Sunday, June 24, 2012

Kaurismäki Mania!

On July 31st, the Criterion Collection will be releasing on Blu-ray and DVD Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki's delightful French fairy tale from last year. I can't wait.




-Here is a wonderful interview that Simon Hattenstone conducted with the dour, funny Finn in London's Soho House.

-And finally, here is Kaurismäki paying tribute to one of his artistic heroes, the great Yasujiro Ozu:

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Fresh Goodies from Joe

A little over two years ago, I was quite thrilled when one of my favorite contemporary filmmakers, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, was awarded the Palme d'Or at Cannes for his marvelous Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. During this year's festival in the sunny south of France, I was likely not alone in my joy at hearing of the Thai filmmaker's newest projects. Apichatpong is known for being a fairly productive artist; aside from the six feature film projects to his name, he has also created a large number of short films and installation pieces, testing his unique, experimental sensibilities in various ways. The recent news of his two latest short films come as a welcome assurance that he will be continuing to maintain his productive, curious work methods even with a Palme d'Or on his shelf.

-The first of the two films that were screened at Cannes is Mekong Hotel, which clocks in at a little over an hour. Daniel Kasman wrote about the film over at MUBI Notebook in an enticing piece.

-The other film, Ashes, can actually be viewed for free online. Jittery and primitive in its visual quality, it was created with the LomoKino camera as part of a collaboration between Apichatpong, LomoKino and MUBI. Disorienting and beautiful.

-Also over at the Notebook is a wonderful interview with Apichatpong by Kasman about these new pieces and his work methods.

A jungle straight out of Apichatpong's cinema...in Northern Ontario.

Friday, June 8, 2012

"I discovered ME in the library."

Hello all. To kick off a return to the habit of posting links to cool stuff here again, here is a fascinating Paris Review interview with beloved science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, who passed away this past Tuesday at the age of 91. Conducted by Sam Weller, the interview completed a previously unpublished interview conducted by William Plummer in the late 1970s. It's wonderful stuff, especially if you're at all interested in the crafts of storytelling and writing. Enjoy.

The Paris Review: Ray Bradbury, The Art of Fiction No. 203

Crown

August 2011 - Northern Ontario, Canada

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

By the River

April 2010 - Paris, France