Chicago – Before “Snow Angels”, “Prince Avalanche”, or even “The Sitter”, director David Gordon Green flexed his film school muscles in his unabashed inauguration, “George Washington”. Eying its body, the 2000 film shares qualities other first-timers huff when trying to be taken seriously by the arthouse crowd. Especially with the films that were assuredly motivated by Green’s work like 2012’s “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, “George Washington” celebrates storytelling instruments like whimsical young voiceover, shots that are equally distinct & questionable, and the raw potential of non-actors.
With crime becoming a famous trend for first-time directors hungry for authorship, (Tarantino, Anderson, R. Johnson, Malle, and Godard among others), Green chose the other option, to make an obscure film where the story is background to a thickly atmospheric foreground. (Oddly enough, Malick did both).
Rating: 4.5/5.0
But what makes “George Washington” more exceptional than its comparisons is its soul, which can be seen past...
With crime becoming a famous trend for first-time directors hungry for authorship, (Tarantino, Anderson, R. Johnson, Malle, and Godard among others), Green chose the other option, to make an obscure film where the story is background to a thickly atmospheric foreground. (Oddly enough, Malick did both).
Rating: 4.5/5.0
But what makes “George Washington” more exceptional than its comparisons is its soul, which can be seen past...
- 3/13/2014
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
As director David Gordon Green returns to the mind frame of independent cinema with a duo of films like Prince Avalanche and (especially) the soon to be theatrically released Joe, Criterion revamps his 2000 feature debut, George Washington at a time that seems ripe for reexamination both in Gordon’s own eclectic filmography and the American independent film scene at large. Insomuch as snagging a slot in the Criterion lineup with a debut film, Green’s title is a definitive standout (Lena Dunham’s 2010 feature Tiny Furniture also comes immediately to mind), and after almost a decade and half later, we can look back and see a brilliant filmmaker already working a magic rarely seen in the independent realm both then and (even more notably) now.
There is an omnipresent nostalgia to be felt while watching George Washington, whether it be your first viewing or one of several rewatches, as it concerns a group of kids,...
There is an omnipresent nostalgia to be felt while watching George Washington, whether it be your first viewing or one of several rewatches, as it concerns a group of kids,...
- 3/11/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: March 11, 2014
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
The acclaimed 2000 drama George Washington is the first feature-length film by director David Gordon Green (Your Highness, The Sitter).
The film follows a group of kids growing up in a depressed rural town in North Carolina, as seen through the eyes of 12-year-old Nasia (Candace Evanofski). After breaking up with her show-off boyfriend Buddy (Curtis Cotton III), she withdraws from her delinquent friends and becomes romantically interested in a strange, introverted boy named George (Donald Holden) who is burdened by the fact that his skull never hardened after birth. Tragedy strikes when George accidentally kills Buddy, and the group, fearing punishment, decides to hide his body. In its aftermath, George takes up the unlikely role of town hero.
An ambitiously constructed, elegantly photographed meditation on adolescence, Green’s movie features fine performances by its award-winning, young ensemble cast.
Criterion...
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
The acclaimed 2000 drama George Washington is the first feature-length film by director David Gordon Green (Your Highness, The Sitter).
The film follows a group of kids growing up in a depressed rural town in North Carolina, as seen through the eyes of 12-year-old Nasia (Candace Evanofski). After breaking up with her show-off boyfriend Buddy (Curtis Cotton III), she withdraws from her delinquent friends and becomes romantically interested in a strange, introverted boy named George (Donald Holden) who is burdened by the fact that his skull never hardened after birth. Tragedy strikes when George accidentally kills Buddy, and the group, fearing punishment, decides to hide his body. In its aftermath, George takes up the unlikely role of town hero.
An ambitiously constructed, elegantly photographed meditation on adolescence, Green’s movie features fine performances by its award-winning, young ensemble cast.
Criterion...
- 1/2/2014
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Craig here with this week's Take Three.
Today: Paul Schneider
Take One: Shining bright in the background
Schneider is the epitome of faded rakishness as Charles Armitage Brown, the somewhat disarmingly oily, though tender, poet pal and occasional gooseberry orbiting around both Ben Whishaw’s Keats and Abbie Cornish’s Fanny in Jane Campion's excellent Bright Star (2009). He is the film's third, understated star – his character is a gem of a role for an actor more averse to playing contemporary slackers.
Fanny on his mind. Schneider as Brown in Bright Star
Some found his Scottish accent a bit wavering, but I didn't notice anything odd about it (though it’s possible he may well have watched Billy Connelly clips as practice). The way he instills Brown with a larger-than-life robustness was endearing and playful; it was a sheer pleasure to watch him jauntily thrust himself front and centre into all social situations,...
Today: Paul Schneider
Take One: Shining bright in the background
Schneider is the epitome of faded rakishness as Charles Armitage Brown, the somewhat disarmingly oily, though tender, poet pal and occasional gooseberry orbiting around both Ben Whishaw’s Keats and Abbie Cornish’s Fanny in Jane Campion's excellent Bright Star (2009). He is the film's third, understated star – his character is a gem of a role for an actor more averse to playing contemporary slackers.
Fanny on his mind. Schneider as Brown in Bright Star
Some found his Scottish accent a bit wavering, but I didn't notice anything odd about it (though it’s possible he may well have watched Billy Connelly clips as practice). The way he instills Brown with a larger-than-life robustness was endearing and playful; it was a sheer pleasure to watch him jauntily thrust himself front and centre into all social situations,...
- 10/4/2010
- by Craig Bloomfield
- FilmExperience
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