A Time for Hope: What's Happening in the Hamptons?

I'm still deciding whether or not a weekend excursion to the Hamptons Film Festival is worth the meandering disorientation sure to ensue, but while I futz with road maps, you might check in at indieWIRE, where grandmaster Eugene Hernandez has a pair of dispatches from the early days of the fest.

First up, Hernandez was at the opening night premiere of The Situation, the Iraq War drama that you might recall had Hamptons artistic director Raj Roy in five ways of postcoital snob rapture a while back. Things seem to have gone fine: director Philip Haas justified his existence; star Connie Nielsen gave props to Christiane Amanpour; and the battered consciences of Eastern Long Island were at long last assuaged after a strenuous summer of protest and concern.

Having gotten the worst behind him, Hernandez followed up this morning with a report from the festival's third annual Industry Toast, a who's-who of who's-that for the New York indie set. About 100 guests dropped in to pay tribute to ex-Good Machine/current This is That producer Ted Hope (above), with host Rosie Perez "mocking Hope's trademark nasal voice and distinctive laugh, comparing the producer to SpongeBob SquarePants" before introducing Hope's pals James Schamus, Christine Vachon and John Waters (among others) and pushing "play" on taped, Col. Kurtz-style greetings from directors Ang Lee and Hal Hartley, both of whom apologized for their truancy but insisted they had bought their Mets/Cardinals Game 7 tickets well before the party invitations arrived.

Anyway, visit indieWIRE for the rest; I have to search out the most luxurious Hamptons parking lots for sleeping in one's car.

(Photo: Brian Brooks/indieWIRE)

Posted at October 20, 2006 10:30 AM