From Jackie Christy: It’s hard not to appreciate the zany imagination behind THE LURE, a musical tale of teenage vampire mermaids set in 1980s Poland. The story takes place mostly in a seedy nightclub and features nightclub performers, strippers and generous helpings of nudity and gore. The performances are terrific and ground even the most […]
Our Sundance rep, Jackie Christy, who is also an entrant for short films, sent us this from the festival: “One of my favorites at Sundance is Ira Sachs’ LITTLE MEN, a restrained but deeply moving film. This seemingly simple story centers around the friendship of two teenage boys and the increasingly strained relationship between their […]
Filmmaker Asantewaa Prempeh, the writer/director of the short film Jungle, talks with Jackie Christy about the film and the experience of being at the Sundance Film Festival.
It’s rare that a movie makes you both laugh and cry. It’s rarer still that a scene makes you laugh and cry at exactly the same time. But this was my experience during a scene in HOW TO TELL YOU’RE A DOUCHBAG, in which the heartbroken Jake Brown played by William Jackson Harper, sobs hopelessly […]
I’ve chosen 5 films at this year’s “New Directors/New Films” festival – a joint production of MOMA and Lincoln Center Film Society – and I’ve found it as stimulating as ever. Here’s my rundown, in order of viewing. The Creation of Meaning is a title that tells you what the filmmaker wants to do, but […]
Among the world’s most prominent independent filmmakers, Wim Wenders has finally been honored with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. I attended two of the ten films, both of which were written by Peter Handke. They were present at the screenings, and were interviewed afterwards. The first film, The Goalie’s Anxiety at the […]
A prosperous Swedish family – husband, wife, young daughter and son – are on a 5-day vacation at a French ski resort. They are having lunch at an outdoor cafe when they hear a rumbling, and see a wall of snow slowly descending the mountain. It is awesome, and the husband, Tomas (Johannes Kuhnke), films […]
The Dardenne brothers are back, and their latest festival entry is only partly effective. The major change from what we’ve come to expect from them is having an international star, Marion Cotillard, as the lead in their film. The story is simple, even schematic. Cotillard plays Sandra, a worker in a small factory in Seraing, […]
The director is South Korea’s Hong Sang-soo. This is the first film I’ve seen of Hong’s, but the eighth of this artist at the festival. It’s also the only Asian film to be shown this year. To discover a new artist with a distinct style is always a delight. The rather misleading title is actually […]
There are a number of questions concerning how we are supposed to enjoy this film. It seems to be a straightforward story about a small boy, his parents and a slightly older sister. But from the title alone, we sense that it will take place over a number of years, culminating in that moment when […]
