Any San Francisco film fest opening night attendees?

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Is anybody going to opening night of San Francisco film fest next week? The new Costa Gavras film, Ax, at the Castro and party at Ghiradelli after...whose going? wanta meet up?Mysti

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[nq:1]Is anybody going to opening night of San Francisco film fest next week? The new Costa Gavras film, Ax, at the Castro and party at Ghiradelli after... whose going? wanta meet up? Mysti[/nq]
I'd love to go to opening night, but the price tag is a little steep and I'm a little overwhelmed with some personal projects (one of which is getting a script rewrite done in time for this year's Nicholl contest). There's a chance we can get into the city for one of the other films at some point during the festival...
-ksharp

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[nq:1]Is anybody going to opening night of San Francisco film fest next week? The new Costa Gavras film, Ax, at the Castro and party at Ghiradelli after...[/nq]
I'll be seeing Ax at COLCOA in LA, um, today (Saturday, 16 April). Costa-Gavras is supposed to appear afterwards for Q & A. Sounds like fun.
Saw the French film "36 Quai des Orfevres" last night at COLCOA, at the DGA in LA. It was a tremendous noir police thriller, and was introduced as a paean to Michael Mann. That sure was true. Ma femme really didn't like it because there was so much tension and lots of cop-criminal violence. Reminiscent in those ways of Heat and Thief, though not at all like them. Gerard Depardieu makes an excellent treacherous corrupt cop. La femme said "You know how there are chick flicks?" Moi: "Yes." La femme: "This was a guy flick."

Fyi, 36 Quai des Orfevres is Paris' equivalent of Scotland Yard. It's the top cop shop (so to speak).

A proud member of the reality-based community since 1980.

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dano wrote cool stuff:
thanks for the heads up about all those flicks!
Mysti

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[nq:1]dano wrote cool stuff: thanks for the heads up about all those flicks![/nq]
I don't remember now what you're going to see. Was it the new Costa-Gavras film, Le Couperet?
At COLCOA he did an hourlong Q&A afterwards, moderated by Penelope Spheeris. Geez, I swear this guy should have been made Pope. IMHO this movie is perhaps his best, because he (finally) used humor to make the drama even more effective. (Noir humor no doubt, but humor nonetheless.)

No doubt this French language film will be touring the US art house circuit.
Well written, well directed, well acted and well spoken after the film. He told a really good story about how he got the rights from Donald Westlake, the author of the novel.
Apparently the film was in development at a major US studio for years. Costa had wanted it for years too, but had to wait. When he heard it had been turned around, he called Westlake. Westlake was surprised, but easily consented. The film was made for a low budget in the suburbs in France and Belgium.
The only downside was one you won't have to endure. There was an incredibly boorish film critic/snob who asked an incomprehensible question that seemed designed more to show off her propensity to string together completely unrelated philosophical threads and attach them to an obscure interpretation of the movie. Spheeris recognized her and gave her - by name - the first question from the audience. She made the mistake of saying "Thanks Penny." Which earned an immediate polite but firm "I'm not Penny."

A proud member of the reality-based community since 1980.

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[nq:2]dano wrote cool stuff: thanks for the heads up about all those flicks![/nq]
[nq:1]I don't remember now what you're going to see. Was it the new Costa-Gavras film, Le Couperet? At COLCOA he ... best, because he (finally) used humor to make the drama even more effective. (Noir humor no doubt, but humor nonetheless.)[/nq]
Our Q&A lasted four about ten minutes because the folks that stayed to ask question were IRRITATING, ILL-INFORMED MORONS. oi. arg!

hey, did you notice john landis in the cafe scene? I told my hubbie he was nuts until the credits. I wanted to ask if he took direction well, but they stopped the Q&A because the questions were so stupid Costa-Gavras' translator couldn't straighten them out for him. C-G is a wonderful fellow, I got to stand THIS close to him at the after party. that and sitting next to Harry Anderson's table as he held court at Musso & Frank's (and lingering so long that Wim Wenders had to go somewhere else) are among my favorite memories. Oh, and being told by Mac Davis when I was fifteen that I looked, and i swear to *** I'm quoting, "tall enough to hunt bar with your teeth," which should have scarred me more than it did..
[nq:1]No doubt this French language film will be touring the US art house circuit. Well written, well directed, well ... The film was made for a low budget in the suburbs in France and Belgium.Yah, paramount must be kicking themselves![/nq]
And it's a fine example of how you can mix thriller with other genres.
[nq:1]The only downside was one you won't have to endure. There was an incredibly boorish film critic/snob who asked an ... the audience. She made the mistake of saying "Thanks Penny." Which earned an immediate polite but firm "I'm not Penny."[/nq]
Our worst guy was some fellow who asked "didn't you oversimplify things a bit, with the corporations all being bad and the poor downtrodden guy." urg.. C-G was gracious and answered a more interesting question instead of that one

Mysti

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[nq:2]I don't remember now what you're going to see. Was ... even more effective. (Noir humor no doubt, but humor nonetheless.)[/nq]
[nq:1]Our Q&A lasted four about ten minutes because the folks that stayed to ask question were IRRITATING, ILL-INFORMED MORONS. oi. ... scene? I told my hubbie he was nuts until the credits. I wanted to ask if he took direction well,[/nq]
Hm. I missed that. (But I don't know what Landis looks like. I wouldn't have known if he was sitting next to me in the theater. :-)
[nq:1]but they stopped the Q&A because the questions were so stupid Costa-Gavras' translator couldn't straighten them out for him.[/nq]
That's pretty clever of them - and I don't mean the questioners, I mean C-G and the translator. At our show he didn't have a translator because he didn't need one. He is completely fluent in English - he thinks in English and has an excellent vocabulary. In fact, of the three other French speakers (the festival organizer, the festival's film programmer, and the consul general) C-G's accent was less than all those. He was completely understandable, and he understands English just as well.

So it's pretty cool that they deflected the dopey questions!
[nq:1]C-G is a wonderful fellow, I got to stand THIS close to him at the after party.[/nq]
He and his wife (who is also his producer) were right behind us during the movie. They weren't even in the VIP section! (Neither were we.)

[nq:1]Our worst guy was some fellow who asked "didn't you oversimplify things a bit, with the corporations all being bad and the poor downtrodden guy." urg.. C-G was gracious and answered a more interesting question instead of that one

[/nq]
It's unfortunate you had such bad questioners at your show. At ours he discussed the issues that he was illustrating in the movie, globalization and downsizing and how it affects people and families. He compared the main character to being a soldier. We allow soldiers in a war the right to kill to protect themselves and their fellow soldiers, and this character saw himself as a soldier protecting his family.
I concur with your recommendation in the title. For all reading, see the movie...
DOD

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Any San Francisco film fest opening night attendees?

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