Merce Cunningham, Dance Visionary, Dies

Merce Cunningham, the revolutionary American choreographer, died Sunday night at his home in Manhattan. He was 90.His death was announced by the Cunningham Dance Foundation.

Over a career of nearly seven decades, Mr. Cunningham went on posing “But” and “What if?” questions, making people rethink the essence of dance and choreography. He went on doing so almost to the last.

Until 1989, when he reached 70, he appeared in every single performance given by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. In 1999, at 80, though frail and holding onto a barre, he danced a duet with Mikhail Baryshnikov at the New York State Theater in Lincoln Center. In April he observed his 90th birthday with the 90-minute “Nearly Ninety” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

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http://www.merce.org/

Average Community, Documentary by Zara Brothers

The first public showing of Average Community will be on Sunday August 30th at 12:30pm at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida. www.enzian.org. Save the date!

More info at www.AverageCommunity.com

About the film

Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, a post-industrial wasteland of abandoned factories, neglected row houses and urban decay. Trenton is a relic of America’s once-thriving manufacturing economy, the kind of city most of us have long since forgotten. But for Fred Zara, a 30-something family man living an average suburban life near downtown Orlando, it’s not so easy a place to forget.

Growing up in Trenton in the mid-1980s, Fred went by the name of Fred Fatal, played drums in a punk-rock band called Prisoners of War, and was filled with so much teen angst that he managed to get himself kicked out of high school before reaching the 10th grade.

“Average Community” follows Fred on a 900-mile journey back to his hometown to confront his troubled past, and the troubled people in it, in the hopes of understanding how the person he was made him into the person he is. Fred is joined by his two older brothers, one a disheartened New York journalist, the other a free-spirited Seattle musician, as he reunites with old friends, revisits painful memories and tries to make sense of what it meant to grow up in a dying city.

10 Principles of Beautiful Photography

by Trey Ratcliff – note: this article appeared in Smashing Magazine in February of 2009.

A camera does not work like an eye; memory does not work like film.

There is a fine line between a photo that is quite nice and one that is quite breathtaking. At some undefined point, a photo can cross the Rubicon and be forever a piece of beautiful art. That hinterland between a regular photo and evocative art is a moving target from person to person and taste to taste. However, that zone of wonderment can be narrowed a bit once you start to consider about the way the brain stores memories and emotions.

And, yes, it gets a bit touchy-feely here to determine if you have been able to cross that line. With rigorous practice and peer feedback, you can start to appreciate where that zone is and consequently improve your hit ratio.

The good news is that it does not require rune rites of scapulimancy to divine your way to a more beautiful photo. There are some basic things and mantras to keep in mind as you practice and fail then practice and succeed then practice and fail and then rinse and repeat. I’ll detail a few of these below. Read more...

Brand - Tony Hawk

Watch the video: Tony Hawk

"It's about reacting to what you see, hopefully without preconception. You can find pictures anywhere. It's simply a matter of noticing things and organizing them. You just have to care about what's around you and have a concern with humanity and the human comedy."

Elliott Erwitt joined Magnum Photos in 1953 and became a full Member in 1954.

"Typeface," Kartemquin Films' new documentary

Typeface focuses on a rural Midwestern museum and print shop where international artists meet retired craftsmen and together navigate the convergence of modern design and traditional technique.

It’s a Thursday afternoon and all is quiet in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Main Street is virtually empty, and there are “for rent” signs in several shop windows. In the last few years, the un-employment rate has been consistently on the rise in the region. Factories are leaving the heartland for cheaper locales and the little town of Two Rivers is struggling to re-invent itself. Jim VanLanen, one of the town’s most industrious entrepreneurs, began developing small museums as a way to bring tourists and industry to the area.

A few blocks off the main drag, in a section of the old cavernous Hamilton printing factory, a lone employee waits in the most popular of these museums for visitors to come. A couple of individuals straggle in every few days and then, come Friday, the museum fills with life. Machines hum, presses print, artists buzz about. One weekend each month, the quiet of Two Rivers is interrupted as carloads of artisans drive in from across the Midwest. The place comes alive as printmaking workshops led by, and filled with, some of the region’s top creative talent descend on the sleepy enclave. The museum is significant to the town’s history, but more importantly, its existence is critical to the worldwide design community who are passionate about the history of their craft and its function in the contemporary field. They believe the future of their industry may lie in the past.

Typeface, Kartemquin’s latest documentary in progress, will bring this fascinating junction of historical and contemporary, as well as rural and urban America together for enjoyment and contemplation. This film will be of interest to art and graphic design enthusiasts, to teachers as an educational resource, and to anyone looking for a film about perseverance and preservation in the heart of America.

Film critics from Synecdoche, New York DVD

Rainbeau Creative
Synecdoche, New York, my favorite film of 2008, is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray. On the disc's Special Feature "Infectious Diseases in Cattle: Bloggers' Round Table", I talk about the film's merits with other film critics.

Screenhead
Picture this: you find yourself at Blockbuster talking to the employee (probably called a companion or a facilitator) about favorite movies. The first word out of their mouth is Glitter. You feel the bile rising up your throat, and you run away as fast as you can to your friend. Your friend who shares your obsession for Fight Club, or your unhealthy obsession with the Godfather. We are that friend. We are fellow ScreenHeads.

film freak central
Now and zen I think about life and stuff.
Roman Polanski's character in The Tenant asks his beatnik girlfriend a great philosophical question, which I'll paraphrase here: If I cut off my arms, I say, "This is me, and these are my arms." If I cut off my legs, I say, "This is me, and these are my legs." But if I cut off my head, do I say, "This is me, and this is my body," or "This is me, and this is my head."? What right does my head have to say it's me?
I know how I'd answer that question.
I love to write. I love to watch movies. I love to read. Film Freak Central is for people who share these passions.
This is me, and this is my website.
-Bill Chambers, Editor-in-Chief

Filmbrain
Film blogger, film critic, and now President of Benten Films (www.bentenfilms.com), a DVD distribution company that I run with fellow critic and dear friend Aaron Hillis. Oh, but I'm still a part-time misanthrope.

the auteurs notebook

au•teur

-n. [ō-tûr', ō-tœr']

the creative visionary behind a film.

the•au•teurs

-n. [thē ō-tûrs', thē ō-tœrs']

1. an online movie theater where
you watch, discover, and discuss
auteur cinema.

a new social experience.

indieWIRE
The leading news, information, and networking site for independent-minded filmmakers, the industry and moviegoers alike, indieWIRE launced on July 15, 1996 and re-launched with a bold new approach on January 12, 2009 (press release). Winner of the Webby Award for best film website, indieWIRE was lauded as a "must read" by Variety, branded the "online heartbeat of the world's independent film community" by Forbes, and dubbed "best indie crossroads" by film critic Roger Ebert. Read more...

Some Came Running

Film writer, formerly of Premiere magazine and .com. Reach me at glennkenny@mac.com.

Cinematical

SpoutBlog
SpoutBlog is here to discover and digest everything worth knowing in movies each day.

For anyone with more than a fleeting interest in movies, the landscape of film is changing drastically. A movie lover’s passion for film doesn’t recognize boundaries between Hollywood blockbusters, unsung independent achievements and viral clips from YouTube.

Wherever the under hyped piece of genius or over hyped piece of not-so-genius comes from, chances are we’re writing about it here. And when there’s a film festival to attend, we’ll probably be there treasure hunting for movies and interviewing filmmakers on the bleeding edge of the Industry.