Ross Lipman article in the LA Weekly


10-17-88 (1989)

I’ve got an article in this week’s LA Weekly about the films of Ross Lipman, whom many readers will recognize as the UCLA restorationist behind classic films by independent luminaries such as Kenneth Anger, John Cassavetes, John Sayles, and Charles Burnett. However, his upcoming show at REDCAT on March 30 (a Tuesday event rather than the Theater’s typical Monday night film schedule) should expose more people to his own film, video, and performance work, and shouldn’t be missed.…

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Guadalajara 2010: Days Later, Continued


Nicolas Pereda’s Perpetuum Mobile

By Robert Koehler

The juries have spoken, and—what else is new with festival juries?–I’m trying to wrap my head around some of the results. First, a big day for directors Maria Novaro for The Good Herbs and Nicolas Pereda for Perpetuum Mobile. The Mexican results went almost exactly as I predicted: Perpetuum Mobile for best picture; Carlos Carrera for director; The Good Herbs for actress (Ursula Pruneda), screenplay, cinematography (Gerardo Barroso); best first-or-second film and a share best actor prize to Ruben Imaz’ Cephalopod, the other genuinely indie film in the section (along with …

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Guadalajara 2010: Days Later

By Robert Koehler

We’re an hour away from the awards announcement in Guadalajara, so rumors are flying. In the Ibero-American competition, will it be Colombian veteran Victor Gaviria for his Berlin-debuting Portraits in a Sea of Lies, or Javier Rebollo for his masterfully witty Woman Without Piano? Or perhaps a wild card like Esmir Filho and his imaginative The Famous and the Dead? (Others in the conversation include Natalia Smirnoff’s Puzzle and Paz Fabrega’s Tiger-winning Agua fria de mar.)

The Mexican field, as usual, is a whole lot shorter: The race appears to be between Nicolas …

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Videotheque in South Pasadena


Some of the cinephile loot at Videotheque, and its owner, Mark Wright.

I’ve long wanted do an interview with Mark Wright, who established a remarkable DVD store named Videotheque in South Pasadena a few years ago. Los Angeles has a few stores renowned for their ambitious classic Hollywood and world cinema selections (Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Matinee, Cinefile, Vidiots) but none in the San Gabriel Valley. I first heard about the newly-opened Videotheque on a film discussion board in 2003, and soon became a loyal customer attracted to its great selection (including many imports) organized by country or director, genuinely friendly

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Guadalajara 2010: Day Two

By Robert Koehler

From the traces of suicidal young in Listorti’s debut to the presence of suicidal young who won’t go away in Esmir Filho’s The Famous and the Dead/Os Famosos e os Duendes da Morte (another debut, in the Ibero American competition)—death is in the air in Guadalajara. Slippery as a fish and defying any brief description, Filho’s work at first appears to be just another tale of dissolute youth whose lives are in flux and meaning seems uncertain. The familiar concoction of weed, wandering, crazy moms and the rest. (Filho flirts with profound cliché early on when depicting …

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Guadalajara 2010: Day One

 

By Robert Koehler
 
It’s a bit surprising that the Guadalajara International Film Festival isn’t screening the competing non-fiction films for the press, especially at a time when non-fiction programming is proving to be the life blood of many festivals, and when festivals devoted to non-fiction—from IDFA to True-False—are on the rise. So, naturally, on the first day of screenings, I sought out the non-fiction.

After dipping in for tastes of Carlos Manuel Aguilar’s Curb Creatures (with Aguilar’s video camera allowed into the often drug-addled lives of homeless people in Hollywood) and Renzo Martens’ subversive-looking Episode III—Enjoy Poverty (in which he …

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