We are delighted to learn that we were selected “Critics of the Naughts” by IFC.com. “Naughts” doesn’t mean naughty, or that our efforts are for naught; it just refers to the decade of the 00s, now ending. So our thanks to Matt Zoller Seitz, filmmaker and film critic extraordinary, for his generous essay about our [...]

We absorb art in different ways. There’s art that makes you grin, art that makes you gag, art that you meet with a perfectly neutral expression. Then there’s art that slaps you in the face with its sheer loony brilliance. Occupying this last category is Meredith Dittmar, a Portland-based sculptress...

Following the outrage sparked by Canadian border guards’ decision to seize three gay-themed films (Shamim Sarif’s I Can’t See Straight, Adrian Shergold’s Clapham Junction and Ella Lemhagen’s Patrik, Age 1.5) headed to Ottawa’s gay film festival a couple of weeks ago, Jenn Ruddy reports at xtra.com that another gay-themed film was held up by Canadian authorities for more than a month. That’s Dinx, a short film directed by Edmonton-based filmmaker Trevor Anderson. According to Ruddy’s report, when Anderson called the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to ask why his film had been held up, "he was told that a customs official at the border in Emerson, Manitoba[,] had not known what it was...

SUNDANCE 2010: PREMIERES Bill Murray, Robert Duvall in Get Low Film info from the Sundance press release. Abel / Mexico, USA (Director: Diego Luna; Screenwriters: Diego Luna and Agusto Mendoza) — A peculiar young boy, blurring reality and fantasy, assumes the responsibilities of a family man in his father’s absence. Cast: Jose Maria Yazpik, Karina Gidi, Carlos Aragon, Christopher Ruiz-Esparza, Gerardo Ruiz-Esparza. World Premiere Cane Toads: The Conquest / USA (Director and screenwriter: Mark Lewis) — In 3D, Mark Lewis explores one of Australia’s greatest environmental catastrophes as he follows the unstoppable march of the cane toad across the Australian continent. World Premiere The...

SUNDANCE 2010: NEXT (<=>) One Too Many Mornings by Michael Mohan Film info from the Sundance press release. Armless (Director: Habib Azar; Screenwriter: Kyle Jarrow) — In this off-kilter comedy, a woman comes to terms with her husband’s strange secret. Cast: Daniel London, Janel Moloney, Matt Walton, Zoe Lister-Jones, Laurie Kennedy, Keith Powell. World Premiere Bass Ackwards (Director and screenwriter: Linas Phillips) — After ending a disastrous affair with a married woman, a man embarks on a lyrical, strange and comedic cross-country journey in a modified VW bus. Cast: Linas Philips, Davie-Blue, Jim Fletcher, Paul Lazar. World Premiere Bilal’s Stand (Director and screenwriter:...

SUNDANCE 2010: SPOTLIGHT (NARRATIVE) Sylvie Testud in Lourdes Film info from the Sundance press release. Bran Nue Dae / Australia (Director: Rachel Perkins; Screenwriters: Reg Cribb, Rachel Perkins, and Jimmy Chi) — In the summer of 1965, a young man is filled with the life of the idyllic old pearling port Broome — fishing, hanging out with his mates and his girl. Cast: Rocky McKenzie, Jessica Mauboy, Geoffrey Rush, Ernie Dingo. U.S. Premiere Daddy Longlegs / USA (Directors and Screenwriters: Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie) — A swan song to excuses and responsibilities, to fatherhood and self-created experiences, and to what it’s like to be truly torn between being a child and being an [...]

SUNDANCE 2010: SPOTLIGHT (DOCUMENTARIES) Climate Refugees by Michael Nash Film info from the Sundance press release. 8: The Mormon Proposition / USA (Director: Reed Cowan) — An examination of the relationship between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the promotion and passage of California’s Proposition 8 denying marriage rights for Gay and Lesbian couples. World Premiere Catfish / USA (Directors: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman) — When a young New York City photographer is contacted on Facebook by an 8-year-old painting prodigy from rural Michigan, he becomes deeply enmeshed in her life, even falling in love with her older sister–that is, until a crack appears in her...

SUNDANCE 2010: PARK CITY AT MIDNIGHT Ryan Reynolds in Buried Film info from the Sundance press release. 7 Days / Canada (Director: Daniel Grou; Screenwriter: Patrick Senecal) — A doctor seeks revenge by kidnapping, torturing and killing the man who murdered his young daughter. Cast: Rémy Girard, Claude Legault, Fanny Mallette, Martin Dubreuil, Rose-Marie Coallier. World Premiere Buried / Spain, USA (Director: Rodrigo Cortes; Screenwriter: Chris Sparling) — A U.S. contractor working in Iraq awakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone it’s a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap. Cast: Ryan Reynolds. World Premiere Frozen / USA...

SUNDANCE 2010: NEW FRONTIER All My Friends Are Funeral Singers by Tim Rutili This program highlights work that explores the limits of traditional aesthetics and the narrative structures of filmmaking. Film info from the Sundance press release. All My Friends Are Funeral Singers / USA (Director and screenwriter: Tim Rutili) — A fortune teller lives and works in and old house crowded with ghosts.��� When a mysterious light appears in the woods, the ghosts realize they are trapped and begin to rebel. Cast: Angela Bettis. World Premiere Double Take / Germany, Netherlands (Director: Johan Grimonprez) — Alfred Hitchcock is unwittingly caught up in a double take on the cold war period. As...