I was shocked and tremendously saddened to read at Indiewire this morning the news that film critic Peter Brunette died today of a heart attack while attending the Taorima Film Festival in Italy. Eugene Hernandez’s obituary recalls Brunette’s many accomplishments, including his books on Michelangelo Antonioni, Wong Kar-wai and, most recently, Michael Haneke, as well as his work as director of film studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. From an excerpt from a Wake Forest publication quoted by Hernandez: “People should watch art films for the same reason they should read Virginia Woolf as well as Tom Clancy,” […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 16, 2010Caffeine, The Departed and too much B-roll brings out Jamie Stuart’s hardboiled, affectionately profane persona in Splice This, a short film based around his trip to EditFest NY this weekend. It features interview material with longtime Scorsese-collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker and ace editor Alan Heim. (Warning: profanity. Not safe for work.) See more videos on our YouTube channel. You can also download the original Quicktime here.
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 16, 2010At The Film Stage, Kristin Coates has a long and impressively detailed take on the early days of the Sundance Institute and Festival, tracing the social, political and industry currents that lead to the formation of what is now one of the dominant institutions in the world of independent film. The Directors Lab is currently unfolding at Redford’s Sundance Institute in Utah, and Coates’ article is not only a timely tale of Sundance but also a history of the transition from the “New Hollywood” of the mid-’70s to a self-identifying American independent film movement that gathered steam in the ’80s. […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 12, 2010I thought I knew Amos Poe’s first film, but after reading his account of the early days of his career as well as Lower East Side film in general, it turns out that I didn’t. From his piece at Truly Free Film: My first Super 8 film, was a series of shorts made to the Beatles “White” album. I loved that record and came up with short stories or ideas for each song. My friends helped and “acted” in these films. With ”Rocky Racoon” I did single-frame animation, for “Dear Prudence”, I managed to convince the most beautiful girl in […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 11, 2010Looks like Banksy’s Exit to the Gift Shop is influencing folks out there. This viral campaign by a group of San Francisco artists, Freedom From Porn , who are protesting the ban on adult material within Apple’s walled garden, clearly cops a few licks from the British artist’s great new movie. Freedom From Porn from Freedom From Porn on Vimeo.
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 10, 2010Jamie Stuart recently purchased a Canon 7D (see our recent interview with Joshua and Benny Safdie for his work) and has been building some homemade gear. Check out this video demonstrating his DIY portable slider — and also the camera’s awesome night shooting capabilities. You can also download a Quicktime here. Night Moves from The Mutiny Company on Vimeo.
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 8, 2010Written and directed by David Mamet, shot by Robert Elswit, and starring Kristen Bell, Ricky Jay and Ed O’Neill. David Mamet’s “Lost Masterpieces of Pornography” w/ Kristen Bell, Ed O’Neill & Ricky Jay from David Mamet
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 4, 2010I checked out the first two episodes of the Neistat Brothers HBO show on Thursday night at the Rooftop Films premiere party at Kips Bay. I liked them. Somehow, the Neistats got HBO to give them an eight-episode series which mostly seems to be about the two brothers making stuff and doing things and then documenting these processes in as rag-tag, homemade and lo-fi manner as possible. What kind of stuff? Stuff like smuggling American maple syrup past TSA to Amsterdam because the waffles are great but the syrup sucks there, or finding one brother’s biological birth father. (The series […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 4, 2010The bad news regarding state film and television tax credits for films continues. Yesterday, it was reported that Pennsylvania is out of money for new projects applying for their incentive. Now, New Jersey is contemplating halting their incentive for fiscal year 2011, which begins July 1, 2010. Here is a letter I received from Tax Credits LLC. Senator Paul A. Sarlo, Chairman of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, has called a special public Committee hearing to discuss the future of New Jersey’s Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program. The Hearing will take place on Wednesday, June 9th, from […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 4, 2010With both our “25 New Faces” feature and the IFP’s Narrative Lab coming up, I’ve been kind of backlogged here on the blog. But, I just posted a couple of things: first, Livia Bloom’s recap of Cannes in our Festival Coverage section, and then my interview with Shit Year director Cam Archer, conducted in Cannes after the premiere of his film in the Director’s Fortnight section. And, in a separate post, Bloom wonders why there were not any female directors in Competition in Cannes this year. You can check them out at the links.
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 2, 2010