L.M. Kit Carson, Father of Texas Independent Film Scene, Has Died
Texan filmmaker, actor and writer L.M. Kit Carson died last night at the age of 73 after a long illness. In 1967 the Irving-based Carson and his collaborator Jim McBride made a movie that forever changed the face of film. It is called DAVID HOLZMAN’S DIARY and in the opinion of many it marks […]
Selected Shorts: Bryan Connolly Presents John Cassavetes, Meshach Taylor and the Bangles in THE HAIRCUT
Selected Shorts is an ongoing series in which we invite some of our favorite people to select and introduce short films that they may have missed. Here, author and bon vivant Bryan Connolly (DESTROY ALL MOVIES) shares a movie that no one ever knew about before and no one can ever live without from now […]
Happy 132nd Birthday Bela Lugosi
We aren’t normally in the business of wishing dead people happy birthday, but in the case of Bela Lugosi there is definitely some room to dispute whether or not he’s actually dead. We know he was buried – in his Dracula cape – in 1956, but to date no one has verified that he is […]
Amy Gentry on Women’s Horror Fashions: Isabelle Adjani in POSSESSION
The Austin Chronicle’s Amy Gentry has written a couple of terrific articles about, well, terrific articles as worn by a pair of female horror protags. Her first such column is about the horrific evolution of the Armani Suit from AMERICAN GIGOLO to HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER 2. It’s a really thought provoking piece which I admittedly came […]
Selected Shorts: Walerian Borowcyck & the Franco-Polish Space Program
While the US and the Soviets were busy using Third Reich rocket technology to send jocks into space, the joint French/Polish Space Program were deploying creativity and imagination to create this film, which may very well prove to have benefits which outweigh those of the more well known space programs. Walerian Borowcyck is an interesting […]
Polish Films All Weekend In Austin, Including Part Two of the Scorsese-Selected Polish Classics
An important reminder from AFS Director Of Programming Chale Nafus: The 9th annual Austin Polish Film Festival opens tonight (Oct 16) and runs through Sunday at the Marchesa. As always, there is a wealth of exciting, challenging new Polish features, ranging from the marriage-on-the-rocks LOVING to the sweet coming-of-age ONE WAY TICKET TO THE MOON, […]
Catherine Breillat On Money, Kings, The Hermaphrodism of Artists and The Future Of Cinema in 01:35
Catherine Breillat is a filmmaker whose work will make you think hard about a lot of things. Gender, sexuality, taboo, power, for example. Her films (36 FILLETTE, ROMANCE, FAT GIRL, THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, etc.) place her among the most interesting and rewarding auteurs working today. She is a true original and a master. Here is […]
FORCE MAJEURE Director Ruben Östlund On His Method & Meanings
Those who saw Ruben Östlund’s new film FORCE MAJEURE at Toronto or Fantastic Fest already know that Östlund is one of the most interesting filmmakers working today. In this wide-roving discussion (long, discursive interviews are now just called “master classes” apparently) he talks about instinct, face-saving, and the predominant place in image culture now occupied by […]
Roy Andersson’s Commercials are Wild & Great, Just Like His Features
Not sure how many people would use a hyped up version of “Surfing Bird” to underscore a series of humorously deadpan injustices, maybe only Roy Andersson, Swedish director of SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR, YOU THE LIVING and the new A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE. He has also directed a ton […]
Fabulous Bizarre Filipino Oddness DARNA VS. THE PLANET WOMEN
The Philippines is a huge, vast nation that has nearly as many separate cultures as it has islands. Many people are familiar with the great films of Lino Brocka, as well as many of the exciting new films are producing (soon to be showcased by AFS). Some others know about the golden era of Filipino […]
Jerry Lewis, Filmmaking Master
It’s always fun watching Jerry Lewis trying to contain his comic demon, as he does here in his lecture at USC in 1967. He took his filmmaking classes very seriously. There is a series of transcripts of his lectures collected in a book called “The Total Filmmaker” that is full of all kinds of practical […]
The (Paper) Art of Satyajit Ray
In addition to being one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century, Satyajit Ray was a musician, composer and graphic artist. Graphic art was the way Ray made his living before he became a full-time filmmaker. Here is a selection of some of Ray’s art for books, advertising and his own films. […]
