Authors — Jason Guerrasio

IFC/CRITERION DVD WISH LIST

With news today from Variety that the Criterion Collection will release some IFC Films titles on DVD and Blu-ray (including A Christmas Tale and Gomorrah in Nov. and Che and Hunger in Dec.) I’m curious what other IFC titles should get the coveted Criterion treatment. 1) In The Loop – Not only would director Armando Iannucci do a great commentary but also included could be episodes of the inspiration for the film, the BBC series The Thick of It. Essay could be written by David Frost (hey, this is a wish list, I can dream). 2) Antichrist – Yes, sex […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Sep 1, 2009
THE ART OF THE SODERBERGH ONE SHEET

Seeing this poster of Steven Soderbergh‘s latest film, The Informant!, got me thinking about how much I enjoy the creativity behind his one sheets. There’s the ode to the 1940s studio system with The Good German, the pulpy feel of Out of Sight, then there’s the fragmented visual style with The Limey and The Girlfriend Experience. In a time when most filmmakers are just happy audiences show up to the theaters, it’s nice to see there’s at least one who’s still nostalgic for the oldest form of movie marketing (though I have no idea if he has a hand in […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Sep 1, 2009
THIS WEEKEND: STILL WALKING AND BIG FAN

Posted this morning over on the main page are interviews with Hirokazu Kore-eda on his touching family drama Still Walking and Robert Siegel talks about his dark comedy Big Fan. Both films open in limited release this weekend.
by Jason Guerrasio on Aug 26, 2009
Hirokazu Kore-eda on Still Walking

A connoisseur of longing and remembrance who brings great sensitivity to each of his reflective fables, Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda should be better known in the States, as his films extend the tradition of world-class artists like Naruse and Ozu. Enthralled with the operation of memory and the impact of grief on the lives of everyday people, Kore-eda has created a body of work that’s as rich with feeling as it is modest in tone. In Maborosi (1995), Kore-eda told the story of a quietly devastated young widow struggling to move on after her husband commits suicide. He then departed from […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Aug 26, 2009
“HUSBANDS”

If you never saw Husbands during its brief release in 1970 through Columbia (mostly misunderstood by critics, audiences and even the studio that released it) or bought it on VHS, you’ve probably only heard of it through discussions people have of John Cassavetes’ work or books written on the actor/director. If you’ve read about the film, like I have, you’re probably excited for this release, as for the first time, Husbands is being released close to how Cassavetes wanted it to be seen. It is one of my favorite chapters in Ray Carney’s seminal book on Cassavetes’ life and work, […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Aug 21, 2009
IFP ANNOUNCES 31st ANNUAL INDEPENDENT FILM WEEK LINE UP

The IFP has announced its line up for the 31st annual Independent Film Week, taking place in NYC Sept. 19-24. In a release the organization has also announced the expansion of its strategic relationship with the Sundance Institute; and new partnerships with B-Side, the four-year-old tech company which runs websites that handle ticketing and mine audience response data for 250-plus fests in North America, and The Good Pitch, a forum produced by Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation which brings together inspiring social-purpose film projects and a group of expert participants from charities, foundations, brands, government and media to form powerful alliances […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Aug 12, 2009
ALMODOVAR’S BROKEN EMBRACES TO CLOSE 09 NYFF

The line up for the 47th New York Film Festival has been announced. The U.S. premiere of Alain Resnais‘s Wild Grass will open the fest and Pedro Almodóvar‘s Broken Embraces will close. NYFF will run Sept. 25 – Oct. 11. (Click here to watch our video coverage of last year’s fest by Jamie Stuart.) Full line up is below. OPENING NIGHTWild Grass / Les herbes follesAlain Resnais, France, 2009; 113mThe venerable Alan Resnais creates an exquisite human comedy of manners, mystery and romance with some of France’s – and our – favorite actors: Sabine Azéma, André Dussollier, Emmanuelle Devos and […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Aug 12, 2009
“THE GOODTIMESKID”

Before there was Momma’s Man there was The GoodTimesKid. In Azazel Jacobs’s second feature you can see his style beginning to take form, meshing a punk-rock attitude with cinema influences as wide ranging from Chaplin to Jarmusch. In The GoodTimesKid Jacobs and Drama/Mex director Gerardo Naranjo both play men named Rodolfo Cano. Both men learns of the other when a congratulation letter of enlistment in the Army is sent to the wrong Rodolfo (Naranjo), leading to the other getting drunk and into fights while Rodolfo II gets better acquainted with Rodolfo I’s (Jacobs) girlfriend, Diaz (Sara Diaz). Spanning 24 hours […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Aug 10, 2009
JOHN HUGHES DEAD AT 59

In shocking news earlier today, Variety reports that director John Hughes died of a sudden heart attack while walking this morning in Manhattan. He was 59. The creator of some of the most iconic films of the 80s, Hughes has stayed out of the public eye for the last ten years, and even wrote many screenplays in the 2000s under the pseudonym Edmond Dantès. Along with producing and writing such films as the National Lampoon Vacation films, Pretty in Pink and the Home Alone films, Hughes kept the good ones to direct. This is Hughes’ COMPLETE list of directing credits […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Aug 6, 2009
…CROWNED IN GLOURY

Just put up on YouTube is this trailer for Nation’s Pride, the film that everyone (including Hitler) goes to see in Quentin Tarantino‘s Inglourious Basterds. The Pride footage was directed by Eli Roth (who plays “The Bear Jew” in the film — and is quite good, I may add). What I love about the trailer is it plays it completely straight (outside of the modern day digital effects and the intentional inclusion of “U” — “…his name will be crowned in gloury”). And for kicks, also below is my favorite part of Grindhouse, Roth’s fake trailer, Thanksgiving. (If they’re going […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Aug 5, 2009

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