Author: Doug Cummings

Just a few updates today:

ïYes, Robert Bresson’s Au hasard Balthazar has finally opened at the Film Forum in New York and I can’t wait for its release in Los Angeles on December 12. In the meantime, check out J. Hoberman’s review here (“Robert Bresson puts the ass in classic with his 1966 masterwork about a saintly donkey”).

Dave Kehr offers a brief interview with its lead actress, a nonprofessional who grew up to be an author, here. An excerpt:

“When I first met [Bresson], I was very much impressed and fell very much under his charm,” Ms. Wiazemsky

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On Monday, National Public Radio featured a story on Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, whose latest film, Crimson Gold, has screened at the New York Film Festival this week. It has inspired comparisons to Panahi’s earlier accomplished and searing social critique, The Circle (2000), in part because both films were banned in his native country.

But Panahi didn’t attend NYFF this year. The last time he bothered visiting American soil, he was arrested and chained to a wooden bench at JFK airport for sixteen hours for being an Iranian citizen and refusing to be fingerprinted and photographed for US …

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Maybe it’s the onset of October, or maybe it’s the experience of enduring the California gubernatorial last week, but either way, I’ve been thinking of horror lately. I’ve always appreciated atmospheric forays into the darker recesses of the human consciousness, so along with the many articles printed this time of year suggesting great horror films, I’ve decided to provide my own Top Ten. My criterion is that they must be “overlooked” gems of the genre, and although that term may convey different implications depending on the cinematic circles one frequents, these films should at least take some effort to track …

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The Calgary International Film Festival reviews just keep rolling in. Be sure to check out John Torvi’s entire thread, as well as Candace Elder’s incisive comments at the end of this thread… even if neither one of them enjoyed The Son as much as they should have. 😉

Meanwhile, I’m keeping an eye on the American Film Institute’s AFI FEST in Los Angeles in November, which is supposed to announce its line-up sometime today. –Doug

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Day 7, Thursday, October 2, 2003

By John Torvi

My Life Without Me

I wasn’t really sure of the …

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As with so many aspects of world culture, religious dialogue in pop America tends to be woefully shallow. Politics and religion are often cited as the two primary subjects to be avoided in “polite conversations” and it’s almost standard protocol on film discussion boards to ban any explicit mention of the two realms.

But given contemporary world events and the public language used to describe them, I personally can’t think of more vital subjects to identify in art these days, especially since intelligent and productive examples of this are few and far between.

For ten years, the City of the …

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After spending an enjoyable weekend with visiting family, I’m playing catch-up today. Here are some interesting links to keep you occupied while I plan my viewing week:

ïThe new issue of Senses of Cinema is up. Among many items of interest are a series of articles on Chuck Jones, recent Chinese documentaries, and a succinct (and SPOILER) look at some of the religious themes in Carl Th. Dreyer‘s Ordet (1955).

ïMy cohorts at Masters of Cinema, Trond Trondsen and Jan Bielawski, have posted a highly informative article focusing on the problems of video overscan on consumer …

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