Pick of the week: “Listen Up Philip” (Amazon Prime) — My full review is here. Jason Schwartzman is hilariously awful as an arrogant young writer who finds that success only feeds and confirms his misanthropy in this acerbic comedy from Alex Ross Perry.
Just a reminder that I’m hosting another Sundance Screening Room post-show chat this Tuesday, Oct. 28, after the 7:05 p.m. showing of “Listen Up Philip” at Sundance Cinemas.
Last month’s chat for the political documentary “Pay 2 Play,” which was co-sponsored by the Cap Times, was a lot of fun,with some 80 people showing up. But it was a pretty politically-focused chat with Nation and Cap Times columnist John Nichols co-hosting, so it’ll be nice to get back to some good ol’ movie movie talk with “Listen Up Philip.”
And the movie will give us a lot to talk about — Alex Ross Perry’s merciless look at a “notable” writer (Jason Schwartzman) and how success only seems to exacerbate his arrogant, thoughtless nature has been compared to Woody Allen, but most expressly to novelist Philip Roth, who Perry cites as a clear influence. Here’s my review, and here’s a fascinating interview Twitchfilm did with both Perry and Schwartzman about making the film.
So we’ll meet in Sundance”s Overflow Bar at about 9 p.m. or so — no extra charge. Hope you can join us!
I mentioned a little while back that Sundance Cinemas was restarting its Screening Room calendar this fall, and with it I’d be hosting post-show chats for a couple of the films. Well, I’ve figured out when those chats are going to be — and one of them I’m particularly excited about.
It’s been a long hot wait for fans of the Sundance Screening Room Series, which brings foreign, documentary and independent films to Sundance Cinemas on a regular weekly schedule. The last Screening Room calendar ended in late April, and while you can’t begrudge a theater for wanting to sell those “Guardians of the Galaxy” tickets, at some point between “The Giver” and “Sin City: A Dame To Kill For” getting booked there, it seemed like it was high time to get back to the Screening Room.
Thankfully, the series will fire up again next week, presenting nine films between Sept. 12 and the end of October, including some films that indie fans have been waiting for for months. The Screening Room films are all exempt from the Sundance amenities fees, and I’m happy to say that Sundance has invited me back to do some post-show talks after a couple of the films. I’ll let you know soon which ones and when.
Madison Movie 