It’s nice to see CMJ’s annual music and film festival gaining strength again — I was particularly impressed with their premiering Oren Moverman’s worth-the-rental The Messenger starring Woody Harrelson. Here’s the partial 2010 line-up, clips of three band discoveries I made at CMJs past, plus the audience Q+A from last year’s screening of The Messenger.
6 months in the life of the most love struck, dangerous teenager. The newest release from the brother Weinstien, is the adaptation of C.D.Payne’s seminal coming of age novel about Johnaton Twisp: a young man, 16 going on existential, he has more neurosis than you can shake a stick at. Fans of Edward Norton/Brad Pitt’s portrayal of Tyler Durden in Fight Club will not miss a beat with this edgy, well-written romp through California. Older audience members might exhale with distress at the thought of another summer ruled by apathetic poster boy Michael Cera, but his Johnathon/Francois character delivers, as well as a superb supporting cast: Justin Long, Ray Liotta, Zack Galifianakas, Steve Buscemi and a bonafide star in fresh faced Portia Doubleday. Making her feature debut, Ms. Doubleday more than fills the gap between animated cut scenes, french dubbing, and lesser seen not-so-self-indulgent SoCal backdrops. Witty comedic timing, well-placed track selection, and a much celebrated nod to vinyl enthusiasts and cinema buffs, made this an enjoyable 90 minutes. …MORE
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