Austin
Film Festival 2001 Day 3 - October 13, 2001!
I took it easy Saturday because I was pretty tired and hung
over. I didn't get up until after 2 and then hung out at the
crib, watched some "All in the Family" on TVLand and did laundry.
Lots of laundry.
About 8:30, I headed to the Arbor for the new Guillermo
del Toro, "The
Devil's Backbone. "After
the Flood" was showing at the same time at the other Arbor
screen. When I got to the Arbor a little before 9, I noticed
there really wasn't much of a crowd. I was kinda hoping they
would have to turn away folks from "Backbone" and the overflow
would go to "ATF." That didn't happen.
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There were some "Waking Life" posters and postcards
in the lobby and since I was kinda early and things
were kinda slow, I grabbed some and took them to my
car. There is a picture of the animated John Christensen
on the poster, so I wanted to get as many as I could
for all his friends.
Back in the lobby, I saw Courtney, the Film Programmer
and she didn't look happy. Apparently the screening
of "A Passage to Ottawa," this year's winner of best
competition film, had lots of print problems. That made
the schedule get behind and it was a bit of a mess.
These things happen. If I were a filmmaker and I had
a 35mm film in a festival, I would want to preview it
the night before and make sure it was built correctly
and everything looked right. Apparently, whoever build
the print of "Ottawa" got some reels out of order.
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Guillermo
del Toro
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This could have been a lab problem, where the could have
been mislabeled, or a theater problem, where whoever built
the print did a poor job. Either way, the problem could be
fixed simply by having someone preview the print.
I ran into Shawn Andrews, the star of "After the Flood" and
his female companion. He's such a nice guy. We talked a bit
and I asked him about upcoming stuff. He recently did a part
in the new Matt Dillon film, "Beneath the Banyan Trees." The
film also stars Gerard Depardieu, James Caan and Stellan Skarsgard.
Shawn says his role is sort of the "conscience of the whole
piece," so that ought to be pretty cool.
Robert, the director of "ATF" and some of the cast and crew
were there and since their film was starting on time, while
"Devil's Backbone" was running behind, due to the problems
with "Ottawa," I went in to see "ATF." I was thinking it would
be cool to see it on 35mm anyway. Courtney introduced Robert
and he spoke briefly and then the film began. Well, first
there was this short called "Golden Gate."
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After I watched a bit of "ATF,"
I snuck over to the other house for "DBB." I didn't have
to wait to long for it to start. Del Toro was there and
was as hilarious as always. I tell you, if you ever get
a chance to hear del Toro speak, take it. Her is the most
amusing, most open, most forthright director you can hope
to hear. This guy is awesome. I have seen him several
times in Austin, he lives here now, and loved it every
time. I remember last year he showed one of his shorts
and "Cronos" at AFF and he sat in the audience and heckled
his short. It was wonderful. He also did a Q&A after wards
and talked about how he likes to flip-flop between personal
projects and Hollywood work. His next film will be "Blade
2," which he said was a real popcorn film, "leave your
brain at the door." After that, he moves to his more personal
project of "Hellboy" which may or may not star Vin Diesel.
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Tired, after all this, and knowing that the next night Web
was coming into town and we were going to see "Waking Life"
with a lot of John Christensen's friends, I went home and
chilled rather than going out to drink.
Lodger2001
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