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The 10 Greatest Rockumentaries of All-Time
As Martin Scorsese's Shine a Light hits theaters nationwide, MM decided to highlight the 10 best, or at least most culturally significant, rockumentaries of all time, with the one condition that they are all currently available on DVD for your home viewing and listening pleasure.
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Independent Spirit
Independent moviemakers explain the inspirations behind their most recent films.
Six independent moviemakers talk of the state of independent moviemaking today and explain the inspirations behind their most recent films.
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Jed Riffe’s Advice for Aspiring Documentarians
Jed Riffe is a producer, journalist, independent moviemaker and the man behind production cooperative Jed Riffe Films LLC. His latest effort, Ripe for Change, won the MovieMaker Ecocinema Award at the 2007 Wine Country Film Festival. The documentary, which emphasizes Riffe's belief that changing the world begins with changing food politics, is part of the PBS series "California and the American Dream." After 25 years in the field, Riffe knows a thing or two about getting his point across on film. Here, he shares a bit of advice for documentarians aspiring to do the same.
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Remembering Charlton Heston
Back in the early 1980s, at the time when he and Ed Asner were very publicly clashing over matters concerning the Screen Actors Guild (and, yes, their diametrically opposed political leanings), Charlton Heston visited Houston to promote a new movie—Mother Lode (1982), I think—so, naturally, I agreed to interview him. But here’s the thing: Even though this wasn’t our first professional encounter, and even though he was the epitome of graciousness, I nonetheless felt slightly intimidated while in his formidable presence. So it was more than a little awkward for me to politely phrase a question about... well, about certain incendiary language Asner recently had used…
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Jared Leto Throws His Weight Behind Chapter 27
For all the girls wondering how to get the key to Jared Leto's heart, here's part of the answer: Write an intriguing screenplay that allows him to spread his wings. That's all it took for writer-director Jarrett Schaefer to persuade Leto to star in his independent drama, Chapter 27, and throw his weight behind the film (quite literally) as an executive producer as well.
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Football Hits and Misses—Hollywood Style
Ah, springtime. That special time of year that can mean only one thing to all of you inveterate sports fans out there in movieland... Football season? Okay, so maybe spring is usually reserved for a sport of a more bucolic and placid nature, but so what? We here at MM rarely conform to the demands of the calendar—and neither does George Clooney, whose latest directorial effort, Leatherheads, hits theaters today. In honor of this latest entry into the football movie genre, we're revisiting some of the genre’s hits, misses and fumbles.
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Paul Giamatti Takes 10
Sooner or later, when cruising late-night television, you’re going to catch a glimpse of a no-name character actor who looks an awful lot like the famous thespian, Paul Giamatti. That’s because before he became famous, Giamatti made his living playing parts like “Heckler #2” and “Kissing Man.” Characters with no names. But along came a romp through California’s wine country in Sideways and the Sundance hit American Splendor and suddenly the one-time bit player was a leading man and Oscar nominee.
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Self-Distribution Is A Four Letter Word
How hard can it be to distribute a film? Surely it can’t be any harder than actually making it? With the independent mindset that got me to go out there, raise the money and produce A Four Letter Word in the first place, I decided to embark on releasing it as well. Why? Because I’m a control freak, of course! And because it's important for me to be able to pay back my investors so that I can keep making films. To be able to do that self-distribution seemed like the best way to go.
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Ann Arbor Film Festival Awards Announced
Twenty-five moviemakers were honored by the jury of the 46th annual Ann Arbor Film Festival on March 30th. The three-person jury, including Oscar-nominated animator Bill Plympton, awarded more than $18,000 in categories ranging from experimental and documentary to narrative and animation. In addition to the financial support and prestige that they receive, the winners are also qualified for Academy Award nomination.
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Lucy Walker Scales Everest for Blindsight
Making a movie at sea level is hard enough, so for director Lucy Walker to complete Blindsight in the thin air of Mount Everest is doubly impressive. The documentary captures the attempted ascent of Everest by six blind Tibetan teenagers, led by blind mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer. With the film in the midst of a limited U.S. theatrical run, Walker took some time to speak with MM about the challenges posed by documentaries, high altitude and the Chinese government.
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Phoenix Film Festival Manages to Thrive in the Desert
With plans to celebrate its eighth birthday April 3-10, 2008, the organizers of the Phoenix Film Festival must be proud of their young fest. In the eight short years since the event began, it has become the largest film festival in Arizona, a state with a burgeoning cinema scene.
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21 Pays Big at the Box Office
Gambling paid off for Sony this weekend, as Robert Luketic's 21 won big at the box office this weekend. The card-counting caper, based on Ben Mezrich's bestselling book, Bringing Down the House, about a band of MIT students who take Vegas for millions, took in close to $24 million in its opening weekend. Horton Hears a Who continued its strong run, bringing in an impressive $17.4 million in its third weekend.
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16th Annual VCU French Film Festival Celebrates the Latest in French Cinema
Expect an outpouring of Francophilia to sweep Richmond, Virginia this weekend, as Virginia Commonwealth University hosts its 16th Annual VCU French Film Festival from March 28 - 30. Billing itself “the largest French film festival in the world,” VCU’s fest will screen 11 current French features, along with a selection of shorts, at the historic Byrd Theatre in Carytown, Richmond’s dining and shopping district.
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United Artists Celebrates 90th Anniversary with Film Forum Retrospective
United Artists, the Hollywood studio famously founded in 1919 by Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith, is nearing its 90th anniversary. Though one industry competitor sniped about the new company “The inmates are running the asylum,” the studio would go on to produce some of the most lasting and influential contributions to American cinema during its rich history.
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Gambling on Poker Movies
Blackjack may be the game of choice in Robert Luketic's 21, which hits theaters today. But in honor of the American public's fascination with all things Vegas, MM takes a look at some of Rus Thompson's picks for the best poker movies of all time.
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Bonnie and Clyde—40 Years Later
Forty-one years after the fact, it’s difficult, maybe impossible, to fully appreciate the impact Bonnie and Clyde had on moviegoers in 1967. Even if you’re old enough to have seen Arthur Penn’s violent folk ballad during its initial theatrical release, more than four decades’ worth of subsequent cinematic slaughter has very likely immunized you against the shock value of this film’s groundbreaking bloody mayhem.
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David Schwimmer Makes Fatboy Run
It’s impossible to talk of David Schwimmer and not mention "Friends", the ‘90s sitcom that helped to define the decade’s comedic expectations and much of its sensibility. But it’s been four years since Ross Gellar stopped paying weekly visits to audiences around the world and Schwimmer is on to bigger things.
For years now he has toiled away in theater (co-founding Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company) and television, both in positions seen and unseen. Over the course of the ten years "Friends" was on the air, Schwimmer directed 10 episodes of the hit series, but in ways similar to his theater directing credits, it was always a “controlled environment. You never have to worry about sound, for instance, or changes in the weather—it suddenly raining for two hours after you start filming.” Yet, on the set of his feature directorial debut, Run, Fatboy, Run, Schwimmer encountered that and much more.
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MM Remembers Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark ensured his immortality as a giggling psycho killer (Kiss of Death), a cynical pickpocket (Pickup on South Street), a member of John Ford's version of the U.S. Cavalry (Two Rode Together), a wary but not sufficiently watchful N.Y. cop (Madigan)...
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Paula Mazur Imagines Nim's Island
For most moviemakers, the only place to go after winning an Oscar, ACE and Emmy award is down—or rehab. But multi-hyphenate Paula Mazur is changing the rules. Best known as a producer, Mazur has spent the last three decades building a reputation as a moviemaker with a discerning eye for high-quality content, whether in television or film, fiction or documentary. After shifting gears to make her directorial debut in 1992, Mazur is adding a new title to her business card, this time as a screenwriter on Nim’s Island.
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Patricia Riggen Crosses Borders
Immigration has been a hot topic of debate in this country for the past decade (just ask Lou Dobbs) and with this fall’s election just around the corner, it may even be the deciding factor in determining our next president. But if you think that Patricia Riggen’s feature film debut, Under the Same Moon, is a controversial or political vehicle for discussing such views, think again.
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Intelligent Use of Water Competition Seeks Eco-Friendly Film Submissions
An Inconvenient Truth proved once and for all that movies can spur social change, whether through measurable impact or simply by getting the word out about complex issues to large audiences. With that in mind, Rain Bird has announced the call for entries for its second annual Intelligent Use of Water Film Competition. The competition seeks narrative, documentary, experimental or animated short films that illustrate methods and ideas for responsible water use.
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The Jesus Guy Inspires First-Time Director
A man who travels around the world to preach doesn’t usually find favor in the modern-day era of technology and skepticism. But the “Barefoot Evangelist” defies expectations. He has attracted the attention of "20/20" and Time Magazine and is now the subject of commercial director Sean Tracey’s first documentary feature, The Jesus Guy. The title suits the man who has renounced his possessions, goes by no other name than “What’s Your Name?” and has visited 47 states and 13 countries during his 16-year evangelical journey. In The Jesus Guy, Tracey maintains an objective eye to follow What’s Your Name? as he encounters believers and non-believers alike. The film has garnered praise from film festivals around the country and has inspired Tracey to continue on the path of moviemaking.
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Owen Wilson’s Alter Egos
It would have been the rare critic that could have predicted Owen Wilson would be an Oscar nominee just six years after his debut in the 1996 film Bottle Rocket. But in fact, in 2002, the blondest of the Wilson brothers was nominated alongside his Bottle Rocket co-writer and longtime collaborator, Wes Anderson, for their original screenplay, The Royal Tenenbaums.
Together the duo has worked on five features including 1998's Rushmore and the The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), but it is for his work with Ben Stiller and other members of the "Frat Pack" that Wilson is known best. Whether he's trying to play it straight in Meet the Parents, or hamming it up in the film adaptation of Starsky & Hutch, Wilson's on-screen alter egos have provided audiences with years of laughter, tears, heartache and even more laughter.
Before Drillbit Taylor makes a splash at the box office this weekend, MM takes a look at Wilson's on-screen personas past and present.
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Idyllwild Arts Academy Nurtures Young Moviemakers
Many film artisans only begin their professional training in college or afterwards, without any previous formal experience in moviemaking. But Idyllwild Arts Academy, one of three arts-based boarding schools in the country, believes it's the earlier the better when it comes to learning one’s craft.
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Universal and Dark Horse Entertainment Reach Production Deal
Universal Pictures has struck a worldwide production and distribution deal with Dark Horse Entertainment, the film branch of Dark Horse Comics. In addition to providing a studio for all Dark Horse material, the three-year agreement gives Universal creative access to all Dark Horse characters and properties as well as any additional material acquired by Dark Horse.
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Anthony MInghella: 1954 - 2008
Sometimes an artist creates a work you love so much that he or she just become an integral part of your life, etched in your psyche and on your heart, without your ever even having come into actual contact with the person. That is an artist's job—to move and in many ways define you—and when you have a true artist, as Anthony Minghella was, they leave an imprint on your life that never fades.
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MoveOn.org Holding Contest for Best Barack Obama Campaign Ad
User-generated content is all the rage. This Web 2.0 phenomenon sparked by YouTube and Wikipedia has already been utilized for everything from reporting the news to selling Doritos, and now it will even have a hand in deciding our next president. Following the trail set by the YouTube Presidential debates, progressive political organizer MoveOn.org is holding a contest for the best user-created Barack Obama ad.
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AnimationMentor.com Hits Its Stride
A few years ago, three in-demand studio animators—Bobby Beck (Finding Nemo), Shawn Kelly (Transformers) and Carlos Baena (Ratatouille)—joined forces to make their shared vision of a school that would prepare students around the globe for the rigors of a Hollywood animating career a reality. AnimationMentor.com, the 18-month online program they devised, opened its virtual doors on March 27, 2005. With just 350 students and five employees at the end of its first year, the school now boasts 700 pupils and a staff of 28.
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Website Lets You Create Your Truman Show
Ed Harris’ character Christof in Peter Weir's Oscar-nominated The Truman Show put the appeal of reality television into words when he said, “It isn’t always Shakespeare, but it’s genuine. It’s a life.” Drawing from this line of thinking (and its title), Your Truman Show gives moviemakers the chance to tell their own very personal, very real stories to an audience hungry to hear them.
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Steve Carell’s Hits and Misses
In honor of this week's release of Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, MM takes a look at the hits and misses of Carell's feature film career thus far.
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Warner Bros. Plans Two-Part Adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Taking a cue from Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Warner Bros. Pictures has announced the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in J.K. Rowling's uber-popular series, will be released in two parts. The announcement was made by Warner Bros. Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov, who also announced that David Yates, director of last summer's entry in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, will be returning to the director's chair for this adaptation, too (making him the first director to helm more than two Harry Potter films).
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Michael Haneke Plays Funny Games With Naomi Watts
Writer-director returns to the scene(s) of an earlier crime
A family is traveling to their country vacation home. As they drive, the parents take turns playing “guess the classical composer” (Schubert? Brahms?) with the CD player. Their son laughs approvingly in the back seat. The scene couldn’t be more bucolic or benign, until Mom slips in a new musical selection—and over the soundtrack, we hear a loud, jarring skitter-metal tune from avant-garde musician John Zorn. The happy trio looks peaceful and content; viewers, meanwhile, try to recalibrate their central nervous systems.
That opening of Michael Haneke’s 1997 meta-thriller Funny Games was the first indication that the German director’s pitch-black examination of screen violence wasn’t planning on playing by the rules. It’s such an effective sneak preview of the horrors that lie on the horizon in this house invasion tale that it’s not surprising Haneke repeats the sequence in Funny Games U.S., a remake of his breakthrough movie. If it wasn’t for the fact that the original’s Austrian leads have been replaced by Tim Roth and Naomi Watts, you’d swear the projectionist had thrown on the first version by mistake: The scene is replicated with such scrupulous fidelity that it’s almost a carbon copy. As is the next scene. And the next. And the next…
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Ohio Film Office Opens
What do Spider-man 3, Traffic and The Shawshank Redemption all have in common? All three films shot segments in Ohio. With the opening of the new Ohio Film Office, state officials hope to lure even more top moviemakers to the Buckeye State. Christina Grozik, a veteran producer and marketing consultant, will lead the charge as director of the new office.
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Gus Van Sant Gets Paranoid
Indie maverick connects with teenage self in latest film
Gus Van Sant is the perfect picture of an American independent moviemaker. He grew up on both coasts—in Portland, Oregon and Darien, Connecticut—before earning a degree at the Rhode Island School of Design, and then settled in Portland, where he still lives and works. He made his first big impression in 1985 with Mala Noche, the slyly subversive story of a gay man with a crush on a Mexican immigrant who’s wrong for him in just about every way.
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Zak Penn's Grand Experiment in Comedy
In-demand screenwriter steps behind the camera for The Grand
Sure Zak Penn can write you a surefire blockbuster. He has proven that time and again with X-Men, Electra, Fantastic Four, etc. But that's not all he can do. The Grand, an improvisational comedy set in the world of competitive poker that he wrote and directed, contains neither a superhero nor a highfalutin special effect. But what the film lacks in terms of big-budget luxuries it makes up for with those erstwhile and less marketable traits: Intelligence, wit and originality.
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It’s Official—Pre-production Begins
“I never ask people for permission to make a film. Instead, I present them with the fact that I’m making a film. If they’re wise, they’ll get in on it early.”
—Francis Ford Coppola
Last week our unit production manager for Rufus Rex officially started work and I paid UPS an astounding amount of money to deliver a letter to the Republic of Georgia officially inviting our lead actress to the United States. We’re also officially in pre-production on the grassroots (my preferred term, since I dislike “microbudget”—no art should be defined by its budget) movie Rufus Rex, which my 15-year-old son, Nick, and I wrote together last winter.
Posted 07.8.08 | Grassroots Moviemaker | No comments yet...
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