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Trailer here. (http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/littlemisssunshine/)
Release Date: July 28th, 2006
Starring: Steve Carell, Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Courteney Cox Arquette, Alan Arkin, Abigail Breslin
Directed by: Valerie Faris, Jonathan Dayton
Premise: A neurotic Maryland family travels to Florida so their 8-year-old daughter can compete in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant.
Soooo Going to see this.
the premise of this story is affecting me deeply. the trailer, not so much.
Quote from: Pubrick on March 21, 2006, 05:49:05 AM
the premise of this story is affecting me deeply. the trailer, not so much.
you know better than anyone else not to pay attention to the trailer.
I've heard really good things about this... they also directed the Monk Academy skit for Mister Show and I think Carell looks great in this.
yes, its amazing when a movie can look simultaneously good and bad. but i think this will be GOOD. i'm excited because dayton/faris are awesome and some of the last music video directors i care about making the transition to feature films.
DEVOTCHKA did the music!
Quote from: modage on March 21, 2006, 01:22:14 PM
i'm excited because dayton/faris are awesome and some of the last music video directors i care about making the transition to feature films.
bingo.
Quote from: MacGuffin on March 20, 2006, 08:14:38 PM
Premise: A neurotic Maryland family travels to Florida so their 8-year-old daughter can compete in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant.
this is hilariously wrong. its actually a neurotic Arizona family traveling to California.
it would've been better with florida. :yabbse-sad:
the title made more sense then too.
Quote from: Hedwig on May 23, 2006, 10:28:34 PM
it would've been better with florida. :yabbse-sad:
the title made more sense then too.
correct.
the new trailer (withou the devotcka score :( ) looks fabulous:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/littlemisssunshine/
it's good. perhaps a little too sundancey at times, but its enjoyable. music is great though.
The functional route to family dysfunction
During filming of the Sundance hit `Little Miss Sunshine,' camaraderie came first, even if it did make acting out the acrimony a bit tougher.
Source: Los Angeles Times
"Little Miss Sunshine" may be the best R-rated family film out this summer — of course, it is also the only R-rated family film out this summer.
The Fox Searchlight release, due to close out the Los Angeles Film Festival next Sunday before its general release July 26, follows the dysfunctional Hoover family after 7-year-old Olive (Abigail Breslin) is surprisingly propelled to the finals of the beauty pageant of the title. The indie film, shot in 30 days for under $8 million, stars Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear as her parents, Steve Carell as her suicidal uncle, Paul Dano as her angry teen brother and Alan Arkin as Grandpa — a man of many inappropriate habits. Despite its farcical elements, the film aims for realism, examining a family in all its unbeautified complexity. Its aim was true at the Sundance film festival this year, where it sold for a record $10.5 million.
Arguably a couple of dozen curse words and a drug scene or two away from a PG-13 rating, the movie and its message nonetheless have a universal, even heartwarming appeal. That family dynamic was vital to the film shoot as well.
Staging a kid klatch
Filmmakers were shooting a pint-sized beauty pageant last July in a steaming hot ballroom at the Radisson Hotel in Culver City — it was all balloons, gold Mylar and scurrying cast and crew. Real pageant contestants were recruited as extras for the scene and sat fully coiffed and made up, wearing assorted tiny evening gowns and bathing suits, their parents in tow. Crew members' kids were present too, in decidedly less-glamorous outfits, watching the proceedings on monitors.
Production designer Kalina Ivanov was introducing her son Charlie, 10. "Welcome to the kid-friendly set," she smiled. Nearby, a baby slept, oblivious to the surrounding action.
"The film is about a family, a very real family," noted executive producer Jeb Brody, as a cast member's youngster wandered by, "and families have been a part of the experience of making the movie."
It was a tone set by the first-time feature film directors — husband and wife Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. First assistant director Thomas Smith was aided by second AD Greg Smith, his brother. Brody added, "This hasn't been a movie where people have been like, 'It's 4 a.m., let's go out and get loaded.' This has been, 'Let's go home, I have to be with my kids.' "
Even before filming began, the first goal for the directors was to create that sense of family among the actors. The directors held a week of rehearsals that focused on building familial bonds rather than reading lines and even sent the actors out on a field trip to go bowling. "One week allowed us to create years of family interactions," said Dayton.
Some actors may have bonded a little too well: Dano, who plays the 15-year-old Dwayne with a mute fury, occasionally had a hard time staying enraged. "It's been maybe too much fun," he said of the shoot as it neared its last day. "My character takes a vow of silence for nine months from his family because he doesn't like them, and these people are too likable, so it was hard to shut them out."
Fortunately, many scenes took place in an un-air-conditioned VW van near Palmdale, in temperatures over 100 degrees, and misery was slightly easier to create. But even then, "I was sitting next to Alan Arkin for a couple of weeks," Dano enthused, "so that was great." The two talked about jazz and traded favorite CDs.
In his trailer awaiting his last scene, Arkin mentioned a cast and crew dinner the previous evening that had been unexpectedly touching.
"I've been to a lot of cast parties before, but I've never been to one where everybody gets up to speak and starts sobbing," he said. "And these are people who've just known each other for five or six weeks. It's what it should always be like, and is — maybe if you're lucky — 10% to 20% of the time."
He had reservations about working with two directors but found the script by Michael Arndt so beautifully written that he agreed to do it. "And they're terrific leaders," he said of Faris and Dayton, who have 20 years of experience directing music videos and commercials together. "They have a very clear vision of what they want, and if somebody comes along with an idea that's exciting, they're happy to bend and go with it."
He praised all his costars as well, calling Abigail "kind of a miracle. She doesn't need any direction. She doesn't demand extra attention. She listens and contributes and is just one of the team."
Respect all around
At the same time, Breslin was free to be a little girl on-set. She initiated pajama day, which had about three participants showing up in PJs. Converse (sneaker) Friday had a better turnout. She said she was going to be sad when the shoot was over, "but at least you know that it was really fun, and that's why you're sad."
Kim Breslin, her mother, pointed out that while this is her daughter's seventh film, there was something different about this shoot. "On this set I really felt a deep respect for her as a human being, not just a little girl, and I think that's hard to find sometimes in movies. For most kids working in film, their character doesn't have a point of view or a huge contribution to make, and in this movie, Olive really was a valuable member of the family and had as much value as everybody else," and the actress was treated likewise.
Between takes during the pageant scenes, Collette called the shoot "an amazing experience. I'm not always in love with being at work. I find it really exhausting; it's just sometimes overwhelming. But this has been nothing but fun. It's a great group of people, and as you can see, it's a great atmosphere on-set." She credited the filmmakers: "They're just such lovely, down-to-earth people."
Amid the managed chaos of contestants, a bearded Carell added, "They have a great rapport with one another." Carell — who described his character as "the most lovable suicidal Proust scholar that the movies have seen at least in the last 18 months" — added that having two directors has also been helpful "because they can multitask that much more than they would already. One of them can be talking to the actors about their performances, and the other can be setting the camera angle and lights."
Sure enough, between setups, Faris conferred with a crew member while Dayton, in a black porkpie hat, raced over from camera to actor to give notes. "People laugh at me because I run to the actors, but it feels good," Dayton said.
Film days were relatively short because of Abigail's work restrictions, but, halfway through shooting, the film was still ahead of schedule. The directors gave much of the credit to their cast and crew. Four years of preparation helped too, they said, referring to the time they waited for the film to be greenlighted.
"We had put ourselves through a lot of the staging, so we already had a fair amount to give the actors once they came on the set," Faris said.
"That's the benefit of two directors," Dayton said.
"We'd act them out really poorly," Faris said.
"In our garage," Dayton added.
In preproduction, the filmmakers had briefly considered whether to try to cut language and scenes to accommodate a PG-13 rating but quickly realized that would compromise the movie.
"I'd rather think of this as a multigenerational film than a 'family film,' " said Dayton. "I'm hoping that 13-year-olds will connect because it's true, and 40-year-olds will connect, and 70-year-olds will connect."
i love the trailer with sufjan. i'm hoping this movie works.
Quote from: JG on June 29, 2006, 12:33:06 PM
i love the trailer with sufjan. i'm hoping this movie works.
i think its going to fall into that Garden State category where it will be loved and hated.
Quote from: MacGuffin on March 20, 2006, 08:14:38 PM
Courteney Cox Arquette
she is not in this film.
Exclusive: Directors of Little Miss SunshineSource: Edward Douglas
July 24, 2006
Husband and wife directing team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris have been pioneers in the world of MTV and music videos for many years, having directed award-winning videos for the likes of Smashing Pumpkins and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as having produced the early MTV show "The Cutting Edge." Now they're taking a different approach to directing with their first feature length film, the family road trip comedy Little Miss Sunshine.
It's a movie about the Hoover family, who find themselves driving to California in a cramped and malfunctioning VW bus, when seven-year-old Olive, played by Abigail Breslin, is accepted as one of the finalists in a beauty pageant. Her parents, played by Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette, end up bringing along her rebellious brother Dwayne (Paul Dano), her drug snorting-grandfather (Alan Arkin) and her suicidal uncle Frank (Steve Carell) on the disastrous but often hilarious trip.
ComingSoon.net recently talked to the directors about their new movie. Having been married for many years, they've gotten just as good at finishing each other's sentences, as they have at collaborating on a multitude of projects.
ComingSoon.net: How did you come across Michael Arndt's script and decide that was going to be your first feature film as directors?
Jonathan Dayton: We've looked at many scripts over the years, and when we got the script from Ron Yurksa , who produced "Election" and was involved with "Crumb" and a lot of movies we loved. When we first heard about it, we first thought, "I don't know, a family road trip movie?" It just didn't appeal to us, but when we read the script, we were just struck by this original voice.
Valerie Faris: And the characters. It was the first time I read about characters I really liked. I just flet like I could totally relate to them, and they seemed really lifelike and truthful to me. I feel like so many scripts I read, the characters always disappoint me. They just do stupid things or you can tell the writer doesn't really like the characters or there's a certain disdain for the characters. For us, it mattered to make films about people who we actually liked and admired and respected.
Dayton: They all wanted something out of life. We could relate to that, and most characters don't have that. They don't live in a universe, they live in a...
Faris: movie...
Dayton:...in a story structure, so this just felt like...
Faris:... like these characters live in the world we live in, more than so many scripts that we read or films that we see. I feel that films take place in film world to much, and I loved where this film went in terms of what this group of people go through and I felt that at every turn, I liked...
Dayton:... their choices, their rebellious spirit that they ultimately take on.
CS: Since this is really your first feature film as directors, had you wanted to do something like this for a long time and it just came along at the right moment?
Dayton: We've loved doing music videos and documentaries and commercials, so while doing a film was something that we wanted to do, it was not necessarily something we had to do at any moment. We really felt that the only reason to do a film was if we had a script that we loved deeply that would allow us to spend this much amount of time.
Faris: We had developed other projects at different times, and one writer we worked with said, "My criteria is would I spend money for a babysitter to go see this movie?" That was it for us. Would we want to watch this movie? 'Cause so many movies are kind of interesting and you can appreciate it on some level. Like as a filmmaker, it might be interesting to do those scenes, but I really want to go see it? Do I care enough to go see it? This film was different that way.
CS: I remember hearing about the movie when I interviewed Greg Kinnear and thought it was a great idea, but it was very different from what I expected. It's interesting that you can be told what the movie is about but still not know what to expect.
Dayton: That's what I hope. I think that people will hear a little bit about what it's about, but will know more that tonally, it's different than what you might expect.
CS: Of course, when you think of a family road comedy, you think of something like "National Lampoon's Vacation"...
Dayton: Right, and we were really determined to not go there.
Faris: I haven't studied that film...
Dayton: Yeah, we haven't seen it actually...
Faris: ...but it wasn't a hard thing to avoid for us, because it did not even seem like a relative of that movie to us.
Dayton: But I think that's the danger. I feel like what's important and I hope people will realize as they read about this, is that it's not anything like that movie or "Weekend at Bernie's" or that it's a beauty pageant movie. It's really about these six eccentric characters and how they coexist.
Faris: It was the characters and working with great performers that really appealed to us, not the storyline. Obviously, the storyline is far from something we thought we'd want to do, but it just felt like movies we liked. When we read it, we thought this is as close to a great old Hal Ashby film or even Almodovar a little bit, because his films are tragic stories often, but also funny, and he loves his characters and that's what appeals to us.
CS: Had these characters already been developed in Michael's script or did you work on them a bit with the actors?
Dayton: They were very well developed in the script.
Faris: We probably worked on the Richard character the most. I think the writer originally intended him as being a purely comic character, so we worked with him over a three-year period, and that character got just a little bit more fleshed-out. You could understand what made him tick a little more.
Dayton: But we kept saying the way to take this script to the next level is to actually shoot it, that the actors are going to bring all these qualities that you might not read on the page but were there in the hands of a good actor.
Faris: And they really did... What's there is pretty much how we always saw it when we first read it, but some people read it and saw a much broader film or more zany.
CS: As far as the casting, Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette might have seemed obvious, since they had done roles like this before, but how did you come up with Steve Carrell? He's probably what a lot of people who see this will be talking about because he steals the scenes, but in a different way.
Faris: Because you're not expecting it. Our neighbor Brian Gordon is a director who had directed him in episodes of "The Office." He had worked with him and said, "You guys have to meet Steve. Steve's the greatest." We had always remembered him, the first time I saw him in "Bruce Almighty," it was like "that guy's amazing!" He stole it with that little part, and in "Anchorman" he was incredible and "The Daily Show," so we watched some episodes of "The Office," too, and I think that showed us sort of a different side that he could play this real character painfully funny. Then when we met with him, we were really excited by the idea, but meeting him completely sold us. He loved the script, he got the idea about the movie, he knew a little bit about us, and he really wanted to make this film the same way we saw it. He saw the same sort of film that we did and that was a big part of it.
CS: Without giving too much away, one of the highlights is the broken-down VW bus. Did you actually train the actors to push the van to get it going and then jump into it or was that done using stuntmen?
Dayton: Oh, no, it's all the actors.
Faris: You can look up close.
Dayton: There are no tow rigs. They pushed. We should find out how heavy that van is.
Faris: And the first time they pushed it, it wasn't exactly flat. It was a tiny bit uphill, and it was not easy getting it going fast enough. And they worked, and it was very hot.
Dayton: There were no stunt people but we had a stunt coordinator there to make sure everyone was safe.
Faris: They rehearsed Alan pulling Abbie [into the van]. Abbie was the one we were worried about the most or Alan, but Alan gets in right away. There was a little bit of gravel rockiness we tried to clear, but if someone tripped, it was definitely a serious thing even though the bus wasn't going that fast.
Dayton: But they all did it themselves.
CS: Have any of them been able to use that skill elsewhere?
Faris: Well, we had to. We were shooting, doing some pick-ups with Paul out on the highway and our bus broke down. Most of them actually work, but the one we were shooting in broke down...
Dayton: ..and we had to push it to the side of the road.
CS: Have you and your family ever taken a road trip like this?
Dayton: Oh, yeah. (laughs)
Faris: So many. I mean, I took a road trip with my family when I was growing up in a Winebago, across to Zion National Park, and it was just a series of mishaps, and I remember my father and I fighting a lot. And I just remember thinking that this is his hiatus, his break, and the thing broke down, and we had to stay in Salt Lake City for three days while they repaired it, and the airconditioning never worked. I think we've had some of our own family trips.
Dayton: It's definitely all from experience.
CS: Did you do a lot of research into beauty pageants? I've seen the documentary "Living Dolls" and recognized some of the girls from that.
Dayton: We saw those documentaries, but mainly, we went to these pageants and wanted to do a realistic, honest portrayal of them. We didn't want to editorialize. We just wanted to show real pageant kids, so all the kids who are in it are actual pageant kids doing their own acts, wearing their own costumes...
Faris: They've done their hair themselves and their make-up and they showed up ready to perform, but it's hard to present it in any way that is... for some people, they're going to find it incredibly offensive and shocking, but I don't know how we could have shown it without it having that effect.
Dayton: No, we didn't invent it. The key was just not to add anything, just to let people do what they do and you can draw your own conclusions.
Faris: Yeah, no girls fighting or tearing each other's hair out.
CS: The R-rating for the movie is kind of strange, because when you think "family road trip movie" you think family movie. Of course, there's the drugs and language, but did you ever think of toning down the swearing to get a lower rating?
Dayton: No, I think it was very important that this be a truthful depiction of family life, and the language is part of that.
Faris: The language just pushes it to a place... it was so important to feel the pressure they were under, and just to keep that sort of tension and on-edgeness of this family, and I think the language does help do that. When you're really upset, you say "f*ck." You don't say "darn." Like when Gregg says "F*ck!" when he's in the hospital and looking for a way out. His family is there, but it tells you where they're at. They're at the final...
Dayton: And "F*cking chicken" is so much funnier than "damn chicken."
CS: Who do you think this movie will appeal to most?
Dayton: Well, you know, it's interesting. We made the movie for ourselves and we wanted to make something that we liked, but what's been really thrilling is seeing the broad appeal. There are people in college seem to respond as well as any age group. In a way, I feel that younger audiences are the ones that I hope catch onto it, 'cause I think they're the ones that might not otherwise see the movie. I think people who are parents... and I just read that the AARP lists the movie among the Top 5 to see this summer. Which is great, but what's wild has been the pretty big spectrum.
Faris: I don't know. I think maybe it appeals more to a type of person than a certain age person. I hope it appeals to people like us. I think the most rewarding thing for us is that friends like the movie. People we like and respect have liked the movie. I felt like that's kind of who we made it for, but it's really reassuring to see that more people we don't know like it.
Dayton: People Dwayne's age. (Note: Dwayne is Paul Dano's character.)
Faris: I think there is a certain rebelliousness. Anybody that questions authority or has done something or wanted to do something bold. I hope it appeals to people like that.
Dayton: It's like "Harold and Maude." That movie, I think, is like a litmus test, and I feel this is that.
CS: Do you see this movie as one that maybe the older MTV generation might be able to appreciate?
Dayton: I hope. I mean, we put a lot of effort into the music and making sure that the music was not just this throwaway, gratuitous...
Faris:... pop soundtrack.
Dayton: I hope that if you love music, that will be one of the things that you find as an entry point. I hope that the people who liked our videos, like this movie. It's very different from our other work, but I think if you look deep, there are similarities. We were never part of the "fast cut" generation. We really liked to linger on a shot, and there are certain shots in this movie that last for a long time. You just have to sit.
Faris: We were tempted to do some scenes in one shot, but that was kind of our approach to shooting it was if you had one shot, what would it be?
Dayton: Where would be the best place to see this?
Faris: And try to cover the whole scene from that shot. I think that we always were bothered by the short attention span throwaway imagery, just images for images' sake, so I think this makes sense as the kind of thing we were looking for.
Dayton: We just showed it to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and they really liked the movie, so that was very fun.
CS: It's nice to see a first film from a music video director that isn't the type of fast-cut, effects-based movies that we often expect.
Faris: Michel Gondry's films had so much that you'd expect from Michel Gondry, but they're beautiful stories told so well, and extremely visual, but not ever gratuitous visuals.
Little Miss Sunshine opens in limited release on Wednesday, July 26.
it had some pretty garden statey moments but all in all, it was enjoyable. nothing wonderful, but most of the acting was dead on and fun to watch. it's a shame that so much of the film's strongest material is used in the trailer because it ruined a lot of what would have been great moments. and the music was annoying in the same way the music was annoying in garden state--im tired of trendy indie songs motivating entire soundtracks. pretty weak if you ask me.
another relatively overrated summer movie.
A good movie, overall. I really don't think it can be compared to Garden State at all. When I think of the Braff vehicle, I think of an audio visual pageantry which this didn't even come close to. It was totally about the acting. As for the 'strong material' used in the trailer, those were just catchy moments completely out of context. The strong material here is the entire story seen in context. As far as being overrated, I haven't heard a single thing about this movie. And while this does come out in the summer and has the word sunshine in it's title, I wouldn't peg this a 'summer movie',
Quote from: sidowra on August 02, 2006, 12:02:26 AM
A good movie, overall. I really don't think it can be compared to Garden State at all. When I think of the Braff vehicle, I think of an audio visual pageantry which this didn't even come close to. It was totally about the acting. As for the 'strong material' used in the trailer, those were just catchy moments completely out of context. The strong material here is the entire story seen in context. As far as being overrated, I haven't heard a single thing about this movie. And while this does come out in the summer and has the word sunshine in it's title, I wouldn't peg this a 'summer movie',
hey meatball, do you realise we can just go to your profile and manually change the number on your post count to ONE or even ZERO?? if staying under 1000 is that important to you, jesus christ.
you're the crazy postcount-obsessed ppl GT was talking about.
Quote from: sidowra on August 02, 2006, 12:02:26 AM
A good movie, overall. I really don't think it can be compared to Garden State at all. When I think of the Braff vehicle, I think of an audio visual pageantry which this didn't even come close to. It was totally about the acting. As for the 'strong material' used in the trailer, those were just catchy moments completely out of context. The strong material here is the entire story seen in context. As far as being overrated, I haven't heard a single thing about this movie. And while this does come out in the summer and has the word sunshine in it's title, I wouldn't peg this a 'summer movie',
The reason it was good was because of the acting, but the audio/visual part of the film definitely brought me back to Garden State territory. I mean, Sufjan Stevens is the music used whenever something important happens, which is pretty lame and Zach Braffy if you ask me. And how can you say it wasn't overrated? Just because you havent heard a single thing about the movie doesn't mean it's not getting great press everywhere. It was the biggest distribution deal in Sundance history. So if that isn't enough to make me think it's better than it really is, I don't know what is.
And, yeah, it isn't Superman but that doesn't disqualify it as a summer movie. It's summer. And this movie is kind of a let down. I'd say that qualifies it as an overrated summer movie.
This Village Voice review--although somewhat harsh--pretty much sums it up for me:
http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0630,ridley,73965,20.html
Clerkguy's shooting blind when he compares this to Garden State... maybe he doesn't get what makes Garden State Garden State.
I'm not going to claim this is the best movie ever made, but I haven't heard anyone else do that either.
It was pretty damn entertaining though.
Why it's not Garden State: 1.The soundtrack has no "songs" in it (with the exception of one scene, but it's practical in that scene)... it has the instrumental bits of a couple Sufjan Stevens songs, but nothing is ever sang, it's hardly a movie made to support a soundtrack. Mostly because the soundtrack isn't even that noticible.
2. The movie has some "Indie Quirk" to it, but it's not overbearing like GS... it's not a series of quirky moments and excuses to use the director's favorite songs and be "indie".
3. It's not the silly whispy fluff a teenager would write.
4. It's not guided by cute camera tricks and silly smiles.
And the best moments are certainly not in the trailer. The best moments are the reaction shots... that's the strongest part of the movie... all the acting is really great, especially when it comes to reactions... the hardest I laughed throughout the whole thing was when the characters were reacting.
Anyway.... I'll see it again... I don't think I would buy it, but I'll see it again.
that's 'cause half the soundtrack is by devotchka!
Quote from: RegularKarate on August 02, 2006, 10:31:27 PM
And the best moments are certainly not in the trailer. The best moments are the reaction shots... that's the strongest part of the movie... all the acting is really great, especially when it comes to reactions... the hardest I laughed throughout the whole thing was when the characters were reacting.
Great Great Flick. Carrell is a total knockout.... Jeez, I'm starting to sound like Siegal. I will be buying this when it comes out.
i actually saw this again today because my mom wanted to see it really bad for some reason so i went. it's definitely indie 101, so it would be really easy to hate. but i still like it because its really entertaining and funny, if you can get past its (indie) 'quirkiness'
I just came outta it. I loved it. I thought it was gonna be a bit more "indie" than what I saw, which was good. the good acting elevated the characters' quirks and all of them were actually just funny, instead of just grins. I laughed pretty hard and I shedded a few tears when the actors broke down. the characters seem to be actually struggling as opposed to the typical depresssing traits, it was a lot easier to root for them, and it didn't have the smugness of all the recent indie films.
if by "indie 101" and "indie" you guys mean garden statesque, then that sucks.
but since when did the word "indie" in movie terms become a bad thing?
oh that's right, when Garden State came out..
After the movie I had a conversation with my friend about how I'll have trouble talking about this film because here is a film that despite its flaws touched me in a very real well. If sometimes a rating scale must be adjusted following a spectacular movie, I wish here that I could restore the power of what has become film critic rhetoric* when I say that for me the movie was transcendent, it was cathartic, inspiring, heart warming, and I'll be damned if it wasn't my magical experience.
Which is a testimony to the power of the personal film. And the way in which film can surmount advertising and demographics and target audience. I went into the theater to see what the Smashing Pumpkins video directors were up to and I found a movie that touched directly into all my fears and insecurities. And I laughed and I cried and the film bonded to me. By the end of the film, without spoiling, I was right there with them.
I do see the Indie 101 qualities, and there was some glibness, etc, whatever. I'd like to pull the 'Fuck those minor details' card for this one. I realize that my experience doesn't condition the film as amazing perspective exempted. This is in no way impartial.
I've made my point right. I loved the movie but it shouldn't increase your expectations. I enjoyed it like a great night with a friend, like a memorable out of state trip, like an aching one night stand.
*Including of course my Where the Truth Lies posts. I assure the board that I was entirely sober for the viewing and this subsequent post.
Oh and also, technically speaking, things I really liked:
Con Spoilers.
- The death of the most confident, careless, and comic character.
- The van metaphor and the ensuing hilarity.
- The dumpy little girl and her relationship with her grandfather, the final beauty performance.
- Seeing the person you're afraid to see but most need release from at an awkward moment that takes away any levity you've anticipated and built up that moment towards being.
- The catastrophe of the final performance and the way that it is pathetically but beautifully saved by the family members.
- The grandfather was really funny.
Am I missing something?
Spoilers
I have never been in such a receptive crowd to a movie I had such a lukewarm response to. Everyone was laughing and applauding, yet i felt absolutely nothing. i really wanted to, but i can count the amount of times i laughed on one hand. which i suppose is okay, i often could recognize the funniness, but something prevented me from responding to it. and the movie works as a fine drama, but i still didn't love it like you guys.
things i liked: well, carrell was friggin brilliant.
and the music. i don't see how its a typical indie film in its use of music. if theres one time where a movie can get away with music to transition scenes its a road movie, unlike garden state which just threw 30 seconds of braff's favorite songs between each scene where they never fit.
also, i admire the decision to allow the grandfather to die at such an early point in the movie. i kept expecting the twist where we find out that they got names mixed up and it wasn't really the grandfather who died, but they handled that scene and the subsequent scenes quite well, a perfect balance of humor and sentimentality.
what really, really got me was the last scene. the movie successfully avoided any genre conventions up until this point, especially when it could have easily caved in at the hospital, but then it just sorta gives up at the end. i'd be lying to you if i didn't smile during the whole rick james sequence, but it was just so damn easy. not to mention i saw it coming from a mile away. it got progressively painful as they all came up on the stage and started dancing. when i'm with friends one sure way to get a laugh is make a fool of yourself dancing, and thats the same thing here, same as in napoleon dynamite. they had avoided the general indie problem of compromising a character's integrity for a laugh, and you could argue they don't necesarily do that here, but you'd be lying to yourself if you didn't agree that it was an easy way out. a quick resolve. this movie's problem isn't its "indie" qualities, but its hollywood qualities.
and yes, i know star ratings are stupid, but i'm gonna give one anyways. sometimes they're a nice way to conclude what could have otherwise been a negative or positive review. i liked the movie, i did, i was just hoping for more.
2.5 out of 4.
Quote from: JG on August 06, 2006, 05:26:16 PM
Am I missing something?
what really, really got me was the last scene. the movie successfully avoided any genre conventions up until this point, especially when it could have easily caved in at the hospital, but then it just sorta gives up at the end. i'd be lying to you if i didn't smile during the whole rick james sequence, but it was just so damn easy. not to mention i saw it coming from a mile away. it got progressively painful as they all came up on the stage and started dancing. when i'm with friends one sure way to get a laugh is make a fool of yourself dancing, and thats the same thing here, same as in napoleon dynamite. they had avoided the general indie problem of compromising a character's integrity for a laugh, and you could argue they don't necesarily do that here, but you'd be lying to yourself if you didn't agree that it was an easy way out. a quick resolve. this movie's problem isn't its "indie" qualities, but its hollywood qualities.
I feel like the integrity of the whole family was salvaged by the dance sequence. That seeing it coming isn't the point, I mean, that's obvious, though if your case is that you like your films to take you to unexpected places, I would say that I value a film which sticks to a story and delivers on all sides. That the story needn't be compromised to surprise the audience. It was a highly plausible ending, but an easy out or a resolve it wasn't; not a single thing was resolved at all. All the problems the characters brought into the story they leave with - still bankrupcy looms, still suicide threatens, how will the son fly, will the young girl grow fat, etc.
Which is why the ending affected me so. Because it wasn't about the silly dance, though the dance was silly, and it wasn't about resolving character conflict, and it wasn't about fixing things, it was coming together at an absurd time, it was shedding all the pretenses and all the pain and all the things of life by simply going up on a stage in front of a group of people you don't give a fuck about and giving them the message that they cannot control your imperfections that they cannot suppress your personality and that they are the ones who compromise, while this family goes down in dancing flames together.
Which is why the end was for me beautiful and poignant. If the film before that had lacked substance and lacked character the end would have been the easy non sequitur joke, but it had done its job, and the reveling was ours to have.
"I'm tired.. You know how tired I am? If a woman was begging me to have sex with her right now, I wouldn't be able to. That's how tired I am."
fuckin' classic.
really enjoyed this movie.
Jesus, I feel like I saw a different movie than everyone else. Fuck this indie quirky talk bullshit. This movie is better than residing in some sort of carved out niche for what are really just damn good movies made by damn good filmmakers.
This was such a sweet (as in loveable, cuddly) film I've ever seen. I described it as if a movie could give you the biggest, warmest hug ever, this would be it. There was so much love in the family, despite the arguing and mishaps. They perservered. The idea of winners and losers was interesting and pretty self-reflexive in that we're watching a film about veritable losers, but really what does that even mean? The dolled up Jean-Bonet girls have a really sad, superficial lifestyle. What does "winning" actually entail, according to the nine steps? Is it success or just the idea of achieving goals or just being not bankrupt? I think the movie's obviously just about accepting people without layers of paint on their face, forgetting about pageantry and pomp, and just dancing to make the daughter feel good about herself.
Carrell was subdued and very good, but really Paul Dano was fucking brilliant. I cried when he wrote the instructional note to Olive. I can't WAIT to see him in There Will Be Blood.
Quote from: Gamblour le flambeur on August 10, 2006, 09:35:59 AM
Jesus, I feel like I saw a different movie than everyone else. Fuck this indie quirky talk bullshit.
amen.
I still the disagree that the ending was happy, that the perseverance will lead to changed lives, and I certainly disagree that the film was a big warm hug.
I feel like I saw a different move than everyone else. I saw Scoop.
Spoiler:
Did anyone else think that the grandfather death sequence was way too much like a National Lampoon movie?
Not really. There's much more of an emotional impact in the sequence than I remember in any of the National Lampoon movies I've seen, which puts it on a completely different level than the treatment of the grandmother in Vacation.
Saw this last night. I didn't get the friendly hug sensation; if anything I thought the movie was a little depressing. Everyone failed by the end, even the one optimistic point through the movie (the pageant itself and more particularly the girl's dream of being a beautiful pageant girl) failed horribly. When I first saw it I felt a little more optimistic at the end, because of how the family comes together to make sure Olive feels good about herself, but really after sitting on it for a few hours I've come to the conclusion that it's a pretty empty, shallow, and temporary happiness. You know that soon as they get back to Albuquerque all the problems will begin anew, even if as a family they are sticking it out together. In the end, they're all losers, even if it did have some sort of lubby-dubby family-bonding ending.
It was competently made and the performers all superb. Reminded me of Royal Tenenbaums quite a bit. And the little girl who played Olive was adorable; I almost cried when she was walking down the hill in her little boots to put her arm around Dwayne. Carrell and Dano in particular played their roles perfectly and came out likable despite the fact one was egotistical and the other cynical.
I thought the movie's point was pretty obvious that they weren't losers though. the grandfather and the father and the uncle all made little speeches about how just by trying and doing your thang makes you not a loser. In the end, winning a beauty pageant where everyone's a freak, or scoring a motivational gig, or becoming an airforce pilot or #1 proust scholar is not what defines success. I think the movie does a pretty good job of illustrating how ridiculous each of these goals is. I saw it again yesterday with some friends, and I still don't feel depressed.
The movie should make you feel good because unlike most indie films it has proactive characters who go on a journey that they more or less win (while most indie films seem to be about waiting for the insular life of some droll character to be punctured by an unexpected revelation). But thinking about what happens after the movie is where the heavy heart sets in.
Quote from: pete on August 21, 2006, 10:57:52 AM
I thought the movie's point was pretty obvious that they weren't losers though. the grandfather and the father and the uncle all made little speeches about how just by trying and doing your thang makes you not a loser. In the end, winning a beauty pageant where everyone's a freak, or scoring a motivational gig, or becoming an airforce pilot or #1 proust scholar is not what defines success. I think the movie does a pretty good job of illustrating how ridiculous each of these goals is. I saw it again yesterday with some friends, and I still don't feel depressed.
I agree that that's probably what it was aiming for, but I didn't really feel that, or at least I don't now. I'll need to see it again, I guess. It wouldn't be the first time that my feelings completely change upon a second screening.
spoiler
the part when the dad tries to agree with the horny cop and says "sweet sweetness" is one of the funniest things ever.
I have to say that I'm in the camp of those that feel depressed after watching this. The actual pageant itself was one of the most discomfiting things I've ever seen. I just really felt awful throughout that. I don't know if it was just the movie, but I just felt this odd mini-depression when I came out of this. Even if the movie wanted to make a point about them not being losers, I still just found all the characters to be so sad to me. Even so, I did find it to be very funny, and I liked it. I just didn't feel hugged by it like some of you did.
I saw it a week or so ago and I have absolutely nothing but praise for it. LMS is one of those films, for me anyway, that you inexplicably love even before you see the title pop up on the screen. It's a big celebration of outsiders and their quirks, and it was never presented in a negative way. For a movie that has a kid who claims to hate everyone and has taken a vow of silence, a homosexual who has just attempted suicide, a drug-addicted grandpa, and a couple on the verge of divorce, that's saying something!! Steve Carell is great, I'm glad to see him take on a more challenging role because he's obviously capable of it (There are moments in the 40-Year-Old Virgin where you can strongly sense his abilities to be more than just goofy). Not to sound like Richard Roeper here, but I hope he gets an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. Everyone else was great too, the girl who played Olive was adorable. It put a smile on my face just to see her awkwardly walk down a hill wearing those cowboy boots. And the ending- well, it has one of those scenes that you see from time to time, I won't give it away, but it's the best of the best when it comes to scenes like that, it's up there with About A Boy for me; it had me in stitches.
My favourite movie of the year so far and by far. :bravo:
I definitely enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. I was disappointed with Carrell, even though Arkin, Collette and Kinnear made up for it handsomely.
And, yes, I was amazingly depressed after watching this movie.
What the Oscars need is a best ensemble category. This would fit nicely there.
Saw this last night. It was a fairly middling enjoyable experience for me. My main problem with is was that it had quite big clashes of tones that didn't quite work: there was a sober family drama, an anarchic comedy and an almost Hollywood-kids-film moral story all jostling for position here in a way that didn't quite mesh. Watching it for its specific pleasures turns up quite a lot of enjoyment (I laughed and smiled a lot), but as a whole it felt pretty messy and the tonal problems definitely stopped it from moving me in any real sense.
Also, I cannot believe that no one has mentioned how much the opening sequence directly ripped off Magnolia's character intro bit! The driving, melancholic music track while we cut between: ironically upbeat thing on TV screen (beauty pageant/Frank's infomercial), private drug-snorting sadsack (grandad/Claudia), woman getting neurotic and angry at someone on a cell phone (mum/Linda); guy giving a motivational speech (dad/Frank). There are lots of whip-pans and fast track-ins going all through this. There was also a replica of the Dirk miirror shot at the end of BN with the granddad, and a hint of the Dirk bedroom circular pan in the teenage son's bedroom. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! It was probably the first blatant homage to PTA I've seen in film: and lo, he is enteringing into film language...
"Sunshine" directors are "Teacher's" pets
The husband-and-wife directors of "Little Miss Sunshine" are hot for "The Abstinence Teacher," a project based on the forthcoming novel by Tom Perrotta, the author of "Election" and "Little Children."
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are in negotiations to shoot the project for Warner Independent Pictures. Perrotta will write the adaptation. He co-wrote the adaptation for current release "Little Children" with the film's director, Todd Field.
"The Abstinence Teacher," scheduled to debut in the fall from St. Martin's Press, is set in small-town middle America, where a divorced sex-education teacher and mother of two is forced to contend with the town's more conservative groups. While fighting to keep her freedom to teach students about sex, she finds herself falling for her daughter's born-again soccer coach.
I saw this film in the summer and quickly forgot it. Yet another American Beauty inspired flick where a surbuban family is re-enacted by cliche characters that each can be summed up in a sentence and end up finding their predictable resolutions. The film tries to stay cutting edge by utilizing outrageous situations, but its all still very bland. The daughter is memorable for pure charm and the Grandpa is funny the way a TV sitcom comic relief character is. Nothing more.
spoiler minor
Way more.
First of all, the situations were actually funny. Secondly, the family members are decidedly way less suburban than American Beauty and movies of its genre. These people still have dreams and hopes. There is no extra-marital sex, no moody shots of lonely streets, and no material wealth or even material comfort. Grandpa's speech his granddaughter in his last scene is beautiful and totally elevates him from whatever sitcom you're talking about.
I avoided seeing this in the summer because my girlfriend and her friends came out of it raving about it (they agree with PTA on it being the year's best too), so it was automatically overhyped and I know I would have been underwhelmed if I had seen it then. So she bought it yesterday and I watched it today and I liked it. I didn't love it, I didn't feel any warm hug, but I wasn't depressed by it either and would voluntarily watch it again. If families were more interesting to tell stories about, more family movies would be like this.
People have mentioned Vacation and American Beauty already on this thread and if you throw a touch of Napoleon Dynamite, there you are. The comparisons to Garden State end at the Fox Searchlight Pictures logo.
Once again, I find myself in agreement with modage about it being Indie 101 but still charming enough to be enjoyable. The biggest complaint I have is that it just didn't feel like enough happened. It's really just a few long scenes with not much else going on. It's not a terrible thing but I feel like we were shorted on the characters, that their quirks were supposed to be enough for us to know about them. It is just enough for us but it could have been better.
But it could have been a lot worse too.
Quote from: othersparrow on December 20, 2006, 10:10:08 PM
But it could have been a lot worse too.
yeah, it's not bad. the girl is adorable, and in the right state of mind the ending could be really uplifting or heartwarming or whatever. instead of "is that it?" which is what it is.
i don't mind films where nothing happens, but like you said there are long scenes where we all know how they'll end (the colour blind moment where that dude has his shot at a supporting actor oscar). and while these scenes were character-building, they didn't really build anything we didn't already see coming. and the film had no ending, it ended at its climax. i enjoyed the bit at the hospital and the little fat girl in general.. it's her movie.
definitely overrated, by pete of all ppl.
spoils
i didn't think this was very good. it was better than the trailer made me think it was though. the biggest problem i had with it was how the family had no idea what their daughter was going to do in the competition and the daughter didn't seem to understand the concept of a pageant despite it somehow being her dream which is never really explained/explored aside from "do you think i'm pretty?".. it doesn't make sense. i thought carrell was pretty good. i thought the story until they got to the competition was good. but the actual writing/interactions between the characters wasn't.
I'm using this movie to calibrate my opions about all of you.
Pete's film's avatar stays duh.
i loved the movie, good indy comedies are so rewarding, squid and the whale and this are at the top of my list this year. with prestige, fountain and departed
I believe The Squid and the Whale came out last year.
Spoilers
About LMS, though, I have to agree that the ending was a bit lack luster. At some points the dad's dialogue and actions were boringly predictable, the son screaming was something we were waiting for (but it didn't mean it was completely necessary).
On the first watch, it was an enjoyable movie. But after watching it a second time later on, it... well... what modage said.
Has anyone seen the alternate endings, and if so, what are they?
Quote from: JG on August 06, 2006, 05:26:16 PM
what really, really got me was the last scene.
i knew you guys would see it my way.
Quote from: Walrus on December 23, 2006, 03:57:43 PM
Has anyone seen the alternate endings, and if so, what are they?
What are they? They are a waste of time.
Really.
The only real variance in the 4 are two in which... (spoiler)
The family rushing from the building carrying the stolen pageant trophy, as they jump into their car and
drive into the distance.
dear little miss sunshine:
though xixax has turned its collective back on you, I still love you.
steve c, book em dano, slums of bh dad & little missy s herself made this quite wonderful. look at me being all quirky.
I watched this movie today... and it sort of restored my faith in movies. It seems that any time I watch anything lately, it's based on special effects or is trying to manipulate some grand point of view. Just look at the movies in the "Now Showing" section. Either we're being innundated with shit like Black Dahlia, or we're reaching for some gentle conclusion to Princess Diana's death.
I admit, I haven't been overly concerned with film in the past year... but it hasn't been overly concerned with me either.
So I finally rent something worth watching. And yes, it felt a little like a PTA knock off...
But until film makes a comeback with the quality it had in the 70's... we may as well ponder the best we have for right now.
Please don't murder me... it's only an uneducated opinion.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsuicidegirls.com%2Fmedia%2Fauthors%2F2194%2Farticle.jpg&hash=b08c80a51e944b07233244b3118548ff3a08122d)
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris have long been one of the most respected directors in music videos and commercials. But it wasn't until 2006 when Fox Searchlight released their independent film, Little Miss Sunshine, that their names were on everyone's lips. Sporting a dream cast that includes Alan Arkin, Steve Carell and Toni Collette, the movie is about Olive a young girl who, by default, gets accepted to a beauty pageant. When her parents realize they don't have enough money to fly her to the pageant, they decide to drive her in their rickety VW bus along with their voluntarily mute son, her suicidal uncle and her grandfather who snorts heroin and is teaching Olive her dance routine. The film has grossed nearly $60 million domestically and is a favorite to get nominated for lots of prestigious awards. I got a chance to talk with directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris about the film which is newly released on DVD.
Daniel Robert Epstein: With all the attention that Little Miss Sunshine has gotten, you guys must be unbelievably happy and proud.
Valerie Faris: It's all been good.
Jonathan Dayton: It's so far beyond any expectations we've had. You would never allow yourself to hope for these things so it's been so fun.
DRE:Besides Fox Searchlight's amazing marketing and releasing of the film, what do you think hooked people into it?
VF:I really don't think it's one single thing. I think it's actually a combination of factors that have worked in our favor. I hope it's the movie, but I do feel like we really benefited from the word of mouth campaign. We went out around the country, did Q & A's and then showed the movie to people. I think a lot of the word spread that way, through the internet and through people telling their friends, which I think is the best way to learn about a movie.
JD:It's so rare that a movie ends with a hopeful message that feels real. There are plenty of sugar-coated unbelievable happy endings in movies but hopefully ours resonates with some...
VF:Some ounce of truth or something.
JD:I know we have a far-fetched ending but I think that it's based on real feelings and people responded to that. All I can really speak for is how we loved the material and...
VF:The actors.
JD:Certainly the actors we were so fortunate to get are such a great group who did really amazing work.
VF:It's funny. Before we started shooting we had so many problems trying to get this film made and then once we got the money to do it and cast it, it did feel like things fell into place. Toni Collette said "This project is charmed" and it felt like that. It's weird but it really did.
DRE:I know Fox Searchlight must have had certain expectations, just because they spent so much money buying the film after it showed at Sundance. Did anyone from that company tell you what they wanted out of the film?
JD:I think that the people selling it were saying "This could do between 20 and 30 million dollars" and that was considered a healthy return.
VF:A bargain.
JD:But to their credit, Fox never really got into a lot of number crunching. They spent real money on it but I don't think it's been extravagant. I think they were very smart in where they spent their money.
VF:They never gave us any sense of "We want to do it this way" and "We want to change something you've done." They were incredibly collaborative in terms of how the film was going to be presented and how we were involved. I don't know if they are this way with every movie but with us they were respectful.
JD:We came to them early on and said, "We don't want to reveal that they arrive at the pageant," so none of the advertising had any of the pageant in it and that really made a big difference.
VF:And we didn't want any hints to Grandpa's fate. They were very protective of the movie so I don't think we could have landed in a better place.
DRE:How has it been attending all of these award shows?
VF:I think we have a bit of cynicism about the whole thing but it's obviously very nice. It's fun to see all the other filmmakers but the challenge is just to have fun with it and not get too tense.
JD:Yeah and not take it too seriously. Quite honestly, I feel like the best part about it is that our parents can witness all this [laughs].
VF:The first thing they said was, "Do we get to go to the Academy Awards?" We go, "Well we're not even nominated but I don't think they give away a lot of tickets."
DRE:They don't [laughs].
VF:Maybe they'll go in our place. We can buy them tickets.
DRE:I read that the screenwriter of Little Miss Sunshine, Michael Arndt, was at one point let go by Focus Features. Was it you guys who hired him back?
VF:Yeah, there was a rewrite that was done and it was never really...
JD:Even Focus realized it wasn't.
VF:Focus recognized it wasn't right. We pretty much always wanted to work with Michael because we loved his writing and we loved his script. We fought to keep it the same. We made changes but we fought for the things that we loved. You read so many scripts that have so many problems and then we read this script and it felt like it was close to perfect. It felt like it was a complete movie. So the absurdity of then having to go in and have it developed when we'd read so many other scripts that the studio was ready to make.
JD:That were nowhere near as well conceived and constructed.
VF:It was very frustrating although I think in some ways it was a good experience because it sharpened our...
JD:It caused us to stick to our guns.
VF:And it taught us to fight for the things that we loved. Those are good muscles for us to have.
DRE:I read that you guys tweaked the script. Does that mean you sat down and wrote stuff?
VF:No, we would work out scenes with Michael but Michael always wrote.
JD:We don't consider ourselves writers but as directors we do like to be involved in providing the structure.
VF:The shape of the scene.
JD:Preserving a certain tone with the film. It was a great collaboration but it's Michael's script and in no way do we want to claim credit for that.
VF:I was just thinking we would love to take credit for it, if we had written it [laughs].
DRE:You guys had been in development for this for so many years. Did anyone who told you not to do this movie or wanted to change the things, ever apologize?
VF:[laughs] No but we don't harbor ill will toward anyone at Universal. They haven't apologized but I think they've admitted that they blew it. But that happens.
JD:It's not the first.
VF:It's not the first time, won't be the last time.
DRE:This must be a great vindication for you guys after such a long process.
JD:Our agent stuck with us for ten years and we made very little for him.
VF:We turned down so many things and then this came along so he is very happy.
JD:I have to run. I have a dentist's appointment that I totally forgot about. But Val can sit and finish with you.
DRE:Thank you Jonathan.
So Valerie, just this morning I read on CNN.com that Alan Arkin made up Grandpa's backstory of him as a saxophone player who performed in strip joints. I was wondering if that at all jibed with what you all were thinking when you helped craft the character.
VF:Well, when Alan brought that up we thought that made a lot of sense to us. We definitely always talked about him learning everything he knew about dance from years of strip bar patronage. So that I totally buy and he also talked about George Carlin as the image he had of this guy. We thought that was pretty funny. I think that it's great if actors want to come up with their own backstory so they feel like they have links to that character. But we knew that Alan got the character so we didn't spend a whole lot of time thinking about that.
DRE:Have you heard of any strippers doing Olive's routine?
VF:I don't know. I'd like to see that, though. I don't spend a lot of time in strip bars, but that would be the highest compliment.
DRE:[laughs] I know you've been working with Jonathan for a very long time, have you guys always had similar visions on what you wanted to create?
VF:Yeah, we met in college and we worked together for six years before we were a couple. I feel like what really brought us together was shared vision and interests. It really started out as an interest in people and documentaries and developed into working with musicians for years. We want the same thing from our work. For 20 years we've shared that without even talking about it so much. I think somehow we both are very satisfied in what we're doing.
DRE:I didn't know that the two of you were working together before you got together, was there always flirtation between the two of you?
VF:It was funny. When we first started working together we were both dating other people so there was this little bit of messing around or flirting and then both of us realized, "Okay, let's not go there right now. Let's put that aside." We worked together for six years and many of the days we worked together were 18 hours long. It was pretty hard to maintain any other relationship. It doesn't work so well in reverse. I think it's very hard for couples who come from a romantic relationship to try to then become professional partners. Everybody we talk to says, "I don't know how you do it, I could never work with my spouse." I think it's because we developed these habits outside of a romantic relationship and developed professional respect for each other. Now that respect has continued and probably helps our personal relationship. Somehow it seems to work, but I don't think we've ever had to think about it as much as we have this year.
DRE:Yeah because to you guys it's no big deal but to others it's like, "Oh my God!" [laughs]
VF:Yeah, "How do they do it?" [laughs]
We have three kids together and I think that our family life and our personal relationship is so established. So if we'd only been together two years or something this might have shocked us out of a healthy relationship.
DRE:Did the way you guys worked together change once you got romantically involved?
VF:No, it just allowed us to work longer hours. The drag about it is that I need to review my whole life before I go to bed every night. Therefore Jonathan has suffered more because I'll wake him up at one in the morning and have some thought about work or something and I need to share it with him. So he probably doesn't sleep as well since we've been together. But if anything I think we're more single-minded because the boundaries are blurry between our home life, our family life and our work life. We don't have these competing careers and I think that makes it easier.
DRE:I know that all independent films are a difficult journey but was this film logistically difficult because of all the characters you had to give screen time to and from shooting on the road?
VF:We spent the four years that it took to get this movie greenlit, planning it and working on it so I feel like we just had mentally gone through making this movie before we actually had to make it. It felt like there weren't a lot of problems that we hadn't already anticipated. We had a great team. We had great producers. We had a great assistant director. We had a great crew. It felt really smooth. We had such incredible actors who came completely prepared. We had 30 days to shoot it and none of us felt rushed. It was very efficient, which is weird because it could be very unwieldy with all those characters. But I also think that having a week of rehearsal is the best thing. If you can rehearse any amount of time it gets everybody working together in a way that sets you up to work fast and work together. It's really essential, especially on low budget films and ensemble films.
DRE:When we spoke in New York for the theatrical release you had said that the films you guys had been offered over the years had been horror films and then after [The Smashing Pumpkins video] Tonight, Tonight you got offered period pieces. What are you getting offered now?
VF:I feel like we're getting a little bit of everything, which is surprising. There aren't a lot of scripts or films out there like Little Miss Sunshine so people are just sending us anything just because Little Miss Sunshine did well. It seems like when you have a successful movie they say, "Well they'll make anything successful." I think it took us a long time to find this script and now we're working on some projects that we're very involved with from the ground up. I would love it if we found a script that was really ready to shoot but so far we haven't. We are pretty particular about what appeals to us and we don't want to just do any movie. We started too late in our career to make a bunch of shitty movies [laughs].
DRE:There's somewhat a backlash against Little Miss Sunshine now.VF:Yeah.DRE:Is that just evidence that not all movies are for everybody?
VF:I hope so. Of course I'm going to probably hear more of the positive stuff than the negative stuff but I think it's almost healthy to have some dissenters. I was almost worried because all I heard were glowing reports. I was starting to worry, "God, we made this film that just has this mass appeal." Then you start to get this feeling of a backlash because all the people that like it say, "Well, wait a minute, we thought we were a select group of people. But now if everybody likes it, I don't like it anymore." My parents told me a story about friends of theirs who sent friends to go see it in Florida and these people ended up walking out of the movie saying, "Well that family is just too dysfunctional." I like hearing those stories and I think it's healthy. It feels good to have a bit of doubt put back in our minds [laughs]. It is never good to feel too all powerful. I like to feel, "Well we could have done it better."
DRE:When we spoke back for the theatrical release I asked if Palm Pictures was going to do a collection of your guys' music videos and commercials and you said they were having financial issues. Has the success of Little Miss Sunshine helped expedite that at all?
VF:I don't know if they've worked out. I think they were looking for a new distributor. We haven't talked to them since Little Miss Sunshine came out so I don't know what's happening there and I'm trying not to take it personally. We would enjoy a collection that because it would be nice to have a packaged record of our work.
DRE:What did your kids think of Little Miss Sunshine?
VF:Our twin 11 year old boys really loved the language and they loved to recite Grandpa's lines. They think it gives them license to use all that bad language. We faced that problem a little bit with them like, "It's okay for him to say that but you guys can't say that." They liked it but they've lived with it for five years so their reaction to it was like, "Well yeah, I've seen it already." They're my toughest critics though. They're not interested in us being celebrated in any way. They try to keep us down.
I finally saw this today.
For some reason I have recently been reading up on John Hughes, wondering what happened to him basically.
I kinda feel this movie is Hughes-2000. If you took out 95% of the profanity, I think it would be pretty Hughes-esque.
Someone mentioned tone, and there was something odd about the film. I'm not sure what type of structure it has, but something was offputting. You had the contest goal and along the way every once in awhile each of the characters would bring out their main quirk. I guess the mom was the only one without a quirk.
Quote from: bigideas on May 05, 2007, 11:29:28 PM
I guess the mom was the only one without a quirk.
she ate popsicles weird...
Quote from: 72teeth on May 06, 2007, 05:32:31 AM
Quote from: bigideas on May 05, 2007, 11:29:28 PM
I guess the mom was the only one without a quirk.
she ate popsicles weird...
welcome back, teeth. you were missed. :yabbse-thumbup:
meh. im glad i saw it for the grandpas advice