The Cinema of History
a documentary and participants recall columbia '68
“I’m not a filmmaker,” Paul Cronin tells me. “I’m not an expert on film, I don’t know much about film.” So says the creator of four documentaries, which have screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival. He’s published four books on cinema, some of which are taught in the film school here at Columbia. “I’m not that interested in film,” he says earnestly.
An excerpt from his latest documentary effort, A Time to Stir, recently debuted at the Columbia-sponsored event “Columbia 1968 and the World: A 40th…
The Torturous Routine
errol morris reenacts abu ghraib
During a roundtable interview with Errol Morris, a journalist compliments the director’s new movie, Standard Operating Procedure, a documentary about the 2003 military scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison:
“I just want to say, those re-enactments were so real. It was just like Iraq!”
“How would you know?” Morris shoots back. “Have you ever been there?” The director looks beleaguered rather than shocked by the man’s question—misunderstandings about his re-enactments are nothing new.
In 1988, Errol Morris shot The Thin Blue Line, a documentary about a 1976 roadside shooting in Dallas, Texas that…
The Apatow Effect
the writer/director who cracks dick jokes to critical acclaim
Since the birth of cinema, there have always been legendary auteurs who have developed smash comedies: Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Wes Anderson. But now a new man has entered the ring: Judd Apatow. A producer, writer, and director, Judd Apatow has become one of Hollywood’s hottest commodities. His films manage to be both box-office hits and critical favorites.
Apatow continues his trend into this year with four films, including last week’s release of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a film in which Jason Segel (who also wrote the script) finds himself in a difficult…
Let the Ostrich Soar?
the human cost of the iraq war made visible
While the eagle is known for its keen eyesight, the ostrich is said to bury its head in the ground when it feels threatened. Given America’s blind handling of the Iraq War—what many consider the biggest foreign policy blunder in recent U.S. history—the latter bird currently seems a more fitting symbol of the nation.
With no evidence of wmds and the Bush administration’s efforts to hide the returning coffins of dead soldiers, it seems that America holds a myopic disregard for both the cause and the cost of the war. Now, five years since the U.S. invasion…
In the Mood for Blueberries
back of the envelope script-writing
“You can’t eat Gus’s Fried Chicken over the internet!” Norah Jones said passionately at a press conference on Tuesday promoting her big screen debut in Wong Kar Wai’s new film, My Blueberry Nights. “Yeah, you can’t taste the grease,” David Strathairn said. Even though that exchange was only a brisk tangent, it is also somehow very applicable to the film itself—you can’t really talk about it unless you’ve seen it.
Wong has directed eight feature films to date, but his Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love, and 2046, despite wide critical appreciation, only ring a bell…
The Filmgoer As Sadist
michael haneke takes “gore-porn” to a new level
You’ll hate this movie. You should hate this movie. It will make you feel sick with yourself, with everybody involved in its production, and with society in general. Which is why it’s absolutely brilliant.
I took my mother to the opening night screening—it actually made her cry. These weren’t tears of sadness, or even tears of relief (director Michael Haneke would never let you have such a pleasurable moment of release), but tears of unfiltered anxiety. It’s fitting to note that she teared up only after the movie was over: Funny Games is like food poisoning—you don’t…
The Balloons Are Flying
hou hsiao-hsien shoots in paris
I remember watching Hitchcock films at the age of 11 and never truly grasping that I was watching an artifact from the ’50s. All of the cultural context—fedoras, pencil skirts, Jimmy Stewart’s ridiculous accent—bounced off my young head. I thought these characters inhabited my world—I had no sense of history. I applied similar reasoning to any movie I saw. In Westerns, for example, I saw that cowboys wore jeans. Their jeans, I assumed, probably didn’t differ much from the Gap Kids jeans I wore. At that age, the fashion styles of the world could be reduced…
The Importance of Being Earnest
a texan director strives for sincerity
Before last week, I was not the right writer to discuss David Gordon Green’s career or Snow Angels, his new film. My critical distance from Green was about as great as my critical distance from a favorite novel, or from my mom. For seven-and-a-half years of my life, Green was more than a talented young filmmaker—he was a kindred spirit, though I had never met him. He had seen what I had seen and heard what I had heard, and—with far more grace and care than I could ever muster—shared his observations in George Washington, his remarkable debut.
I know what Britney Spears’ vagina looks like, and having never conversed, met, or even been in the same room with her, I shouldn’t be so well acquainted with this image. But I am—as are most people with Internet access and a depraved sense of decency. We also know that Judd Nelson’s Land Cruiser was towed on Feb. 6, and that Matt Dillon ate prosciutto at Fred Segal Mauro Café on Feb. 9 while Michelle Williams cried 16,000 miles away in Australia at Heath Ledger’s “life tribute” (that little tricolon came from just two pages of Us…
Cinematography Cinematographer Roger Deakins has been nominated five times for the Oscar for Best Cinematography but has never won. He defined the visual looks of many Coen Brothers films (nominated for both Fargo and O Brother, Where Art Thou?), and he is now nominated for his work in the Oscar frontrunner, No Country for Old Men. But there is one competitor that could seize his opportunity to win the gold: himself. Roger Deakins is nominated not only for No Country, but also for his work in the Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck Western, The…
When would-be audiences are confronted with the premise for acclaimed director Michel Gondry’s newest venture, Be Kind Rewind, the general consensus is that it won’t play in Peoria. Outrageous and erratic Jerry (Jack Black, of course) accidentally demagnetizes all the tapes at the video store where his friend Mike (Mos Def) works, so the pair takes advantage of Ms. Kimberley, the store’s only loyal—and conveniently senile—customer. To save Mike’s job, they decide to reshoot the films she wants to rent. Their plan presents a glaring question: why don’t they just buy other copies of the cheap…
Adventures of Power, a comedy about a copper miner with a passion for air drumming (air guitar’s elusive and neglected stepbrother) premiered at the Sundance at Midnight series, which tends to feature more adventurous avant-garde films and attracts the drunkest and rowdiest of Sundance crowds. The film, starring Adrian Grenier of Entourage fame, was directed by and co-stars Ari Gold (CC ’92). Although Power is his first feature film, Gold, who attended New York University’s film school after his undergraduate studies at Columbia, has previously been at Sundance with three short films. To delve into the…
New Yorkers have plenty to worry about while living in the city: muggings, shootings, asteroids, and giant apes. At least, they do according to some of the recent movies released, which follow in a tradition of many films that begin or end with Manhattan in ashes. It has once again become popular to set cinematic New York ablaze. The most recent episode is the monster flick Cloverfield, produced by Lost and Alias creator, J.J. Abrams. The film tracks an amateur video (a la The Blair Witch Project) shot by a small group of friends…
It doesn’t take long for director Jason Reitman’s Juno to exhibit serious signs of incurable indie-itis. The movie displays several of those “unique” touches that run rampant in small films that try too hard to be unconventional. Within its first 15 minutes, the title character contemplates committing suicide by hanging herself with licorice rope. Then there’s Juno’s snappy dialogue, which, for the most part, barely resembles actual speech—especially in the case of Juno (Ellen Page), a precocious teen who has just discovered that she’s pregnant. An early exchange between Juno and a convenience store clerk played by The…
“THE REAL ENEMY LIES WITHIN THE individual, and this is recognized by both psychiatrists and some of the more spiritual philosophies,” Guy Ritchie says at a roundtable interview, attempting to explain his new film, Revolver. “It’s that voice in your head. ... Whatever your weakness is—gambling, alcohol, drugs, women, or shopping—you want something that you know ain’t right but you gotta have it anyway. So is that voice you or is that someone who’s going to destroy you? That’s the con. It’s the ultimate con.” To some, the ultimate con may have been the process involved in actually getting…
Gutter Stars: Age of the Celebrity
welcome home, roscoe jenkins! and now that you’re here, i’ll be leaving
Oh, I Wish I Were an Oscar ‘08 Winner
oscar blurbs shorter than the acceptance speeches will be
Unrealistic Reality
michel gondry relives childhood in fantasy
Prized Possessions
columbia’s top entries at sundance 2008
New York Monster Mash
destroying new york city to shock audiences
Making Teenage Pregnancy Fun
The Revolving Release Date