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I Found It At the Movies: 1991—My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant)
God, I miss Heath Ledger, Brittany Murphy, Brad Renfro and especially River Phoenix. All were young actors with an incredible amount of talent who American cinema will never quite replace. Phoenix had an elemental presence on screen. He was wise, full of life and had a weight of vulnerability about him that I hadn't seen since Clift or Dean. I always enjoyed his work, never more than in this early Van Sant film. I think I'm on the somewhat unpopular side when it comes to Van Sant. Although I greatly admire his later, more experimental work (Elephant, Gerry, etc.), I definitely prefer some of his other films. I guess I like it when he takes himself a little less seriously, like he does here.
December 28th, 2011 | Category: I Found It At The Movies | By Jeffrey Goodman
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>I Found It At the Movies: 1990—Trust (Hal Hartley)
I'll never forget reading the liner notes for Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers album and seeing their music described as "angular." At the time, it seemed a strange word to use, and yet the more I thought about it, the more it seemed apt for their music—and, for that matter, apt for a few other things I've experienced, as well. In fact, it's the best word I can think of to describe Hal Hartley's work. Trust—and some of the other Hartley movies from this period—possesses some of the most unique rhythms and cadences in the history of film. It's almost as if it invented a whole new time signature. The movie doesn't cut when it seems normal to cut. The camera doesn't move when it seems like it should. Everything seems to be just a little bit off. But, at the same time, it all coheres into something that is clearly conceived and purposeful.
December 21st, 2011 | Category: I Found It At The Movies | By Jeffrey Goodman
Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie!: 2011—Our Year in the Crowd
2011 was the year of the Arab Spring, of Occupy Everything, of people taking to the streets with placards and doing it themselves. I’m glad I’m around to see another great social movement sprout. As “Hollywood types,” it’s often easy for Tiffany and I to feel like egomaniacs, disassociated from any larger socio-political movement, but I have to admit that this year—the year we took the plunge into the D.I.Y. movement to crowdfund Tiny Dancer—we've felt like a part of the zeitgeist.
December 20th, 2011 | Category: Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie! | By Jayce Bartok
I Found It At the Movies: 1989—Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee)
Lee’s an interesting director. So much energy and pretty damn prolific. I can’t say I love every one of his films, but there’s a passion that comes through in his work that’s pretty infectious. He’s versatile, a major risk taker and someone who can do comedy just as well as drama. And when it comes to blending genres, he’s about as fearless as they come. Do the Right Thing is one of my favorite of all his films. The way it juxtaposes comedy and drama is as powerful as it is unsettling. In other words, the drama hits hard, and the comedy is laugh out loud funny.
December 14th, 2011 | Category: I Found It At The Movies | By Jeffrey Goodman
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie!: Mr. Crowdfunding Goes to Washington
Tiffany and I have our plane tickets and hotel room in Park City, which means it’s now time to set up meetings at Sundance; we’ve started emailing agents, sales agents and producers about grabbing some coffee on Main Street and talking about funding Tiny Dancer. As I’m formulating our plan of attack to get at least $75,000 more for its budget, I see that the little indie engine that could known as “crowdfunding” has gone legit, courtesy of the recently passed Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act, which encourages small businesses—and indie moviemakers—to raise low levels of investment from individual investors via crowdfunding.
December 14th, 2011 | Category: Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie! | By Jayce Bartok
Directing on a Dime: Animation Pioneer Jerry Rees on His Kid's Classic The Brave Little Toaster
If you’re a 90’s kid like me—or if you’ve been to Disneyland or Disney World in the last 15 years—chances are you’ve seen the work of Jerry Rees. Now a staff director for in-ride attractions at Walt Disney World, Rees had been involved with some amazing films, like TRON, The Fox and the Hound and Space Jam... but he’s best known for writing and directing the 1987 animated classic The Brave Little Toaster. Rees took the time to chat about his early interest in animation, his experience getting Toaster made (and the shock he had when he took it to Sundance), a possible sequel to the film and the legacy it has left behind.
December 9th, 2011 | Category: Directing on a Dime | By Andy Young
I Found It At the Movies: 1988—Bird (Clint Eastwood)
Clint Eastwood—as a director, not an actor—appears on this list three times. And even though I can't say that any of his movies are desert island films for me, I do greatly admire both his formal and business approach. Formally, his work recalls some of my favorite early Hollywood films: They are well-told by a director who makes material, not style, his focus. As for business, he's among the few directors with a system of delivering nearly a film a year. I can't say too much about Bird, as I haven't seen it in many years. But I do remember feeling that it gave me a great sense of what it meant to be a jazz musician in the forties and fifties. It features remarkable performances from Forest Whitaker and Diane Venora and displays an extraordinary patience in the way that it allows its story to unfold.
December 7th, 2011 | Category: I Found It At The Movies | By Jeffrey Goodman
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie!: Hello, Sundance
Tiffany and I submitted our 20 minute work-in-progress cut of Tiny Dancer to Sundance in the outside chance that someone would think it was brilliant and program it in the shorts category. Did it get in? No. But I have been acting in a few films this year, and one in particular, Price Check—directed by the talented Michael Walker (Chasing Sleep), produced by Sundance alum Dolly Hall and starring Parker Posey—did get in! Price Check will have its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2012. So now Tiffany and I are wondering: Do we walk up and down Main St. in Park City, setting up meetings to help get Tiny Dancer into production? I say: Yes.
December 6th, 2011 | Category: Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie! | By Jayce Bartok
I Found It At the Movies: 1987—Where is the Friend's Home? (Abbas Kiarostami)
I'll never forget the first time I saw one of Abbas Kiarostami's films. I was living in Caen, France, and Through the Olive Trees was playing at the local arthouse. I use the term “local” loosely, as I didn't have a car that year and sometimes the buses would go on strike, taking away my option of public transportation, too. But I was determined to see the film, so I decided to walk. It was least an hour each way, and I can remember questioning my decision a number of times while in transit. After seeing the final shot of the film, though, I left the theater and began my walk back home in absolute movie nirvana. Kiarostami is up there in a small group of my favorite moviemakers. More than anything, what I love about his work is the way he combines cinematic rigor with deep humanity. His style is simple, disciplined, restrained and—to throw in a culinary descriptive—clean. Meanwhile, the emotional core of his work is deep, honest, probing and insightful.
November 30th, 2011 | Category: I Found It At The Movies | By Jeffrey Goodman
I Found It At the Movies: 1986—Hoosiers (David Anspaugh)
Hoosiers is my most uncharacteristic choice in this entire countdown and probably the least impressive artistically. But when it comes to sports movies (and sports were pretty much my life for the first eighteen years), this is the one that moves me the most. I don't want to psychoanalyze myself here, but when Jimmy Chitwood says, "There's one other thing: I play, coach stays. He goes, I go," it brings me to tears every time. It's one of film's greatest moments of someone standing up for the underdog, the unconventional, the person who has dared to go against the grain. I've always been physically slight, and as an independent moviemaker, you certainly spend a good deal of time as the underdog. We're all trying to beat the machine on some level, and this is one of those movies that always restores my faith a bit.
November 23rd, 2011 | Category: I Found It At The Movies | By Jeffrey Goodman
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie!: What to Write About... When There's Nothing to Write About
I could say I was heading off to direct a low-budget horror movie in L.A. or am taking “meetings” about Tiny Dancer. However, the truth of the matter is that currently the only meeting I’m taking is with Andres Karu, a DP friend of mine and Tiffany’s who I’ve been talking with about re-cutting my acting reel. What can you do and say to keep the fan base you’ve bled for interested, involved and thinking you’re moving forward when, right now, "moving forward" means entering contests and applying for grants? Putting a stamp on an envelope doesn’t really capture the same magic as meeting with investors, does it?
November 22nd, 2011 | Category: Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie! | By Jayce Bartok
Directing on a Dime: Ezra Miller Has Another Happy Day
Ezra Miller is one to look out for. One of the youngest up-and-coming actors working today, this year alone he was in two of my favorite films on the festival circuit: Another Happy Day and We Need to Talk about Kevin. In the former, out in theaters today, Miller plays Elliot, the troubled middle son of main character Lynn (Ellen Barkin). And as the title character in Lynne Ramsay's Kevin—a teenager who goes on a high-school killing spree—Miller delivered one of the most talked-about performances out of this year's Cannes Film Festival. In both films, Miller not only holds his own against established actors like Barkin, Ellen Burstyn, Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly—he often steals scenes from them. I spoke with Miller about the two films; the differences between working with Another Happy Day's Sam Levinson, a first-time director, and Ramsay; and how, when meeting with a director, "you always want to trick [them] into thinking you’re the character."
November 18th, 2011 | Category: Directing on a Dime | By Andy Young
I Found It At the Movies: 1985—Year of the Dragon (Michael Cimino)
If being a great director means making people feel good about themselves or providing a sort of fantasy American dream, then Cimino is not very good at all. But if being a great director means using a camera to tell a story and using the frame in as dynamic a way as possible, then Cimino is a master. It's been years since I've seen this film, but off the top of my head I can already recall three scenes that are masterfully directed: A nightclub shootout, the moment following a home invasion and the final set piece. When I say masterful direction, I mean perfect shot selection, purposeful and expressive camera movement and specific editing—all done in a way where the viewer always understands the geography of the scene.
November 16th, 2011 | Category: I Found It At The Movies | By Jeffrey Goodman
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie!: What the $&*# Is Next?
Tiffany and I have spent the past week enjoying the success of our IndieGoGo campaign and fielding questions about what our next step is going to be in our odyssey to get Tiny Dancer into production. I've found myself saying the following sentence over and over again: "Well, what’s next? We are going to take the $20,000 we’ve raised and leverage that into $100,000.” It seems to make sense until I really think about it. Then I get scared. I don't know where I picked up the word "leverage"... maybe from the TV show of the same name starring Timothy Hutton, 'cause I sure don't know what it means.
November 14th, 2011 | Category: Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie! | By Jayce Bartok
I Found It At the Movies: 1984—Boy Meets Girl (Leos Carax)
The two toughest years for me to choose in this countdown were 1984 and 1986. I simply have too many films from each year that I absolutely love. And, although I can't argue that this Carax film is better than the entries from Rohmer, Leone, Wenders or Jarmusch, it's the film that's had the most profound effect on me. Carax was only 23 when he made Boy Meets Girl, and it shows. It's the kind of film that makes us realize how seldom cinema gives us the opportunity to experience the world of this young a man. It's simply so difficult to make films that it usually takes someone a good bit older to get a feature on screen. Already, with the proliferation of digital tools, we're seeing this change a little. Carax's youthful vulnerability makes us want to see more of it.
November 9th, 2011 | Category: I Found It At The Movies | By Jeffrey Goodman
Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie!: Everyone Loves a Winner
Tiffany and I are now the proud owners of a successful IndieGoGo campaign for Tiny Dancer! For over 60 days we reached out to friends and family and emailed over 15,000 of our contacts; now, with the campaign officially at an end, we’ve managed to raise a grand total of $10,255, overshooting our original goal of $9,000 by $1,255. We can’t thank everyone enough for their donations, and we're thankful as well to the friends and colleagues who went out on a limb to throw up the Bat Signal for our project.
November 8th, 2011 | Category: Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie! | By Jayce Bartok
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Directing on a Dime: Jeff, Sal, Franco, Beavis and Butt-head Take Over the 2011 Austin Film Festival
With its location in one of the world's biggest film cities and its impressive slate of U.S. and world premiere screenings, it’s no surprise that this year’s Austin Film Festival (AFF), which took place from October 20th to the 27th, brought some of the biggest stars in the world to Austin, Texas. But even though AFF brought in its share of A-list actors, it stayed true to its reputation as a "writers' festival" with its many panels about the art of writing movies and TV.
November 4th, 2011 | Category: Directing on a Dime | By Andy Young
I Found It At the Movies: 1983—L'argent (Robert Bresson)
If you're a Bob Dylan fan (count me among the many) whose introduction to Dylan came by way of his solo work, there is something almost shocking the first time you hear Dylan accompanied by a band. It’s the same with Bresson and his work in color. By the time I saw L’argent, the director’s last film, I had probably seen six or seven of his others, all in black and white. When Bresson does a film in color, its formal elements take on a different effect, something slightly more psychedelic than austere. However, the emotional impact and transcendental qualities are still very much intact. In fact, my experience in watching L’argent, along with Pickpocket, are the most powerful of any I have had with Bresson's work. As always with the French master, the work sneaks up on you, gets under your skin and leaves you in a different place than any other film.
November 2nd, 2011 | Category: I Found It At The Movies | By Jeffrey Goodman
Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie!: The Home Stretch
Tiny Dancer’s IndieGoGo page (www.IndieGoGo.com/FinishingTiny
Dancer) currently reads: “$8,485.00 raised of $9,000 goal. 7 days left.” I can’t believe it. We are so close that we can taste it. Tiffany and I have just finished emailing all of our contacts starting with the letter T. All sensible wisdom says we will reach our crowdfunding goal, but look what happened to the Texas Rangers in Game Six! You just never know. So we will see our great alphabet campaign to the end, just for good measure, and tick off “U-Z”.
November 1st, 2011 | Category: Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie! | By Jayce Bartok
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Directing on a Dime: The Duplass Brothers on Jeff, Cyrus and Austin
Jeff Who Lives at Home is the Duplass brothers’ best movie yet. Slated for a release in March 2012, the movie is about Jeff (Jason Segel), a slacker who tries to find his place in the world while running an errand for his mother and spending the day with his estranged brother (Ed Helms). Former Austinites Jay and Mark Duplass originally made a name for themselves on the independent circuit with films like The Puffy Chair and Baghead, but since their first studio film, 2010’s Cyrus, the two have been slowly easing into the studio system. I sat down with the Duplass brothers at the recently-wrapped Austin Film Festival to talk about their new movie, the lessons they’ve learned from Cyrus and why they love Austin.
October 28th, 2011 | Category: Directing on a Dime | By Andy Young
I Found It At the Movies: 1982—The Thing (John Carpenter)
Let me start by admitting that I really don't know this or next year's film all that well. I've only seen each of them once, and it's been many years since then, but I'll do my best to recollect. I grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, where it would only snow and stick about once every five years, so snow was always a major event and a magical time. I've decided that this has spilled over into my film-watching, since I now have a real affinity for films with snow. Fargo, Affliction, The Sweet Hereafter, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Nightfall and On Dangerous Ground all rank among my favorites. Of course, all contain some scenes with snow. I don't want to undersell The Thing as being a film that I like simply because it has snow. It also features one of my favorite Kurt Russell performances, a contained dread similar to what Ridley Scott provided in the first Alien and one of the most sustained and beautiful cold color palettes of any movie I've ever seen.
October 26th, 2011 | Category: I Found It At The Movies | By Jeffrey Goodman
Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie!: The Kindness of Strangers
“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”, says Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. This quote should be the mantra for all crowd-funding campaigns, past, present and future. All you strangers out there have made Tiffany and I cautiously optimistic about the IndieGoGo campaign for our film Tiny Dancer (www.IndieGoGo.com/Finishing
TinyDancer); we are now approaching the $6,500 mark, with two weeks left to hit our goal of $9,000.
October 24th, 2011 | Category: Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie! | By Jayce Bartok
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Directing on a Dime: Doing Craft Services on a DIY Budget
In my first article for MovieMaker, I got some nasty feedback to my comment that “if we wanted to use an actor we’d promise them an IMDb credit, footage for their reel, a chance to see themselves on the big screen and lunch. Though we didn’t always give them lunch.” A year after shooting The Legend of Action Man, I now fully appreciate the importance of feeding your cast and crew well. The last thing you want on set is a mutiny, and a full crew is a happy crew. So here are a few popular (and inexpensive) DIY catering options that you can use to keep your set satisfied.
October 21st, 2011 | Category: Directing on a Dime | By Andy Young
I Found It At the Movies: 1981—Blow Out (Brian De Palma)
I absolutely love the work of Brian De Palma, and Blow Out is my favorite of all his films. I've said numerous times during this countdown that I consider myself a formalist. As I watch a film, the first thing I do is deconstruct it and judge the way it's formed. This is definitely something that comes from all the time I spent in France; it's the way Henri Langlois, co-founder of the Cinémathèque Française, encouraged the Young Turks to think about film, and it's still the way that most French film critics approach the medium. When it comes to being a pure master of the cinematic form—moving the camera, using music and sound, editing to maximum effect—I consider De Palma, along with Scorsese, to be the greatest of all American directors still working today. There's a sensuality and complexity to De Palma's approach to film, and this is as clear as ever in Blow Out. Just watch the first five minutes.
October 19th, 2011 | Category: I Found It At The Movies | By Jeffrey Goodman
Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie!: Reaching the Midway Point
TIffany and I have reached the halfway point of our IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign for Tiny Dancer. With 21 days left to reach our $9,000 goal, we are crawling, hand over fist, to the $4,500 mark. To be exact, we’ve raised $4,025 so far. It feels like we’re wading through quicksand. Every day that goes by without us getting through another letter of the alphabet in our list of contacts (check out my post from two weeks ago for more information on our work-intensive outreach strategy) costs us money. We’re currently stuck on L, overwhelmed with all the Larrys, Leos and Lisas. It seems like you have to man your computer and smartphone constantly, generating tweets, posting updates, emailing people... if you stop moving for a moment, everything grinds to a halt.
October 18th, 2011 | Category: Just Crowdfund the $&*# Movie! | By Jayce Bartok
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