Woody Allen is a workhorse of epic proportions; the man averages a movie a year, and his latest film, Midnight in Paris, just opened the 2011 Cannes Film Festival a couple days back (and was very well received). Admittedly, not everything Allen touches is gold, but hey, with that rate of production, the man can't be expected to be churning out perfection. Allen is, however, responsible for some of the greatest films of the past 45 years or so, including arguably the greatest romantic comedy of all time (a genre that produces trash at a rate unlike any other), as well as one of the finer tributes to Alfred Hitchcock you'll ever see. Recently, The Browser conducted an interview with Allen where he set out five books that have resonated with him. His choice of literature is of course interesting in itself, but the commentary from the eminently quotable Allen does not disappoint, either.
The musings of a twenty-something urban gent on film, fashion, and the finer things in life.
Showing posts with label Film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Film. Show all posts
14 May 2011
13 May 2011
Interesting Shit that I'm Too Lazy to Write Anything About: May 13, 2011.
Tour Mark Zuckerberg's $7 Million new home (it looks like a Vermont B&B for seniors...)
The Icon's Guide to Sunglasses (featuring Steve McQueen, Robert Downey Jr., Marcel Mastroianni, and even the Secret Service)
8 May 2011
Shit Worth Checking Out: Citizen Kane at 70: The Legacy of the Film and Its Director.
The Atlantic had an interesting article the other day looking at Citizen Kane and its influence over the past seventy years, titled Citizen Kane at 70: The Legacy of the Film and Its Director. The article focuses on Welles's career and his importance to cinema, but the most interesting bits look at some of the lost footage from his films, including an entirely unreleased film, The Other Side of the Wind, which remains unedited and the subject of a lengthy legal dispute. While one can argue forever whether Citizen Kane is indeed 'the greatest film of all time', its innovatory importance is not up for dispute, nor is its (or Welles's himself) impact on film. Check out the article here; it's well-worth a read.
6 May 2011
Shit You Should Buy: New edition of Cannes Cinema: A Visual History.
A new edition of Cannes Cinema: A Visual History of the World's Greatest Film Festival will be released next week, just in time for this year's 64th Cannes Film Festival. The book includes over 550 photographs by the Traverso family, a local family of photographers who have been photographing the event since its inception in 1939, and text by Serge Toubian. You can grab it on Amazon
, but only the paperback edition is available. This feels like a book where a paperback edition simply won't do, so head over to Phaidon and shell out a couple more ducats for the hardcover. I'll definitely be grabbing this one when it's released. The perfect coffee table book; one you can glance through with a scotch in one hand and a woman you're pretending to pay attention to in the other.
source: Gilt
Interesting Shit that I'm Too Lazy to Write Anything About: May 6, 2011.
5 May 2011
Shit Worth Checking Out: Debut trailer for Martha Marcy May Marlene.
Yesterday, Fox Searchlight debuted the first trailer for their Sundance hit Martha Marcy May Marlene, written and directed by Sean Durkin, a first-timer. Durkin took home the Dramatic Directing Award at Sundance for his efforts. The film stars Elizabeth Olsen (the seemingly talented sister of the unjustifiably famous Olsen Twins) as a "damaged woman" who flees from a cult and tries to reassimilate with her family. Fresh off his Best Supporting Actor Oscar nod for Winter's Bone, John Hawkes plays the cult leader and appears to be at his creepy-best. Loved him on Deadwood, and glad to see him making the most out of the indie roles he secures. Check out the trailer below!
2 May 2011
Details emerge on Tarantino's new film, Django Unchained.
For awhile now, we've been hearing about Quentin Tarantino's follow-up to Inglorious Basterds, a spaghetti western in the style of Sergio Leone. Over the weekend, details of the script leaked, and we even got a title: Django Unchained, named after Sergio Corbucci's classic Django, an awesome spaghetti western about a dude who drags a coffin with him everywhere he goes. If you haven't seen it yet, stop wasting your time reading this and go do so immediately. Otherwise, feel free to read on for more details on Tarantino's script.
29 April 2011
Arrogant Male Quote of the Day: April 29, 2011.
"I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people...
There are times when I look at people and I see nothing worth liking.
I want to earn enough money that I can get away from everyone."
~ Daniel Day Lewis in There Will be Blood,
by Paul Thomas Anderson
24 April 2011
23 April 2011
Shit Worth Checking Out: Intriguing debut trailer for Another Earth.
Fox Searchlight has debuted its first trailer for their indie Sci-Fi film Another Earth, the first feature film by Mike Cahill. The film stars Brit Marling, who also co-wrote the film with Cahill. The trailer starts off kinda slow, but by the end I was hooked; it looks like a surprisingly original take on the whole "we are not alone" genre, which as we all know has been beaten into the ground. Check it out below the cut!
22 April 2011
Shit Worth Checking Out: Original publicity stills from Kurosawa's Throne of Blood.
The Criterion Collection has released five original publicity stills from Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood
. Obviously, they're frickin awesome. Check them out after the jump.
14 April 2011
Shit Worth Checking Out: Kid Cudi doc "The Journey of Mr. Rager".
I'm a big Kid Cudi fan. While I was slightly disappointed by the album itself, this documentary on the making of Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager is well worth twenty minutes of your time, if not for the content, then for the highly stylized direction and editing.
"Such a pleasure to see such a unique beauty": Haunting debut trailer for Sleeping Beauty
Another film set to debut at this year's Cannes Film Festival is Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty, starring Emily Browning as a high-end prostitute. This looks very dark, and very intriguing. The trailer has an almost Kubrick-esque vibe to it.
I've been waiting for this one for awhile, and it doesn't disappoint. Check it out!
13 April 2011
Shit Worth Checking Out: Sleek new fashion film from Bottega Veneta
Viaggio Notturno, which translates to mean 'Night Journey', is "a meditation on the romance of travel, the anonymity of hotel life and clandestine bedtime rituals".
This is Bottega Veneta's first fashion film, and is directed by Christian Weber. Tomas Maier, who is the brand's creative director, drew on personal experience while overseeing the film's production. “I spend ten days a month alone in a hotel, seeing people pass in the hallways, glimpsing them through windows or as they step out of the elevator,” he says. “You see these people, but you have no idea what their stories are, you can only guess. It’s about evoking that surreal state of mind you enter when you’re in an unfamiliar place.”
11 April 2011
Bernardo Bertolucci to become only third director to receive honourary Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival announced today that they will award director Bernardo Bertolucci with an honourary Palme d'Or at the opening ceremony of this year's festival, to take place on May 11. The award is typically given each year to the director of the best film at the festival, but twice before has it been given as an honourary award; to Woody Allen in 2002, and to Clint Eastwood in 2009. Festival coordinators have suggested that, starting with Bertolucci, they plan to award an honourary Palme d'Or each year.
10 April 2011
"Sprint to see it": Badass debut trailer for German film The Robber
The official North American trailer for the German film The Robber has debuted, and looks like it's got a lot more going for it than its inspired title. The film tells the true story of Johann Rettenberger, a marathon runner who used his abilities to rob banks in Austria in the early-80s. Rettenberger earned himself the moniker "Pumpgun Ronnie" thanks to his Ronald Reagan mask and his weapon-of-choice, both of which you can check out in the trailer.
9 April 2011
R.I.P. Sidney Lumet, 1924 - 2011

2011 has been a rough year; first Elizabeth Taylor, and now this. Sydney Lumet, one of the greatest directors of all time, passed away this morning as a result of lymphoma. He was 86.
8 April 2011
Shit Worth Checking Out: The Selvedge Yard's piece on George Stevens's classic film, Giant.
A few months back, The Selvedge Yard published a visual essay on the making of the 1956 film Giant
. The film featured an incredible cast, including James Dean, Rock Hudson, and Elizabeth Taylor, and was a sweeping family epic of the type they just don't make anymore. The article features some amazing photography from the set and the film itself, as well as many great anecdotes about the trials and tribulations of production. Check out the post here. More photos from the article after the jump.
"A beautiful movie about the end of the world": Trailer for Lars von Trier's follow-up to Antichrist debuts.
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