Good Films in Theaters Now
Greetings all,
This is a great week to see great films all over. Let’s start with a special screening of "36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime” at the Angelika Theater on Thursday night, January 31, at 7 pm. I have been a part of this new Human Rights film series, and this film is being shown with the support of many great orgs doing the great work that is so important now. Here is the description:
"36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime" is a gripping and thought-provoking exploration of the human cost of bigotry. Through the lens of this heartbreaking event, the film emphasizes the importance of combating hate and fostering understanding.
In 2015, three Muslim-American students were executed while eating dinner in their home in Chapel Hill, NC. In 36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime, filmmaker Tarek Albaba makes an impassioned case for justice for these innocents and for his community. The film charts the victims’ families’ agonizing overnight pivot from trauma to advocacy as they struggle to prevent their loved ones’ deaths from being dismissed as the result of a random parking dispute.
They courageously speak the truth about the hate crime that has destroyed their lives, about the overt and insidious ways racism plays out in our society, and about the need to reform a hate crime system that is broken. This is a project about grace and the will to fight for the truth in the worst of circumstances.
This is amazing. For the first time, I can remember each film playing at the Angelika Theater, the Texas Theatre, and the Violet Crown Theater. They are all great and worth seeing. The Angelika has “The Room Next Door,” “Presence,” which I have not seen but am very much looking forward to, “A Complete Unknown,” “The Brutalist,” “The Last Showgirl,” “Nickel Boys,” “Hard Truths,” “Conclave”, “Mulholland Drive,” Flow,” and starting on Friday “I’m Still Here.”
The Texas Theatre also has “Mulholland Drive.” “The Brutalist,” and “Presence.” They also are showing the classic must-see “The Night of the Hunter,” “Sex Lies and Videotape.” and “Wild at Heart.”
The Violet Crown has “The Last Showgirl,” “Babygirl,” “Nosferatu,” “A Complete Unknown,” “The Room Next Door,” “The Brutalist,” and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” Wow, that is an amazing menu to choose from. It was not that long ago that superhero films dominated cinema, but now it seems we just have super films. The filmmakers, the studios, and the theaters have done their jobs. Now it is up to us to go out and reward them for their great programming and watch a film in a theater.
Speaking of great films, the Oscar nominations came out last week. I am sure that Elijah will write more about this, but there are some standouts I would like to mention. Like “Poor Things” last year, the Academy nominated a film that extends the bounds of what we think the academy would go for. These include “Emilia Perez” and “Nickel Boys.” There are great feature documentaries which I will write about in the future. The film that jumped out to me is “Incident.” This is a short doc by Bill Morrison. For those that have been to the VideoFest, you might have seen and been moved by “Decasia” and or “Dawson City: Frozen Time.” The fact that he has been nominated for an Academy Award really makes me happy. You can see “Incident” here.
I have been doing mobile workshops all around, and a few are coming up. The next one is this Sunday afternoon, February 2, from 2-5 in Fort Worth. For more info on that, go here. Next week, I will be at the Twig in San Antonio (details next week). And one online workshop with student filmmakers. If you are interested in getting the book, the 20% discount expires on January 31. Here is the link, and the discount code is SMA24. (If you are local and get it online, email me, and I will sign it for you (bart@videofest.org)
In 2016, We showed Willie Baronite’s documentary “Signs of Humanity.” He. and his team are expanding this work, and if you would like to support it, you can go here.
Lastly, thank you to everyone who helped me with my retrospective at UTA. It was a wonderful night, and I appreciate all of you who came out. The warm feeling from that night will stay with me for a long time. The Gallery did a great job. Thanks to Sarah Reyes and Daniel Driensky for taking the great instant photos of folks with the badges.
Sil Azevedo made a short video that gives the flavor of the night. And here is a link to the extraordinary video that Exploredinary made.
-Bart
Howdy,
The Oscar nominations finally came out at the end of last week, after a few delays due to the LA fires. The early morning, in-person presentation was hosted by SNL comic Bowen Yang, who was also in the cast of "Wicked," and popular online comedian Rachel Sennott, who was in the films "Bodies Bodies Bodies" and "Shiva Baby." Hosting this is like Oscars-lite, with less room to make banter and jokes, but lots of room to mess up the pronunciation of names. If you haven't seen the full list, it is available here, but there weren't a ton of surprises from what many people had predicted.
The biggest takeaway was the 13 nominations for Netflix's "Emilia Perez," making it the most nominated International film ever. Of course, this film has been getting criticism from all angles online—too woke for featuring Karla Sofía Gascón in the lead role as a trans, reformed cartel leader, and then another side of criticism for its strange depiction of Mexico. It's a soapy musical with a love triangle and some interesting ideas about identity. I've really never seen anything like it, and I think a lot of the criticism is unearned.
One of my favorite nominations was Sebastian Stan in the Best Actor category for his depiction of Donald Trump in "The Apprentice." As this movie was releasing, there was a lot of chatter about whether anyone would want to see this in an election year, but now that Trump is president again, maybe voters decided to give it a chance. Stan doesn't just do an SNL-style caricature of Trump, and the movie offers some insight into an early version of him, setting him up to become a reality star in the early 2000s. Sebastian Stan is doubly worthy of the nomination because not only is he great in "The Apprentice" but also gave my favorite performance last year in "A Different Man."
The International categories are always a weak point for what I have seen, because it is hard to tell what will get in from the huge selection of potentially eligible films. In both the International and Animated categories, the Latvian film "Flow" got a nomination with its very cute cat in the lead role.
Every year there is always a black-and-white European film with a nun on the poster, and this year that title goes to "The Girl with the Needle." Contrary to how it looks though, the movie is about a Danish serial killer who is somehow involved in black-market adoptions. It is streaming on Mubi and available to rent. The Brazilian film "I'm Still Here" performed very well in the nominations, earning three—International, Best Actress, and Best Picture. It releases in theaters next month. With the expanded voting body, a lot more of these international films are being watched and able to get into categories that may have been more prone to English-language films. It really helps the perception of the Academy diversifying and becoming more global.
At the Modern this week, we are showing the nature doc "Every Little Thing" about hummingbird rehabilitation. Also out in theaters is the multi-nominated film "Nickel Boys" and, of course, the incredible "The Brutalist" with its lovely 15-minute intermission.
-Elijah