Screening Gotham: All-Positive Friday! (Silver Lining Edition)

As per tradition, some of today's more (accidentally) uplifting movie news of note from around New York:

--Reports reveal this morning that Dawn Hudson's soul is the latest wildfire to threaten Southern California. Sure, on its face, the news that Transformers will receive its gala premiere later this month at Film Independent's Los Angeles Film Festival doesn't have much to do with New York. But when you think about the volume of shit FIND boss Hudson will have to eat among her membership for green-lighting such a craven sell-out (word is she's already ordered the mirrors removed from the office's ladies room), you have to feel much better that our resident starfuckers at IFP stopped at nominating The Departed for a Gotham Award. Not that I wouldn't put a Spider-Man 3 nod past anybody this fall. Anyway, congrats to LA, the asshole of the cadaver that is independent film.

--Remember a few weeks ago when, in a preview of this year's New York Asian Film Festival, co-founder Grady Hendrix alluded to the odd sponsorship alliance between the fest and Midway Games' new release (ahem) John Woo presents Stranglehold? Well, we hear today that Midway just plum backed out of the festival, stranding the upstart NYAFF crew a mere three weeks prior to its launch. The silver lining is that the beloved fest has already received numerous pledges from more loyal allies to help fill in where possible. It's an absolute tribute to the event's character, integrity and necessity, and if it doesn't bring a smile to your face, then, to paraphrase Hendrix, you really need to reexamine where you are in life and what kind of person you are.

--"On the bright side, four of the five words prominently featured on the official website for upcoming revenge thriller The Brave One are presented correctly," writes Defamer of the forthcoming Jodie Foster/Terrence Howard/Neil Jordan collaboration that so terrorized Upper East Side car owners last summer. Give the copy editor a break, though -- "Jodie" is kind of fucked-up spelling.

Posted at June 1, 2007 10:20 AM