6296 Results for “Open ”
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The Map
Alice Munro wrote a short story once called “Deep Holes,” and it’s as fitting a title as any when one considers her body of work. Munro has made a career out of writing the same short story over and over again, but because that story is shot through with an incredible amount of depth, with endless bottoms of nuance and complexity and minor shifts and adjustments each time, it constantly amazes. Jonathan Franzen (who himself rewrote his 2001 classic novel The Corrections as the even better Freedom), reviewing Munro’s 2004 collection Runaway, nailed it: I like stories because it takes […]
by Zachary Wigon on Feb 14, 2011 -
MORE THOUGHTS ON WALKING OUT OF MOVIES
Every Thursday we do a weekly newsletter that includes links to that week’s content, festival deadlines, and an original letter from me which I usually don’t repost on the blog. (And if you don’t get this newsletter, why not? You can subscribe here. It’s free.) But I’ll reprint this week’s because it’s a response to James Ponsoldt’s blog post about walking out of movies. “When is it okay to walk out of a movie?” James Ponsoldt asked on the Filmmaker blog yesterday. The post was inspired by his sitting through at Sundance a film he loathed; it was his attempt […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 10, 2011 -
SXSW REVEAL MIDNIGHTERS, SXFANTASTIC & SHORTS
The South By Southwest Film Conference and Festival announced today the lineups for its Midnighters, SXFantastic and short films sections. Midnighters has always been a popular section at SXSW having highlighted the talents of Eli Roth and Ti West in the past, but its notoriety grew a few years ago when the fest added the SXFantastic sidebar, which are midnight films programmed by the largest genre fest, Fantastic Fest. Last year, the section had the world premiere of Gareth Edwards‘ impressive debut feature Monsters. The complete list of Midnighters, SXFantastic and short films titles are below. SXSW will take place […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Feb 10, 2011 -
Peter Byck, Carbon Nation
Hope is easy to sell, but fear is easier. Billing itself as a “climate change solutions” movie, Peter Byck’s Carbon Nation doesn’t want you to panic. If fear of the consequences of climate change has been the primary emotional content associated with the slew of climate-themed docs that have found their way to screens in the wake of An Inconvenient Truth, Carbon Nation dwells more on the possibilities that technological innovation, communitarian initiative and an end to political gridlock could have on our world. Time is short, but in Byck’s telling, the means to stymie the long-term catastrophes associated with […]
by Brandon Harris on Feb 9, 2011 -
Are You A Nobody Filmmaker ?
Filmmaker Christopher Boghosian has a great post up today at Truly Free Film. Titled, “I am a Nobody Filmmaker,” it’s not a self-pitying whine but rather a rational discussion of what a young and relatively unknown filmmaker can expect from the independent film marketplace as well as audience. He writes: I’m a nobody filmmaker: I don’t have a recognizable name nor a recognizable film. In essence, most of the world couldn’t care less about me nor my movies. This sounds pathetic, I know, but coming to grips with this reality has truly liberated me and provided an invaluable perspective on […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 7, 2011 -
Into the Splice: The King’s Speech
I had put off seeing The King’s Speech, and for good reason it turns out, though not the reason I expected. The movie is proudly what it is, and it is hard not to fall under the spell of the story. In some ways, it’s a very old-fashioned film, in the same way that True Grit is old-fashioned. The complete absence of irony. Both films simmer at the same ahistorical temperature. On the big screen, movies still have a certain scale of force absent from smaller screens. The reason to go to the movies is to be dominated, and yet […]
by Nicholas Rombes on Feb 7, 2011 -
WHAT’S IN MY INSTAPAPER: SUNDAY MORNING LINKS, 2/6/2011
Here’s what’s in my Instapaper this week. At Hammer to Nail, Mike Ryan returns from Park City and declares, “Indie is back!?!” Specifically, he sees the festival embracing a wider spectrum of the independent community and jettisoning its reflexive propensity towards cinematic naturalism: First off, what is great about Sundance 2011 is not only the selection of unusual, formally inventive films, but the near total absence of corporate engineered, market driven, faux indie high-budget QUIRK CRAP (although there were some more offbeat versions of the old style quirk like My Idiot Brother and Terri, there was not an Answer Man […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 6, 2011 -
MAKING LOW-BUDGET, INDIE ACTIONER “RETRIBUTION”
Retribution is a low-budget indie action film that its producers at Openview Cinema plan to release April 1, 2011. Producer Cody Norris sent me the below trailer, and I asked him for more info on how they got the movie, directed by Colten Kidwell, made. Here’s what he wrote: We made Retribution with a tiny budget. Our actors were all volunteers, we were given the use of all our locations, we borrowed or made props, and we didn’t hire any additional crew. When we couldn’t buy things, we improvised. Production lasted more than a year because our actors were volunteers […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 6, 2011 -
A RESPONSE FROM NEOFLIX’S JC
Before I posted Thursday’s blog post about financial troubles at independent fulfillment service Neoflix, I tried to reach its owner and president, JC, for his account of the situation. Tonight I received from him an email addressed to me and Jon Reiss, whose blog post I included in my posting. I am reprinting JC”s response here in its entirety Dear Jon and Scott, Those in the Indie film community who are interested in self-distribution deserve a direct update from me on Neoflix shutting down. I hope you will include this letter in its totality in any articles or blog posts […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 5, 2011 -
R.I.P. TURA SATANA, 1935 – 2011
Tura Satana, star of such films as Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Astro Zombies and The Doll Squad, died this week at the age of 75. From a remembrance posted today at Screen Rush by filmmaker Shade Rupe: Tura earned her most visible role while performing in Irma La Douce. She got a call from her agent to come read for Russ Meyer. She didn’t have time to change so she showed up in the wedding dress she was wearing for Irma La Douce. Russ handed her the script for “Leather Girls,” the original title of Faster, Pussycat! Kill Kill! and […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 5, 2011
