Authors — Scott Macaulay
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TRAILER WATCH: HBO’S “LUCK”
Michael Mann, David Milch, Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte… count me in. (Hat tip: Hollywood Elsewhere.) Season 1 Tease
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 26, 2011 -
DAVID LYNCH’S “THE 3 Rs”
While we wait, perhaps quixotically, for a new David Lynch feature, here is The 3 Rs, a short film commissioned by and for the Film Festival Viennale. (If you’re a Lynch fan, make sure to check out our Blue Velvet project, a year-long consideration of his classic feature.)
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 24, 2011 -
INDEPENDENT FILM WEEK SNAPSHOTS
Yes, as Dan Schoenbrun notes below, there was a lot of paella at the Copacabana club last night for Independent Film Week’s closing party. Here are a few of the photo’s I snapped during the week. Pariah producer Nekisa Cooper (left) attended Independent Film Week with a No Borders project, Five Nights in Maine. It’s the debut feature of Bay area producer Maris Curran (right). Here they are at one of the evening cocktail parties at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Zach Lieberman (left) and Koo (right) were two of our “25 New Faces,” selected after they premiered the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 23, 2011 -
An Interview with Shit Year‘s Cam Archer
This post was originally published when Shit Year premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. The film opens today at the IFC Center. It is both accurate and reductive to call Cam Archer’s Shit Year, which premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in the Director’s Fortnight section, the story of a retiring actress grappling with the emotions produced by her move away from the Hollywood spotlight. Of course, on narrative terms, that is what it’s about. Ellen Barkin plays the actress, who has just given her final talk-show interview, moved to a cabin in the woods, and now […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 21, 2011 -
Joe Swanberg, Factory 25 Announce New DVD Subscription Series
Prolific independent director Joe Swanberg announced today a new distribution plan for his next four films. Partnered with Factory 25, Swanberg is offering fans a four-film, one-year subscription to his work. For $99.95 subscribers will receive a box that will fill up each quarter with not only DVDs but also bonus material, including 45rpm records, photo books and posters. “I’m in the nice position right now of having so many [completed] films I’m trying to get out into the world, so I’m taking the plunge and doing something interesting,” says Swanberg.The four films are Silver Bullets and Art History (both […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 20, 2011 -
TORONTO: WHIT STILLMAN DISCUSSES “DAMSELS IN DISTRESS”
Via The Guardian, here’s a talk with Whit Stillman and clips from his new film, Damsels in Distress.
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 19, 2011 -
THOUGHTS ON NETFLIX… QWIKSTER… QWIKFLIX?
Late last night before going to bed I tweeted that I found (soon-to-be-former) Netflix CEO Reed Hasting’s “explanation and reflections” about his company’s pricing change “odd and confusing.” If you haven’t heard, Netflix is splitting in two. Hastings will remain CEO of a streaming video company that will retain the name Netflix. A new CEO, Andy Rendich, has been appointed head of a DVD rental company — formerly Netflix’s core business. The new DVD company will be called Qwikster. Qwikster? It sounds like a new on-the-go breakfast product. (Maybe that’s because I keep flashing back to that little Martian with […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 19, 2011 -
“THE ISLAND PRESIDENT” WINS TIFF DOC AUDIENCE AWARD
The Island President, Jon Shenk’s doc about Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed’s work advocating climate change legislation, has won the Documentary Audience Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. The doc is a spirited, pictorially dazzling story of the charismatic Nasheed’s charmingly quixotic attempt to use the fate of his island nation — ground zero when it comes to impending destruction by rising tides — to alert the world about the dangers of our carbon-producing modern lifestyles. One of the most interesting parts of the doc is Shenk’s behind-the-scenes look at Nasheed in his cabinet meetings and conferences. I interviewed Shenk […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 18, 2011 -
INDEPENDENT FILM WEEK BEGINS
The IFP’s Independent Film Week begins today. Centered this year around the new Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center, the event features talks, panels, seminars, screenings and events focused on the art and business of independent film today. You can find some information on the event at the IFP’s site here, and we’ll try to link to some of the live streams as the Film Week goes along. At 4:30 I’ll be doing a “Hot Button” conversation with producers Ted Hope and Mynette Louie that asks, “Is Independent Film a Hobby or a Business.” And throughout the week […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 18, 2011 -
TORONTO PHOTOS AND NOTES, #2
For several people I talked to, my favorite film at Cannes became their favorite film at Toronto. Oslo, August 31 is Joachim Trier’s follow-up to his inspiring hit film, Reprise. That movie, a tale of youth and best friends and literature and longing and rock and roll, was smart, sophisticated and with an emotional arc like a great mix tape. It was also somewhat dazzling in its montage, using split-screen, freeze frames and a European post-punk soundtrack to make its story of young Norwegian literati one that felt like young adulthood everywhere. After several years working on a larger-scale American […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 17, 2011
