I’ve seen four movies since my last update:
Get Low was a period piece based on actual events. Robert Duvall plays a hermit who throws a funeral party and invites everyone in the town to come tell a story about him. Duvall was really good, and Bill Murray was a little out of place but still a good comedic presence. Interesting side note: I heard Murray was at a restaurant Saturday night giving foot massages. I did not get a foot massage.
The next film I saw was Cyrus. It’s from the Duplass brothers, who have been at Sundance quite a few times — they did The Puffy Chair, and Mark Duplass was in Humpday last year, which was a festival favorite. Cyrus has a great cast, with John C Reilly, Jonah Hill, and Marisa Tomei. At the Q&A afterwards they talked about how the actors were given a lot of room to explore the characters. You definitely see it in the movie. There are some parts that don’t really go anywhere, but Reily and Hill are really good.
The next thing I saw was Jack Goes Boating. It’s always nice to see an actor like Phillip Seymour Hoffman grow into the role of director. This was his first time directing, and he allows the cast to really showcase the character development. His directing let the actors’ talent come out. There wasn’t really much of a plot, but that wasn’t really what the film was about — it was more about the characters and the actors. It was almost like an actors’ workshop in that it was so focused on what they did and how they interacted together.
Next I saw Welcome to the Rileys, and it was far and away my favorite film I’ve seen so far here. Great acting from James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, and Melissa Leo. It’s kind of a heavy drama about parents (Gandolfini and Leo) who lose their daughter and how they cope with that. Some years later they come across an underage prostitute in New Orleans (Stewart), and the father takes her under his wing and helps her as a way of getting over his grief.
Another movie I’m hearing good things about is Bran Nue Dae, which is an aborigine musical starring Geoffery Rush. That might sound a little odd, but a lot of people have said they liked it. The buzz for Catfish has been really good, too, so I’m glad people share my opinion of it.
