Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.Recommended VIEWINGWes Anderson's latest experimentation in stop-motion, Isle of Dogs, gets its disturbing yet droll first trailer.Valentine, above, is a selection of intimate videos directed by Paul Thomas Anderson of Haim's live sessions of cuts from their latest album, Something to Tell You.We adore Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien's most recent film, The Assassin, and highly anticipate this new restoration for his difficult to see 1987 film drama, Daughter of the Nile. Grasshopper Film has bravely made Jean-Marie Straub's 2-minute masterpiece The Algerian War! available for free on their website.Recommended Reading"I began thinking that Mothlight must begin with the unraveling of a cocoon and end with some simulation of candle flame or electric heat (as all moths whose wings were being used in the film had been collected from enclosed...
- 9/27/2017
- MUBI
Twin Peaks Recap is a weekly column by Keith Uhlich covering David Lynch and Mark Frost's limited, 18-episode continuation of the Twin Peaks television series."Did you like that song?" the boy (Xolo Mariduena) asks the girl (Tikaeni Faircrest). His words are hesitant and tentative—tinged with naiveté, therefore open and earnest. "Yes," the girl replies, playing along with the courtship ritual. "I did like that song." Yet there's a sense in the slight pause between his question and her answer that she could say anything. That awkward dead space is filled with possibilities—positive, negative and in-between. And what excitement there is in that. This exchange comes toward the end of Part 8 of Mark Frost and David Lynch's revived Twin Peaks, though the quiet beauty of the moment is offset by the many horrors (and wonders) that precede it…and that, will indeed, follow it. It's easy...
- 6/26/2017
- MUBI
Youth On The MARCHThere are 48 individual films screening in the Wavelengths section of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The relative importance of this section, amidst the vast array of offerings in this relatively huge festival, depends on your taste in movies, of course, to say nothing of your specific objectives. If you’re coming to Toronto to try to score a hot tip in this year’s Oscar race, well . . . I feel sorry for you on a number of levels. But Wavelengths is unlikely to be your jam. Originally conceived exclusively as a showcase for experimental and non-narrative films (hence the section’s title, a direct tribute to avant-garde master and Toronto native son Michael Snow), Wavelengths now encompasses the edgier, less commercial side of art cinema. This is the first of two preview essays, and my aim is to cover everything in the section. These are the...
- 9/12/2015
- by Michael Sicinski
- MUBI
“…an investigation of a situation, in that it probes the ramifications of the moment, and is concerned with its qualities and its depth, so that you have poetry concerned, in a sense, not with what is occurring but with what it feels like or what it means. A poem, to my mind, creates visible or auditory form for something that is invisible, which is the feeling or the emotion or the metaphysical content of the statement. Now, it may also include action, but its attack is what I would call the vertical attack, and this may be a little bit clearer if you will contrast it to what I would call the horizontal attack, to drama which is concerned with the development, let’s say, within a very small situation from feeling to feeling. ” –Maya Deren, Anagram of Ideas on Art, Form, and FilmThe world of Peter Strickland’s The Duke of Burgundy...
- 3/12/2015
- by Jacqueline Valencia
- MUBI
The Duke of Burgundy
Written and directed by Peter Strickland
UK, 2014
With a narrative built on repetition – the cyclical nature of seasons, feelings and passions – The Duke of Burgundy’s unique structure defies traditional plot and narrative in favour of sensations and experiences. The film most notably has credits in the opening sequence for both the choice fragrance and the lingerie designs, a hint at the precedence luxury and sensuality has within this world. It becomes abundantly clear that breaking the film down in terms of plot betrays its absolute appeal as a masterpiece in haptic vision. (‘Haptic’ refers to ‘touching with your eyes’, though how can we similarly evoke the sensation of smell? Film criticism is lacking in this regard. We need an extensive study on the evocation of smell in cinema, just as there are studies on the way filmmakers conjure sound and music in silent cinema.) Written and directed by Peter Strickland,...
Written and directed by Peter Strickland
UK, 2014
With a narrative built on repetition – the cyclical nature of seasons, feelings and passions – The Duke of Burgundy’s unique structure defies traditional plot and narrative in favour of sensations and experiences. The film most notably has credits in the opening sequence for both the choice fragrance and the lingerie designs, a hint at the precedence luxury and sensuality has within this world. It becomes abundantly clear that breaking the film down in terms of plot betrays its absolute appeal as a masterpiece in haptic vision. (‘Haptic’ refers to ‘touching with your eyes’, though how can we similarly evoke the sensation of smell? Film criticism is lacking in this regard. We need an extensive study on the evocation of smell in cinema, just as there are studies on the way filmmakers conjure sound and music in silent cinema.) Written and directed by Peter Strickland,...
- 1/23/2015
- by Justine Smith
- SoundOnSight
Mystic Fire Video
Film is a medium that by its very nature has virtually limitless possibilities for self expression. With it, a filmmaker can tell any story, no matter how fantastic or bizarre. And normally, that’s a good thing. After all, where would we be without the bold experimentation of pioneering auteurs like George Melies or Dw Griffith? But as with anything, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing, and some experimental filmmakers have begun to abuse the privilege of having an intensely creative medium with which to work. While some of the films on this list are strange, but still innovative and groundbreaking in a genuinely positive way, others are just painful.
Just because something can be done doesn’t mean that it necessarily should — a number of the films on this list serve as a towering monument to that philosophy. In an attempt...
Film is a medium that by its very nature has virtually limitless possibilities for self expression. With it, a filmmaker can tell any story, no matter how fantastic or bizarre. And normally, that’s a good thing. After all, where would we be without the bold experimentation of pioneering auteurs like George Melies or Dw Griffith? But as with anything, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing, and some experimental filmmakers have begun to abuse the privilege of having an intensely creative medium with which to work. While some of the films on this list are strange, but still innovative and groundbreaking in a genuinely positive way, others are just painful.
Just because something can be done doesn’t mean that it necessarily should — a number of the films on this list serve as a towering monument to that philosophy. In an attempt...
- 9/8/2014
- by Audrey Fox
- Obsessed with Film
“It is the job of the film critic to figure out the director’s point-of-view and then gauge how well the finished film matches that vision.”
Ok, that’s a severe paraphrasing, but at the time I heard the actual statement, it didn’t occur to me to record it for posterity. In fact, I didn’t even understand what Roger Ebert was saying when he uttered it during a segment on At the Movies in an admonishing tone to Richard Roeper.
Roeper didn’t “get” it either, throwing back at Ebert that it can’t the job of film reviewers to be mind readers. However, I have since come to realize that’s exactly what it is that a good reviewer is exactly supposed to do.
Film, particularly underground film that isn’t constrained by corporate, commercial or monied interests, is a visual, and sometimes aural, representation of a specific filmmaker’s vision.
Ok, that’s a severe paraphrasing, but at the time I heard the actual statement, it didn’t occur to me to record it for posterity. In fact, I didn’t even understand what Roger Ebert was saying when he uttered it during a segment on At the Movies in an admonishing tone to Richard Roeper.
Roeper didn’t “get” it either, throwing back at Ebert that it can’t the job of film reviewers to be mind readers. However, I have since come to realize that’s exactly what it is that a good reviewer is exactly supposed to do.
Film, particularly underground film that isn’t constrained by corporate, commercial or monied interests, is a visual, and sometimes aural, representation of a specific filmmaker’s vision.
- 4/5/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The Bradford International Film Festival is typically an underground-friendly fest. This year appears to be no exception with two very special experimental film retrospectives, as well as a few modern underground-type flicks.
The 19th annual Biff will roll on April 11-21 at several locations around Bradford and Leeds in England, including the National Media Museum, Hebden Bridge Picture House, Hyde Park Picture House and other venues.
Biff is hosting a tribute to Stan Brakhage this year by screening the prolific filmmaker’s magnum opus, Dog Star Man, as well as a selection of his short films, from 1963′s legendary Mothlight to 1994′s Black Ice. There’s also going to be an epic-sized tribute/retrospective of experimental films from Austria, a country with a proud avant-garde filmmaking tradition that’s typically overlooked.
From Austria, Biff is, of course, screening two works from one of the experimental film world’s biggest masters,...
The 19th annual Biff will roll on April 11-21 at several locations around Bradford and Leeds in England, including the National Media Museum, Hebden Bridge Picture House, Hyde Park Picture House and other venues.
Biff is hosting a tribute to Stan Brakhage this year by screening the prolific filmmaker’s magnum opus, Dog Star Man, as well as a selection of his short films, from 1963′s legendary Mothlight to 1994′s Black Ice. There’s also going to be an epic-sized tribute/retrospective of experimental films from Austria, a country with a proud avant-garde filmmaking tradition that’s typically overlooked.
From Austria, Biff is, of course, screening two works from one of the experimental film world’s biggest masters,...
- 3/11/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 8th annual Brakhage Center Symposium has been programmed by curator Kathy Geritz and will examine the concept of experimental narrative over three days of screenings and lectures on March 16-18 at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Geritz has pulled together a program in which experimental films explore notions of narrative through diverse means, whether combining with documentary or animated elements, or through nonlinear structure, or through the direct experience of time. As Geritz hopes: “In these different ways, the films presented will challenge and expand our expectations as they push the boundaries of storytelling conventions.”
Some of the filmmakers who will be present at the symposium are animators Stacey Steers and Chris Sullivan, experimental documentary filmmaker Amie Siegel and Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who will be screening his 1987 acclaimed feature film Syndromes and a Century and the more recent short film Emerald (2007).
Also, film critic and historian J.
Geritz has pulled together a program in which experimental films explore notions of narrative through diverse means, whether combining with documentary or animated elements, or through nonlinear structure, or through the direct experience of time. As Geritz hopes: “In these different ways, the films presented will challenge and expand our expectations as they push the boundaries of storytelling conventions.”
Some of the filmmakers who will be present at the symposium are animators Stacey Steers and Chris Sullivan, experimental documentary filmmaker Amie Siegel and Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who will be screening his 1987 acclaimed feature film Syndromes and a Century and the more recent short film Emerald (2007).
Also, film critic and historian J.
- 3/12/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Invigorated by the hope that "a new world is possible and latent already in the old one," the editors of the multi-lingual journal La Furia Umana launch Issue 10. Among the dozens of features, you'll find Fred Camper on Stan Brakhage, Joe McElhaney on Terrence Malick (and Lawrence French recalls meeting the director in 1978), Michael Guarneri's interview with Raya Martin, a roundtable discussion of the "post-cinematic" in the Paranormal Activity series and Cristina Álvarez López's photographic and textual essay on Bergman's Persona and Lynch's Inland Empire.
Bit by bit, the October issue of frieze is appearing online. Issue 142's "Life in Film" column comes from Deimantas Narkevičius, whose exhibition Restricted Sensation is on view in Paris through October 22. Also: Chris Wiley on Ryan Trecartin, Katie Kitamura on Cory Arcangel and Dan Kidner introduces a conversation: "In recent years, artists in the UK have increasingly turned to narrative cinema and mainstream TV,...
Bit by bit, the October issue of frieze is appearing online. Issue 142's "Life in Film" column comes from Deimantas Narkevičius, whose exhibition Restricted Sensation is on view in Paris through October 22. Also: Chris Wiley on Ryan Trecartin, Katie Kitamura on Cory Arcangel and Dan Kidner introduces a conversation: "In recent years, artists in the UK have increasingly turned to narrative cinema and mainstream TV,...
- 10/1/2011
- MUBI
On one level, reviewing Criterion's By Brakhage: An Anthology Blu-Ray box set is a straightforward task. This three Blu-Ray set is the largest collection of Stan Brakhage's works available on home video. Whats more, the presentation is of the highest possible quality. The difficulty of reviewing this release is multi-fold. The box contains over 11 hours worth of materials. Additionally, the relentlessly abstract nature of these films renders the formal critical toolkit inapplicable. So, instead of the usual approach, this review will focus on two major tasks: providing an overview of Stan Brakhage's films and examining Criterion's presentation of the films.
Stan Brakhage was an avant-garde filmmaker who created over 350 films between 1952 and 2003. His works, most of which were silent, generally involved some form of collage using 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm stock. He often mixed original footage, news reels and stock footage that ranged from the mundane to the surprisingly frank.
Stan Brakhage was an avant-garde filmmaker who created over 350 films between 1952 and 2003. His works, most of which were silent, generally involved some form of collage using 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm stock. He often mixed original footage, news reels and stock footage that ranged from the mundane to the surprisingly frank.
- 6/9/2010
- Screen Anarchy
First the history, then the list:
In 1969, Jerome Hill, P. Adams Sitney, Peter Kubelka, Stan Brakhage, and Jonas Mekas decided to open the world’s first museum devoted to film. Of course, a typical museum hangs its collections of artwork on the wall for visitors to walk up to and study. However, a film museum needs special considerations on how — and what, of course — to present its collection to the public.
Thus, for this film museum, first a film selection committee was formed that included James Broughton, Ken Kelman, Peter Kubelka, Jonas Mekas and P. Adams Sitney, plus, for a time, Stan Brakhage. This committee met over the course of several months to decide exactly what films would be collected and how they would be shown. The final selection of films would come to be called the The Essential Cinema Repertory.
The Essential Cinema Collection that the committee came up with consisted of about 330 films.
In 1969, Jerome Hill, P. Adams Sitney, Peter Kubelka, Stan Brakhage, and Jonas Mekas decided to open the world’s first museum devoted to film. Of course, a typical museum hangs its collections of artwork on the wall for visitors to walk up to and study. However, a film museum needs special considerations on how — and what, of course — to present its collection to the public.
Thus, for this film museum, first a film selection committee was formed that included James Broughton, Ken Kelman, Peter Kubelka, Jonas Mekas and P. Adams Sitney, plus, for a time, Stan Brakhage. This committee met over the course of several months to decide exactly what films would be collected and how they would be shown. The final selection of films would come to be called the The Essential Cinema Repertory.
The Essential Cinema Collection that the committee came up with consisted of about 330 films.
- 5/3/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The term “underground film” has never enjoyed a popular definition. Oh, some writers have attempted formal definitions, but I doubt there will ever be one that is popularly agreed upon. It’s not even a term that can be agreed upon to be used. But, it is used and I personally have billed this site “The Journal of Underground Film,” so I thought I’d give my general perception of what “underground film” might mean to contribute to an ongoing dialogue about it.
And I prefer to consider writing a post like this as contributing to a dialogue because I do not have any interest in trying to build a definition myself. However, what I can say is that “Underground film” is not a genre. Actually, what leads me to use the term “underground” is that it feels to me to be a catch-all for other genres.
Avant-garde, experimental, poem,...
And I prefer to consider writing a post like this as contributing to a dialogue because I do not have any interest in trying to build a definition myself. However, what I can say is that “Underground film” is not a genre. Actually, what leads me to use the term “underground” is that it feels to me to be a catch-all for other genres.
Avant-garde, experimental, poem,...
- 1/12/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.