September 13, 2004

Shorts, 9/13.

AO Scott offers an overview of the Toronto International Film Festival (through September 18), emphasizing that taking it all in is simply impossible, but: "What I have seen, most unforgettably, is not Toronto but Baghdad, as presented by Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein in their powerful documentary Gunner Palace," which he hopes "makes its way quickly from this festival to American theaters, because it is not a movie anyone should miss."

Gunner Palace

Prospects aren't bad: Variety's Sharon Stwart reports that Palm Pictures has picked up the rights. If you're just now catching up with this one, a modest reminder: Our interview with Michael Tucker.

News and reviews are coming fast from Toronto and the best window looking out over it all is the one set up by Movie City News.

Then, even more from Toronto:

By the way, Brandon Chalk is still posting reviews of films screened at the Copenhagen International Film Festival.

New York picks five films to catch at Lincoln Center's LatinBeat 2004 (September 17 - 29).

Sean Spillane finds some dynamite flip books.

Sandipan Deb in Outlook India:

Mrinal Sen

It is impossible to write about [Mrinal ] Sen without bringing in [Satyajit] Ray, for the two of them - of similar age, starting their film careers in the same year, both steadfastly refusing to ever leave their beloved Calcutta - represented quality Indian cinema to the world for decades. Yet they are chalk and cheese. Ray's unit of social analysis was the individual, not class, while almost all of Sen's films are explorations of class.

Also via Perlentaucher's "Magazinrundschau," Lorenzo Sorio tells the story behind the making of Michael Radford's The Merchant of Venice in L'espresso (and in Italian).

Back to and via MCN:

Morgan Spurlock tours the Weta Workshop and, yes, meets Peter Jackson.

Back to the New York Times:

  • Laura M Holson and Geraldine Fabrikant report on Michael Eisner's announcement that he'll be handing down the keys to the kingdom in 2006. Floyd Norris offers the Wall Street angle and Sharon Waxman considers future prospects: "His successor will face the daunting challenge of redefining that corporate and managerial philosophy for an era of far-flung conglomerates, more dramatic entertainment and rapidly expanding choices, without losing the Disney magic." So, too, does Holson on Monday: "[W]ill Harvey Weinstein and Steven P Jobs stay as partners?"

Decasia

  • Allan Kozinn on Michael Gordon's score for Decasia: "The DVD presents the essentials... but it scarcely hints at the experience of hearing the work live."

  • Eric Pfanner: "While most European filmmakers struggle in vain against the American movie juggernaut, Working Title Films, their London-based production house, is a commercially minded exception."

  • Virginia Heffernan on Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson: "[Ken] Burns started bringing his trusty documentaries to Telluride 20 years ago; one staff member calls him the "spiritual glue" of the rarefied festival." Heffernan also wonders if Six Feet Under is turning around.

  • Alessandra Stanley: "[A]s television choices multiply, viewers seem all the more hungry for a shared experience. For the last five years, each season has produced at least one show that became a so-called 'water cooler' phenomenon: not just a hit, but an It show."

Jon Henley follows up on his first (and quite popular) report on that cinema found under the streets of Paris. The people behind it are "La Mexicaine de la Perforation, a clandestine cell of 'urban explorers' which claims its mission is to 'reclaim and transform disused city spaces for the creation of zones of expression for free and independent art'."

Also in the Guardian and Observer:

  • Daniel Libeskind - yes, that Daniel Libeskind: "North by Northwest perfectly communicates the vastness of the American canvas and the drama of its images - everything that is beautiful, dramatic and exciting. The integration of Mount Rushmore into the final climax symbolises the idea that in the US gods actually come down to earth, human beings become part of the landscape and the landscape becomes heroic."

  • You'll remember that the Pet Shop Boys were to perform a new soundtrack to Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin live on Trafalgar Square. So how did it go? Bit of a let-down, writes Maddy Costa.

  • Alejandro Amenábar's Mar adentro (Out to Sea) is sparking a debate over euthanasia in Spain, reports Giles Tremlett.

  • Like a line-up of journalists before him these past few months, Neil Strauss discovers that Tom Cruise has changed tactics: "'Bring it. I'm a Scientologist, man. What do you want to know?'" But seriously: "'Some people, well, if they don't like Scientology, well, then, fuck you.' He rises from the table. 'Really.' He points an angry finger at the imaginary enemy. 'Fuck you.' His face reddens. It is a beautiful exhibition, and I don't believe that he's acting."

Lauren Bacall: What Becomes a Legend Most?

  • The whole Bacall brouhaha last week was ridiculous (she was right, journalists were stupid, and in fact, I refused to link to any of that reportage, a brave act of moral fortitude I'm sure did not go unnoticed... er, anyway). But it has raised a few questions for Philip French: "But what is a legend? And how is a legend different from an icon or someone blessed with charisma? All three terms have been borrowed from the religious sphere and used freely to describe figures in the firmament of our new religions - show business and celebrity."

  • The Observer's fall preview.

  • Robert De Niro has defended his portrayal of Italian American characters in Venice, reports Owen Bowcott.

  • Andrew Pulver's adaptation of the week: Mel Stuart's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

  • John Patterson admires Tim Robbins.

Remember Robert Altman's terrifically fun A Wedding with Filmbrain.

For the Independent, Charlotte O'Sullivan interviews Emily Watson, "in search of white-hot excitement that doesn't isolate her from her husband. And contentment that doesn't reduce her to a neutered frump." Also:

Online viewing tip. The trailer for Project Rebirth. Via greg.org.

Online listening tip. Ken Loach at the Tate. You will likely miss this, but it will be archived.



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Posted by dwhudson at September 13, 2004 9:46 AM