A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT writer/director Ana Lily Amirpour and legendary producer/director Roger Corman sat down for a discussion earlier this year at the Hammer Museum for a wide-ranging discussion that begins with an advertisement in favor of LSD use, and then moves on into more of the specifics. Corman is genuinely impressed with Amirpour’s vision, and they come across as two mavericks of a kind.
Amirpour tells how she got her start, making her own versions of TV commercials, and obsessing over the “Making Of Thriller” VHS tape.
Herschell Gordon Lewis, born on this date in 1929, is known as the Godfather Of Gore for a reason. At a time in the ’60s when independent exploitation filmmakers were trying to find the next big thing, Lewis decided to give blood and guts a try. It went over big, literally breaking attendance records at drive-in theaters. One of the impressionable young people forever scarred by the experience of watching Lewis’ films was John Waters.
Here, on John Pierson’s 1997 television show SPLIT SCREEN, Waters and Lewis reminisce about the films and Lewis tells some of his best stories. Enjoy. The action begins at 1:50.
From TO LIVE & DIE IN LA. This is what 1985 felt like, 24/7.
Since you’re reading this I can guess that you’re a big movie enthusiast. Me too. Together we’ve seen a lot of movies. When we get together with our friends we’re the ones who know that actor’s name or that director’s name, or what year that came out. But in my peer group there’s someone who knows so much more, who has so many more years of experience at this, that I am constantly learning from him and tracking down films he recommends. That person is Austin Film Society founder and Artistic Director Richard Linklater.
Last summer we presented a series of films chosen and introduced by Linklater called Jewels In The Wasteland, spotlighting the first 4 years of that maligned decade, the ’80s. You can see the full lineup here.
This spring, even though Linklater was hard at work finishing a new film, we managed to squeeze in a 10 film series covering the years 1984-1986. But due to the brevity of our time window and, in some cases, non-availability of certain film prints from the era, we were not able to show everything we necessarily wanted to.
Pro-tip, if you create a free account on Letterboxd, you can use these lists to create your own watchlist of films you want to get around to seeing. We recommend it.
Hollywood Reporter today released a truly bizarre report about an 10-day acting class taught by the legendary Marlon Brando in 2002. The story is so odd and improbable that I was checking throughout for an April 1 dateline or an indication that it was a satirical story, but it seems to check out. Quotes below are from the article, which you really must read.
Though he was in poor health and seemingly mentally unstable, a whole assortment of A through C-list Hollywoodites signed up for what Branco advertised as an acting workshop in 2002. The idea was that the recorded footage of the class could be licensed and sold – possibly on QVC. Attendees included Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, Edward James Olmos, John Voight, Whoopi Goldberg, Harry Dean Stanton and Robin Williams, who was there for every minute of every session. Michael Jackson showed up for one class, as did Leonardo DiCaprio, who balked at signing the camera release and was ejected from the class by Brando.
Brando hired AMERICAN HISTORY X director Tony Kaye to supervise the camera crews documenting the event. Kaye reportedly showed up on the first day of shooting dressed as Osama Bin Laden. Brando himself didn’t disappoint in the weirdness department either.
“When the doors flung open, the 78-year-old Brando appeared wearing a blond wig, blue mascara, a black gown with an orange scarf and a bodice stuffed with gigantic falsies. Waving a single rose in one hand, he sashayed through the warehouse, plunked his 300-pound frame onto a thronelike chair on a makeshift stage and began fussily applying lipstick.
“I am furious! Furious!” Brando told the group in a matronly English accent, launching into an improvised monologue that ended, 10 minutes later, with the actor turning around, lifting his gown and mooning the crowd.”
Once the classes were in full swing, they remained odd in the extreme.
“During one of the sessions, a troupe of little people and a team of Samoan wrestlers — Brando somehow had wrangled all of them to the warehouse on the same day — did improvisation exercises together on the stage. Another time, Brando plucked a homeless man from a dumpster and brought him in for acting lessons. He had students strip naked in front of the entire class. (“The girls were shaking, like, ‘What the f— am I doing here?’ ” recalls Olmos. “But Brando had a reason for it. He always had a reason.”) While a jazz musician played Brando’s favorite tunes on a rented piano, Philippe Petit, the French tightrope walker who had crossed the Twin Towers, did stunts on a high-wire.”
But it wasn’t just a circus. Real lessons were taught. Brando, after all, was one of the greatest actors of all time.
For Robin Williams’ improv, Brando brought in a real used-car salesman whom he had imported from a Ford dealership in North Hills. The salesman left the improv master speechless. “We didn’t know he was a real car salesman,” says Olmos. “We didn’t know who he was or where he was from. We just thought it was going to be another improv. But Brando brought this guy onstage, and he tells him to try to sell a car to Robin Williams. And then he tells Robin, ‘But you don’t want to buy the car.’ And all of a sudden, this car salesman kicks in, and he’s incredible. He was so fast he wouldn’t let Robin get a word in. But that was the point of the exercise. Even Robin Williams, who was an expert at improv, who was so quick he could annihilate you, had to listen and react when dealing with the truth. Even Robin Williams gets slapped in the face by reality. That was the lesson Marlon was teaching.”
The footage of all of this exists, but it is likely to be held up legally and never officially released. Doubtless somewhere in the Hollywood Hills a bootleg exists and someone is laughing right now. In the meantime these videos seem doomed to a DAY THE CLOWN CRIED-style legendary status.
This month AFS Presents a series of three films directed by Dorothy Arzner, who made films in Hollywood during the studio system era as the only contracted female director since the silent era.
Here’s a fascinating interview with Dorothy Arzner, conducted by Karyn Kay and Gerald Peary by mail in 1974. She gives an idea about the kinds of career opportunities a woman might be expected to have in Hollywood during that era. Her struggle to rise in the ranks and become a director is modestly recounted, but we can only imagine the kind of courage it must have required to make the stand she did.
An excerpt:
“… and I told him, I was leaving Paramount after seven years, and I wanted to say good-bye to someone important. “Come into my office, Dorothy.” I followed him, and when he sat down behind his desk, I put out my hand and said, “Really, I didn’t want a thing, just wanted to say good-bye to someone important. I’m leaving to direct.” He turned and picked up the intercom and said, “Ben—Dorothy’s in my office and says she’s leaving.” I heard Ben Schulberg say, “Tell her I’ll be right in.” Which he was—in about three minutes.
“What do you mean you’re leaving?” “I’ve finished Ironsides. I’ve closed out my salary, and I’m leaving.” “We don’t want you to leave. There’s always a place in the scenario department for you.” “I don’t want to go into the scenario department. I’m going to direct for a small company.” “What company?” he asked. “I won’t tell you because you’d probably spoil it for me.” “Now Dorothy, you go into our scenario department and later we’ll think about directing.” “No, I know I’d never get out of there.” “What would you say if I told you that you could direct here?” “Please don’t fool me, just let me go. I’m going to direct at Columbia.” “You’re going to direct here at Paramount.” “Not unless I can be on a set in two weeks with an A picture. I’d rather do a picture for a small company and have my own way than a B picture for Paramount.”
With that he left, saying, “Wait here.” He was back in a few minutes with a play in his hand. “Here. It’s a French farce called The Best Dressed Woman in Paris.
So, there I was a writer-director. It was announced in the papers the following day or so: “Lasky Names Woman Director.”
The photo above may look like a Mark Rothko painting, but it is actually a composite of every 10th second of John Ford’s classic western THE SEARCHERS (1956). All the Monument Valley sandstone formations, all the golden sunlight, richer than ever in Technicolor, and all the wide blue sky is there, as well as John Wayne’s brick red shirt and chestnut mount.
Here, and note the Cinemascope frame, is Sergio Leone’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968), given the same treatment:
In the next-to-last installment of the AFS Jewels In The Wasteland II program last week, AFS Artistic Director Richard Linklater joined Associate Artistic Director Holly Herrick to present and discuss Eric Rohmer’s 1986 film SUMMER (LE RAYON VERT). Linklater is a great admirer of Rohmer’s work and makes a number of excellent points in both the introduction and the post-film discussion.
Talent is usually discernible from a long distance or with a small sample size. Even when a major director’s work is a little undercooked and not quite successful, we can see the makings of a real filmmaker.
Here’s a short called WHAT’S A NICE GIRL LIKE YOU DOING IN A PLACE LIKE THIS? made by 20 year old student Martin Scorsese in 1963. You can feel the humor of the time and place and you can also sense the assurance and gifts of its young writer/director. The camera movements and edits feel like prime post-TAXI DRIVER Scorsese and the pacing feels downright GOODFELLAS-ish.
It has a real Nichols and May feel to it, and an enthusiasm for every film technique the young director could master, which even at this early date, was a lot.
For nearly 20 years the site UbuWeb has existed to promote and promulgate avant-garde poetry, music and video content. Founder Kenneth Goldsmith calls UbuWeb the “Robin Hood of the Avant-Garde.” Offerings are vast and eye-opening, a constant source of refreshment for those who like to be exposed to different ideas and systems of thought.
UbuWeb fulfills the promise of the internet to bring culture, even outlaw culture, to the masses. It’s always been on unstable footing, and in a somewhat precarious position as concerns copyright, but it’s still here. Use it.
On the eve of the 2015 AFS Grant deadline (Hurry up, if you haven’t submitted yet!), here is a very brief history of the AFS Grant from AFS Associate Artistic Director Holly Herrick.
Filmmakers have always been at the center of the Austin Film Society. Founded and run by filmmakers from the very beginning, screenings were originally programmed and hosted by filmmakers for other filmmakers. Many Austin artists’ film education was provided by AFS screenings, especially in the case of our founder and artistic director, Richard Linklater, who was AFS’ first film programmer and selected films based on what he wanted and needed to see as he developed his own aesthetic.
It wasn’t until after SLACKER was made that Linklater envisioned a new purpose for the Film Society outside of exhibiting great works of world cinema in Austin. At this time, the National Endowment for the Arts individual artist grants—which can be credited for the completion of SLACKER—were cut by the federal government, and became obsolete for filmmakers. Austin was already a hot spot for filmmakers, but there was no clear support structure comparable to the media arts organizations that were being established in New York and Los Angeles.
Could the Austin Film Society expand its programming and pool its contacts and resources to put together an artistic fund for Texas filmmakers?
It was an ambitious vision; the society at that time was a bare bones organization run by part-time employees and volunteers, pulling in just enough cash to run the exhibition program. Raising non-operational funds at this juncture for any organization would be a leap, especially given that the model for film societies in the early 90s didn’t generally include artist support. But Linklater had a vision that came from that “by filmmakers, for filmmakers” spirit, and determined that AFS could perform support functions for filmmakers. He knew that other directors of his generation would get on board.
Beginning with premieres of SLACKER, DAZED AND CONFUSED and PULP FICTION, AFS began to raise money by bringing great directors to Austin to premiere their newest films. Soderbergh, Tarantino and Terrence Malick are just a few of those who joined Robert Rodriguez and Linklater in the cause, and in 1996 AFS established the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund, awarding $30,000 in cash to filmmakers throughout the state. Among those first recipients, there was a new project from the legendary Eagle Pennell, and a short film by Bob Byington, now a fixture of the Texas film scene (Bob premiered his latest AFS grant funded feature, 7 CHINESE BROTHERS, at SXSW this past March).
With a long-range plan to increase the amount of the fund, AFS needed a stronger mechanism than premieres to generate funds. We established the Texas Film Hall of Fame, and now the annual Texas Film Awards are the biggest fundraiser for the program.
2015 will mark AFS’ 20th grant cycle, and when we award the funds in August, we will surpass $1.5 million in cash given to Texas filmmakers. This year alone, we’ll give out $105,000 in cash to support production, post-production, distribution and festival travel expenses for Texas filmmakers. On top of that, our in-kind package of production and post-production services will exceed $40,000.
The grant continues to be a vital source of support for the state’s creative community. While we’ve built AFS’ artist services programs over the years, the AFS Grant remains at the heart of what we do and has supported some tremendous filmmakers towards massive career leaps. Artists who have been supported by the grant include Jeff Nichols (MUD, TAKE SHELTER), Jay Duplass (HBO’s “Togetherness”), Margaret Brown (THE GREAT INVISIBLE, THE ORDER OF MYTHS), David Lowery (upcoming PETE’S DRAGON, AIN’T THEM BODIES SAINTS), Kat Candler (HELLION), Emmy-Award winner Heather Courtney (WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM), David Zellner (KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER), Andrew Bujalski (RESULTS) and Trey Edward Shults (KRISHA), among many other notable names. Each year first and second-time filmmakers receive the grant, and AFS is with them on the ground floor.
To have a sneak preview on the next generation of great Texas filmmakers, look out for this year’s AFS Grant recipients, announced in early September.
This year’s AFS Grant was made possible by the many generous donors and attendees of the Texas Film Awards, as well as Dell Precision Systems, MPS Camera and Lighting Austin, The Four Seasons Austin, the NEA and TCA, Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin, and Kodak Motion Picture Film.
Wow, our Jewels In The Wasteland II screening of RIVER’S EDGE (1986) was pretty terrific. It’s a movie that I had not seen since the ’80s and my memories were that it was relentlessly grim. It’s not. There’s so much humor in it. So many notes of truth. It’s a great film. Here’s AFS Artistic Director Richard Linklater’s pre-recorded introduction (he had to miss the beginning of the screening) and the post movie discussion.
Burt Young, who eats and talks at the same time better than any other performer.
Of all the films that have played at this years Jewels In The Wasteland II series, I would have to say that ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, the only real epic in the series, was the screening that knocked the most people back on their heels. Beautiful print, and a movie that demands (don’t they all?) to be seen on the big screen. Also, a nice reminder that Robert De Niro has had the greatest acting career of all time.
