Virginia Film Festival

Ultra Magnus here. Wow, what a cool weekend. I definitely saw my fair share of Shea as we were both clocking a lot of time at the film fest. I think he even went without food saturday...now that's dedication. My only regret is not making it to the Ebert seminar on The Birds, but what can you do.

Anyway, I may as well recount my highlights. Things got started on Thursday with the Nosferatu/Shadow of the Vampire double-feature. That was everything I'd hoped it would\be. I can't wait to see Shadow again when it opens nationwide in a couple months.

Saturday was a busy day. It started off with what was probably the high point of the whole weekend for me -- the Tom Dey panel discussion. Dey directed Shanghai Noon, a pretty good flick that never takes itself too seriously. And it was awesome to hear, especially as an aspiring filmmaker myself, a guy talk so candidly about the whole process. Dey went to AFI film school for two years and graduated with an M.A. in cinematography. He then become a commercial director for Ridley and Tony Scott's production company. After he'd made a name for himself, Jerry Bruckheimer approached him about directing Bad Boys 2. Apparently, Dey worked on the project for 3 months. Unfortunately, Martin Lawrence suffered his breakdown, things got delayed, and as you know, the project is in development hell. So instead, his agent sent him the script for Shanghai Noon. He was initially reluctant to do a Jackie Chan movie. But he met with the producers, told them his ideas for how to make it into a more respectable, well-rounded movie, and before he knew it, he had the job. The whole discussion, Dey was a very affable, down to earth guy. To my delight, he spoke, took questions, and took us through scenes of Shanghai Noon for over 2 hours. And he also said he'd be more than happy to work on any potential sequels for Shanghai. Some of the potential ideas they're throwing around sound great -- one of them is Chon Wang and Roy go to England to track down Jack the Ripper. Now that's a cool movie.

Also that day, I had the distinction of sitting (literally) 5 feet away from Sir Anthony Hopkins. He came to introduce Silence of the Lambs, and I was front row center, camera in hand. I didn't go see Titus later, but I think Shea actually got to shake his hand afterwards. It was definitely cool to see Silence on the big screen, although I have to admit, I still don't find it to be quite as spectacular as the rest of the free world. But cool, nonetheless.

Later that night, I had the (dis)pleasure of watching Princess Mononoke. I have to say, what the Hell?... Am I in the bizarro universe? I just checked the IMDB, and this movie has an 8.6 rating, and it's in the top 100 all-time. On the video box, it says it's 'the star wars of animation.' Ebert gave it 2 thumbs up. Huh? Did I see the right movie? The Princess Mononoke I saw was literally painful to sit though. To be fair, I missed a lot of it sleeping. Every now and then, Shea would give me a swift kick because I was snoring. I just don't even know where to start. I like anime, but I hated this movie. And I'm relatively easy to please mind you.

Finally, to end the festival, we saw Planet of the Apes Sunday. Seeing this on the silver screen was a real joy. I've always loved this movie. People who have never seen it dismiss it as stupid and hokey, but they are completely missing the fact it's great on so many levels -- it's a social allegory about race relations, it's a civil rights statement, it's an excuse to re-ignite the old science vs. blind faith issue, ... it's got the man, Charlton Heston. Nobody can overact like he can, baby, nobody. Immediately following, about 40 people stayed in their seats for a mediated discussion on the film. Some people had some pretty wacky notions about it. One guy seemed pretty sure that it was just a western....hmmm, okay... Others wondered if it was an animal rights movie. Doubtful, given the time it came out. There were even a few young lads in the audience who had never seen it, and didn't know the ending. Can you even remember what an epiphany it was to see that ending for the first time? Now that's a plot twist, all you Sixth Sense advocates. In any case, a great flick. The only minus was we had to watch the dvd, since the print that was sent was far too deteriorated to use.

All in all, a great weekend, and a great festival. Unfortunately, it is also my last, as I'm moving out to L.A. in January, away from the friendly confines of UVa and Charlottesville. But I'm sure I'll catch a few out there, too.