A new trailer for The Narrows is now online. I attended the World Premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and posted pictures and video of stars Sophia Bush and Kevin Zegers at the Q&A.

Fierce People will air on Sundance Channel January 29th at 3:45 AM. The film was one of my Top Picks of 2006, where I saw it at the Woodstock Film Festival.

Adam Bhala Lough's Weapons will be out on DVD March 3rd. The film stars Nick Cannon, Paul Dano, and Mark Webber, and was one of my Top Picks from the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where I attended the World Premiere. It also made my list of Top Picks for 2007.

View more information on The Narrows Trailer, Fierce People on TV, Weapons & Twilight DVD, Game release, & Lighthouse update...

The release date of March 21st has now been confirmed for the Twilight DVD. The cover art is mighty impressive.

The official release date for Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor's Game will be September 4th. The all-star cast includes Gerard Butler, Milo Ventimiglia, Michael C. Hall, John Leguizamo, Kyra Sedgwick, and Logan Lerman.

Finally, here is the latest on the Kevin Zegers-starrer Lighthouse, also known as The Lighthouse, The Light-house, and Poe's Light-house at various times. As we've reported here, it's been one of those on-again off-again projects that became something of a joke over the years. It was well underway in late 2006 and several actors were set to do it. Then the production company ran out of money and it was postponed. When they were ready to start up again the talent was unavailable. Finally it was set to go one more time last year when it fell through again. That's the short version. At this point the film is in turnaround and is no longer in the hands of the production company (Irreverent Media). At this point it needs to be acquired by another company if it is to get made. I'm not sure it'll ever happen.

View more information on The Narrows Trailer, Fierce People on TV, Weapons & Twilight DVD, Game release, & Lighthouse update...

The alphabet soup of industry organizations continued to roll out nominations and awards this week. These groups' nominees are always reliable indicators of what's up Oscar's sleeves.

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has announced nominations for outstanding achievement in directing for the screen during 2008. The nominees are Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire, David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon, Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight, and Gus Van Sant for Milk. The winner will be announced at the DGA Awards dinner and ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel on Saturday, January 31st.

View more information on 2009 DGA, WGA, ASC, CAS, & BAFTA Awards Nominations...

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has announced nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen during the 2008 season in three categories: Original screenplay, adapted screenplay and documentary screenplay. indieWIRE has the complete list. Winners will be honored at the 2009 Writers Guild Awards held on Saturday, February 7th at simultaneous ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles.

The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has announced nominees for their Outstanding Achievement Awards. Competing in the feature film category are: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button photographed by Claudio Miranda; The Dark Knight shot by Wally Pfister, ASC; The Reader by Chris Menges, BSC and Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC; Revolutionary Road by Deakins; and Slumdog Millionaire by Anthony Dod Mantle. The 23rd Annual ASC Awards will be presented in Los Angeles on February 15th.

The Cinema Audio Society's annual award nominations, "which tend to near-perfectly mimic the eventual Oscar nominees for best sound mixing," according to indieWIRE, were announced today. The nominated films for achievement in sound mixing are The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Quantum of Solace, Slumdog Millionaire and WALL-E. The winners will be announced on February 14th.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced their 2008 nominees for "Best Film Not In The English Language." They are The Baader Meinhof Complex, Gomorrah, I've Loved You So Long, Persepolis, and Waltz With Bashir. BAFTA's full list of nominations will be announced next Thursday, January 15th. The winners will be announced during a ceremony on Sunday, February 8th at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden.

View more information on 2009 DGA, WGA, ASC, CAS, & BAFTA Awards Nominations...

This time of year presents one of those "perfect storm" scenarios where not only are various organizations still rolling out Ten Best lists and announcing awards for 2008 films, but some are also just now announcing nominees, while major film festivals are rolling out their lineups just as others are getting underway. Not to mention the assortment of new trailers, movie release news, and other items of interest to independent film fans.

View more information on 2009 Santa Barbara Film Festival Lineup & Berlin Film Festival update...

It presents a particular challenge for me since I am an active participant in some of these events myself. I will be leaving in just one week to cover the Sundance Film Festival and have been working on a schedule and selecting films. At the same time, as a member of Film Independent, I am viewing screeners and attending screenings for the Spirit Awards' nominated films for which I will be voting. For a journalist, it's an embarrassment of riches. So I'll do my best to try and keep up with notable happenings over the next few weeks.

I won't be attending either of these events this year but I place both on the list of the world's top 10 film festivals.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has announced their lineup for 2009 (PDF file). I attended in 2006, 2007, and 2008 and found it to be one of the most enjoyable festivals in the country. This year's lineup features over 200 films including 21 World Premieres and 29 U.S. Premieres, with 41 countries represented overall. The 24th SBIFF takes place over 11 days beginning Thursday, January 22nd through Sunday, February 1st. Since the Oscar nominations are always announced just prior to its Opening Night, Santa Barbara has the distinction of being the first (and sometimes only) festival to be able to say "Oscar-nominated" as they honor their special guests all week.

The 59th Berlin International Film Festival is continuing to announce selections. The Panorama program will ultimately include around 50 films that will screen from February 5-15, 2009. 21 titles have been announced so far. Three U.S. independent films are set to have their World Premieres at the Berlin Festival's Forum 2009. They are: Andrew Bujalski's Beeswax, Matthew Hysell's Marin Blue, and Bradley Rust Gray's The Exploding Girl. The complete list will be announced shortly.

View more information on 2009 Santa Barbara Film Festival Lineup & Berlin Film Festival update...

The results are in for the 2008 indieWIRE Critics' Poll. "A total of 105 leading North American film critics participated in the third indieWIRE Critics' Poll, surveying the best in film for 2008," said indieWIRE. "This poll was created to continue the tradition of a national survey of critics, by calling attention to the year's best -- and, in many cases, most overlooked -- films, providing a meaningful counterpoint to much of the year-end hoopla."

I respect this list a lot more than others because it combines so many "non-mainstream" writers who don't necessarily have an editor or ratings or subscription base to answer to. I consider it more honest. Many are like me -- they attend film festivals and generally appreciate indies and foreign films more than studio productions.

View more information on 2008 indieWIRE Critics’ Poll Winners...

Rules are complicated but meant to be fair. For example, here is how the votes were tabulated for Best Film:

Each critic was asked to cite 10 films. Each film in an unranked ballot received 10 points. Ranked ballots were weighted as follows: 1 (15 points), 2 (14), 3 (13), 4 (12), 5 (11), 6 (9), 7 (8), 8 (7), 9 (6), 10 (5). We asked our voters to focus on films that opened for U.S. theatrical engagements in 2008.

2008 indieWIRE Critics' Poll Results






View more information on 2008 indieWIRE Critics’ Poll Winners...

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) has announced the nominees for their 2009 awards. Voting by the Guild's 4000 members will conclude with a ceremony at the Hollywood Palladium on January 24. Are the PGA Awards a bellwether for those elusive Oscars? "The PGA’s selections of accredited producers have been used by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences over the past two years as guidelines in determining the nominated producers in the Oscars’ picture category," according to a report in Variety. "Winner of the PGA award has gone on to claim the best picture Oscar in 12 of the last 19 years."


View more information on 2009 Producers Guild of America Awards Nominees...

Here are the nominees:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Kathleen Kennedy & Frank Marshall, Ceán Chaffin
The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas
Frost/Nixon, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner
Milk, Dan Jinks & Bruce Cohen
Slumdog Millionaire, Christian Colson

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures

Man On Wire, Simon Chinn
Standard Operating Procedure, Julie Bilson Ahlberg, Errol Morris
Trouble The Water, Carl Deal, Tia Lessin

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

Bolt, Clark Spencer
Kung Fu Panda, Melissa Cobb
Wall-E, Jim Morris

View more information on 2009 Producers Guild of America Awards Nominees...

I've attended over 30 film festivals since the start of 2006, but few as prestigious or breathtaking in scope than the Sundance Film Festival, held every January in Park City, Utah. Many of my Top Picks from all festivals over the past few years (of over 500 in total) came out of Sundance. The event has changed quite a bit from its homespun early days but I believe it is still worth the trip for independent film lovers.

View more information on Meet me at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival...

This year's festival runs from January 15-25 and is considered the premiere film festival in the United States. Many movies are seen there for the very first time. Earlier I posted the complete lineup. 118 feature-length films were selected including 89 World Premieres, 17 North American premieres, and four U.S. Premieres. Together they represent 21 countries with 42 first-time filmmakers, including 28 in competition. These films were selected from 3,661 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,905 U.S. and 1,756 international feature-length films.

As always, I will be posting reviews of the films, along with pictures and videos of the actors and filmmakers I meet. Most screenings are attended by the cast and crew. They always stay afterward for a Q&A and the audience gets a chance to sit with and then meet them. There is occasionally an afterparty as well.

In the coming days I'll post some of my selections and recommendations. The excitement is building once again...Sundance here we come!



View more information on Meet me at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival...

The calendar has turned to 2009, yet the various critics' associations are still weighing in with their choices for the best of 2008. This time it's the National Society of Film Critics. Made up of 63 critics from across the country, the group was founded in 1966 to "promote the mutual interests of film criticism and filmmaking." Chairman David Sterritt announced this year's awards at the legendary restaurant Sardi's in New York City.

Film and individuals are ranked from #1-3 based on total number of votes, indicated in parentheses.

BEST PICTURE -
1. Waltz with Bashir, directed by Ari Folman (26)
2. Happy Go Lucky (20)
3. Wall-E (20)

BEST DIRECTOR -
1. Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky (36)
2. Gus Van Sant, Milk & Paranoid Park (20)
3. Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire (16)

BEST NON-FICTION FILM -
1. Man on Wire, directed by James Marsh (55)
2. Trouble The Water (34)
3. Encounters at the End of the World (26)

View more information on 2008 National Society of Film Critics Awards Winners...

BEST ACTOR:
1. Sean Penn, "Milk" (87)
2. Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler" (40)
3. Clint Eastwood, "Gran Torino" (38)

BEST ACTRESS:
1. Sally Hawkins, "Happy-Go-Lucky" (65)
2. Melissa Leo, "Frozen River" (33)
3. Michelle Williams, "Wendy and Lucy" (31)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
1. Eddie Marsan, "Happy-Go-Lucky" (41)
2. Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight" (35)
3. Josh Brolin, "Milk" (29)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
1. Hanna Schygulla, "The Edge of Heaven" (29)
2. Viola Davis, "Doubt" (29, on fewer ballots)
3. Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (24)

BEST SCREENPLAY:
1. "Happy-Go-Lucky," written by Mike Leigh (29)
2. "A Christmas Tale (24)
3. "Synecdoche, New York" (17)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
1. "Slumdog Millionaire," Anthony Dod Mantle (29)
2. "Flight of the Red Balloon" (22)
3. "The Dark Knight" (18)
4. "Still Life"

BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM:
1. "Razzle Dazzle," directed by Ken Jacobs

FILM HERITAGE AWARDS:
- The Criterion Collection for finally making Samuel Fuller's suppressed "White Dog" (1982) available to a wide American audience via DVD release.
- "The Exiles," Kent Mackenzie's realistic 1961 independent film about Native Americans in Los Angeles. (Restored by Ross Lipman of the UCLA Television and Film Archives and distributed by Milestone.)
- Flicker Alley for releasing DVD collections of rare early U.S. and foreign silent films.
- Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment for its DVD set "Murnau, Borzage and Fox."

View more information on 2008 National Society of Film Critics Awards Winners...

As 2008 comes to a close, it's time to take stock of the year in cinema and post the requisite "10 Best" list. However, this one won't look like any other you may see. And for good reason. Rules, disclaimers, and those good reasons follow for those who are as passionate about the subject as I am.

My world revolves around independent films and festivals so this list includes only indies which I saw at film festivals for the first time in 2008. I specify "first time" because there are several which I saw in 2007 but were still on the festival circuit this year. Obviously I don't count those even though I may have seen them again and they may still have been among the best I saw at those particular festivals. Next, defining an independent film is something else entirely. I try to avoid including films produced and/or distributed by Hollywood studios or major studio specialty arms like Fox Searchlight, even though I may have seen them at festivals. However, in some cases there are truly independent films which were acquired for distribution just prior to, during, or after the festival in which I saw it. In those cases I simply use my best judgment.

View more information on My Top 10 Picks of 2008...

It follows from the above that while many of these films do not yet have distribution (and, perhaps, never will) there are some which have already been released in theaters. So you may see some of these films on other critics' lists. But you'll find that this list can be quite different from others because most critics use date of theatrical distribution as a rule. Therefore, you may see some films on other critics' Top 10 lists which were actually on my list last year because they weren't released until this year. For example, Snow Angels was on my 2007 list. But it's just now appearing on many critics' lists because it took a year to get released. There are even films which are released two years later (Alpha Dog), or three (Fierce People), or even more after they've debuted at festivals. So my lists are often quite ahead of the curve.

That said, while I do choose a list of Top Picks for each individual festival I attend, taking a list from one and comparing it to another is like apples and oranges. First, the quantity of films at each festival is different. I might see as many as 50 films at a particular festival (Tribeca) or as few as one and then choose up to 10 or more Top Picks per festival depending on how many I saw. Sometimes I don't pick any at all. Second, the quality of the lineup can vary greatly from one festival to another. For example, my #1 Top Pick from one festival might not even make a list of Top 10 Picks from another. So to then compile some sort of grand list becomes quite difficult. At first glance it would seem to make the most sense to slice off the cream of the crop for each festival to come up with an overall list of Top Picks. But, alas, some festivals simply fall short when compared to others. I'll leave it to the reader to do some research and read between the lines.

So those are my criteria. Now it's time to tally up all my 2008 film festival Top Picks and see what stood out.

This year I attended 10 festivals:

Sundance Film Festival
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
New York International Independent Film and Video Festival
South by Southwest Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
Philadelphia Film Festival
Hoboken International Film Festival
Sundance at BAM
Los Angeles Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival

I saw approximately 150 films this year. Here is a combined list of all my Top Picks (totaling 33 films) in chronological order by festival:

The Broken
Amal
Ben X
The Counterfeiters
Mongol
Summerhood
XXY
Dance of the Dead
Explicit Ills
Otis
Body of War
FrontRunners
The Wrecking Crew
The 27 Club
57,000 Kilometers Between Us
Boy A
Charly
From Within
Katyn
Let the Right One In
Newcastle
Somers Town
Tennessee
1968 Tunnel Rats
American Son
Acolytes
Adoration
The Country Teacher
Krabat
Lymelife
Patrik, Age 1.5
Pride and Glory
Winds of September

Here are my Top 10 in alphabetical order (linked to my reviews):

Adoration
American Son
Ben X
Boy A
The Broken
Dance of the Dead
Explicit Ills
Let the Right One In
Lymelife
Newcastle

Honorable mention:

The Counterfeiters
Katyn
Patrik, Age 1.5
Somers Town

Several have already been shown in theaters and are available on DVD, some have played theaters and are awaiting home video release, and others are playing now or will be soon. A few don't yet have distribution in the States or overseas or both. But all are worth your time. Try to see them if you can -- I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

View more information on My Top 10 Picks of 2008...

As the legendary Yogi Berra once said, it's deja vu all over again. It seems like just yesterday that I wrote about the writers strike and its impact on the independent film industry. Now, with the possibility of an actors strike looming in the distance, only a few words need to be changed for those year-old articles to be just as relevant. So, just as I said back then about the writers strike, I haven't written much about the possibility of an actors strike here although I've been following it pretty closely.

Even those with very little knowledge about the industry know that the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has been threatening to strike against the producers, mainly over the issue of "new media" -- actors want to get paid for their work being distributed via the Internet, mobile phones, etc, the very same issues which kept writers away from their desks. The politics is something left for another discussion. But I've been asked what, if any, effect this will have on the independent film industry so I thought it might be worth taking a look at it.


View more information on Could an actors strike be good for independent films?...

The greatest impact of an actors strike will be, at least in the short term, on movies already in production. Some may have the footage they need so they can still film inserts or shots without actors in them. Initially it will have a greater impact on studio movies more than independent films. In most cases there are simply so many more individuals involved and at a much greater cost per day to hold up a studio production. Indies can generally be delayed at less cost. Yet it may still be enough to kill a film, especially if actors and others are contracted to fulfill other projects at a later date. But it's hard to imagine any scenario in which an actors strike would end up benefiting indie film production.

Distribution is another story entirely. Eventually the diminishing catalog of films completed or under production might cause acquisition people to look at film festivals like Sundance with a bit more interest. Indies which might not otherwise have gotten picked up for distribution would look more attractive as studio films dwindle in number and/or quality.

A prolonged actors strike might not only help indies get picked up with more fervor but, with major studio movies taking longer to develop, independent films could eventually be greenlit or moved along in production once a strike was over. A-list directors and actors may become available. Scripts which might otherwise have been tossed or overlooked might come off the pile and take on more importance. Other projects which have been sitting on the shelf might be dusted off. Financiers with money to invest might be more willing to put their money in true indies as opposed to those coming out of the specialty divisions like Fox Searchlight. In short, an actors strike that would gradually put a damper on studio film production might cause already-completed indies to progressively replace the lack of product in the marketplace. And that, at least as far as independent filmmakers are concerned, could be a good thing.


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Get out your scorecard. The Toronto Film Critics Association, Dallas-Fort Worth Critics Association, Houston Film Critics Association, and Chicago Film Critics Association have weighed in with their choices for 2008.

Add these to the list of previously announced (and posted here) National Board of Review, Gotham, Los Angeles, New York Film Critics Circle, New York Film Critics Online, Boston, Satellite, Austin, San Diego, and San Francisco Critics Awards winners and you have a pretty good indication of what to expect at the 2009 Critics Choice, Spirit, Golden Globes, and Academy Awards (only the latter has yet to announce their nominations).

View more information on 2008 Toronto, Dallas-Ft Worth, Houston, Chicago Film Critics Awards Winners...

2008 TORONTO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS WINNERS
2008 DALLAS-FORT WORTH CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS WINNERS
2008 HOUSTON FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS WINNERS
2008 CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS WINNERS

View more information on 2008 Toronto, Dallas-Ft Worth, Houston, Chicago Film Critics Awards Winners...