Filmmaking

BROOKLYN RULES

If you’re in New York City this week check three free screenings at the Brooklyn Academy of Music: Jim McKay’s features Our Song, Everyday People and the most recent, Angel Rodriguez. Since Our Song in 2000 McKay has been making lovingly crafted dramas that quite movingly dig into the lives of characters often overlooked by both mainstream Hollywood and independent film. All three films are set in Brooklyn, and the latest stars newcomer Jonan Everett (pictured) and Rachel Griffiths in the story of a troubled inner-city teenager and the guidance counselor who is trying to help while confronting problems of […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 17, 2006 Filmmaking
INCINERATED

I was walking down St. Mark’s Place the other day and saw that a CBBG fashion store is going in at the site of the old Fillmore East. And, Hilly’s been talking about moving the legendary but now shuttered rock club to Las Vegas. So, I guess now is a good time to link to Braden King’s new Sonic Youth video, “Do You Believe in Rapture.” It’s his loving elegy to the club in all of its grimy, decaying, sticker-over-stickered, disgusting bathroom-ed glory, and it contains Super 8 footage from Jem Cohen. Also: Claire Denis’s sensuously jittery video for another […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 16, 2006 Filmmaking
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER

Currently out on DVD through First Run Features, Michael Apted‘s 49 UP continues the examination of the lives of 14 people that began when they were children in Paul Almond‘s Seven Up! Via GreenCine here’s a Q&A with Apted on the UP series.

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 16, 2006 Filmmaking
THE BEST FILM NOT PLAYING AT A THEATER NEAR YOU

IFP Gotham Awards are around the corner and this year you have a chance to see the nominees for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You. From Nov. 24-27 they’ll be screening at MoMA leading up to the announcement of the winner, selected by Filmmaker, at the Gotham Awards Nov. 29th. The five nominees — So Yong Kim‘s In Between Days, Richard Wong‘s Colma: The Musical, Steve Barron‘s Choking Man, Goran Dukic‘s Wristcutters—A Love Story, and Jake Clennell’s The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief — were selected by a panel of advisors from numerous […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 16, 2006 Filmmaking
TRULY INDIE… TRULY!

Over at his blog, Doug Block responds to a comment I made about his interview (linked below) with Sujewa Ekanayake about the Truly Indie release of his 51 Birch Street. Scott Macaulay at Filmmaker was a tad disappointed that I didn’t do more hardcore number crunching, but there’s a reason for that. When we signed the deal, Truly Indie asked me not to (largely because they’re considering raising their fees at some point). Personally, I think that’s a bit silly, since if filmmakers knew how relatively low the cost is, they’d be flocking to Truly Indie’s door. But TI’s Kelly […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 16, 2006 Filmmaking
THE FUTURE OF FILM

Because it was in the “Small Business” section, some of you may have missed this piece in the New York Times on the future of film. An excerpt: A WEDDING, as the saying goes, is the beginning of a new life. But for Paul and Kristine Korver, it was also the start of a novel business. Soon after they married, they founded Fifty Foot Films, a Hollywood-based company that is dedicated to fixing major life events on film — a medium that many videographers regard as too risky, sensitive and pricey to be profitable. In the last four years, the […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 15, 2006 Filmmaking
DOC SHORT LIST

Over at The Hot Blog David Poland gives us some Oscar hopefuls for Best Doc. Though I haven’t seen all of these I would have to say one of my favorite docs of the year so far is Deborah Scranton‘s The War Tapes. When I saw it at Tribeca (where it won Best Doc) I was drawn not only by its originality of looking at the war but how Scranton stays with the soldiers as they return home and start a whole new battle: adjusting to civilian life. In some ways that’s harder than surviving the war.

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 15, 2006 Filmmaking
ADRIENNE SHELLY FOUNDATION

I received the following press release about a foundation formed in the memory of director and actress Adrienne Shelly. The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the memory of Writer/Director/Actress Adrienne Shelly, is being founded by her husband, Andy Ostroy. Plans include a Womens’ Filmmaking Scholarship Fund, with a particular emphasis on awarding film school scholarships and helping women make the transition from acting to directing. “I know what Adrienne would want most would be to help women get a chance to pursue their dream,” says Ostroy. More initiatives from the foundation will be announced at a later […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 14, 2006 Filmmaking
’70s FASHION

Via Monika Bartyzel at Cinematical is this YouTube link to Francesco Vezzoli’s Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal’s Caligula. Starring Karen Black, Milla Jovovich, Courtney Love, Gore Vidal, and Oscar-bound Helen Mirren, the short film, which was exhibited at both the Venice Biennale and the Whitney Biennial, campily critiques the periodic influx of fashion designers and promoters into the art world. And, from the link on both Cinematical and GreenCine, I learned a new abbreviation — NSFW. As in, “not safe for work.”

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 14, 2006 Filmmaking
STRANGERS ON DVD

Out on DVD today is the raunchy and hilarious Strangers With Candy. Even if you weren’t a big fan of the TV show this movie is still worth checking out. If not for the handful of A-list cameos, watch it for the absurd scenes between Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert. Priceless. Created by Sedaris, Colbert and Paul Dinello (who also directed the film), GreenCine dug up this Q&A Andy Spletzer had with the trio when it played at Sundance.

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 14, 2006 Filmmaking

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