9-13-2005
Today’s minimalist approach to festival journaling is brought to you
courtesy of Margaret Cho and her hilarious (but really long!) Q&A
session. I didn’t get home until after 11pm, and I’d like to be in bed
around midnight, so this is going to have to be shorter than usual.
As such…
MOVIE ONE! North Country (5/8), starring Charlize Theron
in an Oscar-bait role as a Minnesota miner who leads her fellow
women-miners in a precedent-setting class-action, sexual-harassment
lawsuit against the boorish owners of the mine. It’s based on a true
story, it was well done (if a bit slow in sections) and director Niki
Caro (Whale Rider) gave a very sweet introductory speech. She
said she’d only finished the film a few days ago!
MOVIE TWO! Proof (6/8), starring Gwyneth Paltrow in an
Oscar-bait role as the brilliant daughter of a recently deceased,
brilliant-but-insane mathematician (Anthony Hopkins), who falls for one
of her father’s former students (Jake Gyllenhaal), copes with her
overbearing sister (Hope Davis) and claims to be the author of a
groundbreaking mathematical proof no one believes is hers. It, too, was
very well done, but based on a play and not on a real event. No one
showed up for the screening, but actor Mark Feuerstein was there,
standing in line alone with the rest of us, just checking out the
movie. He was very tan.
MOVIE THREE! Backstage (5/8), a French drama about a
teenage fan (Isild Le Besco) obsessed with a pop singer (Emmanuelle
Segnier), who gets an eyeful of the harsh truths of celebrity (and,
more specifically, the insecurities of same) when she finagles a way
into the singer’s inner circle. Segnier and the director were in
attendance, but so were some other famous folks. Gabriel Byrne wandered
in, alone and looking for a seat, and sat behind me. Singer Jim Cuddy
of Blue Rodeo sat a couple of rows ahead of me, and director Jason
Reitman and his posse came in… played with their cell phones and
Blackberrys, and then left before it was over.
MOVIE FOUR! Bam Bam and Celeste (5/8), Margaret Cho’s
self-described “fag and his fag-hag road movie” about a pair of misfit
best friends (Cho and real-life good pal, Bruce Daniels), who flee
Dekalb, Illinois, for the Big Apple and a shot on a TV makeover show.
Almost all of the cast (the two leads + Alan Cumming, Elaine Hendrix
and John Cho) showed up for the screening and, as mentioned, the
post-film Q&A was delightful. Funny people generally make for more
spirited sessions and having Cho (Margaret, not John) open the floor by
saying, “Ask whatever the f**k you want!” set a lively tone.
The end! And a heads-up that tomorrow’s entry may be equally
abbreviated – I have another late movie that will leave me pooped by
the time I venture home.
Oh! And one correction to yesterday’s diary entry: I mistakenly said
that Jake Gyllenhaal didn’t attend the Proof premiere, but he
did. My apologies.
Dammit! It’s now after midnight and I still have teeth to brush! Ah
well.
Celebrity Sightings: Niki Caro, Mark Feuerstein, Gabriel Byrne,
Jim Cuddy, Jason Reitman, Margaret Cho, John Cho, Alan Cumming and
Elaine Hendrix.
Roger Ebert Sightings: Yeah, we’re at the festival halfway mark
and I have absolutely nothing to report.
Line Buzz: Mediocre buzz on The Mistress of Spices, some
thumbs up for Opa! and good word of mouth for One Last
Thing?.
