For a sampling of the narrative features not already mentioned, I offer the following:
While the premise of Another Earth suggests that it is a science-fiction film, it is really more of a character study with a sci-fi MacGuffin. Lead actress/writer Brit Marling, as Rhoda, is in virtually every shot, and yet is silent for roughly the first twenty minutes. Her ability to keep the audience engaged through facial expression and body language sets the tone for the gently unfolding plot. Alo...
Page One: Inside the New York Times looks at the inner workings of one of the world’s most influential news organizations in an age of technological transition. The one-time “New York Times Effect”, where second-tier media outlets follow the NYT by a day, is dependent on a daily print distribution cycle. Today, as noted by NYT’s Bill Keller, “WikiLeaks doesn’t need us. Daniel Ellsberg did.” Page One investigates how “The Grey Lady” adapts to the landscape of 24/7 inform...
IFFB ’11 also screened a trio of films about what happens after the sun goes down.
The two designees for this year’s festival-within-a-festival IFFBoston After Dark were The Catechism Cataclysm and Stake Land. The former is a quirky comedy that gradually turns dark and surreal. Starting with a peppy, lonely priest using a misremembered friendship to emotionally coerce his childhood idol onto a canoe trip, we meander to a finish that includes campfire stories with two giggling panda-head...
The next few nights screened a number of documentaries about musicians and the impact of their music. Scheduling conflicts meant you couldn’t see all of them, so I chose the three below.
Color Me Obsessed is the rarest of rockumentaries in that it doesn’t play a single note of music from the band being featured, Minnesota’s own, The Replacements. Somehow, for this iconoclastic group, it fits. Instead, the band’s history and antics are revealed through interviews laced with humor...
IFFBoston 2011 began, as has become custom, with a Theremin player on stage in front of a boisterously filling auditorium in the Somerville Theater. This time, there was just that little extra hint of nervous energy, coming from the uncharacteristic attendance of the littlest members of the crowd. This Opening Night crowd included more children than most. The kids are here to see, and anxiously anticipating the arrival of, their favorite Muppet, Elmo.
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey...
