September 18, 2007

Fests and events, 9/18.

SF Docfest Let's break this down geographically, starting with San Francisco and the Bay Area:

  • "Although it's a wonderful thing that George [Kuchar]'s earlier work has achieved a kind of acceptance, stature and even immortality, it has the unintended side effect of overshadowing his recent and considerable output." Michael Fox previews It's a Funny, Mad, Sad World: The Movies of George Kuchar, five shorts screening Tuesday evening at the Pacific Film Archive. Also at SF360, Susan Gerhard offers "a few quick takes on programs that look particularly worthwhile" at the Madcat Women's International Film Festival, running through September 26.

  • And: Finn Taylor is "bringing his movie The Darwin Awards to the Roxie this week, and the hybrid romantic comedy/literary satire based on the Darwin Awards themselves - awards bestowed on humans whose self-caused accidental deaths were the result of such inanity and hubris we're supposed to be glad they're removed themselves from the gene pool - clearly hark back to Taylor's own experiences," writes Susan Gerhard, introducing her interview with him.

  • Brian Darr finds much to anticipate in the lineup for the Mill Valley Film Festival (October 4 through 14). And Michael Hawley previews the lineup at the Evening Class.

LA:

Les Doulos

  • "America's rediscovery of French director Jean-Pierre Melville hit a new peak last year, when his Army of Shadows showed up on more than 30 Top Ten lists - including number one mentions from the likes of David Ansen, Manohla Dargis, and Scott Foundas - nearly four decades after it was made," recalls Andy Klein in the LA CityBeat. "Now we get the reissue of his 1962 hit Le Doulos, a more characteristic gangster film, featuring Jean-Paul Belmondo." Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times: "Playing for a week at the Nuart in West Los Angeles in a new 35 mm print, freshly subtitled by the always-expert Rialto Pictures, Le Doulos is a top-of-the-line existential gangster thriller, an unforgettable voyage into a world of trench coats, betrayal and despair." More from Vince Keenan.

  • Also in the LAT: "Nothing Sacred: Hollywood Comedy's Writers in the Age of Screwball, 1933 - 1944 examines the major contributions made by former journalists and playwrights who came to Hollywood and created the wacky characters and snappy dialogue in such classic comedies as It Happened One Night, Nothing Sacred, Easy Living and Theodora Goes Wild, all of which screen during the festival," writes Susan King in the Los Angeles Times. Through October 31.

  • And: "To help celebrate its 40th anniversary, the American Film Institute said today that it would show 11 classic films at ArcLight Hollywood on Oct 3 - with each movie to be introduced by one of its stars or filmmakers," reports Lee Margulies. "But all 11 screen at 7 pm." Take a look at the lineup; you may choose only one.

New York and the East Coast:

WR: Mysteries of the Organism

  • In the Voice, J Hoberman previews the Yugoslavian Black Wave series, through September 23 at BAM.

  • Acquarello's now previewing film screening as part of the NYFF sidebar Tropical Analysis: The Films of Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, running September 29 through October 9.

  • "As one of the 'other' Canadian festivals after Toronto, the Atlantic Film Festival offers an impressive spread in an intimate coastal setting," notes Jason Woloski at Not Coming to a Theater Near You. "Halifax, Canada is home to this festival, and as a seaport city, a university town, and a welcoming tourist spot for cruise ships from around the world, it is appropriate that films selected for screening in Halifax reflects a balance of international filmmaking, Hollywood's upcoming fall fare, Canadian features and shorts, and a variety of films made by Maritime Canadians about Maritime Canada." Through September 22.

And all points in between:

Meanwhile, in Spain:

Sitges

And finally, to wrap Venice:

  • "Venice offers civility as opposed to Toronto's genial anarchy, an Adriatic breeze before the whirlwind off Lake Ontario," writes Time's Richard Corliss. "Held on the Lido, the glamorous resort that's a 15 min boat ride from Venice, the festival is its own serene island of sophisticated moviegoing. In Toronto, you move from one film to another at an bustling, big-city pace. It's the difference between a leisurely banquet, catered with Italian elegance, and an urgent series of alpha-male mini-meals. I wouldn't want to do without either of them."

  • The Observer's Jason Solomons wraps his Venice, opening with a nifty moment with Woody Allen and closing with his own choices for the best of the fest.

  • For Terri Judd, writing in the Independent, Cate Blanchett stole the show.

  • "The late Gillo Pontecorvo was fondly remembered at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday where Italo Culture Czar Francesco Rutelli announced the establishment of a national archive dedicated to the The Battle of Algiers helmer and former Lido topper," reports Nick Vivarelli in that quaint and grating Variety-speak.

  • For european-films.net, Fabrizio Maltese snaps a photo: "Daniel Casagrande, the man behind the Queer Lion, the prize for best film with gay characters or elements at the Venice Film Festival, shows off the plaque inscribed with the name of the first ever Queer Lion winner: Ed Radtke's independent US film The Speed of Life."

  • euro|topics gathers and translates commentary from papers across the continent.



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Posted by dwhudson at September 18, 2007 12:36 PM