daniel johnston movie???

[The Devil]

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2538251

[FatPatty]

so i get the sundance channel on my tv! woo hoo!!! theyre doin this show which has updates from the festival they showed brief  little snippets from the movie while talkin to the director man... young dan on stage old dan on stage dan cleanin tables at mcdonalds during the show they were interviewing the directors with some of their subjects... but no director man and dan... the shows gonna be on the next few days so if you dont have the sundance channel dont worry ill keep you posted

[Stress Records]

Congratulations to Jeff Feuerzeig for winning Best Director at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

[dbeefy]

REALLY ?! wow. amazing.

That pretty much means that the film will be seen by a much wider audience. Just thinking about it is quite moving.

Well done to all..  

[Disfranchise]

yes it's true. Jeff Feuerzeig was the winner of the documentary directing award.
You can read about the winners in this pdf-file:

http://festival.sundance.org/2005/docs/05Awards.pdf

[Devil]

2005 Sundance Film Festival

Welcome to the NyQuil VIP Room
To catch everything at Sundance, you need a corporate sponsor, a bulletproof immune system and the ability to bend the laws of time and space.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Heather Havrilesky



Jan. 28, 2005  |  PARK CITY, Utah -- "Our lives are so boring, normally. We just really love movies." A woman on the bus is explaining to the woman next to her how she landed in Park City with her family. "We also stalk celebrities," she says brightly. "It gets expensive, so we call it 'Stalking Celebrities With the American Express Card.'"

"Have you told American Express about this?" another guy on the bus pipes in. "I'm sure they'd get onboard with the concept in a second."
 

Assigning corporate sponsorships to everything you see is one of the stranger side effects of Sundance. After a few days of walking by the Heineken Green Room or the Motorola Splinter Cell Late Night Lounge or the Shutterfly VIP room, you start to suspect that life can't be experienced fully without a corporate behemoth footing the bill. Even the gossip columns dutifully recite the brand names of festival locations like obedient little schoolgirls.

 

After scarfing down a dish of mini-ravioli between screenings, I've taken to calling our kitchen the Chef Boyardee Lounge. This makes me feel less pathetic for being holed up in the condo, and it takes my mind off the fact that there are ads flashing on flat-screen TVs somewhere out there, and an assortment of smartly packaged breath mints and trial-size face creams waiting for me to just reach out and grab them. But even nursing a burgeoning bout of the Sundance flu in bed isn't so bad, as long as I think of it as relaxing in the NyQuil VIP Room.

At Sundance, no matter where you are, you're always missing something. Every night in the wee hours, my roommate Ray returns to the condo with a big bag of swag. While I tend to scurry home after my fourth screening of the day to finish transcribing an interview or drafting a piece, Ray is the late-night master of free food and free stuff, and every time he drags out his latest goody bag packed with odds and ends, I examine its contents jealously. Sure, I could take or leave the "Pleasure Wipes" and the little earmuffs that don't even fit on my head, but the deep conditioner and the really cool green "Trudell" T-shirt and the glittery pink eye shadow make my heart beat a little faster.

Unlike Ray, one of the only extended detours I take from a schedule of back-to-back screenings and interviews occurs on Wednesday afternoon, when I descend into the depths of the ASCAP Music Cafe, hoping to get a good spot on the floor before Rickie Lee Jones performs an hour or so later. ASCAP stands for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers -- not exactly the sort of glowering commercial pimp you find elsewhere -- and the Music Cafe is one of the real treats of Sundance, with square, squishy seats and places to sit on the floor right in front of the stage. Sadly, Rickie Lee Jones never appears -- somehow, during the two hours I'm there on the floor, running through songs like "Little Yellow Town" and "Stewart's Coat" in my head in anticipation, no one announces that she won't be performing. Eventually the substitute headliner says something about how intimidating it is to be standing in for Jones, and I creep out, disappointed, during the next song.

Luckily, the premiere party for "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" is just across the street in the Volkswagen Main Street Lounge, which is sort of like an art gallery filled with massive Volkswagen logos, the back end of a VW wagon, and a rug that looks like a collage of floor mats. The crowd gathered to celebrate Jeff Feuerzeig's entertaining documentary about songwriter Johnston is in good spirits, not surprising since the film is considered this year's "Super Size Me."

Speaking of fast food, there are McDonald's fries and hamburgers on platters at the party, in honor of Johnston's longtime job as a cashier at McDonald's. (Incredibly enough, when Johnston gained recognition, editors from Spin and other magazines would call him at McDonald's, since he didn't have a phone at home.)

At the party, Feuerzeig tells me he'd wanted to make a film about Johnston for years, but he'd been waiting for a third act in Johnston's life, as the musician disappeared from the public eye, spending time in and out of institutions due to his escalating battle with manic depression.

It proved to be well worth the wait, and Feuerzeig proved he had the patience to sort through piles of confessional audiotapes, home movies, artwork and hundreds of odd but impossibly catchy songs. Over the course of four years, Feuerzeig cobbled all of these artifacts together, along with some very moving interviews with friends and family, and the result is an imaginative and at times heartbreaking tribute to Johnston's life and work. Not only is Feuerzeig's film as inventive and outrageous as Johnston himself, but the filmmaker somehow manages to capture the strange quirks and charms of Johnston's cohorts and collaborators on film as well, choosing delectably odd first-person accounts over the more typical, tedious VH1-style testimonies of rock stars.

Johnston was performing later that night, but there was a long line outside, it was starting to rain and I was faint with hunger, so I escaped to Bandits down the street with some friends, where they offer a Kobe Burger described as follows:

"American Kobe beef patty that has been raised on beer and hand-massaged daily to make meat extra tender."

When I ordered the Kobe Burger, though, the waitress informed me that they were all out. "Really? That means there must be a masseuse back there, and a few extra pitchers of beer as well. Can you bring them out here instead?"

Clearly exhausted by the antics of pushy city types, the waitress redirected me to the Bandit Burger, which I promptly ordered, much to my regret. The patty tasted like it had been raised on charcoal briquettes and kicked daily with a muddy boot.

By the time we emerged from a disappointing meal, Johnston had already gone offstage after a short set, which just goes to show you that at Sundance, no matter how much you plan, you're always going to miss something. But chances are, festival-goers who've been stalking the latest indie hits with their credit cards won't miss "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" when they pass out the awards on Saturday night.

salon.com

[Devil]

By Dave Poland

Thank God that there have been some really good movies in the last couple of days. But the devil is a lot more fun.

If there is a masterpiece at Sundance this year, it's Jeff Feuerzeig's The Devil and Daniel Johnston.

It's amazing how many people wrote off this doc because of the catalog description. I guess that it is the price of maing a film about a guy that few Sundancers have ever heard of and describing him as a "musical genius." Put up or shut up. I was one of those who didn't know about Daniel Johnston's genius career. But after an hour or so of this film, I was not only aware, I was a believer.

But not only is the story of this dangerously manic depressive artist fascinating, the execution of the storytelling by Mr. Feuerzeig is elegant and complex, incredibly showy without ever seeming to try to be more interesting than the film's subject. Feuerzeig has only made one other film, a dozen years ago, about the band Half-Japanese… one member of which, by no coincidence, had collaborated with Daniel Johnston. But the skill Feuerzeig shows here is just amazing, bringing the barren melancholia, as well as the humor of Johnston's work to us in a way that makes the emotional experience unavoidable.

Feuerzeig's film is the latest quality example of the new genre of Self-Verite Documentaries. This group includes films like Andrew Jarecki's Capturing The Friedmans, John Dullaghan's Bukowski: Born Into This, Billy Corben's Raw Deal: A Question of Consent, and last year's Sundance surprise from Jonathan Couette, Tarnation. None of these films could have been made without a lot of footage taken on Super 8 or video by the subjects of the docs… none of whom actually directed their own stories.

Of course, the quality of the director's vision and skill are every bit as important as the raw footage. About half way through this film, I started thinking about how many horrible films we are about to see being submitted to (and sometimes accepted by) film festivals that are based on the home videos that have become ubiquitous in the era of relatively cheap video cameras.

So why is The Devil and Daniel Johnston so amazing? Well, it is the symbiotic use of Johnston's art work and his music, filling the eyes and ears so intensely that it fills the heart. This is the tale of a man who is deeply loved by the people in his life… and who have to put up with a great deal of trouble created by his illness. The music is fascinating, seemingly incompetent at first, but more and more beautiful as you get a chance to really listen to the lyrics. Feuerzeig uses lots and lots of taped dialogue over which he fearlessly loads visual imagery, never stuck to the traditional style of dealing with taped info. He even risks a harsh "click" at the end of some tapes that serves as a great filmic period to those tapes.

And of course, there is the subject. My first reaction to the film is that Fox Searchlight is the perfect studio to release this film, since for all intents and purposes, this is a real-life version of Napoleon Dynamite and the cult audience, which Searchlight built for Napoleon as effectively as any movie studio ever has, is ripe for the embrace of this movie. Not only is this a great doc, but it is fully capable of becoming one of the great college cult films of all time. Daniel Johnston is, after all, a kid from a small town who never gave up on his dreams and overcame not only his parents' disapproval, but the revolt of his own body and mind. Not only do you come to really respect his work in this film, you find a form of love for this damaged soul.

Not only was I thrilled to get the double CD of his work from the press office after seeing the film, but I can't wait to see him play live here in Park City later this week.

But I still don't feel like I've really expressed what is so very special about this film. And I'm not sure that I can…. maybe after I've seen it a few more times. Every time you think that it isn't going to get you, it grabs you tighter. This is a guy who couldn't handle cleaning tables at McDonald's but still managed to push his way onto MTV. This is a guy who obsesses on Casper The Friendly Ghost and Captain America, but raises their artistry to new levels in a way we are used to seeing from Warhol or Basquiat. This is a guy who is considered a genius, but who has lived with his parents for most of his life.

Entertaining. Challenging. Compelling. Magic.

[curiouscat]

So many questions...
 
What did Daniel's family think of the film?
Did any other famous faces check out the movie?  
When can we see a trailer?

[dbeefy]

from http://www.timeout.com/film/news/268.html

Day five: Cult musician Daniel Johnston hits the big screen; and Time Out meets Jamie Bell, Thomas Vinterberg, Tilda Swinton and Mike Mills.

Sometimes, one event can make the entire trip to a far-flung film festival worthwhile. Monday night's screening at Sundance of Jeff Feuerzeig's music documentary 'The Devil and Daniel Johnston' achieved exactly that.

Daniel Johnston is a 43-year-old outsider singer-songwriter and manic depressive who has built a cult following since his early days in the mid-1980s performing in Austin, Texas while simultaneously holding down a day job at McDonald's.

Feuerzeig's compassionate film draws on Johnston's obsessive audio-taping of his life and work to tell us his extraordinary story, with interviews from his family and many who have known and worked with him over the past three decades.

The result is superb: a complex and balanced portrait that celebrates and reveals a character who has remained an enigma for years.

Johnston and his family, including his elderly parents, attended the film's premiere, watching Feuerzeig's documentary for the first time. They were clearly moved by the experience, remaining motionless in their seats as the rest of the audience filtered out. [/snip]

by Dave Calhoun

[sweetness]

http://www.sundanceonlinefilmfestival.org/2005/index.aspx

Check out the Daniel Johnston section.  Quite moving, plus a few  great interviews.

[Henry Long]

Freakin' Gosh (part 1): Great great news about Daniel Dale Johnston's little movie! I predict within a year, "Daniel Johnston" will be a verb in our collective hipster dialect. A long time ago, Craig Czury, a fellow poet friend of mine said, "It aint real until you see it on T.V." Well, if the big screen counts (and I would certainly say it does), IT'S REAL!!!

Freakin' Gosh (part 2): MTV (whatever...) covers the Sundance Film Festival on its website. Promotes blatant misogyny and racist stereotypes by headlining "Pimp" film, doesn't even mention "The Devil and Daniel Johnston!" See for yourself, if you are so inclined: http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1496408/01312005/story.jhtml

PS- What's this about the 2 CD set being passed around Sundance as a promotional item? Is it left over copies of Gammon's "Benefit" tribute? Yikes!

[Devil]

So many questions...
 
What did Daniel's family think of the film?
Did any other famous faces check out the movie?  
When can we see a trailer?

Some loved it and others didn't. Daniel was very pleased.

At the premiere Toby McGuire was seated 3 seats from Daniel and was heard to say that it was the best documentary he had ever seen. After the second screening John C. Reilly (Boogie Nights and Mr. Cellophane in Chicago) told Daniel he loved him.

[Devil]

http://www.sundanceonlinefilmfestival.org/2005/index.aspx

Check out the Daniel Johnston section.  Quite moving, plus a few  great interviews.

Could someone possibly post a direct link to the Daniel section? I clicked on the above link and it's still not easy to find Daniel.

[wickedwill]

http://www.sundanceonlinefilmfestival.org/2005/index.aspx

Check out the Daniel Johnston section.  Quite moving, plus a few  great interviews.

Could someone possibly post a direct link to the Daniel section? I clicked on the above link and it's still not easy to find Daniel.

That would be cool! That site is really confusing only picture I found was the one of Daniel holding Yip/Jump that is already posted on the front page!!!


Someone PLEASE tell me the CD that was being given away was not the Gammon tribute!

[Devil]

The cds that were given away as promos were purchased from Gammon and I believe Gammon did give the filmmakers a decent price.