October 01, 2003World / Independent Film Blog Archives |
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Review: Shattered Glass Hayden Christensen plays another misguided prodigy in Billy Ray's journalism drama "Shattered Glass," the true story of New Republic star reporter Stephen Glass, the whiz kid whose stories turned out to be fabricated. Chloe Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard, and Hank Azaria co-star. The film opens on Friday. Read the review.
10:18 PM # This Week's New DVDs Jean-Pierre Melville's masterful thriller "Le Cercle Rouge," starring Alain Delon and Yves Montand, is one of two Criterion DVDs released this week. Steven Soderbergh's "Schizopolis" comes with a documentary track that's almost as wacky as the movie itself. Also: Sun Ra's avant-jazz sci-fi flick "Space is Place," Satyajit Ray, Matt Dillon, and "Whale Rider."
12:42 PM # DVD Review: Space is the Place It's the end of the world--don't you know that yet? Sun Ra's unique blend of avant-jazz film, head flick, sci-fi spoof and blaxploitation is the grooviest movie about a crew of black spacemen dressed as Egyptian gods you will ever see. Originally released in 1974, "Space is the Place" is available on DVD for the first time.
09:16 PM # "Stone Reader" Book Back in PrintThe bittersweet story told in Mark Moskowitz's acclaimed literary journey "Stone Reader" just got its happy ending: "The Stones of Summer," the forgotten novel by Dow Mossman which inspired the film, is back in print. Read our review or compare prices.11:39 AM # DVD Review: Schizopolis Naked men streak through a park, a randy bugman spews nonsense while he's persued by a mysterious film team, the camera pans to a tree adorned with a sign: "Idea missing." Yes, it's Steven Soderbergh's classic mindbender "Schizopolis," out this week on Criterion DVD with a hilarious commentary track of the director interviewing himself. Read the review.
01:12 PM # Review: The Singing Detective Robert Downey Jr. puts on his best Michael Gambon impression in the remake of the classic BBC mini-series--but even he can't save this ill-conceived mess. Why didn't they leave brilliant enough alone? Also opening tomorrow: Gus van Sant's school-shooting drama "Elephant."
11:12 AM # Academy Announces Foreign Film ContendersElia Suleiman's "Divine Intervention," Jan Jakub Kolski's "Pornography," and Barbara Albert's "Free Radicals" are among the 55 submissions for nomination in the Foreign Language Film category. The Oscar nominations will be announced on January 27th. IndieWire has the complete list.01:24 PM # New DVD Releases It must be late October-- our weekly list of recommended world and indie DVDs is dominated by horror flicks. From Danny Boyle comes "28 Days Later," and the Pang brothers will creep you out with "The Eye." Also: "Trembling before G-d," "Respiro," and the South African music documentary "Amandla!"
10:56 AM # The Fog of War and Peace: Notes from the NYFF The 41st New York Film Festival came to a close yesterday with Alejandro González Iñárritu's "21 Grams." Jürgen takes a look back at the second half of 2003 line-up, including Errol Morris' documentary "The Fog of War" (about Robert McNamara, pictured), Johnny To's Hong Kong police thriller "PTU," Gus van Sant's "Elephant," and "The Mayor of Sunset Strip," a portrait of Los Angeles DJ Rodney Bingenheimer.
01:00 PM # Review: Prey for Rock'n Roll Gina Gershon gives a powerhouse performance in Alex Steyermark's "Prey For Rock & Roll," the story of four women in a struggling Los Angeles punk band. Drea de Matteo, Shelly Cole and Lori Petty co-star in the over-the-top melodrama. Read the review.
09:50 AM # "The Battle of Algiers" To Be Re-ReleasedGillo Pontecorvo's "The Battle of Algiers," long unavailable in the United States, will be released to selected theaters in February in a new 35mm print by Rialto Pictures.News of recent screenings by the Pentagon led to renewed interest in the film, hailed as one of the most influential in the history of political cinema. Shot documentary-style, it vividly re-creates the tumultuous Algerian uprising against French in the late 1950s, an insurrection against an overwhelmingly powerful occupation that turned out successful. No wonder the Pentagon is interested. Slate offers a primer on "The Battle of Algiers," and Mother Jones has its own take on the film's relevance. The script is available online. Also of interest: Pontecorvo's "Wide Blue Road" and Peter Greengrass' "Bloody Sunday," which earned many comparisons with "The Battle of Algiers" for its immediate style. 02:05 PM # Review: "Veronica Guerin" Jerry Bruckheimer directs Cate Blanchett in this biopic about a muckraking Irish journalist who faced down Dublin druglords. The result is a mixed bag of excellent acting and the slick, manipulative filmmaking we have gotten used to from Mr. Bruckheimer. More on Cate Blanchett - Watch the Trailer - About the Real Veronica Guerin. Also opening today: Pieces of April, Sylvia, Au Hasard Balthazar, The Returner, and Prey for Rock'n Roll. 11:38 AM # Review: Au Hasard Balthazar On Friday, Robert Besson's "Au Hasard Balthazar" arrives at Film Forum in a radiant new print. The film, hailed as one of the sublime masterpieces of the 20th century, tells the unlikely story of a donkey. Read the review.
02:41 PM # Review: "Sylvia" Baby, you can ring my bell jar: Gwyneth Paltrow plays the suicidal poet Sylvia Plath in Christine Jeff's second film. Daniel Crag stars as poet-lover Ted Hughes. The biopic, which opens on Friday, resists the temptation to overly romanticize Plath's suffering. Read the review.
07:40 PM # New DVD Releases This week's top DVD releases offer the work of young and talented independent filmakers: Rose Troche's "The Safety of Objects" and Neil LaBute's "The Shape of Things." And oh yes, if you need it, Neo, Trinity and Morpheus are back in "The Matrix Reloaded." More: Criterion Collection DVD reviews, all DVD reviews.
11:24 AM # Festival Review: Elephant Proudly bearing the Palm d'Or it won at Cannes, Gus van Sant's bloody school shooting drama "Elephant" screens at the New York Film Festival tonight and tomorrow. The film opens nationwide on October 24. Read the review. Also opening today: Claude Chabrol's "Flowers of Evil", Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River", Tarantino's "Kill Bill", and the Coen Brothers' "Intolerable Cruelty." 10:26 AM # Kill Bill Vol. 1 OpensQuentin Tarantino -- "Q" to his friends -- releases the first part of his bloody epic "Kill Bill" today, starring Uma Thurman, Daryl Hannah, and Lucy Liu. The critics are split between "crap" and "fetishized epic of cinematic aggression." We can hardly wait. Watch the trailer.10:22 PM # Festival Review: The Flower of Evil Veteran director Claude Chabrol's 50th film covers familiar territory:a bourgeois family rife with incest, corruption, and murder. "The Flower of Evil" is opening in selected cities on Friday. Read Marcy's review.
11:06 AM # Festival Review: Young Adam Ewan McGregor sheathes his light saber and makes love to Tilda Swinton in this sooty, brooding adaptation of a novel by Alexander Trocchi. "Young Adam" is showing at the New York Film Festival tonight and tomorrow. Read the review.
08:08 AM # The Flowers of Evil: Notes From the NYFFHalfway through the 41st New York Film Festival, it seems that almost every movie is about irredeemable guilt and inescapable evil. A look back at one week of murky rivers, half-remembered crimes, and bloody murder.09:59 PM # New DVD Releases Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki's quiet masterpiece "The Man Without a Past" won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. This week, you can buy it on DVD. New releases also include Ken Loach's "Sweet Sixteen" and Michael Caine in the original 1969 "Italian Job."
09:20 PM # Festival Review: Pornography Two artists hide out at a country estate during the German occupation of Poland in Jan Jakub Kolski's adaptation of Witold Gombrowicz' novel. Elegantly shot, "Pornography" is both lighthearted and deadly serious. The film, which doesn't have a North American distributor yet, is showing tonight and tomorrow at the New York Film Festival. Jürgen reviews.
02:30 PM # Festival Review: S21: The Killing Machine of the Khmer Rouge Rithy Panh's devastating documentary about the Cambodian genocide under Pol Pot plays tonight at the New York Film Festival. Uniquely powerful among human-rights documentaries, "S21" brings victims and perpetrators face-to-face.
10:47 AM # Festival Review: Dogville Far and away the best film showing at this year's New York Film Festival so far, Lars Von Trier's controversial "Dogville" has its (sold out) public screenings tonight and tomorrow. Nicole Kidman leads the illustrious cast in the volatile tale of American goodwill and greed by one of the world's most adventurous directors. Read our review.
09:43 AM # Festival Review: The Kids Are Alright Jeff Stein's classic documentary about legendary rock band The Who has been painstakingly restored to full, rip-roaring glory. The film will show off Roger Daltrey's swinging microphone, Pete Townshend's shredding guitar windmills and the band's exhuberant equipment-trashing at a special festival screening tonight at midnight, exactly 40 years after The Who first set foot in a recording studio. Daltrey is rumored to attend. The restored version of "The Kids Are Alright" is now also available on DVD. Read Jürgen's review.
09:25 AM # Festival Review: Mystic River The 41st New York Film Festival opens tonight with Clint Eastwood's hard-hitting thriller "Mystic River." Tragic childhood events catch up with a group of former friends when violence erupts in a working-class Boston neighborhood. Featuring the extraordinary acting talent of Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney, and Laurence Fishburne. Read our review.
07:39 AM # Review: Bounce Ko Gals
"Kids" meets "Lost in Translation" in Masato Harada's "Bounce Ko Gals," a strangely sweet film about underage prostitution. The film follows the adventures of a trio of white-socked friends through the kinky Tokyo nightlife. "Bounce Ko Gals" opens tomorrow at Cinema Village in New York. Read our review.
08:07 AM # The 41st New York Film Festival With 26 feature films from 21 countries, the New York Film Festival once again promises a bonanza for adventurous film lovers. This year's line-up includes new films by Lars van Trier, Claude Chabrol, Clint Eastwood ("Magic River" with Sean Penn, pictured), and Errol Morris. The festival opens this Friday, October 3 and runs until October 19. As in the past, we will be bringing you reviews and updates from New York's Lincoln Center. Explore the complete festival program and check back for our ongoing coverage.
09:40 AM # |
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