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Focus Features: Putting A Bad Year Behind Them
With all the studio arm indie divisions closing shop, I'm crossing my fingers for the folks at Focus Features - they actually give a sh*t about filmmakers. We don't need to mention what happened with the parent company, and today's press release sort of camouflages the mediocre 2009 year that is still unfolding.
IFC Make Up with ‘Breaking Upwards’
When it comes to release time, Daryl Wein's Breaking Upwards might want to come with the label this ain't Mumblecore. Not that there is a problem with the films, but seeing that IFC Films don't have a problem with inexpensive/low-budget films, I'm afraid that cinephiles might lump this with the Swanberg/Bujalski/Shelton group.
Samuel Goldwyn Brings Justice to ‘Harry Brown’
Is there such a thing as Kitchen Sink films featuring old men? The young men from the 60's now belong to a different age bracket, so I guess we can point to this post-TIFF and now, post-AFM film deal as one of them. According to the trades, this year's Gran Torino in the shape of Daniel Barber’s Harry Brown has been smoked out by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
IFC Finds ‘Cracks’ in the System
The consensus among my peers at the Toronto Film Festival was that the Jordan Scott's debut was lacking certain elements to make it a full-fledged thriller worth investing in, but after this trade news announcement, I checked up on the Variety review and I'm loving the cross section of films it mentions it its first pull quote calling it "a cross between "Picnic at Hanging Rock" and "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," shot through with a nasty "Lord of the Flies" streak."
Mugabe and the White African and Soundtrack for a Revolution Lead 2009 Int. Documentary Ass. Noms
While I've yet to see the doc myself (I reference Claire Denis' White Material when I think of what the film might hold narratively), when the Cinema Eye Honor Noms were released I was surprised to see that, despite the positive buzz, Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson's Mugabe and the White African only manage to grab one nomination. Clearly the film is a favorite for the 2009 edition of the IDA Awards - it picked up three nominations in the Feature Documentary, ABCNews VideoSource Award an the Pare Lorentz Award categories.
