‘J. Edgar’ Screening Doesn’t Turn Out So Well

Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" was not supposed to be the only big debut of an awards-worthy film from a major filmmaker this weekend: Everyone's been waiting on something, anything from Clint Eastwood's "J. Edgar," and a select few were supposed to see it at the Carmel Film Festival in Carmel, Calif. If that city name sounds familiar, that's the sleepy little ocean burg that Eastwood was mayor of, back in the day; the film festival also featured James Franco introducing his film "Sal," about Sal Mineo, and, hilariously, a short film by Matthew Modine called "Jesus Was A Commie." (Thanks for chiming in, Matt!) So, how did the screening go? What's everybody saying about "J. Edgar?" Well, nothing: They were unable to get the film to play.

No, seriously: The much-heralded and highly anticipated debut of an Oscar film about one of America's most fascinating figures, directed by a movie legend, starring the most popular and powerful actor in Hollywood ... they couldn't get the projector to work or the power to stay on long enough to show it. Twice.

What stopped them? Power outages, it seems, ones that coincided directly with both planned "J. Edgar" screenings. This is what happens when you try to show a film in Carmel: We didn't even know they had electricity in the first place. (We just thought it was powered by cows.) We doubt this will be damaging to either the film festival or "J. Edgar" itself, not with Clint Eastwood in charge of both. And, frankly, we're pleased to note that you didn't have dozens of angry Tweeters pounding their iPhones with their face because of the tech problems. Carmel looks like a happy place to live, with a no-big-deal vibe about such matters. But they really, really shouldn't debut movies there anymore.

Carmel Art and Film Festival to Re-Screen Eastwood Film [KSBW]