I had never seen BULLITT before we showed it last February, but even those who were long-time fans were audibly giggling in the cinemas during the famous car chase scene through San Francisco (incidentally, I believe that was one of the first major cinematic car chases, making this year the 40th anniversary of the car chase).
Anyhow, some fan with time to spare has carefully mapped out the segment on a Google map – and it is totally hilarious. Check it out here.
Forget the mini-majors closing down, today one of the most daring distributors shuttered their doors. According to Variety,
Tartan execs have yet to comment on what the future holds for the company, although it seems likely that liquidators and accountants will be brought in to assess its assets and sell them off.
Recent acquisitions for the company included Roy Anderson’s YOU THE LIVING and Carlos Reygadas SILENT LIGHT, two of the bolder works of cinema in recent memory. Let’s hope that some US distrib will picks these and other Tartan theatrical worthy titles up.
Northwest Film Forum would like to extend a huge thank-you to the French punk band LES THUGS! The band will be coming to the US in July as part of Sub Pop Record’s 20th anniversary celebration. All of performers in this show have agreed to play for free in hopes of raising money to give to worthwhile organizations. According to Sub Pop’s website, “Basically, we’re pooling the money we make, dividing it amongst everyone playing and each band/artist/comedian picks a recipient.” Les Thugs have picked Northwest Film Forum as the recipient of their portion of the profits.
We are thrilled to have the support of both the band and the Sub Pop label. To read more about performers and recipient organizations, click here.
Les Thus perform at Sub Pop Record’s 20th Anniversary Revelry on July 13 at Marymoor Park in Redmond, WA. More information about this even is available at www.subpop.com/sp20.
The band will also play a free show at Neumo’s on July 11. Doors are at 9pm with the band taking the stage around 12am. More information is available at www.neumos.com.
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ABOUT LES THUGS
MEMBERS:
Eric Sourice – guitar, vocals
Thierry Meanard – guitar
Pierrs-Yves Sourice – bass
Cristophe Sourice – drums, vocals
WHERE FROM:
Angers, France
WHERE NOW:
In Europe, still together.
DATE FORMED:
1983
The Sourice brothers Eric and Christophe started in a punk band called IVG. Les Thugs started in 1983 with four musicians: the singer and guitarist Eric, the other guitarist Thierry, bassist Gerald Chabaud and drummer Christophe. Pierre-Yves, the third Sourice brother, replaced Gerald after his decision to quit the band after the 1988 tour in Sardinia.
Contrary to what English-speaking people tend to think, Les Thugs’ name doesn’t refer to hooligans. The name refers to the worshippers of Kali, goddess of death, violence, vengeance, and the annihilation of creation. The Thugs originated in India in the 12th Century. They practice ritual murder by strangulation with a silk scarf (to avoid blood). Apparently, some of them are still living in Angers, France.
“They fuse the hypnotic with the explosive like no other band that I can think of.”
– Jon Poneman, Sub Pop Records CEO
“Les Thugs proved to be the best thing to come from France since French kissing.”
– Daniel Ewacha
Visit LES THUG’s website (in French) – www.lesthugs.fr
Former box office volunteer and current kid’s camp instructor Craig Downing is also the founder of Couch Fest Film Festival, which will have its inaugural run on September 27, 2008.
Read an interview with Craig on the blog Film Festival Secrets to better understand his vision. Or, visit the Couch Fest website to find out how to submit your own films.
I was glad to see my old friend Rob Nelson land a gig at the Museum of the Moving Image‘s Moving Image Source. Nelson contacted me about writing a piece on our Hal Ashby series for MOMI’s web based project. The Moving Image Source is not only chock full of great writing on cinema, its also one of the newest, albeit not too lucrative, sources of income for the ever dwindling number of film journalists out there.
KEXP has a stack of tickets to give away to THE GITS documentary, which opens at NWFF on July 4 (perhaps you’ve seen the cover of the Seattle Weekly?). Read their blog for entry details and to watch the trailer.
And by the way, it sounds like they really liked the movie:
A documentary made by first time filmmaker Kerry O’Kane, The Gits is a sizzling, tight-as-a-drum, transcendent study of a woman’s incredible creativity, her insanely tragic death, and the way both have haunted and inspired so many for years afterwards. That woman is Mia Zapata, and you will never forget her after seeing the movie O’Kane spent more than a decade creating for her and her band, The Gits. [full review in their blog]
Toronto has picked 27 international festival selections to screen at their September fest. Many preemed at Cannes, Berlin, SXSW, etc.
GALA PRESENTATION
“The Good, The Bad, The Weird”
Kim Jee-woon, South Korea
North American Premiere
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
“Adoration”
Atom Egoyan, Canada
North American Premiere
“Un conte de Noël”
Arnaud Desplechin, France
North American Premiere
“Entre les murs”
Laurent Cantet, France
North American Premiere
“Gomorrah”
Matteo Garrone, Italy
North American Premiere
Winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.
MASTERS
“24 City”
Jia Zhang-ke, China
North American Premiere
“Four Nights with Anna”
Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland/France
North American Premiere
“Of Time and the City”
Terence Davies, United Kingdom
North American Premiere
“Le Silence de Lorna”
Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France/Italy
North American Premiere
“Three Monkeys”
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey/France/Italy
North American Premiere
Winner of Best Director at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
REAL TO REEL
“Blind Loves”
Juraj Lehotský, Slovakia
North American Premiere
VISIONS
“Liverpool”
Lisandro Alonso, Argentina/France/Netherlands/Spain/Germany
North American Premiere
VANGUARD
“Waltz with Bashir”
Ari Folman, Israel/France/Germany
North American Premiere
DISCOVERY
“Hunger”
Steve McQueen, United Kingdom
North American Premiere
Winner of this year’s Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
“Medicine for Melancholy”
Barry Jenkins, USA
Canadian Premiere
“The Paranoids”
Gabriel Medina, Argentina
International Premiere
“Three Blind Mice”
Matthew Newton, Australia
International Premiere
“Tony Manero”
Pablo Larraín, Chile/Brazil
North American Premiere
“Tulpan”
Sergey Dvortsevoy, Germany/Switzerland/Kazakstan/Russia/Poland
North American Premiere
Winner of this year’s Un Certain Regard Prize at the Cannes Film Festival
CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
“Acne”
Federico Veiroj, Uruguay/Argentina/Spain/Mexico
North American Premiere
“Linha de Passe”
Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas, Brazil
North American Premiere
Linha de Passe garnered Best Actress at Cannes 2008
“O’Horten”
Bent Hamer, Norway/Germany/France
North American Premiere
“Lion’s Den”
Pablo Trapero, Argentina/South Korea/Brazil North
American Premiere
“Restless”
Amos Kollek, Israel/Germany/Canada/France/Belgium
North American Premiere
“Revanche”
Götz Spielmann, Austria
North American Premiere
If you’ve ever hesitated to sign up for a NWFF workshop because it involved talking to an actual person on the phone, your problems have been solved! We have added a new online registration feature to our website, allowing you to purchase tuition the same way you purchase movie tickets – with no additional fee. That’s NWFF – always brilliant and on the cutting edge of technology! I think this may catch on.
If you are a Bobcat Goldthwait fan here is a treat for you. NWFF will host Goldthwait, as he introduces Hal Ashby’s The Landlord at 9:30 on July 1. It appears that he is quite the Hal Ashby fan.
I can understand why Mr. Goldthwait has a great appreciation for Hal Ashby. Ashby’s absurdist takes on the cacophony that was life in the 1970s, the giddiness, the belief in perfectibility, the tidal wave of sex, the distrust of authority, all still ring true. His films that will be on view at NWFF this summer are truly masterworks.
For those individuals who are interested, you can attend a private event with Mr. Goldthwait prior to the screening. For more information go to the NWFF website and type in nwfilmforum.org/bobcat.
In anticipation of our forthcoming Hal Ashby series, Kathy Fennessy us a primer by taking us on a brief tour of her own Ashby experience. The series opens July 1.
