Indie film news, reviews, commentary, interviews, podcasts and more, updated throughout the week.
Robert Pattinson Knows "How To Be"
By IFC on 05/13/2009
Robert Pattinson, the star of "Twilight," talks about going indie and playing music in his new film "How To Be," which recent made its premiere on VOD. The flash 8 plugin was not detected. var so = new SWFObject("http://media.ifc.com/swf/ifc_generic_blog.swf", "robertpattinsonhowtobe", "500", "375", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addParam("wmode", "transparent"); //change player width so.addVariable("pwidth", 500); //change player height so.addVariable("pheight", 375); //distinguish between different videos so.addVariable("s_movieID", "robertpattinsonhowtobe"); //insert brightcove title id here so.addVariable("bctid", 22924577001); so.write("robertpattinsonhowtobe"); __AD__ MORE »
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SXSW 2009: Arm Wrestling in Austin
By Alison Willmore on 03/24/2009
Filed under: VideosJohn Brzenk, legendary professional arm wrestler and subject of the doc "Pulling John," takes on all challengers on the street of Austin before sitting down with us to explain the ins and outs of the sport with director Sevan Matossian and producer Navid Khonsari. The flash 8 plugin was not detected. var so = new SWFObject("http://media.ifc.com/swf/ifc_generic_blog.swf", "pullingjohninterview", "500", "375", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addParam("wmode", "transparent"); //change player width so.addVariable("pwidth", 500); //change player height so.addVariable("pheight", 375); //distinguish between different videos so.addVariable("s_movieID", "pullingjohninterview"); //insert brightcove title id here so.addVariable("bctid", 16669268001); so.write("pullingjohninterview"); __AD__... MORE »
Takashi Miike on "Yatterman"
By Alison Willmore on 02/10/2009
Filed under: VideosTakashi Miike, the both famous and infamous director of such beloved family-unfriendly fare as "Audition," "Ichi the Killer" and "Visitor Q," takes a step toward the Japanese mainstream with his new film "Yatterman," which had its world premiere at this year's New York Comic Con. Starring pop star Sho Sakurai, the film's an adaptation of a late '70s anime series that pits a teenage couple against a thieving gang in a war of giant mechas. I got a chance to sit down with prolific filmmaker on the eve of "Yatterman"'s debut to talk about the films and how to deal... MORE »
The Yes Men Fix... The Boiler?
By IFC on 01/25/2009
Filed under: VideosAndy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, otherwise known as the Yes Men, stopped by our comfy utility closet to talk about the Sundance premiere of their new documentary "The Yes Men Fix The World." The flash 8 plugin was not detected. var so = new SWFObject("http://media.ifc.com/swf/ifc_generic_blog.swf", "yesmencloset", "500", "375", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addParam("wmode", "transparent"); //change player width so.addVariable("pwidth", 500); //change player height so.addVariable("pheight", 375); //distinguish between different videos so.addVariable("s_movieID", "yesmencloset"); //insert brightcove title id here so.addVariable("bctid", 8415475001); so.write("yesmencloset"); MORE »
Cary Fukunaga and "Sin Nombre"
By IFC on 01/24/2009
Filed under: VideosHow does a first-time filmmaker get Focus Features to fund a Spanish-language thriller with a cast of actors unknown to the U.S.? Cary Fukunaga, director of "Sin Nombre," explains. The flash 8 plugin was not detected. var so = new SWFObject("http://media.ifc.com/swf/ifc_generic_blog.swf", "caryfukunaga2009", "500", "375", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addParam("wmode", "transparent"); //change player width so.addVariable("pwidth", 500); //change player height so.addVariable("pheight", 375); //distinguish between different videos so.addVariable("s_movieID", "caryfukunaga2009"); //insert brightcove title id here so.addVariable("bctid", 8725376001); so.write("caryfukunaga2009"); MORE »
RJ Cutler, Sundance Fashion Critic
By IFC on 01/24/2009
Filed under: VideosRJ Cutler, director of "The September Issue," a documentary about Anna Wintour and the production of Vogue magazine's most important issue in the year, takes to the Park City streets to critique fashion at the Sundance Film Festival. The flash 8 plugin was not detected. var so = new SWFObject("http://media.ifc.com/swf/ifc_generic_blog.swf", "rjcutlerfashion", "500", "375", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addParam("wmode", "transparent"); //change player width so.addVariable("pwidth", 500); //change player height so.addVariable("pheight", 375); //distinguish between different videos so.addVariable("s_movieID", "rjcutlerfashion"); //insert brightcove title id here so.addVariable("bctid", 8556220001); so.write("rjcutlerfashion"); MORE »
The Broken Lizard Strikeforce
By IFC on 01/23/2009
Filed under: VideosThe Broken Lizard comedy group returns to their indie roots and to Park City, where they premiered their first two films, for the Slamdance premiere of their new film "The Slammin' Salmon." The flash 8 plugin was not detected. var so = new SWFObject("http://media.ifc.com/swf/ifc_generic_blog.swf", "brokenlizard2009", "500", "375", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addParam("wmode", "transparent"); //change player width so.addVariable("pwidth", 500); //change player height so.addVariable("pheight", 375); //distinguish between different videos so.addVariable("s_movieID", "brokenlizard2009"); //insert brightcove title id here so.addVariable("bctid", 8480938001); so.write("brokenlizard2009"); MORE »
Putty In Their Hands: How to Give Yourself a Black Eye
By IFC on 10/31/2008
Filed under: VideosFor the final day of our Halloween celebration of horror movie makeup, IFC.com's Alison Willmore meets up with Rachel Pagani, a makeup and special effects artist who, among her many credits, did creature effects work on Larry Fessenden's "Wendigo," to learn from an expert how to make it look like you're sporting a wicked shiner -- perfect for costumes or for just scaring your parents. The flash 8 plugin was not detected. var so = new SWFObject("http://media.ifc.com/swf/ifc_generic_blog.swf", "blackeye", "500", "375", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addParam("wmode", "transparent"); //change player width so.addVariable("pwidth", 500); //change player height so.addVariable("pheight", 375); //distinguish between different videos so.addVariable("s_movieID", "blackeye");... MORE »
Video: Lars Ulrich Loves Indie Film
By IFC on 10/17/2008
Filed under: VideosApropos of nothing in particular, here's Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich talking with IFC's music blogger Jim Shearer about indie film, of which he's a huge fan, his friendship with Thomas Vinterberg and why there's still hope for low-budget cinema. For the record, he's thinks "Man on Wire" is "one of the best documentaries I've seen in years," he borrows Academy screeners from friends, he's seen "Control" four times and he believes that '07 was the best year for independent film. The flash 8 plugin was not detected. var so = new SWFObject("http://media.ifc.com/swf/ifc_generic_blog.swf", "larsulrichonfilm", "500", "375", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addParam("wmode", "transparent"); //change... MORE »
Video: "A Christmas Tale" at the New York Film Festival
By IFC on 10/13/2008
Filed under: Festivals, Videos"It could be sort of a slogan for this family: 'Let's get rid of melancholy'... They don't have time for melancholy. All of them are good fighters," said French director Arnaud Desplechin of his new film, an at turns lighthearted and deeply dramatic portrait of a family during the holidays that he compared in structure to an advent calendar. At the New York Film Festival press conference for "A Christmas Tale," Desplechin was joined by the legendary Catherine Deneuve, who plays the matriarch in the family and who affectionately compared the filmmaker to a "child in a playroom." The flash... MORE »
Video: "Waltz With Bashir" at the New York Film Festival
By IFC on 10/06/2008
Filed under: Festivals, Videos"This film was always meant to be an animated film. I never thought there was a chance to do it any other way -- not as a fiction film, and definitely not as a classic documentary film." Ari Folman, the writer/director of "Waltz with Bashir," described his unconventional and powerful doc about the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre and his personal involvement and memories of the incident to the press at the New York Film Festival. The flash 8 plugin was not detected. var so = new SWFObject("http://media.ifc.com/swf/ifc_generic_blog.swf", "waltzwithbashirnyff", "500", "375", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addParam("wmode", "transparent"); //change player width so.addVariable("pwidth", 500);... MORE »
Video: "Changeling" at the New York Film Festival
By IFC on 10/06/2008
Filed under: Festivals, Videos"I didn't know anything about it until I read the script," admitted Clint Eastwood at the New York Film Festival's press conference for "Changeling," his highly anticipated film based on the 1920s Wineville Chicken Murders and an incident in which the police tried to convince a single mother that the boy they had brought to her was her missing son, when he was actually a runaway looking for a free trip to California. Angelina Jolie plays the mother, while John Malkovich is the reverend who comes to her aid. Eastwood discussed making modern day L.A. look antique and how he... MORE »
Video: "Ashes of Time Redux" at the New York Film Festival
By IFC on 10/06/2008
Filed under: Festivals, Videos"It was almost like an odyssey, because we spent five years -- the first few years we had to retrieve material from different parts of the world." Wearing his signature sunglasses, Wong Kar-wai addressed the press after a New York Film Festival screening of "Ashes of Time Redux," the restored and recut version of his 1994 martial arts film "Ashes of Time," starring an unbelievable cast that includes Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung, Leslie Cheung and Brigitte Lin, who also appeared at the press conference. Cinematographer Christopher Doyle shared some memories of the original production, while Wong described visiting various locations... MORE »
Video: "The Wrestler" at the New York Film Festival
By IFC on 10/02/2008
Filed under: Festivals, Videos"If I knew it was going to take me 15 years to get back in the saddle and work again because of the way I handled things, I really would have handled things differently... Change, for me, didn't come easily. I didn't want to change, until I lost everything." Mickey Rourke's role as faded professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson in "The Wrestler" is rightly being hailed the comeback, and one of the best performances, of the year. At the film's U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival, he, co-star Marisa Tomei and director Darren Aronofsky ("Requiem for a... MORE »
Video: "Che" at the New York Film Festival
By IFC on 10/02/2008
Filed under: Festivals, Videos"It wasn't until the film was finished, right around Cannes, that I realized... it was about engagement versus disengagement," Steven Soderbergh told the press after a screening of his four-hour bio-epic "Che," which will make its U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival later this week. In the video below, he speaks about the process of making the film and presenting a figure who's retreated into an icon for t-shirts and dorm room posters. The flash 8 plugin was not detected. var so = new SWFObject("http://media.ifc.com/swf/ifc_generic_blog.swf", "soderberghchenyff", "400", "300", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addParam("wmode", "transparent"); //change player width so.addVariable("pwidth", 400); //change... MORE »
Video: "Happy-Go-Lucky" at the New York Film Festival
By IFC on 09/30/2008
Filed under: Festivals, VideosPoppy, the main character of Mike Leigh's latest film, "Happy-Go-Lucky," is a 30-year-old elementary school teacher who lives in London and who's irrepressibly, almost unnaturally cheerful. As played by Sally Hawkins, she's a fascinating and divisive figure, endearing to some and grating to others. In the video below, Leigh and Hawkins, taking questions from the press at the New York Film Festival, insist that simply writing the character off as chipper is to be unfair to what Leigh has called his "anti-miserablist film": "The thing about Poppy is that to describe her as being unadulterated[ly] happy is not really to... MORE »
Video: "Hunger" at the New York Film Festival
By IFC on 09/30/2008
Filed under: Festivals, VideosSteve McQueen (not to be confused with the late "Bullitt" star) went from Turner Prize-winning artist to lauded filmmaker with his directorial debut "Hunger," about the 1981 Irish hunger strike in which IRA prisoners, led by Bobby Sands, tried to win political status by refusing food. "Hunger," which won the Caméra d'Or prize at Cannes, made its U.S. debut at the New York Film Festival, where McQueen sat down with moderator J. Hoberman of the Village Voice to address the press. In the video below, he talks about the origins of the film -- he was 11 years old when... MORE »
Ludivine Sagnier Gets Cut in Two
By Alison Willmore on 08/22/2008
Filed under: VideosLudivine Sagnier is a superstar in her native France who has in her young career worked with the country's most prominent directors, including François Ozon, for whom she's been a bit of a muse, playing memorable roles in films like "Swimming Pool." But in the U.S., the only role she's chosen to take was one as Tinkerbell in P.J. Hogan's adaptation of "Peter Pan." Sagnier's most recent roles are as the star and title pulled-apart character in Claude Chabrol's "A Girl Cut in Two" and the upcoming "A Secret." I got a chance to talk with her about the roles... MORE »
Video: "The Wolf Man" at Comic-Con 2008
By IFC on 07/28/2008
Filed under: Festivals, Videos"I've been making myself up as a wolf man since I was ten years old," claimed legendary make-up artist Rick Baker, who's won six Oscars for his work in films as varied as "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "Ed Wood" and "An American Werewolf in London." He's a natural fit, then, for director Joe Johnston's update of the 1941 Universal horror film starring Lon Chaney Jr. Those classics "were the films that made want to do what I do," Baker announced at the Comic-Con panel for the new film. "When I heard they were doing 'The Wolf Man,' I actually... MORE »
Video: "The Spirit" at Comic-Con 2008
By IFC on 07/28/2008
Filed under: Festivals, Videos"I first met Will Eisner on a street in Vermont, when I was bicycling back home with a bunch of new comic books," began Frank Miller, comic book artist turned co-director, alongside Robert Rodriguez, with 2005's "Sin City." "The Spirit," an adaptation of Eisner's long-running crime-fighter comic strip, finds Miller going solo behind the camera for the first time. During the Comic-Con panel for the film, Miller spoke of how he eventually met Eisner in person and began a 25-year-argument with him over captions. Miller was joined on the panel by Samuel L. Jackson, who plays the film's villain, The... MORE »
Video: "Watchmen" at Comic-Con 2008
By IFC on 07/28/2008
Filed under: Festivals, Videos"That seems like... a crazy idea," "300" director Zack Snyder said upon being offered the adaptation of "Watchmen," Alan Moore's revered graphic novel that's defied all earlier attempts to be brought to the big screen. "Once they asked me, I kinda felt responsible -- even if I said no, they would have moved on, and then whatever happened to the movie, I still would have had my chance... If the movie, for whatever reason didn't turn out, it would have been still my fault. So I figured, might as well make it my fault anyway." The hotly anticipated superhero film... MORE »
Video: "RocknRolla" at Comic-Con 2008
By IFC on 07/25/2008
Filed under: Festivals, VideosStars Gerard Butler, Jeremy Piven, Idris Elba and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges joined director Guy Ritchie for yesterday's presentation on "RocknRolla," Ritchie's first film since infamous bomb "Revolver," which took two years to reach U.S. shores. "RocknRolla," which is about the Russian mob in London, is the film that everyone's hoping represents a return to form for the director who first made a splash with snappy urban crime films like "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch." Mostly, though, all eyes were on Butler, who offered chocolates to the crowd of adoring female fans and answered questions on the nature... MORE »
Video: Exclusive Trailer for "Mad Detective"
By IFC on 06/16/2008
Filed under: Videos"Mad Detective," a new police actioner from Hong Kong film veterans Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai, opens in New York and On Demand on July 18th. Here's an exclusive look at the trailer. For more on the film, check out the official site. The flash 8 plugin was not detected. var so = new SWFObject("http://media.ifc.com/swf/ifc_generic_blog.swf", "maddetective", "594", "445", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addParam("wmode", "transparent"); //change player width so.addVariable("pwidth", 594); //change player height so.addVariable("pheight", 445); //distinguish between different videos so.addVariable("s_movieID", "maddetective"); //insert brightcove title id here so.addVariable("bctid", 1606789647); so.write("againstme");... MORE »
Video: Guy Maddin on "My Winnipeg"
By Alison Willmore on 06/13/2008
Filed under: Interviews, VideosBy Matt Singer and Alison Willmore Guy Maddin's latest film "My Winnipeg" finally opens in theaters today after making the festival rounds from Toronto to Berlin to Tribeca. It was at that last stop where we had a chance to sit down with Maddin and discuss his "docu-fantasia" and his Canadian hometown. The flash 8 plugin was not detected. var so = new SWFObject("http://media.ifc.com/swf/ifc_generic_blog.swf", "maddetective", "594", "445", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addParam("wmode", "transparent"); //change player width so.addVariable("pwidth", 594); //change player height so.addVariable("pheight", 445); //distinguish between different videos so.addVariable("s_movieID", "guymaddin"); //insert brightcove title id here so.addVariable("bctid", 1531273985); so.write("againstme");... MORE »
Shane Meadows and "This Is England"
By on 05/14/2007
Filed under: Interviews, VideosBy Matt Singer and Alison Willmore IFC News [Photo: "This Is England," IFC First Take, 2007] You may remember Shane Meadows from last year's revenge drama "Dead Man's Shoes." No? How about spaghetti western spoof "Once Upon a Time in the Midlands"? Gritty sagas "TwentyFourSeven" and "A Room for Romeo Brass"? While Meadows may yet to have made his breakthrough in the US, in his native UK the 34-year-old director has cemented his place as the brightest young talent in British cinema. His newest film, "This Is England," is the autobiographically informed story of a fatherless boy who finds companionship... MORE »
Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy
By on 11/27/2006
Filed under: Videos, VideosBy Dan Persons IFC News "Basically, an actor has no place to play unless they're in a film or in a play. Who are they, during the day? That's why you see people acting strangely in the street." Director/writer/actor/metal legend Christopher Guest and his co-writer/co-star Eugene Levy talk "For Your Consideration." Watch the video. MORE »
Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy
By on 11/27/2006
Filed under: Videos, VideosBy Dan Persons IFC News "Basically, an actor has no place to play unless they're in a film or in a play. Who are they, during the day? That's why you see people acting strangely in the street." Director/writer/actor/metal legend Christopher Guest and his co-writer/co-star Eugene Levy talk "For Your Consideration." Watch the video. MORE »
