Recent Developments on Three Films

Goodness! At least three of my picks for "Top 10 Films That Deserve More Buzz (in 2008)" have recently gotten big write-ups in the press!



Boy A, which toured through the Toronto Film Festival last fall and emerged at Tribeca Film Festival in the spring, was picked up for distribution by the Weinstein Company, and opened at Film Forum in New York on July 23rd. Adapted from the novel by British author Jonathan Trigell and directed by John Crowley, the film was recently chosen as a NY Times Critics' Pick.

Man On Wire also wowed audiences at the Tribeca Film Festival this past spring and has been drawing rave reviews from critics ever since. Distributed by Magnolia Pictures, it opened at New York's Landmark Sunshine Cinema on July 25th and was also chosen as a NY Times Critics' Pick.

And finally, Frozen River, which I initially read in script form two and a half years ago at IFP-- way before funding had even been secured for production-- was the dark horse at this year's Sundance Film Festival, winning both the Grand Jury Prize and a distribution deal by Sony Pictures Classics. It recently had its New York City premiere last Thursday and was also promptly given notice by the NY Times. It will have a limited release in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, starting August 1st.

"Is this thing on? What is this thing?"

Here's a little something from Zach Galifianakis to distract you while new updates on Summer Blockbusters, comedy from Lena Dunham and more are being drafted. I have watched this at least 18 times and still laugh gleefully, but shamelessly mostly, as if it were my first glimpse of the thing. Enjoy!

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Me and Charlie Kane

Today is my birthday, and with my supervisor-approved "sick" day, off I go to one of my favorite movies of all-time, the delightful Citizen Kane (1941)! A matinee screening at the Music Box Theatre, which is also my first time seeing it on the big screen--it's like my own personal premiere! I couldn't ask for a better gift.

Lists, Lists, and more Lists!!!

Top 10 Movies That Deserve More Buzz (in 2008)

These ten films have been making the rounds on the festival circuit this year; and, like most festival films, they have either not yet gotten distribution or are as yet little known by the general public. Comprising a mix of documentaries and narrative features, each film has struck a particular chord with me for one reason or another; but what unifies them all is that they are each extraordinary.

1. Boy A, dir. John Crowley

2. Man On Wire, dir. James Marsh

3. Let the Right One In, dir. Tomas Alfredson

4. Lost Indulgence, dir. Yibai Zhang

5. Fire Under the Snow, dir. Makoto Sasa

6. Somers Town, dir. Shane Meadows

7. Marina of the Zabbaleen, Engi Wassef

8. Idiots and Angels, dir. Bill Plympton

9. Frozen River, dir. Courtney Hunt

10. A Story of the Red Hills, dir. Remo

An image from the film, Boy A.

Top 10 Best Actresses

1. Barbara Stanwyck

2. Katharine Hepburn

3. Bette Davis

4. Greer Garson

5. Audrey Hepburn

6. Ingrid Bergman

7. Elizabeth Taylor

8. Natalie Wood

9. Julie Christie

10. Meryl Streep

*Special mentions go to Anna May Wong, Myoshi Umeki, Josephine Baker, and Dorothy Dandridge, none of whom were ever able to show the world how truly great they could have been, given the limited opportunities that were afforded to minority actresses in a racist Hollywood system.

Anna May Wong

Top 10 Underrated Actresses:

1. Amy Madigan

2. Madeline Khan

3. Cloris Leachman

4. Tuesday Weld

5. Allison Janney

6. Patricia Clarkson

7. Vera Farmiga

8. Michelle Williams

9. Tang Wei

10. Anna Kendrick

Tuesday's Top Ten: A Mid-Year Delight!

What follows are a few Top Ten lists, as promised, for a perfect Tuesday pick-me-up. The three lists range from the conventional (Top Ten Best Actors), to the underrated (Top Ten Most Underrated Actors/Actresses) to the crazy-fun (Top Ten Actors I'd Like To Have A Shot of Whiskey With). I hope you enjoy them all!

Top Ten Best Actors
The first five are set in stone--I made up my mind on these five dudes years ago, and only now have had the chance to officially stamp them in their deserved order; but I could argue about 6-10. Also note, I've stuck with American actors only; they're the ones I know best, and who have impacted my movie-going experience the most.


1. John Wayne


2. Henry Fonda
3. James Stewart
4. Joseph Cotten
5. Richard Widmark
6. Marlon Brando
7. Cary Grant
8. Gregory Peck
9. Peter Lorre
10. Charles Chaplin



Top Ten Most Underrated Actors & Actresses

1. Teri Garr


2. Nick Nolte
3. Michael Keaton
4. Lily Taylor
5. Kevin Kline
6. Jeff Goldblum
7. Rosanna Arquette
8. Ed Begley Jr.
9. Robin Wright Penn
10. Jennifer Jason Leigh


Top Ten Actors I'd Like To Have A Shot Of Whiskey With

1. Barbara Stanwyck



2. Bette Davis
3. Peter Falk
4. John Wayne
5. P.J. Soles (circa late '70s-early '80s)
6. Gene Kelly
7. Rosie Perez
8. Ward Bond
9. James Cagney
10. Fred Willard

Making Tuesdays Better One List At A Time

Greetings, Scarlett Cineastes:
We're antsy as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!



No, it is not the end of Cinema Year 2008 but Scarlett Cinema and her brother and sister blogs are making Top Ten lists nonetheless. To get through what is traditionally the lamest day of the week, and which is also the rough mid-point of 2008, tomorrow, Tuesday, July 22nd, myself and other esteemed bloggers will be having a mini-blogathon to temporarily quench our thirst for Top Ten Listmania. This is usually a collective activity celebrated in the last weeks of December by the world's film critics, but will tomorrow be a preliminary taste of the year's delights--think of it as one of those insane "Christmas in July" sales, only for movie-related Top Ten lists instead.

Scarlett's bother and sister blogs will all be participating, including:
-Rob Sweeney and Matt Singer at Termite Art
-Andrea Janes at Spinster Aunt
-Michael Anderson and Lisa Broad at Tativille
-Mike and Maggie Lyon at Tits and Gore
-PLUS Karen Wang, Minjae Ormes, and Yours Truly, Pamela Kerpius, here at Scarlett Cinema.

Lists will run the gamut from the Top Ten Best Actors, Top Ten Best Movie Theaters, Top Ten Movies of Mid-Year 2008, and even Top Ten Actors I'd Like To Have Over For Muffins!

The fun begins Tuesday--sharp! See you then, Cineastes...

SnagFilms Opens Doors to Online Theater, Acquires indieWIRE

A brand new film distribution site called SnagFilms launched today, opening doors to documentary films that may not previously had an outlet to reach their potential audience. Started by Ted Leonsis -- AOL Vice Chairman Emeritus and producer of recent films such as Nanking and Kicking It -- and a handful of key investors, Snag Films is making feature length documentaries available through its site, as well as through widgets that can be "snagged."



How exactly do I mean by "snagging," you ask? For instance, you can search for individual titles, or by topic, and either watch the film on SnagFilms' website, or grab the widget and place it on your Facebook or MySpace profiles, as well as blogs, as I have done with Alicia in Africa, Journey to the Motherland. Whoever wishes to view the film from the widget on your social network profiles or blog can do so without leaving your profile or blog, since a larger screen pops up for viewing purposes. SnagFilms 90-second commercials per hour, which is how revenue is generated for the site and the filmmakers. Depending on the type of film, viewers will also have option to donate to a related charity, either designated by the filmmaker or Global Giving.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Filmmakers can submit movies to the site by sending an email to: submissions@snagfilms.com. SnagFilms says it doesn’t censor or edit the films, but won’t accept pornography or films deemed to encourage hate. It does have a selection process, so not all films submitted will make it onto the site." The quality and content of the available film are impressive and I would love to see the site grow into a place where filmmakers could get their films and causes promoted, particularly by women filmmakers for issues relevant to women everywhere.

With its launch, SnagFilms also announced that it acquired indieWIRE, which will continue to operate as an independent, standalone site, while also providing "archival and news content for SnagFilms.com and the company's virtual movie theater widgets, including breaking news from the indie sector, comprehensive film reviews and analysis, and the top relevant blogs."

Disclosure: I am currently consulting for SnagFilms. The views expressed here are mine, and mine alone.

New York Geographies & The AAIFF

The Asian-American International Film Festival begins tomorrow, and my contributing essay on New York City geography in film is up now in the festival's program, Cinevue. You can read the essay HERE.

On Saturday, July 12, the festival will run a special panel of New York City filmmakers who'll be discussing the city's landscape and its diverse population, which defines the look of their own work on film. Also available is my interview with filmmaker and panelist Ed Radtke. We briefly chat about his practice of "collective filmmaking," and the unique stylistics of his patchwork movie, The Speed of Life (2007), screening the final night of the festival.

Integrated with the essay linked above is a conversation I had with director Ramin Bahrani, whose latest film Chop Shop (2007) (now available on DVD if you missed its theatrical release) provides some of the most visceral and breathtaking views of New York City in recent cinema history. In the latest issue of Cineaste, Bahrani winces at the label neorealist (which is confused with the neorealism of post-war Italy) to describe his film, but everything from the naturally written dialogue, his use of non-professional actors and the utmost consideration to maintain the natural look of Willet's Point, Queens, where Chop Shop is set, shows that this is true neorealism (and that's not a bad thing).

I am also happy to boast that this film is already slated on my tentative top-ten list for 2008, but much can happen in the next 6 months, as the cinema-obsessed can attest...

A Tip of the Hat to Elsaesser

What timing! Just last week I reread Thomas Elsaesser's essay "Tales of Sound and Fury," which is one of the definitive reads on the subject of melodrama, and was stunned to pieces with his beautiful, engaging descriptions of what makes up this genre. Then lo and behold: David Bordwell notifies us of Elsaesser's retirement. I think that's a timely (though completely inadvertent) tip of the hat to one of Cinema Studies' greats!

Bordwell also shared this really geeky (fun) photo of Alfred Hitchcock morphing into Thomas Elsaesser. Is there a higher tribute than this? I don't think so.