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Show -W^ ™ DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT Monday, January 30, 2006 THESHINEBOX Will Soderbergh burst society's 'Bubble?' New distribution plan could make Sundance irrelevant The feeding frenzy came and went, as it always does. This time of year, every year, studio execs and distribution companies from across the country step foot where many of them would never have ventured before: Park City, Utah. Just as it has for the last several winters, this year's Sundance Film Festival brought plenty of hype and several films that promise to be among the most talked-about of the year. But is Sundance on its way out? This past Friday brought the re- WE AKOTNCt ttntuMtt » ' • • • • - like a small-scale lease of Steven Sovictory but a largederbergh's "Bubble," scale defeat. DVD his new largely imis the medium of provised indepenour generation, and dent drama, shot on more and more it's a shoestring budget becoming the enwith first-time actertainment mode tors somewhere in of choice across the rural Ohio and West globe. Maybe I'm Virginia. The film is just a rabid, nostalSoderbergh's first atChris Bellamy gic purist who can't tempt at his new distribution plan, which is to release handle change, but I would find it films almost simultaneously in the- tremendously sad if the movie theaters, on DVD and on cable televi- atre eventually got pushed out of sion. Eventually, the Internet will the entire cinematic experience. be part of that equation as well. Netflix, the popular online DVD Personally, I can't wait to see rental service, is openly trying to "Bubble." I love much of Soder- put traditional video stores out of bergh's work and find him a fasci- business, and that process seems nating director. But I'm more than to be well on its way. Home entera bit concerned with his new direc- tainment, which in the future will probably include first-run movies tion. A couple months ago in this col- downloaded right to your home umn, I wrote about Soderbergh's computer or broadcast by satellite proposed plan and illustrated my to your television, is the way of fucomplete opposition to it. I still ture, while more "old-fashioned" feel the same way, but others have methods get kicked to the proverbrought up an interesting point— bial curb. that this system could potentially As of right now, indie festivals bring more attention to smaller like Sundance seem to still be thrivindie films that are too often over- ing. looked and/or never see the light of This year's darling, the dramedy day once they run their course on "Little Miss Sunshine," was bought the festival circuit. last week by Fox Searchlight PicPerhaps that's a good argument, tures for a record $10 million. Mibut to me, Sodergergh's plan seems chel Gondry's "The Science of Matt Barney • • • • Chronicle Writer Tomorrow the U School of Music's Wind Ensemble will perform a pops concert featuring some songs you may or may not know. The first piece is an overture by the name of "Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna" by Franz von Supp£. Inspired by one of the great artistic cities of old Europe, this piece contains echoes of the various influences that the many masters have had on Vienna's musical heritage. In particular, listen for the melancholic violin solos. Following the overture, audiences will hear the "Symphonic Dances from West Side Story," composed by Leonard Bernstein. These compositions vary in What: U School of Music's Wind Ensemble Pops Concert Where: Libby Gardner Concert Hall When: Tuesday, Jan. 31,7:30 p.m. How: Tickets may be purchased through the Kingsbury Hall box office, (801) 581-7100, or atthe Gardner Hall box office one hour prior to the concert. VALERIE )AR/Tht Djlly Uiah Chronicle texture: The prologue is mysterious and pensive, while the mambo is exciting, upbeat and active. Taken together, they are a collection of unique American musical odes. It is a testament to Bernstein's abilities that, through mere notes, he captures the essence of America; from tfre first to the last, we experience sounds that are definitively ours. The last piece is "The Lord of the Rings-Hobbits," composed by Johan de Meij. This piece has a bouncy, soft melody that conjures images of the countryside and comforting simplicity. Though simple and catchy, it remains accessible without degrading itself. m.barney@ chronicle.utah.edu evant in 1988 with "sex, lies and videotape." But what if this catches on? The purpose of independent film festivals, other than serving as an open forum for artistic expression, is to get theatrical distribution for films that otherwise might not get it. But if theaters are no longer the objective for movies—if it gets "easier" to get a film shown, even if it's on DVD rather than in the Cineplexes and/or art houses—where does Sundance fit in? Does it fit in at all? c.bellamy@ chronicle.utaKedu v Witherspoon, Hoffman, Crash' lead SAG honors A mighty wind The U's Wind Ensemble breezes through performance Sleep" sold for $6 million to Warner Independent Pictures. Every year, there are small films that come out of Sundance and end up making a splash—"Clerks," "Reservoir Dogs" and "Napoleon Dynamite" among them. And every year, the prices for these movies keep going up. Appearances dictate that theatrical distribution is at its peak. But if this Soderbergh thing catches on, that may not be the case anymore. And that may hurt festivals like our own Sundance, which is ironic, considering that it was Soderbergh himself who made the festival rel- LOS ANGELES—Reese Witherspoon as singer June Carter in "Walk the Line" and Philip Seymour Hoffman as author TVuman Capote in "Capote" won lead-acting awards Sunday from the Screen Actors Guild, while the ensemble drama "Crash" pulled off an upset win over Brokeback Mountain" for the overall cast award. Rachel Weisz of the murder-thriller "The Constant Gardener" and Paul Giamatti of the boxing drama "Cinderella Man" received supporting-acting honors. "Oh, my God, y'all. Sometimes, I can't just shake the feeling that I'm just a little girl from Tennessee," said Witherspoon, who plays Carter during her long, stormy courtship with country legend Johnny Cash. Hoffman, considered the favorite for the best-actor Oscar as Capote amid the author's struggles to research and write the truecrime novel "In Cold Blood," had gushing thanks for his "Capote" co-stars. "It's important to say that actors can't act alone, it's impossible. What we have to do is support each other," Hoffman said. "Actors have to have each others' backs. It's the only way to act well is when you know the other actor has your back, and these actors had my back, and I hope they know I had theirs." "Brokeback Mountain" has been considered the best-picture front-runner at the Os- cars, whose nominations come out Tuesday, with awards presented March 5. Its loss to "Crash" could prove a speed-bump on the film's path toward becoming the first explicitly gay-themed movie to win a best picture award at the Oscars, but "Brokeback Mountain" has dominated earlier Hollywood honors so it will likely continue to be considered the favorite. "Crash" follows the lives of a far-flung cast of characters over a chaotic 36-hour period in Los Angeles. "This celebrates the definition of what an ensemble is all about. There's 74 of us," "Crash" co-star Terrence Howard said of the film's huge cast. Kiefer Sutherland won as best actor in a TV drama for the action series "24," while the airplane-disaster show "Lost" won for TV dramatic ensemble. "A friend of mine always says if you don't have something nice to say about someone, let's hear it," said "Lost" co-star Terry O'Quinn, surrounded by fellow cast members. "So about our cast, I'd like to say that this is the saddest collection of climbing, grasping, paranoid, back-stabbing, screen-grabbing losers and schmoozers that you ever saw on your stage in your life. But we love each other very much." Toro! Toro! The Associated Press ir •'•'*.!;•/" Funnyman Pierce Brosnan leads the stampede in 'The Matador' "The Matador" The Weinstein Company Directed and written by Richard Shepard Starring; Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis, Philip Baker Hall, Adam Scott and Dylan Baker Rated R/96 minutes Opens Jan. 27, 2006 Three-and-a-half out offour stars •••* Chris Bellamy Chronicle Writer Julian Noble is a lonely man: outwardly mellow but silently desperate, his pervasive insecurity masked by a fine, manly mustache. In short, Julian (Pierce Brosnan) needs a friend. He finds such a friend in Mexico City, where he meets the mild-mannered salesman Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear—is anybody better at being mild-mannered?), who is equally desperate but for much different reasons. A few years back, he lost his job and his young son. He's just now starting to get his career back on track, and he suspects that if he doesn't, his wife will lose faith in him. Danny and his business partner, Phil (Adam Scott), are on the verge of closing a major, career-saving deal in Mexico City, on which all of Danny's hopes and dreams seem to rest. He meets Julian in a hotel bar, and they hit it off...sort of. After a few minutes and a couple of drinks, Danny heartbreakingly recounts the story of his young son's death...and Julian immediately counters with a filthy joke. Their halfdrunk, introductory conversation has a kind of awkward brilliance to it, as neither man knows quite what to make o£the other. Oh yeah, and one more thing: Julian kills people for a living. As both men get stuck in Mexico City for longer than they expected, Julian invites Danny out for a day at his favorite pastime, a bullfight, during which he tells his new friend of his, shall we say, dubious profession. Of course, the film being set in the real world, Danny doesn't believe him at first. A contract killer? Please, those kinds of people only exist in the movies. He doesn't believe him until, that is, Julian shows him exactly, and I mean exactly, how he does his job, setting up an absolutely incredible sequence in which Julian, with Danny at his side, finds a target, scopes out the surroundings, formulates a method and an exit strategy and then...oh, but you'll have to see for yourself. It's a scene of absolute genius. Julian is also suffering from a bout of performance anxiety—he's screwed up two jobs in a row and knows his life may be in danger from the wealthy, anonymous businessmen who sign his checks. . You have questions. . The Chronicle's m advice columnists can help. /•i-.7;:. "When I'm not busy killing folk for a living, I set my sights on Just For Men hair treatment-it keeps the silver in my gray." Pierce Brosnan gets old In "The Matador." Months pass after Julian and Danny's brief friendship in Mexico City, but it springs up once again when Julian arrives at the door of Danny and his wife, Bean (Hope Davis), looking for a place to stay. There are, of course, more details to Julian's plight, and plenty of other surprises along the way. But what writer/ director Richard Shepard is more concerned with are the characters themselves. "The Matador" seems like just another odd-couple movie with the hit man meeting the everyman. But what we get is unexpected depth and moral complexity. And Brosnan—what can I say about Brosnan? He's never been better than he is here. He goes so far against type and shows us a character we would never expect. Like Robert Downey Jr. earlier this year in "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang," Brosnan gives a priceless comic performance layered with humanity. "Matador" may re-invigorate not only a shopworn genre but perhaps Brosnan's acting career as well. c.bellamy@ chronicle.utah.edu 1 I t Send advice letters to advice® chronicle. Utah. edu. |
