Without consciously thinking about it, I regularly seem to link to Steven Klein’s photography in this blog. In August, 2005, I loved the mini-cinema that was his Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie “domestic bliss” W magazine spread. Two months late I was arrested by his collaboration with Tom Ford, also for W. His latest W piece is titled “Love/Hate,” and while it’s not as epic it is still very much worth a view. Especially great is Klein’s choice of subject: ’90s supermodel icon Linda Evangelista, who plays some kind of tormented society queen in these shots.
Filmmaker‘s own Jamie Stuart is profiled in the Washington Post in the Sunday Arts and Living section by Ann Hornaday. It’s one of her “Studio” features in which artists explain the significance of one image they’ve created. The image Jamie talks about is here, and following is Hornaday’s text: For the past four years, Jamie Stuart has made short Web films at the New York Film Festival (as well as Sundance and Toronto). Commissioned by Filmmaker magazine, and with a love for the quirky detail, he has brought a poet’s eye to festival junkets, news conferences and sundry rituals of […]
Filmmaker John Magary has been writing over at the newly reinvigorated The Reeler, and he has a great interview up with director Lucrecia Martel, whose The Headless Woman is playing at the New York Film Festival. The interview comes with the drawing reprinted here, which Martel explains: Undoubtedly, all of my films are organized in layers. For example, if I had to draw it, it wouldn’t be a straight line … [drawing a single arcing line] … Normally the structure of a film would be a single line: starts here, then this happens, then it evolves, then it ends. For […]
WRITER-DIRECTOR-ACTRESS MARIANNA PALKA AND JASON RITTER IN PALKA’S GOOD DICK. COURTESY MORNING KNIGHT / PRESENT PICTURES. Still only 27, Marianna Palka has achieved notable success early in her career because she knew what she wanted and showed an adventurous spirit in going out and getting it. A first generation Polish Scot, Palka grew up in the depressed working class Glasgow neighborhood of Maryhill, where at an early age she displayed an interest in theater and cinema. In her teens, she began making what she calls “video art” projects which depicted the world around her, such as By My Very Self, […]
It used to be that you could share a movie you’ve seen by loaning a friend a DVD or just recommending that he or she go see it in the theater. Now, however, you can share your viewing queue. For example, I haven’t yet caught up to Mary Bronstein’s Yeast, which I missed at SXSW last year. It’s just been posted as an online premiere on Dailymotion, I’m planning to watch it this weekend, and I’m sharing it with you by embedding it here. In an interview posted on the Linear Reflections blog, Mary talks about her impetus to make […]
Or, maybe, director Barry Levinson should have advised John McCain. In his blog at the Huffington Post, Levinson conjectures: Over the years since directing Wag The Dog I have been asked whether Hollywood producers are directly involved in political campaigns. I hear rumors from time to time that they might be pulling the strings but no hard evidence. But my suspicion is, no Hollywood producer is involved in the McCain presidential run. I say this for a simple reason, it’s badly orchestrated, lacks a narrative, and when they come across a good story idea they bungle it. An example: When […]
Even more so than independent film, the porn industry has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to capitalizing on new trends in the entertainment industry. It capitalized on home video early on and more recently has been in the forefront of downloadable content, content for iPods and PSPs, and the segmentation of content into niche-targeted “clips.” Now, it may be at the forefront of dealing with two challenges — the threat from user-generated free concert and the atomization of our attention spans. Like both Hollywood and independent film, porn is facing tough times. In fact, they may […]
In addition to making a great film (and shouldn’t that be enough?), Ballast director Lance Hammer has energized the growing DIY distribution community by turning down an industry deal and releasing his Sundance-winning feature himself. But it’s one thing for all of us to applaud what Hammer has done; it’s another to support him — and the filmmakers who follow in his wake — by going out and seeing his film. It’s a great movie, and if you live in New York and haven’t seen it, I recommend heading down to the Film Forum this weekend. Below is the first […]
Congrats to two of Filmmaker‘s 2008 25 New Faces, John Magary and Dee Rees, for being selected as Sundance Institute 2008 Time Warner Storytelling Fellows. Congrats also to the third winner, playwright Kirsten Greenidge. From the press release: Sundance Institute and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) announced today the selection of playwright Kirsten Greenidge and filmmakers John Magary and Dees Rees as the 2008 Time Warner Storytelling Fellows. Greenidge (with her project BOSSA NOVA) participated in the 2008 Sundance Theatre Lab. Magary (with his project BLOOD ABUNDANCE, OR THE HALF-LIFE OF ANTOINETTE) and Rees (with her project PARIAH) participated in […]
Mad at humanity? Wipe it out. In Dark Realm Studios’ online game Pandemic 2, you try to wipe out all of mankind by being perfect disease.