Robert Koehler – Page 13

Why the Foreign Oscars Need to be Blown Up

February 23, 2008 Robert Koehler Commentary

Garbage In Garbage Out, or Why the Foreign Oscars Need to be Blown Up

By ROBERT KOEHLER

Computer programmers have a term for the risk flawed data input poses to the goal of good data results: Garbage In, Garbage Out. No four words better sum up the profound problems that have turned the foreign-language Oscar category into a sad, pathetic joke. When the head of the executive committee overseeing the Oscarís foreign categoryóthat would be widely-respected producer Mark Johnsonólooks at you directly, as he did to me while we rode a shuttle bus during this yearís Sundance, and tells you …

Robert Koehler’s Best of 2007

January 4, 2008 Robert Koehler Commentary, Film review

In the City of Sylvia

THE FILMS OF 2007

By ROBERT KOEHLER

This is a long list because it was a great year. And it was a great year because weíre in the midst of a new golden age for world cinemaóof which this list is submitted as proof. And because this list is long, Iíll be brief. 2007 was the year that ushered in the greatest film of the new centuryóJose Luis Guerinís combined film and video meditation on what it is to be an artist, to be a lover, to see and to listen otherwise known as Dans …

Cannes wrap-up

June 15, 2007 Robert Koehler Film festival

Wang Bing’s He Fengming

CANNES 2007óTHE FINAL RANKINGS

By Robert Koehler

Below are my final rankings of the films across all sections that I saw before, during and just after Cannes, from best to worst. Given the importance of Cristian Nemescuís California Dreaminí, which won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard competition, I delayed this final ranking list until being able to see Nemescuís film at its first post-Cannes screening in the Cinevegas film festival. Six of these titles include the short films comprising the omnibus film, The State of the World, whose individual parts varied …

Cannes Film Festival, Entry 4

May 30, 2007 Robert Koehler Film festival

Go Go Tales

By Robert Koehler

So deep–and I mean deep–was the impression left by Abel Ferrara’s fabulous, ecstatic Go Go Tales and Asia Argento in particular, that I would suggest that Cannes introduce a new prize in honor of Asia’s oral hyperactivity, which effectively took over the festival for a few days running. I would suggest a Tongue d’Or. Not even Naomi Kawase’s mad, mad heroes trekking through woods and up a mountain in The Mourning Forest, nor the morally-haunted, white-gloved female executioner in Yinan Diao’s masterpiece, Night Train, nor the slow-motion flight of skateboarders in Gus …

Cannes Film Festival, Entry 3

May 28, 2007 Robert Koehler Film festival

Silent Light

By Robert Koehler

The Palmares were handed out Sunday night, in what was alternately a
respectable and nutty show (with Charlotte Rampling, Carole Bouquet
and Jane Fonda keeping things classy, and The Diving Bell and the
Butterfly director Julian Schnabel blabbering on like a fool). The
results could have been worse, and were in some categories striking
and even brave. Several of the recipients, happily enough, line up
with what I would argue were the few really worthy films in the
competition: A Jury prize for Carlos Reygadas’ Silent Light (shared
with Marjane Satrapi’s disappointing Persepolis); the …

Cannes Film Festival, Entry 2

May 27, 2007 Robert Koehler Film festival

The Mourning Forest

By Robert Koehler

First, a bit of housekeeping…..The challenges–and near-impossibilities (technical, logistical, and otherwise)–of regularly
posting from Cannes have proven nearly insurmountable during the
first year that we’re attempting this. I hope that the following
postings will help fill in the gap of time since the previous post.
Given that I was reporting on Cannes for the Christian Science
Monitor, reviewing films for Variety, and prepping material for
upcoming writing in Cinema Scope magazine, the blogging thing got a
bit overshadowed. I’ll try to manage this better next year, for
Cannes’ 61st edition.

Speaking of …