Remember Patton Oswalt’s Oscar-snubbee Twitter fan fiction — specifically the part wherein Tilda Swinton and Andy Serkis rocked out together to “Life on Mars”? Well, Jimmy Fallon or Stephen Colbert or someone might want to get on that, if Swinton’s priceless reaction is any indication. Per Vulture : “Oh, how fun! Is he there now?” she said. We explained that it was merely his Twitter feed. “But is it real? We should go! Where is he?” she asked, grabbing for her keys and heading for the door. Actually, we explained, he was kidding. “Oh, he’s making jokes. What a shame. I think we should do it for real. How faaabulous!” she said. When she read the tweet, “Serkis & Tilda are singing ‘Is There Life on Mars?'” Swinton said, “That’s a dare! That’s an excellent dare. Okay, Patton, you’re on. Let’s get Andy and let’s go for it!” Genius . Or maybe Swinton could finally fulfill her promise to portray Conan O’Brien on Conan , introducing her and Serkis? There would not be enough health insurance in the world to cover all the exploded heads. [
Our Sundance bidding-war preview may have foreseen only part of the fervor around the John Hawkes/Helen Hunt drama The Surrogate , but how’s this for compensation: As predicted , the Richard Gere/Susan Sarandon Wall Street thriller Arbitrage went to Roadside Attractions (with its partners at Lionsgate) for just over $2 million . Bam! That’s not it for deals, either: Get the updated roster of Sundance pics -– and see which offerings earned raves, and which didn’t — after the jump. Arbitrage (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions) – Nicholas Jarecki’s dramatic feature-filmmaking debut stars Richard Gere as a billionaire hedge-fund fraud seeking to cash in before he’s exposed. Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling and Tim Roth co-star. Look for the studio duo to duplicate the multi-platform success they enjoyed in 2011 with Margin Call , another financial-world potboiler picked up in Park City. The Surrogate (Fox Searchlight) – Sundance favorite John Hawkes turns in an brave performance as real life poet Mark O’Brien, who yearns to lose his virginity with a sex therapist (Helen Hunt) despite being paralyzed from the head down. Fox Searchlight paid a reported $6 million for the pic, which may face tricky ratings deliberations due to Hunt’s full frontal nudity. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight) – The smallest narrative to get a deal thus far at Sundance comes off of strong buzz and acclaim for the tale of a young girl and her ailing father who live in a fantastical alternate version of the American South. Red Lights (Millenium Films) Negative reviews hurt the profile of this Rodrigo Cortes ( Buried ) thriller, despite featuring Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro, and last year’s Sundance darling Elizabeth Olsen. For a Good Time, Call… (Focus Features) – The feature debut of shorts director Jamie Travis pairs Lauren Anne Miller and Ari Graynor as frenemies who start a phone sex line together, one of a gaggle of raunchy female-driven comedies in this year’s line-up. Celeste and Jesse Forever (Sony Pictures Classics) – With Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg leading a cast of familiar players, this was bound to attract buyer attention galore. Sony Pictures Classics snatched it up for a reported $2 million, adding C&J to their previous Sundance acquisitions Searching for Sugar Man and The Raid. Previously announced Sundance 2012 deals: Searching for Sugar Man (Sony Classics) – The documentary about 1960s musician Rodriguez played well to critics and was snatched up by SPC for a reported six figures. The Queen of Versailles (Magnolia Pictures) – Another well-received doc, Lauren Greenfield’s examination of Florida real estate mogul David Siegel was picked up by Magnolia on Friday. Black Rock (LD Distribution) – Katie Aselton’s thriller about three female friends (Aselton, Lake Bell, Kate Bosworth) surviving a weekend getaway gone wrong was the first Midnight selection to seal a deal, partnering with newbie venture LD Distribution. The Words (CBS Films) – Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, and Jeremy Irons lead a cast of recognizable stars in this literary drama about a writer (Cooper) who claims credit on someone else’s manuscript and is confronted by its real author, so it’s easy to see why buyers were interested. CBS Films reportedly made the most expensive buy of the fest so far, laying down $2 million for the film. Whether or not that move was smart remains to be seen, as this first review over at The Playlist is less than encouraging. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
This just in at Movieline HQ: “With the return in popularity of the moustache, the organizer of New England’s largest moustache pageant is introducing the world’s first known International Moustache Film Festival in 2012.” And, with a whole $100 in prize money, so remunerative! I’d have preferred the Stache d’Or, but hey. Here’s a video call for submissions, with full press release and submission details below. Beware: Hipsters ahoy! ================= International Moustache Film Festival – The World’s Hairiest Film Festival Portland, Maine– With the return in popularity of the moustache, the organizer of New England’s largest moustache pageant, No Umbrella Media, is introducing the world’s first known International Moustache Film Festival in 2012. The festival will be be held immediately before the fifth annual Stache Pag on March 30, 2012. The film selection committee must receive all film submissions by March 24, 2012. This festival is open to film makers the world over. The finalists will have their 8 minute or less films shown and judged at the festival. The winner will be chosen and awarded a cash prize. Dr. Lou Jacobs, director of The New England Bureau of The American Mustache Institute will be the host of the film festival. “This is an important moment in moustache history,” says Dr. Jacobs. “Never has there been a film festival dedicated to the unique art of filming the mustached male (or female). The American Mustache Institute would like to congratulate the IMFF for it’s efforts to preserve the mustached arts.” Silly as this may sound, the festival is quite serious. The beneficiaries of the festival and 5th Annual Stache Pag will be Northeast Historic Film, MENSK and Mystache Fights Cancer. The events put on by No Umbrella Media are designed to preserve the arts and save lives. Some of the many film categories will be: Best Foreign Moustache Film, Best Growth Story, Best Collection of Moustaches in One Film and Best Fake Moustache Movie. Video announcement is located at www.stachefilmfest.com No Umbrella Media is Portland, ME-based video production company specializing in authentic storytelling through video. www.noumbrella.com The American Mustache Institute has been “protecting the rights of, and fighting discrimination against moustached Americans, by promoting the growth, care, and culture of the moustache.” AmericanMustacheInstitute.org Details: Date: March 30, 2012 Venue: Port City Music Hall – 504 Congress Street, Portland, Maine. Film Festival Begins: 7:30pm Stache Pag Begins: 10pm For more information, including ticket info, and how to enter the Moustache Pageant or Film Festival, please visit the websites. ###
