Month: June 2010

The Czech New Wave: Political Cinema with a Human Face

By Jennifer Baldwin. Forget the French New Wave. Yes, OK, I just got finished writing here at LFM about the greatness of Godard and VIVRE SA VIE, and I dig Truffaut and the rest of the Cahiers crowd as much as the next girl – but if I were stuck on a desert island for the rest of my life (or maybe stuck forever in a reeducation camp for Obama regime dissidents … just kidding), there is only one European “new wave” film movement I’d want to spend the rest of my days watching and it actually ain’t the French.

It’s the Czechoslovak New Wave, a film movement that received a lot of international recognition and acclaim back in the mid-to-late 1960s (e.g., winning Best Foreign Film Academy Awards in 1965 and 1967). This movement was a big deal back in the day.

But the Czech New Wave is somewhat forgotten these days, much to my disappointment.  I wouldn’t really know much about it myself if it hadn’t been for the fact that I took a class back in my college days called “Central and Eastern European Cinema” taught by the genius Herb Eagle.  (Admittedly, I needed to get the required “Race and Ethnicity” credits and it was the only class that satisfied those requirements that semester.)

Thanks to the tutelage of Professor Eagle I was soon hooked on Miloš Forman and Vera Chytilová films, like Chytilová’s Daisies featuring the two Maries.

Sadly, I don’t think the Czech New Wave gets enough love these days from film buff types.  Everybody tosses around names like Godard and Truffaut and Rohmer and Rivette, but does anybody ever mention Chytilová or Jireš or Kádar and Klos or Menzel or Němec?   (Miloš Forman doesn’t count because he’s become a well-known and award-winning director of Hollywood movies since emigrating here some 40 years ago.)

The Czech New Wave deserves better than to be some half-remembered footnote to the cinema of the 1960s. Frankly, I think the films that came out of Czechoslovakia in that era are not only fascinating examples of 1960s New Wave cinema, but they’re also still highly relevant for right now. These movies still have the power to speak to us on a political level as well as on a purely human level. If anybody wants to see what truly vibrant, brilliant, political (and personal) filmmaking is all about, they should take a look at the Czech New Wave. Continue reading The Czech New Wave: Political Cinema with a Human Face

Hollywood Round-up, 6/18

"Mostly they cast me because of the tie."

By Jason Apuzzo. • Leonardo DiCaprio set to play J. Edgar Hoover in new biopic from Clint Eastwood. OK, I’m finding this casting incredibly strange but I’ll roll with it. Hoping this means J. Edgar is (finally) being treated in a more positive light, a la what DiCaprio did with Howard Hughes. For a liberal, DiCaprio sure loves playing right wingers.

• Toy Story 3 looking like the likely box office winner for the weekend, while Jonah Hex is tracking miserably. No surprises here. Btw, whose idea was it to feature Josh Brolin’s melted face in the Jonah Hex advertising more than Megan Fox’s?

• James Cameron’s gulf spill research group has issued its report. The report concludes that the second act of Avatar actually did not take place under water, it just felt that way.

• Sony chief Howard Stringer taking heat for his $8.8 million salary as Sony takes hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Sir Howard’s a big advocate of 3D, and that apparently includes the dimensions of his compensation package.

• In superhero news, Tron: Legacy will be coming to Comic-Con, and X-Men: First Class is already doing some casting.  I had completely forgotten there was still an X-Men franchise.  The only thing left about that series I like is Hugh Jackman’s jacket.

• New, retro-60’s poster released for George Clooney’s forthcoming thriller, The American. The only problem with this film is the misleading title.

• AND IN TODAY’S MOST IMPORTANT NEWS … right across the street from the ongoing LA Film Festival, the Lakers won the NBA title.  And we’re still celebrating.

And that’s what’s happening today in the wonderful world of Hollywood …

Posted on June 18th, 2010 at 5:40pm.

LFM’s Jason Apuzzo on The Fred Thompson Show, 6/18

Jason Apuzzo
Fred Thompson

We want to thank Senator Fred Thompson for having LFM Co-Editor Jason Apuzzo on his national radio show today to talk about MGM’s forthcoming Red Dawn, and other issues we’ve been covering here at LFM.

We want to welcome Fred’s listeners to LFM.  Fred is a warm, engaging person whose extraordinary career has encompassed both Hollywood and Washington – and we thank him for his interest in what we’re doing here at LFM.

To hear the show, and for more information on Fred’s program, please visit the Fred Thompson Show’s official website.  To see Fred in action on-screen, LFM recommends two classics from early in Fred’s career: The Hunt for Red October, and Die Hard 2 …

Posted on June 18th, 2010 at 11:12am.

Putin’s New Russia: LFM Review’s LA FilmFest’s Vlast (Power)


[Editor’s Note: LFM is currently covering a series of provocative films debuting this week and next at The Los Angeles Film Festival.]

By Joe Bendel. Over 200 former employees and directors of Yukos, the Russian oil company, have been in some way persecuted by the Putin regime.  If that sounds like a coincidence, Prime Minister Putin would like to thank you for your gullibility.  Unquestionably, the biggest fish amongst his quarry was Yukos’ former CEO, the visionary Russian entrepreneur Mikhail Khodorkovsky.  At one time the sixteenth richest man in the world, Khodorkovsky now resides in a tiny prison cell.  How he got there is a chilling story of the not-so-new Russia, compellingly recounted in Cathryn Collins’ Vlast (Power), which screens during the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival (trailer above).

Collins never confuses Khodorkovsky with a choirboy.  She makes it very clear Khodorkovsky’s early years are still shrouded in mystery and unsettling rumors.  However, she gives him credit for taking on the decrepit Yukos state enterprise at a time when the price of oil was at an all time low, eventually turning around the company – and yes, making billions in the process.

Khodorkovsky was one of the original so-called ‘oligarchs’ who largely reaped the benefits of Yeltsin’s privatization plan.  Yet he was a crony capitalist of a different color, becoming a prominent philanthropist and advocate of democracy in Russia.  He also started championing corporate transparency, only to suddenly find himself behind bars shortly thereafter.

Putin's New Russia: same as the old Russia?

First-time documentarian Collins is admirably even-handed in her profile of Khodorkovsky, never overstating her case or simply appealing to emotion.  While giving the incarcerated mogul credit for his business acumen, she is most impressed by his ability to identify and recruit smart, talented young people for his team.  Of course, the implications of his story are clear.  If a man with an estimated net worth over fifteen billion dollars is not safe in Putin’s Russia, nobody is.

Many of Vlast’s on-camera interview subjects participated at not inconsiderable risk to their well being.  In doing so, they definitely convey an unvarnished sense of life in Russia today.  Providing clear and concise historical background, Vlast provides the proper context for non-Russophiles and non-Russophobes to appreciate Khodorkovsky’s story.  Still, given the long history of Russian and Soviet anti-Semitism, the question of whether Khodorkovsky’s Jewish heritage has contributed to his persecution is strangely never really explored.

Vlast joins the growing ranks of valuable documentaries doggedly raising alarms about the lawlessness of the Putin regime.  Unfortunately, previous related films like Eric Bergkraut’s Letter to Anna and Andrei Nekrasov’s Poisoned by Polonium have largely fallen on deaf ears in the West.  Given its reasoned tone and access to Khodorkovsky’s inner circle, Vlast should impress viewers concerned about the current state of the world.  Well worth seeking out, it screens next Tuesday (6/22) and Wednesday (6/23) at the LAFF.

Posted on June 18th, 2010 at 9:47am.

Hollywood Round-up, 6/17

Wants to go dark.

By Jason Apuzzo. • Steven Spielberg’s War Horse now has its star: Jeremy Irvine. This film is looking like Empire of the Sun redux for Spielberg, and will probably a major tear-jerker.  Bread-and-butter material for him, although World War I traditionally a tough sell at the box office.  My personal World War I favorite?  Easily The Blue Max with George Peppard, James Mason and the luscious Ursula Andress.

• In other horse news, the Saudis have banned a documentary on Arabian horses, because the film features female horse riders. We should airdrop 2,000 DVDs of Raquel Welch’s Bandolero! on them.

• Miley Cyrus is turning 18 … and immediately going ‘dark’ for her next film, Paramount’s adaption of the teen novel/paranormal thriller Wake. Miley’s about three years from becoming Lindsay Lohan, although probably still a good five years from going the full Britney.  On a related note, can we all agree now that Perez Hilton’s career is over?

• George Lucas will be doing an hour long interview with Jon Stewart in Orlando in August at Star Wars Celebration V. The last interview these guys did together was fun.  It was also, weirdly, the only interview I noticed George do for his new book, Blockbusting, which looks like an interesting read.  Hoping we hear more in this interview about the retrofitting of the Star Wars films into 3D …

• … and speaking of 3D, there’s an interesting interview today with Ridley Scott about his use of 3D in the forthcoming Alien prequel(s).  There’s also some interesting speculation in the UK’s Guardian about what the storyline for the first prequel might be.  People shouldn’t forget casting here, as well.  The original Alien films benefitted greatly from the tremendous casts gathered by Scott and also James Cameron.  My personal hope is that Scott casts Brits or Aussies.  [Paul Bettany?]  Then I’ll believe this might work.

• In other news, Michael Winterbottom is taking heat for his misogynistic thriller, The Killer Inside Me. This guy is such a train wreck.  As penance, he should be forced to direct prequels to every film Madonna’s ever made.

"Um ... I can't breathe."

• The Logan’s Run screenplay is apparently being written by 28 Days Later’s Alex Garland, who took pot shots at the British military in Danny Boyle’s zombie pic.  Will BP be the villain in this remake?

• Angelina Jolie has recorded this video on behalf of World Refugee Day, which is appropriate given that she’s already adopted 27% of the world’s refugees.

• 30 years after its release, the Vatican has endorsed The Blues Brothers, calling the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd film a “Catholic classic.” That’s fine, but I think the Vatican should really break its decades-long silence on Trading Places.

• Sir Elton John is explaining why he agreed to play at Rush Limbaugh’s wedding. It’s not hard to explain!  For their age range, those guys have the two best voices on radio.  In other wedding news: Harrison Ford and Callista Flockhart finally got married, and Megan Fox got engaged … then promptly lost her ring.

• AND IN TODAY’S MOST IMPORTANT NEWS … Diane Kruger (Inglorious Bastards) reveals today that she almost suffocated wearing this Karl Lagerfeld dress at a recent Venice Film Festival. Fashion hurts.

And that’s what’s happening today in the wonderful world of Hollywood …

Posted on June 17th, 2010 at 6:56pm.

24′s Joel Surnow on The Controversy over The Kennedys

"24" Producer Joel Surnow.

By Jason Apuzzo. The LA Times is featuring an interview today with Joel Surnow, creator of TV’s 24 series.  Joel kindly invited Govindini and I to the 24 set a few years back, and at the Fall 2006 Liberty Film Festival we premiered scenes from the pilot of Joel’s comedy show The Half Hour News Hour, a series that later ran on Fox News.  The jokey scenes from the pilot featuring Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter got an especially rapturous response, as I recall.

In the interview Joel discusses his forthcoming miniseries The Kennedys that will be showing on The History Channel.  That series has already been the source of some controversy, as radical left wing documentarian Robert Greenwald (Outfoxed) and his allies in the media have been trying to portray Joel’s series as a hit job against the Kennedy family.  Joel throws a bucket of cold water today on Greenwald’s paranoid speculations, reminding people that the writer of the Kennedys series, Steve Kronish, is actually a liberal Democrat.  Here’s Joel on the controversy surrounding the series:

I think part of it [the controversy] was driven by the fact that it’s going to debut around the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s inauguration. For those looking to sustain the Camelot image, they’re worried. But they don’t need to be.

In the interview Joel also talks about setting up his own production entity for the series, and the overall benefits of working independently.  We want to wish Joel the best for The Kennedys.  Joel’s been responsible for a lot of great TV projects before, whether on 24 on Le Femme Nikita – and we’re sure this one will be colorful, as well.  One thing is for certain: whatever one thinks of the Kennedy family, they were an important part of American history in the 20th century – and they’ve certainly never been dull …

Posted on June 17th, 2010 at 12:57pm.