Filmmaker‘s Managing Editor, Jason Guerrasio, returned from the film festival in Dubai this weekend and, like most visitors, he was knocked out by the pace of construction there. (See his photo-essays, below). In fact, a discussion of Dubai’s explosive growth — the political, social and design repercussions of such — is a hot topic at the moment, and two very different takes on the build-up of Dubai can be found online. The current issue of Metropolis contains three articles on Dubai, one of seven states belonging to the United Arab Emirates. (Thanks to Bergen Swanson for the link.) The first, […]
I stopped by Other Music this weekend and discovered on the racks photographer Paula Court’s book, New York Noise: Art and Music from the New York Underground 1978-88. I first moved to New York during those years and became Programming Director at The Kitchen during the tail-end of that span, and for me the book, full of striking, energetic portraits of NYC’s key downtown art players, was not just a nostalgic blast-from-the-past but also a welcome confirmation that, yes, there was something special and perhaps unrepeatable about that scene and its casual cross-pollination. The Times Online has an article and […]
TOM WILKINSON AND GEORGE CLOONEY IN TONY GILROY’S MICHAEL CLAYTON. COURTESY WARNER BROS. PICTURES. As a Hollywood screenwriter, Tony Gilroy has brought an insistent energy and intelligence to the projects he has worked on, so it was a totally logical step that he should progress to becoming a director. New York native Gilroy grew up with writing and the movies in his veins, as he is the son of Frank D. Gilroy, the Pulitzer prize-winning writer and filmmaker, possibly best known for writing The Only Game in Town (1970), starring Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty. Gilroy Jr. debuted with the […]
You don’t have to be a massive Radiohead fan (like me) to be interested in the sudden and unexpected news today about the release of their new album, In Rainbows. (Thanks, Pitchfork, for the heads up.) With this new release the band is busting the music retailing paradigm in ways that filmmakers might think about as well. The Radiohead site, linked above, allows you to buy the album, but it’s a bit, uh, mysterious, so you may as well get all the details from the Pitchfork link. But, here’s a synopsis of what Radiohead is doing that’s different: 1. The […]
FATHER CHRISTOPHER HARTLEY (CENTER) IN BILL HANEY’S THE PRICE OF SUGAR. COURTESY MITROPOULOS FILMS. William M. Haney III — or Bill Haney to you and me — is one of those people who one suspects would be successful at almost anything he chose to turn his hand to. He started his first business while still an undergrad at Harvard, and made $15m when he sold his stock in the company, aged just 26. He then moved on to invest in two environmental companies and then a software company, continuing his success with all three. He first became interested in film […]
RYAN REYNOLDS IN JOHN AUGUST’S THE NINES. COURTESY NEWMARKET FILMS. John August holds a unique position as not only one of Hollywood’s most sought-after screenwriters, but also one of the filmmaking community’s most active and helpful members. August’s first produced script was Go (1999), directed by Doug Liman, a triptych of interweaving stories which played out like a junior version of Pulp Fiction. He has since written the animated Titan A.E. (2000) and both Charlie’s Angels movies, and collaborated with Tim Burton on Big Fish (2003), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride (both 2005). All the while, he […]
CHRISTOPHER MINTZ-PLASSE, JONAH HILL AND MICHAEL CERA IN GREG MOTTOLA’S SUPERBAD. COURTESY COLUMBIA PICTURES. It’s a sign of Hollywood’s wrongheadedness that it’s been a decade since Greg Mottola last made a movie. In 1996, Mottola arrived on the scene with his debut, The Daytrippers, a funny and poignant indie that recalled the classy Hollywood comedies of the ’60s and ’70s. Though the film led to Mottola becoming friends with Woody Allen — unquestionably an influence on Daytrippers — his next two projects failed to come to fruition, so he turned his focus to television. Mottola’s work in TV has been […]
There’s a new issue of Sight and Sound up and now the BFI has posted selected pieces online. One is a great interview Amy Taubin did with Gus Van Sant about Van Sant’s thoughts on — and similarities to — Andy Warhol. While Taubin refers to Van Sant as “the most Warhol-like filmmaker around,” Van Sant says his original inspirations were quite different than the work of the great conceptual and Pop artist. When I started to try to make films, though, the scripts I wrote were John Cheever-esque stories about the place I came from – upper middle class, […]
Jamie Stuart emailed a question about the upcoming writer’s strike, wondering whether it will provide opportunities for independents looking for both work and to expand the boundaries of network programming. He wrote: Since the last TV strike (or was it threatened strike?) brought about reality TV, what’s the probability that the studios and networks will simply dive into the pool of cheap online talent to fill out their rosters? I dunno… discuss.
WILL OLDHAM IN TODD ROHAL’S THE GUATEMALAN HANDSHAKE. COURTESY AMALGAMATED FILMWORKS. Todd Rohal is possibly the Mumblecore director you’ve heard least about, maybe because his films don’t fit with the movement’s improvisational, talky style or focus on twentysomething relationships. A native of Columbus, Ohio, he studied film at Ohio University, where his first short film, Single Spaced (1997), was nominated for a Student Academy Award. He made two subsequent shorts in college, Slug 660 (1998) and Knuckleface Jones (1999), and resisted the lure of Hollywood after graduating, instead choosing to take a more unconventional road. He made his fourth short, […]