Rian Johnson's "Brothers Bloom" (Adrien Brody) will screen at the opening night gala at AFI Dallas at the end of March.
Even still, the multi-faceted director treated locals to a sneak preview of the much-anticipated feature at the New Beverly Cinema about a week ago when he hosted a week-long festival of films which were billed as "Rian Johnson's Festival of Fakery".
The films focused on edge-of-your-seat tales of frauds, fakers, charlatans, hoaxters, huxters and - what the perky director deliciously referred to as - "unsavory sorts."
As the Q & A started up, Johnson entertained filmgoers with an amusing round of card tricks.
However, it was not until the first film - "The Lady Eve" - sprang to life on the silver screen that the sleight of hand tricks made any sense in respect to the festival of films.
In "The Lady Eve" (a fast-paced sophisticated comedy directed by Preston Sturgess) a couple of card sharks try to fleece a young heir (Henry Fonda).
Barbara Stanwyck, who gets top billing in the delightful studio offering, is in top form - glamorous, witty, and fascinating to watch.
Fonda is a real hoot, too.
In this fun poke at the idle rich fiasco, he plays a unwitting foil prone to get tangled up in hilarious pratfalls and slapstick schtick.
At times, I - for one - was simply amazed at young Fonda's comedic timing and charismatic screen presence.
Fonda, at the height of his male beauty, is a must-see in this entertaining farce!
And, Director Preston Sturgess's deft light touch - evident throughout - is a joy to watch.
According to Johnson, Preston's mother was a devil-may-care bohemian, who gave her son free reign to explore his creative side.
The talented gadfly started out as an actor on Broadway and then segued into directing at a time when the studio system was churning out an eclectic bill of faire in the heyday of Hollywood.
To break in as a director, it is alleged that Sturgess actually paid $1 to direct his first feature, The Great McGinty. Other memorable features followed.
Mr. Johnson, himself, is a fascinating character.
Not only is he keenly interested in the craft of directing, but the history of the cinema as well.
The last evening of the festival, for instance, the likable auteur shared a couple of rare short films created for the silver screen by one of the pioneers of the medium, George Méliès.
"Four Troublesome Heads" - a wonder - was well-received by a handful of director wanna-bees underfoot, in particular.
"Heads " marked Méliès’ most sophisticated bag of special-effects tricks.
Quite by accident, the zany director figured out how to facilitate rapid appearances, disappearances and transformations of objects on film.
Méliès was also touted for being the father of the "fade out".
That eureka moment occurred out-of-the-blue one day when the iris was being turned down (as usual) to prevent a build up of moisture on the lens and the naturally inquisitive artiste noticed it created a unique fade effect.
Méliès experimented with the technique, from which other novel ideas flowed, thereafter.
In fact, a myriad of techniques Méliès facilitated on celluloid still takes the breath of filmgoers away to this very day.
In "The Magician" (Le Magicien, 1898) Méliès used a combination of jump-cuts and cunningly-designed props (including a fake tripod stand that wasn’t as see-through as it appeared) to create the impression of a disembodied living bust.
In that scenario, the audience gets the impression they actually spy Méliès remove his own head and place it on a table, where it continues to talk as though nothing has happened.
But, Méliès - and his remarkable creations - were nearly lost to obscurity.
A handful of early films were sold for the silver content during economic hard times.
In fact, at one point, Méliès was forced to abandon his flirtations with film and take refuge in squalid conditions in a kiosk on the streets of Paris.
Fortunately, as Johnson duly noted in his presentation at the New Beverly Cinema, the filmmaker's creations were rediscovered in his twilight years, and consequently, preserved by Historians for generations down-the-line to savor forever more.
Johnson also gave a brief dissertation on the 16th & 17th Century practice of collecting rare and unusual objects.
In what was labelled as a "Cabinet of Wonders", blue bloods and royals often displayed intriguing collections which may have consisted of monkey skulls, one-of-a-kind gemstones, and oddities of nature.
The entertaining showman urged members of the audience to plan a day trip to the one-of-a-kind "Museum of Jurassic Technology" in Los Angeles.
"If you like the unusual objects like a figure of the Pope crafted out of a strand of hair, then you'll be intrigued by the artifacts on display there."
All told, it was a captivating night at the New Bev.
Try to catch the next one, eh?
http://www.julianayrs.com
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