Film Journey

From time to time, I’d like to spotlight reviews by some of the site’s regular participants. This one is from David, who was surprised by just how much he enjoyed Ang Lee’s latest superproduction, Hulk. And if you’re not up on your comic lore, peruse this informative primer for a historical overview.

By David Shepherd

When I first heard the announcement, some two-odd years ago, that Ang Lee, fresh from the critically acclaimed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), would be helming the theatrical debut of The Incredible Hulk, I was excited. I didn’t read comics much growing …

So I picked up the new Cineaste today at Borders and it’s a great issue. One of the more serious magazines on film widely sold in the US, Cineaste tends to emphasize political readings, but also expands to encompass a variety of commentary. Here are some excerpts:

ïAn interview with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, the Belgian filmmakers who have been making documentaries since the ’70s, but whose first three fictional works (1996’s La Promesse, 1999’s Rosetta, and 2002’s The Son) have made significant waves in recent international cinema:

Jean-Pierre: “[The Son] is a story

Several years ago when I was a student at the University of Arizona, a friend of mine named Toru–an international student from Japan and also an incorrigible film buff–invited me to a Hayao Miyazaki film festival that was being put on by the campus animation club. Not having anything better to do and always being game for exploring the work of unknown filmmakers, I cheerfully tagged along.

Nothing prepared me for what I encountered. As I recall the festival, the exact plots and narrative details of the fantasy films elude me, but the colors and compositions, the visual sweep and …

The publication industry surrounding film studies is incredibly constrained by time. Books go in and out of print faster than you can look up last weekend’s box office gross. Because of this, I’ve enjoyed purchasing the bulk of my film books from used and second-hand bookstores. There has been a lot of good critical and historical analysis written about the movies, especially since the ’60s and the rise of film academia, and many wonderful books still exist in dark, dusty corners of neighborhood bookstores.

Recently, I came across one such findóCinema: A Critical Dictionary edited by Richard Roud, which …

Updates to the site have been slow the past week, but that’s because I’ve been temporarily focused on an article I’m writing for the online journal Senses of Cinema regarding the career of Krzysztof Kieslowski (see my blog entry for May 28). As such, I’ve had the pleasure of revisiting his earlier features Personel (1975), Camera Buff (1979), Blind Chance (1982), and No End (1985), as well as various books and documentaries. A new Region 2 DVD box set in France includes the latter three films as well as The Scar (1976), but without English subtitles. Stay tuned for my …

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the Amnesty International Film Festival in West Hollywood. It was a collection of revealing documentaries and short films covering a wide range of topics that US audiences seldom get a chance to see. None of the films were produced by Amnesty, who merely programmed the series. The following are personal summaries of the screenings I attended with links to more information:

Hidden in Plain Sight (2003, USA)

Previously, Robert Richter’s series of documentaries, School of Assassins (1994), Father Roy: Inside the School of the Assassins (1997), and Crossing the Line (1999) were …