Ronald Bronstein
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Bleak Moments: Ronald Bronstein on Frownland
This interview with Frownland director Ronald Bronstein (a 2007 25 New Face) by fellow 25’er David Lowery was originally published in 2006. It is being reposted this week as Frownland receives a rare NYC screening this coming Sunday at the Alamo Drafthouse — projected by Bronstein himself. Click for tickets. Traveling on the festival circuit and spending days in darkened theaters, one grows accustomed to the ebb and flow of certain trends in independent film. Talkative, shakily digital twentysomething dramedies; sensitive tone poems; documentaries both edgy and lyrical. Then a film like Ronald Bronstein’s Frownland comes out of nowhere and […]
by David Lowery on Feb 27, 2017 -
19th Century Poetry, The Stooges and Psychedelic Intensity: Composer Paul Grimstad Talks with Nathan Silver
Paul Grimstad is one of the most insanely inspired polymaths I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, and his brilliant lunacy bubbles from every song and piece of score he writes. He provided music for two short films which are about to screen in the New York Shorts Program at the 53rd New York Film Festival: my film Riot and Jay Giampietro’s Hernia. His other soundtracks include Frownland (which he also co-starred in), Heaven Knows What, Tired Moonlight, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga, my film Stinking Heaven, among many others. Screening information for the New York Shorts Program can be found here. [iPod dictaphone app begins recording] Grimstad: Baudelaire […]
by Nathan Silver on Sep 25, 2015 -
THIS IS WHAT THE (OBSCURE) MOVIES DID TO ME IN 2011
They moved me. Often deeply, in ways I failed to articulate to myself until much later. That is, of course, the whole reason I go to the movies, to have some sort of visceral, emotional (or intellectual) response, be it laughter or sadness or pain or empathy or disgust or profound understanding. Why else do it? Nothing, beside having those emotions, meets the criteria of entertainment, at least for me. See, I’m one of those lucky few that gets to travel the world just to see films. Crazy, I know, especially in this era of not so cheap oil, but it’s […]
by Brandon Harris on Jan 5, 2012 -
The Microbudget Conversation : Art And Poverty
This week I leave you in the capable hands of our editor Scott Macaulay. One of the exciting aspects of this gig is learning from a fella like Scott. A producer of some of my favorite indie films, he has been a great mentor and producer of this column. I asked him to just go nuts and write what was on his mind. Voila! Last fall, I posted a call for new columnists for this website, and the first to respond was John Yost with the idea for this “Micro-Budget Conversation.” I liked John’s proposal for a number of […]
by John Yost on May 12, 2011 -
The Microbudget Conversation: Blake Eckard Has Questions Without Answers
This week we hear from the Micro-Budget Filmmaker Blake Eckard. After I had put my first feature up on the web for free downloading, Blake contacted me and we began a three-year conversation on the highs and lows of micro-budget filmmaking. I think Blake’s take on the subject is one of importance and it needs to be shared. “Orson Welles, by his own admission, didn’t believe in artists so much as “works.” He also hated (or liked people to believe he hated) talking about himself and his films. Although it may be fashionable to say it, I don’t think there’s […]
by John Yost on Jan 11, 2011
