criterionforum.org

Sofia's next film is ready to go and stars Stephen Dorff (seriously) and Elle Fanning (double seriously). It concerns a bad boy actor who is living it up at the Chateau Marmont when his eleven year old daughter unexpectedly arrives. Life lessons ensue. Harry Savides will be lensing.

Antoine Doinel wrote:Harry Savides will be lensing.

Whoah - what happened to Lance?

That was one of the best parts about Sofia's films - Acord's cinematography was always worth watching no matter what she was succeeding or failing with.

I guess if you're not going to use Acord you might as well work with Savides though!

Still - kind of surprising.

I'm absolutely thrilled by this news. Dorff was one of the great untapped potentialities of the 90's, only occasionally during that time having the opportunity to display just how powerful his capabilities were (and most of the best of that stuff being in either dismissed features like Blood and Wine, otherwise misconceived work like SFW or a completely suppressed masterpiece like Everett Lewis' An Ambush of Ghosts). Despite claims of course that he did not really desire it, getting passed over for the lead in Titanic seemed to have thrown him off balance for a number of years and lead to a long string of awful choices.

I'm glad that Dorff is being given his shot at a Mickey Rourke style career resurrection earlier rather than later. Like Mickey his worst performances were always marked with the indifference of someone who knew he'd lost vital opportunities to prove himself (and he managed to sustain his fire even in garbage like City of Industry). This could be a very, very good thing for both he and Coppola. Let's hope they don't blow it. In some larger capacities though this doesn't sound that far removed from Entropy, Dorff's collaboration with Phil Joanou.

Benecio del Toro and the thoroughly forgettable band Rooney (I had no idea they were still around) make cameos in the film.

Interesting to learn that Fellini's Toby Dammit is an influence on this film which premieres at the Venice Film Festival in September and wide release on December 22.

Whew, what a relief. I feel like I've been holding my breath since Marie Antoinette hoping Sofia Coppola hadn't lost it.

Matt wrote:Whew, what a relief. I feel like I've been holding my breath since Marie Antoinette hoping Sofia Coppola hadn't lost it.

And the trailer somehow answers your question?

TedW wrote:And the trailer somehow answers your question?

It's a pretty great trailer; it certainly elevated my enthusiasm. I liked MA quite a bit, but this looks like a return to Lost in Translation form. Dorff and Fanning are actors who normally wouldn't be on my radar, but there is something absolutely mesmerizing about both of them here. And as much as I like Lance Acord, I'm of the belief that Harris Savides should be the cinematographer for everything.

Whoa, when did Gregg Araki make a sequel to Nowhere?

All kidding aside, this looks great. That Strokes demo is a nice treat.

Getting excited about a trailer? Not since junior high, sorry.

It's a trailer, merely a piece of marketing. Nothing to do with the actual movie. Proof will be in the pudding.

TedW wrote:Getting excited about a trailer? Not since junior high, sorry.

Well, props to you for being better than everyone else, then.

I think it looks great, too.

Despite being in decline, trailers are an art form in themselves, and when done well, are worth the enthusiasm.

Not that I particularly care for Sofia Coppola.

Featuring music by my boyfriend's band.

Color me enthused by the trailer. This one will be something to look forward to.

Stephen Dorff can actually be very good when given a chance (which is extremely rare). He's been in so much crap, though, and I think Hollywood considers him a poor man's Christian Slater.

Jeff wrote: I liked MA quite a bit, but this looks like a return to Lost in Translation form.

You mean it looks like a return to Lost In Translation.

rs98762001 wrote:

Jeff wrote: I liked MA quite a bit, but this looks like a return to Lost in Translation form.

You mean it looks like a return to Lost In Translation.

Yeah, but this time it's shot by Harris Savides.

What's with everyone dropping by to dump on this film and the posters who are genuinely excited to see it? Don't you people have anything better to do?

Matt wrote:Stephen Dorff can actually be very good when given a chance (which is extremely rare). He's been in so much crap, though, and I think Hollywood considers him a poor man's Christian Slater.

The 'poor man's Christian Slater' thing caused me no end of confusion while trying to stay awake through Alone In The Dark which featured both of them (maybe prefiguring Planet Terror's casting of Michael Biehn and Jeff Fahey, which caused me the same problems!)

Which Stephen Dorff performances are your favourites Matt? It has to be the strangely complimentary pairing of S.F.W. and Cecil B. Demented for me. However I remember really liking The Gate, even though it has been years since I last saw it!

At the tippy top would be his Candy Darling from I Shot Andy Warhol. It could easily have been a ridiculous parody, but it's by far the best performance in the film. I thought he was very good in Public Enemies with what he's given, and he disappears into the role so much that I didn't even know it was him until well into the movie. Beyond that, I think I'd have to go back to Backbeat, but I'm not a Dorff superfan, so I haven't seen everything he's done. I've seen this, though

Justin Chang, writing for Variety from Venice:

Sofia Coppola's "Somewhere" is a quiet heartbreaker. Trading "Lost in Translation's" Tokyo hotel for Beverly Hills' Chateau Marmont, the ever-perceptive writer-director further hones her gifts for ruefully funny observation and understated melancholy with this low-key portrait of a burned-out screen actor. Steeped in morning-after regret and centered around a strong performance by Stephen Dorff, the result is sure to frustrate those who require their plots thick and their emotions underlined, but Focus Features should be able to court a small, discerning audience willing to get on the film's delicate wavelength.

This dude likes it too. Sounds like it's largely non-narrative and Savides is in top form.

Strange -- the Chateau Marmont is in West Hollywood, not anywhere close to Beverly Hills, and everybody from L.A. knows this. I wonder why he would write that.

Guardian's Peter Bradshaw calls it the B-Side to Lost in Translation (which he is a big fan of).

At least it seems that we are going to be spared the sight of an 11 year old girl who "would be a sharp-tongued, feisty, wise-beyond-her-years cutester who would cheerfully wreck Johnny's selfish adventures in boozing and womanising, and after a few screaming matches, force him to find the real spiritual values of fatherhood", even if Bradshaw seems to bizarrely lament that "this never happens".

Fantastic news! Better than I could have ever hoped.

I had heard the jury's estimation of this one was being undervalued in the predictions. Guess that was right on.