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We’ve been covering on this blog the intersection between politics and user-generated video, most often by posting some of the better campaign mash-ups that have been posted to YouTube this season. But now, however, anyone (well, any Obama supporter) can go legit with their political ad by taking part in “Obama in 30 Seconds.” The contest is being sponsored by MoveOn.org, and it assembles an incredible panel of judges (Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Lawrence Lessig, James Schamus, Ted Hope, Russell Simmons, Oliver Stone, Moby, Tom Ortenberg, John Legend and DJ Spooky are a few) to pick the best submitted Obama […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 13, 2008Jamie Stuart emailed the following observation about No Country for Old Men after rewatching the film on DVD: I rented No Country yesterday. I’d read a few complaints on Anne T.’s blog about the scene where Bell goes to the motel room — and Chigurh is supposed to be behind the door (people were complaining that Chigurh seemed to have vanished). I always thought Chigurh was simply hiding behind the door, since that’s where he’s shown during the initial cross-cutting. But watching the DVD — and even brighting the image all the way — Chigurh IS NOT THERE when the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 13, 2008Producer Keith Griffiths forwarded the below article about the great Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul and censorship of his latest acclaimed feature, Syndromes and a Century, released in the U.S. by Strand Releasing. He also forwarded the accompanying photos, which are of the actual censorship in progress. Read on… In his review of Syndromes and a Century the Guardian Film Critic Peter Bradshaw, wrote that the film was “Profoundly mysterious, erotic, funny, gentle, playful, utterly distinctive, it is the work of the Thai director and installation-artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who now has a claim to be approaching the league of Kiarostami and […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 12, 2008I don’t know Chris Doyle that well — I’ve met him a few times, have sent him a script, once, I think, and we’ve run articles on him twice in Filmmaker. (One, an interview with August Doyle, is here; the second, by Matt Ross, is here.) But I do have his email address, and whenever I’ve sent him a question he’s always responded surprisingly quickly — like two minutes later. So when I read this interview conducted over the ‘net with Doyle by Stu Van Airsdale, I immediately recognized the great d.p.’s distinctive cadence and penchant for metaphorical musing. Both, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 11, 2008In Filmmaker‘s Fall issue we published And Nothing But the Truth, filmmaker Arne Johnson’s thoughtful meditation on issues of truth and reality as they play out in documentary film practice. Now, you have a chance to see how Johnson resolved these issues for himself in his charming and energetic doc, Girls Rock! The film is currently playing in NY, LA, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Chicago, Seattle, and Portland. Click on the link above to learn more, and check out the trailer below.
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 11, 2008Over at his CinemaTech blog, Scott Kirsner responds responds to an article in the Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern entitled “Size Matters.” In the article, Morgenstern questions whether the viewing medium of handheld devices will lead to artistic cinematic innovation and seems to think it will not. I’m incredibly interested in this subject and will be writing more on it in the future. I said at my SXSW panel that I’m mystified why more independent filmmakers haven’t tried to create innovative content for the web, but, unlike Morgenstern, I don’t think the answer is because the medium of the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 11, 2008Here at Filmmaker you’ll read about the films playing at the South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) at Austin, Texas, but to get the festival you need to understand that films aren’t the only game in town. There’s of course music — SXSW started as a music fest, and, mid-week, when it changes over, the crowded streets will really explode –- but there’s also SXSW Interactive, which focuses on new media and gaming. And then there’s the conference part of SXSW. In the huge Austin Conventional Center, which is the hub of the festival, panels and small group discussions with […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 10, 2008Okay, I’ve posted, MySpace’d and Facebooked you all to death about Ronnie Bronstein’s Frownland, which opens tomorrow at the IFC Center. You know you have to see it, right? You will be graded on it on the upcoming final. And if you’re in Austin for SXSW, as I’ll be, you can score some extra credit by seeing Mary Bronstein’s debut feature Yeast, which premieres there. Mary is Ron’s wife, she co-starred in Frownland, and he was one the cinematographers of her movie. Greta Gerwig also stars. If you want to learn more about it, listen to Mary on the Renart […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 6, 2008The Screen Actor’s Guild has confirmed on its website news that has been floating around the indie world for a few weeks: that SAG will offer “guaranteed completion contracts” to indie productions so that they will be unaffected by a possible strike. What’s great about the SAG news, aside from quite valuably allowing indies to make a living during a labor stoppage, is that it implicitly acknowledges that all producers are not represented by the AMPTP and should not be affected by issues that primarily affect studio moviemaking. From the website: Guaranteed Completion Contracts are only available to independent productions […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 6, 2008Gary Gygax, co-creator of the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons (with Dave Arneson), died on March 4th. He had been in poor health for some time, and apparently died of heart problems. I saw notice of his death on Boing Boing earlier in the week, took a second to recognize Gygax’s name, and then kept on surfing through the site. Later, though, I thought a bit more about Gygax and his cultural contribution and decided to write something here for a couple of reasons. First, I’ll cop to having been a bit of a D&D geek for a couple […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 6, 2008