Cinematical

• Toronto Report: Juno Interview Highlights
  

  Filed under: Comedy, Festival Reports, Fox Searchlight, Toronto International Film Festival, Indie Seen, Hold the 'Fone

  It's not every day that one gets to see a film that's charming, sweet, intelligent and also happens to be written by an erstwhile stripper/phone sex operator (who, incidentally, owns a cat named Douchepacker). I had that pleasure at the Toronto Film Festival, however, when I took in Juno, penned with surprising astuteness by first-time screenwriter Diablo Cody (the aforementioned former stripper), directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking), and starring Ellen Page (Hard Candy), Michael Cera (Superbad), Jason Bateman...
  




• Indie Seen: Women in Filmmaking
  

  Filed under: Independent, Newsstand, Lists, Indie Seen, Cinematical Indie

  
  
  While there are some truly amazing women within the world of film, the fact of the matter is that they just don't get even half the recognition they deserve. Which of the following is easier for you to list, the cinematic achievements of women or men? Can you rattle off just as many prominent female directors as you can male ones? How about screenwriters? Producers? If you want, take the game on-screen -- can you list as many famous professional female characters as you can list male ones? Or, just within the realm of women, can you...
  



• Indie Seen: What I Want from Filmmakers
  

  Filed under: Independent, DIY/Filmmaking, Movie Marketing, Indie Seen, Cinematical Indie

  
  
  If you're an indie filmmaker, please listen up. I've written about this topic before, elsewhere, but I don't think the message can be overstressed.
  
  So your low-budget-and-fabulous independent film has been accepted into Sundance, or SXSW, or another film festival taking place in the next few months. You should be proud! You should be excited!
  
  You should have a website going live, immediately. Where is it?
  
  A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the first films announced for SXSW. First, I checked IMDb to see if...
  



• RvB's After Images: The Dream Life of Angels
  

  Filed under: Drama, Foreign Language, DIY/Filmmaking, After Image, Indie Seen, Cinematical Indie

  
  
  
  You get a lot of angels in America. As plot devices, angels are more twee than unicorns, but that doesn't stop directors from cramming them into movies. One could make up a list of worst angel movies ever: Pay it Forward (just for including the deadly song "Calling All Angels"), Michael with John Travolta, the remake of The Bishop's Wife -- occasionally I can tolerate them. No old Marvel Comics fan could hate this Rubens painting of St. Michael serving Lucifer an eviction notice. And Tilda Swinton's Gabriel in Constantine...
  



• IndieSeen: Time for Mike Judge to Go Indie
  

  Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Distribution, Exhibition, 20th Century Fox, Indie Seen

  I'd like to introduce a new Cinematical column, IndieSeen, which will focus weekly on various aspects of independent filmmaking, distribution, and exhibition. Maybe I'll interview a woman who shot a feature in her basement for under $200, maybe I'll ruminate on well-known actors who built careers on non-studio films, or maybe I'll look at the latest alternate method of film distribution. But for my first column, I'm going to talk about a studio-produced film ... one that received a theatrical release that most indie filmmakers wouldn't envy. Perhaps it's a lesson...
  



• Indie Seen: Broken Flowers, Drag Queens, and Documetaries
  

  Filed under: Distribution, Newsstand, Indie Seen

  • Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers topped the indie box office take this weekend, with Wong Kar Wai's 2046 coming in a very respectable second. Broken Flowers took in over $780K its opening weekend - not a bad take, considering that Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, only took in $3 mil total. Looks like long-time indie fave Jarmusch might be on his way to his biggest commercial success to date.
  • Beverly Kills, a film about an aging drag queen out for revenge (a screen shot from the film is at right), which has been making the festival circuit, has scored distribution from...
    
  
  
  
  • Indie Seen: Gay Sex, Winter Soldiers, and the axing of a murderous dwarf
    

    Filed under: Deals, Celebrities and Controversy, Scripts, Distribution, Indie Seen

    • Gay Sex in the '70s, a documentary about the "unbridled passion and exploration" of the gay sex movement in the 12-year-period from 1969 to the first reported case of AIDS in 1981, has secured distribution in theaters, on home video/DVD and cable television. The film debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and has been featured at several LGBT festivals this year.
    • Winter Soldier, a film made by a collective of filmmakers, documenting the testimony of more than 125 vets - including John Kerry - will be the premiere film for