June 1, 2005
Shorts, 6/1.
"I think of the medium as offering a way to transform experience of (architectural) space, and increasingly also as a great reservoir of space that it is no longer possible to experience directly. There is perhaps a conflict between these two ideas." Patrick Keiller proves to be a fascinating interviewee for Edmund Hardy at Kamera.
Meanwhile, frequent Kamera contributor Antonio Pasolini has a new blog, The Filter. He's still tweaking the format, but the emphasis will remain on goings on in and around London, most of which, naturally, are of universal interest.
"Sixty years ago, many German people regarded the American military as liberators. Few people see it that way anymore." Richard Phillips interviews Margarethe von Trotta for the World Socialist Web Site.
Oh, that Apichatpong Weerasethakul! Ever the trickster: "I invited a filmmaker friend to make an imaginary film in the jungle for four days. We rented a 35mm camera and lighting and shot it with real film stock. But we didn’t process it. The camera persons and the lightings didn’t know this fact. I made a video documentary about this filmmaking thing." From Todd's fine interview at Twitch.
David Thomson on Michelangelo Antonioni at 93, "here and not quite here. Observing if not exactly participating? It reminds me of the feeling in L'Avventura (1960), after the young woman, Anna, has disappeared, that she is watching the rest of the film, and may even be its director, looking into the empty spaces - the emotional spaces as well as the physical - where once she was." Also in the Independent: Jennifer Rodger on the various ways film sets are blessed - yes, blessed - throughout the world.
"Deep down I had a feeling that people were getting tired of shallow stories and half-hearted narratives - they were longing for something meaningful and profound to experience online, as opposed to 90 second cartoons about defecating puppies and exploding breasts." Hence, the 12-hour Flash epic, Broken Saints. At Mindjack, Melanie McBride gets the back story from Brooke Burgess.
It's one of indieWIRE's best features (and the same goes for Filmmaker when they run their own version): Jason Guerrasio checks in on five indie films currently in production.
Screenwriters are gathering in Nashville this weekend. Real ones. Who've written real movies that actually got made. Jim Ridley talks to one of the conference organizers for the Nashville Scene.
In the City Pages, Laura Sinagra (who has a few words with Israeli director Keren Yedaya in the Voice) argues that Alexander Payne fans need to take a second look: "Omaha's favorite filmic son has become the arthouse bard for breadbasket middlebrows."
Robert Irwin in the Times Literary Supplement: "Kingdom of Heaven is visually inspiring and thus well worth seeing, but, sounds of battle, neighing horses and grunting camels apart, not worth listening to. It would have been a much better film, if the director had dispensed with both script and stars."
With a two-disc 40th anniversary edition of The Sound of Music heading to stores in November, Todd S Purdam revisits "the movie that everybody hated but the people." Nice audio slide show, too, plus Bosley Crowther's 1965 review and a ten-year-old trailer.
Also in the New York Times:
"Not just a work of genius, F for Fake bursts the categories of greatness that limited Welles's reputation and still plague moviegoers," declares Armond White before lambasting Time and Dogme and all the rest. Also in the NYP: Russ Smith knows why real people don't go to movies anymore.
George Fasel recommends catching the Off Broadway production Orson's Shadow if there's any way you possibly can.
And if you're not in New York, find Iceman, recommends Vince Kennan: "It features two of my all-time favorite scenes and what is easily one of the finest performances in cinema history."
In their batch of reviews of Alexandre Aja's High Tension at indieWIRE, three Reverse Shot contributors don't quite see eye to eye.
Alice Wu Q&A's: Sarah Harrison in Nerve and Logan Hill in New York.
At Hollywood Bitchslap, Jason Whyte ranks the best films of 2005 - so far.
For the studios, the stakes this summer are higher than ever, which is why, explains Anne Thompson, they're pulling unprecedented stunts to nab media mindspace. Also in the Observer: Jason Solomons's summer blockbuster cheat sheet. Related: Ben Cosgrove's summer movie haiku at MTV, via Movie City News.
Richard Corliss adds ten shorts to Time's list of 100 features.
Newsweek's Devin Gordon: "The rugged charm of Batman Begins, which stars Welsh actor Christian Bale, lies partly its refusal to join the visual-effects arms race that the summer-movie season has lately become. When [Christopher] Nolan does turn to digital wizardry, he uses it to amplify the action, not supply it."
You probably suspected that the unrated versions of movies like Anchorman or Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle would sell better than the blander theatrically released versions. But the numbers Elaine Dutka has for you in the Los Angeles Times are pretty eye-popping. Also: Chris Lee on how Crash "has turned into must-see viewing for those who want to stay inside the cultural loop" and Rachel Abramowitz's profile of Ron Howard.
The Boston Globe's Renée Graham explains why the movie industry ought to be racing to tighten and eventually close altogether the window between theatrical and DVD releases. Via the Alternative Film Guide.
You can contribute to Robert Greenwald's next film, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. Evan explains at Alternet. For background on both the film and its maker, check David M Halbfinger's piece in the NYT.
Up-n-coming:
Posted by dwhudson at June 1, 2005 5:22 PM
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