Authors — Sarah Salovaara
-
Watch: Jack Dunphy’s Serenity
Jack Dunphy, a co-writer on Nathan Silver’s Stinking Heaven and a frequent collaborator of Caveh Zahedi, is currently raising funds for his first feature, Living With Others, on Kickstarter. To celebrate crossing his initial goal, Dunphy has released his animated, Sundance-selected short Serenity online. Living With Others, which just added Zahedi as an executive producer, will blend live action and animation, and Dunphy had the following to say about his choice: I’m punctuating the movie with animation because it makes it easier for me to communicate difficult thoughts and emotions. Subconscious hang-ups are brought to the surface when I animate, and that helps me realize […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jun 5, 2015 -
Trailer Watch: Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk
Just announced as the Opening Night film of the New York Film Festival, Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk dramatizes Philippe Petit’s 1971 high wire balancing act between the Twin Towers. Staring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Petit, The Walk was described by NYFF festival director Kent Jones as “a classic heist movie in the tradition of The Asphalt Jungle or Bob le flambeur” but with access in lieu of money as the objective. The Walk is set to open (in IMAX) worldwide in October.
by Sarah Salovaara on Jun 4, 2015 -
Trailer Watch: Noah Baumbach’s Mistress America
It’s hard to nail a trailer for a satire that stars such a gratingly self-obsessed character as Greta Gerwig’s Brooke in Mistress America, and this first look from Fox Searchlight sells Baumbach’s latest film as far more ‘quirky’ than it actually is. After seeing it at Sundance, I found it to be a rather clever, entertaining critique of the half-hearted do-it-all millennial ethos, so you can expect much more out of the screwball comedy than this teaser suggests. Mistress America will be released in theaters August 14.
by Sarah Salovaara on Jun 3, 2015 -
“Couple That With a Long Take and I’m Ecstatic”: Chris Bell on The Winds That Scatter
A former critic for The Playlist, Chris Bell fulfills the promise of the observant, patient lens he wielded in shorts such as Bridges with his feature length character study, The Winds That Scatter. Baring more in common with the films of the great Abbas Kiarostami than say your average Brooklyn-based filmmaker, The Winds That Scatter follows a Syrian immigrant named Ahmad as he moves from job to job in nondescript New Jersey. Primarily structured in long takes and slow-burning, affecting episodes, The Winds That Scatter will have its world premiere at the Northside Film Festival next Wednesday at UnionDocs. Filmmaker: You’ve spoken about wanting to create something […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jun 2, 2015 -
Watch: Tony Zhou In Praise of Chairs
Video essayist Tony Zhou recently griped about the preponderance of Fincher, Scorsese, Anderson, Nolan, etc. dissections, and has since turned his efforts to more unusual facets in film history. His latest video, for instance, explores the role of the chair — or, an extension of the production designer — in storytelling. With a wide range of clips, he interrogates the furniture as a conduit for a person, a situation, and the filmic context.
by Sarah Salovaara on May 29, 2015 -
Trailer Watch: James Ponsoldt’s The End of the Tour
Here’s the first trailer for James Ponsoldt’s David Foster Wallace biopic, The End of the Tour, which picked up several nice notices out of Sundance, if not from his family and literary estate. Starring Jason Segel as Wallace and Jesse Eisenberg as the Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky, the two-hander winds through a leg of the former’s book tour for Infinite Jest. A24 will release the film on July 31.
by Sarah Salovaara on May 27, 2015 -
The New York Times Announces It Will No Longer Guarantee Coverage of New Releases
Variety just announced that The New York Times will no longer guarantee critical coverage of every weekly release throughout the five boroughs, perhaps putting an end to, if not a damper on, the long debated practice of four walling. While the decision — gleaned via an email A.O. Scott sent to independent distributors — will likely see smaller companies pulling back on the financially draining one-week theatrical runs and shifting their attention toward VOD, it also ensures a considerable drop in profile for these lesser known releases. A handful of sites like The Dissolve have begun to fold VOD releases into their coverage, but it doesn’t appear that The Times will be […]
by Sarah Salovaara on May 21, 2015 -
Nowhere To Go But Up: The 6th Annual Eastern Oregon Film Festival
“A good movie is like a blast to the head,” growled Dusty Decker — musician, actor, purveyor of the Albino Bumblebee (goat’s milk, Jack Daniels, honey) and something of a local legend in the valley of La Grande, Oregon. His off the cuff commentary, though in jest, nonetheless proved a perfect transition from bb gun toting and hatchet throwing to a roundtable discussion on independent film beneath the towering trees of his backyard. We were all there for the sixth annual Eastern Oregon Film Festival, and the conversation began with the occasion. Just as any old chum can go out and shoot a film […]
by Sarah Salovaara on May 19, 2015 -
“Olivia Can Fly”: Oscar Sharp on The Kármán Line
A BAFTA nominee, Oscar Sharp’s The Kármán Line tells the unusual tale of Sarah (Olivia Colman), who inexplicably begins to levitate in her living room, showing no signs of slowing down, not even as she breaches the atmosphere above her very roof. A rich tonal brew, the film is also a showcase for some seamless visual effects as Sarah moves through floors and the sky alike. Since The Kármán Line premiered at SXSW, Sharp signed with Tobey Maguire’s Mental Pictures and is in development on a sci-fi feature. You can watch the short, now streaming in The New Yorker‘s Screening Room, above, and hear from […]
by Sarah Salovaara on May 15, 2015 -
Chicken & Egg Pictures Announces Call for Accelerator Lab
As part of their 2015 Open Call, Chicken & Egg Pictures has announced a brand new Accelerator Lab, which will focus on identifying and supporting a diverse group of women nonfiction directors who are first- and second-time filmmakers. Five selected applicants will receive a $35,000 grant for the production of a film, to be developed, produced, and launched over the course of a 12-month program (with the possibility of an extension). The grant will be disbursed in two parts, with the first part awarded in November 2015. The catch is that films must already be in production, but with no more than […]
by Sarah Salovaara on May 14, 2015
