One of the great American films of the early 2000s hits Blu-ray for the first time with Imprint’s exceptional special edition of Mark Pellington’s The Mothman Prophecies (2002), a truly unique thriller that has only improved with age. Loosely based on true events, The Mothman Prophecies follows a Washington Post reporter (Richard Gere) who finds himself at the center of a series of inexplicable supernatural events following his wife’s tragic death. Although Pellington explicitly set out to avoid making a conventional horror film – there are very few glimpses of the title creature and no gratuitous shocks – the movie […]
by Jim Hemphill on May 15, 2021A master director gets the cinematic treatment he deserves in Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow’s De Palma, which is quite simply the greatest film about filmmaking that I’ve ever seen. That it consists almost entirely of a feature-length interview with its subject, interspersed with impeccably selected clips from his films, makes it all the more remarkable – it’s a deceptively simple piece of work that yields infinite insights. Using the intimacy gained from their years-long friendship with the auteur, Baumbach and Paltrow interrogate Brian De Palma about each of his films in chronological order, and the result is not only […]
by Jim Hemphill on Jun 2, 2016Winning the prize for the best entry in the Borscht Film Festival’s Scarface Redux contest was Florida International University student Martell Harding, whose “Shootout” is 11 intense seconds of action-figure mayhem. Borscht’s crowdsourced remake of Brian DePalma’s modern neo-classic, Scarface Redux consists of, in the vein of Star Wars Uncut, homemade clips reinterpreting the film in a variety of styles and genres. And while Borscht 9 is over, the project is continuing, with some clips yet to be covered. Meanwhile, though, the competition aspect of the project is over, with Harding’s the winning clip. The filmmaker, who is studying Communication […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 6, 2015“Say hello to my little friend!” If you’ve ever fantasized unleashing your inner Tony Montana — or, more accurately, your inner ’80s-era Brian DePalma — then the latest crowdsourced art project from the Miami-based Borscht Corporation is for you. Borscht has announced Scarface Redux, a fan remake of the 1983 drug lord epic, with filmmakers from all over the world invited to direct and submit their own 15-second segment. The clip can be “live action, animation, puppets, legos, Chihuahuas, it doesn’t matter!”, the site says. The finished film will be screened at the Borscht Film Festival in December at a […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 9, 2014When I posted the initially shocking “Scarface School Play” I was dubious about its authenticity while others were outraged. Now, Marc Klasfeld, the writer/director, explains the point behind it: “I have two children myself, and my wife and I guard our daughter from various television commercials about violence or sex, so I think there’s a message about that.” A rep from Share Group adds, “It’s very satiricial about viral videos… and by taking it to the next level, what Marc does well here is question the reality behind these videos. There’s a constructed reality, a perceived reality, and a real […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 7, 2010In my post below about “Scarface School Play” I injected a healthy note of skepticism that any school would sanction a school play in which mounds of popcorn stood in for Tony Montana’s cocaine. Now, TMZ is reporting that the video was indeed a fake. According to the site: Instead, it’s the work of director Marc Klasfeld and Rockhard Films who did the videos for Lady Gaga’s “Pokerface” and Adam Lambert’s “For Your Entertainment.” It was produced in L.A. within the last few weeks and the audience members were a mix of cast family members, colleagues and friends. As Travis […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 30, 2010I don’t post a lot of amateur video on the site… but I’m making an exception. Real school play or performance art prank? America’s Funniest Home Video or an homage to George Kuchar? A tribute to the imagination of today’s youth or a disturbing wake-up call about the next generation? The video claims to be posted by Bartonville, IL homemaker Cindy S., who lists her favorite movie as The Passion of the Christ, her favorite book as Going Rogue, and who may have filmed her son Jaydon in his school play doing… Scarface.
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 29, 2010