Hidden Flick: The Show Biz Kids Are Alright
IFC’s Dinner for Five was one of the better shows about Da Bidness in the early ’00s. Centered on the simple concept of five indie film artists (and, sometimes, old movie vets) sitting around a restaurant table, eating dinner, sipping cocktails and talking shop, the show excelled at heady information, frank dialogue, huge cigars and lots of fancy grub. All of it was caretakered by the charismatic but unobtrusive presence of Jon Favreau.
Well, Favreau can’t exactly call himself an indie outsider anymore after the summer success of Iron Man. Coming on the heels of his holiday blockbuster, Elf, a few years back, it looks like the actor/writer/director/cable T.V. dinner host has a franchise product for the ages. And that’s such a refreshing thing to say about someone like Favreau who wrote and/or directed small gems like Made, and Swingers, before conquering the industry in his own inimitable fashion. Let’s hope he doesn’t become like Sam “Evil Dead” Raimi or Christopher “Memento” Nolan who are still doing excellent work with their respective Spider-Man and Batman franchises, but seem to have lost some of that original storytelling flair that paved the way for those epic cash cow adventures. These films are, after all, based upon pretty fucking…ahem…ironclad and ancient comics that were spun from the colorful pens of their Geek Elders many moons ago. READ ON for more…
