Yes, there’s a new Eric Rohmer movie, and yes, it’s premiering in New York tonight. How come you didn’t know about it? I don’t know, but I barely knew about it (or at least, about its scheduled premiere), so don’t feel too bad. The Romance of Astree and Celadonscreened last year at the Toronto and New York Film Festivals, and then sat on the shelf for awhile until Koch Lorber picked it up; its one-week run at Anthology Film Archives is probably a run up to an impending release on DVD. But as all signs point to this being the 88 year-old French master’s final film, you’ll probably want to take your final chance to see a new Rohmer film on a big screen.
I know it’s quite an obvious choice to feature part of Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympiatoday, but I’m doing it anyway. I’ve personally never had the patience to watch any of the actual Olympic Games, but I have no difficulty watching the few hours of beautifully abridged footage presented in this two part film. I truly wish that every year’s games could have been shot by Riefenstahl — preferably without any propaganda parts, of course. I might now be more familiar with the world’s greatest athletes had Olympia been a tradition in the vein of Apted’s Up series.
Fitting for today’s opening ceremony, I’ve included the prologue. Why can’t they show this every four years prior to the live coverage of the Games? Because of the nudity? Because an alleged Nazi made it? Well, they still employ the torch relay tradition, and that was also devised as part of the Nazi propaganda for the 1936 Berlin games. And the Olympic rings emblem was reintroduced for Nazi purposes, also. So …
Wow. AMPAS released their shortlist of nine finalists for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination today, and it’s missing a LOT of familiar titles. Like Cannes winner and presumed front runner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. Like festival favorites Edge of Heaven and Persepolis. Like the great Silent Light, which Tartan has still not set a US release date for, and probably won’t now that their hopes for free publicity have been dashed.
Not to take anything away from the finalists (and though I haven’t seen any of them, I’ve certainly heard many good things about some of them, especially The Counterfeiters and Days of Darkness), but I’m sure we can expect to see much grousing about this from fans of the snubbed films, particularly 4 Months. But you have to hand the prognostication prize to Cinemascope, who predicted way back in early December that “the Romanian abortion movie” wouldn’t make the final five “because the style of the movie-making is all but indigestible to American viewers.” Of course, the same post predicted Persepolis as the race’s frontrunner. Win some, lose some, etc.
The films that did make the cut are listed after the jump.
Chicago: Nothing cuts through a mid-summer haze like the sound of Isabella Rossellini warbling a Bobby Vinton song. My alma mater the Art Institute of Chicago is sponsoring a month-long festival of David Lynch films. This week offers three chances to see Blue Velvet in the gorgeous Gene Siskel Theater. And what luck! If you prefer your Italian women to keep mouths shut, there’s an Antonioni retrospective in the very same theater complex. Via ScreenGrab.
Seattle: Quick, go home and change–you’ve finally got an audience for that Ruby Keeler impression you’ve been practicing. Cineoke starts tonight at the Jewelbox Theater at 8pm. Sponsored by the Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Cineoke is basically karaoke set to your favorite scene from your favorite movie musical. The organizers say they have hundreds of songs to choose from, but you’re also welcome to bring your own DVD or cued-up VHS. More info here [via Wes Kim].
New York: You have just four more nights to catch what is essentially the New York cinephile sequel event of the summer. Though not a literal sequel to Army of Shadows by any means, Le Doulos is another re-release of another Jean-Pierre Melville masterpiece, and it’s again packing a single screen at the Film Forum screen. Jean-Paul Belmondo (all dressed up like Bogart two years before Godard went there again in Pierrot le Fou) sneaks his way around a world where every criminal dreams of gathering some money and a girl and retreating to “a place with no cops and no hoods.” In a film flooded with casual violence, Belmondo’s character uses his charisma as his most efficient weapon. I’d see it ten times between now and Thursday … if I didn’t have anything else to do. See more at FilmForum.org.
To have your event included in a future Cinephile Calendar, please send info to Karina AT Spout DOT com.
If you’re in the habit of visiting websites, you’ve probably seen ads for Interview, Steve Buscemi’s remake of a Dutch film by the same name, which stars Sienna Miller and which opens in limited release this Friday. Buscemi’s Interview is the first in a series of three films (the others are to be directed by Stanley Tucci and John Turturro), in tribute to the director of the original Interview, Theo Van Gogh. In 2004, Van Gogh was murdered by a Muslim extremist, who was acting in response to Submission: Part One, a ten minute film about the oppression of women under Islam, made by Van Gogh in collaboration with Ayaan Hirsi Ali. That film is embedded above.
I haven’t seen Van Gogh’s Interview, but I’ve just returned from a press screening of Buscemi’s, and in terms of style, content, weight and intent, it’s about as far away from Submission as you can get. Van Gogh has become something of a martyr since his death; a famed free-speech advocate in life, his body was found with a 5-page “jihad manifesto” attached to his chest with a dagger. His murder has since been used by some members of the Dutch government, as supporting evidence in their quest to limit immigration.
Put simply: the idea that the best way to pay tribute to that guy is to have three American actors remake his films is somewhat baffling. And after having seen Interview … well … am I the only one struggling to see how the solipsistic fantasy that Buscemi has committed to celluloid could possibly be seen as a proper tribute to anything?
Wow. AMPAS 
