Authors — Jane Schoenbrun
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Tim Heidecker on The Comedy
It’s unlikely that anyone had a more schizophrenic Sundance this past January than Tim Heidecker. The 36-year old actor and filmmaker attended the festival with two projects – Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, the feature-length culmination of his and longtime collaborator Eric Wareheim’s cult absurdist comedy TV series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, and the ironically named The Comedy, a dark drama from filmmaker Rick Alverson (New Jerusalem). And as both films have rolled out over the past year, Heidecker has had to juggle dueling personae – zany comedic curmudgeon and dramatic leading man. In The Comedy, […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Nov 15, 2012 -
Joke’s on You
At first glance, Rick Alverson and Tim Heidecker don’t seem like obvious collaborators. Alverson, indie filmmaker with two features under his belt, and Heidecker, on-half of absurdist Adult Swim comedy duo Tim and Eric, command vastly different audiences. But The Comedy finds the two joining forces — Alverson behind the camera and Heidecker in front — to create one of the year’s most challenging films, a dense character study more unsettling than it is funny. Set amidst the streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the film follows affluent aging hipster Swanson (Heidecker) as he widdles away his days, unemployed and rudderless. While […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Nov 1, 2012 -
Five Questions with Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters Director Ben Shapiro
Ben Shapiro’s excellent Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters, opens tomorrow at Film Forum through Zeitgeist Films. The following interview was originally published on the eve of its SXSW Film Festival premiere. Photographer Gregory Crewdson is renowned for his elaborately-staged photographs, huge in scope, size, and ambition. So filmmaker Benjamin Shapiro had his work cut out for him when he set out nearly a decade ago to follow Crewdson and demystify the artist’s process. But the biggest surprise of Shapiro’s long-awaited film is just how open, eloquent, and down-to-earth Crewdson is when discussing his art. Crewdson allows the audience unrestricted access to his […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Oct 30, 2012 -
Five Questions with Damsels in Distress Director Whit Stillman
Thirteen years is a long time for any voice to stay silent, let alone one as distinctive and intrinsic to the American independent scene as Whit Stillman’s. Yet well over a decade has gone by since The Last Days of Disco – the final part in Stillman’s self-described “Doomed-Bourgeouis-in-Love” trilogy and his last feature film outing. But this past spring, audiences were reintroduced to Stillman’s idiosyncratic wit with Damsels in Distress (out now on DVD and VOD), a whimsical, literate, and classically hilarious college-set comedy. Starring Greta Gerwig as Violet, the leader of a clique of women at the fictional Seven […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Oct 11, 2012 -
Five Questions with Shut Up And Play the Hits Directors Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace
Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace’s LCD Soundsystem movie Shut Up and Play the Hits has a one-day-only release today through Oscilloscope Pictures (in partnership with TUGG). The following interview was conducted just prior to the film’s premiere earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. Over LCD Soundsystem’s ten-year career, the band grew from early blog darlings to lauded indie stalwarts. After telegraphing the group’s demise years in advance, band-leader James Murphy officially disbanded LCD last April with a star-studded, marathon-length performance at Madison Square Garden. Now, less than a year later, Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace present Shut Up […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Jul 18, 2012 -
ENVISION 2012: EIGHT TIPS FOR SOCIAL ISSUE FILMMAKERS
Last week in New York City, the Independent Filmmaker Project, the United Nations Department of Public Information, and the Ford Foundation presented Envision 2012: Stories for a Sustainable Future. The two day event featured screenings of sustainability-focused documentaries (including Jessica Yu and Participant Media’s new Last Call at the Oasis), keynote addresses from Don Cheadle and Alexandra Cousteau, and panel discussions that included social issue advocates and established filmmakers. And, while the discussions this year did focus on the issue of sustainability, there was still plenty of universal wisdom dispensed that social issue filmmakers – no matter their chosen subject […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Apr 24, 2012 -
Five Questions with The Playroom Director Julia Dyer
It’s hard to write about Julia Dyer’s The Playroom without writing about the passage of time. It’s been sixteen-years since Dyer’s previous (and first) film, the Sundance hit Late Bloomers, and Dyer has finally crafted a proper follow-up. But beyond that, the film itself is quite concerned with the changes in attitude and perspective that time renders. Set in 1970s suburbia, The Playroom tells the story of a dysfunctional, alcohol-fueled dinner party, while also showing the same night through the eyes of a group of kids upstairs in the house’s attic. Premiering this week in Tribeca’s Spotlight section, the film […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Apr 20, 2012 -
Five Questions with BAM150 Director Michael Sladek
This June, the Brooklyn Academy of Music presents the fourth annual BAMcinemaFest, featuring a lineup of some of the best emerging voices American cinema has to offer. And CinemaFest is just one of dozens that the Brooklyn institution presents each year, as BAM consistently shines a spotlight on the best in theater, dance, music, film, and more. Now, as the venue celebrates its staggering 150th anniversary, filmmaker Michael Sladek (Con Artist, Devils Are Dreaming) explores what it is about the Brooklyn instituation that has lent it such longevity in his new documentary BAM150. Filmmaker: Why BAM? What is it about […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Apr 20, 2012 -
Five Questions with Free Samples Director Jay Gammill
Watching the trailer for Jay Gammill’s new comedy Free Samples, one can almost hear the ghost of Clerks‘ Dante Hicks echoing in the distance – complaining, “I’m not even supposed to be here today.” The latest in a long line of dead-end job dramedies, Free Samples follows slacker twenty-something Jillian (Jess Wexler) as she fills in for her friend handing out free samples all day from inside an ice cream truck. Premiering this week in Tribeca’s Spotlight section, Gammill’s film aligns an impressive ensemble of indie notables, including Wexler, Jesse Eisenberg, and Jason Ritter. Filmmaker: Can you talk a bit […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Apr 20, 2012 -
Five Questions with The Revisionaries Director Scott Thurman
Every ten years, the Texas Board of Education revises its textbook standards, leaving the curriculum decisions up to a staggeringly small council of fifteen members. And while this practice has been critiqued on a national level before, The Revisionaries shines a particularly introspective light on the entire procedure. Focused around Board of Education member, devout Evangelical Christian, and all-around complex figure Don McLeroy, this new documentary from director Scott Thurman and the Silver Lining Film Group is sure to stir up debate at the Tribeca Film Festival and beyond. Filmmaker: What originally interested you about the Texas Board of Education? […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Apr 19, 2012
