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November 2006 Archive

November 1, 2006

Reeler Podcast: Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz

A few minutes with the royal family behind Volver

"How Much?": Borat Opens CMJ FilmFest

The FilmFest arm of CMJ's annual Music Marathon launched last night with a preview...

November 2, 2006

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Continuation of boorish TV character's American journey an infuriating, bold comic experience worth having

By Eric Kohn

Scorsese's Stones Doc Goes Camera Crazy

Maysles haunts backstage while Richardson charged with small army at Beacon Theater

UA on Cruise Control

Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner spearheading latest United Aritists incarnation; I have to say I didn't see this one coming

November 3, 2006

Hartley Ingenue Adrienne Shelly Dead at 40

The star of The Unbelievable Truth and Trust was completing latest film as writer/director

One For the Ages

New doc Deeper Than Y illuminates the challenging -- if occasionally digressive -- realities of getting old in America

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Volver

Cruz has the role of her career in Almodovar's hand-stitched, gentle giant of a film

By Michelle Orange

November Events Madness!

Lynch! Soderbergh! Condon! Kopple! And they're giving Jim McKay away in Brooklyn!

By S.T. VanAirsdale

T-Minus 72 Hours and Counting for The Carpetbagger

228 days later, a hero returns to the Oscar-hype battleground

November 6, 2006

Word on the Street

Narrative/doc hybrid The F Word finds new audience just in time for Election Day

By S.T. VanAirsdale

No Nicole: Fur Premieres Sans Star in NYC

Producer Bickford says no hard feelings; co-star Robert Downey Jr. pulls hair from digestive tract

Carr Returns to Outlandish Productivity, Suffering Californians

Gonzalez Inarritu gets heavy, Anne Thompson gets defensive

Brooklyn Man Allegedly Confesses to Shelly's Murder

The suspicious conditions under which actress/filmmaker Adrienne Shelly's death was ruled a suicide just got a lot clearer

November 7, 2006

Doc Illuminates NYC Literary Legend

Paris Review co-founder and cultural gadabout Harold L."Doc" Humes gets the doc treatment from daughter Immy

By Karen Kramer

Reeler Exclusive: Fur Director Shainberg Fires Back at Critics

"Open your mind to a new kind of approach to a real person. Somebody like Richard Schickel is incapable of that, you know?"

Fuck It Up: Reeler Screening Series Continues with Acclaimed Expletive Doc

Steve Anderson's film is the election-night special at the Pioneer Theater

November 8, 2006

What Is It? Anybody's Guess

Crispin Glover delivers outlandish directorial debut to NYC audiences

By Vadim Rizov

Guest and Co. Taken Into Consideration at Lincoln Center

Director takes on the "virus" of Oscar buzz in new smackdown of Hollywood

Margaret Mead Festival Returns for 30th Year

Program highlights Demme's New Orleans doc and tribute to Bonnie Sherr Klein

Rosefelt Returns, Indie Filmmakers Queue Around the Block

Magic Lantern's publicist-superior is reincarnated today as a consultant

BREAKING: Sundance Shorts Phone It In

Everybody knows this is just Redford's way of getting Cingular to finally stick a cell tower in his ranch

November 9, 2006

Morning People

Ashley Judd, Joey Lauren Adams and the Southern comfort of Come Early Morning

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Rooftop Films Goes to Church

NYC premiere of Paul Festa's sublime doc Apparition of the Eternal Church screens with discussion and ... live organ performance?

November 10, 2006

Stranger Than Fiction

Ferrell and Gyllenhaal lead a strong cast out of the meta-plot wilderness

By Michelle Orange

Reeler Podcast: Steven Shainberg

The director of Fur discusses Arbus, Kidman and the art of breaking the biopic

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus

Director Shainberg showcases Kidman's portrait -- at his subject's expense

By Michelle Orange

"Congratulations to New York!"

Italian film maestro Marco Tullio Giordana visits Brooklyn for his first-ever retrospective, featuring the astonishing Best of Youth

Rally Rally Rally Round Linda Linda Linda

Acclaimed girl-rock import from Japan hides in plain sight on the Upper East Side

File Under "Can Only End in Tears"

Wong Kar-Wai sells rights to English-language debut to... who?

When Film Snobs Collide

Reporting live from a world where Newhart jokes are evidently the coin of the realm

November 13, 2006

Scorsese, Affleck to Fill 'Generation' Gap at Walter Reade

Film Society's Next Generation of Film series concludes with chats featuring the really retro filmmaker and the actor-turned-auteur

November 14, 2006

The $50 Million Question

New documentary Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock? takes on the case of an accidental art collector versus the art-world elite

By Paddy Johnson

Aronofsky Goes on the Fountain Offensive in SoHo

A few hundred people -- many waiting well over an hour -- packed the SoHo...

Gauging the Borat Backlash

New York beatdowns? Photographer throwdowns? Press starting to Kazakh-it to Baron Cohen

Shelly Foundation Announced to Support Women Filmmakers

Plans include a scholarship fund for film students and aid for actresses transitioning to directing

November 15, 2006

The Voice in the Wilderness

A look inside the Village Voice's troubled film section reveals acrimony, disappointment -- and maybe even a future

By S.T. VanAirsdale

The Queens Scene

In only its fourth year, Queens International Film Festival hosts over 200 titles

Kopple's American Dream Closes Out Stranger Than Fiction

"We had a door slammed in our face for one important meeting, and I just opened it and we just walked in."

November 16, 2006

For Your Consideration

Loathing overtakes humor in Guest's send-up of Hollywood's awards frenzy

By Vadim Rizov

Bond For Glory

Daniel Craig discusses the 007 legacy and the 21st-century spy of Casino Royale

By Ray Pride

"Now I Feel Better": Gondry Has a Moment With NY Magazine

Director indulges epistolary therapy over his devastating journey to Passaic, N.J.

November 17, 2006

Casino Royale

Daniel Craig brings freshness to Bond franchise; the script, unfortunately, does not

By Matt Singer

Fast Food Nation

Linklater's adaptation of the famous exposé succumbs to its own earnestness

By Michelle Orange

Candy Everybody Wants: Ledger Talks Up New Film

Cornered on Cornish! Waiting for Malick! Counting the minutes until he can just get back to Brooklyn!

Bobby

Liberal idealism of the 1960s gets an all-star cast in Estevez's comeback

By Vadim Rizov

Reeler Podcast: For Your Consideration

Christopher Guest and company discuss satire, striving and the trouble with Oscar

Coming Soon: "Shredding the Envelope" (Or Something)

Who will save cinema from Oscar fever? Probably not us, but we plan to do our part

A.O. TV: Scott to Join Roeper this Weekend

And no, it doesn't mean you get to skip his reviews in the paper

November 20, 2006

D-fending His Life

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny director Liam Lynch on screen chemistry, Jack Black's leash and the art of the cock push-up

By Ray Pride

Wong Kar-wai Tries Foreplay in NYC

"In Hong Kong I don’t have to ask," the filmmaker tells Dennis Lim. "I know what a guy would do.”

Web Drudgery Now Rewarded with Museum Immortality

Moving Image to add this year's Webby Award winners to permanent collection

Avignon/New York Fest Moving to JailCity

Turturro honored along with indies from U.S., France and Israel

"You Wanna See a Real Horror Movie?"

Lukewarm genre junk spiced up with fisticuffs at weekend's After Dark HorrorFest screenings

November 21, 2006

Déjà Vu

Washington and director Scott re-team for an entertaining if mistimed summer action exercise

By Vadim Rizov

The History Boys

Insightful, poignant stage adaptation patiently unfolds into one of year's best films

By Vadim Rizov

"Talk About Déjà Vu"

Getting to the the bottom of the filmmaker's "style" with the two-time Oscar winner

Robert Altman Dead at 81

The New York Times is reporting (via AP) that director Robert Altman has passed...

November 22, 2006

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny

Toothless rock franchise spinoff showcases manic Black in stoner comedy vacuum

By Vadim Rizov

The Fountain

Aronofsky's high-concept head-scratcher rewards viewers with rich visuals and profound poignancy

By Aaron Hillis

Horrors at The Kitchen!

Art Fag City: Jankowski's latest revives collaborative spirit -- with a mixed bag of monsters and killers

By Paddy Johnson

Scorsese Out, Altman In at Lincoln Center

Travel schedule scuttles filmmaker's history lesson scheduled for Nov. 27; tribute screening of PHC takes its place

El Topo Rides Again in NYC

Jodorowsky's restored cult classic follows NYFF revival with engagement at IFC Center

November 24, 2006

All Around This Filthy World

"Perverted uncle" John Waters discusses the new film of his ageless one-man show

By S.T. VanAirsdale

The Gray Lady's Sloppy Seconds

Tip your cap as Times critic makes most of dubious assignments

This Weekend: MoMA Screening Undistributed Gothams Nominees

Three of these films are among my favorites of '06; it's anyone's guess when you'll get to see them again theatrically

November 27, 2006

MoMA Toasts Hollywood Independent

Oscar-winning producer Walter Mirisch discusses upcoming retrospective of his storied career

By Daniel Nemet-Nejat

Screening Gotham: The Ever-Expanding Church of Spurlock

Also: NBA star banks on Herzog; Lohan's condolences have Altman yelling "Cut!" from the grave

Gyllenhaal, Gosling Claim Swedish Hardware

Stockholm Film Festival falls hard for white, twentysomething urban drug dramatics

Soderbergh's German Not Good Enough for DGA

Come for the movie, stay for the show as filmmaker spars with crowd

November 28, 2006

Altman's Last Hurrah Hits Lincoln Center

"It's hard to imagine that there won't be anymore Robert Altman films," Jones tells WRT audience

Screening Gotham: Box-Office Snark Overload

Also: Corbijn Control grab underway; and you, too, can dress like Edie Sedgwick

When in Rome: Ferrara's Tales Finally Underway

Strip-club screwball comedy headed stateside in January with stars Dafoe, Hoskins and Modine

It's Official: Benedikt Staying on as Voice Film Editor

Word just into Reeler HQ confirms that interim Village Voice film editor Allison Benedikt...

Check the Math: Independent Spirit Nods Actually Independent?

Wait, there must be some mistake; you mean FIND LA overlooked The Departed?

November 29, 2006

A Mighty Wind

Art Fag City: Ahtila's shattering installation looks at culture's impact on female identity

By Paddy Johnson

Screening Gotham: Klores Back to Sundance?

Also: Robert Altman remembered as trivial populist and groundbreaking dog tattooer

Critics' Poll(s) Revived, But Not at Voice

Lim to collaborate with indieWIRE while Foundas launches separate L.A. Weekly survey

Home Stretch For the Gothams

What the Web is saying on the day of the game

Hold Your Next Film Industry Birthday Party at MoMA!

Del Toro sings, Cuarón wilts as mariachi serenade honors the Children of Men director's big 4-5

Sundance Competition Slates Reveal NYC Connections

Wagner returns to Park City with Starting Out In The Evening

The Architect

Black and white family drama drags architectural metaphor all the way downtown

By Michelle Orange

November 30, 2006

Czechs and Balances

A dozen rare classics evoke the spectrum of Czech Modernism at BAM

By Peter Hames

Wins and Losses: Live From the Gothams

Half Nelson's hat trick rescues long night, raises hard questions

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Shelly's Waitress, Hartley's Grim Land at Sundance

Theroux bows directing debut, while docmakers Sundberg and Stern make second consecutive Sundance

10 Items or Less

Morgan Freeman's vanity project 10 clicks or less from the Internet bargain bin

By Aaron Hillis