Here’s episode three of Todd Sklar and his Range Life Entertainment’s tour diary documenting the highs and lows the group’s current DIY traveling film fest. Click on the link for upcoming tour dates.
Okay, I’m a week or two late to the party, but I just came across MTV Music, a new website, in beta, from MTV that streams music videos. For younger readers, a music video — formerly called, in the pre-music-video days, a “promo,” or a “clip” — is a short film or staged musical performance set to a pop song and usually featuring as performers the singer and musicians of that song. MTV used to show them, and for those of us who remember the launch of the channel, music videos once seemed new, interesting, and even culturally relevant. Creative […]
The Institute for International Film Financing (IIFF) have announced another of their popular networking events for next Monday, Nov. 17. Information on how to attend and who’s scheduled to speak are below. IIFF New York City Townhall Meeting Monday, November 17, 2008 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM School of Visual Arts (SVA) 209 East 23rd Street Amphitheater – 3rd floor New York, NY 10010 VERY LIMITED CAPACITY. To avoid disappointment, reserve your DISCOUNTED SEAT now at http://nym.filmfinancing.org/111708w Next Monday’s gathering of FILMMAKERS AND FINANCIERS follows IIFF’sproven formula for film financing success. It features a powerful lineup ofLEADING TOPICAL EXPERTS whose […]
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 […]
Director and producer Jim McKay (Everyday People, Our Song) sent the following email about Jonathan Demme’s latest feature, Rachel Getting Married, to his personal list. It’s a great acclamation of the film, and it nicely addresses and puts into context some of the movie’s bolder editorial choices. With permission, I’m posting it here. If you’re thinking about taking a pass on the new Jonathan Demme film, Rachel Getting Married, because it has a weird title and because his last two fiction films, The Truth about Charlie and The Manchurian Candidate, were remakes and didn’t have the oomph that his movies […]
Adam Yamaguchi and David Casey offer a fascinating, strangely upbeat yet ultimately disquieting look at climate change in I Heart Global Warming, which premieres on Current TV on Wednesday, November 12, at 10 p.m. Check out the trailer.
EVAN ROSS AND GILLIAN JACOBS IN DIRECTOR DAMIAN HARRIS’ GARDENS OF THE NIGHT. COURTESY CITY LIGHTS PICTURES. Coming from a family of actors, Damian Harris went against the grain when he chose to become a writer-director. Harris is the son of Richard Harris, the legendary British screen thespian, as well as the stepson of Rex Harrison and the brother of Jamie and Jared Harris, who are also actors. He got his first taste of the movie game when, at the age of 10, he acted alongside Tom Courtenay and Romy Schneider in the comedy Otley (1968). That experience, however, made […]
Opening today in New York from City Lights at the Village East is Damian Harris’s engrossing, heartbreaking drama Gardens of the Night. The story of abuse, its aftermath and the theme of lost childhood in general, Gardens of the Night is a tale of two children who are abducted by a pair of pedophiles (one played with troubling subtlety by an excellent Tom Arnold) and who then, years later, find their bonds together as homeless street hustlers. It sounds dark and bleak, but the film is beautifully directed and acted (particularly by Arnold, Gillian Jacobs, Evan Ross and John Malkovitch), […]
The Sundance Institute and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) have announced the twelve finalists for the 2009 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Awards. The annual cash award to support new artists in international cinema (winners announced at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival) is celebrating its 13th year with an impressive list of past recipients including: Alex Rivera (The Sleep Dealer), Miranda July (Me and You and Everyone We Know) and Walter Salles (Central Station). The twelve finalists for the 2009 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Awards are: EUROPE Celia Galán Julve / ROSITA GUZMÁN IS ALIVE (Spain) – When dangerous fugitive Rosita Guzmán disappears into […]
Mabrouk El Mechri’s very entertaining genre-buster JCVD opens today, and here we flash you back to the interview with El Mechri that appeared on our site via Filmcatcher during the Toronto Film Festival. To see the interview click here.