Von Trier: "Persona non grata?"
Or both? As Roman Polanski easily proved, visionary film makers can certainly be evil. Or at least devilishly provocative like Von Trier, who was physically kicked out of the Cannes Festival (though his new film, MELANCHOLIA, remains in competition) for “joking” about being a Nazi. Read More
Okay, I know next to nothing about Stephane Gauger. I saw that his film SAIGON ELECTRIC is playing at LAAPFF next week, so I clicked on the trailer. Sa dah tay! *
In the Lobby? Wes Craven
Okay, one of us is sure that Craven is a hack, but two of us have him in the lobby. In perusing this brief retrospective of his career from Moviefone, I was reminded of Craven innovative approaches to advancing the art of boogey man movies. He’s sort of the Michael Bay of the cheesy halloween blockbuster niche: he makes effective genre films that consistently draw big audiences and prove the studios investment in him to be sound. Read More
Visionary: Sidney Lumet
Prolific director Sidney Lumet is dead, may he rest in peace.
Despite his success in film making, Lumet never won an Oscar. From the SF Gate article:
His actors, with whom he always rehearsed for at least two weeks before starting production, were nominated for 17 Oscars for their performances in his films; several, including Faye Dunaway and Ingrid Bergman, won. The director was, in four nominations, always shut out until he was given a lifetime achievement award in 2005.
“I guess I’d like to thank the movies,” the director said in accepting the award.
In the Lobby: David O. Russell
Check out what Russell has to say to Moving Pictures Network:
I think being a community organizer and an activist, which I was, and being a writer, which I’ve always been, is all about having a vision. If you have a vision, you get to lead the parade. People want that. They want someone decisive. They can have their opinions and their creative input and their collaboration, but people need — and they want — a decisive arbiter, someone steering the ship. There’s nothing worse than when you can’t smell the vision.
Opening this weekend, “Source Code” looks like a promising entry in the time-shifting, crime-solving sci-fi subgenre. I really enjoyed Duncan Jones‘ first feature, “Moon” (2009), an entertaining riff on the “man alone in space develops space madness” theme, and by the looks of the trailer, we may have another future visionary on our hands.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom
According to this story on IndieWire, Oprah Winfrey has been making moves and acquiring content for her new cable channel. She was at Sundance picking up documentaries in particular for her Documentary Film Club. One of the films, “Miss Representation” stands out in particular:
Also feeding the female demo is actress-documentarian Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s earnest feminist media critique Miss Representation, which lays out the argument about how the way women are portrayed in the media—as objects of beauty—impacts real girls and women. Siebel interviewed a wide range of women leaders including Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Margaret Cho, Rosario Dawson and Gloria Steinem.
Jimmy Kimmel brings the crazy, “The President’s Speech”
VOH 
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