Austin Moviegoers Alert: Cine Las Americas 19 Starts Wednesday
MAGALLANES There are tons of small film festivals around the world, good ones, bad ones, specialized ones, generalized ones. The very best of these are the well-curated festivals of discovery – the ones whose lineups reflect a scholarly approach by expert programmers. We’re lucky enough to have a number of these in Austin, none better […]
Essential Cinema: “Roberto Rossellini: Restored & Revisited” Series Begins May 3
Ingrid Bergman on the set of STROMBOLI (1950), screening May 12 Roberto Rossellini was a force. His production achievements are legendary—he made one of the greatest films about World War II, ROME, OPEN CITY during World War II, hustling the prohibitively scant resources available in newly liberated Rome in order to get his production going; […]
Happy Birthday Carol Burnett! Watch Her Texas Film Hall Of Fame Speech
Last month we were honored to welcome Carol Burnett to our annual Texas Film Awards Gala. She was formally inducted into the Texas Film Hall Of Fame. Presenter Maya Rudolph said it all in her introductory remarks, and then Carol Burnett walked off with our hearts. Today is Carol’s birthday and we’re all thinking fondly […]
EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT Director Ciro Guerra Speaks About His “Violent, Psychedelic” Film
We were fortunate enough to be joined by Ciro Guerra back in October for a pair of events, including an advance screening of his EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT. The film, which critic David Edelstein has called “a reverse angle Heart Of Darkness,” has become something of a sensation since then, and will surely be represented […]
Watch This: John Waters’ In-Theater “No Smoking” Announcement
John Waters, the Baltimore-based filmmaker who has become a kind of filthy uncle to all of us (and whose 70th birthday is today) was so appreciative of the long run of his movie PINK FLAMINGOS at Los Angeles’ Nuart Theatre that he starred in this special policy announcement trailer for them. It’s a mixed message, […]
SLASH Filmmaker Clay Liford To Upset Superhero Movie Fans: Drop Dead
SLASH writer/director Clay Liford The above headline, a riff on the famous New York Post headline “Ford To City: Drop Dead,” is perhaps a tiny bit inflammatory, but not much more so than the title of today’s excellent Talkhouse piece, “Fanboys, Hollywood Owes You Nothing,” by filmmaker Clay Liford. Liford, whose new movie SLASH premiered […]
Frederick Wiseman Talks About His Method & “The Only Safe Assumption” About Audiences
Here’s a video interview with Frederick Wiseman recorded at the time of the release of his documentary NATIONAL GALLERY. In it, he gives a nice, concise overview of his aesthetic. In May and June, AFS will show three new 35mm prints of Wiseman’s early films TITICUT FOLLIES, HIGH SCHOOL and HOSPITAL. “The way I try […]
Listen Here: An Audio Interview with Screenwriter/Author Leigh Brackett
People are always surprised when you tell them that the same screenwriter who wrote 1946’s THE BIG SLEEP (with those journeymen collaborators Jules Furthman and William Faulkner) also wrote (in collaboration with Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas) THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. For some reason they are also surprised to find out that the writer in […]
Watch This: Charles Burnett’s First Film: SEVERAL FRIENDS (1969)
Filmmaker Charles Burnett was born on this day in 1944. Though he was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, his family moved to Watts in South Central Los Angeles when Burnett was a child. Burnett’s family was only one of many black southern families to relocate to the Watts neighborhood and the area’s south-inflected culture makes itself […]
Watch This: Ingrid Bergman In an Oddball Wartime Educational Film: SWEDES IN AMERICA
We can understand why producer David O. Selznick, upon seeing Ingrid Bergman in a Swedish film, knew he had to bring her to America. Bergman wore little or no makeup, was modest and unaffected, but also bold and intelligent. She is one of the great movie stars, and one of the finest actresses of any […]
Mary Pickford: Star, Producer, Mogul, Independent Film Legend, Born on This Day in 1892
Mary Pickford was born on this date as Gladys Louise Smith in Toronto in 1892. When her father was killed in a workplace accident, her mother was compelled to take in boarders to make ends meet. One of these boarders was a theatrical producer who saw potential in 9-year-old Gladys and cast her in a […]
Watch This: The Ultimate Midcentury Modern Industrial Film
There are whole chapters of film history yet to be written about corporate and industrial films. These are films made for training, sales or other purposes. Generally these were shot by production bureaus who specialized in them. Such well-known filmmakers as Robert Altman and George Romero got their starts in “industrials.” There are even people, […]
