Ways to object to "Precious."
By Vadim Rizov on 11/06/2009
For anyone familiar with habitual barnburner Armond White and his politics, it's zero surprise that the NY Press critic objects strenuously to "Precious." His review of the film has, as usual, much food for the comment trolls, particularly in his insistence that, by attaching their names and confessing personal histories of abuse, Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey are converting "their private agendas into heavily hyped social preoccupation," which I guess means... child abuse is really just another way for a couple of whiny celebrities to beg for attention? He also compares "Precious" to "The Birth of a Nation" and does... MORE »
-
- Comment
A guide to Roland Emmerich's early work.
By Vadim Rizov on 11/06/2009
Filed under: Watchy
I've had so much fun writing about "2012," I'm almost sad it'll actually be coming out next Friday. Almost. In a fairly amazing recent interview with Roland Emmerich, the schlock auteur explains he could get away with casting John Cusack because "I make movies where the movie itself is the star" and says it's totally cool that "2012" is a whopping 158 minutes because "The ten most successful movies of all time are all around three hours long. My favourite movie, 'Lawrence of Arabia,' is four hours. So there!" Same thing! But what really caught my eye was an allusion... MORE »
The Cinema Eyes love "The Cove."
By Alison Willmore on 11/05/2009
Filed under: Awards
"The Cove," Louie Psihoyos' much-lauded documentary about Japanese dolphin hunting, is the big fish (heh) amongst this year's nominees for the Cinema Eye Honors, the awards dedicated to excellence in non-fiction filmmaking. "The Cove" was nominated in seven categories, including feature of the year, in which it will compete with Anders Ostergaard's "Burma VJ," Robert Kenner's "Food, Inc.," Darius Marder's "Loot" and Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher's "October Country." Agnes Varda ("The Beaches Of Agnes"), John Maringouin ("Big River Man"), Anders Østergaard ("Burma Vj"), Darius Marder ("Loot"), Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher ("October Country") and Terence Davies ("Of Time And... MORE »
"Nailed" is back, Tony Kaye is probably not.
By Vadim Rizov on 11/05/2009
Filed under: Coming attractions
David O. Russell ("I Heart Huckabees") and Tony Kaye ("American History X") are both fearsomely talented directors and, from most accounts, extremely difficult human beings; their projects attract trouble on a regular basis. Both had the bad luck to get tied up with Capitol Films when the company imploded. It's a complicated saga, but essentially Capitol heads David Bergstein and Ron Tutor owe a lot of people money and are trying to sell their remaining movies even though some of them are now owned by a different company. And their financial problems are far from over. Russell's "Nailed," a political... MORE »
TCM, now a film festival.
By Vadim Rizov on 11/05/2009
Filed under: Festivals
There are over 700 film festivals worldwide, but only a few are devoted entirely to showing old movies -- which is odd, considering that these days, it's just as hard to see most older films in a theater as it is to see any of the new festival darlings. Those that do exist tend towards the obscure and specialized. MoMA's annual "To Save and Project" series (which is now in progress) alternates between the well-known (say, a new print of Cassavetes' "A Woman Under The Influence") and movies whose reputation is so specialized you basically have to attend on faith... MORE »
Britain gets ready for rapsploitation.
By Vadim Rizov on 11/05/2009
Filed under: Abroad
Unlike the US -- where the ghetto issue movie has for years been its own subgenre -- the UK only recently got with the program. Friday sees the release of the UK's first hip-hop musical, "1 Day," which shows how quickly their film industry is adapting to the inner-city turf it previously ignored. In 2004, there was the pioneering "Bullet Boy," followed soon by "Kidulthood" and its follow-up "Adulthood." Watching the trailers in chronological order, the amount of moralizing and ominous music goes way down: the number of gunshots, hoodies being pulled over ominously and aggressive rap numbers goes way... MORE »
"Gentlemen Broncos" gets corralled.
By Vadim Rizov on 11/04/2009
Filed under: Biz
Fox Searchlight has become to the '00s what Miramax was to the '90s: a company that gets known for putting out "niche" movies that aren't honestly the toughest of sells. With the trifecta of "Napoleon Dynamite," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Juno," they basically cracked open the window for the mainstreaming of Sundance quirk. But they've hit a wall this year, with the exception of "(500) Days of Summer": "Amelia" is tanking, "Whip It!" collapsed down some hole and hardly anyone noticed that "Adam" came out. And now they're canceling "Gentlemen Broncos"' national roll-out. The words "From the director of 'Napoleon... MORE »
The death of the original screenplay...?
By Vadim Rizov on 11/04/2009
Filed under: Awards
This week's favorite Oscar topic, besides last night's announcement that Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin will be co-hosting the awards, is where all the original screenplays have gone. The Hollywood Reporter's Steven Zeitchik points out the a dearth of obvious candidates for the "Best Original Screenplay" category. If "Up," "Inglourious Basterds" and "A Serious Man" are virtual locks, what else does that leave us with? Zeitchik proposes "(500) Days Of Summer," and maybe "The Hangover" or "Star Trek." (Yes, under the Academy's ever-dizzying, perpetually nonsensical rules, it's a possibility.) THE ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY MUST BE DEAD. Because "ever since the studios... MORE »
Uwe Boll's "Darfur" drama.
By Stephen Saito on 11/04/2009
Filed under: Odds
Like the part of Cannes you don't usually hear about, the American Film Market is the largely unglamorous event held every year in L.A. where film buyers and distributors from across the globe come to put the business back in show business, looking at the latest Sofia Coppola film in the same way they look as "The Whiffler," a comedy about a 'roided up whiffleball player -- that is, as products. Beginning tomorrow, films like Coppola's "Somewhere" will be debuting at AFM, as will Noah Baumbach's "Greenberg" and a host of other attention-worthy endeavors, like the latest from "Teeth" director... MORE »
Roger Avary pioneers jail-tweeting.
By Vadim Rizov on 11/04/2009
Filed under: In quotes
Until recently, Roger Avary was a respected if controversial writer/director, best known for "Rules Of Attraction" (easily the best of the Bret Easton Ellis adaptations) and for breaking up with video store-days friend Quentin Tarantino over accusations he was shafted on credit for the "Pulp Fiction" screenplay (he only got a story credit). On the geek side, Avary worked on "Silent Hill," "Beowulf" and a proposed upcoming adaptation of the "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" video game. None of which seemed to matter after Avary got drunk, crashed his car into a telephone pole and killed one of his passengers. Avary... MORE »
E-mail us at ifcblog (at) ifctv.comCategories
Recent Comments
- “While you trash White's review, too bad nobody's talking about yours!”
- gene roberts on Ways to object to "Precious." - 11/06/2009
- “He should be tweeting sorrowful messages to the passengers family period!”
- nancydrew on Roger Avary pioneers jail-tweeting. - 11/04/2009
- “To read the story of the real Amelia Earhart's fashion line and see what her designs looked like, ch...”
- Mary Hall on Amelia Earhart: Fashion pioneer, lousy pilot? - 10/22/2009
- “even the ugliness oflife can be beautiful”
- becky newbold on Roger Avary pioneers jail-tweeting. - 11/04/2009
- “I say why not, if it gets him thru. Maybe it will teach someone about the cost of DUI. And maybe a m...”
- MRD on Roger Avary pioneers jail-tweeting. - 11/04/2009
