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January 2007 Archive
January 2, 2007
Top 10 of Top 10 Lists -- The Quiz
Guess whose praise was whose in 2006 -- win valuable prizes!
By S.T. VanAirsdale
Screening Gotham: New Year, Same Roger
Also: The House Next Door turns one, Bill Condon turns red
Factory Seal Broken as Critics, Gossips Pile On
Dylan's lawyers not likely happy about their client's name and "abortion" uttered in same breath
January 3, 2007
Crafted From Memories
Art Fag City: Douglas's exhibition in Harlem recasts 1960s Cuba in disorienting contemporary dream
By Paddy Johnson
An Open Letter to James Rocchi
You may have missed the point, and at any rate, thanks so much for the links
Screening Gotham: Dance Dance Evolution
Also: Seitz of The Times, Finke of the Voice
January 4, 2007
Miss Potter
Life of children's lit legend gets the white-glove treatment in Noonan's return
By Michelle Orange
Screening Gotham: Where's the Fox Diorama, Mommy?
Also: World Trade Center's unlikely influences, Lynch and Estevez's Breakfast Club redux
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Surrealist fable one of the most visually compelling films in recent memory
By Eric Kohn
Altman Remembered at IFC Center
Retrospective comprises 27 films in 19 days, including rare work from '50s
Gosling and His Tuxedo Shirt En Route to SAG Awards
"News" flash: Mirren and Whitaker lead noms, NYC mostly shut out
Today in Top 10s: Armond Goes to War
White joins unofficial, uneasy (and probably unwanted) anti-hype alliance with The Reeler
This Week in Territorialism: Whose Tribeca is it Anyway?
Web domain contretemps small potatoes compared to what's happening by the river
January 5, 2007
Riding the Dark Horse
Don't forget about these worthy alternatives that Oscar hype threatens to leaves behind
By Lewis Beale
Screening Gotham: All-Positive Edition!
Also: Stevens' Movie Club impresses, Scott's kids take the subway
Reeler-Moderated Critics Panel Coming to Makor
Don't miss Zacharek, Edelstein and Gleiberman sorting out the best and worst of '06
January 8, 2007
Alpha Male
Alpha Dog director Nick Cassavetes on voice, versatility and making Sharon Stone suffer
By Ray Pride
Screening Gotham: Caryn James Now Twice as Embarrassing
Also: Quote whores quantified, Dunst critically injured in rumor mill
Harvey Thrilled About Queen's Chances in Nicaragua
Could it be? Are the Weinsteins over Oscar?
Circling the City
Scorsese, DiCaprio and a cast of dozens lights up NY Film Critics Circle Awards
January 9, 2007
Screening Gotham: Sex, Death and Heroism Edition
Also: Blogging Jarmusch, snogging Armond
Diversity, History Key to NY Jewish Film Festival
Selections comprise work from 14 countries, including a world premiere from New York
The Wild Card
Gosling, Fleck and ThinkFilm boss Urman talk about Half Nelson's Oscar potential
By S.T. VanAirsdale
January 10, 2007
Animator Green Hollers in NYC
Art Fag City: Excellent short-film triptych explores the paradox of life, death and experience
By Paddy Johnson
Sarris Down on Borat, Up with ... Sarris
Legendary critic stuns world with four original, never-before-released paragraphs
Screening Gotham: Heath and Michelle Have a Friend in Mr. Blackwell
Also: Fox mashes Little Miss Sunshine, Guatemala bashes up Apocalypto
Art House Update: ND/NF Deadline Extended
Imamura Retrospective comes to BAM while Strayhorn doc derailed downtown
Coming Soon: The World Sits on David Lynch
The filmmaker gets meditative with the Post, promises consumers Twin Peaks justice and halfway-decent furniture
January 11, 2007
He Did Do It: Suo Premieres Latest at Japan Society
Shall We Dance? auteur's first film in a decade exposes flawed Japanese judicial system
Screening Gotham: Nathan Lee Channels Lester Bangs
Also: NYDN summons Waitress, NBR awards full of piss and vinegar
"Treasure the Crackpots": Makor Critics Panel Explores the Future of Lists
Gleiberman: "Why even be a critic unless you're willing to go with your individual choices?"
January 12, 2007
Putting an Ace to the Name
Wilder's nasty glimpse at media circus gets timely revival at Film Forum
By Eric Kohn
Alpha Dog
Cassavetes depicts true story as "edgy" orgy of snowballing stupidity
By Michelle Orange
God Grew Tired of Us
Three of Sudan's "Lost Boys" reinterpret the American Dream in affecting doc
By Eric Kohn
Tears of the Black Tiger
Campy melo-western Thais one on for genre dorks
By Vadim Rizov
Screening Gotham: All-Positive Friday!
Also: Factory Girl for perverts, Sundance shorts headed for iTunes
NY Magazine Unveils Sundance '07 Preview
Farmiga, Buscemi, Cassavetes among others featured in glance at local fest stories
January 15, 2007
'Dance Fever
The Reeler at Sundance: Sales kingpin John Sloss prepares his 2007 slate for the Park City marketplace
By Daniel Nemet-Nejat
Screening Gotham: When Bollywood Came to Times Square
Also: Baldwin/Smithee collaboration coming to cable, Robert Wilson wants to shoot you
George Ratliff, Joshua
"I've submitted so many damn things to this festival and just never got in. I'm just grateful I finally get to go."
Mitch McCabe, To Whom it May Concern
"Certainly there could be the reaction, 'Oh, that's so self-absorbed.' But that's the whole point of the film, you know?"
Ray Tintori, Death to the Tinman
"I wasn't terribly interested in trying to recreate Oz from the 1930s movies; I just sort of wanted to deal with this world of evangelical mysticism."
The Sloss Factor
I'm not here to kiss John Sloss's ass, but only a masochist goes up against Cinetic's "propietary database"
Martha Colburn, Destiny Manifesto and Meet Me In Wichita
"My two new films really have much more to do with my interest in making animation as a kind of fictional documentary."
Nanobah Becker, Conversion
"I just want to go and enjoy it and encourage people to see my film."
January 16, 2007
Distributors Map the Market
The Reeler at Sundance: NYC buyers prepare to shop 'til they drop at most competitive fest ever
By Karen Kramer
Getting Out the Checkbook
The Reeler is now soliciting advice for rookie buyer at Sundance
Reeling Back to Park City
A strong New York contingent pushes your humble author back to the frigid festival frontier
Obligatory Golden Globes Wrap-Up: Scorsese Wins, America Sleeps
Hooray for Hollywood, but thank God for earthquakes
Screening Gotham: Paul Greengrass' Unkindest Cut
Netflix coming to a stream near you, Ken Burns plans first-ever documentary directed from the grave
Aaron Augenblick, Golden Age
"I think it's something a lot of people think about; you're always wondering why Donald Duck doesn't wear pants but Mickey Mouse does."
Etienne Kallos, Doorman
"They gave me a thousand dollars, they gave me a video camera. I had two other people on my crew; the shooter was great, but had never shot anything before."
Cynthia Wade, Freeheld
"It was such a rapidly closing window; if I hadn't have shown up at that moment at that Freeholder meeting, then we wouldn't have had a film."
Dan Klores, Crazy Love
"I went to the premiere of Murderball and hugged the guys afterward, they did such a great job. I loved it. I don't worry about the competition."
Ian Olds, Bomb
"Maybe I'm obsessed with this used-up-places-on-the-edge-of-America in a certain way -- at least in my fiction stuff."
Sophie Barthes, Happiness
"I traveled a lot with the film, and it's funny how people can't deal with 'happiness' being an abstract thing -- putting it in a box was disturbing to some people."
Daniel Karslake, For the Bible Tells Me So
"People of faith are getting more and more activist and becoming more and more influential in government, and I had no interest in making a film that mocked that."
January 17, 2007
Waitress Comes to Work
The Reeler at Sundance: Producer Roiff discusses the late actress/director Adrienne Shelly's final project
By Vadim Rizov
Help is on the Way
Please be kind to our guest as I go to my snowy, star-studded death
Kid Gets in the Picture
Early deal place Bar-Lev's art prodigy doc under A&E's wing
Local Heroes Tell All
Everyone's talking as NYC filmmaker interviews get underway on The Reeler
January 18, 2007
Alex Weil, One Rat Short
"It wasn't my goal, but I have a feeling that New Yorkers who see this film will actually feel differently about rats from now on."
Alfredo de Villa, Adrift in Manhattan
"I noticed right away how this was a very special place because it didn't feel like the United States -- even though it was clearly a space in New York."
Caran Hartsfield, King
"Expectations? I just want to see the film finished."
Cherien Dabis, Make a Wish
"Are they going to ask questions? Or am I going to be standing there like, 'Please, somebody -- ask me a question'?"
David Kaplan, Year of the Fish
"At first I thought I could set it in ancient China, but then the idea of setting it in Chinatown was even more exciting -- and certainly more doable."
David Stenn, Girl 27
"I just didn't feel anyone could tell the story like I could, because I lived it. I was part of the story."
Gina Kim, Never Forever
"Vera Farmiga has this amazing, expressive face that is almost like a map of emotions on which you can travel -- you can explore her heart."
Eraserhead
Restored print showcases Lynch's masterpiece in all its shadowy glory
By Aaron Hillis
Hal Hartley, Fay Grim
"Even now, when I contemplate a part three, the big question is whether the whole story will come back to Queens."
Screening Gotham: Waiting for Sundance to Come to New York
Also: Aitken gets chilly at MoMA, De Niro gets silly in GQ
Factory Mishap Leaves Mary-Kate Olsen Mortally Wounded
Slimmest Olsen twin reportedly furious over even slimmer role in Factory Girl
Shooting Spree: NYC Cameras Cover Sundance
A few talented colleagues are going to the videotape in Park City
January 19, 2007
The Italian
In his first feature, Kravchuk traces an orphan's Russian arc with unabashed sentiment
By Michelle Orange
Doc Legacy, Independence Duly Noted as Sundance Launches
Redford, Morgen note festival's influence; inaugural New Frontier installation stuns and surprises
By S.T. VanAirsdale
"Personal, Honest and Skinless": Breaking and Entering Premieres in New York
Minghella happy to get back to his low-key roots with Pollack and Binoche
Screening Park City: Sundance Channel Goes Flying
Also: Women filmmakers tallied from New York, Tom DiCillo gets technical
Screening Gotham: All-Positive Friday!
Inside: Pacino to assume Dali's stiff upper lip; film production soars in the city
"The Idea is to Take a Stand": Morgen Premieres Chicago 10
Filmmaker talks to The Reeler about his "organic" live-action/animated political doc
R. Luke DuBois, Play and Academy
"I think it's interesting how in every cultural medium we have in the United States, we have some kind of weird ranking system to try and figure out what's the best."
Paul Chan, 1st Light
"We've been working with the model of this window... I think it’s the 21st century, and perhaps we can think of something that's post-window."
Jake Paltrow, The Good Night
"I had three pictures I'd written that didn't happen. In the meantime, I was directing television and trying to get these movies made. It was difficult."
Marco Williams, Banished
"You look out the window and see the Confederate flag flying. Outside the chamber of commerce!"
Rory Kennedy, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
"It's not just looking back at Abu Ghraib, but also about looking forward ... We have a lot of policies in place right now that are arguably very encouraging of torture."
Craig Zobel, The Great World of Sound
"I wanted it to be like how weird it feels to have somebody say, 'Don't walk out of here and turn your back on your dream.' "
Loaded Weapons: Lough's Blood Opera Shocks Racquet Club
"No, fuck that. We're going to show it," says director after sold-out premiere
January 20, 2007
James C. Strouse, Grace is Gone
"It's not a film that's over and you say, 'Oh, I understand. The war is bad.' I tried to let it be as complicated and troubling as possible."
Amir Bar-Lev, My Kid Could Paint That
"Part of what the film is about is being able to draw your own conclusions rather than throwing your hands up in the air and saying, 'It all looks the same to me.' "
Jason Kohn, Manda Bala
"This is one of those movies, you know, I sold my car to make. All that typical bullshit, you know?"
Zoe Cassavetes, Broken English
"Everyone feels ashamed, hopeful, ambitious to some level, so even though it has the glamour of New York, people everywhere will get it."
Justin Theroux, Dedication
"If someone as much as crosses their legs you break into a flop sweat. With every frame there's just this anxiety I've never experienced before."
Angels in Our Midst
David Gordon Green's first film in the North has festivalgoers talking
Delirious Hype Terrorizes Hot Blog Readership
Did David Poland and I see the same shitty movie?
January 21, 2007
Bé Garrett, A Nick in Time
"I'm realizing that this thing is a lot bigger than I ever thought it was. And it's starting to feel pretty cool."
Tze Chun, Windowbreaker
It feels great, obviously, but it took a long time to get to this point. I think I probably submitted about six shorts before I got in.
Christopher Zalla, Padre Nuestro
"That's what essential New Yorkers are -- they're outsiders who have come here to chase something."
Jennifer Fox, Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman
"It created a horizontal dialogue and kind of flipped the power balance... They just start grabbing the camera, and the dynamic totally changed."
Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, The Devil Came on Horseback
"It’s not a history lesson; it's about a man who found himself a witness to something he never anticipated."
Broken Hearted: Posey Looks Inward After Premiere
"I think we live in cheap times," actress tells The Reeler
NYC Films Go Fast in Weekend Sales
Crazy Love and Grace is Gone off the market; is Joshua next?
Sundance Kid
Powerful art doc premieres to festival raves -- and plenty of questions
By S.T. VanAirsdale
January 22, 2007
"Night and Day and In My Dreams"
Oscar front-runner Forest Whitaker Honored at Lincoln Center
Joshua in the Searchlight
$4 million deal puts young New York terror in theaters worldwide
Screening Gotham: Weinsteins on Fast Track to Another Flop
Also: Marty hearts Oscar, Departed to be a trilogy?
Idiocracy Big in Brooklyn, Japan?
By Michelle Orange, Reeler reviews editor Mike Judge's Idiocracy came to DVD on January...
January 23, 2007
Screening Gotham: Location, Location, Location
Sun looks at Oscar nominees shot in NYC, Brooklyn conflicted over Will Smith's week-long residency
Gosling, Jesus Camp Nab Oscar Noms
New York indies among tough mainstream competition; Scorsese going for first win in six tries
Money Flows in Acquisitions Madness
My Kid, Waitress latest NYC films to pick up distribution at Sundance
Sony Classics Bosses Earn "Indie Mogul" Honors
Bernard and Barker collect hardware, reflect on 25+ years as Sundance regulars
January 24, 2007
Shockproof
Fuller and Sirk have double vision in overlooked, auteur-proof collaboration
By Matt Singer
Art During Wartime
Art Fag City: WWII doc The Rape of Europa looks at the plunder, destruction and recovery of priceless works
By Paddy Johnson
Screening Gotham: Critical of the Oscar Noms
Carpetbagger puts things in perspective, Edelstein is no wuss
Screening Park City: EW Goes B-List
Also: Harvey meets Sloss (again), Rosefelt remembers Shelly
Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, God Provides
"This massive event was happening so close to us, but what we were seeing did not ring true with us."
Breaking and Entering
Minghella's morality play almost insulting in its soft-headed symmetry
By Michelle Orange
January 25, 2007
Blue in the Face
Peled's sweatshop exposé China Blue traces jeans from teenage laborers' hands to Retail America
By John Lichman
"Just Say You're From NPR"
Misery loves company as unemployment documentary Fired! premieres at Cinema Village
Screening Gotham: People Get Paid For This?
Also: Xanadu revived on Broadway, Hoberman reviled at The House Next Door
There's a Catch: You Have to Watch Freedom Writers
AMC giving away free movie to teachers through Feb. 1
Blueprint for Backlash: Carr's Kid Twin Bill
Will sympathy for the Olmsteads overtake film praise and honest questions about art?
Manda Bizarro From Sao Paulo
The sacred, profane and outlandish collide in Jason Kohn's Brazil corruption chronicle Manda Bala
January 26, 2007
Breaking Even
Minghella, Binoche and co. talk about getting personal once again in Breaking and Entering
By Vadim Rizov
Smokin' Aces
Everyone loses in Carnahan's grisly mash of ultraviolence and pulpy underworld tropes
By Michelle Orange
Screening Gotham: All-Positive Friday!
Brooklyn teen gets screenplay produced, NYC industry had better year than Hollywood
Glass Reflects on Televised Life
Iconic NPR host describes adapting his radio institution to Showtime
"Enter From the Outside": Norton Lifts Veil at the Y
Actor/producer ends Reel Pieces season with screening and discussion of period drama
Screening Park City: Manohla Keeps it Real
Also: Coming Soon reporter sets rookie record for festival coverage, Sienna Miller empties tear ducts into 500-thread-count Kleenex
January 27, 2007
Kampmeier's Lowdown Hounddog Ad Copy Blues
Filmmaker misspells, malaprops and exploits her way to a free Volkswagen
January 28, 2007
New Yorkers Score Big at Sundance
NYC filmmakers behind Padre Nuestro, Manda Bala and Grace is Gone lead charge at festival awards
By S.T. VanAirsdale
January 29, 2007
Screening Gotham: Same Actors Garner Awards
Also: Keaton won't look back, Hitch wouldn't look at Spielberg
January 30, 2007
Screening Gotham: Defiant Underwear Edition
Also: Edelstein comes around on Nader, Factory Girl now being reviewed sight unseen
February Events Madness!
Doc Fortnight, Film Comment Selects, and Oscar second-guessers among city's late-winter highlights
By S.T. VanAirsdale
An Unreasonable Man
Much-maligned Ralph Nader gets re-branded in absorbing documentary
By Michelle Orange
Anger Management: Lucky Cinephile Nabs Fireworks Camera
"I'm going to sell it," filmmaker confides to fan with a checkbook
Shocking Footage! Filmmaker Kills Reeler
Stuart meets Miller, hears Jennings before snapping on last night in Park City
February Events Addendum: Stranger Than Fiction Scores Fest Faves
Everything's Cool and The Prisoner to open series' spring season starting Feb. 20
January 31, 2007
Bitter Cinema: Hara Series Opens at Anthology
Retro focuses on castoffs, outsiders and fringes of Japanese society
Screening Gotham: Graydon Stranded in Chicago?
Also: Crunching the numbers on women directors, searching for Hearts with Hickenlooper
NYC Gossips Go Girl Crazy
Miller does her job, which evidently does not include wearing pants or simulating sex