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"Comparable in force and originality to Godard or Fassbinder," began the Village Voice's J. Hoberman about the hypnotic hyperrealism of a certain Belgian auteur, " Chantal Akerman is arguably the most important European director of her generation." Today, Criterion releases the vital Eclipse box set Chantal Akerman in the Seventies. GC's Aaron Hillis had the pleasure of speaking to Akerman for a new podcast, chatting about the '70s avant-garde filmmakers who inspired her during her New York residency, the strangest job she had in the "phallic city," being Andrew Bujalski's thesis advisor at Harvard, and why she now takes back a title she once rejected.... More >> |
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In This Dispatch:
- What's New: [Docs!} Outrage + No Impact Man; and more.
- What We're Watching: Che, Burning Plain, Amreeka.
- Explore: Ciné Institute, Haiti.
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Documentary following author Colin Beavan who vowed to spend a year making as little environmental impact as possible. "The value of No Impact Man, a compelling and suitably exasperating documentary about one family's attempt to not harm the environment for a year," writes Scott Tobias, "is that it forces viewers to reflect on their own casual consumption and waste." Salon's Andrew O'Hehir calls it "a hilarious, riveting must-see about a family as it breaks down almost all the way and then reinvents itself." |
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Documentarian Kirby Dick ( Twist of Fate)'s searing indictment of the hypocrisy of closeted politicians who actively campaign against the LGBT community they covertly belong to. "Moment by moment, Outrage proves duly provocative, well sourced, and almost certain to go more viral than swine flu," writes Scott Foundas in the Village Voice. Adds Owen Glieberman: "The movie excoriates the hypocrisy of self-hating gay lawmakers (several of whom it outs), yet it also explores the burden of the public closet." |
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When it comes to Steven Soderbergh, there seem to be two camps of people who follow his work. One believes he is one of the most prolific, diverse and surprising American filmmakers working today. The other thinks he is a gutless Hollywood shill whose art-house fare hardly makes up for his blockbuster shlock. (I've seen both these camps posting and commenting on various film blogs.) Divided into two parts, the two films comprising Che seem to prove why both sides are right and wrong. Part One smacks of a glossy studio biopic while Part Two delves deep into the psyche of a revolutionary being. In other words, Soderbergh gets to have his cake and eat it too. Che Part One follows Ernesto "Che" Guevara... Read review >> |
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"Coming to America" films in the past have typically been packaged as either broad comedy (such as uh, Coming to America) or relentlessly bleak dramas ( In America) and tend to gravitate towards the urban centers of the United States. Amreeka (marking the debut of L-Word writer-director Cherien Dabis) posits a recently divorced, non-religious Palestinian woman and her son embarking on a journey to the far more recognizable landscape of contemporary American life: the suburbs... Read more >> |
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Late last night, Aaron Hillis received an impassioned email from Michelange Quay, a Paris based Haitian-American filmmaker, about the Ciné Institute in Haiti, after the earthquake. He passed on this timely plea on GreenCine Daily. The post includes clips--mostly shot from the southern coastal town of Jacmel--feature personal testimonies from the refugee camps and up-close-and-personal footage of the victims and damage rarely seen in other reports. Read more >> |
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