 |
|
Jared Hess, 30, and Jerusha Hess, 29, met in film class at Brigham Young University and together wrote a little independent movie called Napoleon Dynamite, in 2004, which Jared directed. The movie was a once in a lifetime success story, earning a genuine cult following. Hollywood loved it, too, and it wasn't long before the Hesses were in charge of the bigger budgeted Nacho Libre (2006). Despite less than flattering reviews, the film went on to gross over $80 million, more than doubling its production budget. Now the Hesses are out with a new oddball comedy, Gentlemen Broncos, and GreenCine chatted with them about the film. More >> |
|
|
In This Dispatch:
- What's New: Food Inc, The Dead, and more.
- What We're Watching: High School Record, Answer Man, Sam Fuller.
- Explore: Disturbing Films; Tom Noonan podcast.
- Contests: Men Who Stare at Goats.
|
|
|
Robert Kenner's documentary " is hard to shake," writes Owen Glieberman, "because days after you've seen it, you may find yourself eating something -- a cookie, a piece of poultry, cereal out of the box, a perfectly round waxen tomato -- and you'll realize that you have virtually no idea what it actually is." Andrew O'Hehir in Salon calls it "an engaging and often wrenching film... covers a wide range of material, including the horrific, the humorous and the exemplary." "Essential viewing," adds the LA Times. |
|
|
|
John Huston's lovely final film based on James Joyce's classic short story and shot while Huston himself was dying of emphysema, has been out of print for ages. That is finally remedied. "The resulting film is a true labor of love, wrote Jeffrey Anderson, "a masterpiece, and perhaps the crowning achievement of a long, varied and highly celebrated career." And after all this time, wrote the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, "I believe this movie stands up. What looked unimaginative then now appears bold, almost experimental: The Dead sometimes looks a little like an old-style live television broadcast of a stage-play on a single set, but this unitary effect has rigour, clarity and life." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Far more successful than Where the Wild Things Are in exposing the raw-nerve anxieties of youth onscreen is an older, rougher, hipper kind of wild thing altogether, Ben Wolfinsohn's High School Record, which could still be about King Max if he grew up to be a confused, complicated teenager who finally discovered garage rock...Wolfinsohn's naturalistic, semi-improvised series of awkward comic vignettes at a performing arts school absolutely nails the liberating/frightening social... Read more >> |
|
|
| |
For anyone who suffers from the occasional bad back, a new to DVD film The Answer Man -- the first from writer/director John Hindman -- should be a must-see, if only to revel in the facial expressions of its star (a sublimely funny, nasty and so-real-it-hurts Jeff Daniels), as he suffers the moment-by-moment degradations of a spine askew. But there's a lot more going on in this light, bright--if also sometimes quite sad--romantic comedy, too... read review >> |
|
|
| |
In his autobiography, filmmaker Samuel Fuller wrote that he did not speak a word for the first several years of his life, and then suddenly, at age 4 or 5, he blurted out the word "hammer!" The abruptness of this word, and its punchy imagery, practically defines Fuller's work... Many of his films are still AWOL on DVD, but Sony has taken a major step toward righting that wrong with Samuel Fuller Collection... Read more >> |
|
|
Simon Augustine started off one hell of a list in time for Halloween, and it shall continue: The Most Disturbing Films. Disturbing is all subjective of course, but he makes a case for these shockers. More >>
Also: For a new podcast, Aaron Hillis chats with Tom Noonan, musician, playwright, and writer-director of two acclaimed films (What Happened Was, The Wife), but most the tall, reserved but eerily intense gentleman is most recognizable as a memorable character actor from films as diverse as Manhunter, Mystery Train, and Synecdoche New York. His latest chance to effortlessly steal scenes arrives in Ti West's wonderfully slow-burning, retro-horror flick, The House of the Devil. More >> |
|
|
|
Still time to enter! The Men Who Stare at Goats, a comedic look at real life events that are almost too bizarre to believe, opens November 6, and now, thanks to GreenCine and Focus Features, you can win our new Men Who Stare at Goats contest. One (1) very lucky winner will receive a copy of book on which the film is based, and a movie T-Shirt. Details >> |
|
|
| |
|
|
