SIFF 2013 and My Very First Radio Spot (as a Film Critic)

This year’s Seattle International Film Festival is upon us, and I’m once again overwhelmed by the sheer volume of filmic goodness to be had. This year’s festival will sport over 440 films from over 80 countries.

I was pleased to be able to share my most anticipated movies with local radio personality Bill Radke. Here’s the segment we did together on 94.9 KUOW. Check it out, and if you see me at the festival, do say hi.

Breaking My Ties with the Internet

Kevin Smith has had a pretty rocky relationship with film reviewers these past few years but I’ve stayed a fan of what he has accomplished (I was one of the few on our podcast that was really impressed by Red State).

This past year has seen a huge life transition for me. As I’ve gone through it, and as I’ve experienced recent events, there’s one interview with Kevin Smith that keeps coming to mind, over and over again: a 2009 interview that Smith did with Lee Stranahan on “The Dark Side of the Internet.” In it, Smith discusses how the poor performance of Zack and Miri caused him to swear off the internet for good.

While I think constructive criticism can benefit any number of people (myself included), there’s one section of the interview that has really changed the way I look at things. It starts about the 5 minute mark above:

“You know what I realized one day? People can write the worst shit about you that you’ve ever seen. They can write really horrible shit about your wife, about your fucking kid. They can write things about your motivations. They can try to peer into your soul and write heinous fucking things. They can take you into bizarro world and write the opposite of everything that’s true, and maintain to the world in general that it’s true. And it’s only really recently that I’ve realized that they can do all that, and they can’t affect your ability to earn, to love, to be loved, to have a good day…

It’s weird. I’ll sit there and read something on the internet really heinous about myself or about my work or something, and then I’ll go a meeting on some project I’m working on. Those cats aren’t like ‘Hey, we read that thing and that dude’s right, you are a prick!’ That shit doesn’t matter, and you bring it up to them! It’s so weird, I’m so tired of telling people in my life…people will be like, ‘What’s wrong?” and I’m like ‘I read this fucking thing on the internet that really bothers me.’ None of them have ever been like, “Oh man I’m sorry.’ They’ve all been like, ‘So? Dude, look at your life! You won! What do you give a shit what someone writes about you on the internet?’ And I’m like, ‘I dunno. Because I always have.’

And then I just realized, maybe I can just stop.”

Amen.

Yes, Filmmakers Should Defend Their Work

Drew McWeeny asks whether or not it’s appropriate for filmmakers to strike back after a negative review of their film. In referring to Calvin Reeder and his film, The Rambler, McWeeny writes, “He should say what he has to say with his films, I should say what I have to say with my reviews, and everything else should be tabled as needless noise that detracts from us both.”

I don’t agree with McWeeny here – informed dialogue after a movie has been released and written about can benefit both the filmmaker, the public, and film critics. Just look at what happened with that Django Unchained incident, after all.

That being said, I don’t think Reeder is the standard bearer for what constitutes a civilized response. Based on his communications on his Facebook page and on the comments on the Hitfix post, he seems more interested in sniping and destroying McWeeny’s credibility than in actually engaging in a serious dialogue.

But to me, there is no question that a person who makes their living talking about their opinion on the works of others should be able to have their work commented on. How productive that commenting is, and in what venue it occurs are the unresolved questions.

My Grandfather’s Watch

While Stephen Tobolowsky was in town recently, I shot this video with him using my Canon 5D Mark 2 on a tripod, my Rode Videomic, and natural lighting in Stephen’s hotel room.

I realize there are problems with this video. Specifically, Stephen’s face is overexposed, he is ever-so-slightly out of focus, the other half of his face needs a little bit more illumination, the sound suffers from some bad automatic gain control, etc. etc. etc. But above all that, Stephen’s storytelling is still able to shine through.

Life Does Not Start and Stop at Your Convenience: The Greatest Mystery of The Big Lebowski

I’ll cut right to the chase on this one: There is a line in The Big Lebowski that has haunted me since one of my first viewings. After The Dude has encountered the “real” Lebowski, he’s given a beeper so that he can resolve the Bunny kidnapping with the rug-pee-ers, if the need should arise. Sitting in the bowling alley and chatting with Walter about this development, he has this exchange

On the page, it might look something like this:

Dude: They gave dude a beeper, yeah? So whenever these guys call…
Walter: What if it’s during a game?
Dude: Oh, I told them, if it was during league play…
Donny: What’s during league play?
Walter: Life does not stop and start at your convenience you miserable piece of shit.

It’s that last line that is the source of this mystery. Most people will watch this scene or read the above dialogue and instantly conclude that, of course, Walter is talking to Donny. Donny has been known to interrupt conversations constantly, which is a source of constant rage for Walter. Walter’s usual rejoinder to Donny is “You’re out of your element,” or “Shut the fuck up, Donny.”

I will argue that he’s NOT talking to Donny, that he is, in fact, referring to the other Lebowski and his associates.

Here are arguments for both sides:

Arguments in favor of “Walter is directing the line towards Donny”:

Donny did, in fact, interrupt their conversation
Walter has been known to get pissed off when Donny interrupts
Walter says the line almost immediately after Donny interrupts
Based on the actual content of the line, Walter could easily be referring to the fact that Donny is interrupting their conversation

Arguments in favor of “Walter is directing the line towards the rich(er) Lebowski and Co.”:

During the beginning parts of the exchange, Walter appears to be lost in thought, gazing off into space. His “Shut the fuck up, Donny” towards the beginning of the conversation is one of his most sedate ones yet.
Walter typically uses “Shut the fuck up, Donny,” and “you’re out of your element” to chasten Donny. This is the first, and perhaps only, instance in which he uses another phrase for this purpose.
“Shut the fuck up Donny” and “you’re out of your element” are almost second-nature to Walter at this point. They are, in some ways, affectionate expressions. The idea that Walter would call Donny a “miserable piece of shit” seems out of character.
Conversely, Walter reserves much of his rage during this exchange for the upper class of society and, in particular, Bunny Lebowski. His anger seems more directed towards them, and thus, this line could easily be aimed at taking them down a notch.
Walter strongly values league play and disdains the people who gave The Dude the beeper. Hence, “life does not start and stop at your convenience” is a stern warning that anyone who messes with league play is messing with Walter.

To me, this convincingly makes the case that Walter is in fact referring to Bunny and her associates. But there are no easy answers when it comes to mysteries as deep as these.

What do you guys think about this extremely important distinction? Either way, I don’t think it’s nearly as cut-and-dried as people think.

Dispatches from Sundance 2010

I love meeting new people and talking with them about their unique life experiences, so going to the Sundance Film Festival was an amazing time. While in Park City, I was surrounded by tons of interesting journalists, film critics, directors, actors, and celebrities. Thus, I felt compelled to document the occasion using my iPhone to record audioblogs with people. I hope that these audio files give you a good impression of what it was actually like to be there, and that they provide insight into the people and the movies of Sundance 2010.

From now on, if you want to listen to my audio blogs as I post them, please follow me on Twitter.

I spoke with Adam Roffman from IFFboston about what we were looking forward to at Sundance:

On the ride to Park City, I met some South Africans in the van and asked them what they thought of Invictus:

I spoke with Neil Miller from Filmschoolrejects and my boss, Peter Sciretta from slashfilm.com about how hard it is to make money off of movie blogging:

I asked Neil and Peter what they like most about Sundance:

Neil and Peter talk to me about how important it is to be at the WORLD PREMIERE of a film:

At a dinner featuring a bunch of bloggers, I talked with Laremy from Film.com and Kevin Kelly from Cinematical about blu-ray discs and the future of physical media:

We also discussed

I asked Vic from screenrant.com about the gun he’s packing:

On the busride home, I asked the guys why Gerard Butler strips down naked in the movie Law Abiding Citizen:

I spoke with Morgan Spurlock, the director of Super Size Me, in the filmmaker’s lounge:

I met Eric D Snider, one of the most prolific online writers. We talked about his most anticipated movies of the festival:

I spoke with Quint from Aint It Cool News about Austin, Texas:

I finally got to meet Adam Kempenaar from Filmspotting:

I speak with Andrew O’Hehir from salon.com, one of my favorite critics:

I explain how I got tickets to Howl, the opening night film:

Me and Elliot Kotek from The Hollywood Reporter talked about Last Train Home, one of my favorite documentaries of the festival:

On a busride, I met Brian Pope who worked on the visual effects for The Phantom Menace:

While waiting for Happythankyoumoreplease to begin, I spoke with Ricki Stern who directed the new documentary about Joan Rivers:

I spoke with illustrious Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers, who says he reads slashfilm.com:

I met Jeff Goldsmith from the Creative Sreenwriting Podcast on the streets of Park City and talked to him about “Winter’s Bone,” his favorite movie of the festival

I spoke with Devin Faraci from CHUD about his favorite movies at the festival in the first few days: