Indie film news, reviews, commentary, interviews, podcasts and more, updated throughout the week.
The John Wooniverse
By Alison Willmore on 11/16/2009
After a less-than-stellar run in the U.S., director John Woo heads to China for "Red Cliff," a period war epic starring Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Chang Cheng and others in what's the most expensive Asian production to date. On this week's IFC News podcast, we look at Woo's career and his signature stylings, at the immensely influential run of Hong Kong crime dramas that spawned the "heroic bloodshed" genre, and at his hits and misses stateside. Download: MP3, 48:21 minutes, 44.3 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] This week's keyword game prizes come courtesy of "Anvil! The Story of... MORE »
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The Pleasures of Stop Motion Animation
By Alison Willmore on 11/09/2009
Filed under: PodcastsComputer graphics have been a game-changer for traditional animation, but the far more analog stop motion is still going strong and relatively unchanged -- see this Friday's release of "Fantastic Mr. Fox," along with the more grown-up stylings of "Mary and Max" and "$9.99." On this week's IFC News podcast, we ponder the pleasures of stop motion, discuss the qualities that directors that like to work in the medium tend to have (cough, OCD) and talk about how all those slight imperfections and that retro sensibility can make for a warmer and more welcoming film. Download: MP3, 47:41 minutes, 43.7... MORE »
Submitted For Your Approval...
By Alison Willmore on 11/02/2009
Filed under: Podcasts...a "Twilight Zone" podcast. Richard Kelly's new film "The Box" shares source material with an episode of the series, which got us wondering about why there haven't been more movies made from "Twilight Zone" episodes. This week on the IFC News podcast, we suggest six episodes we could see getting fleshed out into features, and discuss films that, while not directly related to Rod Serling's series, are definitely "Twilight Zone"-esque. Download: MP3, 54:59 minutes, 50.3 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
Supporting Characters Worthy of Spinoffs
By Alison Willmore on 10/26/2009
Filed under: PodcastsRonald Chevalier, the pompous fantasy writer memorably played by Jemaine Clement in "Gentlemen Broncos," seems so much more interesting that the film's main storylines that we found ourselves wishing there was a whole movie only devoted to him. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at a few other supporting characters we feel deserve their own movie, from a fireman in the midst of an existential crisis to a classic, wisecracking space opera smuggler. Download: MP3, 52:35 minutes, 48.1 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML]... MORE »
Improving on Real Life
By Alison Willmore on 10/19/2009
Filed under: PodcastsClearly, you can't cram an entire lifetime into two hours -- for a biopic to be truly complete and accurate, it'd run as long as its subject's time on earth. So how do you make someone's life into a movie? This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at how biographical films trim, mold and sometimes downright fictionalize their subject's lives to make them more cinematic and audience friendly, from de-gaying to skipping the difficult bits to dealing (or not dealing) with the tragic ending that, as in the case with "Amelia," everyone knows is coming. Download: MP3, 55:40... MORE »
Planet Melancholgia
By Alison Willmore on 10/12/2009
Filed under: PodcastsWhat to call the mixture of grown-up melancholy and childhood nostalgia promised by a film like "Where the Wilds Things Are"? We're not sure, but until someone gives us a better suggestion, we're going with "melancholgia." This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at the recent surge in melancholgic films about youth and the enduring appeal of all that reminiscence, and we propose some projects ripe for melancholgic adaptation. Plus, we announce the first prizewinner in our keyword game! Download: MP3, 36:53 minutes, 33.8 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML]... MORE »
"Forget it, Jake. It's Cougartown."
By Alison Willmore on 10/05/2009
Filed under: PodcastsThe movies' male/female age divide is nothing new -- from Marlon Brando buttering up a less-than-half-his-age Maria Schneider in "Last Tango in Paris" to Catherine Zeta-Jones pursuing a grandfatherly Sean Connery in "Entrapment," on-screen relationships between older men and younger women rarely even merit a comment. This week on the IFC News podcast, we thought we'd look at the flip side of the phenomenon and examine how films treat pairings of older women with younger men, picking out some of the recurring themes, and wondering why the deflowering of a teenage boy by an older female is allowed to be... MORE »
Guy Movies for Girls, Girl Movies for Guys
By Alison Willmore on 09/29/2009
Filed under: Podcasts"Whip It," Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, is an unabashed chick flick set in Austin's roller derby scene that might, given the chance, nevertheless prove just as enjoyable for the dudes in the audience. The film inspired this week's IFC News podcast, in which we swap marketing demos, with Alison picking out "guy movies" she likes, and Matt doing the same from the other side of the gender divide. Download: MP3, 50:36 minutes, 46.3 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
Attention Owed to Clive Owen
By Alison Willmore on 09/21/2009
Filed under: PodcastsIn this week's "The Boys Are Back," Clive Owen seems to break from his usual screen persona to play a sports writer whose wife passes away, leaving him a single dad forced to reconnect with and learn to take care of his two sons. But how far a stretch is that, really, for a man whose screen specialty has become the reluctant hero? This week on the IFC News podcast, we offer an appreciation of one of our favorite leading men, saluting his presence, his choice in roles and his ability to read the silliest of voiceovers without a hint... MORE »
Blowing the Whistle on Whistleblower Movies
By Alison Willmore on 09/14/2009
Filed under: PodcastsThe covert meetings in hallways and parking garages, the warning threats, the for-the-role weight gain, the righteous speechifying -- Steven Soderbergh mocks all of these standbys of the whistleblower movie in his new comedy "The Informant!" Inspired, on this week's IFC News podcast we take a closer look at some of those clichés and the films that best embody them, from "The Insider" to Soderbergh's own "Erin Brockovich." Download: MP3, 40:31 minutes, 37.1 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
No One Can Hear You Scream
By Alison Willmore on 09/07/2009
Filed under: Podcasts"Nature never intended for you to survive here" warns the trailer for the new film "Whiteout," about Kate Beckinsale tracking a killer in Antarctica. But the planet's least hospitable continent isn't the only place humans don't belong -- this week on the IFC News podcast, we list some of our favorite movie uses of hostile backdrops, from the deserts to the open ocean to outer space. Download: MP3, 32:12 minutes, 29.5 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
Do Spoilers Spoil Movie Discussions?
By Alison Willmore on 08/31/2009
Filed under: PodcastsSpoiler etiquette is getting ever more complex, but honestly, if knowing a plot twist in advance can ruin a movie, is it that good a movie to begin with? This week on the IFC News podcast, we discuss the definition and rules of spoilers, when and why critics and advertisers have deemed it acceptable to spoil a film, and whether talking around spoilers makes it impossible to have a real discussion about a particular feature. Download: MP3, 41:07 minutes, 37.6 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML]... MORE »
Actual College, Meet College Movies
By Alison Willmore on 08/24/2009
Filed under: PodcastsIt's the last week of August, and the class of 2013 is either getting ready to or in the process of moving into their dorms in preparation for their first year of college. But if their ideas about what college life is going to be like are based on films set there, they're probably going to be disappointed. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at the different tics, clichés and tendencies of cinema set in the world of higher education, along with a few titles in particular that strike us as closer to the truth. Download: MP3,... MORE »
Overused Soundtrack Choices
By Alison Willmore on 08/17/2009
Filed under: PodcastsWhen "Under Pressure" starts up on the soundtrack of "World's Greatest Dad," it's as both a fitting soundtrack choice and as a joke -- the song, a callback from an earlier scene, is so overused as a music cue that no matter how thematically appropriate it is, it's going to come with loads of baggage. Which provided the inspiration for this week's IFC News podcast, a look at some of the most soundtrack-abused song choices in the film world, from "Carmina Burana" to "Bad to the Bone." Download: MP3, 38:52 minutes, 35.6 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML]... MORE »
Metaphorical Aliens
By Alison Willmore on 08/10/2009
Filed under: Podcasts"District 9"'s alien race is segregated into its own neighborhood -- in South Africa. Which makes its metaphorical value pretty obvious. But race isn't the only thematic burden extraterrestrials have borne in films. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at some of the other things aliens have stood for. Download: MP3, 34:41 minutes, 31.8 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
Docsploitation!
By Alison Willmore on 08/03/2009
Filed under: PodcastsIs there a term for films like this week's "Paper Heart," which continually blur the line between fiction and nonfiction? Well, if there is, we couldn't find it, so we decided to coin our own. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at films that fall into the category we'll call "docsploitation," in which you're constantly challenged to figure out what's real and what's not, and what that even means in the end anyway. Download: MP3, 40:13 minutes, 36.8 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML]... MORE »
Yes, Comic-Con HAS Nuked the Fridge
By Alison Willmore on 07/28/2009
Filed under: PodcastsLast year, we wondered if the San Diego-based geek mecca that is Comic-Con had jumped the rails, turning away from the comic book fandom on which it was built to embrace studio spectacle. This year, well, there's really no question. On this week's IFC News podcast, we look at the mystical marketing machine the convention has become, the titles that were talked about and how, if you wait in line for four hours to see five minutes of footage, you tend for the sake of your own self-respect to say it's good. Download: MP3, 38:02 minutes, 34.8 MB Subscribe to... MORE »
The Shrink Stays In The Picture
By Alison Willmore on 07/20/2009
Filed under: PodcastsThe psychoanalyst has been a staple of movies since the days of Hitchcock -- this week's new release, "Shrink," was actually one of two therapist-in-crisis films at Sundance this year. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at why psychologist sessions are an actor's best friend, whether they're inherently uncinematic and and how on-screen therapy might be better suited to TV. Download: MP3, 39:37 minutes, 36.3 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
Scrambled Timelines
By Alison Willmore on 07/13/2009
Filed under: PodcastsShuffling around a story's timeline can make an ordinary tale profound, a potentially exploitative scene moral, a troubling event less so. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at films that have scrambled their own chronology, from Gaspar Noé's infamous "Irréversible" to this week's new release "(500) Days of Summer." Download: MP3, 37:21 minutes, 34.2 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
Six Summer Movie Alternatives
By Alison Willmore on 07/06/2009
Filed under: PodcastsLet's face it: we've over the interesting part of summer, blockbuster movie-wise. With that in mind, this week on the IFC News podcast we offer up alternatives to "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" and four other films set to fill the multiplexes through the end of the season for those who can't be bothered to shell out the cash to find out what the hell a "Delta 6 Accelerator Suit" is anyway. Download: MP3, 40:56 minutes, 37.5 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML]... MORE »
The Action Movie Auteurs
By Alison Willmore on 06/29/2009
Filed under: PodcastsMichael Mann, Kathryn Bigelow... Tony Scott? It takes a certain type of action movie director to earn the love of the Film Comment crowd. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at which action filmmakers are taken seriously as artists and why. Download: MP3, 36:50 minutes, 33.7 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
Being a "Female Filmmaker"
By Alison Willmore on 06/22/2009
Filed under: PodcastsWhen Kathryn Bigelow makes an intense action film like "The Hurt Locker," the fact that she's a she becomes a major topic of conversation. So why isn't the same true when a man directs a movie for a "female" audience? That sort of double standard is the subject of this week's IFC News podcast, along with further discussion of Bigelow's career and some of our other favorite women directors. Download: MP3, 36:05 minutes, 33 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
Trying to High Concept the "High Concept"
By Alison Willmore on 06/15/2009
Filed under: PodcastsNazi zombies. Dog plays basketball. Bomb on a bus. Snakes on a plane. The "high concept" movie is usually anything but highbrow, but it's become an essential part of the studio system. This week on the IFC News podcast, we try and define just what a high concept film is, find some extreme examples, and look at how the idea has even spread to the indie world. Download: MP3, 36:32 minutes, 33.5 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
Great Modern Uses of Good Ol' Black and White
By Alison Willmore on 06/08/2009
Filed under: PodcastsShooting a film in black and white has been a choice rather than a necessity for decades now. This week on the IFC News podcast, we dig through the last ten years of color-free features to look for all the recent reasons directors have decided to go monochromatic, from its indie credibility to its intimacy to the way it allows you to critique films from the past. Download: MP3, 38:02 minutes, 34.8 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
Memory Loss in The Movies
By Alison Willmore on 06/01/2009
Filed under: PodcastsFrom the timeline-warping tricks of "Memento" to the bleary-eyed morning-after of this week's "The Hangover," memory loss remains a treasured (and sometimes abused) movie gimmick. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at some of our favorite clichés of on-screen amnesia, as well as the best ways memory loss has been used to shake things up and put a new twist on plot and characters. Download: MP3, 31:50 minutes, 29.2 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
Sam Raimi Drags Us To Hell
By Alison Willmore on 05/25/2009
Filed under: PodcastsSam Raimi's long-anticipated "return to form" "Drag Me To Hell" hits theaters this Friday, a horror-comedy B-movie that pits a loan officer (Alison Lohman) against a three-day-long gypsy curse. On this week's IFC News podcast, we discuss the film and Raimi's career to date, including our favorite underrated Raimi features and whether he has an obligation to try something new. Download: MP3, 34:42 minutes, 31.8 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
Antichrist Compels You
By Alison Willmore on 05/18/2009
Filed under: PodcastsFive minutes after it ended, the first screening of Lars von Trier's new, outrageous "Antichrist" was already a thing of legend. Journalists wobbled away ecstatic, furious, amused, bewildered or physically ill, and at a press conference the next day, the Danish provocateur proclaimed "I am the best film director in the world." This week on the IFC News podcast, we talk about the film everyone's talking about, as well as Pixar's latest, "Up." Download: MP3, 36:12 minutes, 33.2 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML]... MORE »
When Amusement Parks Go to the Movies
By Alison Willmore on 05/11/2009
Filed under: PodcastsTheme park rides have inspired movies, and movies have provided the inspiration for rides, but with recent theatrical releases getting gussied up with 3-D, IMAX and rumbling seats, has the line between the two shifted? This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at the changing relationship between amusement park attractions and event movies. Download: MP3, 38:16 minutes, 35 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
Screen Siblings
By Alison Willmore on 05/04/2009
Filed under: Podcasts"Rudo y Cursi," which opens this week, reunites "Y tu mamá también" co-stars Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal as brothers and rivals in the world of pro soccer. (One would guess this means there will be less kissing between the two in this new film.) So inspired, this week's IFC News podcast looks at a few of our favorite portrayals of siblings on screen, from slapstick silly ("Step Brothers") to Hollywood gothic ("What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"). Download: MP3: 39:44 minutes, 36.3 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML]... MORE »
Modern Day Retellings
By Alison Willmore on 04/28/2009
Filed under: PodcastsTribeca has an update on an Edgar Allan Poe's short story; network TV turned a biblical story into a contemporary soap opera. The modern-day retelling of older source material continues to be the basis of plenty of new productions, but how often are they actually worth watching? This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at a few of the rare ones that really success. Download: MP3, 33:25 minutes, 30.6 MB Subscribe to the podcast: [iTunes] [XML] MORE »
