From 100 Years Ago, Charlie Chaplin’s THE IMMIGRANT
In the 100 years since Charlie Chaplin made THE IMMIGRANT, the cinema has advanced immeasurably in technical sophistication, but the basic blueprint of what the film artist can do was already set by Chaplin and his contemporaries. Here, broad comedy and delicate artistry coexist, and the tension created, is the spark that gives movie comedy […]
Linklater in Filmmaker Magazine: “This is the Best Year AFS has Ever Had”
There’s a great new piece in Filmmaker Magazine in which AFS Founder and Artistic Director Richard Linklater discusses the present and future of AFS. In the piece, Linklater lays out what might just as well be a blueprint for the new AFS Cinema opening later this spring: “I say this all the time to the […]
Watch This: Nearly 3 Hours of Interviews with Director and Stunt Legend Hal Needham
The late Hal Needham (born on this date in 1931) was once the highest paid stuntman in the world. With the help of his old friend and frequent collaborator Burt Reynolds, Needham successfully made the jump to film directing in 1977 with SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT, a huge international hit. He made a number of […]
The Strange Case of Mimsy Farmer
Mimsy Farmer in THE MASTER & MARGARET (1972) It’s hard to think of a film career as unusual and variegated as that of Mimsy Farmer (born on this date in 1945). From her beginnings as a squeaky clean child actress, through her years in Europe as a new kind of Aquarian star and on into […]
Filmmaker Magazine: Fewer than 30 2016 Features Shot on 35mm
Excellent piece in Filmmaker Magazine today about the declining number of features shot on 35mm film, and the difficulties faced when using the classic medium. The format delivers warmer and more vivid colors, grain-based resolution and, to many, simply looks better. As the industry standardizes more on digital throughput, the challenges for 35mm users multiply. […]
Listen Here: The Podcast that Inspired the Upcoming Richard Linklater & Robert Downey Jr. Project
As all of those folks who joined us last year for our screening of Penny Lane’s excellent animated documentary NUTS! know, the story of John R. Brinkley is, well, nuts. Last week it was announced that Richard Linklater and Robert Downey have optioned an episode of the Reply All podcast about Brinkley to make what […]
Watch This: A 1969 Kids’ Film from Homer, Lisa, Maggie & Matt Groening
The real Homer. Homer Groening, that is. Back in 1969, filmmaker Homer Groening enlisted his kids to star in a short film called THE STORY. It follows the children on a visit to the zoo, as the older brother Matt Groening (born on this date in 1954) tells a roundabout tale about the different animals […]
A Preview of this Month’s ‘Pioneers Of African-American Cinema’ Screenings
Director Oscar Micheaux lines up a shot Over the past few years, Kino Lorber, one of our favorite distribution houses, has coordinated a major restoration project called Pioneers Of African-American Cinema. As part of this project, executive-produced by Paul D. Miller (also known as DJ Spooky) new restorations have been created from original elements that […]
Caution: Mimes Run Wild in the 1970 German Experimental Film MAMBO
The Internet Archive has become quite a helpful repository of bizarre moving images, from entire features to community television to television commercials to experimental 8mm films – and all points in between. Exploring the archive can be quite an adventure. One relatively recent addition to the collection is a sub-group of historic student films from […]
Watch This: Rip Torn & Norman Mailer’s Berserk MAIDSTONE Fight
“You know this is what I had to do.” Novelist and journalist Norman Mailer was, in addition to being one of the finest writers of his era, a truly difficult man, who, among other things, exalted violence as a means of achieving existential purgation. He was a fascinating, contradictory person, writer, would-be politician, and even […]
Good News! Mark Harris’ “Cinema ’67 Revisited” in Film Comment
We’ll take good news wherever we can find it nowadays. And the news that Mark Harris is beginning a regular column in Film Comment is some of the best news we’ve heard in ages. Harris has written one of the best film books ever, “Pictures At A Revolution,” which examines Hollywood, America, and the world […]
Watch This: Behind the Scenes of THE LAST EMPEROR
A rare 35mm print of THE LAST EMPEROR will be presented by AFS at the Paramount Theater on Thursday, February 2. This screening will be hosted by AFS founder and Artistic Director Richard Linklater. Tickets are available. THE LAST EMPEROR, which is 30 years ago this year, is a fascinating film. It is perhaps the […]
