tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61081382008-05-09T01:26:33.341-04:00Webmasterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643468321632241172noreply@blogger.comBlogger1948125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-88791211994428236452008-05-09T00:55:00.004-04:002008-05-09T01:11:25.256-04:00

Here's Ricky jay, who co-stars in David Mamet's Redbelt, currently in release, performing a card trick alongside his discussion of Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance. Both Mamet and Jay were interviewed this week, separately, on the XMPR Bob Edwards radio show, and the discussions can be listened to or downloaded here. Both men are fantastic raconteurs and interview subjects, so this is a

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-14278109320163720502008-05-08T18:00:00.002-04:002008-05-08T18:07:45.622-04:00

I've wondered several times on this blog why more filmmakers don't try to make original works for the web, works that challenge and alter the storytelling conventions of their feature or other narrative work. Well, now on the Sundance Channel website comes Green Porno, a series of shorts designed to be watched on computers and cellphones. Here's what Sundance and Rossellini say about the

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-8460687207771953492008-05-08T13:36:00.004-04:002008-05-08T13:56:30.262-04:00

Variety is reporting the stunning news that Warner Bros. is shutting down both Picturehouse and Warner Independent. Speculation has been running in the indie community about the fate of the companies following the demise of New Line (which was a co-owner, with HBO, of Picturehouse) as a standalone studio and distributor. Observers had imagined a variety of scenarios, but I don't think anyone

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-3373028118664584542008-05-08T13:30:00.007-04:002008-05-08T14:17:18.140-04:00

Adding to the already long list of axed film critics, Glenn Kenny announced this morning on his blog that he's been terminated from his position at Premiere.com. One of the only (if not thee only) survivors when Premiere closed its print edition over a year ago, Kenny's blog has since been a marvelous edition to the blogsphere as his colorful style and almost scary knowledge of film was wonderful

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-72784603014462029872008-05-08T11:00:00.002-04:002008-05-08T11:03:33.203-04:00

CNN is reporting that Weinstein Company head Harvey Weinstein engaged in a "heated phone call" with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in late April in which he pressured her to accept a plan in which he would finance primary revotes in Michigan and Florida. From the piece: In a heated phone call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi late last month, Hillary Clinton supporter Harvey Weinstein threatened to

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-58691019400455590652008-05-07T22:01:00.005-04:002008-05-08T00:01:14.965-04:00

Susannah Breslin has a positively surreal interview at Radar Online with Ira Isaacs, the 57-year-old L.A.-based director currently awaiting trial on obscenity charges for his, um... scat videos. Kudos to the photo editor at Radar for the two improbable shots that run with the piece -- one of Marcel Duchamp's famous urinal (voted in 2004 by a group of art critics as the most influential piece of

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-79162211470304114042008-05-07T19:58:00.005-04:002008-05-07T20:16:16.761-04:00

There's nothing like a film getting the Criterion treatment. And having this job I get the privilege of finding out before many what they have next up their sleeves. But the latest announcement doesn't have to do with a film but of the company adapting to new technology. The Criterion Collection is preparing to put several of their titles on Blu-ray. Read below. The time has arrived! Several

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-1832975216551212302008-05-07T13:28:00.007-04:002008-05-07T13:37:28.540-04:00

In a move that has been rumored for months, Variety reports today that Rainbow Media (which also owns AMC and Independent Film Channel) has acquired the Sundance Channel for $496 million. According to the story: Rainbow Media will exchange about 12.7 million shares it owns in GE, tax-free, with a cash adjustment based on the value of the GE shares in relation to the total purchase price. GE

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-54533933800883076902008-05-06T23:08:00.002-04:002008-05-06T23:10:28.318-04:00

(Hat tips: GreenCine and Coudal Partners.)

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-44419584006176131712008-05-05T00:40:00.002-04:002008-05-05T12:15:09.351-04:00

Over at his CinemaTech blog, Scott Kirsner writes about the new Seattle-based IndieShares, which is another one of those "democratize the process" companies that has sprung up around some aspect of the film business. Democracy, of course, is (mostly) good. Filmmaker's mission statement even includes the goal of democratizing the production process for beginning filmmakers. And last week I

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-46279482965340232672008-05-05T00:16:00.005-04:002008-05-06T17:51:59.163-04:00

It’s a hard festival to wrap your head around (especially if you’re a New Yorker), with too many sections with vague names and programming sensibilities that begin to bleed together, but after awhile, the internal logic of the Tribeca Film Festival, which just wrapped its seventh and probably its best edition, begins to become clear. Although they would never refer themselves thusly, TFF is

Brandon Harrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-60227079041673506322008-05-04T21:55:00.003-04:002008-05-04T22:07:40.306-04:00

With the demise of New Line -- one of the two partners behind the creation of Picturehouse (HBO is the other) -- speculation has arisen over what's going to happen to the specialty shingle now that it, like New Line, has been absorbed into Warner Brothers. Warner, you remember, has Warner Independent already on its lot. Anne Thompson penned a piece in Variety stating that WIP head Polly Cohen

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-84495166705767394902008-05-03T20:23:00.003-04:002008-05-03T20:34:11.398-04:00

The Hollywood Reporter hosts a roundtable on the economics of independent production with five noted players: Newsweek film critic David Ansen; Kirk D'Amico, president and CEO of Myriad Pictures, a production and sales company; Cassian Elwes, co-head of William Morris Independent; Mark Gill, CEO of finance and production company the Film Department; and Avi Lerner, co-chairman and CEO of Nu Image

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-55865849918389205402008-05-02T14:08:00.003-04:002008-05-02T14:24:59.293-04:00

Although the festival does wrap until Sunday (and feels like its lasted about a month), The Tribeca Film Festival announced its winners last night. Here they are: The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature – Let the Right One In (Lat den rätte komma in) directed by Tomas Alfredson (Sweden). Winner receives $25,000 cash and the art award "Maternal Nocture: Clearing Storm” created by Stephen

Brandon Harrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-90784062082006923662008-05-02T13:27:00.004-04:002008-05-03T17:26:24.160-04:00

Remaining Screening Times: May 2nd, 10:30pm (AMC Village VII), May 4th, 11:00am (Village East) John Magary is having a good year. Fresh off winning a prize at SXSW and a run at the Student Academy Award with his powerful short film The Second Line, which debuted last year in Edinburgh, he finally has a chance to screen in front of a hometown crowd. His newest project, Blood Abundance, or the

Brandon Harrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-68245129307742944362008-05-01T21:12:00.006-04:002008-05-02T10:03:20.541-04:00

In a post below, we noted Matt Zoller Seitz's decision to abandon print journalism -- and that includes blogging -- in order to concentrate on filmmaking. Now, at GreenCine, David Hudson draws attention to one other blogger calling it quits and another who is contemplating an exodus as well. Over at Flickhead, Ray Young issues a simple farewell, reprinted here in its entirety: "“It was more

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-20139124829367055282008-04-30T21:35:00.017-04:002008-04-30T23:20:02.014-04:00

With Steven Soderbergh's two Che films on deck at Cannes, Tribeca had the perfect appetizer with Chevolution. This impressive doc chronicles the unlikely journey this image of Che Guevara from the La Coubre explosion funeral march in 1960 evolved into a beacon of capitalism. Directed by Luis Lopez and Trisha Ziff, the doc, which is making its World Premiere at Tribeca, is produced through

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-85416907707433273712008-04-29T18:57:00.002-04:002008-04-29T19:29:50.705-04:00

Here are a few noteworthy links from the last few days. First, a must-read (or must-listen) is an interview with Matt Zoller Seitz on his blog, The House Next Door. (The hour-long talk is available as a transcript or as a download.) In the piece, Seitz discusses his decision to abandon print criticism and concentrate on both moviemaking and things other than movies. Here's how he opens:

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-67367840705207191002008-04-29T17:58:00.005-04:002008-04-29T17:58:56.808-04:00

From Portishead's excellent Third, "The Rip," one of the album's best songs performed live on Jools Holland's U.K. tv show.

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-27366126432395516532008-04-28T16:39:00.002-04:002008-04-28T16:52:37.222-04:00

The BLDGBLOB has a great post entitled "Hotels in the Afterlife" that is very J.G. Ballard -- a series of shots of abandoned hotel exteriors on the Sinai peninsula, "monuments to failed investment." Based on a photography show that opened last week in Vienna by Sabine Haubitz and Stephanie Zoche. From Geoff Manaugh's blog post: The hotels now look more like "architectonic sculptures" in the

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-48151069648294544792008-04-27T22:12:00.005-04:002008-04-27T23:07:10.509-04:00

As Tribeca's first weekend passes, most talk has been on the admission by Errol Morris that he paid -- or paid the expences of (depending on what story you read) -- some of the prison guards interviewed in his latest film, Standard Operating Procedure. But Anthony Kaufman raises a much more pressing question in a story on indieWIRE: "Can Standard Operating Procedure Break the Political Doc

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-31865255615552963002008-04-27T18:04:00.003-04:002008-04-27T18:14:29.450-04:00

Screening Times: Apr 27th, 8:30pm (Village East), Apr 29th, 3:30pm (AMC Village VII), Apr 30th, 1:30pm (19th St. AMC), May 4th, 7:45pm (19th St. AMC) Brazilian filmmaker Paula Gaitan's ghostly part memoir, part experimental doc Days In Sintra chronicles her return to Sintra, Portugal, where she once lived in exile with her husband, famed Brazilian director Glauber Rocha (1938-1981), a notable

Brandon Harrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-70054619591679627112008-04-27T17:42:00.002-04:002008-04-27T17:59:06.140-04:00

Screening Times: Apr 25th, 8:30pm (19th St. AMC), Apr 27th, 5:00pm (Village East), Apr 29th, 4:30pm (AMC Village VII), May 1st, 7:15pm (Village East), May 3rd, 4:45pm (Village East) Based on Eugene O'Brien's play, Reck's lauded Irish relationship dramedy centers on the run up to the 10th wedding anniversary of working class couple Billy and Brenda (Aiden Kelly, Eileen Walsh). Bound by devotion

Brandon Harrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-10654627495687371552008-04-26T19:15:00.002-04:002008-04-26T19:18:28.348-04:00

The artist Cindy Sherman has made a statement disavowing a documentary, Paul H-O's Guest of Cindy Sherman, in which she is featured that is playing at the Tribeca Film Festival. Mike Jones has the story in Variety, and he reprints her statement, posted below: As my name is in the title and my work and self are so abundantly represented, I would like to counter any assumption that I am or wish

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108138.post-64924360618303150442008-04-26T15:51:00.003-04:002008-04-26T15:55:43.837-04:00

Two stalwarts of the New York indie scene, producers Ted Hope and Christine Vachon, are the hosts of a program on PlumTV entitled "Very Independent Producers." Five episodes have already been produced, and all are viewable online at the link I just posted. Here's how PlumTV describes the program: On “Very Independent Producers,” Ted and Christine get a chance to share their wit and

Scott Macaulayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04728573558664904533noreply@blogger.com