Alex Karpovsky
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Interview with Gayby Director Jonathan Lisecki
Gayby might be the first feature from writer/director Jonathan Lisecki, but its ace comic timing and deft depiction of physical humor suggest a seasoned comedic maestro. Expanded from a short that Lisecki shopped around the festival circuit in 2010 (it debuted at Slamdance and went on to hit more than 100 venues), the film is easily one of the year’s funniest, much thanks to its maker’s classic instincts for drumming up laughs. A veteran of independent theater, Lisecki couples a sharp, knowing wit with a mature sense of benevolence, yielding a well-rounded comedy for a demographic that desperately needs it. […]
by R. Kurt Osenlund on Oct 12, 2012 -
LENA DUNHAM’S PROMO SHORT FILM FOR “NEW YORKER” APP
Lena Dunham recently wrote a piece on the late Nora Ephron for The New Yorker, has an article about her college boyfriend in the current issue, and has further strengthened her relationship with the magazine by directing this fun little short film — starring herself, her Girls and Tiny Furniture costar Alex Karpovsky, and Jon Hamm — to promote their new iPhone app.
by Nick Dawson on Aug 9, 2012 -
92YTRIBECA’S POST-MUMBLECORE LA DI DA FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCED
I’ve had wind of this for a while, via both filmmaker Kentucker Audley and programmer Miriam Bale (who has a feature on Beasts of the Southern Wild in our current issue), but now the news is public. On September 14 and 15, the 92Y Tribeca will host the first La Di Da film festival, which takes a look at the recent work of a group of post-Mumblecore figures, including Amy Seimetz, the Safdies, Sean Price Williams, Dustin Guy Defa, Alex Karpovsky, Kate Lyn Sheil, Eléonore Hendricks and Audley. In the press release explaining the genesis of the event, Bale says, […]
by Nick Dawson on Jul 23, 2012 -
Onur Tukel, Richard’s Wedding
In Richard’s Wedding, which follows a bevy of wedding guests and the soon-to-be-wedded on their way to a small Central Park wedding, director Onur Tukel has crafted a delightfully funny, seemingly real-time ensemble piece. From British blowhard Russell (Darrill Rosen) to the writer/director/editor/star’s Tuna, the characters live on the edge of likability and the film’s narrative deftly frames the torrent of just-this-side-of-racist jokes, downright delusional character asides, and a general decline of civility. The unconventional comedic approach gives proceedings a hard-won warmth and generosity that lesser films skating this kind of textual irony and cutting, ribald humor frequently fail to achieve. Co-starring a number […]
by Brandon Harris on May 30, 2012 -
THE SANTA CRUZ FILM FESTIVAL
The “Keep Santa Cruz Weird” campaign in the northern California city that’s been host to the Santa Cruz Film Festival for nearly a dozen years now seems more than a cheap ploy to sell bumper stickers (though the one that read “You’re just jealous because the voices are talking to me” probably captures the essence of the place even better). It’s a serious – and controversial – plea to retain a way of life. For Santa Cruz is nothing if not, well, weird. So exotic, in fact, that SCFF should probably qualify as a foreign film festival showcasing American flicks […]
by Lauren Wissot on May 29, 2012 -
LA FILM FESTIVAL FULL LINE-UP ANNOUNCED
The opening night movie of the Los Angeles Film Festival — Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love — was announced three weeks ago (along with screenings of Sundance winners Middle of Nowhere and Beasts of the Southern Wild), but today the rest of the line-up was unveiled, with the headline news being that Steven Soderbergh’s male stripper romp, Magic Mike, starring Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey, will close out the June fest. In the narrative competition, there are notable entries from Cory McAbee (The American Astronaut), Jared Moshé (a familiar name as a producer, making his first film as director), […]
by Nick Dawson on May 1, 2012 -
TRIBECA CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK #1: I WROTE THIS SONG FOR YOU, INDIEWOOD
How to take stock of the Tribeca Film Festival? 9/11 was a long time ago, after all. Bin Laden is dead. Rebuild the neighborhood, De Niro said. Bring back economic activity and all that. Perhaps the machinations of the real estate market took care of it. A classy sandwich down here costs $16. Not like I buy any food during the festival in Tribeca; it’s all free. Go to the Apple Store (in SoHo, but close enough) and have some wine. The 92YTribeca had bite-sized bacon cheeseburgers during GE’s-sponsored Film Forward shorts program yesterday. And if I actually want to […]
by Brandon Harris on Apr 24, 2012 -
Five Questions with Rubberneck Director Alex Karpovsky
Over the last few years, actor Alex Karpovsky has slowly grown into one of the most recognizable faces in American indies. And with a recurring role on Girls, Lena Dunham’s upcoming HBO series, he stands poised to break through to a wider audience. As if he wasn’t busy enough, Karpovsky has found time to migrate behind the lens for Rubberneck, his directorial followup to 2009’s Second City improv documentary Trust Us, This is All Made Up. A psychological thriller about an unhinged scientist (Karpovsky, directing himself) who grows increasingly obsessed with a co-worker he’s recently had a one-night stand with, […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Apr 16, 2012 -
Codependent Lesbian Alien Seeks Same — A Hammer to Nail Review
(Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same world-premiered in the “Park City At Midnight” section at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. It opens for a one-week theatrical run at the reRun Gastropub in New York City on Friday, January 6, 2012. Visit the film’s official website to learn more.) “I have to make it clear that I hate all dramas,” Madeleine Olnek told me in an interview the other day. “I think making dramas is immoral, if you are capable of making a comedy.” Olnek is a New Yorker who writes and directs comedy films. Plays too. As she’s predominantly worked […]
by Holly Herrick on Jan 5, 2012 -
AMERICAN INDIE HIDES OUT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Director Sam Neave and his producer/star Marjan Neshat are both Iranian born, but the films they tend to make together, which include the unfortunately titled 2003’s Sundance entry Cry Funny Happy and their terrific new two shot high-wire act Almost in Love, tend to focus on the romantic travails of upper-middle-class Westerners. As such, they are naturals for the American independent festival scene, where such films usually find their natural constituency, that being other upper-middle-class Westerners. Not so for Almost in Love, their daring second feature collaboration, which had its world premiere this past weekend at the 5th Abu Dhabi […]
by Brandon Harris on Oct 20, 2011
