Authors — Scott Macaulay
-
Watch: Steve James on How and Why Nashville Influenced his Filmmaking
Here’s a great video from Criterion in which documentary filmmaker Steve James (The Keeper, Stevie, Hoop Dreams) discusses how he was influenced by Robert Altman’s Nashville. He begins by noting that your most influential films are the ones you see when you’re young and falling in love with cinema, and he then goes on to say that he wasn’t interested in documentary filmmaking when he encountered Altman’s work. But there were aspects of Nashville that impressed him — including, yes, the zooms! — as well as notions of structure that wound up rippling into films like The Interruptors.
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 6, 2017 -
Watch: Shaka King Erases “Racial Glaucoma” in Short Film LaZercism
Newlyweeds writer/director Shaka King, who last appeared on the site with his excellent Sundance short Mulligans, is back with another imaginatively executed, of-the-moment short. LaZercism is his riff on “racial glauccoma,” a disease affecting white people that prevents them from seeing the contributions of — or just seeing at all — people of color. The comedy short, which stars Keith Stanfield (Short Term 12, Atlanta) and Robert Longstreet (I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore), proposes an easy, outpatient procedure to correct the affliction.
by Scott Macaulay on May 31, 2017 -
DP Sean Price Williams on Shooting 2-Perf 35mm for the Cannes Competition Film Good Time
“Hey, it’s me,” said Sean Price Williams as he walked up to me at the after-party for Josh and Benny Safdie’s simply fantastic Good Time in Cannes last week. It did take me a second to recognize Williams — cleanly shaven, in a spiffy tux and strolling around a Dior-sponsored event for a film in the Main Competition of the Cannes Film Festival. If Williams seemed like a bit of a happy anomaly there, it’s because, like Good Time itself, the DP has ascended to cinema’s most revered platform with work that’s wholly of a piece with the raw, street-level […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 30, 2017 -
At Cannes 2017, The Square Wins Palme d’Or; Coppola Best Director; and Lynne Ramsay’s Latest Wins Two
Here, as they are announced, are the winners of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. Palme d’Or: The Square, Ruben Östlund. Special Prize for the 70th Anniversary: Nicole Kidman Grand Prix: 120 Beats Per Minute, directed by Robin Campillo Jury Prize: Loveless, Andrey Zvyagintsev Best Actress: Diane Kruger, In the Fade Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here Best Director: Sofia Coppola, The Beguiled Best Screenplay: The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lathimos and Efthymis Filippou) and Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here) The Camera d’Or (given to best first film): Jeunne Femme/Montparnasse Bienvenue, directed by Leonor […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 28, 2017 -
Trailer Watch: Josh and Benny Safdie’s Good Time, Starring Robert Pattinson and Benny Safdie
One of my most anticipated films of the summer is Josh and Benny Safdie’s Good Time, which premieres in a few days in the Main Competition of the Cannes Film Festival. The first trailer has just dropped from A24, and it shows Robert Pattinson as a bank robber trying to get his accomplice — his brother, played by Benny Safdie — sprung from Rikers Island. Jennifer Jason Leigh appears as well as Buddy Duress, who co-starred in the Safdies’ previous Heaven Knows What. It’s a heartbreaker of a trailer scored to an original song by Oneohtrix Point Never and Iggy […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 16, 2017 -
IFP Announces 10 Films Chosen for its 2017 Narrative Lab
The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), Filmmaker’s publisher, announced today the projects selected for the 2017 edition of its Narrative Labs. A program designed for first-time filmmakers currently in post-production on narrative films, it provides resources and mentorship on all the activities that go into finishing a film and taking it out into the world, from work with music and sound, to locking picture, to festival and distribution strategies. The program begins today and runs through May 12 at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP located in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Commented IFP Executive Director Joana Vicente in a press release, […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 9, 2017 -
Trailer Watch: Woodshock, Written and Directed by Kate Mulleavy and Laura Mulleavy
There was a mini-boomlet a few years ago in cinematic fashion films, and Kate Mulleavy and Laura Mulleavy, the two sisters who are the designers for the fashion label Rodarte, were behind several of the best. Working with the director Todd Cole, the films were stunningly beautiful, fitfully mysterious and emotionally ambiguous. Now, the sisters have directed their own first film, out this September from A24. The trailer, posted above, is an absolute knockout — my favorite trailer posted in the last two days. Here’s the press release copy: The exquisite feature film debut of visionary fashion designers Kate and […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 9, 2017 -
Trailer Watch: Blade Runner 2049
A trailer that needs no introduction — especially after countless image drops, promos and even a teaser for the trailer. Here are Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling and Robin Wright in director Denis Villeneuve’s sequel to Ridley Scott’s iconic Blade Runner.
by Scott Macaulay on May 8, 2017 -
Has Reservoir Dogs Aged Well?
While its opening salvo, in which Quentin Tarantino’s legacy is rated against four other directors — three of whom are still fondly thought of here at Filmmaker — is a bit harsh, Evan Puschak’s video appreciation of Reservoir Dogs, QT’s first feature, digs into some of the aspects that make it a still-compelling watch a quarter of a century (!) later. And after you watch, check out Alex Rockwell’s interview with Tarantino upon the film’s release. (HT: Kottke.org)
by Scott Macaulay on May 5, 2017 -
Sundance Announces New Creative Distribution Fellowship with Columbus, Unrest
The Sundance Institute announced today a new initiative aimed at filmmakers going the DIY distribution route. The inaugural projects supported by the Creative Distribution Fellowship are two recommended independent films that premiered this past January at Sundance: Columbus, by Filmmaker 25 New Face :: kogonada, and Unrest, a documentary by director and subject Jennifer Brea. In the press release, Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Columbus and Unrest are perfect examples of the creative spirit of independent filmmaking, and this new Fellowship will provide them with resources, mentorship and tactical support to pioneer independent pathways to audiences. This […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 2, 2017
