Filmmaker Videos
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Godard Excuses Himself from Cannes with “Letter in Motion to Gilles Jacob and Thierry Fremaux
More than half a century since Breathless, Godard still enjoys his fair share of devotees despite a descent into overwrought provocations. Rather than field befuddled questions following the premiere of his 3-D talking dog opus Goodbye to Language after its Cannes premiere this morning, the filmmaker recused himself from promotion with the above. Opening with the official seal of “Khan Khanne,” the “Letter in Motion to Gilles Jacob and Thierry Fremaux,” fashions clips from Godard’s own work, asides from Hannah Arendt, and ruminations on these “other worlds” he now inhabits. I began trying to draw out what little French I understand before noticing that Indiewire had translated the […]
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Watch: An Interview with Searching For Sugar Man Director Malik Bendjelloul
Thanks to director Darius Devas for emailing us about his interview from SXSW 2012 with Malik Bendjelloul, the late director of Searching For Sugar Man. In this five-minute interview, a thoroughly engaged Bendjelloul talks about finding his story, constructing a narrative that builds from one “and then” moment to another, and the human brain’s close resemblance to a chimpanzee’s.
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Watch: Visual Effects from 1878 to Now
Recently, someone on my Twitter feed ruminated that directors used to proudly point out instances of visual effects, where today, they are want to highlight in camera effects. The times they are a changin’. This supercut from Jim Casey neatly considers the evolution of VFX across 136 years, from 1878 to today. With glimpses of Le Voyage dans la Lune and Metropolis to Gravity and Inception, the aesthetic beauty of the films has arguably improved, if at the expense of the overall storytelling. I’m still scratching my head over last year’s rapturous response to Gravity, which merely proved that 3-D could be artful, even if the script was still pedestrian.
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Smartphone Cinematography: Viable Gimmick?
Making its way on the festival circuit since last fall’s Raindance is a film called I Play With The Phrase Each Other, which purports to be the first-ever feature comprised entirely of cell phone calls. It is, rather fittingly, shot on an iPhone and rendered in attractive black-and-white hues that belie its format. In addition to serving as a nice narrative tie-in, the filmmakers choice of camera was also likely dictated by budgetary constraints (or, perhaps as more likely, an Apple tie-in.) Still, it’s remarkable that a lucrative automobile giant like Bentley Motors would shoot their latest ad campaign on a consumer phone like […]
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Trailer Watch: Land Ho!
While Christopher Nolan’s co-opted eyeballs with the trailer to what is sure to be another portentous sci-fi jaunt, a nice tonic is to be found in this glimpse of Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens’ Sundance charmer, Land Ho! Paul Eenhoorn and Earl Lynn Nelson star as a couple of ex-brother-in-laws who take to Reykjavik to “get their groove back.” Damping down the epiphanies and life crises that accompany most riffs on the road movie, Land Ho! finds its subtle grace in situational hilarity. Sony Pictures Classics will release the film stateside on July 11.
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Trailer Watch: Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner
One of several high profile titles premiering this week at Cannes, Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner explores the late career of the eccentric 19th century British painter. Foremost regarded for his alternately bleak and hilarious portraits of middle class London, it will be interesting to see Leigh tackle a (period steeped) biopic. Of course, character driven narratives are Leigh’s bread and butter, given his now widely imitated scripting process in which the fruits of rehearsals are folded into the pages. Starring frequent collaborator Timothy Spall, the film premieres tomorrow in Competition and will be released by Sony Pictures Classics on December 10. Watch the trailer […]
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Watch David Lynch’s Animated 2002 Series Dumbland
Shortly after the release of his masterpiece Mulholland Drive, David Lynch took a little downtime to create an early incarnation of the webseries: the aptly titled Dumbland. A profane series of vignettes centered around an irascible man, the bizarrely hilarious episodes feature Lynch’s own chicken scratch and characteristically strong sound design. You can watch all eight of them above, and be sure to stick around for the dancing ants featured in the final episode.
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Watch: Creation Sequence from Noah
I didn’t see Noah, but if critical consensus serves, it seems the crown jewel of Aronofsky’s Biblical blockbuster attempt is now online. This three-minute, seemingly computer generated sequence re-imagines Genesis, Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel to aesthetically pleasing and compact effect. Set against Russell Crowe’s narration, the evolution of animals and man is particularly striking. One bone to pick: before gifting Eve with the apple, snakes could walk.
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The Angry Video Game Nerd Goes from Web Series to Film
Talk to an independent filmmaker these tales and at some point in the conversation you’ll find out they are working on a web series. (Or, at least that’s been the case for me when I bumped into a recent 25 New Face here in New York and a filmmaker colleague in San Francisco last week.) But the web series/feature film continuum can work in reverse too. “The Angry Video Game Nerd” web series has been covering the world of video games since 2006, with its host Cinemassacre YouTube channel having almost 1.5 million subscribers. For the last two years, AVGN […]
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Music Video: Chandelier by Sia
This video has already blown up everywhere, and if you’re like me, you might have ignored the countless posts and recommendations filling up your Facebook walls. Mistake. It really is something, spectacularly choreographed by Ryan Heffington and directed by Sia herself and Daniel Askill. The video features 11-year-old Maddie Ziegler, found on the reality show Dance Moms, in a wig referencing the singer but also, you can’t help but flash on, Daryl Hannah’s Bladerunner character. Ziegler’s dancing is thrilling, and the song itself is a monster, with its big chorus and Sia’s vocal pyrotechnics kicking in unexpectedly and breaktakingly early. […]
