Noted Hollywood publicist Mickey Cottrell passed away on January 1, 2024, at the age of 79. He was known throughout the 1990s for his advocacy of independent film, his knowledge of queer history, and his wild blowout parties. He promoted films like Jonatha Couette's "Tarnation," Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire," and Philip Noyce's "Dead Calm," as well as "Weekend," "Querelle," and "Earth Girls Are Easy."
Cottrell was so well-liked in the industry, and such an outsize character, that he would occasionally appear in films. In fact, he has several dozen acting credits to his name, many of them in indie queer films. He played a corpse in John Cameron Mitchell's "Shortbus," a barfly in "The Fluffer," and a mincing French aristocrat in league with demons in "Hellraiser: Bloodline." He was also the one who got to say "Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!" in Tim Burton's "Ed Wood." His first acting...
Cottrell was so well-liked in the industry, and such an outsize character, that he would occasionally appear in films. In fact, he has several dozen acting credits to his name, many of them in indie queer films. He played a corpse in John Cameron Mitchell's "Shortbus," a barfly in "The Fluffer," and a mincing French aristocrat in league with demons in "Hellraiser: Bloodline." He was also the one who got to say "Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!" in Tim Burton's "Ed Wood." His first acting...
- 2/7/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Mickey Cottrell, the dependable Hollywood publicist who went to bat for independent films for decades while also dabbling in acting and producing, has died. He was 79.
Cottrell died on New Year’s Day at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his friend Ian Birnie, former Lacma film curator, told The Hollywood Reporter. He suffered a major stroke in 2016.
Cottrell did PR for three Gus Van Sant-directed films: Drugstore Cowboy (1989), My Own Private Idaho (1991), where he also played the clean freak Daddy Carroll in the movie, and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993).
He also repped Bagdad Cafe (1987), Earth Girls Are Easy (1987), Phillip Noyce’s Dead Calm (1989), Tarnation (2003), Ballets Russes (2005), The Price of Sugar (2007), Skin (2008), Bill Cunningham New York (2010), Salt (2010) and Tab Hunter Confidential (2015), among many other films.
Films and filmmakers he represented were honored with eight Sundance jury prizes and three Oscars, he once noted.
Cottrell died on New Year’s Day at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his friend Ian Birnie, former Lacma film curator, told The Hollywood Reporter. He suffered a major stroke in 2016.
Cottrell did PR for three Gus Van Sant-directed films: Drugstore Cowboy (1989), My Own Private Idaho (1991), where he also played the clean freak Daddy Carroll in the movie, and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993).
He also repped Bagdad Cafe (1987), Earth Girls Are Easy (1987), Phillip Noyce’s Dead Calm (1989), Tarnation (2003), Ballets Russes (2005), The Price of Sugar (2007), Skin (2008), Bill Cunningham New York (2010), Salt (2010) and Tab Hunter Confidential (2015), among many other films.
Films and filmmakers he represented were honored with eight Sundance jury prizes and three Oscars, he once noted.
- 1/2/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mickey Cottrell, a veteran publicist for independent films known as a champion of filmmakers and actors, died Monday at the Motion Picture Hospital in Woodland Hills, his sister Suzy Cottrell confirmed. He was 79.
Cottrell had returned to Los Angeles in 2019 after living with his sister in Arkansas while he recovered from a stroke he suffered in 2016.
His sister remembered him on Facebook, writing, “My adorable, fun, critical, foodie, particular, brilliant, loving brother passed on to the next life early on New Year’s Day. He was smiling when he died. Mickey Cottrell will be missed by many.”
A fixture at film festivals, he was remembered by friends on Facebook as a generous and sassy raconteur, a devoted mentor, the “life of the party” who threw star-studded Sundance parties in the 1990s and an expert on gay Hollywood history.
Cottrell also acted in numerous small roles over the years, including turns...
Cottrell had returned to Los Angeles in 2019 after living with his sister in Arkansas while he recovered from a stroke he suffered in 2016.
His sister remembered him on Facebook, writing, “My adorable, fun, critical, foodie, particular, brilliant, loving brother passed on to the next life early on New Year’s Day. He was smiling when he died. Mickey Cottrell will be missed by many.”
A fixture at film festivals, he was remembered by friends on Facebook as a generous and sassy raconteur, a devoted mentor, the “life of the party” who threw star-studded Sundance parties in the 1990s and an expert on gay Hollywood history.
Cottrell also acted in numerous small roles over the years, including turns...
- 1/2/2024
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Shockingly (as the films I adore usually fly under the radar) but deservedly, this year’s winner of the Best International Feature Documentary Award at Hot Docs, first-time feature director Christian Einshøj’s The Mountains, proved to be a prime example of my mantra that the smaller and more specific the story, the more universal the reach. Influenced by Ross McElwee’s Sherman’s March (it thrills me just to type that), and also Jonathan Caouette’s Tarnation, the doc is equal parts oddball charming and emotionally devastating. As the (very specific) logline puts it: “Armed with 30 years of home video, 75,000 family photos […]
The post “The Result of On-Camera Conversations Spanning 15 Years”: Christian Einshøj on The Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “The Result of On-Camera Conversations Spanning 15 Years”: Christian Einshøj on The Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/14/2023
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Shockingly (as the films I adore usually fly under the radar) but deservedly, this year’s winner of the Best International Feature Documentary Award at Hot Docs, first-time feature director Christian Einshøj’s The Mountains, proved to be a prime example of my mantra that the smaller and more specific the story, the more universal the reach. Influenced by Ross McElwee’s Sherman’s March (it thrills me just to type that), and also Jonathan Caouette’s Tarnation, the doc is equal parts oddball charming and emotionally devastating. As the (very specific) logline puts it: “Armed with 30 years of home video, 75,000 family photos […]
The post “The Result of On-Camera Conversations Spanning 15 Years”: Christian Einshøj on The Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “The Result of On-Camera Conversations Spanning 15 Years”: Christian Einshøj on The Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/14/2023
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Jonathan Caouette, director of the award-winning autobiographical documentary “Tarnation,” is seeking donations to help cover the expenses of serious medical issues.
Friends of Caouette, including Marie Therese Guirgis, Stephen Winter, Brian Kates, John Cameron Mitchell and Gus Van Sant have helped organize a GoFundMe to help gather donations.
Caouette updated the fundraiser Monday stating that he is nearing a diagnosis of an underlying cause and is awaiting Mri results.
“Over the last several years Jonathan’s health has taken a very bad turn. He’s had a very serious and devastating infection that’s compromised all of his teeth, as well as several other serious and worrying chronic illnesses,” wrote Guirgis in the GoFundMe.
“Jonathan has spent the last few years in and out of the hospital, seen countless doctors, and received a great deal of medical treatment. Besides the excruciating physical pain and accompanying mental anguish, the loss of...
Friends of Caouette, including Marie Therese Guirgis, Stephen Winter, Brian Kates, John Cameron Mitchell and Gus Van Sant have helped organize a GoFundMe to help gather donations.
Caouette updated the fundraiser Monday stating that he is nearing a diagnosis of an underlying cause and is awaiting Mri results.
“Over the last several years Jonathan’s health has taken a very bad turn. He’s had a very serious and devastating infection that’s compromised all of his teeth, as well as several other serious and worrying chronic illnesses,” wrote Guirgis in the GoFundMe.
“Jonathan has spent the last few years in and out of the hospital, seen countless doctors, and received a great deal of medical treatment. Besides the excruciating physical pain and accompanying mental anguish, the loss of...
- 4/19/2023
- by Sophia Scorziello
- Variety Film + TV
Jonathan Caouette, the director whose breakthrough experimental personal doc Tarnation (2004) has proved both tremendously influential but never really matched in terms of formal inventiveness and emotional intensity, is facing significant health challenges, and friends and supporters have launched a GoFundMe to help. Marie Therese Guirgis, Stephen Winter, Brian Kates, John Cameron Mitchell, and Gus Van Sant are behind the fundraiser, which is currently just over midway to its $60,000 goal. Treatment is occurring abroad, and funds raised will go towards “crucial surgeries and medical care, his outstanding medical bills, and his living expenses while he undergoes this long and delicate process […]
The post GoFundMe Launches to Support Tarnation Director Jonathan Caouette’s Medical Expenses first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post GoFundMe Launches to Support Tarnation Director Jonathan Caouette’s Medical Expenses first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/11/2023
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Jonathan Caouette, the director whose breakthrough experimental personal doc Tarnation (2004) has proved both tremendously influential but never really matched in terms of formal inventiveness and emotional intensity, is facing significant health challenges, and friends and supporters have launched a GoFundMe to help. Marie Therese Guirgis, Stephen Winter, Brian Kates, John Cameron Mitchell, and Gus Van Sant are behind the fundraiser, which is currently just over midway to its $60,000 goal. Treatment is occurring abroad, and funds raised will go towards “crucial surgeries and medical care, his outstanding medical bills, and his living expenses while he undergoes this long and delicate process […]
The post GoFundMe Launches to Support Tarnation Director Jonathan Caouette’s Medical Expenses first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post GoFundMe Launches to Support Tarnation Director Jonathan Caouette’s Medical Expenses first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/11/2023
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Jonathan Caouette, the visionary documentarian behind movie memoir “Tarnation,” is currently seeking donations for medical treatment.
In a GoFundMe page set up by producers Marie Therese Guirgis, John Cameron Mitchell, Gus Van Sant, and Stephen Winter, Caouette’s chronic condition has been detailed.
“Over the last several years Jonathan’s health has taken a very bad turn,” Guirgis wrote. “He’s had a very serious and devastating infection that’s compromised all of his teeth, as well as several other serious and worrying chronic illnesses. Jonathan has spent the last few years in and out of the hospital, seen countless doctors, and received a great deal of medical treatment. Besides the excruciating physical pain and accompanying mental anguish, the loss of Jonathan’s teeth and the brutal infection in his mouth has meant that he’s been unable to work or even really leave the house. He’s had to...
In a GoFundMe page set up by producers Marie Therese Guirgis, John Cameron Mitchell, Gus Van Sant, and Stephen Winter, Caouette’s chronic condition has been detailed.
“Over the last several years Jonathan’s health has taken a very bad turn,” Guirgis wrote. “He’s had a very serious and devastating infection that’s compromised all of his teeth, as well as several other serious and worrying chronic illnesses. Jonathan has spent the last few years in and out of the hospital, seen countless doctors, and received a great deal of medical treatment. Besides the excruciating physical pain and accompanying mental anguish, the loss of Jonathan’s teeth and the brutal infection in his mouth has meant that he’s been unable to work or even really leave the house. He’s had to...
- 2/7/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
First-time directors have to start somewhere when making their first project and have to cut their teeth in film on a no-budget or micro-budget production. They take on multiple roles of producer, writer, costume designer, production and craft services to save money as there is no budget to hire professionals.
This can spark creative outcomes as the crew and their director have to focus on how to spend the budget, creating a standout indie film that can go on to rake it in at the box office and become a cult classic.
Director Robert Rodriguez’s breakthrough 1993 feature film, El Mariachi, was created on a shoestring budget of only $7,000, launching his career. It still holds the Guinness World Record for the lowest-budget film to gross $1 million at the box office.
Other first-time directors include Kevin Smith, who made Clerks on a $27,000 budget in 1994; David Lynch who created the cult classic...
This can spark creative outcomes as the crew and their director have to focus on how to spend the budget, creating a standout indie film that can go on to rake it in at the box office and become a cult classic.
Director Robert Rodriguez’s breakthrough 1993 feature film, El Mariachi, was created on a shoestring budget of only $7,000, launching his career. It still holds the Guinness World Record for the lowest-budget film to gross $1 million at the box office.
Other first-time directors include Kevin Smith, who made Clerks on a $27,000 budget in 1994; David Lynch who created the cult classic...
- 11/7/2022
- by Robert Lang
- Deadline Film + TV
Mubi is kicking off the new year with a selection of our 2021 highlights, including some of which haven’t picked up proper distribution yet. Most notably, their own release, Alexandre Koberidze’s dazzling What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?, will premiere along with a New Voices in Georgian Cinema series. Also arriving is Salomé Jashi’s Taming the Garden, Ana Katz’s The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet, Alex Camilleri’s Luzzu, and Nino Martínez Sosa’s Liborio.
As part of a series of first films, they’ll also feature works from Janicza Bravo, Noah Baumbach, Garrett Bradley, Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Terry Gilliam, and more. A double bill of Federico Fellini classics, Nights of Cabiria and The White Sheik, will also come to the platform.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
January 1 | Kicking & Screaming | Noah Baumbach | First Films First
January...
As part of a series of first films, they’ll also feature works from Janicza Bravo, Noah Baumbach, Garrett Bradley, Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Terry Gilliam, and more. A double bill of Federico Fellini classics, Nights of Cabiria and The White Sheik, will also come to the platform.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
January 1 | Kicking & Screaming | Noah Baumbach | First Films First
January...
- 12/17/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
David Wojnarowicz, a key figure of the 1980s art movement that flowered in the pavement cracks of New York’s pre-gentrified East Village, died of AIDS in 1992 at age 37. But Chris McKim’s defiantly alive collage documentary, Wojnarowicz: F**k You F*ggot F**ker, is so charged with the words and images of the multimedia artist it could almost be considered self-portraiture, often recalling Jonathan Caouette’s remarkable docu-narrative hybrid Tarnation. Assembled from the photographs, paintings and audio and video journals that Wojnarowicz recorded for most of his life, this impassioned personal testament should continue the work of the Whitney Museum’s ...
- 11/9/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
David Wojnarowicz, a key figure of the 1980s art movement that flowered in the pavement cracks of New York’s pre-gentrified East Village, died of AIDS in 1992 at age 37. But Chris McKim’s defiantly alive collage documentary, Wojnarowicz: F**k You F*ggot F**ker, is so charged with the words and images of the multimedia artist it could almost be considered self-portraiture, often recalling Jonathan Caouette’s remarkable docu-narrative hybrid Tarnation. Assembled from the photographs, paintings and audio and video journals that Wojnarowicz recorded for most of his life, this impassioned personal testament should continue the work of the Whitney Museum’s ...
- 11/9/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With readers turning to their home viewing options more than ever, this daily feature provides one new movie each day worth checking out on a major streaming platform.
Every year brings new evidence of DIY creativity emboldened by the technology at its disposal, from the rise of iPhone cinematography to TikTok stars, but nothing has embodied the artistic possibilities of the digital era more than Jonathan Couette’s “Tarnation.” The filmmaker’s 2003 debut is a poignant epic in miniature, assembled from years of home videos with abstract reflections on his complicated life and his mother’s struggles with her mental health. Couette never tries to hide the scrappy nature of his project, as its iMac filters and cheap intertitles lend the impression of a handmade operatic tone poem.
The $200 production remains a singular example of working within limited means without compromise. Even today, that visionary achievement feels as though it’s ahead of its time,...
Every year brings new evidence of DIY creativity emboldened by the technology at its disposal, from the rise of iPhone cinematography to TikTok stars, but nothing has embodied the artistic possibilities of the digital era more than Jonathan Couette’s “Tarnation.” The filmmaker’s 2003 debut is a poignant epic in miniature, assembled from years of home videos with abstract reflections on his complicated life and his mother’s struggles with her mental health. Couette never tries to hide the scrappy nature of his project, as its iMac filters and cheap intertitles lend the impression of a handmade operatic tone poem.
The $200 production remains a singular example of working within limited means without compromise. Even today, that visionary achievement feels as though it’s ahead of its time,...
- 6/23/2020
- by Eric Kohn
- Thompson on Hollywood
With readers turning to their home viewing options more than ever, this daily feature provides one new movie each day worth checking out on a major streaming platform.
Every year brings new evidence of DIY creativity emboldened by the technology at its disposal, from the rise of iPhone cinematography to TikTok stars, but nothing has embodied the artistic possibilities of the digital era more than Jonathan Couette’s “Tarnation.” The filmmaker’s 2003 debut is a poignant epic in miniature, assembled from years of home videos with abstract reflections on his complicated life and his mother’s struggles with her mental health. Couette never tries to hide the scrappy nature of his project, as its iMac filters and cheap intertitles lend the impression of a handmade operatic tone poem.
The $200 production remains a singular example of working within limited means without compromise. Even today, that visionary achievement feels as though it’s ahead of its time,...
Every year brings new evidence of DIY creativity emboldened by the technology at its disposal, from the rise of iPhone cinematography to TikTok stars, but nothing has embodied the artistic possibilities of the digital era more than Jonathan Couette’s “Tarnation.” The filmmaker’s 2003 debut is a poignant epic in miniature, assembled from years of home videos with abstract reflections on his complicated life and his mother’s struggles with her mental health. Couette never tries to hide the scrappy nature of his project, as its iMac filters and cheap intertitles lend the impression of a handmade operatic tone poem.
The $200 production remains a singular example of working within limited means without compromise. Even today, that visionary achievement feels as though it’s ahead of its time,...
- 6/23/2020
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Few filmmakers are so acutely skilled at bringing the interior lives and personal pains of young men to life as “Tarnation” filmmaker Jonathan Caouette, who so memorably did just that with his own lauded feature debut: the 2003 documentary “Tarnation.” Since the introduction of both “Tarnation” and Caouette to the indie film scene, the filmmaker has spent most of his creative time working on both music-centric offerings, like co-directing the festival-focused “All Tomorrow’s Parties,” and continuing to reexamine his own experiences through deeply personal docs, like “Walk Away Renee,” which again focused on his relationship with his mother.
Next up: a smart marrying of his interests, care of a brand-new music video for Nyles Lannon (formerly known as N. Lannon), which uses memory, inventive filmmaking, and a clear love for music to tell a story about one boy growing up and, per the song’s own title, “hiding” in some complex ways.
Next up: a smart marrying of his interests, care of a brand-new music video for Nyles Lannon (formerly known as N. Lannon), which uses memory, inventive filmmaking, and a clear love for music to tell a story about one boy growing up and, per the song’s own title, “hiding” in some complex ways.
- 2/27/2019
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
From the producer of Unfriended (Timur Bekmambetov) comes the brand new trailer for Sundance 2018 hit Searching, starring John Cho and Debra Messing.
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired worldwide rights to the thriller at a reported $5 million after it’s debut at the festival.
After David Kim (John Cho)’s 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter’s laptop. In a hyper-modern thriller told via the technology devices we use every day to communicate, David must trace his daughter’s digital footprints before she disappears forever.
The film was met with glowing reviews from Sundance earlier this year:
Variety – ““Search” is one of those movies, like “Tarnation” or “The Blair Witch Project,” so...
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired worldwide rights to the thriller at a reported $5 million after it’s debut at the festival.
After David Kim (John Cho)’s 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter’s laptop. In a hyper-modern thriller told via the technology devices we use every day to communicate, David must trace his daughter’s digital footprints before she disappears forever.
The film was met with glowing reviews from Sundance earlier this year:
Variety – ““Search” is one of those movies, like “Tarnation” or “The Blair Witch Project,” so...
- 5/10/2018
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Amanda Seyfried as Mary in First Reformed Sundance London has announced additions to its programme, including Paul Shrader's First Reformed, starring Amanda Seyfried and Ethan Hawke.
The festival - which will run from May 31 to June 3 at Picturehouse Central in London has also announced a programme selection entitled Films That Made Me, which will feature movies that inspured the work of Jennifer Fox, Debra Granik and Desiree Akhavan - all of whom have films screening at the event.
Thriller First Reformed stars Hawke as a Reform church pasotr forced to confront his tormented past. It is an unusual addition to the programme in that it did not screen at Sundance in January.
The Films That Made Me selection sees The Tale director Fox select Jonathan Caouette's Tarnation from 2003. Granik, whose Leave No Trace will screen at the festival, has chosen Celine Sciamma's 2014 film Girlhood and The Miseducation Of Cameron Post helmer Akhavan.
The festival - which will run from May 31 to June 3 at Picturehouse Central in London has also announced a programme selection entitled Films That Made Me, which will feature movies that inspured the work of Jennifer Fox, Debra Granik and Desiree Akhavan - all of whom have films screening at the event.
Thriller First Reformed stars Hawke as a Reform church pasotr forced to confront his tormented past. It is an unusual addition to the programme in that it did not screen at Sundance in January.
The Films That Made Me selection sees The Tale director Fox select Jonathan Caouette's Tarnation from 2003. Granik, whose Leave No Trace will screen at the festival, has chosen Celine Sciamma's 2014 film Girlhood and The Miseducation Of Cameron Post helmer Akhavan.
- 4/28/2018
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
New additions include a ‘Films That Made Me’ strand featuring Jennifer Fox, Debra Granik and Desiree Akhavan.
Sundance London (May 31-June 3) has topped up its programme ahead of its sixth edition, which will be held at Picturehouse Central in London.
The new additions include the UK premiere of First Reformed, Paul Schrader’s thriller about a pastor experiencing a crisis of faith, starring Ethan Hawke (Before Sunrise).
Unlike most Sundance London titles, it did not screen in Utah this January, instead premiering at Venice Film Festival in August 2017. Hawke will be present for an extended introduction before the film.
Also...
Sundance London (May 31-June 3) has topped up its programme ahead of its sixth edition, which will be held at Picturehouse Central in London.
The new additions include the UK premiere of First Reformed, Paul Schrader’s thriller about a pastor experiencing a crisis of faith, starring Ethan Hawke (Before Sunrise).
Unlike most Sundance London titles, it did not screen in Utah this January, instead premiering at Venice Film Festival in August 2017. Hawke will be present for an extended introduction before the film.
Also...
- 4/27/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Stephen K. Bannon’s ascension from Breitbart News executive to President-elect Donald Trump’s chief White House strategist and senior counselor shocked the world, in no small part because the alt-right figure has no background in government management. However, it’s not the first time Bannon has attempted to lead an industry outside of his professional experience. Bannon’s new role may be an ideal platform for propagandistic ambitions, but his career in independent film — first in distribution, then production — casts doubt on how much he believes in any of it.
Ten years ago, Bannon oversaw the distribution of independent films released by Wellspring Media, a company that supported a wide range of international cinema as well as gay-themed and other “transgressive” titles. Movies acquired and released under his tenure include the experimental Lgbt documentary “Tarnation” and “Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry,” a pro-Kerry documentary that opened during the 2004 election.
Ten years ago, Bannon oversaw the distribution of independent films released by Wellspring Media, a company that supported a wide range of international cinema as well as gay-themed and other “transgressive” titles. Movies acquired and released under his tenure include the experimental Lgbt documentary “Tarnation” and “Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry,” a pro-Kerry documentary that opened during the 2004 election.
- 11/21/2016
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Karen Guthrie documents the surprise return of her estranged father, and reveals much about family dynamics in the process
This exceptionally candid documentary – perhaps the closest British equivalent to Jonathan Caouette’s Tarnation – transforms the camera into a therapeutic tool to reassess a complex family history. Recalled home to Largs after her mother suffers a stroke, film-maker Karen Guthrie encounters a surprise houseguest: her estranged father, Ian, returning to the fold years after starting an affair while working in Djibouti in north-east Africa. Given the relation between director and subjects, we expect the heightened intimacy, but here the subsequent silences, awkward small talk and sudden emotional outpourings have been stitched into an epic chamber play. There have been few more perceptive and empathetic non-fiction portraits of the hold a particular kind of patrician male can exert over those around them. Some scenes, inevitably, make painful viewing, but Guthrie proves fearless...
This exceptionally candid documentary – perhaps the closest British equivalent to Jonathan Caouette’s Tarnation – transforms the camera into a therapeutic tool to reassess a complex family history. Recalled home to Largs after her mother suffers a stroke, film-maker Karen Guthrie encounters a surprise houseguest: her estranged father, Ian, returning to the fold years after starting an affair while working in Djibouti in north-east Africa. Given the relation between director and subjects, we expect the heightened intimacy, but here the subsequent silences, awkward small talk and sudden emotional outpourings have been stitched into an epic chamber play. There have been few more perceptive and empathetic non-fiction portraits of the hold a particular kind of patrician male can exert over those around them. Some scenes, inevitably, make painful viewing, but Guthrie proves fearless...
- 11/5/2015
- by Mike McCahill
- The Guardian - Film News
Complete list of winners and nominees of the 2014 Grammy Awards, held in Los Angeles at the Staples Center on Sunday February 8. Winners will be updated as they're announced during the telecast and pre-telecast. Record Of The Year “Fancy,” Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli Xcx “Chandelier,” Sia **Winner** “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” Sam Smith “Shake It Off,” Taylor Swift “All About That Bass,” Meghan Trainor Album Of The Year **Winner** “Morning Phase,” Beck “Beyoncé,” Beyoncé “X,” Ed Sheeran “In The Lonely Hour,” Sam Smith “Girl,” Pharrell Williams Song Of The Year “All About That Bass,” Kevin Kadish & Meghan Trainor, songwriters (Meghan Trainor) “Chandelier,” Sia Furler & Jesse Shatkin, songwriters (Sia) “Shake It Off,” Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift) **Winner** “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters (Sam Smith) “Take Me To Church,” Andrew Hozier-Byrne, songwriter (Hozier) Best New Artist Iggy Azalea Bastille Brandy Clark...
- 2/8/2015
- by Donna Dickens
- Hitfix
Hemogobble: Turkel’s Latest Assay into Misanthropy
Indie filmmaker Onor Turkel seems determined to remain hilariously unlikeable as his self-effacing, self-directed on-screen alter ego with his latest feature, Summer of Blood, a title which just so happens to formulate the acronym Sob. A pathetic, socially defunct scion of selfishness that recalls the comedic weirdness of performers such as Eric Wareheim or Tim Heidecker, Turkel’s protagonist is often impossible to like (even if we’re supposed to find him entertaining). Of course, the irony Turkel plays with here as he tinges his film with genre, is that he only becomes humane when he transforms into something inhuman.
Lumpy, unkempt and emotionally distant, we meet Eric Sparrow (Turkel) having dinner with longtime girlfriend Jody (Anna Margaret Hollyman). She hands him a ring, which is meant to be a proposal, though she doesn’t quite receive the answer she’d been expecting,...
Indie filmmaker Onor Turkel seems determined to remain hilariously unlikeable as his self-effacing, self-directed on-screen alter ego with his latest feature, Summer of Blood, a title which just so happens to formulate the acronym Sob. A pathetic, socially defunct scion of selfishness that recalls the comedic weirdness of performers such as Eric Wareheim or Tim Heidecker, Turkel’s protagonist is often impossible to like (even if we’re supposed to find him entertaining). Of course, the irony Turkel plays with here as he tinges his film with genre, is that he only becomes humane when he transforms into something inhuman.
Lumpy, unkempt and emotionally distant, we meet Eric Sparrow (Turkel) having dinner with longtime girlfriend Jody (Anna Margaret Hollyman). She hands him a ring, which is meant to be a proposal, though she doesn’t quite receive the answer she’d been expecting,...
- 10/17/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
After causing something of a sensation with his debut feature Tarnation, director Jonathan Caouette went and got himself all weirded up for his subsequent Chloe Sevigny starring short film All Flowers In Time. How weird? Well, here's the official synopsis:"I am not from this place" declares a French cowboy. An old toothless man asks, "Do you know why you're here?". These shape shifting personalities infect young children with an evil signal in the form of a Dutch TV show. The red eyed girls and boys believe they can now become other people and monsters much to their delight.Yep, this is essentially Caouette doing the sort of thing David Lynch hasn't done for quite some time now and doing it quite well. The short was fairly...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 11/26/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Nothing Human Loves Forever: Cassavetes’ Feature Debut Gloriously Vintage
Xan Cassavetes joins the family directorial legacy with her feature debut, Kiss of the Damned, a deliciously vintage throwback to the erotic horror output of the Hammer studio heyday. Previously, this Cassavetes was responsible for a 2004 documentary Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession, and her fiction debut seems considerably removed both from her own work and that of the familial output. A visual feast with a killer sound design, she manages to invoke Stephanie Rothman and Jean Rollin, where naughty immortal creatures from the dark side explore a bloodlust as inextinguishable as their sexual desires.
Djuna (Josephine de La Baume), a beautiful, lovelorn vampire residing in a remote mansion in the Connecticut countryside spends her nights hunting animals in the surrounding woods and watching vintage cinema. The residence belongs to Xenia (Anna Mougalalis), an actress and older, wiser vampire, but the estate...
Xan Cassavetes joins the family directorial legacy with her feature debut, Kiss of the Damned, a deliciously vintage throwback to the erotic horror output of the Hammer studio heyday. Previously, this Cassavetes was responsible for a 2004 documentary Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession, and her fiction debut seems considerably removed both from her own work and that of the familial output. A visual feast with a killer sound design, she manages to invoke Stephanie Rothman and Jean Rollin, where naughty immortal creatures from the dark side explore a bloodlust as inextinguishable as their sexual desires.
Djuna (Josephine de La Baume), a beautiful, lovelorn vampire residing in a remote mansion in the Connecticut countryside spends her nights hunting animals in the surrounding woods and watching vintage cinema. The residence belongs to Xenia (Anna Mougalalis), an actress and older, wiser vampire, but the estate...
- 5/1/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
DVD Release Date: April 30, 2013
Price: DVD $24.98
Studio: IFC Films
Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette follows up his 2003 documentary Tarnation with another movie about him and his mentally ill mother, Walk Away Renee.
In the earlier film, Caouette culled together snapshots, Super-8 footage, answering machine messages, video diaries and early short films to document his growing up with a schizophrenic mother. In Walk Away Renee, Caouette films his road trip to move his mother from Texas to New York, which both tightens and tests their bond.
Along the way, they tackle roadblocks including Renee’s mood-stabilizing medications and get glimpses of moments from their past. As Renee fights to maintain a grip on reality, Caouette is faced with deciding between sanity and mortality, familial devotion and personal survival.
Again, Caouette mixes film types, using candid home movies, split-screen verite musical montage, hallucinatory psychedelia and both real and imagined dramas.
Screened in a brief run in theaters,...
Price: DVD $24.98
Studio: IFC Films
Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette follows up his 2003 documentary Tarnation with another movie about him and his mentally ill mother, Walk Away Renee.
In the earlier film, Caouette culled together snapshots, Super-8 footage, answering machine messages, video diaries and early short films to document his growing up with a schizophrenic mother. In Walk Away Renee, Caouette films his road trip to move his mother from Texas to New York, which both tightens and tests their bond.
Along the way, they tackle roadblocks including Renee’s mood-stabilizing medications and get glimpses of moments from their past. As Renee fights to maintain a grip on reality, Caouette is faced with deciding between sanity and mortality, familial devotion and personal survival.
Again, Caouette mixes film types, using candid home movies, split-screen verite musical montage, hallucinatory psychedelia and both real and imagined dramas.
Screened in a brief run in theaters,...
- 4/5/2013
- by Sam
- Disc Dish
What follows is an exchange between Josh Timmermann (a fellow critic and Vancouver resident, who you may recall from this) and I, wherein we discuss the Vancouver International Film Festival and its individual parts, a chance to color outside the lines a bit and discuss the ins and outs of our festival experiences.
Context!
Above: Granville 7 Theatre, Viff's primary venue.
Adam Cook: I’ve been attending Viff since 2008—and you’ve been attending since 2007—so it seems kind of safe to say we’re well on our way to being veterans of the festival; although, this claim is humbled when encountering someone like Chuck Stephens—a member of this year’s Dragons & Tigers jury—who has been coming (from out of town, no less) for something like twenty years. However, five years of Viff-going has equipped me with a knack for knowing how to approach the festival, how to navigate the programming—and,...
Context!
Above: Granville 7 Theatre, Viff's primary venue.
Adam Cook: I’ve been attending Viff since 2008—and you’ve been attending since 2007—so it seems kind of safe to say we’re well on our way to being veterans of the festival; although, this claim is humbled when encountering someone like Chuck Stephens—a member of this year’s Dragons & Tigers jury—who has been coming (from out of town, no less) for something like twenty years. However, five years of Viff-going has equipped me with a knack for knowing how to approach the festival, how to navigate the programming—and,...
- 11/8/2012
- by Adam Cook
- MUBI
Twenty-five years ago, filmmaker Jim Hubbard and writer Sarah Schulman started the Mix NYC festival for queer experimental film. Over time, the festival has been crucial to the careers of many queer filmmakers. Jonathan Caouette debuted "Tarnation" at the festival. Mix was the fiscal sponsor for Sandi DuBowski's documentary "Trembling Before G-d." Todd Haynes, Jennie Livingston and Christine Vachon have all screened works there. MoMA's Chief Film Curator Rajendra Roy is a former Director of the festival. In its 25th year, the roaming festival rages on in a location in the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn (near the Atlantic Avenue train hub). In addition to the annual week of screenings, Mix also runs the Act Up Oral History Project (still maintained by Hubbard and Schulman, which recently was used to assemble the feature film "United in Anger," directed by Hubbard), a preservation program, and a production...
- 11/6/2012
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
It's my birthday today, which means naturally I'm looking at movie listings for tonight and tomorrow. Should I finally see Argo, convince my husband to watch Cloud Atlas with me or give Wreck-It Ralph a chance? After reading Chale's Austin Polish Film Festival previews (parts one and two), I'm tempted to spend the weekend at The Marchesa. Otherwise, tonight's an unusually poor night for special screenings unless I want to go to a Dumb and Dumber quote-along, and considering I walked out of that movie when I saw it in a theater I'll pass. Besides, my husband keeps promising he's taking me to a fancy dinner at McDonald's.
On Saturday and Sunday, Alamo Ritz brings back its 70mm series with Cleopatra, that gorgeous flop with Elizabeth Taylor in the title role. And while I'm not a big cocktail girl, I do dearly love A Fish Called Wanda, which Alamo is...
- 11/2/2012
- by Jette Kernion
- Slackerwood
Title: Walk Away Renee Director: Jonathan Caouette In 2004 Jonathan Caouette made a film, “Tarnation,” about his tumultuous upbringing with his maternal grandparents and fractured, on-and-off-again relationship with his disturbed mother, Renee LeBlanc, who suffered from psychosis after undergoing shock treatments in her adolescence following a period of time being paralyzed. The movie, which screened at Sundance and Cannes, became something of a media sensation for being edited on free iMovie software on a Mac and having a budget of only a couple hundred dollars (though subsequently brushed up sonically prior to a theatrical release), but it was no parlor trick. An intense and unsettling autobiographical bricolage, the movie had important things [ Read More ]...
- 8/9/2012
- by bsimon
- ShockYa
Jonathan Caouette made a name for himself some years back with his debut feature "Tarnation," a manic, prodding look into his family, created on the cheap using home videos and the trusty iMovie program. His stock blew up, and a successful screening at the Sundance Film Festival eventually lead to him helming the "All Tomorrow's Parties" documentary and a personal horror short "All Flowers In Time."
But the story about Caouette and his mother Renee Leblanc wasn't over, and the director revisited this for "Walk Away Renee," a documentary that serves as a sequel/proper-ending to his astonishingly affecting first film. You can check out "Walk Away Renee" right now online at SundanceNow, and in preparation for its release we spoke to Jonathan about its germination, the difficulty of making a work so intimate, and what he's up to for his next project.
Isn't That The Title Of...
Fans of...
But the story about Caouette and his mother Renee Leblanc wasn't over, and the director revisited this for "Walk Away Renee," a documentary that serves as a sequel/proper-ending to his astonishingly affecting first film. You can check out "Walk Away Renee" right now online at SundanceNow, and in preparation for its release we spoke to Jonathan about its germination, the difficulty of making a work so intimate, and what he's up to for his next project.
Isn't That The Title Of...
Fans of...
- 6/29/2012
- by Christopher Bell
- The Playlist
I’ve been struggling to find a metaphor for the very special, not to mention most unusual, connection between director Jonathan Caouette and Renee Leblanc, his mentally ill and frequently institutionalized mother and the subject of his most recent film, Walk Away Renee. The closest I could come is really a parallel, and it lies within Caouette’s body of work. In his 2010 surreal short All Flowers in Time, a beautiful young woman, played by Chloe Sevigny, has an indefinable relationship with an adolescent boy. In a bizarre world where young people’s eyes can turn glowing red, the two seem to be close, in what way we do not know. At certain points, they look at each other with their neon-looking eyes, make faces, and giggle, but, above all, a supernormal affection emanates from this experimental narrative.
Asked to explain his and his mother’s amazing rapport, Caouette, now 39, responds,...
Asked to explain his and his mother’s amazing rapport, Caouette, now 39, responds,...
- 6/28/2012
- by Howard Feinstein
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Walk Away Renee, Jonathan Caouette’s follow-up/sequel to Tarnation, is having its big day today, with both the “real-world” premiere of the new cut of the film playing at BAMcinemaFest tonight, and also its simultaneous online premiere through SundanceNOW’s Doc Club.
Howard Feinstein had an excellent, long chat with Caouette which just went live on the Filmmaker site, and we’re also very pleased to have an exclusive clip from Walk Away Renee which captures one of the more experimental moments from Caouette’s portrait of the relationship between himself and his mentally ill mother, Renee LeBlanc.
… Read the rest...
Howard Feinstein had an excellent, long chat with Caouette which just went live on the Filmmaker site, and we’re also very pleased to have an exclusive clip from Walk Away Renee which captures one of the more experimental moments from Caouette’s portrait of the relationship between himself and his mentally ill mother, Renee LeBlanc.
… Read the rest...
- 6/27/2012
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Born out of a truck load of home videos, answering machine recordings, and photographs, Jonathan Caouette's 2003 autobiographical "Tarnation" was a dearly personal and often frightening no-holds-barred look into a family torn apart by a tortured past. Cobbled together with iMovie before YouTube was even a twinkle in a vlogger's eye, the film bleeds honesty and its fearless look at the subjects (including the director himself) can be downright terrifying at times. But it wasn't just a family arguing or bitterly digging into old wounds -- Caouette had a manic, assaulting editing style and a penchant for some truly disturbing experimental sequences, an aesthetic that exhibited their emotional states in a fresh, genuinely perturbing way. A hit at the Sundance Film Festival, the movie went on to gather a number of ecstatic supporters and thrust the director into the spotlight. We're now in 2012, and after helming documentary "All Tomorrow's Parties...
- 6/27/2012
- by Christopher Bell
- The Playlist
When Jonathan Caouette made his feature debut "Tarnation," he took the indie world by storm. The miniscule dollar figure he made it for (before preparing it for a festival and theatrical runs) made headlines, and Gus Van Sant and John Cameron Mitchell came on board as Executive Producers, eager to usher the film into the world. For almost a decade, Caouette has been sitting with the footage of his life -- footage of his grandparents, his boyfriend, his son, and, most notably, his mother Renée Leblanc. Throughout both "Tarnation" and "Walk Away Renée," Caouette shows the tender love between himself and his mother. Some moments in both films turn less than tender; Leblanc came into mental illness after sustained electroshock therapy earlier in life. Now, lithium, which can be lethal, is the only thing that stabilizes her. Indiewire caught up with Caouette in anticipation of the film's North American...
- 6/26/2012
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
Back in 2003, Jonathan Caouette dug through years of home video and answering machine recordings to assemble his debut feature film, the incredibly intimate documentary “Tarnation.” Focusing on his childhood and relationship with a schizophrenic mother (suffering from such disorders due to shock therapy), the movie was an intense punch to the gut, a frenetic autobiography that exposed a rather frightening and ugly side of family. After dabbling in other projects (including music festival doc "All Tomorrow's Parties" and the short film "All Flowers In Time" with Chloë Sevigny), Caouette has returned to the well with “Walk Away Renee,” a sequel which follows the director and his mother as they road trip to her new home in a New York-based assisted-living facility. Things are complicated after the duo discovers that most of the Renee’s medication has been lost and the prescriptions cannot be replenished until they reach her new home.
- 6/22/2012
- by Christopher Bell
- The Playlist
Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects and its digital sister, SundanceNOW and Thom Powers, curator for SundanceNOW.s Doc Club, announced on Thursday that director Jonathan Caouette.s documentary Walk Away Renee will have its North American premiere as part of the website.s new Svod (Subscriber Video-on-Demand) program Doc Club. The film, which premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and is the follow-up to Caouette.s 2004 groundbreaking hit Tarnation, will be released simultaneous with its North American Premiere on Wednesday, June 27th at BAMcinemaFest 2012. Doc Club subscribers will be able to download or stream the film as part of the June offerings entitled Up Close And Personal or the film can be rented on SundanceNOW for $6.99.
In Walk Away Renee, Caouette embarks on a road trip to move his mentally ill motherRenee across the country. As they encounter roadblocks in the present, we begin to flash back to moments from the past,...
In Walk Away Renee, Caouette embarks on a road trip to move his mentally ill motherRenee across the country. As they encounter roadblocks in the present, we begin to flash back to moments from the past,...
- 5/21/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
When discussing the lineup at the upcoming BAMcinemaFEST a while back, I noted that a new cut of Walk Away Renee, Jonathan Caouette’s long-awaited follow-up to Tarnation, would be playing as part of the festival on June 27. While that’s exciting news on its own, now comes word of a very savvy move by IFC to capitalize on the interest in the film by giving the film a simultaneous online premiere on SundanceNOW’s Doc Club, the Svod (Subscriber Video-on-Demand) series curated by documentary maven Thom Powers.
“Walk Away Renee makes a perfect headliner for the June [Doc Club] theme of ‘Up Close and Personal,’” said Powers. “Jonathan Caouette directs with such intimacy that viewers feel like a member of his family. I was blown away by this film at Cannes last year and look forward to sharing it with a greater audience.”
“Walk Away Renee was developed from equal parts love,...
“Walk Away Renee makes a perfect headliner for the June [Doc Club] theme of ‘Up Close and Personal,’” said Powers. “Jonathan Caouette directs with such intimacy that viewers feel like a member of his family. I was blown away by this film at Cannes last year and look forward to sharing it with a greater audience.”
“Walk Away Renee was developed from equal parts love,...
- 5/18/2012
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
BAMcinemaFest, which in its fourth year has already gained a reputation for hosting the New York premieres of the year's strongest indie fare, has released a list of eleven titles that will premiere at this year's festival. The list of eleven films includes hits from Sundance, Cannes, SXSW, Slamdance and more. Included among the screenings is the Us premiere of Jonathan Caouette's ("Tarnation") second feature, "Walk Away Renee," which got picked up by IFC after its Cannes debut and, like "Tarnation" before it, took a few months to be recut after premiering. Films from So Yong Kim, Ry Russo-Young, Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady are amongst the first films to be announced. The festival, which is part of the Brooklyn film mainstay Bam, will run from June 20-July 1, 2012. The announced films, with descriptions provided by Bam, are below: The narrative slate will include: The Comedy (Rick Alverson) NY...
- 3/28/2012
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
Chronicle gives the “realistic” superhero movie a +1 level up from Unbreakable, giving us a step closer to believing “what it would look like if superheroes existed in our world,” but it also a hybrid of a few other types of films. It takes the “found footage” concept film past what we were introduced to in The Blair Witch Project, and expanded to in Cloverfield (with a much steadier camera hand), and combines it with an autobiographical documentary like Jonathan Caouette’s Tarnation.
Over 90% of the “footage” belongs to Andrew (Dane DeHaan, In Treatment) the high school social pariah who buys a high-end (and large) video camera to record his adolescent years, good experiences or bad. We’re not given a reason why he chooses to document his life in this manner. Maybe he hopes to capture the varied high school experience, or his own coming of age; what he gets...
Over 90% of the “footage” belongs to Andrew (Dane DeHaan, In Treatment) the high school social pariah who buys a high-end (and large) video camera to record his adolescent years, good experiences or bad. We’re not given a reason why he chooses to document his life in this manner. Maybe he hopes to capture the varied high school experience, or his own coming of age; what he gets...
- 2/6/2012
- by Ernie Estrella
- BuzzFocus.com
The cinema: paradise, at times, but many are the sins that writers, directors, cinema owners and fellow audience members can commit to bring the whole experience swiftly down to the ground. Dante came up with nine different levels of torture in his vision of Inferno, so allow me to lead you through cinema’s lower depths, from bad to worse.
1) Ads, trailers and anti-piracy policing
Remember the days when they’d show a short film before the main feature? Me neither, unfortunately. The same talented people who would have made short films in the old days are now employed to make commercials. Ads can be entertaining, even beautiful. But most are conformist, trying to convince us that products create happiness. What’s worse, regular cinema-goers are subjected to the same ads for months. Next come the trailers, which typically give away all the best parts of upcoming new releases. So...
1) Ads, trailers and anti-piracy policing
Remember the days when they’d show a short film before the main feature? Me neither, unfortunately. The same talented people who would have made short films in the old days are now employed to make commercials. Ads can be entertaining, even beautiful. But most are conformist, trying to convince us that products create happiness. What’s worse, regular cinema-goers are subjected to the same ads for months. Next come the trailers, which typically give away all the best parts of upcoming new releases. So...
- 12/13/2011
- by Alison Frank
- The Moving Arts Journal
In recent years France has been among the front-runners in pushing the boundaries of modern horror. With such offerings as Frontier(s), Inside and High Tension, French filmmakers have been making us seriously squirm. It is with this reminder of the quality of their filmmaking that we at Dread Central bring you an announcement of the film list from the 17th Annual L'Etrange Festival, France's biggest horror film festival.
With over 70 films being screened and more than 17,000 attendees expected to descend on Paris, Le'Etrange Festival
Below we have the Complete listing of the festival's events:
From the Press Release
L’Étrange Festival – a unique event bringing filmgoers a fascinating roster of provocative and eye-opening films – is thrilled to announce the line-up for its 17th edition, September 2 – 11, 2011 in Paris, France.
The 2011 line-up continues the tradition of highlighting emerging talent, paying homage to independent-minded filmmakers and featuring a truly diverse program that includes cutting-edge works,...
With over 70 films being screened and more than 17,000 attendees expected to descend on Paris, Le'Etrange Festival
Below we have the Complete listing of the festival's events:
From the Press Release
L’Étrange Festival – a unique event bringing filmgoers a fascinating roster of provocative and eye-opening films – is thrilled to announce the line-up for its 17th edition, September 2 – 11, 2011 in Paris, France.
The 2011 line-up continues the tradition of highlighting emerging talent, paying homage to independent-minded filmmakers and featuring a truly diverse program that includes cutting-edge works,...
- 8/25/2011
- by Doctor Gash
- DreadCentral.com
Director Dick Jane made a bit of a splash last year when his film 0, 1, 2, 3, 1, 0 - Null, eins, zwei, drei, eins, null played at Action Fest. The short about a woman struggling with the death of her husband at the hands of his lover, struck me with its intense visual style and innovative storytelling. The style of Jane's debut reminded me of Jonathan Caouette's Tarnation, an interesting approach that I hadn't seen replicated with much success but which services Jane's film well.
Since its premiere, Jane has been busy on a follow-up project and though I Killed Santa doesn't appear to be quite as dark as his first, there's still quite a load of edginess stirring the pot in this very colourful tale of a man obsessed with Santa that he goes a little crazy when the local mall doesn't rehire him for his yearly Santa gig.
I Killed Santa...
Since its premiere, Jane has been busy on a follow-up project and though I Killed Santa doesn't appear to be quite as dark as his first, there's still quite a load of edginess stirring the pot in this very colourful tale of a man obsessed with Santa that he goes a little crazy when the local mall doesn't rehire him for his yearly Santa gig.
I Killed Santa...
- 8/23/2011
- QuietEarth.us
When I saw Jonathan Caouette's "Tarnation" for the first time (my Netflix history shows it as rented in June 2005), I found it to be a useless collage of self-indulgence and student-film artiness. I wasn't aware back then of the whole range of nonfiction film, that autobiographical documentary is such a populous genre and apparently enough people are interested in nobodies who make movies about their depressing lives. And admittedly I was probably a bit jealous. Why hadn't I thought to make an avant-garde memoir about my family that would simply involve editing home movie footage together on a gifted…...
- 7/26/2011
- Spout
Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette dropped a bit of a bombshell Wednesday evening during an event at the 92Y in New York, co-hosted by iW. Caouette appeared out of nowhere at Sundance 2004 with his autobiographical documentary "Tarnation," which compiled twenty years of his home movies into an audiovisual frenzy depicting his tortured Texas upbringing and his relationship with his mentally-ill mother. Over the next year, it was invited to Cannes and ...
- 7/21/2011
- indieWIRE - People
Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette dropped a bit of a bombshell Wednesday evening during an event at the 92Y in New York, co-hosted by iW. Caouette appeared out of nowhere at Sundance 2004 with his autobiographical documentary "Tarnation," which compiled twenty years of his home movies into an audiovisual frenzy depicting his tortured Texas upbringing and his relationship with his mentally-ill mother. Over the next year, it was invited to Cannes and ...
- 7/21/2011
- Indiewire
Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette dropped a bit of a bombshell Wednesday evening during an event at the 92Y in New York, co-hosted by iW. Caouette appeared out of nowhere at Sundance 2004 with his autobiographical documentary "Tarnation," which compiled twenty years of his home movies into an audiovisual frenzy depicting his tortured Texas upbringing and his relationship with his mentally-ill mother. Over the next year, it was invited to Cannes and ...
- 7/21/2011
- indieWIRE - People
Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette dropped a bit of a bombshell Wednesday evening during an event at the 92Y in New York, co-hosted by iW. Caouette appeared out of nowhere at Sundance 2004 with his autobiographical documentary "Tarnation," which compiled twenty years of his home movies into an audiovisual frenzy depicting his tortured Texas upbringing and his relationship with his mentally-ill mother. Over the next year, it was invited to Cannes and ...
- 7/21/2011
- indieWIRE - People
Three more indies to add to your fall dance card, plus: Does the Sarah Palin doc deserve special treatment? And our trailer of the weeks showcases Midwestern teens on the final night of summer. New Distribution Deals A dark comedy about a woman's search for her late husband's biological son, Natural Selection won multiple awards at SXSW this year, and has now been picked up for distribution by Cinema Guild, according to indieWIRE. The film stars Rachael Harris (The Hangover) as a "dutiful Texas housewife" and Matt O'Leary as the son, "a mullet-headed, foul-mouthed ex-con." Cinema Guild plans a theatrical release this fall. Walk Away Renee is Jonathan Caouette's follow-up to his 2004 documentary Tarnation, which was...
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Read More...
- 7/21/2011
- by Movies.com
- Movies.com
Three more indies to add to your fall dance card, plus: Does the Sarah Palin doc deserve special treatment? And our trailer of the weeks showcases Midwestern teens on the final night of summer. New Distribution Deals A dark comedy about a woman's search for her late husband's biological son, Natural Selection won multiple awards at SXSW this year, and has now been picked up for distribution by Cinema Guild, according to indieWIRE. The film stars Rachael Harris (The Hangover) as a "dutiful Texas housewife" and Matt O'Leary as the son, "a mullet-headed, foul-mouthed ex-con." Cinema Guild plans a theatrical release this fall. Walk Away Renee is Jonathan Caouette's follow-up to his 2004 documentary Tarnation, which was...
Read More...
Read More...
- 7/21/2011
- by Movies.com
- Movies.com - Celebrity Gossip
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