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The Washington Post's Beltway gossip Lloyd Grove gets ready for his new gig at the Daily News by going heavy on the D.C. screening circuit today. First, he leads with a screening of The Passion, with director Mel Gibson present, for insiders to quell rumors. The invitees skewed to the conservative: Matt Drudge, Peggy Noonan, Cal Thomas and Kate O'Beirne; conservative essayist Michael Novak; President Bush's abortive nominee for labor secretary, Linda Chavez; staff director Mark Rodgers of the Senate Republican conference chaired by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.); former Republican House member Mark Siljander of Michigan; and White House staffer David Kuo. Jack Valenti seemed to be the only liberal, but as he's the head of the annoying MPAA and kiss up to Mel, Gothamist is not surprised that he told audience members, "I don't see what the controversy is all about. This is a compelling piece of art. I just called Kirk Douglas and told him that this is the movie to beat." Gothamist dies a little as another spin machine starts. [Via nw]
The second item states how Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg, Tobey Maguire and William H. Macy screened Seabiscuit for the Bushes last night. Gothamist also saw Seabiscuit last night, albeit in NY. Thoughts: Gorgeously photographed (expect cinematographer John Schwartzman to be nominated, either by the Academy or the ASC), well-acted (Macy is great fun), touching then exciting and back again, but a little too long and a bit self-important. The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt accurately notes that film's "narration delivered by historian David McCullough," gives the "'little guy' subtext" but makes it "sound like a PBS docu."
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Jack Valenti is officially the head of the Valenti Party. If by "liberal" you mean "satan," yes, he is liberal.
Well, yeah, he is EVIL. But he worked for President Johnson, so I just go with liberal. I seroiusly hate Valenti, though. He's such a pipsqueak.
I can't reveal my source *grin* but I've heard (from one at the screening) that "Passion" is absolutely amazing and full of details that you don't want to see, but can't help watching.
Aaron, stop hanging out with the beltway insiders. It's unbecoming. Hee.
Give Valenti a call (202-293-1966) and tell him to screen this joint for gothamist insiders.
My question though Jen, re: Seabiscuit, does the movie's exciting and touching parts overcome the fact that it has the most twee title ever? It makes me want to puke (from all the quaint Americana) on Tobey's curly red hairdo every time I hear it.
my best friend in college works at the MPAA, bless his heart.
My favorite Valenti story so far is from the morning of Sept. 11: within minutes of seeing the attacks on tv, Valenti knew that hapless TV news crews would need comments from Authority Figures, but that real Authority Figures would all be unavailable. So he immediately walked across Lafayette Sq. to the White House and stood in front of the gates all morning, selflessly giving out soundbites.
Well, Seabiscuit is pretty twee (just like Tigermilk, the Belle & Sebastian album), but if it were called "An American Legend," I'd have barfed. Seabiscuit is the name of the horse and the bestseller, so I can understand why the name stuck. This is what I found out about the name from the Guardian: "Seabiscuit's name, incidentally, is a synonym of his sire, Hard Tack. His brother was named Grog." I know nothing about what a synonym is apparently.
The movie is pretty solid, just very long...and it's very quaint in the PBS way Honeycutt mentioned, like Ken Burns' Baseball doc - very informational and you know there's an up ending. Tobey's red hair - blech. Not a fan. Topher Grace, he has red hair. He would have been a more natural fit, follicly speaking.
WAIT!! How'd you get to go? I'm so jealous, I've been trying to get a ticket for a week and nothing. What was your secret? And why didn't you invite me along? ;)
Oh, dear, Meg, I'm sorry. I saw it through a screening held by the Film Society of Lincoln Center; this month's screening happened to be Seabiscuit. But believe me, it wasn't a pretty scene: Imagine throngs of older, overprivileged, annoying, slightly drunk rich people pushing and clawing their way into a screening. This old man was trying to intimidate me by telling his companion that he'd done a lot of tackling and blocking in the day.
That said, I'll try to keep better tabs on including you on activities. Like the next time I meet Jeffrey Steingarten, say.
Regarding Jack Valenti's new MPAA anti-piracy campaign:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1938687
A friend just pointed out that the MPAA is using behind-the-scenes crew members, like makeup artists and stuntmen, to underscore the notion that piracy negatively impacts the little guy.
As Peter Chernin puts is: "We feel very strongly about the need to communicate that piracy has the power to cost real people real jobs; and that illegally downloading movies is a blow to creativity, not corporate might."
This isn't about corporate might, kids. Much like the Iraq War isn't about the military industrial complex and oil; it was about hardworking young Americans like Jessica Lynch living in safety.
Also, Jen, how do you hyperlink off a keyword in this frickin' thing?
Yours,
Jill Valenti
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