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By Brakhage

Another capsule review for the Arts & Faith Top 100. Writing a brief introduction to Brakhage for an audience that might not even be aware of the existence of a-g cinema proved to be a… By Brakhage

Vivre sa vie (1961)

Dir. by Jean-luc Godard I’ve been an occasional participant in the Arts & Faith discussion forum for nearly a decade. They recently polled members to determine a Top 100 film list, and the results are… Vivre sa vie (1961)

To be continued . . .

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In the nine years since I first read Denise Levertov’s poem “Making Peace” and pulled the words “long pauses . . .” from it, I’ve bought and sold two houses, changed jobs three times, and… To be continued . . .

Lucky Life (2010)

Lucky Life (2010)

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Dir. by Lee Isaac Chung There’s a sequence about 25 minutes into Lee Isaac Chung’s new film Lucky Life that I’ve watched countless times over the past few months. In an earlier scene, the film’s… Lucky Life (2010)

Kings & Queen (Arnaud Desplechin, 2004)

2010 Film Diary

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A day-by-day viewing log of my filmwatching habits in 2010, beginning with Arnaud Desplechin’s Kings and Queen (2004) and ending with James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931).

35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis, 2009)

Best Films of 2009

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I’ve now seen about 40 of the point-earning films from the 2009 IndieWire Critics Survey, which seems a reasonable enough number. I’ve taken the coward’s route and included eleven films because I just couldn’t decide which one to leave off.

2009 TIFF Wrap-Up

To carry on the tradition from past years (2006, 2007, 2008), here’s a breakdown of the feature-length films I saw at TIFF, more or less in order of preference. Masterpieces Will likely end up on… 2009 TIFF Wrap-Up

2009 TIFF Day 3

Antichrist (Tars von Trier) When asked at TIFF what I thought of Antichrist, I got in the habit of saying, “Well, it’s a testament to von Trier’s talent that he can make such an unremarkable… 2009 TIFF Day 3

Like You Know It All (Hong, 2009)

2009 TIFF Day 2

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Like You Know It All (Hong Sang-soo) Given the generally low opinion of Like You Know It All among many Hong fans, and given my enjoyment of it, I’ve concluded I just can’t tell the… 2009 TIFF Day 2

2009 TIFF Day 1

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A quick review of L’Enfer de Henri-Georges Clouzot Inferno, directed by Serge Bromberg & Ruxandra Medrea.

Wild Grass (Resnais, 2009)

Anticipating TIFF (2009)

I just received my ticket order confirmation. I have a 50-ticket pass but will probably only — only — see 36-40, so I went ahead and double-booked several time slots and will make a last-minute decision about which tickets to use.

Phantoms of Nabua and a Letter to Uncle Boonmee

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There are ways of “decoding” this film, I suppose — the soccer ball as a synecdoche for military armaments, the cinema as documentarian, the hovering florescent light as ghost (or Ghost) — but reducing Apitchatpong’s films to points on a symbolic answer key seems beside the point.

Lumphini 2552

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My tendency when describing a film like Lumphini 2552 is to fall back on Modernist rallying cries like that old Ezra Pound chestnut, “Make it new!” Maybe a useful way to think of Nishikawa’s film is as a beautifully defamiliarized — and uniquely cinematic — landscape.

Rembrandt's J'Accuse (Greenaway, 2009)

2009 SFIFF Diary 3

Petter Greenaway’s Rembrandt’s J’Accuse and The Other One by Patrick Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic.

575 Castro St.

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When I spoke to Olson after the screening, she told me how overwhelming it was to visit the set, to listen to Milk’s voice, and to know that it was here — right here — that he contemplated his imminent murder. She’s translated that experience well to her film, which is ghostly and deeply moving. But, of course, it wasn’t right here that Milk made his tape. This is a meticulously dressed set.

Oblivion (Honigmann, 2009)

2009 SFIFF Diary 2

Heddy Honigmann’s Oblivion, Frazer Bradshaw’s Everything Strange and New, Claire Denis’s 35 Shots of Rum (yes, again), Javor Gardev’s Zift, and Mikheil Kalatozishvili’s Wild Field.

Films of the ’80s (part 1)

Short responses to films by Maurice Pialat, William Friedkin, Louis Malle, Paul Schrader, Nicolas Roeg, Mike Leigh, and Michel Deville.