tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53063087749917704602024-03-13T14:44:19.293-04:00You're Making a SceneCulture. Production. Culture production.Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-38736749465688044212018-01-01T00:06:00.000-05:002018-01-01T10:18:17.032-05:00Top Ten Films of 2017Goodness! This site still exists!<br />
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To be perfectly honest, I had nearly forgotten about this blog. Moving households, pregnancy, birth, postpartum shenanigans, a full-time job, and caring for a preschooler on top of all that will do that to you. However, my love of cinema remains constant, despite my inability to make it to the theater much these days.<br />
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The great heartache in posting this list is that the number of films I <i>wanted</i> to see greatly dwarfs the number of films I actually <i>did</i> see. Nevertheless, I am still immensely grateful that I was able to see any films at all. (Thanks, maternity leave, cable movies on demand, and online streaming platforms!) Thus, without much further ado, I give you my Top Ten Films of 2017. Imperfect as it is. (But if there is one thing that motherhood has taught me thus far, it is that nothing is perfect or will ever match up perfectly with your ideal; so embrace what you are capable of. I tried my best.)<br />
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1. <b>A Ghost Story</b>, dir. David Lowery</div>
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2. <b>Personal Shopper</b>, dir. Olivier Assayas</div>
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3. <b>Get Out</b>, dir. Jordan Peele</div>
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4. <b>Dunkirk</b>, dir. Christopher Nolan</div>
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5. <b>I Am Not Your Negro</b>, dir. Raoul Peck</div>
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6. <b>Ladybird</b>, dir. Greta Gerwig</div>
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7. <b>Lady Macbeth</b>, dir. William Oldroyd</div>
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8. <b>Their Finest</b>, dir. Lone Scherfig</div>
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9. <b>The Big Sick</b>, dir. Michael Showalter</div>
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10. <b>Mudbound</b>, dir. Dee Rees</div>
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Most cinephiles will of course note certain grave omissions (i.e. <i>The Darkest Hour; The Post; Phantom Thread; The Killing of a Sacred Deer; Call Me By Your Name; </i>etc.). Alas, if it wasn't already released on DVD or through an online streaming platform this year, there is little chance that I would have seen it. Such is the plight of a mother of two tiny humans.</div>
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And just in case you're curious how my list stacked up against those of a few friends, please head on over to Michael Anderson's site, <a href="http://tenbestfilms.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ten Best Films</a>.</div>
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Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-28738595859164247712016-01-03T01:00:00.000-05:002016-01-03T13:12:25.198-05:00Top Ten Films of 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since my days are now primarily occupied by chasing after and caring for a toddler, my current moviegoing habits are decidedly less robust than in my pre-parenthood days. That being said, with the help of a very loving and supportive partner, I have somehow managed to see enough films in the past year that choosing only ten favorites proved to be quite a challenge. Thus, I humbly offer below my top ten films of 2015.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. <b><i>Carol</i></b>, dir. Todd Haynes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. <b><i>Phoenix</i></b>, dir. Christian Petzold</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. <b><i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i></b>, dir. George Miller</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. <b><i>Brooklyn</i></b>, dir. John Crowley</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. <b><i>Room</i></b>, dir. Lenny Abrahamson</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. <b><i>Clouds of Sils Maria</i></b>, dir. Olivier Assayas</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. <b><i>The Wolfpack</i></b>, dir. Crystal Moselle</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. <b><i>Tangerine</i></b>, dir. Sean Baker</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. <b><i>The Big Short</i></b>, dir. Adam McKay</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10. <b><i>Ex Machina</i></b>, dir. Alex Garland</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A particularly remarkable year for strong female leads, though only one film, <i>Tangerine,</i> featured a (trans) woman of color; and only one, <i>The Wolfpack,</i> a documentary, was directed by a woman.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Honorable Mentions include: <i style="font-weight: bold;">Dope</i>, directed by Rick Famuyiwa<i style="font-weight: bold;">; Inside Out</i>, directed by </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="itemprop" itemprop="name">Pete Docter and</span> <span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="text-decoration: none;">Ronnie Del Carmen</span></span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">; Spotlight</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, directed by Tom McCarthy</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">; The Duke of Burgundy</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, directed by Peter Strickland</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">; Slow West</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, John Maclean</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">; Beasts of No Nation</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">; Iris</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, directed by Albert Masles</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">; White God</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, directed by </span><span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="background-color: rgba(185, 185, 185, 0.0980392); font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none;">Kornél Mundruczó</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">; Jauja, </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">directed by Lisandro Alonso</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">; </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Far from the Madding Crowd</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, directed by Thomas Vinterberg</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For anyone who might be interested in seeing how this list stacked up against those of a few other noted film writers and scholars with whom I am privileged to be friends, please head on over to Michael Anderson's site, <a href="http://tenbestfilms.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ten Best Films</a>.</span>Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-10303587999118456652015-12-28T12:03:00.003-05:002015-12-28T22:03:21.480-05:00Quick Note: Jeremy Strong in The Big Short<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since becoming a mother, I've found it increasingly difficult to work on longer thought/opinion pieces for this blog. (And let's face it, my track record in posting essays pre-motherhood was never great.) Nevertheless, I still often think about film. I even try to watch them every now and again (while the kiddo is napping). So, without the time to actually sit and write these days, but still desperate to somehow memorialize my film-related thoughts, I have often used Twitter to send these thoughts and opinions out into the ether. (Thanks, social media.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twitter has been great for me in this regard, but there are still some things that simply cannot be fully expressed in one hundred forty characters or less. So I've decided to use this site to file away some of these lengthier reflections under the label, "Quick Note." Here's my first:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Jeremy Strong in <i>The Big Short</i>. (Photo Source: www.theblackfilm.com)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #292f33; line-height: 20px;">Every so often, a character actor emerges in a more exposed role in a large motion picture; and it turns out that he/she has been quietly building an impressive filmography all along. It took </span><i style="color: #292f33; line-height: 20px;">The Big Short</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #292f33; line-height: 20px;"> for me to finally notice Jeremy Strong. Everyone in this film is great, but Strong's performance truly stood out-- enough that I found myself Googling and IMDb-ing him in the office this morning. His screen presence is remarkable. There is an understated coolness about him, an ease in his physicality that belies the great control and intensity with which he performs his role. And while, again, he plays a supporting character, Vinnie Daniel, to Steve Carell's lead, Mark Baum, Strong is the even-tempered anchor for the ensemble in which Carell is allowed to bluster about, rant, rave, and ultimately shine. I'll be looking out for (and forward to) Strong in future roles. </span></span><br />
<br />Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-20536788986043346892015-01-04T22:00:00.000-05:002015-01-04T22:00:15.963-05:00Top Ten Films of 2014Something kind of funny happens when you have a kid (which I did, last March): you stop caring quite as much about what other people think. Of this. Or that.<br />
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However, one thing I still do care very much about is what movies people are seeing and what those people think of those films. Which is to say, despite my new life as a working mom these days, I am still a die-hard cinephile. And somehow, miraculously, I managed to see some goddamned movies in 2014. One of them was even in the theater! (A blissful two hours in a darkened public space, sans baby. I actually cried when the trailers began.)</div>
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So, although my top ten lists of years past were much more comprehensively "researched," I am still immensely grateful that I got to see the dozen or so new releases that were up for consideration. Knowing that I would have such limited opportunities to see films in 2014, I also took great pains to be terrifically choosy in my recreational viewing. So hopefully that made a difference. In any case, whoever even reads this blog anymore, I humbly offer up my Top 10 Films of 2014 below. Enjoy!</div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">1. <i><b>Ida</b></i>, dir. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit;">Pawel Pawlikowski</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;">2. </span><b style="color: #222222;"><i>Birdman,</i></b><span style="color: #222222;"> dir. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit;">Alejandro González Iñárritu</span><br />
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3. <b style="font-style: italic;">The Grand Budapest Hotel</b>,<b style="font-style: italic;"> </b>dir. Wes Anderson<br />
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<span style="color: #222222;">4. </span><i style="color: #222222; font-weight: bold;">The Lego Movie</i><span style="color: #222222;">, dir. Phil Lord </span>and<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit;">Christopher Miller</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;">5. </span><i style="color: #222222; font-weight: bold;">Snowpiercer</i><span style="color: #222222;">, dir.</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit;">Joon-ho Bong</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;">6. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><b style="font-style: italic;">We Are the Best!, </b>dir</span>. <span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit;">Lukas Moodysson</span><br />
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7. <i style="font-weight: bold;">Ilo Ilo</i>, dir Anthony Chen<br />
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8. <i style="font-weight: bold;">The Trip to Italy</i>, dir. Michael Winterbottom<br />
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9. <i style="font-weight: bold;">Breathe In</i>, dir. Drake Doremus<br />
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10. <b><i>Fading Gigolo</i></b>, dir. John Turturro<br />
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Honorable mentions: <i><b>Filth</b></i>, directed by Jon S. Baird;<i> <b>The Immigrant</b></i>, directed by James Gray</div>
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Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-91073570716318680492014-01-01T17:01:00.000-05:002014-01-05T20:15:26.271-05:00Top Films of 2013Happy new year! And thanks for stopping by. While I certainly don't get to post my thoughts on film and filmmaking in this little corner of the internet very regularly anymore, one thing I do continue to do is watch a ton of movies. And this past year was no exception. 2013 was loaded with a veritable banquet of cinematic delights for the eyes, ears, heart and mind; and I tried my damnedest to take advantage of all the wealth. So, before I launch into it, let me just say that while this list is pretty exhaustive, it still by no means fully encompasses <i>all</i> of the movies I wish I had seen. Nor does this list fully represent all of the films I <i>had </i>seen in 2013 (there were a few real stinkers that do not merit any mention here). Nevertheless, out of all the films that were released in 2013, either in theaters or at festivals in the U.S., these are my Top 50. Hope you enjoy. And more importantly, if you haven't seen any of these films yet, I sincerely hope you get the chance to do so!<br />
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<b><span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: large;">TOP 10</span></b></div>
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1. <b>12 Years a Slave,</b> <i>dir. Steve McQueen</i></div>
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2. <b>The Hunt</b><i>, dir. Thomas Vinterberg</i></div>
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3. <b>A Touch of Sin,</b><i> dir. Zhangke Jia</i></div>
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4. <b>The Selfish Giant</b><i>, dir. Clio Barnard</i></div>
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5. <b>All Is Lost</b><i>, dir. J.C. Chandor</i></div>
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6. <b>The Great Beauty</b><i>, dir. Paolo Sorrentino</i></div>
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7. <b>Her</b><i>, dir. Spike Jonze</i></div>
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8. <b>Gravity</b><i>, dir. Alfonso Cuar<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; line-height: 19.19487762451172px; text-align: start;">ó</span>n</i></div>
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9. <b>Stories We Tell</b>, <i>dir. Sarah Polley</i></div>
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10. <b>The Grandmaster</b>, <i>dir. Wong Kar Wai</i></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: large;">TOP 20-50</span></b><br />
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<b>11. Before Midnight</b>, <i>dir. Richard Linklater</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">12. Blancanieves</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Pablo Berger</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">13. American Hustle</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">David O. Russell</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">14. Blue Is the Warmest Color</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Abdellatif Kechiche</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">15. The Wolf of Wall Street</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Martin Scorsese</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">16. Side Effects</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Steven Soderbergh</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">17. Byzantium</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Neil Jordan</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">18. To the Wonder</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Terrence Malick</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">19. Inside Llewyn Davis</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Ethan and Joel Coen</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">20. Dallas Buyers Club</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">Jean-Marc Vall<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">é</span></span>e</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">21. Short Term 12</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Destin Cretton</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">22. Cutie and the Boxer</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Zachary Heinzerling</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">23. This Is the End</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">24. The World's End</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Edgar Wright</i><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><b>25. Wadjda,</b><i> dir. Haifaa Al-Monsour</i></span><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">26. The Rocket</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Kim Mordaunt</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">27. Ain't Them Bodies Saints</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. David Lowery</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">28. Stand Clear of the Closing Doors</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Sam Fleischner</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">29. The Kill Team</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Dan Krauss</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">30. Frances Ha</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Noah Baumbach</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">31. A Birder's Guide to Everything</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Rob Meyer</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">32. No</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Pablo Larra<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">í</span></span>n</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">33. Beyond the Hills</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Cristian Mungiu</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">34. S#x Acts</b><span style="text-align: center;">,</span><b style="text-align: center;"> </b><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Jonathan Gurfinkel</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">35. The Bling Ring</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Sofia Coppola</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">36. Kon-Tiki</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><i>dir. <span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg</span></span></i></span><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">37. Upstream Color</b><i style="text-align: center;">, dir. Shane Carruth</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">38. Leviathan</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">39. Blackfish</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Gabriela Cowperthwaite</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">40. Sightseers</b><i style="text-align: center;">, dir. Ben Wheatley</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">41. Haute Cuisine</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Christian Vincent</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">42. The Broken Circle Breakdown</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Felix Van Groeningen</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">43. Just a Sigh</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; text-align: center;">, <i>dir. </i><span style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Jérôme Bonnell</span></span><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">44. Don Jon's Addiction</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Joseph Gordon-Levitt</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">45. What Maisie Knew</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Scott McGehee and David Siegel</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">46. At Any Price</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Ramin Bahrani</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">47. Hide Your Smiling Faces</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Daniel Patrick Carbone</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">48. Lily</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Matt Creed</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">49. The Girl</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. David Riker</i><br />
<b style="text-align: center;">50. The Reluctant Fundamentalist</b><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><i style="text-align: center;">dir. Mira Nair</i><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">As in previous years, my top 10 films have also been tallied as part of an annual mini-poll conducted amongst a casual group of film critics and writers, organized and compiled by the indefatigable Michael Anderson. You can find the collective results of the poll at <a href="http://tenbestfilms.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ten Best Films</a>.</span>Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-70266892000340233772013-01-06T02:05:00.000-05:002013-01-06T16:37:29.993-05:00Top Ten Films of 2012<div>
Why, hello. Nice to see you (hypothetical reader) after nearly a year of my absence from this blog!</div>
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Though I have heard fellow friends and acquaintances bemoan the "slim pickings" from amongst film choices released in 2012, personally I found no such dearth of absolutely terrific cinema to be found. Below, I am happy to present my list of the top ten films that played at festivals, or in limited and wide release in the year of the supposed Mayan Apocalypse. Please to enjoy. I hope to soon publish several other "Best Of" lists in various film categories in the coming days. In the meantime, if you do plan on screening any of these films in the near future (which I highly encourage), happy watching!<br />
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<b><i>Amour</i>, dir. Michael Haneke</b></div>
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<b><i>Holy Motors</i>, dir. Leos Carax</b></div>
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<b><i>Moonrise Kingdom</i>, dir. Wes Anderson</b></div>
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4. </div>
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<b><i>Life of Pi</i>, dir. Ang Lee</b></div>
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5. </div>
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<b><i>Once Upon a Time In Anatolia</i>, dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan</b></div>
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6. </div>
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<b><i>Beasts of the Southern Wild</i>, dir. Benh Zeitlin</b></div>
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7. </div>
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<b><i>Wuthering Heights</i>, dir. Andrea Arnold</b></div>
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8. </div>
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<b><i>Killer Joe</i>, dir. William Friedkin</b></div>
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9. </div>
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<b><i>Breathing</i>, dir. Karl Markovics</b></div>
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10. </div>
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<b><i>Oslo, August 31st</i>, dir. Joachim Trier</b><br />
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Honorable Mentions In No Particular Order: <i><b>Keep the Lights On</b>, </i>dir. Ira Sachs<i>; <b>Monsieur Lazhar</b>, </i>dir. Philippe Falardeau<i>; <b>Looper</b></i>, dir. Rian Johnson<i>; <b>Argo</b>, </i>dir. Ben Affleck<i>; <b>The Loneliest Planet</b></i>, dir. Julia Loktev<i>; <b>Seven Psychopaths</b></i>, dir. Martin McDonagh<i>; <b>Red Hook Summer</b>, </i>Spike Lee<i>; <b>Miss Bala</b></i>, Gerardo Naranjo<i>; <b>The Deep Blue Sea</b></i>, dir. Terence Davies<i>; <b>Jiro Dreams of Sushi</b>, </i>dir. David Gelb<i>; <b>Goodbye First Love</b></i>, Mia Hansen-Love<i>; <b>Postcards from the Zoo</b>, </i>dir. Edwin<i>; <b>Una Noche</b>, </i>dir. Lucy Mulloy<i>; <b>Habibi Karbak Rahsan</b>, </i>dir. Susan Youssef<i>; <b>Magic Mike</b>, </i>dir. Steven Soderbergh<i>; <b>Rust and Bone</b>, </i>dir. Jacques Audiard<i>; <b>Beyond the Hills</b>, </i>dir. Cristian Mungiu<i>; <b>Your Sister's Sister</b>, </i>dir. Lynn Shelton<i>; <b>Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry</b>, </i>dir. Alison Klayman<i>; <b>The Imposter</b>, </i>dir. Bart Layton<i>; <b>The Queen of Versailles</b>, </i>dir. Lauren Greenfield<i>; <b>Jackpot</b>, </i>dir. Magnus Martens<i>; <b>Lincoln</b>, </i>dir. Steven Spielberg; <i style="font-weight: bold;">Zero Dark Thirty</i>, dir. Kathryn Bigelow; <i style="font-weight: bold;">Django Unchained</i>, dir. Quentin Tarantino; <i style="font-weight: bold;">The Master</i>, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson; <i style="font-weight: bold;">Anna Karenina</i>, dir. Joe Wright; <i style="font-weight: bold;">Les Miserables</i>, dir. Tom Hooper; <i style="font-weight: bold;">Silver Linings Playbook</i>, dir. David O. Russell; <i style="font-weight: bold;">Cheerful Weather for the Wedding</i>, dir. Donald Rice</div>
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Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-29913394482099060432012-01-23T18:38:00.000-05:002012-02-06T22:58:41.685-05:00Last Train Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">A scene from Lixin Fan's <i>Last Train Home</i>. </span></div>
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Happy Chinese New Year, readers!<br />
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Every year, when Chinese New Year comes around, my family and I gather around a big celebratory meal together, replete with all the delicious foods that symbolize prosperity, longevity, and success within the Chinese culture.<br />
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Like us, millions of families of Asian descent around the globe also gather to celebrate the beginning of the new Lunar calendar year. For many people in China, however, Chinese New Year in fact marks the <i>only</i> time millions of migrant workers will have the opportunity to see their families at all in <i>any</i> given year. For most Western cultures, the geographic splintering of families as adult children leave the nest in order to forge their own paths is by now a phenomenon considered rote. However, by contrast, the extraordinarily rapid industrialization of China's economy has resulted in a particularly striking, sudden, and by some turns tragic iteration of this concept.<br />
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Within the last decade, as the Chinese government has allowed more privatized business models to take hold within the country, opportunities for the lower classes to earn more money have exploded. Most of these opportunities lie in factory work within the country's largest cities, while the majority of the country's most economically depressed citizens live in the nation's rural and outlying areas. Meanwhile, the Chinese ethos of placing emphasis upon a child's education as the primary means for a family's upward mobility still remains as strong as ever. Thus, a paradigm that is essentially the inverse to many Western cultures has manifested in which not only have grown children left their homes to seek their fortunes far away, but millions of parents from rural farming communities have also left young children behind in the care of elderly grandparents in order to seek employment, eking out livings in large urban centers so as not to interrupt their children's study. For a culture that has long prioritized filial piety above all else, this massive exodus of both parents and children from the home alike appears to be causing major ruptures in China's societal fabric, in effect rendering the family unit obsolete and many of its traditional values along with it.<br />
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Thus, the annual celebration of Chinese New Year has come to take on even more significance for these families who have become estranged-- parents who have not seen their children in years, brothers and sisters who can barely remember a time when they lived together. Few people outside of China can empathize or even really imagine just how highly emotional, hazardous, and sometimes impossible a feat it can be for these families to make the trip home for this sometimes jubilant, but often bittersweet reunion-- which is perhaps what makes Lixin Fan's 2009 documentary, <i>Last Train Home</i>, so extraordinary.<br />
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Produced by the same folks who made <i>Up the Yangtze</i>, <i>Last Train Home</i> chronicles the ups and downs and gradual disintegration of a family as it succumbs to the enormous pressures, expectations, and distances they are forced to endure within this quickly transforming society. Within its first few minutes, the film informs the viewers via subtitles that every Chinese New Year, 130 million workers go home, making it "the world's largest single migration." We then watch as the spectacle of these millions move together in one mass of humanity through the nation's overwhelmed and antiquated rail system. A sea of anxious faces. The pounding of millions of frantic footsteps, mixed with calls of distress, confusion, desperation, and in some cases complete emotional meltdowns. It is one of the most astonishing displays of the lengths to which humans will go in order to reconnect with what we abstractly term as our "roots." The real tragedy of the film, then, is perhaps the slow realization that begins to set in as we follow the journey of one family, The Zhangs, that this ideal of the family hearth to which millions of Chinese citizens cling and hearken back each year is gradually slipping away. Fan never drives this point home with heavy-handed voiceovers or leading editorializing; rather, his unobtrusive lens simply follows the Zhangs and watches-- sometimes with startling intimacy, but always at a respectful distance-- as they grow frustrated, grow tired, and eventually grow apart. At a time when so many families are celebrating the new year with food for feasting, <i>Last Train Home</i> provides much food for thought.<br />
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<br />Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-78762083260550560612012-01-08T09:27:00.002-05:002012-02-09T19:27:46.800-05:00Top 10 Films of 2011I love movies. So do a lot of my friends. Which is why many of us collectively agonize over deciding which ones rank among our favorites each year. But, after much gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair, one finally just has to pull the trigger and make a damned list. So here is my round-up of the Top 10 Films of 2011. And, because the field was so incredibly packed last year, I've also ranked an additional 15 films to round out my Top 25. 2011 was as densely rich a year for movie-going as any in recent memory. Therefore, please keep in mind that there isn't really a wide margin between any of these choices in my estimation. I truly either loved or really liked them all. So, please to enjoy! And if you haven't seen any of these movies, then I sincerely hope you get the chance to screen them soon. Many of them are now available either on DVD, via online streaming, or are still playing in theaters in most major cities.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo in <i>The Artist.</i></span><br />
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<ol>
<li><b>Hugo, <i>dir. Martin Scorsese</i></b></li>
<li><b>The Artist, <i>dir. Michel Hazanavicius</i></b></li>
<li><b>A Separation, <i>dir. Asghar Farhadi</i></b></li>
<li><b>The Descendants,<i> dir. Alexander Payne</i></b></li>
<li><b>Pina 3D, <i>dir. Wim Wenders</i></b></li>
<li><b>The Tree of Life, <i>dir. Terrence Malick</i></b></li>
<li><b>House of Pleasures, <i>dir. Bertrand Bonello</i></b></li>
<li><b>Margin Call, <i>dir. J.C. Chandor</i></b></li>
<li><b>Martha Marcy May Marlene, <i>dir. Sean Durkin</i></b></li>
<li><b>Shame, <i>dir. Steve McQueen</i></b></li>
<li>Pariah, <i>dir. Dee Rees</i></li>
<li>Take Shelter, <i>dir. Jeff Nichols</i></li>
<li>Drive, <i>dir. Nicolas Winding Refn</i></li>
<li>Jane Eyre, <i>dir. Cary Fukunaga</i></li>
<li>The Skin I Live In, <i>dir. Pedro Almodóvar</i></li>
<li>Margaret, <i>dir. Kenneth Lonergan</i></li>
<li>Beginners, <i>dir. Mike Mills</i></li>
<li>The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, <i>dir. David Fincher</i></li>
<li>Attack the Block, <i>dir. Joe Cornish</i></li>
<li>The Trip, <i>dir. Michael Winterbottom</i></li>
<li>The Loving Story, <i>dir. Nancy Buirski</i></li>
<li>Weekend, <i>dir. Andrew Haigh</i></li>
<li>For Lovers Only, <i>dir. Michael Polish</i></li>
<li>Midnight In Paris, <i>dir. Woody Allen</i></li>
<li>Melancholia, <i>dir. Lars von Trier</i></li>
<li>The Swell Season, <i>dirs. Nick August-Perna, Chris Dapkins, Carlo Mirabella-Davis</i></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Two updates: I am aghast at having realized after posting this list that I mistakenly omitted three very worthy titles: the documentary, <i>Bill Cunningham New York </i>(dir. Richard Press); the modern adaptation of William Shakespeare's <i>Coriolanus</i> (dir. Ralph Fiennes); and the raunch comedy, <i>Bridesmaids </i>(dir. Paul Feig). Though none of these three would have made my Top 10, they all certainly merit inclusion in this list overall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Secondly, you can see how my Top 10 have figured into the yearly Mini-Poll over at <a href="http://tenbestfilms.blogspot.com/2012/01/ten-best-films-2011-mini-poll.html">Ten Best Films</a>, which represents the consensus of a <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">small sample of current graduate students and alumni of New York University and Yale University.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">*Another belated update (Feb. 9, 2012): I finally saw Martin Scorsese's absolutely beautiful and moving HUGO. Sorry, everyone. This one takes the top prize, knocking <i>The Artist</i> (which, for the record, I still adore) down to number 2. A new film has been crowned.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">Asa Butterfield and </span>Chloë Grace Moretz in <i>Hugo.</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div>Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-66986650207720965672012-01-05T10:34:00.001-05:002012-01-05T11:42:32.170-05:00J. Hoberman Laid Off From The Village Voice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Though I love to write about films, I don't pretend to be a "real" film critic. I leave the serious business to many of my peers, such as Matt Singer and R. Emmet Sweeney, both of whom have been adding their fine voices to the cinephilic dialogue in print and online for years. One of the most auspicious publications in which Mr. Singer and Mr. Sweeney's film reviews have often appeared is <i>The Village Voice</i>, which has also been the home of the rightfully revered film critic J. Hoberman for several decades.<br />
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Well, last night, the shocking news came out-- to the outrage of many-- that the<i> Voice</i> has lain Mr. Hoberman off. I won't go into all the details; you can read about it <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/01/village-voice-lays-off-film-critic-j-hoberman.html">here</a>. However, one thing is for sure: not only has the world of film criticism been rocked by the news, but the<i> Voice</i> has surely just made one of the biggest mistakes in its long, embattled history. As far as most of the weekly's readers are concerned, J. Hoberman <i>was</i> the voice of the<i> Voice</i>. A titan in the industry may have been temporarily displaced, but the<i> Voice</i> has just lost a significant portion of its readership for good. Guess it's all sex ads (no, literally-- it's all just sex ads) from here on out.<br />
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*Update: J. Hoberman's farewell message to the staff of <i>The Village</i> <i>Voice</i> appeared this morning on his <a href="http://j-hoberman.com/">blog</a>.Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-45769774089175591322011-03-23T10:20:00.000-04:002011-03-23T10:20:50.701-04:00Elizabeth Taylor: 1932-2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw0GgN1fDCqd0q_Oie5xKbRnHWu759JApZiiVte5xzFnqyyjgq47hjNBFkz8quJlkxd6BF0ASwmlhPDz6WSxwBzlQZa38YjZDd3g9Srb_6wZYtX7A4c5cPWidwFrHeMsHM0MFuRwXH7Mk/s1600/elizabethtaylor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw0GgN1fDCqd0q_Oie5xKbRnHWu759JApZiiVte5xzFnqyyjgq47hjNBFkz8quJlkxd6BF0ASwmlhPDz6WSxwBzlQZa38YjZDd3g9Srb_6wZYtX7A4c5cPWidwFrHeMsHM0MFuRwXH7Mk/s400/elizabethtaylor.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Taking just a moment today to mourn the death of cinema icon Elizabeth Taylor, who died this morning of congestive heart failure. She was 79.<br />
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In a career that spanned more the 70 years and with over 50 film credits to her name, Ms. Taylor was the epitome of Hollywood beauty and glamour. She won two Academy Awards for her performance as the call-girl Gloria Wandrous in <em>Butterfield 8 </em>(1960), and as the scornful wife Martha in <em>Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? </em>(1966)<em>.</em><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NyHa4NSmTkk?fs=1" width="425"></iframe>Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-67945593873925215292011-03-22T15:12:00.003-04:002011-03-22T23:52:21.722-04:00Hollywood Remakes Jerry Lewis. Again. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_5tD31RR2hFuY1DRknXCbGwiUieZH-Y-zlVE7DA8yXRbFf00l07lo_eDFehVWTuBg562HaeZEIa-P01TD-EaQp2Cqj5lSMlhs136tvGMWo6OpRrYR9lKNik8cieWrEPeJZgv8-ftQtA/s1600/jerrylewisdirector.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="346" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_5tD31RR2hFuY1DRknXCbGwiUieZH-Y-zlVE7DA8yXRbFf00l07lo_eDFehVWTuBg562HaeZEIa-P01TD-EaQp2Cqj5lSMlhs136tvGMWo6OpRrYR9lKNik8cieWrEPeJZgv8-ftQtA/s400/jerrylewisdirector.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Though I have wanted to write about a number of different topics for a while now, I recently read a bit of news that reaffirmed both my ongoing disdain for Hollywood's pandering to mainstream commercial tastes as well as my dismay at the memory of yet another classic film being sullied by the specter of a potentially bad remake. The source of my consternation? Jerry Lewis' announcement in January that he was selling the rights to three of his most beloved films: <i>The Bellboy</i>, <i>Cinderfella</i>, and <i>The Family Jewels</i>. <i><a href="http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/01/18/jerry-lewis-remakes/">Variety</a></i> reports that Artificial Intelligence Entertainment and Social Capital Films have signed an exclusive development deal with the screen comedy legend to "reboot each picture as a stand-alone comedy franchise, drawing heavily from Lewis’ comedic genius, as well as his heart-warming storytelling.” <br />
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Anyone who read <a href="http://scarlettcinema.blogspot.com/2009/03/jerry-lewis-maverick-who-did-more-than.html">my piece</a> on Jerry Lewis in <i>Scarlett Cinema</i> last year knows how much I adored his films as a child (I still do). So when I heard that he was allowing the studios to remake these wonderfully absurd films-- particularly <i>The Bellboy-- </i>I was more than a little anxious that film executives, hard-pressed to produce sure-fire hits, would not be able to do the films justice. In fact, as of this writing, I am almost certain that they won't. Lewis' films are indelibly marked and characterized by the comedian's own specific brand of physical comedy, which is completely original and wholly embodied by the star's unique on-screen presence. So it comes as no surprise that studios like Paramount and Universal, who have yet to win the bid for these films, are hoping to capitalize upon Lewis' legacy and cash in, just as Universal did with its remake of <i>The Nutty Professor</i> (and sequels) in the late 1990s<i>.</i><br />
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Lewis' candidness in interviews about being aware of the studios' reliance upon tried and true material speaks to one of the greater issues plaguing Hollywood right now; and that is an overarching terror of anything considered to be risky or original. Though <i>Inception</i> proved last year that audiences were willing to pay the full price of a movie ticket to see a big Hollywood film based on a totally original concept, executives at major studios still seem to view this as the exception rather than the rule. Case in point: seven out of the top ten highest grossing films at the box office last year (<i>Toy Story 3; Alice In Wonderland; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1; Shrek Forever After; The Twighlight Saga: Eclipse; Iron Man 2; Clash of the Titans</i>)<i> </i>were either a remake or a sequel, demonstrating that most studio heads simply aren't willing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in vehicles that don't already have a built-in franchise or name brand recognition. At least, not while the economy is still weak, ticket sales are barely holding steady, and revenue from DVD sales are in sharp decline. And so the machine chugs onward, cannibalizing great films of the past while the majority of unique voices in the industry are relegated to the margins of indie-film purgatory. <br />
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To my mind, perhaps the most galling thing of all is the sheer irony of the Lewis remake deal: when Lewis was allowed to make his directorial debut with <i>The Bellboy</i> in 1960, he essentially staked his claim as a maverick among filmmakers at the time. He initially began producing his own films so as not to be hindered by studio mandates. Restricted by budget and scheduling constraints, Lewis shot <i>The Bellboy</i> entirely in one location and without a script. He was also the first director in Hollywood to make use of video assist, which has since become an industry standard. In short, Jerry Lewis established himself as a filmmaker who was not only afraid to try new things, he could not tolerate making films in any other way but his own. The result was a legacy towards which Hollywood is now scampering because most studio executives are currently too risk averse to make the kind of bold choices that once guided Jerry Lewis' own career.<br />
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<i>*Note: Despite my cynicism towards the remakes of <b>The Bellboy</b>, <b>Cinderfella</b>, and <b>The Family Jewels</b>, fans of Lewis' work can at least be consoled by the fact that Lewis himself will be critically involved in every step of these films' development. So, there's that. Here's hoping.</i>Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-28174497657023337702011-01-03T15:06:00.007-05:002011-01-03T16:51:47.198-05:00Top Ten Films of 2010Happy New Year, readers!<br />
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Now I concede: I haven't really made any kind of a scene here on <em>You're Making a Scene</em> in quite some time. Sometimes, life <em>does</em> get in the way of blogging. So what have I been doing these past two months? Well, getting married; going on a honeymoon; apartment hunting; moving; the holidays; and resuming my programming duties at Tribeca Film Institute for starters! One of my New Year's Resolutions for 2011, however, is to devote more time to writing about the films, filmmaking practices, and media-related issues that matter most to me. That being said, there's nothing like a good Top Ten list to start off the new year!<br />
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I count myself lucky to be a member of a group of incredibly discerning film critics, comprised of a number of New York University and Yale University graduate film and cinema studies alumni, who participate each year in a "Top Ten" poll organized by the illustrious Michael J. Anderson. (His fine film criticism, which can be found on his blogs <a href="http://tativille.blogspot.com/"><em>Tativille</em></a> and <a href="http://tenbestfilms.blogspot.com/"><em>Ten Best Films</em></a>, is some of the best commentary on the cinematic arts currently being written today.) Other participants in this year's poll also include P.L. Kerpius (<a href="http://scarlettcinema.blogspot.com/">Scarlett Cinema</a>); R. Emmett Sweeney (<a href="http://moviemorlocks.com/">Movie Morlocks</a> and <a href="http://termiteart.blogspot.com/">Termite Art</a>); Matthew L. Singer (<a href="http://ifc.com/">IFC.com</a> and Termite Art); and Mike Lyon (<a href="http://www.titsandgore.com/">Tits and Gore</a>). The results of this year's poll are truly extraordinary; so, I encourage you all to check out our selections in the upcoming months, since many of the titles are probably unfamiliar to most American cinema-goers and have yet to receive distribution deals. (If there is any justice in this world, ALL of them will eventually get some kind of a theatrical or DVD release.) For the full consensus, check out <em>Ten Best Films</em>. My own list and a few thoughts on these selections follow below.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLfjA9eEJjaZ0EeKm_lDwbr0U_1ibqm_Bme3BWMk8_AY9U40CoF8FFdEpPdQQalqH6t5qxhFFJ5Opq50qylVBAfjTDfZN_x5GJfvB9GBSzMGSDDY38kMnawYpf4e3or1ah-6fZiStKXg/s1600/A_Brand_New_Life1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLfjA9eEJjaZ0EeKm_lDwbr0U_1ibqm_Bme3BWMk8_AY9U40CoF8FFdEpPdQQalqH6t5qxhFFJ5Opq50qylVBAfjTDfZN_x5GJfvB9GBSzMGSDDY38kMnawYpf4e3or1ah-6fZiStKXg/s400/A_Brand_New_Life1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><em>Sae Ron Kim in Ounie Lecomte's <strong>A Brand New Life</strong></em></span></div><br />
1. <em>A Brand New Life</em>, dir. Ounie Lecomte<br />
2. <em>Poetry</em>, dir. Lee Chang-Dong<br />
3. <em>Black Venus</em>, dir. Abdellatif Kechiche<br />
4. <em>Of Gods and Men</em>, dir. Xavier Beauvois<br />
5. <em>Another Year</em>, dir. Mike Leigh<br />
6. <em>The Social Network</em>, dir. David Fincher<br />
7. <em>Into Eternity</em>, dir. Michael Madsen<br />
8. <em>The Robber</em>, dir. Benjamin Heisenberg<br />
9. <em>Black Swan</em>, dir. Darren Aronofsky<br />
10. <em>My Brothers</em>, dir. Paul Fraser<br />
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Upon reviewing this list, I am immediately struck by the number of intesely quiet and intimate character portraits (<em>A Brand New Life, Poetry, Black Venus, The Robber</em>) as well as family dramas (one could argue that <em>A Brand New Life, Poetry, </em>and even <em>Of Gods and Men </em>all qualify as family dramas in addition to <em>Another Year</em> and <em>My Brothers</em>) that dominated this year. This is particularly striking in view of the showier and more widely covered Hollywood blockbusters that were released in 2010, such as <em>Inception </em>and <em>True Grit</em> (although, to be fair, I did not see the latter). The remaining films on the list are comprised of both highly topical films, such as <em>The Social Network</em> and <em>Into Eternity</em>, which manage to capture and distill unique moments in cultural and technological history, as well as the high-concept film, <em>Black Swan. </em>It was an extraordinary year for cinema, full of terrific writing, bold direction, and even gutsier performances, all of which amounted to a collection of films that somehow made its audiences feel the intangible, analyze the most challenging of ideas and concepts, and, in some cases, revel in the pure joy of art on the screen.<br />
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<strong><u>Honorable Mentions</u></strong><br />
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If I may be completely frank, to choose only ten films and deem them "the best" of any given year does somehow feel a bit inane. Art is, after all, subjective; and cinema, more than any other art form, is the product of an incredibly collaborative process full of compromise, a plethora of chance happenings, budgetary and time constraints, as well as a host of other factors that remain out of any director's limits of control. Thus, I just want to make it clear that the above list is simply comprised of those ten films which, for one reason or another, left the most indelible impressions upon me. Which is to say that there were many other films I screened this year that also deserve special mention and which, depending on the criteria and on the day, could take the place of at least a few of those films listed in my top ten. These are (in no particular order): <br />
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<em>A Prophet </em>(dir. Jacques Audiard) <br />
<em>Winter's Bone </em>(dir. Debra Granik)<em> </em><br />
<em>Exit Through the Gift Shop </em>(dir. Banksy)<em> </em><br />
<em>The Fighter </em>(dir. David O. Russell)<em> </em><br />
<em>Soul Kitchen </em>(dir. Fatih Akin)<em> </em><br />
<em>When We Leave </em>(dir. Feo Aladag)<em> </em><br />
<em>Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (dir. </em><span style="color: black;">Apichatpong Weerasethakul</span>)<em> </em><br />
<em>Never Let Me Go </em>(dir. Mark Romanek)<em> </em><br />
<em>Post Mortem </em>(dir. Pablo Larrain)<em> </em><br />
<em>I Am Love (dir. Luca Guadagnino) </em><br />
<em>Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work </em>(dir. Ricki Stern & Anne Sundberg)<em> </em><br />
<em>Lucky Life </em>(dir. Lee Isaac Chung)<em> </em><br />
<em>Micmacs </em>(dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet)<em> </em><br />
<em>The White Meadows </em>(dir. <span style="color: black;">Mohammad Rasoulof</span>)<em> </em><br />
<em>Cairo Time </em>(dir. Ruba Nadda)<br />
<em>The Other Guys</em> (dir. Adam McKay)Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-31542184551178345752010-11-02T09:01:00.001-04:002010-11-02T09:03:20.427-04:00ELECTION DAY! VOTE!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib02I-hjJHGlfjFErL6KltLsiJvA-VCO_OIrER0hKbhb2cwkGMzj_jaaFXDbW4rOq3t9Cq18ZXRl1TAti6HHmJoku6-1kfGuLdnfNcmyCJUYC2-XXJGWZkXdteqJA1oRg1kut6CuEasZc/s1600/vote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib02I-hjJHGlfjFErL6KltLsiJvA-VCO_OIrER0hKbhb2cwkGMzj_jaaFXDbW4rOq3t9Cq18ZXRl1TAti6HHmJoku6-1kfGuLdnfNcmyCJUYC2-XXJGWZkXdteqJA1oRg1kut6CuEasZc/s320/vote.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Today is Election Day! Carry out your civic duty, readers, and please, please excercise your RIGHT to vote! It feels awesome! It feels great! Boy, what a high!<br />
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And then you can reward yourself later with a treat.<br />
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If you are registered, you can find your polling location here: <a href="http://yourfuckingpollingplace.com/">http://yourfuckingpollingplace.com/</a>Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-28765722561855436962010-10-15T15:10:00.002-04:002010-10-15T15:12:33.267-04:00Submissions Are Still Open for Tribeca All Access!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQsFn_4Xrk_zNZKEl2O07QdsGpf48h61Sgp5nCvTDj7OPZgMb30VAADXRJljjBfXw3NMkiiO0wvZzF87kRj56r0sa1gTxooDRGx9KeVivP0Fm1-9mHrdTUCTvPEVucEII-tXYjGtUkrk/s1600/TAA+in+lights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQsFn_4Xrk_zNZKEl2O07QdsGpf48h61Sgp5nCvTDj7OPZgMb30VAADXRJljjBfXw3NMkiiO0wvZzF87kRj56r0sa1gTxooDRGx9KeVivP0Fm1-9mHrdTUCTvPEVucEII-tXYjGtUkrk/s400/TAA+in+lights.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Calling all female filmmakers and/or filmmakers of color! <br />
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Tribeca All Access opened their submissions period on September 15th; but there's still time left to give your project-in-development some of the greatest support as well as exposure you could ever hope find anywhere in the industry!<br />
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A program of the Tribeca Film Institute, Tribeca All Access selects a limited number of projects each year from a large pool of applicants who come from traditionally under-represented communities. During the week of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, TAA then facilitates a series of meetings between those filmmakers who have been selected and industry representatives who come from the worlds of development, production and distribution, as well as agencies and law firms that have a passion for contributing diverse voices to the film industry.<br />
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Under the stewardship of TFI's Artistic Director, Beth Janson, and Program Director, Tamir Muhammad, Tribeca All Access has developed into a highly regarded forum for industry representatives to meet talented filmmakers, find new and exciting scripts covering a range of genres and budgets, and get a first look at documentary works-in-progress.<br />
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Final deadline for submissions is December 8th. To find out more, click <a href="http://www.tribecafilminstitute.org/taa/about/"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a>. God's speed. And good luck!Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-82068639509077500292010-10-14T16:57:00.003-04:002010-10-15T09:38:19.917-04:00Jay Wadley Produces: "Mad Men Theme Song ... With a Twist"Jay Wadley, an incredibly gifted music producer and scorer of films whom I met this year at the Tribeca Film Festival, put together this video which has been blowing up all over YouTube today:<br />
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That's Jay playing the bongos and conducting! And that coolly confident chanteuse at the mic is none other than the very talented progeny of <em>NBC Nightly News</em> anchorman Brian Williams, Allison Williams. The arrangement is a mash-up of the memorable opening theme song to the AMC cable network's hit show, <i>Mad Men</i>, and the classic song, "Nature Boy," which was originally made famous by singer Nat King Cole. Kudos to Jay and his team for showing the world how a terrific musical arrangement, top notch hair, make-up and costume design, and slickly effective stage lighting can make for a truly great video.<br />
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<i>To follow Jay on Twitter, go to </i><a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/jaywadley"><i>http://twitter.com/#!/jaywadley</i></a><i>.</i>Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-41523066064278200202010-10-12T14:54:00.049-04:002010-10-12T22:42:23.737-04:00Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson<div style="border: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OvzfuEAsWojTZ11YGz9p5YX8xJzYA_a27nO9KeBeiKVC-0GblCLksEFXu9gzxeiYWZIJqUaY9hs7dHaz8VVBUrhoblO6e7EaSyru0g87XkyjRgdDLG28Gknq03gEcSULHPFNlQ1VCng/s1600/BBAJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OvzfuEAsWojTZ11YGz9p5YX8xJzYA_a27nO9KeBeiKVC-0GblCLksEFXu9gzxeiYWZIJqUaY9hs7dHaz8VVBUrhoblO6e7EaSyru0g87XkyjRgdDLG28Gknq03gEcSULHPFNlQ1VCng/s400/BBAJ.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border: medium none;">Congratulations to friend and former colleague, Alex Timbers, on his much-acclaimed show, <i><a href="http://www.bloodybloodyandrewjackson.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson</span></a></i>, making it to the Great White Way! Alex, whom I first met in our early days starting out in the New York theater scene, co-founded and has served as Artistic Director of the award-winning experimental theater company, <a href="http://www.lesfreres.org/"><span style="color: blue;">Les Freres Corbusier</span></a>, for the past seven years. <i>BBAJ</i> was the brainchild of Alex, who wrote the book and directs the show, and Michael Friedman, who wrote the show's music and lyrics.</div></div><div style="border: medium none;"><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border: medium none;">After a successful run at the<span style="color: blue;"> </span><a href="http://www.publictheater.org/"><span style="color: blue;">Public Theater</span></a> (the same company that helped to workshop and give wings to the transcendent Broadway musical, <i><a href="http://www.negroproblem.com/passing/"><span style="color: blue;">Passing Strange</span></a></i>), <i>Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson </i>was given the greenlight to officially premiere on Broadway this fall. A satirical rock musical about the founding of the Democratic Party, the show focuses on the United States' seventh president, Andrew Jackson, redefining him as an "emo" rock star. Major plot points include the concept of populism, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Removal_Act"><span style="color: blue;">Indian Removal Act</span></a>, and Jackson's relationship with his wife, Rachel.</div></div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div>The show, which has been in previews since September 21st, opens this Wednesday, October 13th, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.<br />
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<object height="295" style="background-image: url(http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/KTbdBeTU11c/hqdefault.jpg);" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KTbdBeTU11c?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KTbdBeTU11c?fs=1&hl=en_US" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="295" width="480"></embed></object>Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5306308774991770460.post-21582632480182082492010-10-12T14:51:00.011-04:002010-10-12T23:35:40.610-04:00Welcome!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZPl4qtqQdPOj9QC7dZhgEsq2HiV2JgdcMRMCw4DtvbN3PeIB_jWX2fHrMG_1dunayiagOybiZBD_LytMDvz8aYEs20-h27Fd8po23OMVf_w4lnTnNhx9Gl27UaZjIPdhAcKQR1LkSpo/s1600/Welcome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZPl4qtqQdPOj9QC7dZhgEsq2HiV2JgdcMRMCw4DtvbN3PeIB_jWX2fHrMG_1dunayiagOybiZBD_LytMDvz8aYEs20-h27Fd8po23OMVf_w4lnTnNhx9Gl27UaZjIPdhAcKQR1LkSpo/s400/Welcome.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border: medium none;">Greetings, dear readers. And welcome to <i>You're Making a Scene</i>.</div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border: medium none;">For the past three and a half years, I have had the honor and privilege of being a regular contributor to sister-blog <i><a href="http://scarlettcinema.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Scarlett Cinema</span></a></i>, which film ciritc P.L. Kerpius and I first founded under the auspices of giving women a greater voice within the traditionally male-dominated realm of film criticism. I am immensely proud of <i>Scarlett</i> and all that it has become since its early days. Having first met in the Cinema Studies department at Tisch School of the Arts back in 2003, Ms. Kerpius and I were often stymied by the glaring differences that seemed to exist between the ways in which we and our male counterparts thought about and discussed the very medium that had drawn us all together: film. Even more frustrating was the realization that our ideas about film as well as the manner in which we chose to communicate them were regularly being squelched amidst a din of other voices that typically felt more contentious in attitude rather than dialogical. Thus, we felt compelled to create <i>Scarlett</i> as a means through which we could finally be heard. Or at least feel like we were being heard.</div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border: medium none;">The truth of the matter is, however, that while <i>Scarlett</i> remains very dear to me, my heart simply isn't in it these days.<i> Scarlett</i> is a shining example of what fine film criticism written from a uniquely female perspective could and should be; and most of the credit for that should be given to Ms. Kerpius (I haven't written a post of substance for <i>Scarlett</i> since late 2009). The reason for this is that while I enjoy and appreciate most traditional forms of film criticism, I am just as, if not more, interested in discussing the business, creative development, and production of films as well as the examination of how social constructs such as race, gender, class, and nationhood are both represented in as well as propagated by various forms of mass media. In other words, I am interested in the <i>how </i>and the <i>why </i>behind moving images and their social and cultural impact upon people as much as I am with the formal qualities of extant cinema. Consequently, it is my hope that both <i>Scarlett </i>as well as my own areas of interest will be better served by <i>You're Making a Scene</i>, a blog that aims to discuss film primarily, but also to speak more broadly to the sociological, cultural, and production aspects of a number of mass media forms, including music videos, viral videos, television shows, newscasts, and even other blogs. </div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border: medium none;">Though it is possible I may still pop in to <i>Scarlett </i>from time to time, Ms. Kerpius will continue to expertly steer that ship. In the meantime, I invite you to revisit my humble little corner of the blogosphere to read my thoughts on issues related to mass media production and, by extension, its impact upon the more ambiguous project of culture production. Let the fun begin! <i>¡Olé!</i></div>Karen Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17093320493592051607noreply@blogger.com1