New York Strip Clubs: Sundancing with the Oxbridge Brits
And British guerilla graffiti artist Banksy “anonymously” opened his debut feature film, Exit through the Gift Shop. Not listed in the festival program, it was advertised only via word-of-mouth and on a dozen mysterious pictures sprayed on buildings and utility boxes in Salt Lake City and Park City by the artist. Nonetheless, every screening was sold out. The film calls itself “the world’s first street art disaster movie”, is narrated by Welshman Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill), and concerns the relationship between the unseen, vocally disguised Banksy and a French immigrant filmmaker in LA.
Far less original was Welcome to the Rileys, directed by Jake Scott and produced by his illustrious father Ridley and uncle Tony. Jake managed to pull in some stars, notably James Gandolfini (aka Tony Soprano) and Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan in Twilight).
But the resulting picture fell flat, with interminable scenes of Gandolfini weeping unconvincingly as his teenage daughter and mistress die in quick succession, preposterously propelling him to seek solace in an affair with an underage stripper.