Celebs at SIFF
Mimi Kennedy will visit SIFF for In the Loop. Gandolfini will not.
There's always something a little desperate about media op red-carpet marches, but we'll take what we've got before the Memorial Day weekend. SIFF has announced those cast and crew members it expects to attend the fest, which opens next Thurs., May 21 at the Paramount. The opening-night gala feature is In the Loop, which I like and recommend, but none of its cast members are--apart from James Gandolfini--exactly what you'd call big stars. We've already reported that Spike Lee and Francis Ford Coppola will be coming later during the fest. But for the opening weekend, let's meet the In the Loop attendees and other expected guests...
From In the Loop we'll be greeting the following four performers:Mimi Kennedy plays an American State Department official being manipulated by her Cheney-esque superior; plus she's still a little bit in love with Gandolfini's ambitious Army general, who has his own career to protect. Kennedy is a TV regular on shows like Dharma & Greg, E.R., and House, MD.
Anna Chulmsky plays the above official's underling. She's written a policy paper that undercuts the American rationale for war, questioning our intelligence. This gets her in trouble with the neocons. And for that same reason, the dovish Brits flock to her. (She also has a romantic history with one Brit in particular, which will come back to haunt them both.) Most will remember Chulmsky as a child actress: that girl in My Girl with Macaulay Culkin. But she's also done 30 Rock and Law & Order recently, not credits to sniff at.
David Rasche is that Cheney-esque superior: unflappably calm, never uttering a curse word (unlike the real Cheney), rewriting intelligence reports as it suits him, and hiding secret war committees under false, innocuous names. He's another TV veteran; my favorite credit on his long résumé has to be the cop parody show Sledge Hammer!
Zachary Woods plays the sycophantic underling and right-hand man to Rasche's character. He naturally hates the weak peaceniks--a he sees them--played by Kennedy and Chulmsky. He's a neocon baby born in the era of Bush the first. Woods is relatively new to the screen.
What about the other guests? SIFF has announced the following, all also likely to walk the red carpet:
Kevin Tomlinson, director of Back to the Garden, Flower Power Comes Full Circle
Anne H. Bass, director of Dancing Across Borders
Dori Berinstein, director of Gotta Dance
Yim Phil-sung, director of Hansel and Gretel
Lynn Shelton, director of Humpday
Bryan W. Simon, director of I'm No Dummy
Jay Johnson, featured ventriloquist in I'm No Dummy
Tom Ladshaw, featured ventriloquist in I'm No Dummy
Lynn Trefzger, featured ventriloquist in I'm No Dummy
Michael Rivoira, co-director of Icons Among Us
Lars Larson, co-director of Icons Among Us
Peter J. Vogt, co-director of Icons Among Us
Hanson Hosein, director of Independent America: Rising from Ruins
Eric Johannsen, director of It Takes a Cult
Lee Yoon-ki, director of My Dear Enemy
Charles Officer, director of Nurse.Fighter.Boy
Spike Lee, Tribute guest and director of Passing Strange
Erick Love Lundqvist, director of Response Abilities
Ryan Shiraki, director of Spring Breakdown
Rachel Dratch, actor in Spring Breakdown
Sandy Cioffi, director of Sweet Crude
Louie Psihoyos, director of The Cove
Bradley Rust Gray, director of The Exploding Girl
David Russo, director of The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle
Garrett Bennett, director of The Spy and the Sparrow
Colleen Patrick, director of The Whole Truth
So Yong Kim, director of Treeless Mountain
Peter Esmonde, director of Trimpin: The Sound of Invention
Trimpin, subject of Trimpin: The Sound of Invention
Robert Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies
Ondi Timoner, director of We Live in Public
Kevin Hamedani director of ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction
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