Filmmaking

FIRST TRAILER FOR OLIVER STONE’S W

I was initially a little skeptical that Stone could come up with a movie about George Bush that might resonate in the dog days of his presidency, when pretty much everyone just wishes he would hurry up and get the hell out of here. But, I got a kick of this cheeky and ironic first trailer and am hoping that it’s representative of the tone of the final movie.

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 28, 2008 Filmmaking
CATCHING UP WITH THE LONG TAIL

I went on vacation for a couple of weeks (hence the diminished blog posts) just as the online debate over Anita Elberse’s article in Harvard Business Review Online appeared. In case you are interested in the concept of the Long Tail and you haven’t read this piece, I recommend that you click on the link above and check it out. After you finish it you can check out Chris Anderson’s response and Elberse’s response to him. And if you just want a taste of the discussion, you can go to Brian Newman’s short and helpful post on the article, in […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 27, 2008 Filmmaking
DEPRESSED ABOUT FIGHT CLUB

At the Scanners blog, Jim Emerson has a great look back at David Fincher’s Fight Club, viewing it through the personal lens of depression. An excerpt: One of the (many) reasons I probably connect so strongly with David Fincher’s “Fight Club” (1999) is that, by capturing clinical depression more accurately than any other movie I’ve ever seen (though Laurent Cantet’s “Time Out” and Eric Steel’s “The Bridge” delve mighty deep into that abyss), it helped shake me out of the grips of a depression that was sucking me down at the time. I was the only person in the theater […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 27, 2008 Filmmaking
WILD COMBINATION SCORES DEAL

Indiewire reports that Filmmaker 25 New Face director Matt Wolf has just signed a deal with Plexifilm for his Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell. The film will open at the IFC Center on September 26 and will appear on the Plexifilm DVD label.

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 27, 2008 Filmmaking
BENH, AGAIN

Over at his Cinema Echo Chamber, Brandon Harris picks up where his “25 New Faces” profile of Benh Zeitlin (photographed here by Richard Koek) left off with this wide-ranging interview. Here Zeitlin talks about the accident he suffered while on his way to the film’s premiere. CEC: Your film won a shorts prize at SXSW – sadly, you we’re hospitalized just prior due to an auto accident, correct? How is your recovery going? Zeitlin: The accident happened days after finishing a year and half of breathing Glory at Sea around the clock, so it was kind of a mandatory vacation, […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 26, 2008 Filmmaking
STRETCHED OUT AND TWISTED

I normally hate effects-heavy videos like this… but this one is great: “Corporate Cannibal,” from the new Grace Jones record, directed by Nick Hooker. An analysis by Steven Shaviro is here. (Hat tip: GreenCine.)

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 26, 2008 Filmmaking
Wire Framed

Over at The House Next Door, Godfrey Cheshire explains his decision to walk out on a press screening of James Marsh’s documentary Man on Wire: The reason for my discomfort was simple: The movie’s soundtrack contains frequent borrowings from the Michael Nyman scores of well-known Peter Greenaway films (as well as couple of other Nyman tracks, including one from Jane Campion’s The Piano). This, for me, totally destroyed the experience of watching Marsh’s film. I would be trying to follow the story when, every three or four minutes, that familiar music would blare out and my mind would be whipsawed […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 25, 2008 Filmmaking
ARONOFSKY TO DIRECT NEW ROBOCOP

Christopher Nolan to Batman. Bryan Singer to X-Men (and I guess you could say Superman). Sam Raimi to Spider-Man. Now, Darren Aronofsky to RoboCop. All directors who made their marks in the indie world and have moved to the studio machine. You could make the argument that out of these names Aronofsky would be the least tempted to go down this road. Is it strictly for the money, or is there a little sprinkle of youthful nostalgia? MGM has tentatively slated the RoboCop film for 2010.

By Jason Guerrasio on Jul 25, 2008 Filmmaking
RED ENVELOPE, R.I.P.

Anthony Kaufman reports on indieWIRE today Netflix‘s folding of its production/acquisition unit, Red Envelope Entertainment. An excerpt: Due to changing marketplace conditions and the natural evolution of Netflix, according to Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, the company decided it was time to move on. “The one thing we learned this year is that there’s no shortage of produced movies and there’s no shortage of money for viable projects,” Sarandos told indieWIRE yesterday. “The best role we play is connecting the film to the audience, not as a financier, not as a producer, not as an outside distributor or marketer.” “It […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Jul 23, 2008 Filmmaking
Summer Issue Online

For those of you who just check out the blog, over on the main page select stories from the Summer issue are up. That includes: This year’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film, and interviews with the Duplass Brothers on their latest film Baghead, Alex Holdridge on In Search of a Midnight Kiss, James Marsh talks about his doc Man on Wire, and a rare interview with the reclusive band Daft Punk who’ve made their first film, Electroma. Plus: Lance Weiler shows how to create a fan base online, David Rosen breaks down the next telecom war, and Shelley H. […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Jul 23, 2008 Filmmaking

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