#brooklyn film festival

[13thgenfilm]

This Sunday at 4pm, co-directors Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller make their East Coast Premiere with the award-winning documentary, SWEETHEART DEAL, screening at the 26th annual Brooklyn Film Festival. Fresh off award-winning runs at both Bend Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival, SWEETHEART DEAL screens at Windmill Studios on June 4th at 4pm. 13th Gen's Marc Smolowitz is proud to be a consulting producer of this intimate portrait of hope, heartbreak and resilience on the fringes of modern America.  Tickets: 👉 https://bit.ly/43ptXht

[scopophilic1997]

scopOphilic_micromessaging_974 - scopOphilic1997 presents a new micro-messaging series: small, subtle, and often unintentional messages we send and receive verbally and non-verbally.

[domhnallgleesonhaven]

Adorable as always 🥰

Domhnall at TIFF 2015.

Ph. Borys Kit

[flipjack]

Stephanie for Anthem Magazine

[gleesonarchive]

Happy Birthday, Saoirse Ronan! 🎉

We miss Domhnall and Saoirse's playful banter. Hope they team up again some day!

[anhed-nia]

BLOGTOBER 10/12/2023: RINGU, GOJIRA

I rewatched both of these movies in preparation for an event that my org hosted at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies has a lecture at the fest every year, and this time I got someone really great to accompany their Japanese programming. Actually, you can read the original paper that my speaker Sigmund Shen based his talk on, and I highly recommend it!:

He has something very compelling to say about how RINGU and GOJIRA (among other things) reflect the ongoing struggle to expose suppressed national histories, which inflict shame and trauma on a populace who are unable to fully process events that have been protected by censorship and taboo. Because this is a speed run season of Blogtober, I'll leave the analysis to Professor Shen--you won't be disappointed!

The film festival featured a slate of Japanese fare to coincide with a new documentary called THE J-HORROR VIRUS by Sarah Appleton and Jasper Sharp. When they were asked "Why now?" about this investigation into a mode of production that was extremely hot in the early aughts, and which has seen virtually no new growth in recent years, the answer seemed to be that only this much hindsight has clarified what it all meant--and they're right. The doc is really interesting and surprising, even to someone like me who remembers how hard J-horror hit the American festival circuit back when. The founding filmmakers share insights and inspiration that I never would have guessed at, but I have to say that my favorite part was the interview with Rie Ino'o who played Sadako in RINGU and RING 2. Despite her silent and basically faceless performance, she infused her character with a vivid personality that made Hideo Nakata insist that she return for the second film, and you can really see what made her so irreplaceable. I think I'm in love with her now. Anyway, see THE J-HORROR VIRUS if you can, it's really good.

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Door

[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

When I first discovered the existence of Banmei Takahashi’s Door earlier this year (via various clips shared by fan accounts on Twitter), it was love at first sight. Luckily, while the movie currently lacks official distribution in the United States, I didn’t need to wait very long at all to see it (compared to Angel’s Egg, A Page of Madness, and Samurai Wolf, anyway) thanks to the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, which screened it just before midnight on Friday, October 13th—basically the ideal context in which to experience its unique brand of madness.

The premise is as brilliant as it is straightforward: an ordinary housewife—already fed up with cold callers and their seemingly unlimited access to her family’s personal information—aggressively turns away an especially persistent salesman, slamming the door on his fingers after he ignores her repeated protests and attempts to force his way into her apartment. Unfortunately, this moment of instinctive panic has severe repercussions, resulting in an excruciatingly tense game of cat-and-mouse as the slighted pamphlet pusher’s vengeful wrath gradually evolves into perverse sexual obsession.

It’s a captivatingly mundane flavor of terror, twisting a familiar, relatable scenario into an inescapable nightmare. There’s nothing particularly memorable or remarkable about the central villain. He has no elaborate costume or mask, no supernatural abilities or distinguishing features; unlike Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, and Leatherface, he doesn’t even wield a signature weapon (though he is quite handy with the absurdly convenient electric chainsaw that he scavenges from the protagonist’s collection of otherwise run-of-the-mill home appliances). This anonymity is absolutely chilling; he effortlessly blends in with the crowd—average, unassuming, invisible. Indeed, his façade of superficial “normalcy” is far more insidious than any explicit display of insanity; he taunts his prey with idle banter, seamlessly transitioning between casual flirtation and thinly veiled threats.

The director’s visual style perfectly complements the suspenseful tone of the narrative. Early scenes almost resemble a slice-of-life domestic drama, characterized by flat compositions and lighting. As the conflict escalates, however, the warm, inviting interiors slowly warp and distort, becoming cramped, claustrophobic, hostile. Foreground elements (potted plants, sculptures, windows, doorways) isolate our heroine within the frame, emphasizing her vulnerability. Voyeuristic point-of-view shots serve a similar purpose, subliminally insinuating that true “safety” is an illusion: the sinister stalker could be lurking around any shadowy corner. The increasingly maximalist cinematography culminates in the film’s most iconic sequence: a prolonged overhead angle that follows the now totally unhinged maniac as he relentlessly pursues his quarry from room to room, utterly demolishing every obstacle in his path—splintering wood, shattering glass, and reducing drywall to dust.

Yet some of the movie’s most haunting images are significantly less spectacular than this climactic set piece. Takahashi understands the inherent value of patience, frequently locking down the camera and lingering on long, uninterrupted closeups of his lead actress simply reacting to suspicious offscreen noises—the echo of footsteps in the corridor, for example, or the telltale rattle of the deadbolt being tested. Keiko Takahashi’s face is breathtakingly expressive; her turbulent emotions are palpable, a violent maelstrom of anxiety, desperation, and paralyzing fear clearly evident in every twitch of her eye, every crease in her brow, every tear staining her cheek.

How thematically appropriate that Door—a story that explores such everyday horrors as rampant commercialism, predatory marketing, and the erosion of privacy—should be at its scariest when it embraces naturalism, minimalism, and subtlety.

[frogdogloghogfog]

The 2018 Frog Dog Log film is returning to Animation Block Party in 2 weeks for their 20th Anniversary screening on June 3 at BAM Film Brookyln, where it premiered 5 years ago.

Hope you get the chance to see it in a theatre again.

[kenpiercemedia]

The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Announces Full 2024 Program

The Press Release: The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival (BHFF) announces today the full program for its 2024 incarnation, running October 17-24 with all screenings held at Nitehawk Cinema’s Williamsburg and Prospect Park locations. Audiences are in for an unworldly lineup of films and events, including a special screening of Larry Fessenden’s HABIT with the Leviathan Award Ceremony, honoring his…

[sunshinestatecineplex]

Sarasota Film Festival 2024 - Top 10 Movies to Watch

As something of a homecoming for this critic, I will be attending the opening weekend of the Sarasota Film Festival this year. I grew up in the city and know what it means for the town and community. It also is a fantastic place to launch a young filmmaker. Friends of mine have not only participated in the festival but have also started Hollywood careers here. This festival holds a special place…

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Frances Ha (2012, Noah Baumbach)

15/12/2023

Frances Ha is a 2012 film directed by Noah Baumbach and written by Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, who is also the protagonist. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in September 2012 and was released internationally in 2013.

Frances Halladay is a 27-year-old aspiring dancer who lives with her best friend Sophie in Brooklyn. Frances refuses to leave Sophie, but she is not reciprocated, as her friend, immediately after her, tells her that she will be moving to a loft in Tribeca, making the big leap from Brooklyn to Manhattan.

Frances finds a new apartment with new roommates. Happy with her new life, Frances runs down the street to the tune of David Bowie's Modern Love. Unable to pay the rent, she returns to her parents on the outskirts of Sacramento, where she spends a Christmas with her family, seeing her college friends.

Depression and a sense of abandonment can be seen, after so many celebrations, in the desperate expression with which he takes the plane back to New York.

She takes a temporary job as a student assistant at his old college and settles into a sad dorm in Poughkeepsie.

The film ends with the presentation of his very successful choreography and the beginning of a new life in his new apartment in Washington Heights.

The filmmakers included a number of pop songs, including Hot Chocolate's Every 1's a Winner, The Rolling Stones' Rocks Off, Paul McCartney's Blue Sway, T. Rex's Chrome Sitar and David Bowie's Modern Love: the latter sequence is a tribute to Leos Carax's film, Mauvais Sang, where Denis Lavant runs through the streets like Greta Gerwig, with the same soundtrack. The musical choice is also a tribute to various Nouvelle Vague films with music by Georges Delerue, Jean Constantin, Antoine Duhamel and a song by Felix Laband.

Based on 136 reviews collected by the aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, the film receives a 93% "Certified Fresh" approval rating, with an average score of 7.9/10. Metacritic gives an average score of 82/100, indicating "universal acclaim" based on 35 reviews.

[michaelvarrati]

We warned you not to go out tonight! This week, Peaches and Michael are getting positively 42nd Steet for their Idol Worship celebration of William Lustig! In addition to discussing this genre legend’s deep connection to New York City, our hosts delve into his dedication to preserving fright films from around the world. Joining the conversation is none other than the icon himself, William Lustig, fresh from being honored with the first inaugural lifetime achievement Leviathan Award at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. In this far ranging discussion, Lustig shares behind the scenes stories from the making of MANIAC, the MANIAC COP series, and beyond, as well as reflects on his lifetime of love for cinema. From wild stunts to late night phone calls from Joe Spinell, this episode has it all! Go!  

[domhnallgleesonhaven]

Saoirse Ronan, “Brooklyn” director John Crowley and Domhnall at TIFF 2015

[flipjack]

Stephanie slaying at the Tribeca Film Festival

[celebratesocia1]

Empowering Creativity: Spectrum and Ovation TV Grant $10,000 Stand For The Arts Award to Bushwick Film Festival

Big Win for Indie Films: Bushwick Film Festival Secures $10,000 from Spectrum and Ovation TV for Brooklyn's Art Scene #BushwickFilmFestival #StandForTheArts #SpectrumSupportsArts #OvationTV #BrooklynCinema #IndieFilmFunding #ArtsAccessibility

In a significant move to bolster the arts and cultural scene in Brooklyn, Spectrum announced that the Bushwick Film Festival has been awarded $10,000 through the 2023-2024 Stand For The Arts Awards. This initiative, a partnership with Ovation TV, aims to recognize and support local arts, cultural, and educational organizations and programs. Since its inception in 2017, the initiative has awarded…