequel of an adaptation and remaking it isn't the best way to capture the imaginations of your audience any more. Maybe worrying about the Oscars is concerning yourself with the symptom rather than the disease. Maybe it's time to evict all the writers and producers out of Hollywood and bring in some fresh blood.
I am a big fan of No Country for Old Men, so I was obviously curious what Josh Brolin would do now that he's made a name for himself.
I have to say the video you have on your website of Brolin talking about the short film he directed, which played at South by Southwest, sounds pretty fascinating. I hadn't really heard anything about it, but in many ways it sounds like the same kind of movie as No Country -- a point Brolin even speaks to. I'm usually not into short films, but this one sure has me intrigued. My only complaint? After listening to Brolin talk about it, I want him to star in it!
Anyways, that's definitely the coolest thing I've seen come out of SXSW so far (other than the stuff that was also in Sundance, which I'm not counting). What do you guys think?
While I think that only an idiot would support a candidate based on a celebrity's endorsement because that candidate won an Oscar or did a cool movie, I do think people might be influenced by a celebrity endorsement if they respect the celebrity for other reasons such as intelligence, their values, similar ideologies, etc. For example, many would be influenced by Bono's choices as many identify with his ideas and good works. I for one, have always agreed politically with Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, and while I wouldn't pick a candidate based solely on their recommendation, I would certainly take a closer look at someone they're supporting because I know we think similarly. So don't count out the power of those endorsements -- Oprah has a lot of sway!
What did you all think of the Academy Awards last night? I think Jon Stewart summed it up best after the Film Editing award when he said, "Wow. Film Editing. Somebody just took the lead in their Oscar pool by guessing."
By that I mean to say that I didn't see any of these awards coming--seriously, had I joined an Oscar pool I would have lost for sure. Bourne? Tilda Swinton? Admittedly, No Country was a great movie, but I really thought There Will Be Blood would have had this year in the bag. At least Daniel Day-Lewis won the best actor award. He was phenomenal in that movie.
How did your predictions turn out? Did anybody see this coming?
Also, some one needs to help me out: When they showcased all the films that had won Best Picture about half-way through the program, what was the movie score that was playing in the background? This is killing me...
Will the Shootout with John Cusack be rerun anytime soon? Thanks.
A while ago I saw a wonderful interview that you did with Javier Bardem. However, at the end you mentioned (on the screen - not in the interview) that Bardem's and Penelope Cruz's first feature film was Jamon, Jamon. For Bardem that is not true. His first feature film was The Ages on Lulu (also directed by Bigas Luna) in which he played a bisexual hustler named Jimmy. Just thought you might want to know.
Thanks for a great show.
