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Trouble the Water [ trailer] looks deep and hard at America before, during and after Hurricane Katrina led to the flooding of New Orleans and, in particular, the Bush Administration's typical gross incompetence in responding to the catastrophes. Directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, the film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary category this past year. "Save for some righteous indignation at the close," wrote Manohla Dargis in The New York Times, "Trouble the Water makes its points without didacticism. [The film] ebbs and flows like great drama." The film premieres on HBO Thursday, April 23, before making its debut on DVD this summer from Zeitgeist Films. In a new interview up on GreenCine, John Esther spoke to Deal and Lessin about the film. More >> |
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In This Dispatch:
- What's New: The Wrestler, Jihad for Love, and more.
- What We're Watching: Science is Fiction, L'innocente, Under Full Sail.
- Explore: Sleep Dealer Podcast; MIA DVDs 3.
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GreenCine's Craig Phillips wasn't alone in putting Darren Aronofsky's film on his Best of '08 list -- "calling it one of the most memorable American cinema character studies in recent memory." Adds EW's Owen Glieberman: " The Wrestler is like Rocky made by the Scorsese of Mean Streets. It's the rare movie fairy tale that's also a bravura work of art." And Mickey Rourke "creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances," adds Variety. Read interview >> |
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Daring documentary by a Muslim gay filmmaker is "a passionate, essential first step (to) expose the plight of a severely underappreciated stratum of the Muslim world…both haunting and inspiring," wrote S. James Snyder in the New York Sun. Adds Kevin Lee in the NY Times, "Heartfelt debut...gains depth of feeling as it goes and even develops something of a nail-biting narrative." |
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Jean Painlevé (1902-1989) associated and collaborated with the Surrealists in Paris during the '20s, but like the title of Criterion's astonishing new three-DVD set, a 2001 critical evaluation and collection of his writings, as well as the doctrine he worked under, Painlevé first and foremost believed in the realism of science to create what could be mistaken for avant-garde fantasies. A fascinating multi-hyphenate, Painlevé was a scientist-theorist-filmmaker-educator-actor and more, the son of mathematician and two-time Prime Minister of the French Third Republic, Paul Painlevé. Why is Painlevé the younger so unknown with such an illustrious background? Perhaps it's because most of the 200-plus films... read review >> |
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Although in some ways it is more false than true, it would be fair to say that Luchino Visconti tends strongly toward the painterly style of filmmaking. L'Innocente is a perfect example of this. It passes before you in a series of lush, exquisite tableaux. But unlike most filmmakers of this stripe, this is not a beautiful façade; the aesthetic is somehow mysteriously intertwined with the very real story which the film tells.... read review >> |
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Sleep Dealer, the visually arresting debut feature from co-writer/director Alex Rivera, may be the first sci-fi film set in a third-world locale. Before its U.S. theatrical release, Rivera, co-star Leonor Varela and GC's Aaron Hillis chatted about the film for a special podcast. More >>
Also: Craig Phillips concocts his latest batch of MIA DVDs, ten more films we need on disc here in the States. |
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