Fests and events, 1/11.

The WGA is putting on a film festival for members, and its lineup is obviously a sign of the times," notes Variety's Michael Jones. "The fest will run this Sunday at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum."

A Fool There Was screens at London's Barbican on Sunday and, in the Guardian, Kira Cochrane looks back over the life of Theda Bara, "the original on-screen vamp, the woman who made performances such as that of Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box, Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity and Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction possible."

In the Independent, Charlotte Cripps previews ICO Essentials: The Secret Masterpieces of Cinema ("ICO" stands for "Independent Cinema Office," by the way). The series starts out at the Tate Modern (January 18 through 21) before heading out on a national tour. "All of the themed programmes, including Modernity, Pop, Play, Expression and Protest, collectively explore the ways in which the artist's film has influenced popular culture at large," writes Cripps.

"[A]s [Rick] Moody (who will introduce Tuesday's Lincoln Center screening [of The Ice Storm]) commented in an afterward of a recent edition of the novel, the movie is the fraternal twin of the novel," notes Miriam Bale at the Reeler. "He recalls crying at the end of the his first viewing of the film, partially out of relief that the film was so good that he wouldn't have to fake pleasantries but also because, 'I had successfully given away my book, and this was a bittersweet thing.'"

Television Delivers People, on view at the Whitney through February 17, "tries to put in perspective the changes wrought by the DVR, YouTube and, more recently, the writers' strike" and "combines television-obsessed works from the 1970s, 80s and 90s with fresh material from young artists for whom the “idiot box” is just one of many interactive screens," writes Karen Rosenberg in the New York Times.

"Water Flowing Together, screening this week at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Dance on Camera Festival, moves gracefully between Jock Soto's roots on a Navajo reservation and his 25-year reign as one of New York City Ballet's principal dancers." Joel Lobenthal in the New York Sun.

"A prime example of the merits of 'festival cinema,' Argentine director Rodrigo Moreno's El Custodio is good enough that I wish it could break out of that circuit and reach a wider audience, but that's not likely to happen," writes Steve Erickson in Gay City News. "After playing MoMA's New Directors/New Films series last spring, El Custodio returns to the museum." As part of Global Lens 2008, running through January 24.

"With films that run the gamut from traditional hand-and-rod manipulation to more modern stop-motion animation, the festival reflects [Ricki] Vincent's catholic philosophy about the nature of puppetry." In the Austin Chronicle, Josh Rosenblatt previews Saturday's first ever Puppet Parts Film Fest.

"This year's Human Rights Watch Festival at the Museum of Fine Arts examines the success and failure of vox populi in various countries around the world, highlighting issues that Americans might bear in mind when they cast their own ballots," writes Peter Keough in the Boston Phoenix. January 16 through 20.

"The most popular Israeli film this year says much about Israel's ever-contradictory state of mind," writes Judith Miller in the New York Sun. "Beaufort, which opens January 18 as one of the centerpiece films of the 17th annual New York Jewish Film Festival, is an antiwar war movie about courage and cowardice, obedience and rebellion, heroism and survival." More from Bill Weber in Slant: Director Joseph Cedar's "dully earnest chronicle doesn't shun politics completely... but drowns the specifics of historical circumstance in generic minutiae." More on the festival overall from Ben Gold at the Reeler.

The program for transmediale.08, Berlin's festival of art and digital culture running January 29 through February 3 (though the exhibition remains open through February 24), is online.

"After getting off to a great start last year, the Berlinale's special program Culinary Cinema will be held for the second time from February 11 to 15." Also, the European Film Market carries on growing and: "At the fifth Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 10-12, 2008), a selection of 35 film projects from 25 countries will be presented. Their producers are looking for international investors and co-production partners."

Posted by dwhudson at January 11, 2008 1:18 PM