Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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KICKSTARTER: “DEATH IN ARIZONA”
I’m a sucker for performance art projects dealing with things like solitude and personal healing. For example, there’s Sophie Calle’s famous Exquisite Pain, which documented her being dumped by a lover by phone at the tail end of a trip to Japan. Another piece involving Japanese hotel rooms, but with a different kind of pain, is Laurel Nakadate’s Love Hotel, currently on view at P.S. 1. In that piece, Nakadate checks into, alone, a series of Japanese sex hotels and photographs herself simulating the acts that go on there. Slotted into this sub-genre is a new film project by Mexican […]
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ANNA CALVI AND… GUY MADDIN?
Anna Calvi’s self-titled album, recently shortlisted for the U.K. Mercury Prize, has been a grower with me in the last few weeks. Now, an interview with Calvi in The Guardian has bumped it up even further. A lot of reviewers have referenced the cinematic quality of Calvi’s songs and, indeed, singles like “Blackout” make one think that she’d be a natural for the next James Bond soundtrack. So, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Calvi’s inspirations are a lot less obvious. Indeed, the only movie that has inspired one of her songs is one of the past decade’s best […]
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Brit Marling and Mike Cahill on Another Earth
Here’s the beginning of my interview with Another Earth screenwriter/star Brit Marling and screenwriter/director Mike Cahill, pictured here at the Crosby Street Hotel. The film is highly recommended, particularly for our specific readership. Not only is it a good movie, but it’s also an excellent example of how a fresh concept and skillful execution can amplify a tiny budget. Read the rest of my interview in this Summer’s print edition. Filmmaker: There’s a lot in the movie. There’s the psychology of grief, science, and metaphysics, all wrapped up in the form of a science-fiction fable. How did all of these […]
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TRAILER WATCH: NICHOLAS WINDING REFN’S “DRIVE”
Here’s the just released redband trailer for Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive, which stars Ryan Gosling and picked up the Best Director award at this year’s Cannes’ Film Festival. I flat out loved this smart throwback to the neon lit, stylish and smart genre movies of the ’80s. More Drive (2011) Videos
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DAVID ROBERT MITCHELL ON MYTHICAL TEENAGERS
For this opening day of Myth of the American Sleepover, which I hope you will all go see this weekend, I thought I’d repost this short Flip interview I did with director David Robert Mitchell at Cannes last year. Also, make sure to check out James Ponsoldt’s interview with Mitchell and his producing and creative team.
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NINA MENKES, AZA JACOBS LAUNCH CINEMAD PODCAST SERIES
Our friend and contributor Mike Plante has just launched a podcast series at his Cinemad site. Below listen to conversations with directors Nina Menkes and Aza Jacobs. Here’s how he intros them: Called “Brilliant, one of the most provocative artists in film today” by The Los Angeles Times, Nina Menkes’s radical and pioneering work synthesizes inner dream-worlds with harsh, outer realities. Her seven films are a body of work Sight and Sound has called “Controversial, intense and visually stunning.” We talk about her films, the notion of the avant-garde tag, her teenage witch school, violence in cinema, freaky animals and […]
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The Myth of the American Sleepover — A Hammer to Nail Review
It’s easy to be judgmental about the characters of David Robert Mitchell’s teen drama, The Myth of the American Sleepover, about the escapades of several adolescents on their last night of summer. You can judge one girl for betraying her friend for their shared object of affection; or one guy for stalking a pair of twins whom he once had a crush on. But to do so would be to sell the film and its characters short. The Myth of the American Sleepover isn’t about actions and events, but moments and gestures. Through the impressionable eyes of a handful of […]
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SUMMER ’11 ISSUE ONLINE
Select stories from our Summer issue are now available, including this year’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. You can also read online our interviews with Steve James on his new film The Interrupters, Evan Glodell talks about Bellflower and doc filmmaker Paul Devlin looks at the battle between documentary filmmakers and the IRS. Plus, columns Culture Hacker, Industry Beat and more. The issue hits stands next week, but you can read it now on your desktop by subscribing to our digital issue. Learn more here. Enjoy.
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Dawning of the Story Hack
By Lance Weiler -
FCP X: More Musings
Since Aesop the fable has been told of the snake or scorpion whose life is being saved by a farmer, turtle, or frog, and who then turns around and inflicts a mortal bite or sting upon its benefactor, perforce sealing its own fate too. The point of the fable is not that snakes or scorpions are evil, but that we each possess an essential nature that drives our behavior, and that others ignore our essential nature at their peril. Hold on to that thought. We’ll come back to it. Since posting my initial notes on FCP X, FIRST MUSINGS, […]
