There might not be any experience in life more degrading than being in high school. Between dodging overzealous hall monitors busy making sure you don’t spend too long in the bathroom, negotiating excused absences, and being marched in and out of stuffy classrooms at the command of a shrill bell, there aren’t many aspects of […]
Author Archives: Sommer Mathis
Review: “˜Dreamers’ falls short of potential
“The Dreamers” Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci Fox Searchlight Pictures The fact that Fox Searchlight Pictures has dared to release an uncut, overtly (if not overly) sexual Bernardo Bertolucci film and appropriately label it as such ““ the film received the rare NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association ““ is exciting. Although few filmmakers besides […]
Funding, competition dim small film festivals
Anyone in search of an object lesson in humility need look no further than a job promoting a small, alternative film festival held at the same time as the Sundance Film Festival. Every year, brazen entrepreneurs and aspiring filmmakers set up shop in Utah during the same 10 days as Sundance, hoping to capitalize on […]
Hoping “˜Oedipus’ sees success
Before every screening at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, which concluded last Sunday, a series of “Sundance Myths,” performed by Muppet-style versions of artsy independent filmmakers, introduced each film. For example, “Sundance Myth #9,” was “You’ll Be Fine Up There,” and showed a “director” puppet standing onstage after the credits of his movie had rolled, […]
Students gather at film festival, view works of UCLA alumni
PARK CITY, Utah “”mdash; Amid a flurry of passed business cards and congratulatory handshakes, current and former students from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television gathered here last week to celebrate the accomplishments of the school’s filmmakers. The event, held at the midpoint of the 10-day Sundance Film Festival, was thrown by TFT as […]
Sundance brings indie flicks into limelight
“Primer” Written and Directed by Shane Carruth Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Feature If the goal of the Sundance Film Festival is to reward truly independent films that rely on well-crafted stories, then “Primer” is by far the obvious choice for top honors this year. Faintly reminiscent of “Pi” and “Memento,” Shane […]
Screen Scenes: "Girl With a Pearl Earring," Directed by Peter Webber
“Girl With a Pearl Earring” Directed by Peter Webber Lions Gate Films Based on Tracy Chevalier’s bestselling novel, “Girl With a Pearl Earring” is a stunning, seductive film adaptation of the imagined story behind Johannes Vermeer’s most famous painting. If Scarlett Johansson was not a bona fide star after this fall’s “Lost in Translation,” she […]