I laughed quite a bit the first time (of many) that I saw American Beauty, but how well does it fit the "Funny Business" theme of this year’s Virginia Film Festival? Well enough to bring actress Annette Bening and writer Alan Ball to town to host a 10th anniversary screening of the film.
Yesterday afternoon, new fest director Jody Kielbasa announced the special guests and screenings of the 22nd annual Virginia Film Festival—Bening and Ball, as well as Matthew Broderick, director Norman Jewison and actress Cherry Jones. Kielbasa said he was "fortunate" to inherit the "Funny Business" theme, but also acknowledged that broad programming themes often run the risk of being criticized more for films they leave out.
Not this year. More below the photo.
You oughta be in pictures: Virginia Film Festival director Jody Kielbasa takes questions after anouncing this year’s special guests.
The schedule for this year’s fest hit the web this morning, and the "Funny Business" theme is divided into a few smaller subgenres, all phrased as "The Funny Business of…" and touching on comedy, politics and wine. (Mondovino is back after screening at the 2004 film fest.) Other films group under themes of their own—a collection of "anniversary" flicks that run from Buster Keaton’s Sherlock, Jr. to Do the Right Thing, and a "family day" series that includes a group of Pixar shorts and the new LeBron James and crew documentary More Than a Game.
So, "funny business" gets tackled in a few respects here—from the intuitive comedy programming to colloquial ideas of what’s "funny". (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is by no means a gut-buster, but certainly falls under one definition of the word.) Rather than looking at the schedule for what was omitted, this year’s lineup seems most interesting for what the new director chose to include under the theme he inherited.
Take another gander at the schedule. What will you get a ticket for?
