COLOR ME KUBRICK
The ouroboros of art and life imitating one another is spinning feverishly in Color Me Kubrick, the "true...ish" tale of Alan Conway, a man who impersonated Stanley Kubrick in spite of the fact that he knew little about the auteur and looked nothing like him. During the production of what would be Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut, Conway (played by John Malkovich) passes himself off as the famously reclusive filmmaker in order to receive the perks of fame, like free drinks and sex. A further twist in the tale comes from behind the screen; Color Me is Brian W. Cook's directorial debut, although he was the Assistant Director on several of Kubrick's films, including The
Shining, Barry Lyndon, and, of course, Eyes Wide Shut.

OFFSIDE
The latest film from acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi, Tehran’s answer to Ken Loach, is something of a surprise. His previous two movies, The Circle (2000) and Crimson Gold (2003), were critical examinations of the injustices of Iran’s social structures, so his decision to make a soccer comedy is decidedly unexpected. And yet, Offside, which is about the attempts of female teenage fans of the Iranian soccer team to illicitly sneak into the stadium to watch a vital World Cup qualifying match, is an absolute delight. Panahi still tackles his continuing theme of inequality (only men are allowed to watch the sport), but does so with a newly-found and entirely charming lightness of touch that is extremely winning.

I AM A FREE MAN!
This weekend the IFP and Filmmaker will be hosting four screenings of Michael Tucker's The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair. We'll be doing Q and A's with director Tucker (whose previous film was the Iraq doc Gunnar Palace) after the 5:15 and 7:20 shows, Friday and Saturday, at the Cinema Village in New York.

The doc was a bit hit down at SXSW and I'm eager to talk with Tucker about its production.

DVD OR DOWNLOAD?
There's a spirited conversation going over at Twitch about whether or not small companies now releasing cult films on DVD should shift to a "download-to-burn" distribution model. The conversation centers around genre and catalog titles, but it's applicable to our current independent cinema too...

JUROR NOTES (SMILING ON FROWNLAND)
I sat on the Narrative Feature jury at SXSW last week. As you know, we gave the Grand Jury Prize to Itty Bitty Titty Committee, Jamie Babbit's riot grrl riff on Lizzie Borden's early '80s feminist indie classic, Born in Flames. In addition to its spirited run through the history of late 20th century feminist political action, from Angela Davis through the Guerilla Girls, the film contains a set of relationships -- the Latina lesbian protagonist, played by Melonie Diaz, and her accepting family; Melanie Mayron's power lesbian and her psychologically enabling lover/rent girl (played by Nicole Vicius) -- that add complexity and casual nuance to the movie's pop storytelling...

Read the complete stories at Filmmakermagazine's Blog...

BATTLE TESTED - By Jason Guerrasio
“Zack Snyder brings Frank Miller’s ultraviolent graphic novel, 300, to life with amazing special effects and non-stop action.

It’s been two years since Sin City introduced audiences to the world of Frank Miller. Under the direction of Robert Rodriguez, who shot actors using blue screen technology and then added the computer-generated backgrounds in post, Miller’s graphic novel made it to celluloid as a depraved trio of vignettes that both updated film noir and pointed towards a new way of making motion pictures. Now director Zack Snyder (2004’s Dawn of the Dead), employing the same production method as Rodriguez, takes on Miller’s 300, a blood-soaked retelling of the battle of Thermopylae. The result is as breathtaking to watch as it is entertaining...

Click here for the rest of the article