6301 Results for “Open ”
-
U.S. Titles Headline Venice 2013 Slate
Toronto unveiled its initial slate a few days ago, and it’s now Venice’s turn to reveal a ridiculously stacked program of auteur cinema for its 2013 edition. Among a very strong Competition lineup, U.S. cinema is strongly represented by John Curran’s outback epic Tracks, James Franco’s Cormac McCarthy adaptation Child of God, Terry Gilliam’s surreal futuristic drama The Zero Theorem, David Gordon Green’s Southern-set drama Joe, Errol Morris’ enticing The Unknown Known: the Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld, Kelly Reichardt’s environmental activist drama Night Moves and Peter Landesman’s JFK assassination drama Parkland. Elsewhere in that section there are also new offerings from Xavier Dolan, Philippe Garrel, Stephen […]
by Nick Dawson on Jul 25, 2013 -
The POV Conversation: Stephen Maing and Lixin Fan on the Importance of Unpredictability
Last year, to celebrate POV’s 25th anniversary, Filmmaker organized a series of conversations between documentary directors whose work had been featured on the PBS non-fiction showcase. This year, we continue this series with a fascinating discussion between Stephen Maing — whose debut feature on Chinese citizen bloggers, High Tech, Low Life, is currently streaming for free on the POV website — with Lixin Fan, the Chinese filmmaker whose Last Train Home, an intimate portrait of a fractured family of migrant workers in China, won him great acclaim in 2009. In the third of this five-part discussion, the two filmmakers discuss how unforeseeable circumstances have contributed to their documentary films. […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jul 24, 2013 -
Trailer Watch: Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity
Long single takes are some of the most thrilling shots in cinema, and many would argue their thrills are reliant, in part, on the audience’s knowledge that they are choreographed and filmed in real time. But CGI-enabled single takes can be thrilling too, as this amazing trailer for Alfonso Cuarón’s upcoming Gravity proves. The film opens October 4.
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 24, 2013 -
The POV Conversation: Stephen Maing and Lixin Fan on Discovering Documentary Filmmaking
Last year, to celebrate POV’s 25th anniversary, Filmmaker organized a series of conversations between documentary directors whose work had been featured on the PBS non-fiction showcase. This year, we continue this series with a fascinating discussion between Stephen Maing – whose debut feature on Chinese citizen bloggers, High Tech, Low Life, is streaming for free on the POV website from today – and Lixin Fan, the Chinese filmmaker whose Last Train Home, an intimate portrait of a fractured family of migrant workers in China, won him great acclaim in 2009. In the second of this five-part discussion, the two discuss […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jul 23, 2013 -
TIFF Announces Bumper Initial Slate
The first sections of the 2013 slate at the Toronto International Film Festival were announced today, and there’s a lot to dig into here. Just skimming the surface, the major points to note are that the fest will open with Bill Condon’s WikiLeaks movie, The Fifth Estate (starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange), and close with Dan Schechter’s Elmore Leonard adaptation Life of Crime, which I have heard some strong buzz about already. In the Galas section, the standouts are world premieres of awards hopefuls Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and August: Osage Count, but it’s the Special Presentations section […]
by Nick Dawson on Jul 23, 2013 -
Errol Morris Lets Loose on The Act of Killing Controversy
Banging away on Twitter, does Errol Morris have a point? Or does he just need another scotch and water? Friday night, respected filmmaker Errol Morris fired off two quick tweets. Morris and Werner Herzog are the executive producers of The Act of Killing, which had its New York theatrical opening on Friday. In Friday night’s tweets Morris seemed annoyed and confused — actually, pissed and baffled. The two tweets were posted at 10:51 and 10:53 (EST): errolmorris @errolmorris Tired of hearing people complain that “The Act of Killing” does not provide enough background, historical context, etc. errolmorris @errolmorris Hey, read a book. Wait, aren’t […]
by Stewart Nusbaumer on Jul 22, 2013 -
“It’ll Never Make a Movie:” Animal House at 35
“No one wants to make this movie.” That’s what studio chief Ned Tanen told John Landis in the mid-70s about this vulgar frat house comedy called Animal House. Thursday night, Landis was reminiscing at the movie’s 35th anniversary at Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox with producers Ivan Reitman and Matty Simmons, plus co-stars Stephen Furst (Dorfman) and Martha Smith (Babs). Based on stories that ran in The National Lampoon magazine, Animal House pits a dysfunctional fraternity against an uptight university administration. Made for $2.7 million in 1978, Animal House was a box-office smash that made a star of John Belushi and […]
by Allan Tong on Jul 22, 2013 -
Pacific Rim: Asian American International Film Festival
Some titles that blur the gray line between ideology and pleasure could well have been fodder for battle between the just-concluded New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) and the Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF), which runs July 24-August 3. The former is larger and younger (b. 2002) and comprised almost entirely of entertaining generic fiction; the latter, smaller, older (b. 1978), and more diverse, a politicized showcase in which fiction, documentaries, and hybrids share pride of place. Yes, there is telling overlap in their respective agendas. The AAIFF divides its 26 features into six strands (44 shorts are branded separately): Triple […]
by Howard Feinstein on Jul 22, 2013 -
Bangkok Dangerous: Nicolas Winding Refn on Only God Forgives
A superviolent and supremely strange Bangkok nocturne, Only God Forgives is Nicolas Winding Refn’s follow-up to his Cannes award-winning pop culture sensation Drive. This film, sure to be nowhere near as popular, is a distinctly less accessible affair. One senses that the filmmaker, a born contrarian, takes a certain pleasure in this. In both Thai and English, it meditates on a white man who trains child fighters and runs a family-operated drug ring with his brother. When said brother is dispatched via some brutal south Asian justice involving really sharp swords (after he is found to have rapped and killed […]
by Brandon Harris on Jul 19, 2013 -
Five Reviewers on Screening Films
Top L to R: Michael Tully, Marshall Fine, Lauren Wissot; Bottom L to R: Mark Bell, Dusty Wright With prices dropping and technology increasing and audiences expanding, the indie community is whacking out films at a hectic pace — but it’s even more prolific at whacking out words on films. Websites and magazines broadcast a stream of articles on the work of emerging filmmakers. For years, info-packed pieces on distribution and funding have been ubiquitous. Tacky scribblers suck up to celebrities, arty ones profile auteurs, bloggers are all over the turf — latest craze, lists of the best and the worst […]
by Stewart Nusbaumer on Jul 19, 2013
