As sunburns mount and the mercury rises, the allure of the local multiplex grows. But, seriously, you aren't going to see "The Love Guru" are you?
Support indie filmmakers at the Second Annual Gen Art Film Festival in Chicago this weekend and you can do penance for both "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Sex and the City."
A $20 ticket gets you in to one of the new films and that night's after-party. We're liking fest opener "Bart Got a Room," a teenage nerd fable co-starring Alia Shawkat ("Arrested Development") along with William H. Macy. Ensemble drama "Explicit Ills" on June 27 looks good, too.
If our experience early this year at Sundance taught us anything, it's that film festivals can be more work than fun: After fighting for an overpriced hotel room, you'll have to claw your way up to the bar and elbow your way into screenings. So we're thrilled to see our pal Peter Greenberg promoting alternative film fests.
Peter loves the Maui Film Festival, where screenings are held on the beach under the stars. He also gives it up for the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, where the movies are for kids--and directed by kids. And the Palm Springs fest draws plenty of stars without the haughty atmosphere of, yep, Sundance.
After the jump, Peter hobnobs in Palm Springs with Brad Pitt, Kate Winslet and the late Sydney Pollack.
Summer film-going doesn't always have to mean massive blockbusters. Combine a great getaway with a well-established film festival in a stunning location and you're set. The 13th Annual Nantucket Film Festival runs June 19-22, featuring independent, studio-produced, foreign, documentary and short films in every genre, including world and US premieres.
There's a reason the Los Angeles Film Festival hasn't taken its place among similar Cannes, Toronto, Berlin and Venice events: It's two gala screenings honor soon-to-be blockbusters instead of obscure Tanzanian documentaries, and rather than herald the anniversary of a Godard pick, it's holding an anniversary event for that '80s classic "The Lost Boys." Yep, this fest has a short memory, just like the town it's in.
Actually, snobs and schlubs alike will find something to love at the festival, which runs June 19 through 28. Catch new summer movies "Wanted" and "Hellboy 2" before they hit theatres, or camp out for David Duchovny to come in and reveal the secrets behind the new "X-Files" film.
Most individual tickets are $12, but you can find some screenings for as little as five bucks. If you wanna go the VIP route, the Industry Pass will get you into everything, including the opening and closing night soirees. Good thing, too: It'll cost you $600.
Could Clooney, Leo, and the rest of Hollywood's Rat Pack be turned away at this year's Rome Film Fest? If the city's newly elected right-wing mayor has anything to say about it, yes. Gianni Alemanno thinks inviting "a catwalk of Hollywood stars" is the wrong move, since Romans aren't interested in our image-driven industry. Italians not concerned with image? Riiiight.
Directors from around the world have released statements in support of an internationally flavored festival, cautioning that removing Hollywood would be a major momentum stall for the two-year-old event, which has already achieved major standing in the festival world.
It's another five months till the festival kick-off on October 21, so who knows where this might lead. Considering Italy's ever-changing politics, Rome may have a new mayor by then and this can all be forgotten. Or maybe everyone will just head to Venice instead.
Speaking of movies, the Tribeca Film Festival kicks off tonight with the premiere of "Baby Momma," starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. The fest runs until May 4, and tickets are still available for screenings and events around lower Manhattan.
The lack of a central venue can make it a bit tricky to navigate the fest, but with a map in hand and some advance planning, we know you can swing it. After all, you've got 586 public screenings to choose from.
Your cinematic summer vacation is really starting to take shape. The Festival de Cannes is in early May, the Venice International FF starts in late August and in June we insist you head to Almeria, Spain for the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema's Rolling Roadshow. This one-time-only "spaghetti western" event will feature Sergio Leone's legendary "Dollars Trilogy," screened in the movies' original shooting locations.
In case you've been living under a tumbleweed, we're talking about the big guns: "A Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." All three featured (then) up-and-coming actor Clint Eastwood and scores by Italian composer Ennio Morricone.
Let's just recap: It's summer, it's the south of Spain, it's Clint Eastwood, it's free and after each screening there's a party to celebrate the life and times of Sergio Leone. Epic.
Before you skedaddle, saddle up with Tuca Tours for an extended trip through some of Leone's most famous filming locations in Spain. If you and your buddies all pile into one car, it's a modest $350 for a nine-hour tour.
Although the world's most glamorous film festival is still a month away, we're totally jazzed about two bits of pre-Festival de Cannes news. The fourth Indiana Jones flick is set to premiere, and Russia is representin' at Cannes' International Village.
Yep, you heard it here first. Shia, Spielberg, Stoli and stroganoff all under one tent from May 14-25. Now that's a party.
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by egw
