Denver Film Festival Day 3

Hal Holbrook. What a wonderful actor. He received the 2009 Excellence in Acting Award for a lifetime of wonderful performances. This accompanied the screening of his newest film, "That Evening Sun". I was interested to hear him talk about acting (as I always am when actors talk about acting). I was intrigued to hear him say (at the age of 84) that his director taught him something about acting; a director who cannot be even half Holbrook's age. He said that the director, Scott Teems, taught him 'not to protect the character.' Think about that, particularly if you are an actor, it is great advice.

It is clear that Mr. Holbrook has great reverence for acting (he talked about making certain that you have respect for the audience) and a great love of his wife, Dixie Carter. She is in the film but was not in attendance at the screening.

Seeing him and then her on screen reminded me of when I met her. It was in the middle 80s sometime, in Los Angeles. We had lunch, I think, but then I was also shooting pictures of a play she was in. My friend Steve and I were shooting publicity and production stills for a play titled "Fathers and Sons" with Richard Chamberlain as Wild Bill Hickock and Dixie Carter as Calamity Jane. It was at the Solari Playhouse in Beverly Hills and the lunch and discussion with her at some place around the corner from the Solari was one of those great get-togethers I remember. I was quite taken with her (as is easy to be) - and she was terrific as Calamity Jane.

Terry and I also saw an interesting documentary (we always try to see a lot of documentaries) titled "So Right, So Smart". It is the best 'sales job' for business and industry to implement green practices I have ever seen - a capitalist case for instituting sustainable practices.

Starz Denver Film Festival - Day 2

Ed Harris received the Mayor's Lifetime Achievement Award Friday night. Both the Mayor and Ed Harris were in good form.

The Mayor loves the movies. We were chatting backstage before he gave the award about his turn in his cousin George Hickenlooper's new film, "Casino Jack" (a rough-cut of Casino Jack will receive a 'mystery' screening later in the festival). John obviously really enjoyed the experience of playing a small role in the film - he has talked to me about it a couple of times. He is also proud of his SAG card and we are proud to count him as a member of the Colorado Branch of SAG. Hick also is featured in the Documentary "Hick Town" screening next weekend at the Festival.

The Ed Harris award program featured clips from some of his films. Ron Henderson put the clips program together and noted that the problem with putting a clips reel together for an actor of Ed Harris' range of roles is not only deciding which films to select from but which scenes from those films to select.

I would add that the other problem with a clips reel, is watching the clips and thinking how much one would like to see the entire film again- its like only being able to eat a tiny bit of the piece of cake.

Harris, during the question and answer session after the clips was funny, quirky, and at times serious. I particularly enjoyed hearing him talk about the craft of acting. He truly loves what he does.

And finally the last film of the night for me was Werner Herzog's "The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans". Nicholas Cage gives a wonderful and quirky performance as the Lieutenant. As the New Orleans homicide detective, I couldn't help but think at times that in his physicality he was channeling the late Jerry Orbach as Lt. Lenny Briscoe.

Herzog's films are always interesting and this one doesn't disappoint.

Saturday, another wonderful actor is honored. Hal Holbrook will be in attendance and his new film "That Evening Sun" will be screened.

More thoughts on Precious

There is a lot of buzz about the acting in director Lee Daniels' film "Precious" and truly there are exceptional performances - some unexpectedly so. But you can't separate the performances from the context in which they are given.

The style of the film, the choices Daniels made, the camera work, the editing have to be taken as a whole and that whole includes the acting: Everything fits, everything works. Frankly, there are no stand-out performances because the performances are so uniformly terrific. This is really an ensemble piece (although the astonishing performance by Gabourey Sidibe as Precious is the fulcrum for this ensemble, and without which it would be a different film altogether). All great performances are the result of the give and take among the actors working together and in concert with a director. That is what this is about.

But it is also about the style.

Again: the style, the camera work, the editing: the gritty reality of Harlem, the feel of a documentary, the edgy heightened color, the total in-the-moment reality of the performances consistent with the use of dream sequences and flash-back.

There is an old saw in the theatre and film that 'we deal in truth, not facts.'

Daniels has made a film that draws us in; that has the sense of documentary-reality but which goes far beyond any 'facts' and gets at the greater truth.

1 down - 33 to go

The Denver Film Festival is on again. Terry and I attended opening night last to see the much-talked about "Precious". The talk is warranted. The film is at once moving and funny but also angering, saddening and discomforting. Then finally, at the end, at the darkest moment of the film (after many dark moments) it becomes uplifting; not uplifting in a cheering sort of way but uplifting in a quiet but gratifying way; not uplifting with some sort of saccharine sweetness but with a reality that is the hallmark of the film itself.

The subject matter is off-putting, but don't let that put you off - go see the film. The hype may discourage you because all too often, over-hyped films can be disappointing - go see the film, you won't be disappointed.

This was a terrific beginning to the 32nd Starz Denver Film Festival.

Terry and I will see 34 films before the Festival ends a week from Sunday. 1 down, 33 to go.

Great Theatre

One of the great things about theatre in London is the opportunity to see new work with terrific casts and great direction - at a very reasonable price. Not that there is not wonderful work being done in the US, but to have it concentrated in a small geographic area, highly accessible, and reasonably priced, is unique to London.

New York has great theatre, but it is very expensive, even the Off-Broadway can be pricey. And some of the best work is being done regionally in small theatres or LORT theatres, but it is spread around the country and often does not end up with a production in some centralized locale. You can go to Los Angeles, or Chicago, or New York, or Denver, or almost anywhere in the US and see wonderful theatre, but to see wonderful new plays in one location...well nothing is like London.

London's West-End has an abundance of non-musical productions, many of which will never make it to the US.

Ofcourse, the big, tourist-freindly musicals are here and are much in demand, but it is the dramas and comedies in the west-end that make it worthwhile.

Much of what I see, I take a chance on. I go to the TKTS both in the morning, to see what is available. Rarely have I ever purchased a ticket to something I had prior knowledge about. Part of the joy is seeing something I had no prior knowledge about and then being thrilled about what I had seen. I have rarely been disappointed. Some productions have been better than others, and some have been truly fantastic, but I haver never really regretted buying a ticket to any.

Theatre in London this week has again been a great experience. I will blog about the specifics tomorrow.

1968 part 2 - McCarthy Lost His Y

I had been an early supporter of Gene McCarthy when he decided to challenge President Lyndon Johnson for the 1968 Presidential nomination. I opposed the war and while I supported Johnson’s significant and very progressive domestic accomplishments, I could not support him for another term as President. At the time, the war was the overriding factor.

I acquired a McCarthy bumper sticker which I stuck to the top of my guitar case (I still have the guitar and the guitar case but the sticker is long gone).

McCarthy, against all conventional wisdom, almost bested Johnson in the New Hampshire primary and the race was on.

Then Bobby Kennedy got in the race. There was tremendous animosity toward Kennedy from many McCarthy supporters. They felt that Kennedy had stood on the sidelines until it became clear that Johnson could be beaten in the primaries and then had jumped in.

I remained a McCarty supporter for the time being. Then there was the Johnson withdrawal.

It was a Sunday night, if I remember correctly. Steve, Rosemary, Ron Duce and I (The Happy Folk at the time) were playing a gig at Taco Sierra, a 3.2% beer and taco restaurant (I’ve played many sterling engagements and high-class joints in my time).

We watched Johnson on TV and then played our gig: A pretty dramatic night.

Through April I began to reassess my support for McCarthy. Not that I disagreed with him, but I began to see in Bobby an object of real change. A person in whom I not only believed but in whom I thought there might actually be the possibility of building the better world many of us were striving for. That capacity for change, in part was based on the fact that he had the best chance of winning and keeping Dick Nixon out of the White House. (I have a maxim I use in politics – You can’t govern if you don’t win, you won’t win if you don’t govern).

I became a Kennedy supporter. But the bumper sticker, which by that time was becoming a bit tattered, was still on my guitar case. Then one day, Steve looked at it and noticed that the ‘Y’ at the end of McCarthy’s name had been torn off.

Steve: “McCarthy’s lost his Y.”

Denny: “Yes he has.”

1968

A memorable year. A sitting President decides not to run for another term and a potential President is killed in Los Angeles. A memorable year. A watershed year. A year marked by death. Young Americans dying in southeast Asia. The murder of Martin Luther King. The murder of Robert Francis Kennedy. Violence and death in our urban centers as people take to the streets in anger and frustration. Violence in the streets of Chicago during the Democratic National Convention.

I have been thinking a lot about 1968 lately. As I posted earlier, my friend Steve is celebrating his 60th birthday with concert of family and friends. The friends include me.

Steve and I are referring to our part as Happy Folk Redux. In 1968, Steve and I along with Rosemary Doran were the Happy Folk, a trio bound for fame, fortune and success in the music business in Los Angeles. Preparing for the concert and rehearsing the songs is conjuring up many memories of that year and that trip.

1968.

We actually left Colorado in June of 1968, right after Bobby was assassinated. As I noted earlier, it was a bittersweet time. We were full of hope for our future but bereft of hope for the future of our country. We could not know that the events of March and June of that year were just the start of what would be a terrible year in our country.

The California primary was on June 4th that year. Bobby won and everyone was poised to, as Bobby said that fateful night, go ‘on to Chicago and lets win in November’.

Shortly after midnight, now June 5th, Bobby was shot.

Interestingly, Steve’s birthday is on June 4th. That will be the night of our concert. It will be celebratory, it will be fun; it will be full of hope. But for me, and I think Steve too, it will be bittersweet again. It will be hard not to think of that time, that year and that trip for us.

The music thing didn’t really work out for us, but we both gave our shot at ‘the big time’ in L.A. in the entertainment business. We both had some success, but perhaps not enough. We both waited for that ‘someday’ when the big break would come. We are both back here now.

Our concert closes, appropriately, with a song Steve wrote: "What If Someday Never Comes?"