Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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Sasha Grey’s Neü Sex
NOTE: Between the time I began reading Neu Sex and beginning this piece and the time I finished it, Sasha Grey publicly announced her official retirement from the adult video industry. If there is a certain bit of schizophrenia that follows below, this might account for that. I’ve noticed a recurring theme in the criticisms that have awaited the publication of porn star/legit actress Sasha Grey’s first book of photography, Neü Sex: this book would never have been published if she wasn’t a hardcore porn performer; she’s whoring her body to gain publicity; there are so many other talented young […]
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“A SCREAMING MAN” HAMMER TO NAIL REVIEW
(A Screaming Man was picked up for distribution by Film Movement. It opens theatrically at the Film Forum on Wednesday, April 13, 2011. Visit the film’s official page at the Film Movement website to learn more. ) For the first half of Mahamet-Saleh Haroun’s A Screaming Man, you might think Haroun’s sole mission is to deliver one of those poignant little personal fables that feel warmly contained within their own worlds. But something happens along the way. The news reports of civil unrest that filter through the background of so many early scenes maneuver their way into the forefront, to […]
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CANNES 2011 LINEUP ANNOUNCED
The line up for the 64th Cannes Film Festival was announced today in Paris. Some of the familiar faces headed to the South of France this year include the Dardenne brothers, Nicolas Winding Refn, Pedro Almodovar and Terrence Malick who all have films in competition. Jodi Foster‘s The Beaver and Rob Marshall‘s installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise will play out of competition. While Gus Van Stant, Bruno Dumont and Sean Durkin will have films in Un Certain Regard. The complete list of titles are below. The Cannes Film Festival will take place May 11-22. Competition: “La […]
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SEAN COMBS GIVES SXSW FILMMAKER $1,000
Here’s a weird clip — Sean Combs stopped by the taping of Carson Daly’s interview with Bellflower director Evan Glodell at SXSW and wound up handing him $1,000. Both Alicia Van Couvering and I liked this movie at Sundance, so Diddy’s largesse is for a good cause.
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David Leitner Reports Form Rge Final Cut pro X Unveiling
While I was following the premiere of the new Final Cut Pro X at the Las Vegas FCPUG Super Meet Up at NAB Tuesday night via Twitter (and posting some of the best tweets below), David Leitner, d.p. and editor who is reporting for us from the conference, was in the room. I got him on the phone as he left the presentation, and in this audio interview he talks about native editing, the changes in the UI, the “magic” of Apple, the price, the shortcuts built into the app, the new capabilities of the timeline, the color matching, the […]
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Apple Announces New Final Cut Pro At NAB
“Something as revolutionary as the first version of Final Cut Pro when introduced in 1999.” That’s how the new version of Apple’s editing software was announced at the Final Cut Pro User Group Super Meet Up at NAB tonight. The new version of FCP has been hinted at for months, and after several prominent editors were shown a demo — and made to sign NDA’s that apparently only allowed them to leak words like “awesome” — the post production community has been awaiting its official unveiling. Many thought it would appear this summer alongside the release of the new OS, Lion, […]
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WATCH TV ON THE RADIO’S FILM, “NINE TYPES OF LIGHT”
Coinciding with the release today of TV on the Radio’s new album, Nine Types of Light, is a near-feature consisting of a video for each song, all sequenced with an eye towards a longer-form narrative. From the band’s site: Nine Types of Light is as much an album as it is a movie by TV on the Radio. The movie is meant to be a visual re-imagining of the record, and includes a music video for every song on the album. The band personally asked their friends and the filmmakers they admired to help direct the music videos. Tunde Adebimpe, […]
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Zeina Durra and Elodie Bouchez on The Imperialists Are Still Alive!
In the opening scene of Zeina Durra’s debut, The Imperialists Are Still Alive!, Asya, a young artist, poses naked for the camera. A hijab on her head, a machine gun in hand, she explains to an off-screen assistant her rationale for why the religious freedom fighter she’s portraying might have waxed her pubic hair. It’s a scene that is as funny as it is politically loaded, much like the movie that follows. Although its milieu — the young, privileged and the artistic — is the stuff coming-of-age movies are made of, The Imperialists Are Still Alive! is more than just another […]
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GET TIX FOR SUNDANCE INSTITUTE’S SHORTSLAB: CHICAGO
Last summer in L.A. the Sundance Institute presented their first-ever ShortsLab, a day-long workshop for short filmmakers. The success of the event has led the Institute to expand ShortsLab to three cities this year with the first being Chicago on May 7 (NYC will happen on July 9 and L.A. Aug. 6). The Chicago workshop will include seminars, screenings and panels that focus on story, production and distribution. There will also be a panel dedicated to short film programmers, as they’ll talk candidly about what films they’re looking for and give tips on how to get your short noticed. Some […]
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TRAILER WATCH: “THE COLOR WHEEL”
Described as a “comedic symphony of disappointment and forgiveness,” Alex Ross Perry’s new feature, The Color Wheel, is written by lead Carlen Altman and Perry, and shot in a lovely, low contrast B&W by Sean Price Williams. Some of you may remember Altman for her role in Ry Russo-Young’s You Won’t Miss Me. And you’ll remember Ross from his feature Impoplex of a couple of years ago. According to the website, the film rests “uncomfortably somewhere between the solipsistic, unrepressed id of late Jerry Lewis, the confrontational pseudo-sexual self loathing of Philip Roth, and the black and white motels, diners […]
