here...First off, please join me in congratulating director Chris Weitz for guiding TWILIGHT: NEW MOON to an extraordinary $1 kalillion dollar opening this weekend. I've always heard he's a decent guy, so "Huzzah!" to a seemingly decent guy finding success in an industry populated by Rothman-wannabes. Now that Weitz has done Summit Entertainment a solid, it looks like they're gonna do him...
Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson Rating (out of 5): ***** The Exiles directed by Kent MacKenzie 1961, 72 minutes, USA Milestone Films Most people have probably never heard of Kent MacKenzie's historically and culturally essential film The Exiles (1961). Some clips of it surfaced in Thom Andersen 's exceptional 2004 cine-essay Los Angeles Plays Itself —about the The City of Angels as...
And this quote, from The Stranger, displays a not too bad of a way to have your film received by others (note: humor - understatement): "Medicine for Melancholy is a masterpiece. It is the most important film by a black American director since Charles Burnett's To Sleep With Anger, black American cinema's highest achievement.-- Charles Mudede , The Stranger" Read the interview with Melancholy's...
Highly Recommended The Film: Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep remains one of the best films I have ever seen. A stark, meditative slice-of-life portrait of blacks living in Los Angeles, Burnett's film recalled the neo-realism of Italian cinema, and the cinema verite of France. What I did not know when I first saw Killer of Sheep , was that it also recalled the work of Kent Mackenzie's film, The Exiles...
An allegorical short film/music video for Shabazz Palaces shot in Watts, Los Angeles, an homage to Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep, directed by Kahlil Joseph. (h/t Prometheus Brown):
Shabazz Palaces - "Belhaven Meridian" [OFFICIAL] from Kahlil Joseph on Vimeo . A short clip as enigmatic and cool as Shabazz Palaces itself: An allegorical short film/music video for Shabazz Palaces shot in Watts, Los Angeles, directed by Kahlil Joseph, cinematography by Matt Lloyd. Featuring a cameo of Dante (Ernest Wadell) from “The Wire” in homage to Charles Burnett’s...
I won’t spoil the sense of discovery they are trying to cultivate. Well, maybe I will. If you go to the jump (or scroll down for all rss’ers). An allegorical short film/music video for Shabazz Palaces shot in Watts, Los Angeles, directed by Kahlil Joseph, cinematography by Matt Lloyd. Featuring a cameo of Dante (Ernest Wadell) [...]
Now I know that when it comes to cinema there is more (much much more) that I have NOT seen than I have. Glaring omissions in my film history knowledge. Filmmakers such as De Sica ( Bicycle Thief , one of my favourite films aside), early Ozu and Douglas Sirk immediately come to mind. So much to see and only a finite space to do so, but I am trying my damnest to catch up. There are those filmmakers...
There’s a new book in town! Now that the professional mourners have put their veils and candles away, the enormity of the artistic life of Michael Jackson remains. To help us make sense of and celebrate those numerous achievements, Armond has put together a collection of his MJ writings under the title Keep Moving and [...]
A century old record has been broken after Inspiration, a twin-finned car that looks like a prop from Thunderbirds, achieved an average speed of 139.84mph on two runs over a measured mile, at Edwards Air Force Base, California. That may not sound fast when a car has already broken the sound barrier, but this was [...]
"Mama, I Want To Sing!" Selected as Closing Night FilmF. Gary Gray To Receive Career Achievement AwardNEW YORK, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The 13th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival, presented by BET Networks, today announced the world premiere of "Mama, I Want To Sing!" as its closing night selection. The highly-anticipated musical starring R&B superstar Ciara and Emmy Award winner...
-- Filmmaker Charles Burnett is stepping up to direct a feature-length documentary about President Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham. The film, titled "Stanley Ann Dunham: A Most Generous Spirit" will not only track our president's childhood, but also Dunham's work in helping out developing countries. President Obama is currently "in talks" to be [...]
As I recall, not a whole lot of work really got done on the first day of school, but as people trickle back in from vacations, film festivals and the like, things are starting to happen. * THR blogger/reporter Borys Kits has been keeping busy over the long weekend. He reports that Nicolas Cage will be [...]
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