Friday, April 30, 2010

SFIFF53: Winter's Bone

http://www.oscarguy.com/Reviews/Annual/2010/WintersBonePoster.jpg
Click here to see a trailer and intro by director Debra Granik

Today has been a search into the Ozarks of Missouri as it was a Winter's Bone interviews with writer/director Debra Granik and Actress Jennifer Lawerence.
Then ran off to a 6pm screening of Winter's Bone at Sundance Kabuki, where I wanted to see this incredible Southern Drama once again on the big screen. The music, the bleakness, and the performances that reminds one of Terrence Maliack's Badlands and the immortal characters in the writings of Sam Shepard.
Winter's Bone joints a shortlist of recent raw Southern cinema that includes David Gordan Green's Undertow and Shotgun Stories.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

SFIFF 53 Walter Salles (ON THE ROAD)

Last Evening at SFIFF was a very special night for me, as I found myself in a cinema and beatnik swirl at the Sundance Kabuki Theater



First of all the Q&A with Walter Salles and Alejandro Inarritu was off the motherfucking chain!
Inarritu opened up with this to say, " A Mexican and a Braziallian sharing the stage together is very dangerous thing, so let's put down our guns now and talk about your Walter's sex life and Gael Garcia Bernel."
With this started a hurricane of comments and questions about Salle's career as filmmaker, for one being a Brazillian filmmaker and two a cinephile at heart.

The night continued to treat, with two short films from Salles
  • A personal short that he made for his young son about introducing the relationship of cinema to him. It was so surreal to see Salles and Intritu siting close to the screen on the stage staring up at the images Salles has created, looking like to kids in a candy store when images from Chaplin and Wenders pop up on screen.
  • Salles then put together a 60 min reel of his unfinished documentary project, In the Search of being On the Road, a grand magnium opus of filmmakers, poets, and super 8 home video footage about his dedication and frustration on his never ending search to getting Jack Kerouac's On the Road up on the big screen.

http://www.iamas.ac.jp/class/dw/blog/kerospan.jpg

With his documentary On the Road, the image of it is all in the individual mind of all its readers that it has come touch since its 1957 publication. If can be done the best way is to make it like a Cassavettes's film Shadows or Faces, b&w and improvisation to its film setting core.

Salles also shared clips of an unknown 1961 beatesque film titled "The Exiles" about Native American youth living in LA. Something to put on the top of your Netflix queue

http://www.exilesfilm.com/images/singing.jpg

Sunday, April 25, 2010

SFIFF53 (The Violent Kind)

The Violent Kind

From the new teeth kicking horror film from Bay Area Horror filmmakers, The Butcher Brothers
http://shocktillyoudrop.com/nextraimages/vk-poster.jpg

This one was not disappoint as The Butch Brothers bring their skull smashing style of story, wicked humor, and brutal violence together in a film that pays tribute to David Lynch, Hershell Gordan Lewis, Biker flicks and 50s sci-fi movies.
The Butcher Brothers take list in short list of modern horror filmmakers: Ti West, Eli Roth, and Edgar Wright.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

SFIFF53 (Son of Bablyon and Nymph update)



  • Nymph
From Thai filmmaker Pen-Ek Ratanrunag (Director of Last Life in the Universe)

Nymph is full of Pen-Ek signature style of aw-inspiring shots and weary characters searching for life's unanswered questions.
Check out the trailer (here)

Plays one more time @ SFIFF 53
-Wednesday April 28 @ 4:45PM in Sundance Kabuki



  • Son of Babylon
Sundance Favorite Kurdish drama from filmmaker Mohamed Al-Daradji



    Son of Babylon is the type of film that festivals are made for tough, heartbreaking performances, and beautiful shots of the sun baked desesrts of Iraq.

    Check out the Trailer (here)

    Plays two more times @ SFIFF 53
    -Tuesday April 27th @ 12:45pm in Sundance Kabuki
    -Saturday May 1st @ 6:30pm in Berkeley PFA

    SFIFF53 (Short Film collection update)

    Pirate Utopia (A collections of abrasive mix mediums)

    Highlights:
    • The Little White Cloud that Cried
    Festival Favorite and every one's favorite Canadian filmmaker, Guy Maddin, unleashes his short dedicated to Kuchar brothers. Signature style of student filmmaking and taboo breaking of transsexuals stimulating falleo.

    • Embrace of the Irrational
    A Christopher Guest mocumentary style short, shot in Oakland offers some nice touches to the idiosyncratic problems that arise on a low-budget nature show.

    • Zef Side
    Something that music video artist Jonas Askland would be proud of, as white trash rappers and leg-less backup dancers are incorporated into a glossy music video.

    Talkin about My Generation

    A mix of Youtube inspired videos from young filmmakers, some are pretty annoying but the Lego James Bond is quite fun to watch.

    Friday, April 23, 2010

    SFIFF53 (April 22rd thru May 6th)

    http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/SoulKitchen.jpg
    Fatih Akin's Soul Kitchen is a fun slice of Hipster cool

    Screening at SFIFF 53:
    • Monday April 26th @ 6:45pm in Sundance Kabuki
    • Wednesday April 28th @ 9:30 in Sundance Kabuki




    Wednesday, April 14, 2010

    A Failed Bad-Ass (RIP Mister McLaren)

    http://nicesharpknife.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/sex-pistols-london-197.jpg

    Roger Ebert looks back at the time of the Sex Pistol movie that never was, Who Killed Bambi?

    Tuesday, April 6, 2010

    The Violent Kind & All About Evil (Coming to SFIFF53)

    OH THERE WILL BE BLOOD!!!! at this year's festival

    SFIFF53 Late Night Forum presents:

    THE VIOLENT KIND
    (the new film from The Butcher Brothers)

    http://static.screenweek.it/2009/12/4/The-Violent-Kind-Poster-Art-USA-01.jpg

    Looks to be a rollicking bloody good time at the movies
    Check out the trailer here

    SFIFF Screenings:
    April 24th @ 11pm in Sundance Kabuki Theatre
    April 30th @ 9:45pm in Sundance Kabuki Theatre


    ALL ABOUT EVIL
    (From SF ICON Josh Grannell aka Peaches Christ)

    http://www.joblo.com/images_arrownews/all-about-evil.jpg

    It's great to see Nastasha Lyonne back on the BIG Screen.

    A throw back to the good ol'e days of camp horror cinema
    Check out the website here

    SFIFF Screenings:
    May 1st @ 10:45pm in Castro Theatre

    Friday, April 2, 2010

    Splice (June 4th)

    http://www.postergeek.com/albums/userpics/poster_splice-poster.jpg

    This looks like to be fun little horror movie, great two character cast.
    Check out the trailer here