3
1
1
4
CONTENTS
1. THE DIRECTOR 11 Who's Gus Van Sant
2. THE FESTIVAL 16 Drugstore Cowboy 24 My Own Private Idaho 32 Good Will Hunting
3. THE CITY
40 Elephant
64 Portland
48 Last Days
68 Hollywood Theatre
56 Paranoid Park
72 Schedule
5
6
7
9
10
Gus Van Sant, Jr. Born July 24, Louisville, Kentucky, He is an American film director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician and author who has earned acclaim as both an independent and more mainstream filmmaker. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures, in particular homosexuality. Van Sant's early career was devoted to directing television commercials in the Pacific Northwest. He made his feature-length cinematic directorial debut with Mala Noche (1985). His second feature Drugstore Cowboy (1989) was highly acclaimed earning a perfect 100% rating approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes - and earned Van Sant screenwriting awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and New York Film Critics Circle and Best Director from the National Society of Film Critics. His following film My Own Private Idaho (1991) was similarly praised, as was the black comedy To Die For (1995), the drama Good Will Hunting (1997) and the biopic Milk (2008); for the latter two, Van Sant was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and both films received Best Picture nominations. In 2003, Elephant - Van Sant's roman Ă clef of the Columbine High School massacre - won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and Van Sant also received the festival's Best Director Award, making him one of only two filmmakers - the other being Joel Coen - to win both accolades in the same year. Though most of Van Sant's other films received favourable reviews, such as Finding Forrester (2000) and Paranoid Park (2007), some of his efforts such as the art house production Last Days (2005) and
the environmental drama Promised Land have received more mixed reviews from critics, whilst his adaptation of Tom Robbins's Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1994) and his 1998 remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho were critical and commercial failures. In addition to directing, Van Sant wrote the screenplays for several of his earlier works, and is the author of a novel entitled Pink. A book of his photography, called 108 Portraits, has also been published, and he has released two musical albums. He is openly gay and currently lives in Portland, Oregon. Van Sant is an alumnus of Darien High School in Darien, Connecticut, and The Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon. One constant in the director's early years was his interest in visual arts (namely, painting and Super-8 filmmaking); while still in school he began making semi-autobiographical shorts costing between 30 and 50 dollars. Van Sant's artistic leanings took him to the Rhode Island School of Design in 1970, where his introduction to various avant-garde directors inspired him to change his major from painting to cinema.
11
" Even if you try to copy a film shot by shot, you still can't. It's still your own film. "
Early Career After spending time in Europe, Van Sant went to Los Angeles in 1976. He secured a job as a production assistant to writer director Ken Shapiro, with whom he developed a few ideas, none of which came to fruition. In 1981, Van Sant made Alice in Hollywood, a film about a naïve young actress who goes to Hollywood and abandons her ideals. It was never released. During this period, Van Sant began to spend time observing the denizens of the more down-and-out sections of Hollywood Boulevard. He became fascinated by the existence of this marginalized section of L.A.'s population, especially in context with the more ordinary, prosperous world that surrounded them. Van Sant would repeatedly focus his work on those existing on society's fringes, making his feature film directorial debut Mala Noche. It was made two years after Van Sant went to New York to work in an advertising agency. He saved $20,000 during his tenure there, enabling him to finance the majority of his tale of doomed love between a gay liquor store clerk and a Mexican immigrant. The film, which was taken from Portland street writer Walt Curtis' semi-autobiographical novella, featured some of the director's hallmarks, notably an unfulfilled romanticism, a dry sense of the absurd, and the refusal to treat homosexuality as something deserving of judgment. Unlike many gay filmmakers, Van Sant—
who had long been openly gay—declined to use same-sex relationships as fodder for overtly political statements, although such relationships would frequently appear in his films. Shot in black-and-white, the film earned Van Sant almost overnight acclaim on the festival circuit, with the Los Angeles Times naming it the year's Best Independent Film.[11] The film's success attracted Hollywood interest, and Van Sant was briefly courted by Universal; the courtship ended after Van Sant pitched a series of project ideas (including what would later become Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho) that the studio declined to take interest in. Van Sant moved back to Portland, Oregon, where he set up house and began giving life to the ideas rejected by Universal. With the assistance of independent production company Avenue, the director made Drugstore Cowboy, his 1989 film about four drug addicts who rob pharmacies to support their habit. Cowboy met with great critical success; in addition to furthering Van Sant's reputation as a gifted director, it helped to revive the career of Matt Dillon, who played the junkie leader of the gang.
1978 - 1989
Pictured are a young Van Sant and his cinematographer John J. Campbell, shooting a street scene in Portland, Oregon. 1986 13
Filmography
1989
1991
1997
Drugstore Cowboy
My Own Private Idaho
Good Will Hunting
1985
1993
1995
1998
Male Noche
Even Cowgirls Get The Blus
To Die For
Psycho
14
2003
2005
2007
Elephant
Last Days
Paranoid Park
2000
2002
2008
2011
2012
Finding Forrester
Gerry
Milk
Restless
Promised Land
2015
2015
I Am Michael The Sea Of Trees
15
16
17
18
Drugstore Cowboy
Genres
Main Cast
Review
Crime, Drama
Matt Dillon as Bob
"Drugstore Cowboy" is one of the best films in the long tradition of American outlaw road movies - a tradition that includes "Bonnie and Clyde," "Easy Rider," "Midnight Cowboy" and "Badlands." It is about criminals who do not intend to be particularly bad people, but whose lives run away with them. The heroes of these films always have a weakness, and in "Drugstore Cowboy" the weakness is drug abuse.
Duration 100 minutes
Kelly Lynch as Diane James Le Gros as Rick Heather Graham as Nadine
Plot The story follows Robert "Bob" Hughes (Matt Dillon) and his crew of drug addicts as they travel across the U.S. Pacific Northwest in 1971, supporting their habit by robbing pharmacies and hospitals. After a tragedy strikes the group, Bob decides to try to "go straight", but finds that there is more to extricating himself from the drug user's lifestyle than just giving up drugs.
Awards L.A. Film Critics Association (1988) — Best Screenplay (Dan Yost, Gus Van Sant) National Society of Film Critics (1988) — Best Film, Best Director Independent Spirit Award (1989) — Best Male Lead (Matt Dillon), Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Male (Max Perlich), Best Supporting Female (Heather Graham) New York Film Critics Circle (1989) — Best Screenplay
The movie stars Matt Dillon, in one of the great recent American movie performances, as the leader of a pack of two young couples who are on the prowl in Washington and Oregon. It is 1971, and they are the rear guard of the love generation. They drift from one rented apartment or motel room to another in an aimless migration in search of drugs. — Roger Ebert. Drugstore cowboy movie review 1989. October 27,1989. Web .12 Nov 2016
Matt Dillon Matt Dillon made his feature film debut in Over the Edge (1979) and established himself as a teen idol by starring in films such as My Bodyguard (1980), Tex (1982), Rumble Fish (1983) and The Outsiders (1983). From the late 1980s onward, Dillon achieved further success, starring in such films as Drugstore Cowboy (1989), Singles (1992), The Saint of Fort Washington (1993), To Die For (1995), Beautiful Girls (1996), In & Out (1997), There's Something About Mary (1998), and Wild Things (1998). In a 1991 article, famed movie critic Roger Ebert referred to him as the best actor within his age group, along with Sean Penn.
19
" We played a game you couldn't win... to the utmost."
Kelly Lynch Lynch was born in Golden Valley, Minnesota, the daughter of Barbara, a modern dancer, and Robert Lynch, a restaurateur. She attended The Guthrie Theater. She worked as a flight attendant after leaving college. She was working as a model for the Elite modeling agency before acting. In the 1980s, she studied with acting instructor Sanford Meisner.
Heather Graham Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. After appearing in television commercials, her first starring role in a feature film came in 1988 with the teen comedy License to Drive, followed by the critically acclaimed 1989 film Drugstore Cowboy,
James LeGros LeGros was born in Minneapolis. His mother was a teacher and his father was a real estate broker. He was raised in Redlands, California, and attended the Professional Conservatory at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California, as well as the University of California, Irvine. LeGros is the son-inlaw of actor Robert Loggia. 20
which gained her initial industry notice. [1] She then played supporting roles in films such as Shout (1991), Diggstown (1992), Six Degrees of Separation (1993), Swingers (1996) and in the television series Twin Peaks (1991) and its prequel film Fire Walk with Me (1992), before gaining critical praise in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997) as porn starlet Brandi / Rollergirl.[2] In 1999, she co-starred in Bowfinger and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
22
24
25
My Own Private Idaho
Genres
Main Cast
Review
Drama, Romance
River Phoenix as Mikey Waters
Watching the film, I was reminded of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, in which Raskolnikov, the murderer of the old lady, suffers from epileptic seizures. He has some of the same moods
Running Time 102 minutes
Keanu Reeves as Scott Favor Grace Zabriskie as Alena William Richert as Bob Pigeon
Plot In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters (River Phoenix) is a gay hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves) is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.
Awards My Own Private Idaho received the Showtime International Critics Award at the 1991 Toronto Film Festival. River Phoenix received the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 1991 Venice Film Festival. Phoenix then went on to receive Best Male Lead from the Independent Spirit Awards and Best Actor from the National Society of Film Critics.
and traits as Mike Waters does here: Both live in unreal worlds, detached from the ordinary progress of time by their conditions. In a sense, their own lives are so elusive that what they do to the lives of others is not very meaningful. Mike is like a holy fool or a clown, and his only real attachment is to Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves), another hustler. The characters have been compared by one critic to Prince Hal and Falstaff to the errant heir and his lowlife companion. It's the strangest thing. Here is a movie about lowlife sexual outlaws, and yet they remind us of works by Shakespeare or Dostoyevsky, not William Burroughs or Andy Warhol. Maybe that's because Van Sant is essentially making a human comedy here, a story that may be sad and lonely in parts but is illuminated by the insight that all experience is potentially ridiculous; that if we could see ourselves with nough detachment, some of the things we take with deadly seriousness might seem more than faintly absurd. The movie takes place in Portland, Ore., and the open spaces of the Pacific Northwest the same territory covered by "Drugstore Cowboy," Van Sant's previous picture. Again he is looking into the lives of outlaws on the road. Life centers around who you get a ride from, where you spend the night, how much money you have in your pocket. There are no long-range plans. Mike and Scott meet a variety of clients, including one who likes his apartment kept very, very clean. They encounter a young woman from Italy. They find themselves in Italy. It is almost hallucinatory, how one can be in Idaho today and Italy tomorrow, and have no money in either place, but if you make an object out of yourself, then people with more money and stronger wills are able to take you wherever they choose. — Roger Ebert. My Own Private Idaho movie review 1991. October 18,1991. Web .25 Nov 2016
26
27
28
River Phoenix River Jude Phoenix (born River Jude Bottom; August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993[1]) was an American actor, musician, and activist. He was the older brother of Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix and Summer Phoenix. On October 31, 1993, Phoenix collapsed and died of combined drug intoxication on the sidewalk outside the West Hollywood nightclub The Viper Room at the age of 23. At the time of his death, Phoenix had been in the middle of filming Dark Blood (1993).
Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor, producer, and musician. Reeves is best known for his acting career, beginning in 1985 and spanning more than three decades. He gained fame for his starring role performances in several blockbuster films including comedies from the Bill and Ted franchise (1989–1991), action thrillers Point Break (1991) and Speed (1994), and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix (1999–2003). He has also appeared in dramatic films such as Dangerous Liaisons (1988), My Own Private Idaho (1991), and Little Buddha (1993), as well as the romantic horror Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).
William Richert William Richert (born 1942) is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for his performance as Bob in the 1991 Gus van Sant film My Own Private Idaho. Richert was born in Florida. At age 17, he hopped a bus to Hollywood. At the age of 19, he interviewed Richard Nixon's daughters Tricia and Julie, as part of a planned documentary titled Presidents' Daughters. He directed several other documentaries (including Derby, and A Dancer's Life) and the feature films Winter Kills, The American Success Company, A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, and The Man in the Iron Mask (also known as The Mask of Dumas).
" There's no reason to know the time. We are timeless. " 29
30
31
32
33
34
Good Will Hunting
Genres
Main Cast
Awards
Drama
Matt Damon as Will Hunting
70th Academy Awards Won: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor – Robin Williams Won: Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) – Ben Affleck & Matt Damon Nominated: Academy Award for Best Picture Nominated: Academy Award for Best Director – Gus Van Sant Nominated: Academy Award for Best Actor – Matt Damon Nominated: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress – Minnie Driver Nominated: Academy Award for Film Editing – Pietro Scalia Nominated: Academy Award for Original Music Score – Danny Elfman Nominated: Academy Award for Best Song – Elliott Smith (song "Miss Misery") 55th Golden Globe Awards Won: Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay – Ben Affleck & Matt Damon Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama – Matt Damon Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture – Robin Williams 4th Screen Actors Guild Awards Won: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role – Robin Williams Nominated: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role – Matt Damon Nominated: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role – Minnie Driver Other Major Awards / Nominations Won: Silver Bear for Outstanding Single Achievement – Matt Damon Nominated: Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures – Gus Van Sant Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen – Ben Affleck & Matt Damon American Film Institute AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: Miss Misery by Elliott Smith – Nominated AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers – Nominated AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nominated
Running Time 126 minutes
Robin Williams as Sean Maguire Ben Affleck as Chuckie Sullivan Minnie Driver as Skylar
Plot Will Hunting (Matt Damon) has a genius-level IQ but chooses to work as a janitor at MIT. When he solves a difficult graduate-level math problem, his talents are discovered by Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard), who decides to help the misguided youth reach his potential. When Will is arrested for attacking a police officer, Professor Lambeau makes a deal to get leniency for him if he will get treatment from therapist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams).
Review The film has a good ear for the way these characters might really talk. It was directed by Gus Van Sant (“Drugstore Cowboy,” “To Die For”), who sometimes seems to have perfect pitch when it comes to dialogue; look at the scene where Matt and Skylar break up and say hurtful things, and see how clear he makes it that Matt is pushing her away because he doesn't think he deserves her. The outcome of the movie is fairly predictable; so is the whole story, really. It's the individual moments, not the payoff, that make it so effective. “Good Will Hunting” has been rather inexplicably compared to “Rainman,” although “Rainman” was about an autistic character who cannot and does not change, and “Good Will Hunting” is about a genius who can change, and grow, if he chooses to. — Roger Ebert. Good Will Hunting movie review 1997. December 25,1997. Web. 25 Nov 2016
35
Matt Damon Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon born October 8, 1970. He is an American actor, film producer and screenwriter. He is ranked among Forbes magazine's most bankable stars and is one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. Damon has received several accolades, including an Academy Award from four nominations, two Golden Globe Awards from seven nominations, and has been nominated for two British Academy Film Awards and six Emmy Awards.
Ben Affleck
Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014) was an American comedian and actor. Starting as a standup comedian in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the mid-1970s, he is credited with leading San Francisco's comedy renaissance. After rising to fame as Mork in Mork & Mindy (1978–82), Williams went on to establish a career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting. He was known for his improvisational skills.
Benjamin Geza Affleck-Boldt (born August 15, 1972), better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor and filmmaker. He began his career as a child actor, starring in the PBS educational series The Voyage of the Mimi (1984, 1988). He later appeared in the comingof-age comedy Dazed and Confused (1993) and various Kevin Smith films including Chasing Amy (1997) and Dogma (1999). Affleck gained fame when he and childhood friend Matt Damon won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting (1997). He then starred in high-profile films including Armageddon (1998), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), Changing Lanes (2002), and The Sum of All Fears (2002). After a career downturn, during which he appeared in Daredevil and Gigli (both 2003), Affleck received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in Hollywoodland
Minnie Driver Amelia Fiona "Minnie" Driver (born 31 January 1970) is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Gus van Sant's Good Will Hunting (1997), as well as an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in the television series The Riches (2007-2008).
36
"Some people can't believe in themselves until someone else believes in them first."
38
39
40
41
Elephant
Genres
Main Cast
Review
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Alex Frost as Alex
Elephant is a 2003 drama film edited, written and directed by Gus Van Sant. It takes place in the fictional Watt High School, in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, and chronicles the events surrounding a school shooting, based in part on the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. The film begins a short time before the shooting occurs, following the lives of several characters both in and out of school, who are unaware of what is about to unfold. The film stars mostly new or non-professional actors, including John Robinson, Alex Frost, and Eric Deulen.
Running Time 81 minutes
Eric Deulen as Eric John Robinson as John McFarland Elias McConnell as Elias
Plot A variety of adolescents at a suburban high school drift through a seemingly uneventful day, until two students arrive with violent intentions. Alex (Alex Frost) and Eric (Eric Deulen) have developed elaborate plans to enter their school and gun down as many of their peers as possible. Although Alex and Eric are seen as the victims of bullying, and the pair have carefully plotted their attack, most of the violence is committed with a detached sense of randomness.
Awards Nominated: 2005 Best American Film (Bedste amerikanske film) Won: Cannes Film Festival 2003 – Best Director Won: Cannes Film Festival 2003 – Cinema Prize of the French National Education System Won: Cannes Film Festival 2003 – Palme d'Or Nominated: César Awards, France 2004 – Best Foreign Film French Syndicate of Cinema Critics 2004 Won: Best Foreign Film Nominated: Golden Trailer Awards 2004 – Best Independent – Best Cinematography International Cinephile Society Awards 2004 Won: Best Cinematography Nominated: Best Picture Italian Online Movie Awards (IOMA) 2004 Nominated: Best Cinematography Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 2004 2nd place: Best Cinematography National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA 2004 42
Van Sant seems to believe there are no reasons for Columbine and no remedies to prevent senseless violence from happening again. Many viewers will leave this film as unsatisfied and angry as Variety's Todd McCarthy, who wrote after it won the Golden Palm at Cannes 2003 that it was "pointless at best and irresponsible at worst." I think its responsibility comes precisely in its refusal to provide a point. "I want the audience to make its own observations and draw its own conclusions," Van Sant told me at Cannes. "Who knows why those boys acted as they did?" He is honest enough to admit that he does not. Of course a movie about a tragedy that does not explain the tragedy -- that provides no personal of social "reasons" and offers no "solutions" -- is almost against the law in the American entertainment industry. When it comes to tragedy, Hollywood is in the catharsis business. — Roger Ebert. Elephant movie review 2003. November 7 2003. Web. 27 Nov 2016
43
" The kids will be coming in all directions and we'll be able to tick them off one by one. "
Alex Frost Alex Frost was born on February 17, 1987 in Portland, Oregon, USA. He is an actor, known for Elephant (2003), The Vicious Kind (2009) and Drillbit Taylor (2008).
John Robinson Likes snowboarding and plays lacrosse for his school. He was chosen out of 3000 children to play in the controversial film by Gus Van Sant which mirrors the Columbine school shootings called Elephant (2003). John took acting classes in Portland years prior to his acting debut in this movie. Coming up next for John is Lords of Dogtown (2005) a film that follows the surf and skateboarding trends that originated in Venice, California during the 1970s.
Elias McConnell Elias McConnell is from Portland Oregon, and grew up in a family of 9 kids. Elias shot off his career when he became friends with Gus Van Sant, and got put into the movie "Elephant" and later was filmed in the movie "Paris I Love You" and eventually landed his way into "House of Boys" and "Milk". Elias has moved away from Portland and is now living in Brooklyn New York.
45
46
47
48
49
Last Days
Genres
Main Cast
Review
Biography, Drama, Music
Michael Pitt as Blake
"Last Days" is dedicated to the suicide of Kurt Cobain, who led the band Nirvana, influential in the creation of grunge rock. Grunge as a style is a deliberate way of presenting the self as disposable. In a disclaimer that distances itself from Cobain with cruel precision, the movie says its characters are "in part, fictional."
Running Time 96 minutes
Lukas Haas as Luke Asia Argento as Asia Scott Patrick Green as Scott
Plot In this film inspired by deceased Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain, brilliant-but-tortured musician Blake (Michael Pitt) becomes overwhelmed by the demands made on him by his fame and so retreats to a large mansion in the woods. Blake longs to be free of his friends' constant demands for money, their attempts to cash in on his success, and from the taxing expectations of the music business. As his depression worsens, Blake unwisely seeks an answer to his dilemma in solitude.
Awards 2005 Cannes Film Festival Won: Cannes Film Festival 2003 Won: Technical Grand Prize Nominated: Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography
The movie concerns a singer named Blake, who wanders about a big stone house in a wet, gloomy forest area. The first scenes show him throwing up, stumbling down a hillside to a stream, bathing himself, drying his clothes at a campfire, and, in the middle of the night, singing "Home on the Range." The movie seems unwilling to look at his face very clearly; it is concealed by lanky hair and a hooded coat, and the camera prefers long shots to closeups. We notice that he is wearing the sort of wrist tag you get in a hospital. Blake walks aimlessly through the house, prepares meals (Cocoa Puffs, macaroni and cheese), and listens without comment as people talk to him in person and on the phone. "Last Days" is a definitive record of death by gradual drug exhaustion. After the chills and thrills of "Sid & Nancy" and "The Doors," here is a movie that sees how addicts usually die, not with a bang but a whimper. If the dead had it to do again, they might wish that, this time, they'd at least been conscious enough to realize what was happening. — Roger Ebert. last Days movie review 2005. August 11 2005. Web. 27 Nov 2016
50
51
52
Michael Pitt Michael Carmen Pitt (born April 10, 1981) is an American actor, model and musician. Pitt is known in film for his roles in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, Gus Van Sant's Last Days, Michael Haneke's Funny Games and M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, and in television for his roles as Henry Parker in the teen drama Dawson's Creek, Jimmy Darmody in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire and Mason Verger in the NBC series Hannibal. He has also appeared in the films Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), Bully (2001), Silk (2007), Seven Psychopaths (2012) and I Origins (2014). He is set to appear in the upcoming film Ghost in the Shell (2017).
Lukas Haas Lukas Daniel Haas (born April 16, 1976) is an American actor and musician. His acting career has spanned three decades, during which he has appeared in more than 50 feature films and a number of television shows and stage productions.
Asia Argento Asia Argento (born Aria Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento; 20 September 1975) is an Italian actress, singer, model, and director.
" I lost something on the way to wherever I am today." 53
54
55
56
57
Paranoid Park
Genres
Main Cast
Review
Crime, Drama, Mystery
Gabe Nevins as Alex
"Paranoid Park" is a companion piece to Van Sant's "Elephant" (his stylized reimagining of a typical highschool day shattered by a Columbine-like massacre) -- and, by extension, "Gerry" and "Last Days" (inspired by the suicide of rock icon Kurt Cobain). Shot mostly in Portland blues and grays by Christopher Doyle and Rain Li, the film takes us inside the gloomy, tormented consciousness of Alex. Like the kids in "Elephant" who negotiate mazes of locker-lined hallways in long, slow takes, Alex moves through space as if he were underwater. He's an outwardly sullen, nearly somnambulistic kid, and there are things going on inside him, weighing him down, that he can't quite grasp, much less articulate.
Running Time 84 minutes
Daniel Liu as Detective Richard Lu Jake Miller as Jared Taylor Momsen as Jennifer
Plot As teenage skateboarder Alex (Gabe Nevins) hops freight trains with a stranger named Scratch (Daniel Liu), a security guard spots them and tries to forcibly remove them. In the scuffle, Alex strikes the guard with his skateboard, knocking him in the direction of another train, which kills him. Alex tosses his board into the river, but soon he and other skaters are called in for questioning by Detective Lu about a recovered skateboard that has been linked to the scene of the crime.
Awards Nominated: Bodil Awards 2008 – Best American Film (Bedste amerikanske film) Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2008 – Won: Best Director – Best Cinematography 2nd place – Best Film Editing Cannes Film Festival 2007 – Won 60th Anniversary Prize – Nominated Palme d'Or Independent Spirit Awards 2008 – Won Producers Award – Nominated Independent Spirit Award Best Director Indiewire Critics' Poll 2008 – Nominated ICP Award Best Film
58
"Paranoid Park" is graced with those peculiar Van Sant touches of discovery and absurdity, delightful because they're at once so right and so inscrutable. Like the touching and funny scene with Alex's younger brother in which he sits on Alex's bed and incomprehensibly recounts scenes from a movie (see how long it takes you to figure out which one). Or the slow-mo shot in which all the skater kids are called to the principal's office and they line up in the hallway, striding toward the camera like a secondary-school "Wild Bunch." Or Detective Lu's clueless reference to a mythical group he calls "the skateboard community." Or the quotations from Nino Rota's circus-like score for Fellini's "Juliet of the Spirits" playing against the rainy chill of a Northwest day. — Roger Ebert. Paranoid Park movie review 2008. March 13 2008. Web. 27 Nov 2016
59
60
" I lost something on the way to wherever I am today."
Gabe Nevins Nevins was cast as the lead of Paranoid Park even though he was auditioning to be a skateboarding extra. The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival as one of the 22 films in the competition, and won the special 60th anniversary prize. He was cast as an extra in Wendy and Lucy (2008), Rachel (2010) and Some Days Are Better Than Others (2011). In 2010, he starred in the short film 'Will.
Jake Miller
Taylor Momsen
Jacob Harris "Jake" Miller (born November 28, 1992) is an American pop rapper, singer and songwriter from Weston, Florida, United States. He is signed to Warner Bros. Records. On November 5, 2013, Miller released his debut album Us Against Them, and subsequently embarked on a nationwide concert tour in support of the album.
Taylor Momsen (born July 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, former actress, and model. She is known for portraying the character of Jenny Humphrey on the CW teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007–12) and Cindy Lou Who in the film Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). Since 2007, she is the lead singer and frontwoman of the rock band The Pretty Reckless.
61
62
63
THE CITY OF PORTLAND
64
Portland
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Multnomah County. It is located in the Willamette Valley region of the Pacific Northwest, at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. The city covers 145 square miles (380 square kilometers) and had an estimated population of 632,309 in 2015, making it the 26th most populous city in the United States. Approximately 2,389,228 people live in the Portland metropolitan statistical area (MSA), the 23rd most populous MSA in the United States. Its Combined Statistical Area (CSA) ranks 17th with a population of 3,022,178. Roughly 60% of Oregon's population resides within the Portland metropolitan area. Named after the city on the coast of Maine, the Oregon settlement began to be populated in the 1830s near the end of the Oregon Trail. Its water access provided convenient transportation of goods, and the timber industry was a major force in the city's early economy. At the turn of the 20th century, the city had developed a reputation as one of the most dangerous port cities in the world, a hub for organized crime and racketeering. After the city's economy experienced an industrial boom during World War II, its hard-edged reputation began to dissipate. Beginning in the 1960s, Portland became noted for its growing liberal political values, and the city has earned a reputation as a bastion of counterculture, which proceeded into the 21st century. According to a 2009 Pew Research Center study, Portland ranks as the eighth most popular American city, based on where people want to live. The city operates with a commission-based government guided by a mayor and four commissioners as well as Metro, the only directly elected metropolitan planning organization in the United States. The city government is notable for its land-use planning and investment in public transportation. Portland is frequently recognized as one of the most environmentally conscious cities in the world because of its high walkability, large community of bicyclists, farm-to-table dining, expansive network of public transportation options, and over 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares) of public parks. Its climate is marked
by warm, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. This climate is ideal for growing roses, and Portland has been called the "City of Roses" for over a century. "Keep Portland Weird" is an unofficial slogan for the city.
Topography Portland is located 60 miles east of the Pacific Ocean at the northern end of Oregon's most populated region, the Willamette Valley. Downtown Portland straddles the banks of the Willamette River, which flows north through the city center and consequently separates the east and west neighborhoods of the city. Less than 10 miles from downtown, the Willamette River flows into the Columbia River, the fourth-largest river in the United States, which divides Oregon from Washington state. Portland is about 100 miles upriver from the Pacific Ocean on the Columbia. Though much of downtown Portland is relatively flat, the foothills of the Tualatin Mountains, more commonly referred to locally as the "West Hills", pierce through the northwest and southwest reaches of the city. Council Crest Park, the tallest point within city limits, is located in the West Hills and rises to an elevation of 1,073 feet. The highest point east of the river is Mt. Tabor, an extinct volcanic cinder cone, which rises to 636 feet. Nearby Powell Butte and Rocky Butte rise to 614 feet and 612 feet, respectively. To the west of the Tualatin Mountains lies the Oregon Coast Range, and to the east lies the actively volcanic Cascade Range. On clear days, Mt. Hood and Mt St. Helens dominate the horizon, while Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier can also be visible in the distance. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 145.09 square miles (375.78 km2), of which 133.43 square miles (345.58 km2) is land and 11.66 square miles (30.20 km2) is water. Although almost all of Portland lies within Multnomah County, small portions of the city lie within Clackamas and Washington Counties, with populations estimated at 785 and 1,455, respectively.
65
66
67
Hollywood Theatre ABOUT THE THEATRE The Hollywood Theatre is a theatre owned by a nonprofit organization whose mission is to entertain, inspire, educate and connect the community through the art of film, while preserving a historic Portland landmark. It is the central historical point of the Hollywood District in northeast Portland, Oregon. The Theatre is located at approximately 42nd and Sandy, across the street from the first suburban Fred Meyer store, which is currently occupied by Rite Aid. The Hollywood Theatre was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Commissioned by Jensen and Herberg in 1926, architects John Virginius Bennes and Harry A. Herzog designed the façade of the building after the Baths of Caracalla. The theater has undergone a series of renovations since it was purchased in 1997 by Film Action Oregon. In November 2011, Regal Cinemas donated newer theater seats to the Hollywood Theatre. Two years later a Kickstarter campaign raised the funds necessary to erect a new marquee to be lit in September 2013. Originally a venue for vaudeville and silent movies, the Hollywood Theatre currently screens local and international films, classic cinema, animation, grindhouse, educational, independent and experimental programming along with blockbuster second-run movies, featuring many programs in 35mm. The main downstairs auditorium has a 50-foot screen, while two smaller auditoriums are located upstairs, separated by a lounge. A new marquee replicating the original 1926 one was installed in late August 2013. It replaced a marquee that had been installed in the 1970s. The Hollywood Theatre offers three auditoriums with a seating capacity that ranges from 111 to 384. In December 2015, Hollywood Theatre announced plans to open an annex theater in Portland International Airport. The theater will seat 18 with standing room for 10 to 20 people and also have space for live performances. The theatre will show short films no longer than 20 minutes and be free of charge. 68
ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD The Hollywood Theatre is a Portland landmark with a national reputation for award-winning film programming, innovative educational programs, and providing fiscal support for local filmmakers. We show classic and contemporary films, host live performances and special guests, and produce innovative film series like Hecklevision, B-Movie Bingo, and Kung Fu Theater. In 2015, we brought 70mm projection back to the Hollywood, and we continue to work to restore the character of our historic theater while providing the best possible moviegoing experience. The Hollywood Theatre opened its doors on Saturday, July 17, 1926, with a showing of the silent film MORE PAY - LESS WORK. A 1,500-seat silent movie palace complete with an 8-piece orchestra and organist, the Hollywood was the last venue in Portland built as both a vaudeville house and a movie theatre. Designed by Bennes & Herzog architects of Portland, a local advertisement called it a “palace of luxury, comfort and entertainment unsurpassed by any theatre on the Coast.” It proved such a popular destination that Portland's Hollywood District ultimately took its name from the Theatre. In 1959, 70mm projection was installed at the Hollywood, and in 1961, the Hollywood became the only Cinerama theater in the state of Oregon. In 1975, walls and projection booths were built to divide the Theatre’s balcony and create the layout that still exists today: Three separate auditorium spaces, the 384-seat main auditorium and two smaller theaters upstairs.
69
70
SCHEDULE There is going to be five films showing in total during this Gus Van Sant Film Festival. The start showing time and the runtime of each film is shown in the chart above, and for most of the times, there is going to be a fifteen minute break between each two films. The flights, transportation and lodging are also arranged.
OFFICIAL THEATRE Hollywood Theatre 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland, OR, 97212 hollywoodtheatre.org 501-493-1128
DAY 1 07 / 24 / 2017
72
TIME
EVENT
DURATION
10:00 AM PST
Departure (SFO)
1h 40 min Flight
12:00 AM PST
Arrival (PDX)
1h 40 min Flight
12:00 AM PST
Commute
1h 50 min
01:00 PM PST
Lunch near the cinema
60 min
03:00 PM PST
Last Days
1h 36 min
04:36 PM PST
Break
15 min
04:51 PM PST
Elephant
1h 21 min
05:10 PM PST
Commute
21 min
05:31 PM PST
Hotel Recess ( Feel free to go shopping )
DAY 2 07 / 25 / 2017
TIME
EVENT
DURATION
03:00 PM PST
Commute
21 min
03:30 PM PST
Drugstore Cowboy
1h 40 min
05:10 PM PST
Break
15 min
05:25 PM PST
Good Will Hunting
2h 6 min
07:40 PM PST
Alberta Street Pub ( Dinner & Drink ) Break
1h 30 min
09:00 PM PST
Commute
10 min
09:10 PM PST
Hotel Recess
15 min
DAY 3 07 / 26 / 2017
TIME
EVENT
DURATION
01:00 PM PST
Commute
21 min
01:30 AM PST
My Own Private Idaho
1h 42 min
03:12 PM PST
Break
15 min
03:27 PM PST
Paranoid Park
1h 24 min
06:00 PM PST
Break
15 min
06:15 PM PST
Music Show
45 min
07:00 PM PST
Commute
21 min
07:21 PM PST
Hotel Recess
73
OFFICIAL PARTNER HOTEL Crowne Plaza Portland Downtown Cow Ctr. 1441 NE 2nd Ave, Portland , OR 97232 Ihg.com 503-233-2401
DAY 4 07 / 27 / 2017
TIME
EVENT
DURATION
11:00 AM PST
Airport Lunch+ Recess
2h 55min
02:05 PM PST
Flight Back to SF
1h 40min
03:45 PM PST
Arrival at SFO
1h 50 min
75
76
77
78
79
GR 612. 02 Integrated Communication XINGCHEN (STAR) CHEN INSTRUCTOR: HUNTER WIMMER http://www.driftinghomefilmfestival.net
A GUS VAN SANT FILM FESTIVAL
2