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February 26, 2007
U.S. COMEDY ARTS FESTIVAL CELEBRATING THE BEST IN FILM
ROCKET SCIENCE
A teenager tackles the mysteries of life, love and public speaking in Rocket Science, a wry comedy of adolescent angst by Jeffrey Blitz, director of the Academy Award®-nominated documentary Spellbound. Making his feature narrative debut, Blitz leaves behind the conventions and clichés of coming-of-age tales to instead conjure a world where everyone, regardless of age, is befuddled by desire and the longing for human connection. Mixing humor with a compassionate regard for his characters and their idiosyncrasies, Blitz creates a film about the little insights that can emerge from, and ultimately eclipse, the agonies and disappointments of youth.
Director Jeffrey Blitz in attendance.
THE GENERAL and LONESOME with the ALLOY ORCHESTRA LIVE
The Alloy Orchestra isn't an orchestra: it's a three-man musical ensemble that writes and performs live accompaniment to silent film classics. With their famous "rack of junk" and electronic synthesizers, they have audiences believing they're being attacked by tigers, hearing signals from Mars, or being swept up in the Russian Revolution. For last 15 years, the group has composed a new score and premiered it with a classic silent film at the Telluride Film Festival in addition to playing such prestigious venues at the Louvre, Lincoln Center, Academy of Motion Pictures, National Gallery of Art, and many others. Alloy revives two of their masterpieces, as chosen by Guest Directors and Telluride founders Stella & Bill Pence. First time ever in Aspen!
DEATH AT A FUNERAL: World Premiere
Director Frank Oz (Bowfinger, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) brings us Death at a Funeral, a romp of a story that follows the comic twists of a dysfunctional British family as they gather to mourn the passing of their patriarch. It's the day of his father's funeral and Daniel wants everything to go according to plan, but his brother is only interested in chatting up a pretty girl at the service, his cousin's straight-laced boyfriend is convinced that someone is alive in the coffin, and a rogue bottle of hallucinogenic pills keeps popping up. If that isn't enough, a mystery visitor from his father's past threatens to expose the patriarch's secret unless he is paid a princely sum. Death at a Funeral is the riotous, shocking tale of one man's struggle to maintain his dignity while swimming in a sea of calamity.
THE COMEBACKS: Work-in-Progress
The producers of Wedding Crashers bring you some select scenes of their newest spoof of the best inspirational sports movies ever made! The Comebacks is about out-of-luck Coach "Lambeau" Fields, who takes a rag-tag bunch of college misfits and drives them towards the football championship. In the process, this life-long loser discovers that there is indeed, no "I" in "team." Starring David Koechner (Anchorman), Carl Weathers, and a talented young cast including Matthew Lawrence, Brooke Nevin, Jackie Long, and Jesse Garcia.
This is a work-in-progress. Join the filmmakers for this rare opportunity to view a movie-in-progress, and share your thoughts and suggestions!
HECKLER: Work-in-Progress
Heckler is a feature documentary exploring the increasingly critical world we live in. After starring in the critically bashed Son of the Mask, Jamie Kennedy is on an epic mission to take on hecklers and critics. He asks fascinating questions of George Lucas, Bill Maher, Mike Ditka, Rob Zombie and many others in the public eye, and he personally confronts his own critics. This wild ride of a documentary shows just how nasty the fight is between those in the spotlight and those in the dark.
This is a work-in-progress. Jamie Kennedy and director Michael Addis will present select scenes from the film followed by a Q&A. They will be shooting additional interviews post-screening for potential inclusion in the film.
EAGLE VS. SHARK: World Cinema
Directed by Academy Award®-nominee Taika Waititi, Eagle vs. Shark is a wry comedy that chronicles the quirky romance of two awkward misfits, Lily (Loren Horsley), a shy fast-food restaurant cashier, and her crush, Jarrod (the deadpan Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords), an electronic store clerk. On the day Lily gets fired from her job at Meaty Boy, she musters up the courage to attend Jarrod's annual "come as your favorite animal" costume party. The dressy affair sparks the beginnings of a romance as well as a small journey for the pair to Jarrod's quiet hometown, in which Jarrod plans to seek revenge on an old nemesis and where Lily unwittingly finds herself stranded amongst Jarrod's family of eccentrics.
Writer/Director Taika Waititi in attendance.
For more information on the HBO U.S.A Comedy Arts festival, as well as lodging deals, visit www.stayaspensnowmass.com
Posted by Dina at February 26, 2007 08:18 AM
