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NEWS
Jonas Mekas (1922 — 2019)
- "I have never been able, really, to figure out where my life begins and where it ends. I have never, never been able to figure it all out, what's all about." We're sad to say that Jonas Mekas, considered the "godfather of avant-garde cinema," has passed away today at the age of 96. The Lithuanian filmmaker leaves behind a legacy of film criticism and lovingly, meticulously crafted cinema, often confronting and splicing through his own biography as a refugee and artist. In April of last year, Mekas was "rediscovering Virginia Woolf," and working on a compilation of 50 years' worth of diaries. After a number of health scares in the summer, he informed The New York Times that death is a "normal transition [...] It’s where the mystery begins, where it becomes interesting."
- Yes, the Oscar nominations are finally here, with both surprising and sadly unsurprising sweeps all around.
- We reported earlier that the controversial film-sans-television project (and social experiment) Dau, by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, is finally complete. The event, described now as an "experience", is set to premiere on January 24 in Paris, running non-stop until February 17.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING
- After last year's pulpy Unsane and the interactive cinema app Mosaic, Steven Soderbergh returns with a new trailer for High Flying Bird, which ventures into the inner world of the Basketball industry.
- The winner of Cannes Critics' Week Grand Prize—the pitch perfect satire Diamantino gets a sparkling new trailer. We interviewed the directing duo Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt at last years' Cannes Film Festival.
- Yann Gonzalez boldly queers the Giallo film in his ecstatic sophomore feature Knife + Heart. Here's the new trailer:
- Iconic American auteur Gregg Araki is back with another queer, apocalyptic comedy—this time in the form of a series entitled Now Apocalypse for STARZ.
RECOMMENDED READING
A leaf fell in my lap as I directed today. I took it as a good sign. (Leaves were falling on everyone btw) pic.twitter.com/JCryJuvcPV— M. Night Shyamalan (@MNightShyamalan) November 7, 2015
- M. Night Shyamalan: Maligned genius? It may be more likely than you think. Justine Smith writes that Shyamalan distinguishes himself by "[portraying] trauma as the root for dangerous and destructive behaviour." Adam Gaines also points out that Shyamalan's admirable "resurgence" is entirely self-financed by his loans and earnings.
- The Atlantic has released a long brewing piece regarding Bohemian Rhapsody director Bryan Singer—surfacing new accusations from alleged victims as well as linking the allegations to alarming themes in Singer's filmography.
- Vincente Minelli's Tea and Sympathy, and its still-resonant "expression of outsiderness" is the latest subject of Michael Koresky's Queer & Now & Then column.
- Behold, Joseph Egan's thoroughly-researched website dedicated to Orson Welles's 1942 The Magnificent Ambersons, which includes the film's final shooting script and storyboards.
- Once the "ultimate prize" of Hollywood, Paramount Pictures faces millions of dollars in losses, forcing the studio to ask a number of "uncomfortable questions" for the future.
RECENTLY ON THE NOTEBOOK
- Kelley Dong kicks off a new column on children’s cinema, and the relationship between art’s abstractions and cognitive development.
- A new retrospective on the career of Elaine May sheds light on the ways her "female lens [observes] how male characters see the women in their lives."
- Jordan Cronk reviews Music From The Films Of Bertrand Bonello, which provides an overview of the "rich matrix of sonic markers" that define Bonello's filmography.
EXTRAS AND RE-DISCOVERIES
- In an extensive thread on Twitter, Rooney Elmi looks back at the definitive music videos of 2018, particularly those directed by women directors for women musicians.
- An adorable poster announced for Stephen Chow's upcoming The New King Of Comedy!
New poster for Stephen Chow's upcoming THE NEW KING OF COMEDY, starring Wang Baoqiang: pic.twitter.com/kx02FJM0KG— Asian Film Strike (@AsianFilmStrike) January 2, 2019
- Finally: the first poster of Harmony Korine's long awaited Spring Breakers follow up, The Beach Bum.
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