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June 2007 Archive

June 1, 2007

International Focus, Brooklyn Flavor

Brooklyn International hosts more than 30 countries, celebrates identity in its 10th annual run

Screening Gotham: All-Positive Friday! (Silver Lining Edition)

Inside: Shameless Indie Whore bragging rights revert to LA; NYAFF adds resiliency to its myriad qualities

June 3, 2007

Of Frost, Fantasy and Screwdriver Darts

Auster previews new writing/directing effort for hometown crowd in Brooklyn

Magnum Force

Month-long film series celebrates legendary photojournalism co-op's 60th anniversary

By Jana Prikryl

June 4, 2007

From the Rooftop to the Desktop

Rooftop Films hits the archive with IFC to screen a film a day online

Screening Gotham: Friedman Sneaks Hairspray, Unearths Lost Woody Film

Also: Checking with the marketers behind Hostel, Pollack looks in the mirror -- sort of

Deneuve Too Beautiful For You, and Herself

Belle de jour star not haggard enough to play herself in the sequel

June 5, 2007

Screening Gotham: Six Degrees of Don McKellar Edition

Moore on Oprah, Guralnick on Biopic Perils, Swears on Film

June 6, 2007

Ninjas are the New Everything

...and one of many winners at the inaugural Webbys Film and Video Awards

By Annaliese Griffin

"Turn It Up!": Monterey Pop Revived after 40 Years

Organizers Michelle Phillips and Lou Adler drop in to discuss Pennebaker's seminal performance doc

Screening Gotham: Mourning Sharon Waxman Edition

Also: Klores is nobody's "publicist turned filmmaker"; NYC movies ranked, re-ranked, re-re-ranked

Belle Toujours

Oliveira's slender sequel a model of efficiency and barbed wit

By R. Emmet Sweeney

June 7, 2007

La Vie En Rose

Piaf-aganza fails to connect the dots between its biopic bullet points

By Michelle Orange

Hostel Takeover in Times Square

Eli Roth and Co. show off latest torture-porn extravaganza for NYC crowd

Lost Once More

Bruce Weber on discovering (and rediscovering) Chet Baker in the newly restored Let's Get Lost

By S.T. VanAirsdale

June 8, 2007

Ocean's Thirteen

Third Ocean's installment a surprisingly elegiac regression for the fun-loving franchise

By Vadim Rizov

Roadwork Ahead

Finding home with Monicelli, Storaro and others on the Open Roads of new Italian cinema

By Simon Abrams

Let's Get Lost

Chet Baker documentary brings the pain, and not much else

By Vadim Rizov

Creators On the Loose in NYC

Inaugural Creators Series celebrates new media innovation, "participatory filmmaking"

Screening Gotham: All-Positive Friday!

Inside: Another milestone for Four-Eyed Monsters; shocking new doc recruits key help

June 11, 2007

NYT Presents Horror on Parade

Hostel: Part 2 gets an obit, MoMI series previewed, McGrath shuts in with straight-to-DVD crowd

Screening Gotham: Kim's Days Picked Up at Last

Also: American Gangster trailer provokes head-scratching; HDNet founders win valuable prizes

Getting Closer and Closer to Reality

Maysles, Kopple, Peck and Churchill swap stories, define docs in Sundance at BAM closing-day panel

Lights in the Dusk

Finland's best director limns the limitations of his own formula in "Loser Trilogy" capper

By Vadim Rizov

June 12, 2007

"I'd Probably Just Become a Superhero"

True confessions everywhere as Eagle vs. Shark attacks city at New York premiere

The Mick of Time

Anderson and McDowell's Mick Travis trilogy dusted off in rare NYC revival

By Vadim Rizov

Evening, Bible Seal Deals

New York-based Sundance '07 selections coming to theaters this year

June 13, 2007

"I'm Here For Volker"

Stars, ambassadors, but no Dunaway at premiere of Schlöndorff's latest

Screening Gotham: Nasso Redux Edition

Also: MPAA wolves guarding the hen house; IFC Center celebrates (and celebrated)

Fest News Round-Up: Awards Won, Dates Moved

Also: NYAFF reveals full schedule; Tribeca moves back uptown and outdoors

Rob Nelson, Horror Victim

Two-fisted Queens series preview goes deep on blood and guts, then and now

Unborn in the USA

Alarming doc looks at how pro-lifers may be winning America's "war" on abortion

By Michelle Orange

June 14, 2007

Screening Gotham: When the Ghetto Came to Chelsea

Also: Lionsgate still has friends on Wall Street, Wolfe shrugs at Kool-Aid adaptation

Daniel Robert Epstein, 1975-2007

NYC film community mourns the untimely passing of a savvy journalism fixture

Horror Story

It's Only a Movie series sketches connections from '70s icons to the genre forces of today

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Fido

Mismatched zombie flick inadvertently introduces the red herring to the genre

By Eric Kohn

Human Rights Watch on the Lookout

Acclaimed international titles, filmmakers in focus at 19th annual fest

June 15, 2007

Worth 1,000 Words (and a Doc)

Manufactured Landscapes filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal on profiling the work of Edward Burtynsky

By Jennifer Merin

Mighty Heart, Sealed Lips

Jolie and Winterbottom all action, no talk at New York premiere

Screening Gotham: All-Positive Friday!

Inside: Butter substitute gets breakthrough short-film role; zombie movies are over, which must mean they're alive

June 18, 2007

Screening Gotham: "Fucking Liar" Edition

Inside: Moore not taking critics lying down; Jolie, Schlöndorff and cheese considered by NYC film writers

NYAFF Survey: The City Preps For Pop

Cyborg, Matsuko among titles getting closer looks as wild fest nears

Fantastic Fisticuffs at Fox Preview?

Did a Silver Surfer screening turn sour for a NYC journalist socked in the face?

Tonight: Burnett Sends Off Killer of Sheep

Filmmaker and other guests in attendance at evening shows; Q&A's and giveaways planned

June 19, 2007

Conventional Wisdom

Conventioneers director Stephens revisits '04 as award-winning film hits DVD

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Screening Gotham: All Sicko Tuesday

Mt. Smith burbles lava and spittle onto glassy-eyed Post readership; Moore deduces the source of those Web downloads

June 20, 2007

Exiled on Sixth Avenue

Catching up with Hong Kong legend Johnnie To in advance of new film's NYAFF showcase

By Steve Erickson

Meals on Reels

First-ever NYC Food Film Festival serves up cinema with an appetite

Screening Gotham: Film School Finally Pays Off For Marc Forster

Also: Lee dusts off some DVD's; Never Forever finally makes NYC fest bow

Dahl Goes For the Kill

Are director's criminal impulses channeled into Ben Kingsley hit-man comedy?

June 21, 2007

The Reeler Affirms its Superiority (and You Can Help)

Drop by Joe's Pub to cheer on your humble editor in a steel-cage match of Web video wonkery

Today in Arbitrary Bullshit: AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies

With new list, Hollywood institution puts the "zzzzzzzz" in "revisionism"

Broken English

Zoe Cassavetes' feature directing debut riddled with coincidence and lonely-girl clichés

By R. Emmet Sweeney

Evan Almighty

Quasi-religious comedy more marketing tool than movie

By R. Emmet Sweeney

A Mighty Heart

Mariane's version eerily entertaining but lacks passion, outrage and most crucially, her husband

By Michelle Orange

The Weekend We Made Contact

NYC conference and arts festival spotlights the best, worst and weirdest of 60 years of UFO cinema

By S.T. VanAirsdale

June 22, 2007

Sicko

Moore expands his new American mythology with a look at the health care nightmare

By Vadim Rizov

Screening Gotham: All-Positive Friday!

Inside: Scenes from a Wedding; critic love-in greets NYAFF and Sicko

1408

Cusack and his demons get a room in tiresome thriller

By Matt Singer

June 25, 2007

To Haiti and Back Again

Ghosts of Cité Soleil director Asger Leth escapes with the story in harrowing new doc

By Annaliese Griffin

Sicko Feeling Better After Weekend in NYC

Mobs, scalpers and Moore join forces for $70,000 opening on Upper West Side

Screening Gotham: An Exploitation Kingpin We Love

Also: Alternatives to that list; remembering Disney's greatest period piece

June 26, 2007

Giamatti Hijacks BAM, Art Quirk Ensues

Brooklyn-based actor taps Frenzy, Dr. Strangelove and Brewster McCloud among others for August program

The Hawke Show: Hottest State Bows in NYC

"It was a really dangerous thing for me at the time," actor/filmmaker tells downtown crowd

More Lists: Women Film Journalists Speak

National critics group weighs in with intriguing collection of forgotten, foreign and contemporary nods

Screening Gotham: Herzog Laughs!

Also: Baldwin's Devil takes Shortcut to DVD; gay immigrants exploited just in time for Independence Day

June 27, 2007

Live Free or Die Hard

In striving for post-9/11 resonance, McClane's return becomes post-itself

By Eric Kohn

Waiting For Days on End

Filmmaker Kim discusses In Between Days' scenic route to the New York screen

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Fest News Round-Up: Coens, Chung to Toronto

NY Latino Film Fest ropes in Lopez, de Villa premieres; Tribeca expands to... Beijing?

June 28, 2007

Evening

Ms. Redgrave sends her regrets in melancholic, should-be melodrama

By Michelle Orange

The Unknown Soldier

Is Herzog's Rescue Dawn the latest in string of racist Vietnam War films?

By Lewis Beale

A Revolution with a Sense of Humor

Afro-Punk Festival explores black activism and rebellion through unorthodox mix of film, music and discussion

Boyle-ing it Down For You

Director optimistic about everything cynical at special screening of new thriller Sunshine

Surprise or Something: NYFF Taps Anderson, Coens for Top Spots

Darjeeling Limited to open fest Sept. 29; No Country claims Centerpiece

June 29, 2007

Screening Gotham: All-Positive Friday!

Inside: Kim's Video clerk helps customer, shocks world; Spike Lee first potentially appealing thing on Broadway since, like, ever

Weal of Fortune: Mag Outlines Latest WeinCo Prognosis

CEO chatter, number-crunching reveal little new about shaky, shaken TWC

Only in NY: Art House Anniversary Duel!

Lincoln Center and MoMA's July retrospectives celebrate Kino at 30 and Rialto at 10

Ferrara's Go Go Tales to Premiere in NY?

NY fest says "90 to 95 percent sure" director's Cannes sleeper coming to town in July

Pierson to Moore: "Get Out of the Damn Way"

Ex-ally's open letter urges filmmaker to 'fess up and pipe down

"At Least the Weather is Nice"

Joel Siegel, 1943-2007