Movie City Indie Archive for August, 2010
A less elfin, more Lisbeth role from Rooney Mara
From Samuel Bayer’s ultra-artsy Nightmare on Elm Street retake. Rooney, meet Noomi; Noomi, Rooney.
On sound and music in Animal Kingdom
Australian writer-director David Mich
Did Mike Judge direct this ad? Did Brawndo approve its message?
[PR] Wenders 3D Video Installation Premieres At 12th Venice Architectural Biennale
“At the invitation of Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA, Wim Wenders has created a 3D video installation for this year
Trailering A Woman, A Gun And A Noodle Shop, Zhang Yimou's Blood Simple remake
Sometimes what directors do is not see what other directors do
From the Independent, theater and opera director Jonathan Miller, who began as a member of Beyond The Fringe, says he hasn’t seen a West End show in 10 years: “One might assume that Jonathan Miller, the revered theatre and opera director, who made his own name on stage, would have become a familiar face at preview nights for these stage gems to keep abreast of fresh new talent. But no. Yesterday, Miller confessed he had seen none of the most significant productions of our time because he had not been to the theatre for “nearly 10 years”. Miller, 76, confessed he had no idea about the state of contemporary theatre because he preferred to give it all a miss.”I don’t bother,” he said. “I’m not interested in theatre, I never was. I don’t want to go to the West End; I hate travelling, I prefer to be at home with my grandchildren, and just go to Marks & Spencer.” [More at the link.]
A filmmaker on "turning things down"
“The other week, I got a call from an agent wondering if I’d be interested in directing a feature in Los Angeles this fall. He had a script, and a producer, and a lump sum sitting in a bank account waiting to be spent on it. All that was required was a director to head up the casting process and then make the film, and he was wondering if I would be interested in filling that position…” [Story here.]
Tony Scott’s Runaway Speed
I hope to see Christoph Huber and Mark Peranson make the case that Tony Scott’s movies are more and more the movie equivalent of Don DeLillo novels. Really. I mean it. That would be as entertaining as this trailer makes Unstoppable look. The airborne toxic event is not only the smell of popcorn topping. Here’s the opening of the linked Huber/Peranson take on D
Passion across the sea: one critic-distributor’s exodus
Might want to crack a window for a late summer breeze before heading over to Filmbrain’s new place, as he cogently lays out the reasons, as a lifelong New Yorker, he’s made tracks to Berlin. “[C]ritics have 
been spending way too much time bashing other critics’ opinions (or simply the critics themselves) and second-guessing why it is that their peers don’t share their views. It stifles rather than encourages discussion, and it’s fucking depressing if you must know the truth,” Andrew Grant writes. “As a distributor, things haven’t fared much better. Indie film is certainly alive and well, but… we’re seeing a seemingly endless stream of repetitive and pointless panels at film festivals, blog posts by self-proclaimed “experts” who preach profitability over artistic integrity, and the emphasis on new and clever ways to market yourself instead of, you know, actually making a good film… [M]y passion for film has diminished to practically nil. I barely watch things anymore. Even my prized pile of rare, grey-market finds that I’ve been dying to dip into remains untouched. Losing interest in the thing I’ve loved since childhood…i t’s a suitable cause for concern.” [More at the link, including source of photo.]
Countdown to William Gibson's Zero History
They won’t find the edge, they won’t find the new, and worse, they’ll trample on it, inadvertently crushing it beneath a certain mediocrity inherent in professional competence.
On sale September 7; more information here.
