January 30, 2015

Links & Viewings - 1/30/15

by Allen Irwin

Video Essayist Tony Zhou has a new short video about staging & visual geometry in Kurosawa’s The Bad Sleep Well.


January 23, 2015

Links & Viewings - 1/23/15

by Allen Irwin

Jia Zhangke has made a lyrical short film for Greenpeace called “Smog Journeys” focusing on the effects of air pollution in northeast China.



January 16, 2015

Links & Viewings - 1/16/15

by Allen Irwin
 
Here’s a quick roundup of some of my favorite links from the first couple weeks of 2015. The idea for the new year is to post things like this more regularly but with much more self selection and curation so I don't go insane trying to keep track of everything.

Tired of Awards Season Bloat? Here are some alternatives.

When even something like the Independent Spirit Awards seem to be colonized by movies that are not, by current standards, independent (4 of the ISA nominees for Best Picture also have an Oscar Nomination for same, and the line for eligibility is that a film have a budget under $20 million) it’s time to look elsewhere. It should go without saying that I don’t have anything against larger budgeted films, but the field of view on what’s happening in contemporary cinema shouldn’t be so narrow. Thankfully we have a few able guides.