And I Still Haven't Found What I'm Stalking For
If any of you are up on your Sundance gossip, you will know that the latest controversy involves the movie "Hounddog" which features a rape scene with young Dakota Fanning. I guess a lot of people were really upset and thought that the inclusion of that scene was inappropriate. Of course, none of those people had seen "Hounddog" yet, but whatever. Last night our team had the pleasure of premiering that movie at our theater, and let me tell you, it was crazy. Due to fears of protest and other negative response, we had a huge team of security working with us, and little Dakota had to be escorted by them through back doors and dark hallways. She had more security than Puff Daddy (and Bono! who graced us with his presence this morning, sunglasses and all).
First of all, anyone who actually watched the film realized that any controversy is ridiculous. The scene in question is brief and doesn't really show anything at all. And, besides, I would have to agree with the director in saying that suppressing films that deal frankly with rape will only hinder our society's ability to confront and process this problem.
But seriously, folks, the real cause for alarm is not whether or not we see Dakota Fanning get raped but the frequency with which she butchers the Elvis classic, "Hound Dog." Homegirl has a pitch problem.
So sorting out the "Hounddog" mess took us until 11pm last night and Christina and Joanna basically went home, fell into bed and dragged their asses up by 5:30am this morning in order to deal with the second screening of "Hounddog" at 8:30am. Most of you who took high school biology with Joanna know she doesn't deal well with darkened rooms on little to no sleep. So it's no suprise she dozed ever so slightly during the 11:30am screening of John Cusack's "Grace is Gone." Not even the close proximity of Bono, Cusack and Cusack's fashion mullet could keep Joanna awake.
Unfortunately, when the director of the film got up to use the bathroom, he had to slightly shake Joanna in order to get any information out of her. She may have also bumped heads with him in her frantic yet drowsy search for a flashlight. Good times.
Two French films for us tonight! We're so cultured!
"Un Amour" nos amis!
Joanna and Christina.
p.s. Best film in the past few days: Four Sheets to the Wind.
New Favorite Celebrity: Sarah Polley of Avonlea fame.
p.p.s. They should rename this festival Nasty Sexdance '07. This is a pervasive theme.
First of all, anyone who actually watched the film realized that any controversy is ridiculous. The scene in question is brief and doesn't really show anything at all. And, besides, I would have to agree with the director in saying that suppressing films that deal frankly with rape will only hinder our society's ability to confront and process this problem.
But seriously, folks, the real cause for alarm is not whether or not we see Dakota Fanning get raped but the frequency with which she butchers the Elvis classic, "Hound Dog." Homegirl has a pitch problem.
So sorting out the "Hounddog" mess took us until 11pm last night and Christina and Joanna basically went home, fell into bed and dragged their asses up by 5:30am this morning in order to deal with the second screening of "Hounddog" at 8:30am. Most of you who took high school biology with Joanna know she doesn't deal well with darkened rooms on little to no sleep. So it's no suprise she dozed ever so slightly during the 11:30am screening of John Cusack's "Grace is Gone." Not even the close proximity of Bono, Cusack and Cusack's fashion mullet could keep Joanna awake.
Unfortunately, when the director of the film got up to use the bathroom, he had to slightly shake Joanna in order to get any information out of her. She may have also bumped heads with him in her frantic yet drowsy search for a flashlight. Good times.
Two French films for us tonight! We're so cultured!
"Un Amour" nos amis!
Joanna and Christina.
p.s. Best film in the past few days: Four Sheets to the Wind.
New Favorite Celebrity: Sarah Polley of Avonlea fame.
p.p.s. They should rename this festival Nasty Sexdance '07. This is a pervasive theme.
posted by J. Ro. at 2:50 PM
2 Comments:
Ehhh. Daddy-O must respectfully disagree with JR and the director here. We really don't need graphic rape scenes in movies to know that rape is very bad business, that rapists should be dealt with harshly, and that sometimes, unfortunately, even loutish lacrosse players can, as in Durham, NC, be wrongly accused.
One must ask, if there is a pitch problem, is Fanning warming up for American Idol?
Dad,
As we mentioned there is NOT, in fact, a graphic rape scene in this movie. It seems wrong to use the word tasteful, but as far as rape scenes go, or even sex scenes I have seen so far in films at this festival, this was the least graphic. Shocking, certainly, given the age of the actress, but not graphic. I have to ask, would we even be having this conversation about rape if the director hadn't made this particular film? You can KNOW rape is bad, but to discuss it in the open is, in my opinion, so much more important.
p.s. re Dakota's singing, her "amazing" singing voice is a central metaphor of the film and it really grated that she wasn't on pitch. But that's nitpicking.
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