Sean Glass

Joe Swanberg’s latest feature, and first to screen at Sundance, is "classic" Swanberg. The filmmaker remains one of the only successful (arguably) “auteurs” to continue to make films in his own way rather than commercializing them. Polarizing as always, fans will love Uncle Kent, and the rest just won’t get why it is a movie at all. Swanberg is clearly content with this, and thankfully, he’s a pro at what he does.

Swanberg does Swanberg again: Niche Fans will Appreciate Latest Entry

It’s no secret how we here at Ion feel about the Borderline Films boys. Just about everyone who worked on Afterschool and the still as-yet-unreleased Two Gates of Sleep was featured on my editors American New Wave 25 list last year, and the only one left off won’t be for long. MMMM is Sean Durkin’s turn in the directing chair, and the buzz on it has been spectacular all the way through—from the Sundance Labs to its early frontrunner status in US Narrative Competition.

To memorialize the late Anime auteur Satoshi Kon (1963-2010), last week the Film Society of Lincoln Center put on a one-night retrospective featuring his first film, Perfect Blue (1998), and last (released) film Paprika (2006). The timing of something like this is never good per se, however, the two films exhibited on this night could not be more topical right now.

Lanzmann has a very nice touch with the subjects. He is somehow able to toe the line between pushing too hard on such sensitive subjects, and going to soft, and not getting the story. The result is very powerful and informative interviews. He also does right by the medium with his visuals.