Blindness (2008)
The Brothers Bloom (2008)
What Doesn't Kill You (2008)
Margaret (2009)
Shutter Island (2009)
At Sundance: Ruffalo, Luna, Hoffman Turn To Directing
PARK CITY, Utah — It’s hard to think of Mark Ruffalo, Philip Seymour Hoffman or Diego Luna as first-time film … anythings.
But at Sundance this year, these actors are newcomers of sorts, all showing off their work as first-time filmmakers.
Luna, best known for acting in Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Terminal and Milk, directed and co-wrote the Spanish-language heartwarmer Abel, about a family who indulges a little boy’s fantasy to become head of the household, pushing aside his absentee father.
“It’s a very personal story,” Luna said. “It’s about a kid who has to become an adult before he’s ready. That happened to me. I started to work (as a child actor) when I was 6. My mother died when I was 2. I had to behave as a grown-up, though I wasn’t, and I wanted to reflect on that.”
Ruffalo’s Sympathy for Delicious is the fantastical story of a recently paralyzed club DJ who discovers he has the power to heal through touch.
But instead of using the gift for good, he is tempted to use it for selfish reasons, making himself a new-age star to restore his craving for sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll — to the dismay of the world.
Jack Goes Boating is a story Hoffman lived with for a long time, playing the lead character in the stage version, and feeling a connection to the tale of a lumbering limo driver who tries to open up his life to new experiences: cooking, swimming, a girlfriend (played by Amy Ryan) and, of course, boating.
“I was trying to just direct it and not act in it, but it was very difficult to try to find somebody to play the part in the time we had before we had to shoot,” Hoffman said.
Actors don’t worry about those things.
“I thought I could put off the making of the film, but then we had to do it,” Hoffman said. “So I said, ‘All right, I’ll just do it.’ “
I’ve watched a “trailer” in YouTube (9 minutes!). I can’t wait to watch the movie. I hope it will come to here. Sometimes it’s hard, because we do not have all the movies here (Brasil)!
Comment by Robson.br — January 31, 2010 @ 7:32 pm
I know what you mean, sometimes here in Portugal it’s the same, specially me living on an island, they just put many movies on the mainland and it sucks. Well if not then I guess we’ll have to wait for the DVD.
Comment by Cristina — February 1, 2010 @ 12:29 pm
Yeah, what can we do? At the end, I bought the bluray disc of the movie “What doesn’t kill you”. We have the same code of the United States for blu-ray (1). But it costs 200 reais (about 110 dolares)! We have romanian taxes here in Brasil!
PS: I still didn’t watch the movie. My bluray player didn’t come yet!
Comment by Robson.br — February 1, 2010 @ 8:50 pm
Mark Ruffalo’s movie Sympathy for Delicious was a really interesting film. It really poses the question of how to deal with unique power.
Comment by Park City Mom — February 16, 2010 @ 5:58 pm
Nice blog, good to know it.
Comment by Pashalex — February 24, 2010 @ 12:25 pm