9-12-2005
Today was the day.
Today was the day when, at long last, Maggie Gyllenhaal and I would
meet.
Okay, maybe we didn’t meet, but we were in the same theater at the same
time and, after all these Maggie-free years, I say: close enough!
In fact, today brought with it a veritable CAVALCADE of celebrities at
Maggie’s film’s world premiere! I’ve never been to a more star-studded
screening at the fest before…like, ever.
More on that later.
I kicked off today with The Quiet (5/8), a rather dark
drama about a deaf teenager (Camilla Belle), who goes to live with a
foster family after the death of her father. The parents (Martin
Donovan and Edie Falco) welcome her, but their angry-cheerleader
daughter (Elisha Cuthbert) does not. She treats her new “sister” like
an emotional punching bag, but it’s not long before we find out why. I
won’t spoil the movie by revealing much more, but suffice it to say
that behind every angry young teen lies a reason for the anger.
The film was directed by Jamie Babbit, whose work I love and who’s
directed, among other things, But I’m a Cheerleader, episodes of
Gilmore Girls and a good chunk of the now-defunct but
no-less-brilliant series, Popular. On my way into the screening,
I saw a woman sitting on the floor outside the theater entrance and
thought to myself, “That kind of looks like Jamie Babbit.” But I wasn’t
sure, since I’ve only ever seen her from really far away before. Turns
out I was right, because a few moments later my film festival friend
Ann (who’d gone out to get a coffee) sat down and told me she’d just
overheard Jamie being introduced to someone.
Anyway, this screening marked a Film Festival First for Vickie: I asked
my very first EVER post-screening Q&A question! It was a monumental
moment. Of course, me being me, it had to be twinged with comedy. See,
we were in a big theater and I was sitting near the back. So, when I
raised my hand (and mine was the only one raised) in the semi-dark, the
moderator turned in my direction, pointed in my general vicinity and
said…
“Yes. You sir!”
?
I looked around. Was she talking to me? She kept pointing at me. “Sir,
go ahead!”
I pointed at myself and made the universal “ME???” face. Jamie, at the
microphone, said re: me, “I think that’s a ma’am.”
(cue riotous laughter)
I yelled out, “Yeah, I’m a ma’am!” then asked my question.
Now, for those of you who don’t know me or what I look like, I’d like
to assure you that, in actual fact, I look nothing like a man. I did,
however, have my hair pulled back into a chignon (thanks, Tyra!), so
maybe the moderator just thought I was a tall, skinny guy from
that far away.
But my question incident wasn’t even the highlight of that particular
Q&A. A few people later, this disembodied voice from somewhere in the
middle of the theater piped up with the longest, most incoherent
question in film festival Q&A history. One of the (completely unknown)
supporting actresses was also in attendance, and this woman began her
rambling incoherence by saying, “I have a question for the actress.”
The woman then launched into this soliloquy about how she knows the
actress was just playing a role, but the emotions were so painful and
real that they must be rooted in personal experience…and did she have
personal experience with her character’s issues because she (the woman
asking the question) had a similar history to that of the character and
blah blah blah blah blaaaaaaaagh. It seriously felt like she was
talking for a good five minutes straight. Now, the actress’s character
was a complete beee-YOTCH cheerleader who taunts another girl she
believes is gay… because of her own internalized homophobia.
So I thought to myself, “Is this woman asking if this actress is gay in
real life?!?! That’s kind of nervy!”
The actress made her way to the microphone and very politely replied,
“I’m sorry. I don’t really know what you’re asking.” No kidding.
Neither did anyone else in the theater. Unfortunately, the woman then
re-asked the entire question in a relatively un-altered way that was no
less vague or confusing. The actress tried her best and actually
offered a very thoughtful, eloquent answer about finding some ounce of
humanity in her character and expanding on that kernel of truth. She
ended by saying something about believing that her character was just
confused and lashing out.
The disembodied voice in the audience then said, I kid you not, “Ohhh.
I’m actually a little confused I think because I thought you were the
actress who played Nina.” Elisha Cuthbert. She thought this tall
brunette – who was specifically introduced by name – was short,
blond-haired Elisha Cuthbert. So this woman had rattled off her epic
question to the wrong actress. (cue more riotous laughter)
My second film of the day was the wildly erratic and mildly crazy drama
Sorry, Haters (5/8), starring Robin Wright Penn as a
woman who is, to say the least, totally bat-shit crazy. Insane. Off her
rocker. Unbalanced. She takes a cab one night and slowly involves its
unsuspecting driver (Abdellatif Kechiche) in the twisted reality of her
life, intertwining her problems with his in increasingly dramatic and
frightening ways. I had no idea what to make of this movie as I watched
it – it was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Very raw and gritty,
shot on DV and laced with a sense of forboding and rage. It has an
ending that left the audience slack-jawed and stunned, but that ending
actually made me like the movie more, simply because it was so
completely unexpected and dark. The post-film Q&A also helped me
understand the movie better, which is nice. But the director said the
film had been rejected by other festivals and, after watching it, I can
see why. It’s some challenging material.
Number three for the day was Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
(6/8) which, I’ll admit, was making me drowsy. Not because it was
boring, but because I didn’t sleep well last night and the theater was
kind of cold. It was relatively empty, too, which meant I had lots of
room to relax. The film itself was very well done and wonderfully
whimsical. It tells the story of a nebbish young man (voiced by Johnny
Depp) who accidentally marries a dead woman (voiced by Helena
Bonham-Carter) and who tries to choose between the worlds of the living
and the dead. It’s fun, it’s cute and it’s even kind of moving. I cried
at the end… but that may have more to do with my sleep depravation and
hormones than anything else. Still, I enjoyed it immensely.
While in line for Corpse Bride, I realized that watching the
demographics of festival lines is a fun pastime. The audience for
Mrs. Henderson Presents was a sea of white hair, the audience at
The Mistress of Spices was made up of a strong Indian
contingent, and all the Goths were out for Corpse Bride.
Then… Maggie time.
:-D
And, with her, the aforementioned bonanza of celebrities! The ENTIRE
CAST of Trust the Man (4/8) showed up for its world
premiere! I mean, EVERYBODY! Maggie, Julianne Moore, David Duchovny,
Billy Crudup, Ellen Barkin, Eva Mendes and James LeGros! PLUS, all the
celebrity boyfriends, girlfriends and siblings!
That means Claire Danes, Peter Sarsgaard and Jake Gyllenhaal were also
there! (Oddly enough, Jake came to support Maggie but didn’t go to his
own premiere for Proof later this evening.) And while it was
kind of exciting to see the tall, lithe Maggie in person, it was a bit
anticlimactic. Like, oh look! There she is! OMG! And then, nothing.
Does this mean I'm over Maggie? I wonder.
Unfortunately, the film – directed by Bart Freundlich and chronicling
the ups and downs in the relationships of two couples – was kind of
meh. It had a number of funny moments, but it felt too busy… like there
were so many little things going on but nothing terribly memorable.
Ellen Barkin basically had a cameo, and Eva Mendes was barely there. On
some level, I think it wanted to be a romantic comedy, but it didn’t
win me over and was rather long and rambling. I have no idea why I
continue to see Bart Freundlich movies, either, because I seem to have
the same reaction to them all.
Bart also proved to be a bit of a Q&A mic hog. He and the cast went
onstage to answer questions after the film, but he was doing all the
talking. It wasn’t until Maggie (yay!) actually physically took the mic
away from him and said something like, “I have something to say!” that
anyone else had a chance to speak. Other cast members offered comments,
but it was kind of the Bart Freundlich Show… which was kind of too bad,
since I think most people wanted to hear from the actors.
The weather today was bearably hot and humid, but it’s supposed to be
even hotter tomorrow… which means a mid-afternoon trip back home to
change clothes may be in order.
Celebrity Sightings: A TON! Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal, Julianne Moore, David Duchovny, Eva Mendes (!), Ellen Barkin, James LeGros,
Peter Sarsgaard, Claire Danes, Billy Crudup and Jamie Babbit.
Roger Ebert Sightings: In what can only be described as a truly
surreal moment: no Roger Ebert, but I did see Leonard Maltin!
Line Buzz: Negative buzz for Stoned, middling opinions of
Be With Me, and good buzz for Roman Polanski’s Oliver
Twist, Manderlay and Adam’s Apple.
