Whit Stillman

Whit Stillman retrospective in Maryland, USA

Phil Gyford — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:33:56 +0000

If you’re within reach of Silver Spring, Maryland, you’ll be excited to read that the AFI Silver Theater is holding a retrospective of Whit Stillman’s three existing films, between 24th and 29th March 2012. A rare chance to watch all three on the big screen in quick succession! Many thanks to Eric Burritt for the tip.

‘Damsels’ to play at Dublin and Rotterdam film festivals

Phil Gyford — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:04:04 +0000

Damsels in Distress is going to playing at both Dublin and Rotterdam film festivals. The latter has screenings on Monday and Wednesday this week and appears to still have tickets. The Dublin festival (caution: noisy website) is from 16-26 February although I can’t see a schedule on the site.

‘Damsels’ opening April 6 in New York and Los Angeles

Phil Gyford — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:59:56 +0000

Commenting on the previous post “Andrew” did what I should have done — checked the official website for Damsels in Distress opening dates. And, yes, the official site says “Opens NY & LA April 6. Coming soon to a city near you.” Presumably that’s not a global truth for all conventional meanings of “soon” and “near”, but that at least gives hope to those in the USA. Thanks Andrew!

Damsels to open in April in USA?

Phil Gyford — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:28:21 +0000

Earlier in the week, “Glen” left a comment on an earlier post, reporting back after watching 12th January’s online screening of Metropolitan, with a Whit Stillman Q&A. Perhaps the most eagerly awaited news is a possible release date for Damsels in Distress:

Regarding the release date for Damsels In Distress — Mr Stillman said April 6th for North America, New Zealand get it two weeks after that. He is hoping it will make it’s UK debut around the same time, if not, expect it in the fall.

So, a while to wait yet, but not too far away. I hope those of us in the UK don’t have to wait till near the end of the year though…

Second, there’s a possibility of the first Blu-Ray release of a Stillman film:

Regarding any blu-ray release of his movies, Mr Stillman said that criterion mastered either Metropolitian or The Last Days Of Disco when they brought those titles, but he couldn’t remember which one. Whichever one it is may well see a criterion blu release down the line.

Which is also good, if tentative, news. Thanks for the report Glen!

Ask Whit Stillman questions at online ‘Metropolitan’ screening

Phil Gyford — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:16:07 +0000

On Thursday 12th January 2012, Constellation is presenting an online screening of Metropolitan hosted by Whit Stillman, who will appear live via webcam and show a clip or two from the forthcoming Damsels in Distress.

Anyone signed up, which costs $3.99, will be able to chat during the screening and ask Stillman questions. It starts at 4pm PST / 8pm EST / 1am GMT (the next morning). The Wall Street Journal has an article about Constellation’s online screenings to give you an idea of what the events are like. You can buy your ticket here.

If you want something to remind you of Metropolitan‘s magic, James Wolcott has just written for Vanity Fair about it being “the movie that best captures the mood of Christmas”.

(Disclosure: Constellation have offered me a free ticket for the screening, although I’d have shared this news with you anyway, and I probably won’t be awake for the 1am start time in the UK!)

Some tunes from ‘Last Days…’ and a challenge

Phil Gyford — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:13:40 +0000

From August 2010, here’s a fun blog post with a collection of disco tunes and video clips from The Last Days of Disco.

I notice that there are a lot of clips from Stillman’s films on YouTube these days. It might be nice to get some lists together of the available clips. So, if anyone has time to kill and good knowledge of a movie, email me a list of URLs to YouTube clips from one of the films, in the correct running order. I’ll post them all on the site for everyone’s enjoyment (and give you credit of course!). It’s probably best to post in the comments below if you want to claim one of the movies, so as to avoid duplicated effort.

Stillman introducing ‘Metropolitan’ on New York’s Reel 13

Phil Gyford — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:50:28 +0000

On Saturday December 17, at 10.30pm, Whit Stillman will be introducing Metropolitan on the Reel 13 strand on the New York public TV station THIRTEEN.

If you tune in, let us know in the comments how it was!

Video interview with Sweden’s Television

Phil Gyford — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 11:34:54 +0000

Whit Stillman was interviewed for SVT earlier in the month and it’s online, in several small parts for another year. I’ve also typed up the interview if you’d prefer to just read it.

Here’s one of the clips in which Stillman talks about the differences between the British and US systems, and where he’s living (or isn’t) at the moment:

Many thanks to Oscar Andersson for the tip.

“You missed the period.”

Phil Gyford — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 12:05:28 +0000

I thought you might like this little snippet about Whit Stillman’s attention to detail when it comes to actors performing his scripts. Mira Sorvino, who appeared in Stillman’s 1994 movie Barcelona, is quoted in Rob Owen’s article at Scripps News about a PBS documentary on Woody Allen, and she contrasts the two writer/directors’ styles. Owen writes:

Actress Mira Sorvino, who won an Oscar for her role in Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite, said she was surprised when she and Allen had a meeting before production began and he told her she didn’t have to read the dialogue as written, suggesting instead that she do whatever is the most natural, real and funny.

“I was stunned because I had grown up reading his books, like Without Feathers and Getting Even. … He’s one of our foremost comedic writers ever, and the fact that he had so little ego and ownership of his text was extraordinary, because I’d just come from working with Whit Stillman on Barcelona, who would stop you after a paragraph and say, “You missed the period.”

Watch Stillman’s ‘Homicide’ episode online

Phil Gyford — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:06:42 +0000

You may know that in 1996 Whit Stillman directed an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street, which featured Chris Eigeman. If you’ve never seen it, now’s your chance, as it’s available to watch for free on Megavideo. I’m guessing that’s not “official”, so who knows how long it will be there for.

Chris Eigeman on 'Homicide'

(Thanks to Tom for the tip, via Coudal Partners.)