September 30, 2003

Shorts, 9/30.

Kandahar A.O. Scott in the New York Times:

[M]ovies like Majid Majidi's Baran, Hassan Yektapanah's Djomeh, Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Kandahar and his daughter Samira's At Five O'Clock in the Afternoon do more than simply document the sufferings of Afghans at home and in exile. They appeal not only to the audience's conscience, but to its curiosity and imagination as well. A deep, even primal fascination exists for stories about people whose bad luck or inherent pluck propels them away from home and out into the world. Such people may, in the modern world, provide statistical fodder for policy debates, but they are also, archetypally, the heroes and heroines of fairy tales, picaresque novels and pop-culture epics.

Scott also has an appreciation of Elia Kazan running today. So does David Thomson in the Guardian; Slate reruns Jacob Weisberg's 1999 piece.

And thanks to Ian Whitney (follow those Running on Karma links as well) for pointing to Richard Severo's piece in the NYT on Donald O'Connor.

Also in the NYT:

  • Quite a bit about TV, actually, starting with Frank Rich on James Carville and George Stephanopoulos: "To watch The War Room now is to realize just how radically our media culture has changed in the wake of their success."
  • Baz Dreisinger: "Call it what you will - nouveau blackface, hip-hop-face, or simply an 'act black' routine - the white-as-black character that Ms. Regen has perfected is fast becoming an American comedic staple."
  • "On TV, Men Are the New Women," announces Alessandra Stanley.
  • David Edelstein revs up the Mystic River machine with a profile of Clint Eastwood.
  • Jon Caramanica on Fear of a Black Hat. Watching it today "is like replaying the history of hip-hop on fast forward."
  • Daniel J. Wakin on the other movie based on the Gospel of John.
  • Mim Udovitch interviews Mike White re: School of Rock.

    Oh, look, a School of Rock "Super Fan Site Weblog." Also via Fimoculous: "If They Mated" in Springfield.

    Greg has three ideas that might fix K Street.

    Kill Bill review alert: Mike Goodridge in Screen Daily. Lessee... Ah, here's a good blurb: "A delirious cinematic confection which bears a signature all his own."

    The Tagliners take a very close look at that Revolutions trailer.

    Speaking of which, Nick Edwards profiles Yuen Woo Ping. Also in the Independent, David Thomson again, this time on women in artist and writer biopics.

    Sean O'Hagan profiles Dan Aykroyd for the Observer.

    John Torvi files a fine diary from the Calgary International Film Festival for filmjourney.org.

    Chokher Bali Rabindranath Tagore meets Aishwarya Rai in Rituparno Ghosh's Chokher Bali. For Outlook India, Ashis K. Biswas writes hopefully that it "could well usher in a new era for better-made non-Bollywood films."

    Meanwhile, British Asians are hoping to break into Bollywood, reports Nick Meo in the Guardian. Perhaps the most interesting tidbit here is that one of the films mentioned, Boom, a critical bomb, Padma Lakshmi, Salman Rushdie's partner.

    David Vest has a different take on Masked and Anonymous from just about everybody else.

    Kerry Gonzalez, 25, three years probation, a $2000 fine and $5000 in restitution to Universal for leaking that copy of The Hulk this summer.

    Matt Hines in CNET on Disney's new VOD service, MovieBeam.

    "Is Christopher Nolan selling out?" asks Alison Parker. If so, he joins the company of Sam Raimi, Doug Liman, Alfonso Cuaron, Pitof, Steven Shainberg, Ang Lee, and... well, Paul Schrader, notes Hugh Hart for the San Francisco Chronicle.

    "Voilà, mon cinéma est mort," writes Alain Delon in Le Nouvel Observateur.

    Mighty congrats to Matt Clayfield!



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    Posted by dwhudson at September 30, 2003 3:27 AM

    • Comments

    Did Aaronofsky sell out for doing "Batman: Year One" with Frank Miller? Or Tim Burton for fighting for Michael Keaton in the role of Batman? (And, hell, that museum scene with Joker from the first film is one of the most subversive moments I've ever seen in a summer film.)

    I'll happily call "sellout" on Nolan if he pulls a Joel Schumacher. But Batman isn't your traditional franchise. It requires a cockeyed visul director who leans to the dark.

    Posted by: Ed at September 30, 2003 11:17 AM

    he's sold out! he's sold out! finally i can start selling these bootleg-nolans on ebay!

    how much would you pay for an authentic taiwanese chris nolan knockoff. five bucks! ten bucks! ya-hooooo!

    Posted by: "chirp" at September 30, 2003 2:06 PM

    And I've still got the infamous DVCAM footage of Nolan at a party giving the infamous "I'll sell out before you make your first movie" speech to several aspiring filmmakers. The one that caused Jim Jarmusch to spit his drink out all over Vincent Gallo. Great stuff, man. And to think, his Five Year Plan's worked out just the way he laid it down.

    Posted by: Ed at September 30, 2003 3:12 PM

    That footage sounds like pure gold, Ed.

    Posted by: Matt at September 30, 2003 6:32 PM