Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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LCD SOUNDSYSTEM LIVE FROM MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
I just figured out I can embed this… Their last NYC show. Wish I was there… but running this through my PS3 to my TV is not bad. (If you don’t see the video, click the headline above.) UPDATE: Sorry I didn’t see the show live; it was amazing. The live stream was surprisingly good, though. Here’s a clip — Arcade Fire guesting on backing vocals for “North American Scum.” SECOND UPDATE: Here’s the whole show. Thank you, LCD Soundsystem and Pitchfork.
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REBECCA BLACK IN HELL
Although there are exceptions, I try to avoid pop-culture ephemera here on the ol’ Filmmaker blog. So there’s been no Rebecca Black, although I’ve been as bemused (and annoyed) as the rest of you. But this video appropriation is pretty wack. The band is Cynical Mass.
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APRIL VOD CALENDAR
Now up is our curated list of VOD titles for April. Some notables include Sofia Coppola‘s Somewhere, the grindhouse Hobo with a Shotgun, the latest doc from Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker Kings of Pastry and James Gunn‘s Super, which is in theaters this weekend if you can’t wait for it on VOD on the 13th. And to find more films that have been released in previous months on VOD or streaming, go to our VOD home page.
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Le Quattro Volte — A Hammer to Nail Review
(Distributed by Lorber Films, Le Quattro Volte opens theatrically at the Film Forum on Wednesday, March 30, 2011. Click on one of the previous links to learn more.) They’re called motion pictures, but in the case of Michelangelo Frammartino’s Le Quattro Volte, that term isn’t quite accurate. Motion painting is more like it. Spiritual yet not overtly religious, playful yet dramatic, patient yet never ponderous, Frammartino’s extraordinary celebration of the cycle of life is as close to church as cinema can get. The beauty of this masterfully wrought docu-poem is that for all its superficial “art film” trappings, Le Quattro […]
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SARAH PALIN DEFENDS FILM TAX INCENTIVES
In my review of 2010 in film, appearing in the Winter issue of Filmmaker soon to depart newsstands, I predicted controversy in 2011 over state film tax credit and incentive programs. That controversy has today landed on an unlikely target: Sarah Palin. First, here’s what I wrote: In December, Wall Street analyst Meredith Whitney made waves when she predicted a wave of municipal bond defaults, highlighting the perilous financial position of recession-strapped state and local governments. Indeed, independent filmmakers might find their beloved film incentive and rebate programs impacted in 2011. The seeds of this began in late 2010, with […]
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Blank City, Blank Generation
Here’s a brand new clip from Celine Danhier’s essential documentary on the wildly creative New York No Wave film scene of the early 1980s, Blank City. Appearing here are Steve Buscemi, Amos Poe, Vivienne Dick, and others, and clips feature the Talking Heads, Eric Mitchell’s The Way it Is, and more. The movie opens April 6; for more visit the website. And watch this space for an interview with Danhier. And here’s the trailer, which features shots from my favorite movie of this era, Underground USA Blank City Official Trailer from Celine Danhier on Vimeo. .
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TRIBECA ’11 CLOSING WITH EDWARD BURNS’ “NEWLYWEDS”
Edward Burns‘ latest film, Newlyweds, which he also wrote, produced and stars in, will be the closing night film for the 10th Tribeca Film Festival, according to a press release that was sent out today. From the release: The film, shot almost exclusively in New York City’s TriBeCa neighborhood, is a chronicle of modern marriage, pointing out an essential truth: When you get married, you’re not just getting a husband or wife—you’re getting the family, the friends, and even the exes. With crackling humor and sharp insights into contemporary relationships, Burns tracks a newly wedded couple whose honeymoon period is […]
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CONDITION ONE REINVENTS WAR JOURNALISM IN LIBYA
At the end of my profile of filmmaker Danfung Dennis in our 2010 “25 New Faces” feature, I touched on what was then his next project. After completing Hell and Back Again — winner of the World Cinema Jury Prize and World Cinema Cinematography Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival — Dennis embarked on Condition One, which he told me “will use a network of journalists, filmmakers and servicemen to send a stream of high-quality video to millions of mobile devices.” Danfung’s new venture now has a website, a Facebook page and a proof-of-concept video that’s also 90 seconds […]
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Fanny, Annie & Danny — A Hammer to Nail Review
(After winning multiple awards during its festival run — including the Emerging Filmmaker Award at the 2010 Starz Denver Film Festival — Fanny, Annie & Danny screens for one night only, Tuesday, March 29, 2011 (for *free*, no less!) at the reRun Theater in New York City. Visit the film’s official website to learn more.) If there’s one universal truth about families, it’s that as cozy and loving and supportive as they can be, they can also be cruel and irritating and patronizing and infuriating and maddening and fisticuffs-inducing and… that will suffice for now. That truth is ratcheted up […]
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ELIZABETH TAYLOR, R.I.P.
