By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore

The Hollywood Reporter has promised that "no movie flatters the press" like Ron Howard's "Frost/Nixon." Well, to be fair, most movies don't try to flatter the press at all. On this week's IFC News podcast, we look at the different ways journalists have been portrayed on screen, from backbiting magazine staffers to fast-talking, amoral reporters and cynical TV talking heads, with the occasional heroic turn throw in.

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[Photo: "Frost/Nixon," Universal Pictures, 2008]

By Alison Willmore in Podcasts | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (1)

Tags: Frost/Nixon, journalists, Ron Howard

By Neil Pedley

Providing the requisite stopgap between showy Thanksgiving distractions and award season stragglers, female directors and assorted indie debutantes are making a strong showing this week.

"The Black Balloon"
'What's Eating Elissa Down?' is the question to ask as the award-winning director of Aussie shorts makes the jump to features with this semi-autobiographical tale of a frustrated adolescent on the verge of manhood weighed down by his responsibilities to his autistic younger brother. Daytime soap star Rhys Wakefield takes the role of the Gilbert Grape-esque Thomas, a burdened army brat charged with his brother's care while his parents drag the two up and down the country until he meets Jackie, a free spirit who teaches him how to shed his bitterness. The always impressive Toni Collette anchors this teenage ensemble as the boy's mother, Maggie. Luke Ford and Gemma Ward co-star.
Opens in New York and Los Angeles.

By Neil Pedley in In Theaters | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (3)

By R. Emmet Sweeney

Jason Statham is a worker. He's released three films in 2008 alone ("Transporter 3" hits theaters today), and his characters are defined by labor, whether he's playing a driver, a thief or an assassin. They have names evocative of union workers and hockey players: Frank Martin, Terry Leather, Chev Chelios. These are single-minded anti-heroes out to complete a mission. Nothing concerns them but the job, whether it's a "Bank Job," an "Italian Job" or a "Transporter" gig. The thrills in a successful Statham film come from this focus -- the hurtling narratives rarely pause for backstory, concerned only with bridging the gap between a plan and its execution.

Statham's route to tough guy stardom was circuitous. For a decade, he toured the world as a member of Britain's national diving squad, finishing 12th on the platform at the '92 World Championships, but amateur sports weren't paying the bills. So he'd set up shop outside of Harrods, and, as he told IGN, "I used to put money in my pocket while working on the street corners, selling perfume and jewelry, and other goods that were supposedly expensive." Then he scored a modeling gig and caught the attention of Guy Ritchie, who was intrigued by his black-market experience. Roles in "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" (1998) and "Snatch" (2000) followed, and this ex-diver/hustler/model would soon be shirtless on the big screen for years to come. "Lock, Stock" played on his working-class shyster past (Statham admits he plays a version of himself in the film), and that determined poor Cockney criminal has informed his performances since, from ruthless killers to small-time operators.

By R. Emmet Sweeney in Features | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (5)

Tags: Cory Yuen, Crank, Guy Ritchie, Jason Statham, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Transporter, Transporter 3

By Aaron Hillis

2008 is officially a banner year for American auteur Gus Van Sant ("Elephant," "My Own Private Idaho"). His hauntingly gorgeous and affecting arthouse drama "Paranoid Park" wowed the critical establishment last spring, but this week sees a more mainstream release that will easily earn him another Oscar nomination for best director. Based on the later life, political career and tragic murder of affable, gently eccentric San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk, the boldly titled "Milk" stars a predictably brilliant Sean Penn in the eponymous role, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in America. From his move to New York from San Francisco and his rise to popularity as a Castro Street businessman-turned-activist in the late '70s, the film reaches its climax with Milk's impassioned fight against Proposition 6 (commonly called "The Briggs Initiative"), which would've banned gays and lesbians from working in California's public schools. It's a timely if relatively frustrating storyline, given the real-life uphill battle lost against the passage of the notorious Proposition 8, which as you should sadly know by now, restricts same-sex couples from marrying in the same state where Prop. 6 was once defeated. I sat with Van Sant for an all-too-brief chat about Harvey Milk's philosophy, Proposition 8's bittersweet effect on "Milk," and how his film resembles "The Godfather."

By Aaron Hillis in Interviews | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (5)

Tags: Frederick Wiseman, Gus Van Sant, Harvey Milk, Milk, Robert Flaherty, Sean Penn, The Godfather

By Michael Atkinson

It was only a matter of time, after Werner Herzog used the under-the-ice Antarctic footage shot by scientists for his hodgepodge sci-fi meditation "The Wild Blue Yonder," until this most peripatetic of world-class filmmakers realized that the Poles may be the only patches of Earth he hasn't yet roamed through with his camera. Herzog's documentaries, from "Land of Silence and Darkness" (1971) to "Grizzly Man" (2005), are all subjective and full-disclosure, all the time; there is a reality in these films, but it is Herzog's, and that's why we're here. "Encounters at the End of the World" (2007) is perhaps more personal than most -- he does not propose any motive for his trip to Antarctica other than his own curiosity, and eventually becomes, by nature, impatient with the large science base he finds there, saying outright that he wants only to get out into the field and find something wondrous that isn't man-made.

By Michael Atkinson in On DVD | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (2)

Tags: Encounters at the End of the World, John le Carré, Martin Ritt, Richard Burton, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Werner Herzog

By Alison Willmore

When "The Times of Harvey Milk," director Rob Epstein's electric, Oscar-winning documentary about the life and tragic death of politician and gay rights activist Harvey Milk, premiered in 1984, Dan White, the man who assassinated the film's subject, had already been released from prison. Milk, the self-proclaimed "Mayor of Castro Street," became the first openly gay man to be elected to a public office when he was named San Francisco city supervisor in 1977. Less than a year later, he and Mayor George Moscone were shot to death in City Hall by White, a former colleague, a shocking act that would later be topped when White got off with a conviction of manslaughter and a seven-year sentence, an outrage that sparked riots.

This week sees both the 30th anniversary of Milk's passing and the release of a highly anticipated and long-in-the-making biopic of the man, Gus Van Sant's "Milk," with Sean Penn playing the late politician. Epstein's documentary, which clearly served as a guide for Van Sant's feature, has just been made available on VOD at Amazon.com. It remains strikingly relevant to our Prop. 8 era, an urgent document of a battle that's still being fought, a testament to an amazingly inspirational figure and a reminder of the terrible price some have paid in the ongoing struggle for change. Epstein spoke with me about about looking back on his film and Milk's legacy.

By Alison Willmore in Interviews | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (6)

Tags: Gus Van Sant, Harvey Milk, Howl, James Franco, Jeffrey Friedman, Rob Epstein, The Times of Harvey Milk

By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore

In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, this week's IFC News podcast looks at the things this year that have made us feel grateful, from the beleaguered but always passionate critical community to a fantastic DVD release and an actor whose recent work continues to surprise and impress us.

Download now (MP3: 33:38 minutes, 30.8 MB)

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[Photo: Josh Brolin in "Milk," Focus Features, 2008]

By Alison Willmore in Podcasts | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (3)

By Neil Pedley

Families heading to the multiplexes post-turkey this Thanksgiving can unbutton those tight belts in the dark after choosing from an eclectic mix of hard-hitting action, sweeping epics and prickly romance.

"Australia"
Never one to be rushed, director Baz Luhrmann has taken seven years since putting his so-called "red curtain trilogy" to bed before delivering this, the first installment in his announced trilogy of epics. Once more showcasing his fascination with great melodrama, old-school villainy and larger-than-life love stories, Luhrmann has reinvented himself without really reinventing himself with this grandiose romance set against the backdrop of a transforming nation. Returning muse Nicole Kidman stars as Sarah Ashley, a freshly widowed cattlewoman who falls in love with a rugged ranch hand named Drover (Hugh Jackman), as the two drive 1500 head of cattle to Darwin. Unfortunately, they arrive just in time to see the Japanese bombers appear on the horizon.
Opens wide.

By Neil Pedley in In Theaters | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (2)

By Matt Singer

The figure of the superhero does not lend itself to independent movies easily or readily. While three of the top five grossing movies of 2008 center on the escapades of eccentrically dressed and extravagantly empowered individuals, there's a distinct lack of caped crusaders or men of steel for the arthouse crowd. Indie filmmakers may be the most qualified to tackle the spandex set in terms of imagination -- which may be the reason so many former members of their ranks, from Christopher Nolan to Guillermo Del Toro, have produced some of the genre's most memorable entries -- yet they have a special brand of kryptonite to contend with: low budgets.

With that in mind, I've watched as many indie superhero movies as I could find and assembled this easy-to-use list of five rules guaranteed to make yours a massive success. You can thank me later with some points on the gross.

By Matt Singer in Features | Link | 2 Comments | Recommended (4)

Tags: Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, Robert Rodriguez, Sidekick, Special, superheroes, Takashi, The Specials, Zebraman

By Aaron Hillis

Even if you're the rare bird who has never heard of a Muggle, Hogwarts or Lord Voldemort, you won't feel left out while watching "We Are Wizards," a heartfelt and hugely entertaining doc about the Harry Potter fan phenomenon. Directed by Josh Koury (of 2002's "Standing By Yourself"), the film isn't just about groupies but what the Potter-verse has inspired among a few chosen subjects, including wizard rock bands like Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, and the pint-sized Hungarian Horntails. Self-made activist Heather Lawver chronicles her successful fight against Warner Bros. over their persecution of Potter fan sites, and eccentric artist Brad Neely explains his "Wizard People, Dear Reader," a hilarious audio commentary to be played in conjunction with the first "Harry Potter" film. Koury, who also teaches on the film faculty at NYC's Pratt Institute, spoke with me between classes about his own Potter fandom, the ambiguities of copyright infringement and his decision to abandon the Brooklyn Underground Film Festival.

By Aaron Hillis in Interviews | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (5)

Tags: Brad Neely, Brooklyn Underground Film Festival, Harry Potter, Heather Lawver, J.K. Rowling, Josh Koury, The Leaky Cauldron, We Are Wizards, Wizard People Dear Reader