Film Forum is turning back the clock to the ’80s and celebrating golden era cinemas with the New York premiere of Richard Shepard’s “Film Geek.”
Emmy winner Shepard writes and directs the cine-memoir feature centered on moviegoing in the ’70s and ’80s. “Film Geek” debuts as part of Film Forum’s “Out of the ’80s” programming, which includes over 50 films ranging from blockbusters to cult classics.
Films such as “Blue Velvet,” “Do the Right Thing,” “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” and more will screen at the theater. Actors such as Griffin Dunne and Isaac Mizrahi will revisit their own ’80s features, while directors like Charlie Ahearn, Charles Lane, and Jerry Schatzberg discuss their filmmaking styles.
The series is programmed by Bruce Goldstein, Film Forum’s Repertory Artistic Director, and was inspired by Richard Shepard’s documentary “Film Geek.” The festival centers on the debut of “Film Geek,” which is...
Emmy winner Shepard writes and directs the cine-memoir feature centered on moviegoing in the ’70s and ’80s. “Film Geek” debuts as part of Film Forum’s “Out of the ’80s” programming, which includes over 50 films ranging from blockbusters to cult classics.
Films such as “Blue Velvet,” “Do the Right Thing,” “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” and more will screen at the theater. Actors such as Griffin Dunne and Isaac Mizrahi will revisit their own ’80s features, while directors like Charlie Ahearn, Charles Lane, and Jerry Schatzberg discuss their filmmaking styles.
The series is programmed by Bruce Goldstein, Film Forum’s Repertory Artistic Director, and was inspired by Richard Shepard’s documentary “Film Geek.” The festival centers on the debut of “Film Geek,” which is...
- 4/25/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
It was more than a little heartening to see Roger Corman paid tribute by Quentin Tarantino at Cannes’ closing night. By now the director-producer-mogul’s imprint on cinema is understood to eclipse, rough estimate, 99.5% of anybody who’s touched the medium, but on a night for celebrating what’s new, trend-following, and manicured it could’ve hardly been more necessary. Thus I’m further heartened seeing the Criterion Channel will host a retrospective of Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptations running eight films and aptly titled “Grindhouse Gothic,” though I might save the selections for October.
Centerpiece, though, is a hip hop series including Bill Duke’s superb Deep Cover, Ghost Dog, and numerous documentaries––among them Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, making Michael Rapaport a Criterion-approved auteur. Ten films starring Kay Francis and 21 Eurothrillers round out series; streaming premieres include the Dardenne brothers’ Tori and Lokita,...
Centerpiece, though, is a hip hop series including Bill Duke’s superb Deep Cover, Ghost Dog, and numerous documentaries––among them Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, making Michael Rapaport a Criterion-approved auteur. Ten films starring Kay Francis and 21 Eurothrillers round out series; streaming premieres include the Dardenne brothers’ Tori and Lokita,...
- 7/19/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The 2023 Tribeca Festival has added panel discussions with David Fincher, Paul McCartney and Patty Jenkins and reunion screenings of New Jack City and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, the latter of which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
The annual New York festival, running from June 7-18, has announced the lineups for its Talks and Reunions sections.
The Storytellers Series of panel discussions will feature McCartney in conversation with Conan O’Brien for a live recording of the former late night host’s Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, John Mellencamp in conversation with David Letterman, Lin-Manuel Miranda in conversation with Rosie Perez and separate chats with Chance the Rapper, Billy Porter, Hailee Steinfeld and Diplo.
The Directors Series of conversations will feature sit-downs between Fincher and Steven Soderbergh, whose Full Circle series is also premiering at the festival, as well as Jenkins and Katie Holmes.
Reunion screenings planned include New...
The annual New York festival, running from June 7-18, has announced the lineups for its Talks and Reunions sections.
The Storytellers Series of panel discussions will feature McCartney in conversation with Conan O’Brien for a live recording of the former late night host’s Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, John Mellencamp in conversation with David Letterman, Lin-Manuel Miranda in conversation with Rosie Perez and separate chats with Chance the Rapper, Billy Porter, Hailee Steinfeld and Diplo.
The Directors Series of conversations will feature sit-downs between Fincher and Steven Soderbergh, whose Full Circle series is also premiering at the festival, as well as Jenkins and Katie Holmes.
Reunion screenings planned include New...
- 5/2/2023
- by Hilary Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
We may be getting our first look at David Fincher’s upcoming “The Killer” at this year’s 2023 Tribeca Festival.
The New York event, running June 7 through 18, has just announced its Tribeca Talks and Reunions lineup, and they’re led by a starry slate of conversations with creators, artists, actors, and musicians alike.
Among the highlights, Fincher will appear in conversation with fellow filmmaker Steven Soderbergh as part of the festival’s Directors series, which Patty Jenkins and Katie Holmes will also participate in; the Storytellers series will include Paul McCartney in conversation with Conan O’Brien for a recording of the podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend”; John Mellencamp will speak with David Letterman; Lin-Manuel Miranda sits down with Rosie Perez; Kevin Sullivan and Angela Bassett will reunite for the 25th anniversary of “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”; Mario Van Peebles, Michael Michele, and Fab 5 Freddy return for...
The New York event, running June 7 through 18, has just announced its Tribeca Talks and Reunions lineup, and they’re led by a starry slate of conversations with creators, artists, actors, and musicians alike.
Among the highlights, Fincher will appear in conversation with fellow filmmaker Steven Soderbergh as part of the festival’s Directors series, which Patty Jenkins and Katie Holmes will also participate in; the Storytellers series will include Paul McCartney in conversation with Conan O’Brien for a recording of the podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend”; John Mellencamp will speak with David Letterman; Lin-Manuel Miranda sits down with Rosie Perez; Kevin Sullivan and Angela Bassett will reunite for the 25th anniversary of “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”; Mario Van Peebles, Michael Michele, and Fab 5 Freddy return for...
- 5/2/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The Tribeca Festival today announced its Storytellers Series, which includes Paul McCartney in conversation with Conan O’Brien for a podcast recording of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Mellencamp in conversation with David Letterman.
The annual Tribeca Festival will celebrate its 22nd year from June 7–18, 2023 in New York City.
The talk lineup also features Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rosie Perez, Chance the Rapper, Billy Porter, Hailee Steinfeld and music producer Diplo.
The Directors Series has David Fincher in conversation with Steven Soderbergh, and Patty Jenkins in with Katie Holmes.
The Reunions section brings Kevin Sullivan and Angela Bassett together for the 25th anniversary of How Stella Got Her Groove Back; Mario Van Peebles, Michael Michele, and Fab 5 Freddy for New Jack City; and Charlie Ahearn, Lee Quiñones, Fab 5 Freddy and Grand Wizzard Theodore for the 40th anniversary of Wild Style.
The third annual...
The annual Tribeca Festival will celebrate its 22nd year from June 7–18, 2023 in New York City.
The talk lineup also features Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rosie Perez, Chance the Rapper, Billy Porter, Hailee Steinfeld and music producer Diplo.
The Directors Series has David Fincher in conversation with Steven Soderbergh, and Patty Jenkins in with Katie Holmes.
The Reunions section brings Kevin Sullivan and Angela Bassett together for the 25th anniversary of How Stella Got Her Groove Back; Mario Van Peebles, Michael Michele, and Fab 5 Freddy for New Jack City; and Charlie Ahearn, Lee Quiñones, Fab 5 Freddy and Grand Wizzard Theodore for the 40th anniversary of Wild Style.
The third annual...
- 5/2/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Dennis Hopper on Kenny Scharf, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat in Malia Scharf and Max Basch’s documentary, produced with David Koh: “They brought a vitality and an energy to art that just hadn’t been there. The importance of those three artists, they just seemed to bring the eighties alive really.” Photo: Tseng Kwong Chi / Courtesy Muna Tseng Dance Projects, Inc.
Two of the 2020 Doc NYC highlights are on artists. The world premiere of Chris McKim’s hard-edged Wojnarowicz brings back to life the committed activist/artist/poet/performer David Wojnarowicz who died from AIDS in 1992 at age 37.
Malia Scharf on Kenny Scharf with Keith Haring: "He was and still is such an important part of Kenny and our lives."
And there is Malia Scharf and Max Basch’s intimate portrait, Kenny Scharf: When Worlds Collide (produced with David Koh), which features remembrances from Kenny of Keith Haring,...
Two of the 2020 Doc NYC highlights are on artists. The world premiere of Chris McKim’s hard-edged Wojnarowicz brings back to life the committed activist/artist/poet/performer David Wojnarowicz who died from AIDS in 1992 at age 37.
Malia Scharf on Kenny Scharf with Keith Haring: "He was and still is such an important part of Kenny and our lives."
And there is Malia Scharf and Max Basch’s intimate portrait, Kenny Scharf: When Worlds Collide (produced with David Koh), which features remembrances from Kenny of Keith Haring,...
- 11/4/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Celine Danhier with Joel Coen and Ethan Coen at the table behind us at The Odeon on the evolution of Blank City: "James Nares said 'Let me call Jim Jarmusch.' It was really like that. And then at the same time I had the music scenes and I interviewed Pat Place." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Celine Danhier's all-hands-on-deck Blank City, edited to perfection by Vanessa Roworth, enters the world of the No Wave and Cinema of Transgression. We see and hear about the work of Bette Gordon, Casandra Stark Mele, Charlie Ahearn, Michael Oblowitz, Nick Zedd, Sara Driver, Susan Seidelman, Maripol, Patti Astor, Eric Mitchell, Beth B, Vivienne Dick, Vincent Gallo, John Lurie, Steve Buscemi, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lizzie Borden, Amos Poe, John Waters, James Nares, Jim Jarmusch, Anders Grafstrom, Richard Kern, Ann Magnuson, James Chance, Lydia Lunch, Pat Place, Becky Johnston, Adele Bertei, Scott B, Tommy Turner, Tessa Hughes-Freeland, Kemra Pfahler,...
Celine Danhier's all-hands-on-deck Blank City, edited to perfection by Vanessa Roworth, enters the world of the No Wave and Cinema of Transgression. We see and hear about the work of Bette Gordon, Casandra Stark Mele, Charlie Ahearn, Michael Oblowitz, Nick Zedd, Sara Driver, Susan Seidelman, Maripol, Patti Astor, Eric Mitchell, Beth B, Vivienne Dick, Vincent Gallo, John Lurie, Steve Buscemi, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lizzie Borden, Amos Poe, John Waters, James Nares, Jim Jarmusch, Anders Grafstrom, Richard Kern, Ann Magnuson, James Chance, Lydia Lunch, Pat Place, Becky Johnston, Adele Bertei, Scott B, Tommy Turner, Tessa Hughes-Freeland, Kemra Pfahler,...
- 4/24/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Since any New York cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Museum of the Moving Image
“See It Big! Jack Fisk” celebrates one of cinema’s greatest production designers. The first weekend brings four Malick features, Mulholland Dr., Carrie, and There Will Be Blood.
A collection of the Muppets‘ appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson will be presented this Sunday.
Metrograph
A retrospective of the...
Museum of the Moving Image
“See It Big! Jack Fisk” celebrates one of cinema’s greatest production designers. The first weekend brings four Malick features, Mulholland Dr., Carrie, and There Will Be Blood.
A collection of the Muppets‘ appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson will be presented this Sunday.
Metrograph
A retrospective of the...
- 3/11/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
To most people, the name Charlie Ahearn doesn’t ring a bell. A relatively unsung filmmaker born and bred in New York City, Ahearn has only four directing credits to his name, spread out over a nearly 40 year career as director. However, few directors are as important to popular culture and particularly the spread of hip-hop culture as this bewilderingly influential filmmaker and cultural artist.
With the groundbreaking Wild Style, Ahearn would make what has become known as cinema’s first true hip-hop film. With names like Fab Five Freddy, Rock Steady crew and Grandmaster Flash as part of the cast, the film would mainly focus on a graffiti artist named Zoro, as he makes his way through the urban landscape that sparked the early moments of hip-hop culture. With that culture now becoming arguably the driving force in mainstream popular culture, Ahearn is a truly influential force. And thankfully,...
With the groundbreaking Wild Style, Ahearn would make what has become known as cinema’s first true hip-hop film. With names like Fab Five Freddy, Rock Steady crew and Grandmaster Flash as part of the cast, the film would mainly focus on a graffiti artist named Zoro, as he makes his way through the urban landscape that sparked the early moments of hip-hop culture. With that culture now becoming arguably the driving force in mainstream popular culture, Ahearn is a truly influential force. And thankfully,...
- 11/2/2015
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Read More: 9 Hip Hop-Inspired Films to Get You Ready For 'Dope' "Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer" and "Stations of the Elevated," two films with a strong connection to the city and the music that it helps create, are slated for DVD releases this fall through Oscilloscope. Charlie Ahearn, director of the hip-hop film "Wild Style," brings new attention to Jamel Shabazz and his art with "Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer," painting a vivid picture of the man whose photography helped to define a generation of African American street culture. "Jamel" will be released digitally October 6 and as a limited edition DVD on October 27. "Stations of the Elevated," a jazzy city symphony shot on 16mm and directed by Manfred Kirchheimer, features iconic images of urban landscapes and the vibrant graffiti that drapes its surface. "Stations" will be released digitally October 20 and will be made available...
- 9/3/2015
- by Aubrey Page
- Indiewire
Street-style photography seems almost pedestrian now, with blogs like The Sartorialist, Humans of New York or (my favorite) What Ali Wore popping up every day, but this wasn't the case when photographer Jamel Shabazz started snapping pics in the '70s. A friend of the artist says he was "capturing life in its purest form."
Shabazz depicted the history of his NYC borough, documenting the early days of hip-hop culture, the fashion and lifestyle he saw day-to-day in the subway or walking the streets of Brooklyn.
Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer (2013) delves into the photographer's influential work and follows some of his current-day activities. Director Charlie Ahearn's previous work includes 1983's Wild Style, a hip hop docudrama. In this film, Ahearn includes interviews with cultural figures such as Fab 5 Freddy and Krs-One among others.
Austin Film Society will show the Shabazz documentary this Sunday, Jan. 12 at 4pm [tickets] at Afs at the Marchesa.
Shabazz depicted the history of his NYC borough, documenting the early days of hip-hop culture, the fashion and lifestyle he saw day-to-day in the subway or walking the streets of Brooklyn.
Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer (2013) delves into the photographer's influential work and follows some of his current-day activities. Director Charlie Ahearn's previous work includes 1983's Wild Style, a hip hop docudrama. In this film, Ahearn includes interviews with cultural figures such as Fab 5 Freddy and Krs-One among others.
Austin Film Society will show the Shabazz documentary this Sunday, Jan. 12 at 4pm [tickets] at Afs at the Marchesa.
- 1/7/2014
- by Elizabeth Stoddard
- Slackerwood
In a world a long, long ago, there was Wild Style, the film that can be legitimately called the first hip-hop film ever made.The low budget musical docu-drama, directed by Charlie Ahearn, revolves around the life of a New York City graffiti artist, played by real-life graffiti artist Lee Quinones, as he deals with his life, his work and his relationship with a fellow artist Rose (Sandra Fabara). It features performances by hip-hop luminaries of the day like Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy, Rock Steady Crew and Cold Crush Brothers, and can rightly claim to be one of the very few films ever made that had a ground-breaking cultural impact.The film’s success led to...
- 10/23/2013
- by Sergio
- ShadowAndAct
No history of hip-hop is complete without mention of Wild Style, which marks its 30th Anniversary via a two-disc deluxe DVD release from Music Box Films. The film combines break dancing, the tagging of Lee Quinones, and the musical exploits of Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy, Rock Steady Crew and the Cold Crush Brothers. Besides a complete remastering, the set is packed with extras, as well as a 48-page booklet written by director Charlie Ahearn. [Editor's note: the audio commentary by Ahearn and Fab Five Freddy is enlightening and essential.]Because this film is so important, the challenge will be more difficult than usual.Shoot me a short (1-2 minute tops but no minimum length) hip hop vid explaining why you deserve a copy of this monumental movie. 1....
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 10/21/2013
- Screen Anarchy
“Here it is,” Patti Astor shrieks. “Here’s my little gallery!” Astor is standing outside a tiny basement storefront at 225 East 11th Street in New York City's East Village, where she and partner Bill Stelling opened the original Fun Gallery in 1981. That was the year after she starred in Eric Mitchell’s landmark low-budget flick Underground U.S.A. and a couple years before her turn as a reporter in Wild Style, Charlie Ahearn’s celebration of early B-boy culture that features the graffiti artists Lee Quinones and Lady Pink Fabara, as well as hip-hop pioneer Fab 5 Freddy, Astor's then-boyfriend and a future host of Yo! MTV Raps.If you've never heard of Patti Astor, it may be because she’s one of those people who should take credit for things but doesn’t. Back in the day, she was more interested in making sure the young artists she championed — graffiti masters like Dondi,...
- 10/9/2013
- by Mary Kaye Schilling
- Vulture
In a world a long, long ago, there was Wild Style, the film that can be legitimately called the first hip-hop film ever made.The low budget musical docu-drama, directed by Charlie Ahearn, revolves around the life of a New York City graffiti artist, played by real-life graffiti artist Lee Quinones, as he deals with his life, his work and his relationship with a fellow artist Rose (Sandra Fabara). It features performances by hip-hop luminaries of the day like Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy, Rock Steady Crew and Cold Crush Brothers, and can rightly claim to be one of the very few films ever made that had a ground-breaking cultural impact.The film’s success led to...
- 9/26/2013
- by Sergio
- ShadowAndAct
At a moment when documentaries often feel compelled to blur the reality/fiction border for the sake of entertainment, something refreshing can be found in the inverse: a narrative feature that inadvertently lapses into a de facto doc. Such is true of Wild Style, Charlie Ahearn's 30-year-old time capsule of the hip-hop community in the early '80s Bronx. Zoro (Lee Quinones) is a young graffiti artist who's constantly at work tagging his environs; he's kept busy by avoiding cops, trying to win back his ex (Sandra Fabara) from a rival artist, and organizing a hip-hop concert. Plenty of significant themes are explored—the act of making graffiti as a reclamation of one's space, the co-opting of countercultural work by mainstream taste (in one memorable sequence, Zoro is brought ...
- 9/25/2013
- Village Voice
In 2001, street photographer Jamel Shabazz released Back in the Days, a volume of his collected works and a rare portrait of hip-hop's infancy. The book, which gathers hundreds of photographs captured on the streets of Harlem and beyond between 1980 and 1989, represents an authentic chronicle of the people, fashions, and poses that embodied a lifestyle, articulating a rich history of urban style. Charlie Ahearn's new documentary, Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer, tells the story of how Back in the Days came to be, and so, in a sense, is a portrait of portraiture. But Ahearn works at a distinct disadvantage: Present to document the book's reception rather than its genesis, he has no direct access to the vibrant past about which his subjects reminisce, leaving him t...
- 7/31/2013
- Village Voice
Glad to know that this project, which we last wrote about in mid-2011, is finally getting a theatrical release! Charlie Ahearn's documentary on the work, life and times of photographer/"urban life" documenter, Jamel Shabazz, titled Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer, will see a 1-week theatrical run at BAMCinématek in Brooklyn, New York, courtesy of Apd’s Cinema Conservancy program. Playdates are also expected for Chicago, Portland, Seattle & San Francisco. In the infancy of hip-hop, Brooklyn-born photographer Jamel Shabazz documented the pioneers of music and style that would launch a worldwide phenomenon. Charlie Ahearn, director of the...
- 7/3/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
While always a city bursting with creative and artistic talent, there was probably no time more fertile in New York City than than '70s and '80s. Avant-garde art, hip hop, punk, no-wave, disco and more all clashed and mingled, leaving a lasting impression on pop culture, politics and the city itself. Among that noise and ruckus, independent filmmakers were also making a big wave, capturing New York's vibrancy in stories that inspired a new generation of directors. And that time has been captured in the documentary "Blank City."
Directed by Celine Danhier, the film explores the artists of the "No Wave Cinema" and "Cinema of Transgression" movements who shattered existing notions of Diy and underground art, and paved the way for today's independent film scene. Through interviews with Steve Buscemi, Debbie Harry, Jim Jarmusch, Fab 5 Freddy and John Waters and many more, the film presents a revealing...
Directed by Celine Danhier, the film explores the artists of the "No Wave Cinema" and "Cinema of Transgression" movements who shattered existing notions of Diy and underground art, and paved the way for today's independent film scene. Through interviews with Steve Buscemi, Debbie Harry, Jim Jarmusch, Fab 5 Freddy and John Waters and many more, the film presents a revealing...
- 4/9/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Updated through 6/26.
"The golden age of New York moviegoing is now," argues Ao Scott in the New York Times. "Two events in the coming days offer confirmation of this hunch." Tonight "in Brooklyn the BAMcinemaFest opens with Weekend, Andrew Haigh's bracing, present-tense exploration of sex, intimacy and love, the first of 26 features that will play, along with 24 short films, over the next 10 days. And Friday is the official opening night of the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, a charming two-screen jewel box carved (by the architect David Rockwell) out of garage and office space at Lincoln Center." He touches on the Museum of the Moving Image and the reRun Gastropub Theater as well, before returning to BAMcinemaFEST: "Not everything in the lineup is quite so perfectly realized as Weekend, but the range and generosity of the sampling make it hard to go wrong. Even the misfires and train wrecks are interesting,...
"The golden age of New York moviegoing is now," argues Ao Scott in the New York Times. "Two events in the coming days offer confirmation of this hunch." Tonight "in Brooklyn the BAMcinemaFest opens with Weekend, Andrew Haigh's bracing, present-tense exploration of sex, intimacy and love, the first of 26 features that will play, along with 24 short films, over the next 10 days. And Friday is the official opening night of the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, a charming two-screen jewel box carved (by the architect David Rockwell) out of garage and office space at Lincoln Center." He touches on the Museum of the Moving Image and the reRun Gastropub Theater as well, before returning to BAMcinemaFEST: "Not everything in the lineup is quite so perfectly realized as Weekend, but the range and generosity of the sampling make it hard to go wrong. Even the misfires and train wrecks are interesting,...
- 6/26/2011
- MUBI
BAMcinématek has released the lineup for the third annual BAMcinemaFest. The festival will open with the New York premiere of Andrew Haigh’s "Weekend" and close with the New York premiere of Mathieu Amalric’s "Tournée." Additional highlights include 17 more New York premieres, the world premiere of Charlie Ahearn’s "Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer" and a new 35mm print of Bryan Forbes’ "Whistle Down the Wind." The festival runs Jun 16-26 in ...
- 4/29/2011
- Indiewire
Although it's an unfortunate turn of phrase given the era, the best way to describe the documentary "Blank City" is still as something of a gateway drug when it comes to the late '70s, early '80s underground film scene in New York. It's easy to tell this since it's obvious French director Celine Danhier recreates her own experience of discovering the no-budget avant garde movement known as "No Wave" cinema in her documentary, presenting one snippet of rare footage after another, teasing the audience with clips of Michael Holman's self-descriptive "Vincent Gallo as Flying Christ" and Charlie Ahearn's groundbreaking hip-hop flick "Wild Style" and having such personalities as Deborah Harry and Steve Buscemi talk about what a wild and crazy time it was.
It's the shortcoming of "Blank City" that it isn't as adventurous in mirroring the era the film documents, settling into a style where...
It's the shortcoming of "Blank City" that it isn't as adventurous in mirroring the era the film documents, settling into a style where...
- 4/8/2011
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
The New York African Film Festival begins Today New Yorkers, and the 2011 lineup is an impressive one!
Of note, several films that have been touted on this website (old and new) are scheduled to screen at this year’s festival, including, Andrew Dosunmu’s feature film directorial debut and Sundance 2011 entry, Restless City, in what I believe will be the film’s New York city premiere! I saw the film in January, and found it enchanting. You can read my full review of it Here.
Also, Congolese filmmaker Djo Tunda Wa Munga’s explosive Viva Riva!, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, and swept the African Movie Academy Awards; a film that’s being referred to as “Congolese Avant-Garde.” I saw it a couple of weeks ago, and dug it! Read me review Here.
New Yorkers will also get to see Besouro (a Shadow And Act Film...
Of note, several films that have been touted on this website (old and new) are scheduled to screen at this year’s festival, including, Andrew Dosunmu’s feature film directorial debut and Sundance 2011 entry, Restless City, in what I believe will be the film’s New York city premiere! I saw the film in January, and found it enchanting. You can read my full review of it Here.
Also, Congolese filmmaker Djo Tunda Wa Munga’s explosive Viva Riva!, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, and swept the African Movie Academy Awards; a film that’s being referred to as “Congolese Avant-Garde.” I saw it a couple of weeks ago, and dug it! Read me review Here.
New Yorkers will also get to see Besouro (a Shadow And Act Film...
- 4/6/2011
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
The New York African Film Festival begins tomorrow New Yorkers, and the 2011 lineup is an impressive one!
Of note, several films that have been touted on this website (old and new) are scheduled to screen at this year’s festival, including, Andrew Dosunmu’s feature film directorial debut and Sundance 2011 entry, Restless City, in what I believe will be the film’s New York city premiere! I saw the film in January, and found it enchanting. You can read my full review of it Here.
Also, Congolese filmmaker Djo Tunda Wa Munga’s explosive Viva Riva!, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, and swept the African Movie Academy Awards; a film that’s being referred to as “Congolese Avant-Garde.” I saw it a couple of weeks ago, and dug it! Read me review Here.
New Yorkers will also get to see Besouro (a Shadow And Act Film...
Of note, several films that have been touted on this website (old and new) are scheduled to screen at this year’s festival, including, Andrew Dosunmu’s feature film directorial debut and Sundance 2011 entry, Restless City, in what I believe will be the film’s New York city premiere! I saw the film in January, and found it enchanting. You can read my full review of it Here.
Also, Congolese filmmaker Djo Tunda Wa Munga’s explosive Viva Riva!, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, and swept the African Movie Academy Awards; a film that’s being referred to as “Congolese Avant-Garde.” I saw it a couple of weeks ago, and dug it! Read me review Here.
New Yorkers will also get to see Besouro (a Shadow And Act Film...
- 4/6/2011
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
Compared to today, you wouldn’t recognize New York City in the ’70s. Back then, drugs, poverty and urban decay ruled the streets, especially in the economically depressed Lower East Side. This gritty environment gave birth to an underground group of experimental filmmakers, including Jim Jarmusch, Richard Kern, Charlie Ahearn and Nick Zed, whose bizarre Geek Maggot Bingo (top) featured former Fango editor Bob Martin. These transgressive films, dubbed No Wave, took no prisoners just from some of their titles alone (Go To Hell, Submit To Me Now, They Eat Scum, etc.) and soon began gathering a cult following in grungy dive theaters and through VHS bootlegs. This Cinema of Transgression is celebrated in filmmaker Celine Danhier’s exhaustive and fascinating documentary Blank City (opening April 6 at NYC’s IFC Center from Insurgent Media), which offers revealing interviews with Jarmusch, Kern, Zedd, actor Steve Buscemi (who made his acting debut...
- 3/31/2011
- by samueldzimmerman@gmail.com (Tony Timpone)
- Fangoria
The New York African Film Festival has announced its 2011 lineup, and it’s an impressive one! I’m excited, and hopefully you will be too, especially if you live in New York.
Of note, several films that have been touted on this website (old and new) are scheduled to screen at this year’s festival, including, Andrew Dosunmu’s feature film directorial debut and Sundance 2011 entry, Restless City, in what I believe will be the film’s New York city premiere! I saw the film at Sundance in January, and found it enchanting. You can read my full review of it Here.
Also, Congolese filmmaker Djo Tunda Wa Munga’s Viva Riva!, which screened at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, and Fespaco last month, where it won some awards; a film that’s being referred to as “Congolese Avant-Garde.” I haven’t seen it, but I’m really looking forward to doing so.
Of note, several films that have been touted on this website (old and new) are scheduled to screen at this year’s festival, including, Andrew Dosunmu’s feature film directorial debut and Sundance 2011 entry, Restless City, in what I believe will be the film’s New York city premiere! I saw the film at Sundance in January, and found it enchanting. You can read my full review of it Here.
Also, Congolese filmmaker Djo Tunda Wa Munga’s Viva Riva!, which screened at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, and Fespaco last month, where it won some awards; a film that’s being referred to as “Congolese Avant-Garde.” I haven’t seen it, but I’m really looking forward to doing so.
- 3/15/2011
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
A writer who first encountered the artist during the dawn of rap remembers him and his influence on the scene.
Rammellzee was remembered Wednesday with affection and admiration as a man whose originality and idiosyncratic vision was a hallmark of early-'80s hip-hop. He died Tuesday at age 50 from causes unknown at the time of writing.
"Beat Bop," the 10-minute single he cut with K-Rob in 1983, was tinged with the surreality of dub music; the sleeve designed by his close friend, Jean-Michel Basquiat, (who also produced the track) quizzically states that the disc is a Test Pressing. Well, of course. Though the disc's "iconoclastic panzer" rhythms really were meant to be just a test pressing -- for Rammellzee everything was a test, an experiment.
[youtube 9I56Kkxh_os]
Rammellzee was truly different -- not just from the other artists who surrounded him, like Fab5Freddy, Basquiat, and Futura 2000, innovators all, but from anyone else on the planet.
Rammellzee was remembered Wednesday with affection and admiration as a man whose originality and idiosyncratic vision was a hallmark of early-'80s hip-hop. He died Tuesday at age 50 from causes unknown at the time of writing.
"Beat Bop," the 10-minute single he cut with K-Rob in 1983, was tinged with the surreality of dub music; the sleeve designed by his close friend, Jean-Michel Basquiat, (who also produced the track) quizzically states that the disc is a Test Pressing. Well, of course. Though the disc's "iconoclastic panzer" rhythms really were meant to be just a test pressing -- for Rammellzee everything was a test, an experiment.
[youtube 9I56Kkxh_os]
Rammellzee was truly different -- not just from the other artists who surrounded him, like Fab5Freddy, Basquiat, and Futura 2000, innovators all, but from anyone else on the planet.
- 6/30/2010
- by Vivien Goldman
- Fast Company
The Q and A after Saturday night's world premiere of Blank City turned into a veritable roll call of artists and icons from the No Wave and Cinema of Transgression film movements that began in late-'70s New York. Director Celine Danhier was joined by producer Aviva Wishnow and executive producers Dan Braun and Josh Braun at the front of the theater as they introduced many of the documentary's interview subjects who were in the crowd, among them Nick Zedd, Amos Poe, Richard Kern, Sara Driver, Charlie Ahearn, Patti Astor, and Pat Place. Once we finished craning our necks to see all the cult celebs in the crowd, the big question on everyone's mind was, 'Where can we watch all the films talked about in Blank City?' 'Good question. Next question,' joked Dan Braun. 'We hope that [Blank City] will generate interest for a lot of these films in some form.
- 4/28/2009
- TribecaFilm.com
NEW YORK -- Road trip movies are a dubious genre at best, and when burdened with loads of supernatural, psychological and thematic pretensions, they usually lose the very jauntiness that is their primary asset.
Such is the case with the new indie feature from director Charlie Ahearn, arriving 18 years after his debut with the seminal hip-hop feature "Wild Style". This effort, perhaps accurately titled "Fear of Fiction", is receiving its New York theatrical premiere at the Two Boots Pioneer Theatre, where if you don't like the film, you can at least get a great slice of pizza at the affiliated restaurant next door.
Melissa Leo, allowed here to look far sexier than she did in "Homicide: Life on the Street", plays Sigrid, a novelist with a severe case of writer's block. Judging from the sample that she unveils at a downtown reading, this might be for the best. To jump-start herself, she heads across the country to a family cottage near Spokane, Wash., hitching a ride with a young man named Red (Sam Trammell). It turns out that Sigrid and Red have something in common: identical twin siblings. Sigrid's brother is dead, but Red's is very much alive, as is evident when he unexpectedly shows up at the side of the road.
Unfortunately, Red and his brother Sam (also played by Trammell) don't get along very well, and it isn't long before they're separated again, leading to a series of comical and would-be mystical interludes as Sam hitchhikes his way across the country to catch up to his brother. Among the bizarre characters he encounters are a pair of pot-smoking teenage girls who love Jesus, a hyperactive garage-band fanatic (Penn Jillette) obsessed with a group called the Fabulous Failures (their music is provided by Lounge Lizard Evan Lurie and Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo) and a would-be priest (Clark Johnson, also from "Homicide") who seems a little too eager to share a hotel room. Meanwhile, Red and Sigrid's relationship develops into a romance, though not without complications.
The film, trafficking in an endless series of coincidences and examples of metaphysical links between twins (Ahearn has an identical twin himself) tries far too hard for the kind of quirkiness that so many indie filmmakers seem to mistake for profundity. And though it definitely has its moments, "Fear of Fiction" ultimately comes across as irritatingly mannered.
FEAR OF FICTION
Director-screenwriter: Charlie Ahearn
Producers: Gerry Kagan, Charlie Ahearn
Director of photography: John Foster
Editor: Christina Boden
Production designer: Mark White
Music: Evan Lurie, Lee Ranaldo
Color/stereo
Cast:
Sigrid Anderssen: Melissa Leo
Red Hopkins/Tom Hopkins: Sam Trammell
Albert: Penn Jillette
Master of Ceremonies: Reno
Victor: David Wheir
Running time - 99 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Such is the case with the new indie feature from director Charlie Ahearn, arriving 18 years after his debut with the seminal hip-hop feature "Wild Style". This effort, perhaps accurately titled "Fear of Fiction", is receiving its New York theatrical premiere at the Two Boots Pioneer Theatre, where if you don't like the film, you can at least get a great slice of pizza at the affiliated restaurant next door.
Melissa Leo, allowed here to look far sexier than she did in "Homicide: Life on the Street", plays Sigrid, a novelist with a severe case of writer's block. Judging from the sample that she unveils at a downtown reading, this might be for the best. To jump-start herself, she heads across the country to a family cottage near Spokane, Wash., hitching a ride with a young man named Red (Sam Trammell). It turns out that Sigrid and Red have something in common: identical twin siblings. Sigrid's brother is dead, but Red's is very much alive, as is evident when he unexpectedly shows up at the side of the road.
Unfortunately, Red and his brother Sam (also played by Trammell) don't get along very well, and it isn't long before they're separated again, leading to a series of comical and would-be mystical interludes as Sam hitchhikes his way across the country to catch up to his brother. Among the bizarre characters he encounters are a pair of pot-smoking teenage girls who love Jesus, a hyperactive garage-band fanatic (Penn Jillette) obsessed with a group called the Fabulous Failures (their music is provided by Lounge Lizard Evan Lurie and Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo) and a would-be priest (Clark Johnson, also from "Homicide") who seems a little too eager to share a hotel room. Meanwhile, Red and Sigrid's relationship develops into a romance, though not without complications.
The film, trafficking in an endless series of coincidences and examples of metaphysical links between twins (Ahearn has an identical twin himself) tries far too hard for the kind of quirkiness that so many indie filmmakers seem to mistake for profundity. And though it definitely has its moments, "Fear of Fiction" ultimately comes across as irritatingly mannered.
FEAR OF FICTION
Director-screenwriter: Charlie Ahearn
Producers: Gerry Kagan, Charlie Ahearn
Director of photography: John Foster
Editor: Christina Boden
Production designer: Mark White
Music: Evan Lurie, Lee Ranaldo
Color/stereo
Cast:
Sigrid Anderssen: Melissa Leo
Red Hopkins/Tom Hopkins: Sam Trammell
Albert: Penn Jillette
Master of Ceremonies: Reno
Victor: David Wheir
Running time - 99 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/20/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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