October 31, 2008

Shorts, 10/31.

Scorsese by Ebert "A work of obvious affection, even adoration, what might surprise readers most is how Scorsese By Ebert emerges as a work of profound identification," writes S James Snyder for Time. "Long before they ever met each other, these two were kindred spirits. Scorsese's films spoke with a tone that Ebert had never heard before, and Ebert was Scorsese's champion well before the director became a household name." And Ebert's running an excerpt on The Last Temptation of Christ.

"As if faintly anxious about requiring extra justification, both Marina Zenovich's recent documentary, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, and Christopher Sandford's new book, Polanski: A Biography, flash their credentials early and often," writes Jonathan Kiefer in the New Haven Review. "As it turns out, Sandford's formerly sealed court transcripts aren't any more revelatory than Zenovich's familiar ones are cinematic. Yet neither of these new journalistic endeavors seems superfluous, and we're left to decide whether in the final analysis that's to Polanski's credit or our shame."

Films in Review runs William K Everson's 1990 appreciation of Michael Powell.

Out at the Movies The Guardian's running Simon Callow's fine forward to Out at the Movies A History of Gay Cinema in which he explains why Four Weddings and a Funeral features "[p]erhaps the most important moment in the film from a gay perspective." Related: Kamera's Antonio Pasolini talks with author Steven Paul Davies.

Also:

Quantum of Solace "Revenge is a dish best served cold. Which, along with mean and lean, is how Daniel Craig plays 007 in Marc Forster's slightly disappointing, furiously-paced, hi-tech, slash-and-burn sequel to the more leisurely, luxurious first 'reboot,' Casino Royale." Wally Hammond reviews Quantum of Solace for Time Out. More from Peter Bradshaw (Guardian), Richard Corliss (Time), Wendy Ide (London Times), Derek Malcolm (Evening Standard), Anthony Quinn (Independent) and Tim Robey (Telegraph).

Acquarello: "Like Shohei Imamura's A Man Vanishes and Nagisa Oshima's The Man Who Left His Will on Film, Yoshishige Yoshida's dense and self-reflexive Eros Plus Massacre explores the murky, often turbulent intersection between reality and fiction, history and memory, angst and revolution - the implication of what Yoshida prefaces as the viewer's 'ambivalent participation' - in the wake of the collapsed left movement."

Cinema Sewer "Comprising the best of the zine's first twelve issues, along with a surfeit of new stuff, Cinema Sewer is about as disreputable a movie book as they come." And Rob Gonsalves seems to have had a pretty good time reviewing it for Hollywood Bitchslap.

"Mike Nichols is set to direct a remake of Akira Kurosawa's High and Low for Miramax Films," reports Anne Thompson. "Written by David Mamet and produced by Scott Rudin, the film hasn't started casting. Martin Scorsese originally commissioned Mamet to write the screenplay back in 1999; it took two years for Rudin to pull the rights together. Scorsese likely will executive produce." Also: "An editor friend sent me an email from the first long-lead screening of Revolutionary Road."

And also in Variety, Archie Thomas reports that "Feel-good tuner Mamma Mia! has become the biggest grossing Brit pic of all time at the UK box office" and Michael Jones notes that Janus Films has picked up North American rights to Goetz Spielmann's Revanche for a theatrical release in March, following screenings at AFI Fest. Criterion, naturally, will then handle the DVD release.

Lake Tahoe Film Movement will be releasing Fernando Eimbcke's award-winning Lake Tahoe in the US next year.

"Sir Ian McKellen is to tread the boards next year with X-Men co-star Patrick Stewart in a new staging of Samuel Beckett's 1955 play Waiting for Godot." The BBC reports.

"It was one of the most iconic boxing matches of all time, and the culmination of an intense rivalry between the fight legends Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier." Kevin Maher in the London Times: "Yet the so-called Thriller in Manila, as argued in a new documentary of the same name, was marred by the racist antics and erratic behaviour of Ali, whose relentless abuse of Frazier became strangely obsessional and ultimately revealed the dark heart of a beloved sporting hero. Here, in an exclusive interview with the Times, Frazier reveals his true feelings about Ali, the myth and the man, and the verbal abuse he received at his hands."

In the New York Times:

  • "The First Basket, a functional (if narrowly interesting) history lesson by the filmmaker David Vyorst, recollects the rich history of Jewish participation in basketball, starting with its embrace in the thriving immigrant community on the Lower East Side of New York and ending with a look at the continuing popularity of the game in Israel," writes Nathan Lee. More from Joseph Jon Lantheir (Slant) and Ella Taylor (Voice).

  • AO Scott: "A new documentary, Run for Your Life offers a salutary and touching reminder that the [New York Marathon], like nearly everything else great about New York City, was largely the creation of an odd, stubborn visionary."

The Matador

Tom Stempel's 9th "Understanding Screenwriting" column is up at the House Next Door.

"Three kinds of performers appear in films," writes Stanley Kauffmann in the New Republic: "actors, stars, and star actors. Some very good actors lack the looks and personality to become stars. Some stars, iconic though they may be, have just enough talent to get by. Then there are the actors who have both talent and charisma. No American was ever more indisputably a star actor than Paul Newman."

Gigi "Two new DVD releases - Orson Welles's Touch of Evil (Universal) and Vincente Minnelli's Gigi (Warner Brothers) - revive the controversial movie year 1958," writes Armond White in the New York Press. "It was a year that divided movie lovers from cinephiles, the Motion Picture Academy from critics, scholars from audiences. Those old arguments stretch to the present, compelling us to re-learn movie history and re-examine aesthetics that are handed down or that we construct for our own betterment."

"Last night I had the pleasure of screening BFI's new high-definition import disc of Michelangelo Antonioni's Red Desert [Il deserto rosso, 1964] and came away with the unusual feeling that I had finally seen a beautiful woman captured in the Blu-ray format," writes Tim Lucas.

"[W]hat really sets the Peanuts specials apart is their sadness," writes Dana Stevens in Slate. "Even digitally remastered, with the background colors restored to their original vivid crispness, the Peanuts holiday specials have a faded quality, like artifacts from a lost civilization. As Linus observes of the wan, drooping pine sprig Charlie Brown eventually rescues from a huge lot of pink aluminum Christmas trees, 'This doesn't seem to fit the modern spirit.'"

The latest addition to Scott Tobias's "New Cult Canon" at the AV Club: Rounders.

"The Other End of the Line wants to show how people from different corners of the globe can make a connection, but in reality, the US-obsessed [Shriya] Priya must defy her cultural mores and empty her measly bank account to be with the man of her dreams, while all Granger[Jesse Metcalfe] has to do is learn to tolerate spicy Indian food," writes Tim Grierson in the Voice.

1941 "There's not many places I know of where you can sit down deliberately early in front of the box office, break out a couple of sandwiches, and within minutes find yourself in a conversation with a well-known and remembered Hollywood character actor," writes Dennis Cozzalio. "But that's just how I started off my evening at the New Beverly this past Sunday waiting to see the double feature tribute to actress Wendie Jo Sperber, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and 1941. I was the first in line and only about five minutes after I settled in and starting mowing on my homemade dinner I was joined by renowned actor and garrulous New Beverly fixture Clu Gulager."

"The do-it-yourself movement has transformed music, home improvement, political action and even comic book publishing. Now the DIY cause is starting to upend movie distribution, and is no longer a scarlet letter that filmmakers labored to hide." John Horn reports for the Los Angeles Times.

Well, rats: "After a year of carefully selecting clips and writing heart-felt, usually accurate captions, Intense Guys is calling it a day."

Online listening tip #1. On the latest edition of Back By Midnight, Aaron Aradillas talks with production designer Jack Fisk about his work with Terrence Malick, Brian De Palma, Roger Corman and David Lynch - and with Matt Zoller Seitz about the extended cut of The New World. For more on that recent release, see Brandon Harris at Hammer to Nail.

Online listening tip #2. Ryland Walker Knight and Mark Haslam, "Burning Through Coen Country."

Online listening tip #3. Nathan Lee talks with Asia Argento.

Online listening tip #4. Ed Champion talks with Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

Online viewing tip #1. "V2 Cinema presents the short feature What Are You Looking For?, starring American composer Philip Glass. Directed by Camila Gonzatto, the movie combines documentary, musical and surreal imagery."

Online viewing tip #2. The Hidden Cost of War at Good. Via Coudal Partners.



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Posted by dwhudson at October 31, 2008 3:28 PM