THE REELER REBORN

By Scott Macaulay

Today our friend S.T. Van Airsdale premieres the relaunch of The Reeler, his blog/website devoted to New York City cinema and cinephilia. Stu is now on his own and he’s enlarged the site by adding two new blogs, film reviews and other news to a now bustling main page.

From today’s editor’s letter:

As mentioned previously, nothing much has changed except that I have accrued extra piles of crap that I will never get done. But it all still pertains to the sphere of New York cinema that you have (hopefully) been following here for a while now, where the city’s films, filmmakers and events will receive an increasingly comprehensive look as the site accommodates extra contributors and content.

Check out The Reeler today and give Stu a blast of traffic on his opening day!… Read the rest

VACHON RETURNS TO THE BOOKSTORES

By Scott Macaulay

Over at Indiewire Eugene Hernandez has an appreciation of and excerpts from Christine Vachon’s new book, A Killer Life. There are many film books out there these days, but Vachon is one of the few people writing them who actually has the real-world experience and successes to back up her advice and opinions.

Here’s an excerpt from the book:

My strategy is to stay a moving target. I’ve got a reputation for “edgy,” “dark” material — the kind of movie where you’re maybe rooting for the bad guy. I’m also frequently accused of operating with a political agenda. A gay agenda. An aggressive-New Yorker agenda. When I go to L.A. for meetings, sometimes I feel like I have to put on my “uniform” — black pants, black T-shirt, combat boots — so that nobody gets confused and thinks I’ve come over to the bright side. Yes, I go for the kind of stories that challenge viewers, and I like to approach a story from an unexpected place. But my films aren’t all about gay people, they aren’t necessarily dark, and I’m not trying to peddle an ideology. I think that in order to realize the artistic possibilities of film, you’ve got to be in tune with the social and political realities of the times: the ravages of AIDS, or the complexity of gender, or social anomie, American-style. This is why I’m attracted to scripts inspired by true stories. When you stop retreading the conventional fairy tales — when you quit with the fairy tales entirely — you make better art. You also make people a little nervous.

… Read the rest

JANE, YOU IGNORANT SLUT!

By Scott Macaulay

There’s a great point/counterpoint going on over at The Onion’s A.V. Club Blog having to do with whether or not Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy and Andrew Bujalski’s Mutual Appreciation (pictured) are the future of independent cinema. Or, actually, whether we should be scolded for not ensuring that they are considered as such.

First Scott Tobias’s original post, which is entitled “Mutual Appreciation, Old Joy and the Current State of American Independent Film.” An excerpt:

…If you care at all about American independent films, you’re required to see these movies…. Watching these movies in short succession was a pretty bracing experience for me, as was seeing Bujalski’s debut feature Funny Ha Ha several years ago (Old Joy is the first Reichardt film I’ve seen, and I’m told that her feature River Of Grass and her shorts are equally stunning). And that’s not simply because I was being introduced to singular talents, either, but also because they drummed up some troubling questions about the state of American independent film in general. Such as: Why aren’t we seeing more independent films like these? Are there more Bujalskis and Reichardts in hiding somewhere? After the studios co-opted the independent movement with their specialty divisions (Fox Searchlight, Warner Independent Pictures, Focus Features, etc.), has the door completely closed for true independent films? Are directors who could be making low-key films such as Mutual Appreciation and Old Joy having to tailor their art in order to appeal to these studio divisions?

A reply by a poster dubbed Cougarfunderberg who says he “programs for a three-screen arthouse theater” kicks up the debate with a very long reply. Another excerpt:

To be clear: these films are not great. [The poster is talking about Bujalski's two films here; he says he hasn't seen Old Joy.] Would you really put either of these films on the level with something like Stranger than Paradise? Or even a film that time hasn’t been so kind to (but was huge in its day) like Return of the Secaucus Seven? Are you really going to say

… Read the rest

MUST SEE TV

By Scott Macaulay

Here at Crooks and Liars is the Fox News Bill Clinton clip, which Ray Pride says this about:

Why does Fox News’ Chris Wallace hate America? (Rhetorical question.) Every writer who’s been on a beat for years or decades has a few tropes, fixations and straw men they fall back upon on a morning with a touch of the flu: pudding-headed political commentators love to describe dark turns in a pol’s career as “Shakespearean,” which, unless it’s coming from a studied, articulate, passionate former theater critic like Frank Rich, is usually so much bumf drawn from a dip into the Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. I don’t have a stock phrase to describe the fifteen minutes linked here, but former President Clinton’s reaction to a dishonest set-up by Fox News’ Wallace is the most dramatic thing I’ve seen anywhere in too long. (Maybe Clinton should have advised Steven Zaillian on All the King’s Men instead of James Carville.) At the link, the art of countering the art of the devious interview, without the help of writers or prompters.

… Read the rest

THE WORD OF GOD

By Scott Macaulay

Over on the main page Annie Nocenti interviews the directors of Jesus Camp,, the incredibly fascinating documentary that opened this weekend from Magnolia Pictures. In the piece, co-director Heidi Ewing discusses Magnolia’s strategy to position the film as something of interest to both Christian evangelical audiences and godless hipsters in the big city:

Ewing: Eamonn wants to bring the film to Christian strongholds before it hits L.A. or New York. Colorado Springs, Kansas City — they get the movie first. Magnolia is withholding the film from the secular world for one or two weeks. The Evangelicals have time to embrace or reject the film on their own terms. New York’s not going to be mad that Springfield had it first, whereas it might matter to the Christians if they don’t see it first. If New York and L.A. have gotten the movie and are criticizing the Evangelicals, that’s going to put them on the defense, and they’re not going to go see the film.

The film did open in certain regional markets one week before New York, but is Magnolia’s strategy working? Are Christian audiences embracing the film?

Here’s Jeffrey Overstreet in Christianity Today who quotes both Magnolia’s Eammon Bowles as well as conservative critics of the film in a piece on just how the film is playing in the heartland:

Some Christian media personalities are speaking out against the movie, but for differing reasons. A few accuse the filmmakers of trying to discredit Fischer and her camp, and they rush to the defense of the film’s subjects, saying that their methods of worship and education are to be celebrated. Others are criticizing the film by saying that this documentary footage severely misrepresents Christianity, and that it has been framed to draw viewers into viewing Christians as lunatics….

An uncredited writer at MovieGuide calls it “a sarcastic documentary that paints evangelical, fundamentalist, charismatic, and politically concerned Christians as very shrill, warlike, and dangerous.” The same writer questions whether radio personality Mark Papantonio, who plays a prominent role in the film, and his callers are Christians at all. “Mark

… Read the rest

"ARE YOU TALKIN’ TO ME?"

By Scott Macaulay

Over at Ticklebooth Ajit Anthony Prem gets ready for Martin Scorsese’s The Departed by trolling YouTube for homemade renditions of Robert DeNiro’s classic scene from Taxi Driver.

From Prem’s post:

There are were many impersonations of De Niro on Youtube, mostly of the notorious “You talking to me?” scene. The scene was largely improvised by De Niro who clearly was “living the role.” The scene is not as powerful as it once used to be. When Taxi Driver was first released, films resisted getting into its character’s head, to spend alone-time with someone. Before Taxi Driver, scenes were clearly part of a bigger picture, if the character spoke in private, it was usually consisted of an intelligent monologue. Unlike the mess that comes out of Bickle’s mouth.

With podcasts and even recent films, talking in private has become common. Scoresese has gone in the opposite direction, when is the last time where we have seen one of his characters just ‘be’ in front of the camera?

Click on the link above for Prem’s curated selection of clips, which include a Spanish-language version, an animated version, and even one performed by a dog!… Read the rest

IFP MARKET WINNERS

By Scott Macaulay

At a luncheon celebrating the end of the IFP Market and Filmmaker Conference at NoHo’s Chinatown restaurant this Thursday, a number of awards were given to films and filmmakers who were part of the IFP’s various programs.

The winners are:

The Fledgling Fund Award for Emerging Latino Filmmakers ($10,000): Vivian Lesnik Weisman.

IFP Market Emerging Narrative Screenplay Award ($5,000, presented by Artists Public Domain): I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down, Scott Teems.

IFP Market Documentary Completion Award ($5,000, presented by Artists Public Domain, and $25,000 in-kind support from Alpha Cine, Analog Digital International, Mercer Media, Showbiz Software/Media Services and Splash Studios): Waiting For Hockney, Julie Checkoway.

The Fledgling Fund Award for Socially Cosnscious Documentaries ($10,000): Promised Land, Yoruba Richen.

IFP/Current TV — VC2 Competition (broadcast license for Current TV): In the Frame, Leah Hamilton; More Than 41 Shots, Derek Koen; Parkour NYC, Shirley Petchprapa.

And then there’s the big prize (or big, at least in terms of dollar value): the Chrysler Film Project award was given to Derek Cianfrance and his Blue Valentine, a feature he’s been trying to get financed for years. Chrysler and partner Silverwood Pictures awarded Cianfrance and his producers Hunting Lane Films $1 million, and at the lunch, Cianfrance promised that “every dollar would go up on screen.”

Here’s The Reeler on Cianfrance and the award:

“I’ve been working on my film for like nine-and-a-half years–hustling it, trying to get it going,” he told The Reeler after the awards’ ritualistic Giant Fake Check ceremony. “It’s been set up like three different times, and in that time of waiting, you prepare. So I’m prepared. I’m ready to go. I feel like I’ve been in the gym training and I’ve been hitting that punching bag a million times. Now this is my shot at the title, you know?”

And how! Cianfrance said Valentine –based on the director’s short Lately There Have Been Many Misunderstandings–is about the juxtaposition of a couple’s happy past with its tenuous future and the prospect of a non existant future. “The physicality of

… Read the rest

ON THE MAIN PAGE…

By Scott Macaulay

If you’re in the habit of just bookmarking this blog page, check out the main page for two new online features of films opening this weekend: American Hardcore and Jesus Camp.… Read the rest

FAST, CHEAP & OUT OF CONTROL
By KJ Doughton

Director Paul Rachman retraces the history of punk rock.

AMERICAN HARDCORE. PHOTO: EDWARD COLVER

Paul Rachman’s American Hardcore is a salute to the U.S. underground punk scene that exploded in 1980. Inspired by Steven Blush’s 2001 book American Hardcore: A Tribal History (Feral House), Rachman’s blunt documentary was culled from over 120 hours of interview footage, as well as a stack of archival concert videos compiled from closets, shoeboxes and fan memorabilia stashes. The film also documents a phenomenon that Rachman and Blush observed firsthand, before the scene fizzled in the mid-’80s. “The scene burned out before anybody came to capitalize on it, so it’s very pure,” Blush says. “That’s what kids like about it today. People today don’t talk about the ’80s bands who sold a zillion records at that time, like Styx and Journey. They talk about the bands that sold 5,000 copies back in the day. Black Flag. Bad Brains. Minor Threat. People use the word edgy, or cutting edge…but these bands really were the cutting edge.

Mirroring the kinetic, road-warrior autonomy of its subjects, Rachman’s film acts as a vicarious cross-country tour in a beat-up van. We’re yanked from Washington, D.C., and booted into Texas. We’re ripped from New York and catapulted onto Huntington Beach, California. It’s a disorienting ride — by design. “Hardcore songs are fast, short and pinpoint-specific,” Rachman says of his film’s rough-and-tumble look. “The way the story is told, the editing is very much like that. Bam — idea and information. Then cut. Move forward. You need to be jostled through the story. I knew that the editing and the feel of the film had to reflect how it was to go through that scene. To be on tour, or whatever. Nothing quite works right. You’re living on kind of an edge. The jarring editing, fast movement and bold, to-the-point graphics were meant to enhance that feeling.”

Front and center during punk’s early-’80s heyday, Rachman filmed band footage in Boston while Blush promoted concerts in Washington, D.C. However, the mutual acquaintances eventually sought out greener pastures as their favorite sounds died out. … Read the rest

HOLY WAR
By Annie Nocenti

The team behind the award-winning documentary Boys of Baraka are back with a new film that focuses on Evangelical children training to be “soldiers in God’s Army.”

LEVI IN HEIDI EWING AND RACHEL GRADY’S JESUS CAMP.

Early on in Jesus Camp, Pentecostal minister Becky Fischer asks an auditorium full of children and parents: “Do you believe God can do anything?” A young mother grabs her child’s arm and raises it.

This is just one of many provocative moments that give Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing’s latest documentary its haunting power. As enthralling as the religious rallies it reveals, Jesus Camp is also never far from implications of a more incendiary nature. Freedom of religion guarantees parents’ rights to pass their beliefs on to their children, but at what point does religious training, laced with a political agenda, cross a line and become transgressive indoctrination? As Christian radio host Mike Papantonio, the voice of dissent in the film, says, “God has a special place for those that mess with our children.”

The film follows born-again Evangelical children to a boot-camp-style summer retreat in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, where the first thing Pastor Becky does is pray over the microphone that she’ll need to deliver her “Kids on Fire” message. She suspects the devil is in the room, ready to cut the power. The filmmakers were given unprecedented access to moments like this. “We were looking for a good story about children and faith, where it comes from and how kids worship.” says Grady. “We found Becky. She told us it was prophesized that someone from the secular world would come make a film about her children’s ministry. And she loved Devon, the young preacher in Boys of Baraka.”

Jesus Camp focuses on three children: Levi, a charismatic aspiring preacher with a mullet haircut; Rachael, a convincing salesgirl for the Lord; and Tory, who loves heavy metal Christian rock but worries about her desire to “dance for the flesh.”

Eamonn Bowles of Magnolia Pictures, who is distributing the doc, has called Jesus Camp “a Rorschach test for how you … Read the rest