“You have no idea what you’ve created, and how many people this will help” I was wrapped in warm embrace with a woman I had just barely met when she whispered this sentence into my ear. We were standing in the lobby of the Egyptian Theater in downtown Boise, Idaho where my film, JENS PULVER | DRIVEN, had just let out after a lengthy and fairly emotional Q&A with me and Jens Pulver, the subject of my film. This surprising interaction was the first of many that night, and one that came as quite a shock to both myself and Pulver. I […]
I just figured out I can embed this… Their last NYC show. Wish I was there… but running this through my PS3 to my TV is not bad. (If you don’t see the video, click the headline above.) UPDATE: Sorry I didn’t see the show live; it was amazing. The live stream was surprisingly good, though. Here’s a clip — Arcade Fire guesting on backing vocals for “North American Scum.” SECOND UPDATE: Here’s the whole show. Thank you, LCD Soundsystem and Pitchfork.
Although there are exceptions, I try to avoid pop-culture ephemera here on the ol’ Filmmaker blog. So there’s been no Rebecca Black, although I’ve been as bemused (and annoyed) as the rest of you. But this video appropriation is pretty wack. The band is Cynical Mass.
I guess it should come as no surprise that my preference for film festivals tends to follow my sensibility when it comes to films themselves. If everyone in the blogosphere and beyond is talking about the upcoming Hollywood blockbuster or even the latest offering from the mumblecore crowd, I’ll want to review what’s coming out of Kazakhstan (The Gift to Stalin — three stars!) or rave about an undistributed doc that takes a refreshing look at a trio of grandma-age sex workers in Berlin (Saara Aila Waasner’s uplifting Frauenzimmer). I often feel like I’m out of the loop as the […]
Now up is our curated list of VOD titles for April. Some notables include Sofia Coppola‘s Somewhere, the grindhouse Hobo with a Shotgun, the latest doc from Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker Kings of Pastry and James Gunn‘s Super, which is in theaters this weekend if you can’t wait for it on VOD on the 13th. And to find more films that have been released in previous months on VOD or streaming, go to our VOD home page.
(Distributed by Lorber Films, Le Quattro Volte opens theatrically at the Film Forum on Wednesday, March 30, 2011. Click on one of the previous links to learn more.) They’re called motion pictures, but in the case of Michelangelo Frammartino’s Le Quattro Volte, that term isn’t quite accurate. Motion painting is more like it. Spiritual yet not overtly religious, playful yet dramatic, patient yet never ponderous, Frammartino’s extraordinary celebration of the cycle of life is as close to church as cinema can get. The beauty of this masterfully wrought docu-poem is that for all its superficial “art film” trappings, Le Quattro […]
American independent films of the narrative variety are rarely hard art films. But in the case of Alastair Banks Griffin’s Two Gates of Sleep, which bowed at last year’s Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes before finding its way to AFI Fest last Fall, one should be ready to enter a long-take heavy, unspeakably gorgeous dirge that is sure of its influences and even more sure that it has something deeply resonant to express to you. It’s the type of movie that, as the cliche goes, requires the audience to “do some work,” that isn’t going to bend over backwards to entertain […]
In my review of 2010 in film, appearing in the Winter issue of Filmmaker soon to depart newsstands, I predicted controversy in 2011 over state film tax credit and incentive programs. That controversy has today landed on an unlikely target: Sarah Palin. First, here’s what I wrote: In December, Wall Street analyst Meredith Whitney made waves when she predicted a wave of municipal bond defaults, highlighting the perilous financial position of recession-strapped state and local governments. Indeed, independent filmmakers might find their beloved film incentive and rebate programs impacted in 2011. The seeds of this began in late 2010, with […]
Here’s a brand new clip from Celine Danhier’s essential documentary on the wildly creative New York No Wave film scene of the early 1980s, Blank City. Appearing here are Steve Buscemi, Amos Poe, Vivienne Dick, and others, and clips feature the Talking Heads, Eric Mitchell’s The Way it Is, and more. The movie opens April 6; for more visit the website. And watch this space for an interview with Danhier. And here’s the trailer, which features shots from my favorite movie of this era, Underground USA Blank City Official Trailer from Celine Danhier on Vimeo. .
Edward Burns‘ latest film, Newlyweds, which he also wrote, produced and stars in, will be the closing night film for the 10th Tribeca Film Festival, according to a press release that was sent out today. From the release: The film, shot almost exclusively in New York City’s TriBeCa neighborhood, is a chronicle of modern marriage, pointing out an essential truth: When you get married, you’re not just getting a husband or wife—you’re getting the family, the friends, and even the exes. With crackling humor and sharp insights into contemporary relationships, Burns tracks a newly wedded couple whose honeymoon period is […]