Archive for December, 2010
Top 10 Movie Moments at the Film Forum in 2010
December 22, 20101. Rebel Without a Cause with screenwriter Stewart Stern in attendance. The man can talk for hours, but admit it – we’d all listen for hours. Besides, it never gets old hearing casual references to “Uncle Adolph.”
2. The Red Shoes. Great lines (“I don’t know if it’s my greatest ambition to write for the ba-lay!”), and hopefully you were at the screening with editor Thelma Schoonmaker’s personal copy of the restoration process was shown – incredible.
3. The Red Riding Trilogy. Dark, creepy and oh-so-British. I’m doubtful this will survive the American remake.
4. Wild River. Wow – this was Hollywood! This really should be a classic. At the very least, it should have been a great shared viewing experience by environmentalists and libertarians.
5. Women Without Men. Film meets magical realism and literature. Just right.
6. The Bike-In. (Ok, this was technically at Cal Anderson Park.) Believe it or not, I had never seen Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure before. My mind was blown.
7. Wheedle’s Groove. Pick your night! I happened to be there with Sir Mix-A-Lot, but I can’t imagine a dull night with that cast of characters.
8. I am Secretly an Important Man (Opening night of Local Sightings at the Moore Theatre). A who’s-who of local luminaries on the screen and in the audience. They laughed, they cried. You may have had to be there.
9. Enter the Void. The movie was an experience…that I might not want to have again. But when I actually laughed out lout at the audacity of the credits up there on the big screen, I knew I was in for a ride.
10. Condo Millenium. A neat snapshot of the city at that exact moment. I called it the “Vagina monologues for condos.” People who were there will surely be referencing it and trying to describe it to those who weren’t for years to come.
A Top Ten for Cats in Cinema
December 18, 2010The spirit of the Top Ten holiday list should probably be a reflection on the past year. Sorry to say, but the films in my top ten have very little to do with 2010. I present to you for no good reason a reflection of my favorites for Cats in Cinema. The ordering is a little haphazard. Hopefully some of these films will make your top ten list of movies to watch in 2011.
- Rubin & Ed: This is actually on my top ten to watch in 2011, having been alerted to its existence by my coworker. Written by Trent Harris and starring none other than Crispin Hellion Glover. Glover is joined on a trip through a desert by a pyramid scheme salesman for the purpose of finding a location to bury a frozen cat.
- Milo & Otis: A childhood classic. Presenting an epic and surprisingly emotional journey of a cat and dog with all of the class and subtlety absent from Homeward Bound.
- Cat People: Classic horror from Tourneur.
- Batman Returns: Definitely one of my top ten for Michelle Pfeiffer roles.
- Pet Sematary: Zombie cats! Zombie boys! Thank you Stephen King.
- Hausu: There’s a lot going on here, not just killer cats. But still, there are some great moments.
- Felidae: German cartoon noir about cats.
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Featuring famed cat actor Orangey in a supporting role as “Poor Slob without a Name.”
- The Lion King: Do big cats count? I think so…
- Patty-Cake Cat You Tube video: Just to make things 2010 relevant, here’s a favorite clip from the past year –
2010 Top Ten
December 17, 2010In 2010, the films I thought about most seemed to take part in the real/fake discourse, and for that it was a boom year. These are the films and clumps of films (and events) I thought about most:
I’m Still Here. The one film on my list that didn’t play the Film Forum. Playing himself as the actor Joaquin Phoenix, who is leaving filmmaking for a career in hiphop, Joaquin Phoenix commits and gives the best performance of his life.
La Danse / The Red Shoes. We played both early on in the year: Frederick Wiseman’s narrationless documentary this time works with an art form that doesn’t need narration: ballet – in this case a company in Paris that is old and venerable and working hard to keep rethinking itself and la danse. And about ten seconds later we played The Red Shoes, an actually terrifying drama-filled Powell and Pressberger classic that is no doubt topped only by Black Swan.
The Sun. Alexander Sokurov’s film about Hirohito’s checked-out rein in Japan at the end of World War II. All about formalities and politeness amid chaos, Hirohito’s world, if this film is true, was triple weird and gripping in its embrace of unreality — maybe no more so than when Douglas MacArthur enters, has a smoke with the emperor, and speaks.
Two Live evenings: When Stewart Stern talked for an hour after Rebel Without a Cause about saving young men in World War II and, among other things, sleeping in James Deans’ bed after the actor’s death you could have heard a pin drop (had there been pins dropping). And this fall The French Project added funny dialogue to a bad movie and brought the Sultan of Swing together with some Germans. It wasn’t the deepest evening, but does that matter when it’s so fun?
They’re Still Out There: Miguel Gomes’ Our Beloved Month of August, Harmony Korine’s Trash Humpers, and Amie Siegel’s Empathy. No links among these films – Gomes’ is long and slow-moving and asks us to help him make the film; Korine’s is shocking and crude until you see what a beautiful tap-in he’s made of his own dreamworld; and Siegel’s carefully details the mirages of consciousness, especially in conversations around psychology — but all represent everything that is interesting and excellent about films that push the envelope. I think Trash Humpers, along with I’m Still Here, are the most fascinating films of 2010.
Wheedle’s Groove. The best local film of the year took up a forgotten soul scene in North America’s whitest city. The film deserved all the attention it got, and it should have gotten more.
October Country. Pretty and unsettling.
Visual Acoustics. About the great photographer of architecture, Julius Shulberg, who gave us some of the most iconic images we have of modern houses and spaces, especially of Hopper-esque buildings in and around L.A.
Daddy Long Legs. Joshua and Benny Safdie’s Cassavettes-esque (and autobiographical) story of a man figuring out how to be a father to his sons.
Jean-Michel Basquiat: Radiant Child. Unseen footage of Basquiat is reason enough to put this film into the top ten. In its center are amazing scenes of the speed of Basquiat’s brush, which shows a mind hurrying to set down the images crowding his mind, and having little time for self-doubt.
Howl. A good year for James Franco, and in this film he makes natural all the oddball verbal tics of the late, spiritual, self-promoting poet, Allen Ginsberg.
16 days left to join the Children’s Festival jury
December 16, 2010Calling all future film critics! What better way to hone your critical skills than to serve on the jury for Children’s Film Festival Seattle? The jury will attend screenings throughout the festival and announce prizewinners at the Festival’s closing ceremony.
To apply for a spot on the jury, kids ages 8-12 should write a top ten list detailing the qualities of the perfect children’s film, and send it to Elizabeth Shepherd, liz@nwfilmforum.org. Also include name, age, grade, a short bio and complete contact information.
Applications must be received by December 31, 2010.
Or – enroll in a workshop during the festival!
Saturday, Jan 15, 12-3pm
Movie Making with Sock Puppets
Unleash your imagination with what you find in the back of your sock drawer! In this class, kids will spend the first part making sock puppets. Then, the students will work together to decide upon a story and create a short movie starring their puppets. After the class each participant will receive a DVD of the finished film. Students should bring a few socks to use, which will be cut into and glued on. Also, feel free to bring scraps of fabric, yarn and buttons to adorn the puppets with.
Max Attendance: 10
Recommended for ages 8-12
Instructor: Clyde Petersen
Tutition: $30
Two Sundays, Jan 23 & 30, 12-3pm
Lights! Camera! Action!
Lights! Camera! Action! This two day workshop will allow kids to talk about the issues they care about the most and then make a documentary. Together, the class will come up with questions to ask each other. Then, each student will hold the camera, direct the interview, and become the interviewee when the camera is turned on them. The documentary will be filmed over the course of two days, and an edited version of the film will be screened at NWFF’s Children’s Film Festival Seattle for everyone to see. If you are ready to work with a great team of people and make a film, this workshop is for you!
Max Attendance: 12
Recommended for ages 8-12
Instructor: Peter Tolfree
Tutition: $60register online
Bobby Ellis kicks some Slamdance a$$
December 14, 2010Nice work if you can get it: Craig Packard’s short script, “Bobby Ellis is Gonna Kick Your Ass” was selected as the second-place finalist in the Slamdance screenwriting competition. As a finalist, he will receive a full filmmaker’s pass to the festival along with Final Draft and some other prizes and swag. Additionally, the Writers Guild held a reception in LA to congratulate the finalists and granted them eligibility to the independent writers conference (whatever that means).
“Bobby Ellis” follows high school freshman Mark “Fuckley” Buckley, after he impulsively strikes out at a school bully (Bobby Ellis), and spends the day experiencing the classic Kubler-Ross stages of impending death (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) as he awaits the inevitable retribution.
Craig says he’s thrilled to be attending the Slamdance Festival for the first time, and as a participant. He’s in the unusual and enviable position of having received an award for a project before even having shot it and will begin pre-production in the coming year with a local production team, with the intention of shooting at local schools.
Link to the results page at Slamdance: http://www.slamdance.com/writing/index.html
Glenn’s Top 10
December 13, 2010Northwest Film Forum member and serious cinema buff Glenn F. has graciously agreed to share his top 10 of 2010. Post your picks in the comments!
1. The Social Network (David Fincher) – Fincher directs his second masterpiece (uh, Zodiac) in just four years with two major assists: Aaron Sorkin’s brilliant script and an almost shockingly great young ensemble cast.
2. Carlos (Olivier Assayas) – Carlos the Jackel stars in his own five and a half hour action film with Assayas’ awesome liquid camera recording his every move. Who knew a sexy terrorist could require liposuction?
3. Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance) – A heartbreaking relationship film with two sometimes overwhelmingly moving performances. I’ll risk gushing and say that Ryan Gosling gives one of the great performances of all time.
4. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard) – Somewhere between the opening string of hushed “no sir” answers to an unforgettable final exit from prison over the thrilling strains of Mack the Knife this brilliant character study becomes that rare thing – a work of art.
5. Greenberg (Noah Baumbach) – With this and his two previous films (The Squid and the Whale and Margot at the Wedding) Baumbach has become the screen’s reigning miserableist. And I’m okay with the miserable at the movies.
6. The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski) – Not a masterpiece like Chinatown, but the direction is so very precise. This felt like a minor, yet utterly perfect genre work from a director making classicism look easy.
7. The Portuguese Nun (Eugene Green) – This played at NWFF just last week. Green is probably the most under-rated director in the world today. Scarecrow has three of his features on dvd (for international players). Rent them all, but start with my favorite Monde Vivant (The Living World).
8. Daddy Longlegs (Josh and Benny Safdie) – Yeah, dad’s a fuck up. Never was a responsible adult needed more than in this hilarious-crazy-tender-dangerous little indie.
9. Ne change rien (Pedro Costa) – Jeanne Balibar, the most fascinating actress of the last 15 years (I love her!), in full-on diva mode singing for Pedro Costas’ oh so mannered camera. A perfect combo.
10. Spring Fever (Lou Ye) – Made while the director suffers under a five-year ban imposed by the Chinese Film Bureau for his previous Cannes competition film (Summer Palace), this film’s atmospheric, moody, stolen images track the lovers (mostly male) in a constantly shifting and very loose melodrama. The crux can be found in a prose snippet late in the film: “I’ve missed the love that was my destiny.”
Note on release dates (all 2010 U.S. releases). Blue Valentine opens in New York on December 31 and in Seattle on January 21, 2011. Ne change rien is being distributed in the U.S. by NWFF; it was released in New York in November and will play at NWFF sometime in 2011.
And finally, burying the lead, highlight of my year: The movie that soars above everything else for me this year and I’m calling it my movie of the year is Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. I saw it at the film’s first public screening at noon on day 10 of the Cannes Film Festival at the Theatre Lumiere (gigantic screen and long red carpet). It won the Palme d’Or a few days later. After a lifetime of movie going, I can honestly say it was the greatest movie going experience I can remember. I skipped the film in Toronto, but saw it again at the Vancouver International Film Festival in October. It will be released in the U.S. this Spring. Uncle Boonmee and Cannes was the subject of my favorite film essay of the year written by Mark Peranson in his magazine Cinema Scope.
Check it out here
Please NWFF – I’m begging – let’s not waste any time getting Apichatpong to Seattle!
Can you make a film and still be green?
December 13, 2010Megan Griffiths think so! Come discuss why and how:
The Off Hours and the Sustainable Style Foundation (SSF) will be co-hosting a Strategy Salon this Wednesday (12/15) from 4-6pm in theater two at the Northwest Film Forum. We will use The Off Hours as a case study and discuss ways in which future productions can run their sets in a more environmentally and socially conscious manner.
The Off Hours is the first film to be granted the SSFTag in recognition of their sustainable practices. The production was also awarded a grant from local arts organization 4Culture for their efforts in this area. The film will be premiering at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
This event is free and open to the public. Beverages provided by local sponsor Dry Soda.
Fun with holiday cards
December 11, 2010Like this year’s holiday card staff photo? Well, here’s a few more that didn’t quite make the cut for your amusement. Click here for bigger versions.
Mr. Matt Daniels is responsible for the magic. Thanks Matt!