Festival Report – Cinesation 2011, Part 3
by HELEN GEIB
Cinesation 2011 Day 3 – Sunday, September 25
Lord Jim (1925)
Lord Jim is a good movie taken on its own terms and a creditable adaptation of the Joseph Conrad novel. Read more 
Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (September 30, 2011)
by HELEN GEIB
I’m really looking forward to seeing the new Hong Kong martial arts biopic Ip Man: The Legend Is Born. What’s your top movie pick this week? There’s plenty to choose from in repertory screenings around the state. Read more
Film Buff Movie of the Month: Far From Heaven (2002) and All That Heaven Allows (1955)
by HELEN GEIB
Short posts on my film club’s “movie of the month” series.
Todd Haynes’ Far From Heaven is an arthouse remake of Douglas Sirk’s All That Heaven Allows. How “arthouse”? It’s remake/re-imagining, stylistic homage, and critical commentary in one. Both films are glorious expressions of stylized and stylish visuals. Read more
DVD of the Week – Spotlight On… Kino International
by HELEN GEIB
An occasional series profiling companies putting out high-quality DVD/Blu-ray releases of classic, independent, and foreign films.
Kino International’s tagline is “The Best in World Cinema.” The company’s more than 500 title strong catalog redeems that pledge with an eclectic mix of classic and contemporary films. Kino.com’s “About” page proudly lists “films and filmmakers…introduced to North American film audiences since 1980″ that includes many important directors such as Shoehei Imamura (Japan), Aki Kaurismaki (Finland), Wong Kar-wai (Hong Kong), Amos Gitai (Israel), Bertrand Tavernier (France), and Im Kwon-taek (Korea). Read more
Festival Report – Cinesation 2011, Part 2
by HELEN GEIB
Cinesation 2011 Day 2 – Saturday, September 24
White Oak (1921)
White Oak is a late William Hart Western with an 1850s St. Louis and Independence “gateway to the West” setting. If you’ve seen one Hart film, then you have a good idea of the story and characters of this one (which is NOT the same thing as “seen one, seen them all”- his films work a common theme without sliding into interchangeability). The balance here tilts in favor of action and away from morality play. Hart and his production team were in good form. The 1850s Missouri setting allows for a riverboat, wagon train, Hart in the outfit of a casino dealer and other costumes from a less-familiar Western era, and muzzle-loading rifles. Plus the heroine’s dog saves the day. Some continuity errors are the byproduct of lost footage that was cut for the film’s re-release; the abridged print is the only material known to survive for two of the reels. Read more
Festival Report – Cinesation 2011, Part 1
by HELEN GEIB
Cinesation 2011 Day 1 – Friday, September 23
The Gun Woman (1918)
Friday started with two incomplete films. The Gun Woman was incomplete only due to personal circumstances: it was the first feature of the day and Indianapolis is a five hour drive from the Lincoln Theater in Massillon, Ohio. What I saw of it was of interest as an early work by director Frank Borzage and for its saloon owner heroine, played by Texas Guinan. She’s a curious mixture of wronged woman and “good badwoman,” a sort of female William S. Hart. The story plays out much like a Hart film would play out- which is not the ending one expects a heroine in a film of that era to meet. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (September 23, 2011)
by HELEN GEIB
It’s an embarrassment of repertory theater riches again this week in college towns South Bend and Bloomington, while two old main street movie palaces play host to festivals: the B Movie Celebration at Franklin’s Artcraft and the Homegrown Hoosier Film Festival at Anderson’s Paramount. More on that and all your other “outside the multiplex” options after the cut. Read more
Movie Review – Drive (2011)
by HELEN GEIB and NIR SHALEV
HELEN’S TAKE
It’s a set up straight out of the classic film noir playbook. Read more
Trailers for Movies I Like: Faust (1926)
by HELEN GEIB
An occasional series. Title self-explanatory.
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Related Commentary Track Post: Faust and the Art of Silent Film Music
DVD of the Week – Review of You Kill Me (2007)
by NIR SHALEV
Frank Falenczyk (Sir Ben Kingsley) is a hitman for the Polish mob, if ever there was such a thing. Problem is he has a terrible alcohol problem. One night while on duty but drunk, he falls asleep in his car while his boss’s competition boards a train that he “wasn’t supposed to.” Frank is picked up in the morning by his peers and his boss Roman (veteran character actor Philip Baker Hall) sends him to San Francisco to sober up. That’s where the film picks up its humor and never lets up. Read more
