18 Nov Beyond Telluride Film Fest: Payne’s “Nebraska”

Dern and Payne on set of “Nebraska” (from Spinoff Online)

Ok, alright. I admit it. I am biased. First screened at the Telluride Film Festival, we did handstands for Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” – and have been waiting for others to join in with hosannas. (And for more Oscar buzz.)

Trolling the Internet, I came across this wonderful review and interview by Todd Gilchrist in Spinoff Online.

‘Nebraska’ Director Alexander Payne Talks Taste, Humor and His Work Method

“Perfection” is an intangible and massively subjective achievement in art, but if there’s a right balance between humor and buffoonery, emotional resonance and melodrama, Alexander Payne finds it more consistently than just about any other filmmaker in Hollywood.

From his first feature Citizen Ruth to his latest, Nebraska, Payne’s films are filled with ideas that he handles with finesse rather than power, scoring punch lines from sad developments, and finding overwhelming human insights in the silliest of scenarios. Nebraska, about an aging man’s futile journey to retrieve $1 million in likely nonexistent prize money, uses the backdrop of small-town life – and a lifetime of failures and regrets – to lovingly portray familial dysfunction, and more poetically, pay tribute to the American heartland.

Payne spoke with Spinoff Online at the 2013 Savannah Film Festival, where he and star Bruce Dern hosted a screening of Nebraska.

Continue reading here.