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April 2007 Archive

April 2, 2007

Screening Gotham: A Killer at the Box Office

Also: Wong's NYC adventure named as Cannes front-runner; create your own grindhouse with new DVD

"You Could Get Away With It"

Hoax filmmaker Hallström admits omitting WTC towers, just as confused as anybody about Clifford Irving

Only in New York, Except When...

Pitof takes the helm of Caviezel's urban romp -- in Toronto

April 3, 2007

The Paul Bearers

Carice van Houten and Paul Verhoeven on the director's women and the notoriety of Black Book

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Screening Gotham: Critics! Critics! Critics!

Inside: Morgenstern v. Bart! Koch v. Scott! Uhlich vs. Berlin Alexanderplatz!

April 4, 2007

"Making These Films Ourselves"

Continually growing NY African Film Festival celebrates independence in its 14th year

By Elena Marinaccio

Black Book

Verhoeven's high-kicking espionage drama also a bitterly cogent revisitation of the Dutch resistance

By Michelle Orange

Screening Gotham: "We Got Jokes" Edition

Inside: There are no cheesehead auteurs; check still in the mail for Manning

It's Official: Spidey 3 Tribeca-Bound -- Sort Of

Week-long Spider-Man events end with premiere in... Queens? (Updated 4/4)

The Best of BAM's Best of 2006

Reeler contributors' own picks from the cream-of-the-crop series now underway in Brooklyn

April 5, 2007

Screening Gotham: "One Day 'Til Grindhouse" Edition

Inside: A whirlwind tour through the old sticky, dangerous days; a dispatch from the filmmakers' afternoon in NYC

More Tribeca: Gates, Gore, Barrymore

Green-themed shorts to open the fest; Gates will close, while Lucky You set for May 1 premiere

Soter Does Detectives Work in NYC

Broken Lizard veteran discusses Cillian, Lucy and going it alone in his directing debut

April 6, 2007

Re-living the Living Cinema

Jacobs, Child, Hoberman among many highlighted as NYC film institution remembered

By Karen Kramer

The TV Set

Pilot season satire's lack of ambition may be its saving grace

By Vadim Rizov

Grindhouse

Double trouble tribute to lost genre lovingly made -- and yet lazy in its reinvention

By Aaron Hillis

The Hoax

Hallström calls half-hearted bullshit on Gere's literary hoaxster

By Michelle Orange

When Maslin Met Burnett

Looking closer at the NYT critic's 1978 pan of Killer of Sheep

April 9, 2007

The Women in the Picture

Art Fag City: A pair of shows explore two generations of feminist video art

By Paddy Johnson

Screening Gotham: F*** You, Mr. Hooper

Also: Sean Connery healthy, publicist is not; Scarlett Johansson raps for your love

The Grindhouse Second-Guessing Scorecard

Surveying the wreckage for the surest signs of what went wrong on opening weekend

April 10, 2007

The Berlin Marathon

Fassbinder's restored epic Berlin Alexanderplatz kicks off long week at MoMA

By Vadim Rizov

In With the New at NYU

65th (!) First Run Festival spotlights promising Tisch filmmakers

Woody, Streep, Martin Honor Diane Keaton

One-liners and high praise the order of the day at Film Society's annual Gala Tribute

April 11, 2007

Appetite For Destruction

Documentary director Mary Jordan on truth, justice and the unknowable Jack Smith

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Aqua Teens Shake It Up

Aqua Teen Hunger Force gang sorts out what matters at the New York premiere

Screening Gotham: Ray Guns it to Kimmel

Also: Panel notes abound, Toronto faces film crisis (at last!)

Haute Auteur: NYU Film Student Fashion Tips

Youngster takes fashion clues from Lynch movies, screenwriting hints from Welles

April 12, 2007

Private Fears in Public Places

Artful plotting and visuals not enough to sustain weirdly hermetic ensemble drama

By Vadim Rizov

Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis

Influential avant-garde artist ushered from oblivion by sober, inquisitive doc

By Eric Kohn

Lonely Hearts

True crime remake a meaningless mash of clichés

By Vadim Rizov

Fuzz Grows in New York

Smith hosts Wright, Frost and Pegg at Hot Fuzz premiere at Lincoln Center

A Different Taste of Thai

Biennial Thai Takes 3 festival imports the country's New Wave and experimental vanguard

April 13, 2007

Mike White's Dog Days

The bard of outcast chic on Shannon, sympathy and his directorial debut, Year of the Dog

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Havana by Way of New York

Eighth Havana Film Festival NY focuses on new Latin American cinema, tribute to Perugorría

Screening Gotham: All-Positive Friday!

Inside: Kaufman, Cuban, Levi chime in on Grindhouse, Farrow lives to act again

Open Hearts: Latest Killer Take Personal for Robinson

The filmmaker talks with The Reeler about family, Travolta and those deadly Lonely Hearts

April 16, 2007

(Re)Made in the USA

Amid a redux epidemic, a few helpful hints for making everything old new again

By Lewis Beale

Screening Gotham: Weinsteins Fire Back At NYT

Also: Tarantino's girl trouble, a requiem for a budding indie star

Fresh Intelligence is Neither Fresh Nor Intelligent. Discuss.

Radar gossips about 11 months off the pace on Apocalypto revelations

Keaton Epilogue: Edelstein's Tribute Take

NYM critic on the sweet and sublime of the star's Lincoln Center honor

April 17, 2007

Screening Gotham: Write if You (Can't) Get Work Edition

Inside: Video clerks face the future, video generation faces the past

"The New Bad News": Missing Jim Lyons

Mitchell, Taubin, Hu and others remember the late editor/actor

April 18, 2007

The Daley Grind

Filmmaker Brougher on Tamblyn, Swinton and the tough issues guiding Stephanie Daley

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Screening Gotham: When David Mamet Gets it Wrong

Also: Get the gay rodeo out of my underground; Fame remake proves world officially out of new ideas

Two Dogs, One Guitar and a Sick Lamp

Reeler contributor shares the diverse video art of William Wegman

Vintage Voice: Elliott Gould, Cover Boy

It's 1971 all over again as Hoberman reimagines "Hollywood's Jew Wave"

April 19, 2007

The Valet

Diverting in the best way, Veber's farce is so light on its feet it barely touches the ground

By Michelle Orange

Fracture

Old-school courtroom thriller finds most of its pleasure in Gosling's inspired puttering

By R. Emmet Sweeney

Scorsese, Elmes, Scott Among MoMI Institute Visitors

Museum's critic gathering brings heavy hitters from film, media, distribution

Screening Gotham: A Good New York Year at Cannes

Also: Ryan Gosling chews gum at the movies, students get into trailer mode for Lincoln Center

Decoding Virginia Tech: First Oldboy, Then... ?

The implications of violent cinema start trickling into the blogosphere

Coming Soon: ReelerTV

New video interviews to spotlight important faces and names from Tribeca '07

April 20, 2007

Hot Fuzz

British genre geeks take on the buddy cop flick with scattershot results

By Vadim Rizov

Stephanie Daley

Intensely observed character drama's challenge to its actresses met with riveting success

By Michelle Orange

"Power Needs Obscene Comedy": Zizek Intros Duck Soup

Slovenian cine-philosopher hits MoMA for Pervert's Guide premiere week

Kind of Blue

Blue State star Anna Paquin on the Tribeca premiere's political edge and her bow as producer

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Critic Revisits the Underground

Fest collects provocative titles from recent South Asian cinema

April 23, 2007

Screening Gotham: All-Positive... Monday?

Inside: NYM finds Grindhouse viewers; Julianne Moore takes the C train

Newly Censored, Meadows En Route to NYC

British ratings board slaps This is England with harshest rating; film makes Tribeca bow next week

New York Magazine Unleashes Pet Vulture

New movie and entertainment blog gets ruthless from opening day

April 24, 2007

Piece of Cake

Masterson's feature directing debut The Cake Eaters gets hometown premiere at Tribeca

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Screening Gotham: Why Your Festival Sucks

Also: The Vulture backlash starts in L.A. (where else?); a modest proposal for Mumblecore

April 25, 2007

The Middle East Side

The Bubble, Making Of and others continue Tribeca's regional emphasis in 2007

By Steve Erickson

A Not-So-Innocent Victim

Also reviewed by Vadim Rizov: Lady Chatterley, Vitus, The Pelican, You Kill Me, The Forty-First

The Bomb Drops on Tribeca

Also reviewed by Eric Kohn: Chops, Taxi to the Dark Side, Making Of, West 32nd, Black Sheep

Zoo

Strangely arid vibe mars potential of horse-"loving" doc

By Eric Kohn

Election and Triad Election

Double trouble for fans of Johnnie To's revisionist gangster genre vehicles

By R. Emmet Sweeney

Kind of Blue: Paquin Pairs Romance and Politics

Oscar-winner (and first-time producer) prepares to enter Blue State

Piece of Cake: Masterson Gets Behind the Camera

Actress make feature directing debut with The Cake Eaters

All That Jazz

Chops tracks high school musicians' quest for glory in NYC

The Reeler Moves Into Tribeca

News, reviews, video chats and more featured in daily festival coverage

Screening Tribeca: Rosenthal Lays it Out

Also: A Trump in the jury room; Tropfest breaks off on its own

Snow Flurries for Sigourney Weaver

Actress relates the challenge of her role as an autistic mother in Snow Cake

April 26, 2007

Still Life, Tribeca's Masterpiece

Also reviewed by Vadim Rizov: The Sugar Curtain, To Die a Little, Memories of Sayat Nova, Hoop Dreams, Hellfighters, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The Tree

Golden Rules

Also reviewed by Michelle Orange: Blue State, The Killing of John Lennon, Gardener of Eden, Beyond Belief, L' Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio

Luna Outside the Box

Actor profiles legendary boxer Chávez in directorial debut

What on Earth: Tribeca Goes Green for Opener

Gore, De Niro and Scorsese among heavyweights at fest bow downtown

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Tribeca Ticket Giveaway: What Do You Know About Julie Delpy?

Two pairs of tickets to a Delpy panel discussion available for timely trivia respondents

Sonnenfeld to Join Coens at Apple Store

I'm a little behind the curve on this, but it bears mentioning now anyway...

Tribeca Madness on The Reeler

Be sure to keep up with the news, reviews and ReelerTV!

Esther Robinson, A Walk Into the Sea

"We still don’t know everything, and that’s not such an easy place to end the movie. But we have to go on."

Beth Murphy, Beyond Belief

"It's about trust, it's about relationships, and a film like this would be impossible without that."

April 27, 2007

Jindabyne

Less fun than a corpse in a lake, Jindabyne falls into finger-pointing vortex

By Michelle Orange

Auteil's Napoleon Dynamite

Also reviewed by Michelle Orange: Vivere, A Story of People in War and Peace, Jerabek, Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother, The Workshop

American Soldier Doesn't Choose Sides

Veteran newsman Laurence challenged on apolitical doc about 101st Airborne

Spider-Man Oh Man

Also reviewed by Eric Kohn: Brando, Lost in Bejing, Planet B-Boy, 9 Star Hotel, The Man of Two Havanas

Vitus Plays Well with Others

The Reeler catches up with young star Gheorghiu at Tribeca rehearsal

Waitress Serves in NYC Preview

Ruseell, Roiff and pies spotlighted in tribute to late director Shelly

The Midnight Mainstream

What happens when cult selections are among fests' most popular?

By John Lichman

Is Today the Day For Jolie? (Updated Answer: Yes)

Attends private preview screening of new doc with NYC prep schoolers

Carpenter, Industry Heavies Slay 'Em

Panel debates the depiction, ethics and business of blood and guts in film

April 28, 2007

Abby Epstein, The Business of Being Born

"You should understand the political and historical context of how we birth in America-- more than medical safety issues arise."

Shotgun Blast of Talent

Also reviewed by Vadim Rizov: Between Heaven and Earth, A Dirty Carnival, Born and Bred, Miss Universe 1929, Chávez

Durst Gets an Education

Ex-Limp Bizkit leader unveils sensitive film debut at Tribeca

Of the Airborne and Avant-Garde

Also reviewed by Eric Kohn: The Animated World of John Canemaker, Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Aritst, Tuya's Marriage, Two Embraces

Delpy, Dawson and Co. Bring it Home

Stiles, Mendes, Masterson also among strong panel of actresses/producers/filmmakers

April 29, 2007

Half Moon Over Tribeca

Also reviewed by Vadim Rizov: The Road to St. Diego, The Premonition, The Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez, Black Butterfly, The Matrimony

Talia Lugacy, Descent

"We were determined to do films that matter to us about things we passionately care about, no matter how difficult it would be to make them."

From Jump Rope to Jazz, the Docs Are In

Reviewed by Michelle Orange: The True Legend of Tony Vilar, Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer, Doubletime, Sons of Sakhnin, United, Unstrung

A Trip Down West 32nd

Motel director Kang returns home with gritty NYC crime thriller

Rats! Midnight Strikes on Mulberry Street

Good news and bad news in Mickle's urban rat-zombie horror tale

April 30, 2007

Mean Street: Mickle's Nifty Urban Horror

Also reviewed by Eric Kohn: Amexicano, The Grand, Nobel Son, Forging a Nation, Invisibles

Gellar and Baldwin's Girl Trouble

Also reviewed by Michelle Orange: Postcards from Tora Bora, Lovesickness, Live!, Heckler, A Guest of Life

BeFilm's Short Run to Midtown

Former Tribeca Underground fest programs moves north, programs full week of shorts

By Elena Marinaccio

The King of Kong and I

Director Gordon discusses his video game doc and the cutthroat remake on the way

Tricia Regan, Autism: The Musical

"My idea was to introduce these autistic kids to the world in such a way that the world would value them, understand them."

Bomb It Won't Be Bombing It in NYC

Director Reiss discusses public graffiti event squelched by city

Screening Tribeca: The New Durst Hits the Town

Also: Passio pleases Post; a minor distribution run for foreign titles