| Filmmaker Magazine

STICKING UP FOR SUNDANCE

The Reeler checks in on the Sunday afternoon panel, “Four Independents who Turned the Tide,” over at BAM as part of the recent Sundance series there and transcribes some great quotes. The panel was moderated by Janet Maslin and featured Hal Hartley, Alison Anders, David O. Russell and John Waters. From the piece: “I wanna really stick up for Sundance,” Waters said. “I don’t understand today when people say it’s often too commercial. What is the problem if you’re a kid and you go there and someone overpays for your movie? You’re bitching about that?” “I think it’s the free […]

by Scott Macaulay on May 23, 2006

TOWERING BABEL?

I took a pass on Cannes this year, so I’m here Stateside just like you guys — checking the internet sites a few times a day to see what’s hot. And it appears as if Alejando Gonzalez Innaritu’s Babel may be the film to beat for the Palme’ d’Or. Here’s Jeffrey Welles: “It’s an incredibly shrewd and brilliant film about all of us…about frailty, interconnectedness, aloneness and particularly parents and children. It exudes compassion and acute precision with every frame, shot, edit and line of dialogue. I fucking loved it.” And here’s Ray Bennett in The Hollywood Reporter: “Tense, relentless […]

by Scott Macaulay on May 23, 2006

INDECENT PROPOSAL

Below I posted about the new fines for “indecency” being levied by the FCC against broadcasters for “unnecessary” content. In today’s Variety, William Triplett reports on a related story: the Senate’s passing of a bill that will increase indecency fines for broadcasters by a multiple of ten, to $325,000 per infraction. The bill was jammed through the Senate by assumed presidential candidate and Majority Leader Bill Frist, who engaged in the rare parliamentary practice of “hotlining” the bill, quickly pulling the bill from committee review and putting it before the Senate for objection. If no Senator objects, the bill passes […]

by Scott Macaulay on May 21, 2006

EROS AS PATRIOTISM

Gregg Goldstein in The Hollywood Reporter has an interview up with John Cameron Mitchell about his new film, Shortbus, which premiered in Cannes this weekend. The film is Cameron Mitchell’s much-awaited follow-up to Hedwig, and it’s that rare dramatic film that uses (a lot) of explicit hardcore sex to tell its story. Here’s Cameron Mitchell from the piece: I wanted to create something through improvisation with the actors and explore sex as a cinematic language in a way that I hadn’t seen, where it wasn’t trying to be erotic or horrifying or negative or dreary. The experience has taught everybody […]

by Scott Macaulay on May 21, 2006

MOUTH TO MOUTH OPENS IN NEW YORK

Alison Murray’s feature Mouth to Mouth opened this weekend in New York at the Village East. I met Alison three or so years ago at the Rotterdam Cinemart and the IFP No Borders Lab where she was raising money for the feature, liked the script and her tough vision and tried to help her attach some American actors to the movie. In the end, Alison made the film in Europe with her own hand-picked cast of up-and-coming actors, one of whom, Ellen Page (Hard Candy, X3) is already a rising star. The film tells the semi-autobiographical story of a young […]

by Scott Macaulay on May 20, 2006

BOX OFFICE REPORTING

In a very droll post, Caveh Zahedi puts the whole “decline of the theatrical box-office” brouhaha in perspective. He posts the results of I am a Sex Addict‘s opening in Corvallis, Oregon: The film opened in Corvallis, Oregon, this week. It made $5 on Friday, $5 on Saturday, and $9 on Sunday because of word of mouth. In the comments section, Josh Boelter is concerned: Do you mean five dollars or five thousand dollars? If it’s five dollars, what is that; one ticket? Caveh’s reply: I’m imagining that’s one senior citizen ticket.

by Scott Macaulay on May 18, 2006

OPENING NIGHT

Variety has a hotly anticipated review up on their main (subscription only) page. No, it’s not The Da Vinci Code, although that’s up there too. (“A stodgy, grim thing,” declares Todd McCarthy.) It’s William Triplett’s review of Tony Snow at the White House, the government’s new skein starring ex-Fox News commentator Tony Snow. Here’s Triplett’s lede: In the often surreal world of the televised press briefing, the media don’t stand a chance against a nice guy, and judging by his first performance, new White House press secretary Tony Snow may be mercilessly nice. Armed with a dapper suit and winning […]

by Scott Macaulay on May 16, 2006

I AM A BIRD NOW

Cam Archer emails to tell us about a new video he’s made for the band Zero 7. Writes Archer, “I decided to make the video about a middle-aged woman who wants nothing more than to make herself into a bird and escape her dreary life of routine and bad furniture.” And if you haven’t already, check out the site for Archer’s totally genius Sundance feature, Wild Tigers I Have Known.

by Scott Macaulay on May 16, 2006

THE DARK SIDE

I went to see the Al Gore doc, An Inconvenient Truth, the other night (it’s great — kind of old fashioned in its “man and a slide projector” style, but in a good way; it has real respect for the audience and is compelling without being overblown and pessimistically alarmist) but misread the press invite and showed up at the Broadway Screening Room instead of the Paramount Screening Room on Broadway. I wasn’t the only one who made the mistake — there were a few other confused people there as well. “What’s screening here?” I asked the publicist who was […]

by Scott Macaulay on May 16, 2006

ROLAND EMMERICH, CALL HOME

Ain’t It Cool News has uncovered a bit of movie marketing surrealism — the first ever trailer to hit the ‘net for Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center is dubbed in German by distributor UIP.

by Scott Macaulay on May 15, 2006

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