Load & Play

“LIBERTY KID”

An intimate portrait of a pair of friends’ struggle to get by in a post-9/11 New York, Ilya Chaiken‘s sophomore effort (her previous feature was Margarita Happy Hour) has an authentic feel of urban life and an impressive story arch that surpasses its low-budget expectations. The film opens with Derrick (Al Thompson) and Tico (Kareem Saviñon) working on Liberty Island during the day and partying up at night. Though Derrick is more goal oriented than Tico, they both are stuck in the same rut when the Towers come down as they lose their jobs and struggle to find work. Though […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 10, 2008 Load & Play
“LYNCH”

The director known as blackANDwhite gives a rare and revealing glimpse into the mind and working habits of David Lynch. Sometimes funny, sometimes bizarre but always entertaining, the film is as experimental and abstract as the filmmaker it covers. For those who are disappointed never to really get a sense of how Lynch works from the limited extras in his DVD releases, Lynch goes beyond the trademark chain smoking and weird hairdo to show an outgoing, pleasant human being with an insatiable creative drive and a love for Bastille Day. (It will make sense when you see it.) Shot in […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Sep 9, 2008 Load & Play
“TEAM PICTURE”

Named one of 2007’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film, Memphis writer-director Kentucker Audley‘s debut feature continues the mumblecore tradition of twentysomethings exploring life and love, but set out in the country where things are a little more laid back than the usual metropolitian mumblecore setting, Audley’s (who’s real name is Andrew Nenninger) tender tale of a young man on the cusp of adulthood is a loose, comedic look at a simple life that grows more complicated by the day. Also starring as the lead, Audley plays a young musician who spends his days writing songs while lounging in his […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Sep 7, 2008 Load & Play
“MARDI GRAS: MADE IN CHINA”

The vastly different worlds of Mardi Gras and Chinese factories meet head-on in Mardi Gras: Made in China. Asking the question where do those beads come from, director David Redmon captures the insane atmosphere of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where thousands and thousands of strings of beads are bought and given away to revelers. More common than just handing out beads is the ritual that started in the 70s of women flashing their boobs in exchange for a single string of beads. The doc gives a down-to-earth view of a Chinese factory that makes the beads, showing the ins […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Jul 29, 2008 Load & Play
“THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS”

With word that Quentin Tarantino has FINALLY begun work on a remake of Italian director Enzo G. Castellari’s EuroCult classic The Inglorious Bastards, Severin Films has put together a remastered three-disc release of the original, the first time it’s been available in the States (though there have been numerous incarnations — you may recall Deadly Mission and G.I. Bro). An homage to war films before it like The Dirty Dozen, Kelly’s Heroes and Peckinpah’s Cross of Iron but with a little more edge and a Spagheti Western feel (not to mention one of the best film titles ever created), Bo […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Jul 26, 2008 Load & Play
“ELECTROMA”

I gotta admit, I had no clue who Daft Punk was when I got a DVD of their first film, Electroma, in the mail. Now, I did vaguely recall the title because people were telling me that it was a bore (it premiered at Cannes in 2006). But after watching it I strongly disagree. A beautifully shot, intimate story with no dialogue, Daft Punk (Thomas Bangalter & Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo) creates a touching commentary on life and the loneliness of being an outcast. In Electroma, we follow two robots — decked out in matching jumpsuits with “Daft Punk” spelled out […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Jul 23, 2008 Load & Play
“OFF THE GRID”

Nominated as one of the “Best Films Not Playing at a Theater Near You” at last year’s Gotham Awards, Jeremy & Randy Stulberg’s Off The Grid: Life on the Mesa examines a group of people who have given up the amenities we all take for granted to live an existence that includes little food, water and no electricity. In the middle of the barren prairies of New Mexico, a small community of war vets, hippies and runaways live “off the grid” in what they believe is the last strand of the American Dream, but the Stulbergs find it more often […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Jul 18, 2008 Load & Play
“HEAVY METAL IN BAGHDAD”

Highlighted in The New York Times as well as our magazine during it’s impressive run through the festival circuit that included Toronto, Berlin and SXSW, Eddy Moretti and Vice magazine creator Suroosh Alvi‘s documentary on the only heavy metal band in Iraq is a gripping account of survival and the escape that music can bring. The band, Acrassicauda (English translation: Black Scorpion), is comprised of a group of twentysomethings who learned how to speak English through watching Hollywood movies and listening to bootleg tapes of Metallica and Slayer. Moretti and Alvi first heard of the band soon after the fall […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Jun 14, 2008 Load & Play
“BELLA”

Winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival in 2006 followed by an impressive festival circuit run, Mexican director Alejandro Gomez Monteverde‘s moving debut feature follows the events that occur during one day in New York City to a former soccer star turned Mexican restaurant cook (Eduardo Verástegui) and a fired waitress (Tammy Blanchard), who recently learned she’s pregnant. The two take a trip to the burbs that reveals how the events of the past have made them who they are today. A spotlight on Mexican family and commentary on Latino stereotypes as much as a touching […]

By Jason Guerrasio on May 5, 2008 Load & Play
“WHO IS HENRY JAGLOM?”

A feminist voice, maverick filmmaker, or just an egomaniac? Filmmaker Henry Jaglom has been called many things and all of them are explored in Henry-Alex Rubin and Jeremy Workman‘s brief (only 58 minutes) but entertaining documentary. Armed with his trademark hat, loose tongue and nonstop-running camera, Jaglom explores the inner psyche of his actors and the audience by filming the “reality” of the moment in his films, no matter how damaging it may become to who he’s filming. This style has led to comparisons to Cassavetes or Godard, and to some, a hack filmmaker with no talent. Using archival footage […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Mar 23, 2008 Load & Play

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