I like the buzz from the Independent film festivals. The Golden Globe, The Film Critics Awards and the Oscars feel like last years stuff, and it is. These Indie films, most times, provide dialog, mystery, intrigue and acting, things that some of the big movies try to avoid. Here is a fellow bloggers Pre-view of Sundance, got my attention. Also check out NYINDIESEEN
JANUS FILMS, a distributor of foreign and classic films, fed those “art†houses around the country that were brave enough to show movies with *sub titles*!
If it weren’t for them, I would not have seen Ingmar Bergman’s Seventh Seal( 1957), Truffaut’s Jules and Jim (1962), Fellini’s La Strada (1954) and classic English films like Brief Encounter (1945). The yearly showing of the Russian Alexander Nevsky (1938) at the west village Art Theater on 8th Street in NYC was always an event.
Their 50 year celebration is marked with the issue of a 50 DVD box set. This is a fun assortment – from to M to Rashomon, but a bit pricey, about $800. (Amazon.com has already got it on sale, so the price will go down eventually)
But, you can always rent! Look at the list of films included in the set, pick your favs, or the one’s you might have missed and enjoy.
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He is known for his movies – Malcom X, The 25th Day and the most recent – The Insider. (loved it! – nice little mystery. Such an abundance of talent, all at the top of their games and so obviously enjoying it all.)
Mr. Lee makes good movies and sometimes great ones, but he also makes documentaries. He will occasionally veer from the fictional format that he’s conquered, to much acclaim, ever since his first film, DoThe Right Thing. When he tackles real events, the results are supreme.
His most recent non fiction work – When the Levee Breaks, originally HBO and now in DVD – was moving to watch because he let the people of New Orleans tell their stories about what happened in September 2005 when water and wind ravaged their city. Not out to ridicule or embarrass (like some recent “documentariesâ€), no need to fictionalize the tragedy- it is raw, angry, direct, sad.
Like an earlier documentary – 4 Girls, about the church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama in the 60’s and the little girls that died in the blast– he allows rage and grief to be expressed in a straight forward way.
Spike’s films are often terrific. His documentaries are terrific and powerful, always.