By Moira Sullivan. The reviews for The Great Gatsby were not overwhelmingly positive and most critics, including myself, recognized the film as ambitious but flawed. As an out of competition film, this imperfection is expected. Still, it is the kind of film that will attract audiences as it did a […]
The Best Years of Our Lives: a Revaluation
By Christopher Sharrett. While writing an essay on the post-Vietnam film Rolling Thunder, I thought of William Wyler’s much-applauded 1946 film The Best Years of Our Lives, about three veterans returning at the close of World War II. I revisit this film often, but as much as I appreciate it […]
Nine Questions about ‘The Hitchcock 9’: an interview with Rob Byrne of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival
By Michael T. Toole. ‘The Hitchcock 9’ – the master of suspense’s nine earliest surviving works, newly restored by the British Film Institute – begin a US tour at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival on June 14-16 at the historic Castro Theater. Film International’s Michael T. Toole posed nine […]
66th Cannes Film Festival Day 1 – The Great Gatsby and Opening Ceremonies
May 16, 2013
By Moira Sullivan. Nearly 4,000 accredited journalists descend upon the city of Cannes for a week and a half of cinema magic and what looks like heavy rain for the first few days. The opening festivities for the 66th Cannes Film Festival revolved around the out of competition The Great […]
Slice and Dice: The Slasher Film Forever
By Cleaver Patterson. During cinema’s long and varied history, the horror film has always been considered the poor relation. Forget that movies designed to disturb are almost as old as the medium itself – the first filmed version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was made in 1910 at the Edison Studios […]
Interview with Scott Coffey, Tribeca Film Festival
May 15, 2013
By Gary M. Kramer. Former actor turned filmmaker Scott Coffey’s Adult World, which received its World Premiere at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, is a genial—and at times laugh-out-loud funny—comedy about Amy (Emma Roberts), a twenty-something would-be poet. While waiting for her big break as a writer (and the accompanying […]
Tribeca 2013 Festival Report
May 14, 2013
By Gary M. Kramer. The 2013 Tribeca Film Festival offered attendees hundreds of films—documentaries, dramas, thrillers, comedies, and character studies—that sought to reveal some aspect of the human condition. Here is a rundown of five films from the festival. One of the best entries at the festival this year was […]
Life Behind the Camera: an interview with David Worley
By David A. Ellis. David Worley was brought up in Rickmansworth, London and finished his schooling at Watford Grammar School. He has worked as camera operator with some of the greatest directors, actors and directors of photography in the business. His films include The World is not Enough, Aliens, Alien […]
Interview with Daniel Patrick Carbone and Cast of Hide Your Smiling Faces, Tribeca Film Festival
May 11, 2013
By Gary M. Kramer. A stunning coming-of-age drama about rural childhood and the fragile line between life and death, Hide Your Smiling Faces was one of the best narrative features at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. Writer/director Daniel Patrick Carbone’s small, absorbing film concerns two brother, the older Eric (Nathan […]
Call for Contributions: Special issue of Film International on Iranian Independent Cinema
May 10, 2013
Guest editor: Parviz Jahed (parviz.jahed@cine-eye.com) Associate editor Amir Ganjavie (ganjavie@yorku.ca) Articles are invited for publication in an edited volume of Film International on the topic of Iranian independent cinema. Independent Iranian cinema consists of the low budget Iranian films with limited affiliation to the government and its financial resources that […]