All Posts Tagged With: "billy the kid"

Billy the Kid Opens Today in NYC

December 5th, 2007 • Agnes Varnum • 1 comment • Related Posts • Tags

I hadn’t really planned on posting about the opening of Billy the Kid, though I love the film, I had posted about it a lot. But Karina Longworth over at Spout offers a perceptive overview of the current state of things, and thus my post:

Coming at similar themes from different corners, assaulting New York audiences on the same day, Juno and uncommonly and uncannily illustrate the industry’s current, massive split between art and commerce. In this climate, a servicable teen sex com like Juno can show up in September and, with corporate marketing budget in hand leapfrog over a years worth of comers to become, in the day before its release, an all-but-certain sure thing at the Oscars and at the box office. Meanwhile, a film like , which in one fell swoop all but changes the game of real teen representation, works the circuit for nine months collecting accolades, misses out on a much-needed Oscar boost and is now–like any true indie in this market–relying on first weekend gross to shape its distribution future. If you’re in New York and can only see one film over the next days, I promise you–Juno isn’t going anywhere. Billy needs you more.

I’m not sure many people go see films because the film needs them so I’d add that Billy the Kid is a good movie. Believe me, there is no guarantee that just because a film comes out of Hollywood (or in Juno’s case Indiewood – Fox Searchlight Pictures), that it will be good. Why not take a chance on something else? You might like it.

Variety on Billy the Kid

April 28th, 2007 • Agnes Varnum • 4 comments • Related Posts • Tags

I watched Billy the Kid at SXSW. I felt good about it on many levels during the viewing and later in Q&A with the director Jennifer Venditti; unfortunately, I missed the big premiere event with Billy and his mom in attendance which I’m told went smashingly. But, even when walking out of the film, I found that some people who saw it with me viewed the film as John Anderson, who reviewed the film at Hot Docs for , did. He writes “anything beyond a casual, surface reading of the film reveals an appallingly callous act of exploitation.” That is an alarming accusation, and one I feel compelled to rebut on behalf of Billy, if I may be so bold. Bear with me for a moment.

One of the top posts on my blog is a short note about the death of Stephen Heywood, the subject of Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan’s So Much So Fast (which I coincidently saw at last year’s Hot Docs). The film played several festivals and eventually found a home on Frontline on PBS. I believe that the news of his death would generate significant site traffic because of his amazing story. Heywood was diagnosed with ALS, a degenerative disease that leaves its victims physically unable to move or even breath, yet the mind remains intact and alert; the body becomes a prison and while death can come in 2-5 years, it’s also possible to live with lots of help from technology. Unlike the vast majority of people who receive this diagnosis and see it as a death sentence, Stephen and his family took a different approach.