Although he only made two fiction features, filmmaker Michael Roemer benefited greatly from an early rediscovery in the 1990s, thanks to the fortuitous unearthing of a film he made in 1969, The Plot Against Harry, a wry, dry comedy starring Martin Priest. His other film, 1964’s Nothing But a Man, is often compared by critics to the slicker, middle-America-friendly films that Sidney Poitier was making during the same era. Almost without exception, film about the minority experience in ’60s America were smoothed-over paeans to “the triumph of the human spirit,” starring or co-starring whites whose presence is required as witnesses, arbiters, and the final, thankful beneficiaries of growth and change. Bland but well-meaning, films like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? and A Patch of Blue, seeking to instruct the white moviegoer by giving them a diagrammatic path to sociopolitical enlightenment, had a funny habit of discounting, even nullifying, the Black experience.
- 2/22/2024
- by Jaime N. Christley
- Slant Magazine
Nothing But a Man.If one were to map the career of Michael Roemer, they would find it closely hews to the history of postwar American independent cinema: in the 1940s and ’50s he worked in newsreels, educational film, and, roused by cinéma vérité and the Italian neorealists, observational documentary. Yet the production methods and narrative strategies of his fictional films, which he made from the early ’60s to the ’80s, diverge remarkably from the work of his contemporaries.In October, I spoke to Roemer, who is 95, over the phone from his home in Vermont. Our conversation revealed the depths of his independence. It was not a style, not simply a contrarianism, but a sensibility, a fidelity to a certain worldview. This comes across in his thoughts on his most well-known film, Nothing But a Man (1964), which is seldom invoked without descriptors like “groundbreaking.” Indeed, it was a rarity for...
- 12/12/2023
- MUBI
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Paris Theater
The Paris has reopened with a new Dolby Atmos screen and a 70mm series featuring The Wild Bunch, Baraka, Playtime, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, as well as Blade Runner and Apocalypse Now in surround sound.
Roxy Cinema
Ahead of The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer’s feature debut Sexy Beast plays on 35mm; Jean Eustache’s My Little Loves screens.
Museum of the Moving Image
Lost in Translation, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and House Party all show on 35mm; Ida Lupino’s Hard, Fast and Beautiful plays on 16mm.
Film Forum
An essential retrospective of Ousmane Sembène, featuring 35mm prints and new restorations, has begun, Michael Roemer’s great The Plot Against Harry screens on 35mm; Contempt continues in a 4K restoration; Billy Elliot plays on Sunday
Bam
The Battle of Chile, newly restored,...
Paris Theater
The Paris has reopened with a new Dolby Atmos screen and a 70mm series featuring The Wild Bunch, Baraka, Playtime, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, as well as Blade Runner and Apocalypse Now in surround sound.
Roxy Cinema
Ahead of The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer’s feature debut Sexy Beast plays on 35mm; Jean Eustache’s My Little Loves screens.
Museum of the Moving Image
Lost in Translation, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and House Party all show on 35mm; Ida Lupino’s Hard, Fast and Beautiful plays on 16mm.
Film Forum
An essential retrospective of Ousmane Sembène, featuring 35mm prints and new restorations, has begun, Michael Roemer’s great The Plot Against Harry screens on 35mm; Contempt continues in a 4K restoration; Billy Elliot plays on Sunday
Bam
The Battle of Chile, newly restored,...
- 9/15/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
As the director nears his 11th decade, two of his films, Nothing But a Man and The Plot Against Harry are being restored; both are marvels of independent cinema
Michael Roemer, 95, is one of film’s finest chroniclers of postwar American aspiration. His debut, Nothing But a Man, won two prizes at the Venice film festival over half a century ago, using Euro-neorealism to tell the story of a working-class Black couple in Alabama. The result is a moving and unflinching depiction of the daily realities of racism, and one of the most brilliant truly independent films of all time.
Nothing But a Man, like the rest of Roemer’s filmography, refused to heed the production and aesthetic conventions of its day. “If I could have made popular films, I would have,” he says. “But I believe in something. If I betray it then I destroy myself.”...
Michael Roemer, 95, is one of film’s finest chroniclers of postwar American aspiration. His debut, Nothing But a Man, won two prizes at the Venice film festival over half a century ago, using Euro-neorealism to tell the story of a working-class Black couple in Alabama. The result is a moving and unflinching depiction of the daily realities of racism, and one of the most brilliant truly independent films of all time.
Nothing But a Man, like the rest of Roemer’s filmography, refused to heed the production and aesthetic conventions of its day. “If I could have made popular films, I would have,” he says. “But I believe in something. If I betray it then I destroy myself.”...
- 9/6/2023
- by Brandon Kaufman
- The Guardian - Film News
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Paris Theater
The Paris reopens with a new Dolby Atmos screen and a 70mm series featuring Playtime, Lawrence of Arabia, 2001 and more.
Metrograph
One of France’s greatest directors and producers, Paul Vecchiali, is subject of a new retrospective that includes Jeanne Dielman and the terrific, too-little-seen Simone Barbès.
Bam
The Thin Red Line, Solaris, and more play in “Intimate Epics.”
Film at Lincoln Center
A retrospective of Korean cinema’s “golden decade” has begun.
Roxy Cinema
Passing the torch to Chapo Trap House‘s Movie Mindset, the 35mm print of Rio Bravo is now playing under their guardianship; Madonna fans can flock to Vision Quest, Who’s That Girl, Evita, and Spike Lee’s Girl 6 on 35mm.
Film Forum
Michael Roemer’s great The Plot Against Harry and the Tarantino-presented Winter Kills both screen on 35mm; Contempt continues
Museum of Modern Art...
Paris Theater
The Paris reopens with a new Dolby Atmos screen and a 70mm series featuring Playtime, Lawrence of Arabia, 2001 and more.
Metrograph
One of France’s greatest directors and producers, Paul Vecchiali, is subject of a new retrospective that includes Jeanne Dielman and the terrific, too-little-seen Simone Barbès.
Bam
The Thin Red Line, Solaris, and more play in “Intimate Epics.”
Film at Lincoln Center
A retrospective of Korean cinema’s “golden decade” has begun.
Roxy Cinema
Passing the torch to Chapo Trap House‘s Movie Mindset, the 35mm print of Rio Bravo is now playing under their guardianship; Madonna fans can flock to Vision Quest, Who’s That Girl, Evita, and Spike Lee’s Girl 6 on 35mm.
Film Forum
Michael Roemer’s great The Plot Against Harry and the Tarantino-presented Winter Kills both screen on 35mm; Contempt continues
Museum of Modern Art...
- 9/1/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Roxy Cinema
A New Leaf and Ishtar play, the former on 35mm, while a print of The Fifth Element screens.
IFC Center
A David Lynch retrospective has begun, with Lost Highway playing on 35mm this Sunday; Party Girl plays in new 4K restorations, while A Clockwork Orange, They Live, Back to the Future, and Aliens have late showings; The Wizard of Oz also plays.
Film Forum
A retrospective on New York movies is underway, featuring Cassavetes, Friedkin, Walter Hill, and Michael Roemer’s The Plot Against Harry; Fellini’s early masterwork I Vitelloni continues screening; Auntie Mame plays this Sunday.
Museum of Modern Art
The Rialto Pictures retrospective closes with films by Buñuel, Carpenter, Dante, and more.
Museum of the Moving Image
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws plays on 35mm this Saturday.
Bam
A director’s cut of The Doom Generation returns.
Roxy Cinema
A New Leaf and Ishtar play, the former on 35mm, while a print of The Fifth Element screens.
IFC Center
A David Lynch retrospective has begun, with Lost Highway playing on 35mm this Sunday; Party Girl plays in new 4K restorations, while A Clockwork Orange, They Live, Back to the Future, and Aliens have late showings; The Wizard of Oz also plays.
Film Forum
A retrospective on New York movies is underway, featuring Cassavetes, Friedkin, Walter Hill, and Michael Roemer’s The Plot Against Harry; Fellini’s early masterwork I Vitelloni continues screening; Auntie Mame plays this Sunday.
Museum of Modern Art
The Rialto Pictures retrospective closes with films by Buñuel, Carpenter, Dante, and more.
Museum of the Moving Image
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws plays on 35mm this Saturday.
Bam
A director’s cut of The Doom Generation returns.
- 5/19/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Which ones are the best films of -- pick the year of your choice... Altfg’s annual lists featuring our picks for 'best' of the year are currently getting updated and will be slowly reposted in the next few weeks. Those lists, which have been on the site (if you know where to look for them) for several years, consist of highly personal and extremely varied suggestions of movies you might want to check out. Needless to say, those lists are always evolving. For that reason, as time passes and more movies are watched we'll keep on adding new titles, and names of actors, directors, screenwriters, cinematographers, etc. (Image above: Poster art for Krzysztof Kieslowski's 1994 Oscar-nominated classic Three Colors: Red, the final part of Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy, this particular one starring Irène Jacob.) Each annual "Best of" list includes the following categories: Film, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress,...
- 3/27/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Two weeks ago, it was announced that Cabin in the Woods, the horror flick produced and co-written by Joss Whedon, would finally get a release date after years of sitting on the shelf. It's set for April 2012. Then yesterday, in even more surprising news, a release date was miraculously set for Margaret, Kenneth Lonergan's long-delayed follow-up to You Can Count on Me. That film, which stars Matt Damon and Anna Paquin, has been delayed now for six years, mostly because Lonergan couldn't finish the edit, which led to a lot of squabbles with the studio. Those two movies -- along with Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, which also recently received a release date -- were among the list of the Six Highly Anticipated Films You May Never Get to See, which we ran back in May.
However, long delays have rarely been kind to a film's box-office prospects, and if history is any indication,...
However, long delays have rarely been kind to a film's box-office prospects, and if history is any indication,...
- 8/4/2011
- by Dustin Rowles
Alt Film Guide's "Best Films of …" lists, which we'll begin updating and reposting — a few years at a time — this July 4 weekend, consist of highly personal and highly eclectic suggestions of films you might want to either check out or avoid like the plague, depending on how you feel about our choices. [Scroll down for the (as-yet incomplete, non-updated) Best Films of... List per year.] Those lists, we might add, have not been written in stone; they're a work in perpetual progress. In other words, new names and titles will be added, whereas some old ones will be removed as we keep on watching good, great, and/or so-bad-they're-good films and performances. The "Best Films of …" categories are: Film (including director/screenwriter), Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Cinematography, and Music. At times, you'll find Short Film and/or Song Score categories as well. Another category, "Check These Out," consists of — almost invariably lesser-known — films that for some reason or other — e.g.
- 7/2/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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