This was an odd weekend to open Polanski's new film, The Ghost Writer. After all, putting it up against a Scorsese minor-key masterpiece like Shutter Island, which actually feels similar to the creepy discomfort and even story ideas that Polanski is after here, defines the phrase "pale by comparison." ...
Maybe the only people who embrace "Twilight" and "New Moon" more than Twi-hards are Hollywood executives, who have been feverishly trying to develop the next "Twilight," or at least re-position movies they have as the second coming of same. (Universal tried that a few months ago with a movie called ...
The film must-read of the moment is Chris Jones' beautifully written profile of Roger Ebert in Esquire magazine. Of course the article chronicles Ebert's recent health problems — cancer operations that have wound up removing much of his lower job and eliminated his ability to eat, drink, and speak. But ...
Filmmaker and frequent Filmmaker contributor Jamie Stuart sent a link to a simply gorgeous suite of 22 photos he shot around Central Park and other locations during New York's recent snowstorm. Take a moment and head to his site to view the photos, which were all done, astonishingly, on his ...
At Filmmaker we've been on top of the DSLR story — the use of small digital SLR still cameras by filmmakers — in a series of articles beginning last year. (See "Shutterbugs" in Spring, 2009, and "Pimp your DSLR" in Summer.) That said, Ryan Bilsborrow-Koo has just posted an astonishingly ...
At the Oscar nominee luncheon earlier this week, Woody Harrelson was asked about the status of a dark superhero comedy he has coming out titled "Defendor.""Yeah, I did this movie called 'Defendor' and I was really excited because Sony picked it up in Toronto, and it's a wonderful ...
You don't have to be a political junkie like me to know that, with the economy still in low gear and healthcare having gone down in flames, the Democrats are going to be in big trouble this November. Many pundits are already predicting that the Democrats could lose as many as ...
I hope to be interviewing Alexandre Desplat shortly and thought I'd enlist your help, dear readers. I can read music and play the piano but that's about the extent of my musical ability / knowledge. What would you ask the arguably busiest film composer? He's up for an Oscar this ...
I was as unhappy as anyone with the last iteration of At the Movies--the disastrous match-up of celeb-hugger Ben Lyons and Hollywood scion Ben Mankiewicz. But the latter, at least, had some potential as a professional cinephile, if not a serious film critic (I am blissfully happy with the current ...
When I heard about the blogathon, “For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon,’’ I had to join in. This is my first post. This blogathon runs now through Sunday and is hosted by Farran Smith Nehme (The Self-Styled Siren) and Marilyn Ferdinand (Ferdy on Film). Their ...
Break out the webcams and apple pie: The antics of Chuck, Stifler and the rest of the "American Pie" crew could be coming back to theaters. Universal, which made and distributed the pop-phenomenon original, is developing a new version with an eye toward resetting the ...
We've known this was happening for years, but the Toronto International Film Festival is officially moving downtown for its 2010 edition. "The 35th festival will see all press and industry screenings take place in downtown Toronto at both the Scotiabank Theatre (formerly the Paramount) and the TIFF Group’s brand new ...
Venusville (Fred Worden and Chris Langdon, 1973) Just as CDs gave us a taste for sterile sound, the DVD has made us prize the clean image. We like sleek, hard-edged frames that look good on computer monitors and home-theatre screens. So who would put up with a shot like ...
Once in awhile I allow myself an off-cinema spin here. This is a spin followed by a triple sow cow double toe loop triple axel death spiral! I have no idea if those things go together. I've just been watching too much Olympic figure skating. But never fear, I do ...
You've done it -- you've won an Oscar. So now what do you do with it? For such a coveted prize, Oscar sure does find his way into some odd places. A hen house? The refrigerator? One surprisingly favorite spot: the bathroom, which doesn't exactly ... ...
"As befits a film both set in and titled after a city where five million hopeful pilgrims journey every year, Jessica Hausner's Lourdes revolves around an act that seemingly partakes of the miraculous," begins Andrew Schenker for Artforum. "When Christine (Sylvie Testud) — a young woman with multiple ...
Colin Firth! Tilda Swinton! A Serious Man! Fantastic Mr. Fox! In The Loop! Even some Bright Star here and there! After a season full of boring and repetitive winners from awards groups, the International Cinephile Society have given us a refreshing and deserving batch of winners that includes the ...
In the Oscar best picture race, there are the giants (um, 'Avatar') versus the smaller passion projects. 'Precious,' helmed by nominated director Lee Daniels, falls into the latter category. But that doesn't could them out of the race. With 10 ... Read more Filed under: Celebrity ...
If you thought Tom Green had disappeared off the face of the earth, fear not (or, alternately, quit celebrating): he's back on the stand-up beat and has a new movie, "Prankstar," that's sitting there until he figures out what to do with it. This is terrific news, because -- seriously ...
I've said before and I'll say it again, Christian Fundamentalists... you want a cure for homosexuality? This is about as close as it gets: (This oughta make up for the last post for my two straight male readers).
Ever wish you could carry the Oscar race around with you everywhere you went? Well, now you can, with the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' newly launched Oscars app. The free application gives iPhone and iTouch users a handy-dandy ... Read more Filed under: ...
