Cindy Sherman | SpoutBlog

GUEST OF CINDY SHERMAN Review

By Karina Longworth posted 8 months ago

Guest of Cindy Sherman is a dense and fast-paced portrait of one man’s loss of innocence at the hands of his beloved –– at least, as far as “innocence” can be taken to be synonymous with “unpunctured ego”, and “beloved” can be taken to refer to the big bad art world in addition to, and perhaps ahead of, the famous photographer namechecked in the title. Co-directed by Tom Donahue and Paul H-O (shortened from Hasegawa-Overacker), the film trails the latter’s self-engineered insinuation (based on a formula of 2 parts brattiness, 1 part careerist ambition) into the social scene surrounding the Soho art scene of the 90s, which eventually took over his own social life when he began a five year romantic relationship with Sherman, which in turn absorbed his personal and professional identity. The premise alone sounds too navel-gazing by half, but at its best Guest offers H-O’s story as a parable for the universal loss of self that every long-term relationship portends. The film also plays as a kind of easily digestible time capsule of several decades worth of contemporary art, tracking a move towards mass market mania and concurrent, undeniable bleeding of personal idiosyncrasy. Paul H-O enters the story as a party crasher; by the time he exits, it seems there’s no longer a party to crash.
…Read more

2 Comments

Featured, Indies, Reviews

Tribeca 2008 Lineup

By Karina Longworth posted 1 year ago

We take this brief break from our wall-to-wall SXSW coverage to link to the competition line-up for 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, currently posted at indieWIRE. As you know, Baby Mama will open the festival; according to The Reeler, Speed Racer will close it. Here’s a look at a few titles of interest in between:

Shane Meadows’ Somers Town, previously mentioned here.

Guest of Cindy Sherman. Official synopsis: “Analyzing his relationship with reclusive artist Cindy Sherman leads videographer Paul H-O to confront his own ego and identity in this personal and often humorous documentary, which features unprecedented access to Sherman and a unique view of the New York art world.”

Chevolution. Official synopsis: “How did the iconic image of Che Guevara end up on beer bottles and bikinis? This inquiry into the ethics and aesthetics of appropriation investigates how the enduring symbol of Cuba’s Communist Revolution skyrocketed to fame and was ultimately devoured by its own worst enemy: capitalism. English, Spanish with English subtitles.”

I Am Because We Are. Madonna saves orphans.

A President to Remember. Directed by Robert Drew. Synopsis: “Culled from “direct cinema” pioneer Robert Drew’s unparalleled behind-the-scenes footage of JFK at work in the Oval Office, and the events that brought him there, this remarkable film proves a timely update of the Kennedy mythos and an eerily intimate portrait of the now-legendary man himself.”

0 Comments