Facets' Find

160 Greatest Arnold Schwarzenegger Quotes, aka the best ten minutes that you'll spend online today.

Facets' Find

Short, concise, and biting. The Rise and Fall of the Television Journalist as a Hero, a short by British filmmaker Adam Curtis (The Power of Nightmares) is a must-see.

Facets' Find

The SXSW Midnight Bumper is absolutely incredible. Find more info on the short and its creator Joe Nicolosi and learn what a bumper actually is over at Film School Rejects.

Facets' Find

Our love for Kurosawa during the week of his birth continues with parts 3 and 4 of Alex Cox's documentary, Kurosawa: The Last Emperor (1999). Find parts 1 and 2 here.

Yet More Movies and Music in March: On to SXSW!

And so it was straight from the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival (list of winners here) to Austin the following weekend for the 24th edition of South by Southwest, which wrapped up this past Saturday on a day when the weather was more suited to the Windy City at this time of year, and thus a perfect day for being inside watching movies. (Chloe Sevigny, pictured above, had two films in competition: Barry Munday and Mr. Nice).

As with the CIMM Fest, the films in this year’s festival saw a noticeable increase in attendance (in the case of SXSW, with enough people being turned away that there was as much festival buzz about films people couldn’t get into as there was about the films people managed to see. Festival Producer Janet Pierson surveyed the crowds regarding this issue and promised to rectify the situation next year).

The festival got off to a rocking start right out of the gate with the U.S. premiere of The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights a few days in advance of the DVD release (a myriad of upcoming public and private screenings all over North America can be found here, including tonight at the University of Buffalo and at “Ed’s Mother’s Living Room” here in Chicago)!

The film chronicles Jack and Meg White’s cross-Canada tour in the summer of 2007, with the film largely focusing on the more far-flung places on the itinerary, from Whitehorse to Yellowknife and Iqaulit before climaxing with a 10th anniversary concert in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. Performances from large-scale concerts are mixed with footage from spontaneous daytime shows ranging anywhere from a Winnipeg city bus to a bowling alley in Saskatoon to a YMCA day camp in Toronto. These impromptu shows, along with behind-the-scenes footage provided a good many of the film’s considerable highlights. The intimate glimpses into the band’s time away from the glare of the spotlight testify to the strong bond between the Whites, never more so than in the film’s closing scene, a sequence more emotionally compelling than most Hollywood screenwriters could ever dare to dream.

While Under Great White Northern Lights is one of those rare rock docs where interview and behind-the-scenes footage does not bog down the proceedings, the David Byrne concert doc Ride, Rise, Roar is one that may have done best to stick with the music (drawn from his recent Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno tour). Byrne and his musicians team up with choreographers and dancers to present a fresh and exciting visual counterpoint to the music, the bulk of which is comprised of early-mid period Talking Heads classics. The performances are often so exhilarating, from the ever-familiar opening burst of “Once In a Lifetime” onward, that the momentum tends to dip during the interviews―which, as interesting as they may be (even Brian Eno has a memorable turn alongside Byrne) might be better suited for bonus material on the DVD.

Interestingly, the film I saw immediately afterward in the same theater, American: The Bill Hicks Story, seemed to generate even more whoops and hollers than the concert film. Then again, Austin has always been a Bill Hicks town (a native of Houston, Hicks's performances in Austin, including those featured on the Sane Man DVD, helped to cement his legend as a countercultural comedy legend on par with Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor before his tragically early death from pancreatic cancer at age 32). American uses interviews with those who knew him best―family, friends, fellow comics―along with archival footage of Hicks to paint a fully well-rounded portrait of a thoroughly complex man who could often be as privately sweet as his public persona was often confrontational. By the same token, the film makes it clear that despite this seeming contradiction, Hicks was a man whose pursuit of artistic, personal, and political truth was so deeply felt that there was a very fine line between the man on stage and the one off of it. (Another legendary performer also no longer with us who walked that same fine line was Spalding Gray, who’s life was chronicled elsewhere in the festival in Steven Soderbergh’s And Everything Is Going Fine. Unfortunately I was not able to gain access into the screenings, but I look forward to seeing it when it comes to Chicago. In the meantime the Hicks film remains a fine consolation).

I had better luck gaining admittance into This Movie Is Broken, the latest film from Canadian maestro Bruce Macdonald, who stormed onto the independent scene over 20 years ago with Roadkill and then the breakthrough Highway 61 before going on to make the punk-meets-Spinal Tap of Hard Core Logo up to more recent cult favorites such as Pontypool. (My luck getting into the screening was no doubt helped by it being on St. Patrick’s Day while most of the local population was two streets down on 6th mainlining Guinness). This Movie is Broken is―yep, you guessed it―another concert film (what can I say, I like the genre)! But like Northern Lights and Rise Ride Roar there is a twist, this time in the form of a narrative in which a trio of young adults find themselves on their way to a Broken Social Scene concert, with unexpected results afterwards (I certainly didn’t see the end coming). My main surprise in regard to the narrative was in the style and overall content, which was written by longtime Macdonald collaborator Don McKellar (who often appears as a prototypical laid-back Canadian slacker type. Hell, his character’s name in Highway 61 was Pokey Jones)! Before the festival I had stumbled upon a website for the film asking for those who wished to chronicle “a portrait from a hot July day in Toronto” to send in submissions to be included into the film; as such, I went in expecting a narrative made up of different stories and different styles comprised from outside submissions, but somewhere along the line Bruce said the plans changed and the end result is a single, seamless narrative which does in fact do a fine job in capturing a hot July day in T.O. (naturally, interspersed with joyous performances from Broken Social Scene. As the band’s popularity continues to rise, this can only be a good thing for Macdonald, McKellar, and everyone involved).

You can find the list of festival winners here.

-Dan Mucha

Facets' Find

Akira Kurosawa was born 100 years ago today. In remembrance of one of cinema's greatest directors, the mind behind Rashomon, Ran, Yojimbo, Ikiru, Throne of Blood, Seven Samurai (this list could go on and on), check out the first two parts of Alex Cox's doc, Kurosawa: The Last Emperor (1999). Then rent one of the master's classics at the Videotheque, of course.

Facets' Find

Ah, the gems you find on Youtube! Check out the drug-fuelled craziness in the great Abel Gance's short La Folie Du Docteur Tube (1915)! You may want to watch it sans volume, though. The soundtrack may drive you as mad as the doped-up folks in the film!

Sell Out?

Facets Development Coordinator Lauren Whalen looks at The Art of the Steal.


What happens when a renegade M.D. with millions to play with develops a taste for art? And not just any art, but post-Impressionist works that 1920’s art critics deem “country” and “cheap.” When he scorns Philadelphia high society by restricting access to this art to teachers, students and commoners outside the city? What happens when he dies, and his carefully constructed will is circumvented in the name of commerce? Is it theft, or modern common sense?

This conundrum—and all the catfights, gossip and politics in between—is explored in the fascinating documentary The Art of the Steal. Dr. Albert Barnes exhibited his impressive collection including 181 Renoirs, 69 Cezannes, and 46 Picassos, in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, running The Barnes Foundation as a teaching institution where the working class was welcome and the ruling class was not. In his will, Barnes specified that under no circumstances was the art to be loaned, sold or moved. Fast-forward to 2007, where it’s announced that The Barnes Foundation—now worth up to $35 billion--will be relocated to downtown Philadelphia: a direct violation of Dr. Barnes’ wishes. So how did the powers that be get away with it?

Director Don Argott explores the gladhanding, secrecy and blatant lies that led up to this transaction, while interviewing The Barnes Foundation’s remaining alumna who remember the man himself and vehemently protest these changes. As someone who does fundraising for a living, this was extra fascinating to watch: arts organizations depend on the generosity of foundations, government, corporate and individual support. But what if their agenda and yours are as vastly different as urban Philly and folksy Lower Merion? And what if those behind the scenes are conspiring to compromise the original intent of the organization, without notifying the ones to whom the art means the most? As one Barnes disciple notes, “Art shouldn’t be separate from life. Art is life.” And therein lies the rub: sure, the Philadelphia location will attract more visitors, and Dr. Barnes has been dead for almost 60 years. However, The Art of the Steal paints the move as a beautiful tragedy—and I’m inclined to agree.

The Art of the Steal is currently playing at Landmark Century Centre Cinema (2828 N. Clark St., Chicago).


Find more of Lauren's writing at The Unprofessional Critic.

Facets' Find

You DO know what tomorrow is, yes?

Facets' Find

Rottentomatoes asks a good question: Just how hard is Star Wars aping the 1955 war film, The Dam Busters?

You decide.

Facets' Find

I swear, I like Inglourious Basterds' Christoph Waltz more and more every time I see him.

Here's the inspiration, by the way.

Facets' Daily Find

Kathryn Bigelow's historic Best Director Oscar win for The Hurt Locker this past weekend has Facets Features contemplating her incredible career as a whole, particularly her first feature, The Loveless (1982). Co-directed with Monty Montgomery, this "thinking man's biker movie" also featured the debut of a young actor by the name of Willem Dafoe. Perhaps you've heard of him. And a kick-ass rockabilly score. 'Nuff said.

Facets Features picks for this years Oscars (well, most of the awards anyway). We stand behind them!

Best Picture

Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker*
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Best Director

James Cameron, Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker*
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart*
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side*
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds*

Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Monique, Precious*

Best Animated Feature Film

Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up*

Best Original Screenplay

The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds*
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

Best Adapted Screenplay

District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious*
Up in the Air

* Facets' pick

Facets' Daily Find

This footage of legendary Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda (director of Oscar noms The Promised Land, The Maids of Wilko, Man of Iron, and Katyn) receiving an honorary Academy Award in 2000 is rough, and presenter Jane Fonda is overdubbed in Portuguese, but it's worth watching nonetheless.

At 83, Wajda is still going strong. His latest film, Tatarak, was released just last year. Regardless, his name doesn't fall off the lips of many when discussing contemporary world cinema greats. He's not as sexy as Almodovar, as rascally as von Trier, or as unsettling as Haneke, but he's just as powerful and resonant, if not more so, with his depictions of his homeland's historical, social and political turmoils.

CIMM: Keeping It Reel

Last March, seemingly out of nowhere, the Chicago International Music and Movies Festival appeared on the scene to become one of the most pleasant surprises of 2009.

Back for a second year (with the promise of more to come), the festival kicked off last night at St. Paul’s Cultural Center with an opening night party proving that music and movies do in fact go together like, as amiable festival directors Josh Chicoine and Ilko Davidov said in a recent interview, like a beer and a shot. The William Burroughs-themed night featured a screening of William S. Burroughs: A Man Within, including on-camera testimonials from the likes of Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Jello Biafra, Laurie Anderson, and Sonic Youth. Austrian band Naked Lunch performed a live score along to the multiple-narrative feature Universalove, and Thee Majesty performed to round out the evening along with an incisive, blisteringly witty spoken word piece by Penny Arcade (“Imagine the people you hated most in high school all moved to your town, that’s what NYC has turned into”).

The festival proper runs tonight through Sunday, and as with last year there is nary a genre of music that isn’t represented is some fashion, from punk (The Blank Generation with Patti Smith Group: Dancing Barefoot, Saturday, 3:30, Chicago Cultural Center) polka (Polkaholics, tonight, Chicago Cultural Center, 8:00) to marching bands (Mucca Pazza, Saturday, St. Paul’s 9:00), even films incorporating diverse genres such as Vinyl: Tales from the Vienna Underground (Saturday, Chicago Cultural Center, 1:30).

If there is one drawback to the festival, it is that the lack of repeat screenings and performances makes for some tough choices as to what to see and what to have to miss. (For those planning to catch Grant Hart tonight at St. Paul’s, he is a last minute cancellation – filling in will be Jim Becker of Califone. All systems are still go for King Pluto’s Whispering Choir to follow at 11:00 (with Jeremy Jacobsen, aka The Lonesome Organist, playing the truly mighty St. Paul’s pipe organ) accompanying Maciste in Hell, a film I am told is the first-ever Italian horror movie – in addition to being a trip-and-a-half. (I would be remiss if I neglected to mention that the band also includes Facets’ own Chris Cowgill (of Del Rey), Bruce Neal, and Matt Silcock).

As it was last year, along with the Chicago Cultural Center, St. Paul’s is an inspired choice as festival home base. A former Lutheran church, the pews offer a fitting way to worship at the altar of music and movies while the attached gallery houses an exhibition of rock poster art. By the same token, the Chicago Cultural Center makes perfect sense as a venue for multi-media celebration, and better yet, all of the festival events there (including panels ranging from “The Future of Radio” to “Contrax for Soundtrax”) are free. Other satellite venues include Heaven Gallery (around the corner from St. Paul’s), Schuba’s (hosting alt-rock legends Robyn Hitchcock and Jon Langford), and Lincoln Hall (site of Sunday’s the closing night party and awards ceremony featuring DJ Spooky and Soul Summit Dance Party). Who needs the Oscars?


-Dan Mucha

Facets' Daily Find

Contrast this footage of Bette Davis and Spencer Tracy accepting their Oscars for Jezebel and Boys Town, respectively, at the 11th Annual Academy Awards in 1939 with the self-congratulatory pomp of contemporary ceremonies.

Staggering.

Facets' Daily Find

Yes, that's Rob Lowe singing a duet with Snow White. At the Oscars.

This opening sequence from the 61st Annual Academy Awards in 1989 is a legendary stinker. Hoping to jazz up the ceremony, the Academy hired theater and film producer Allan Carr (Grease, Can't Stop the Music, Where the Boys Are '84) to work his magic. What they got were a lot of cringe-worthy moments, a lawsuit threat from Disney, and ridicule from press, public and Academy members.

Facets' Daily Find

The Academy Awards are amost here! We're getting ready here at Facets Features with a look back at some of our favorite Oscar moments (well, those not blocked for public embedding by Youtube. Grrr).

First up is the late Elliott Smith performing the Best Original Song-nominee, "Miss Misery," at the 70th Annual Academy Awards in 1998. Like many other nominees that night, the Good Will Hunting-featured song was crushed by the Titantic behemoth that evening. Regardless, Smith--seemingly nervous, white clad, alone with only a guitar--cut a wonderful, surreal figure performing amongst belters Celine Dion and company.