MovieMaker. Spring 06.

"Note: The following 'rules' are from the unbalanced mind of a relatively novice moviemaker." Steve Buscemi offers 13 golden ones in the new issue of MovieMaker. #10: "Find the back issue of MovieMaker that lists the rules (or non-rules) of Jim Jarmusch. He rules." Jarmusch's rules.

"If your only goal in making a film is getting a distributor to buy it, you're almost undoubtedly in for a rude awakening," warns David Fear, who then looks into the nuts and bolts of DIY distribution.

"Is the success of Brokeback Mountain changing mainstream moviegoers' attitudes toward gay cinema? Or had society altered its mindset already, with Brokeback fever simply confirming the change? Will actors be more willing to 'play gay' in future films? Most importantly, will the picture's hit status make Hollywood more open to gay subjects in the future?" David Sterritt asks around.

James Gunn, who's directed Slither, recalls "one perfect moment when Iris surprised us all with a horizontal fountain of crimson blood splattering wondrously onto Tania's face." The David Lean bit is particularly amusing.

And then there are the "Hands-On-Pages":

• Jason Guerrasio talks with Andy Garcia about making The Lost City; and Garcia shares a few "Things I've Learned as a Moviemaker."

• Lily Percy: "With Down in the Valley's release date just a few weeks away, [David] Jacobson spoke with MM about working with Edward Norton, why test screenings do more harm than good and the joy that lies in writing characters that cannot be easily pinned down." Jacobson's "Things."

• "Brains, balls and luck. In no particular order. And you have to live a while before you can tell a story. I'm 40." Inside Man screenwriter Russell Gewirtz tells Jennifer M Wood what it takes. Gerwitz's "Things."

• Wood's also got a good long talk with Chris Tellefsen, who's "gone from art student to in-demand film editor with an eclectic resume that includes such diverse titles as Whit Stillman's Metropolitan, Larry Clark's Kids, Milos Forman's Man on the Moon, Robert Benton's The Human Stain, M Night Shyamalan's The Village and Bennett Miller's Capote." Tellefsen's "Things."

• Percy meets Oxford International Festival of Films director Patricia Terrell; that fest is running now through May 12. MM's festive links.

Posted by dwhudson at May 3, 2006 12:07 AM