Independent Cinema

"Melancholia" vs. "Another Earth": Which "Invading Planet" Movie Will You See?

The trailer for Lars Von Trier's dark family drama "Melancholia" hit the web today, catching fire immediately for its freaky apocalyptic imagery and intense performances by Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Anne Thompson compared the heavy symbolic content to Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life" trailer, which I broke down shot-by-shot a little while back. "Melancholia" isn't quite as visually dense, but it's certainly loaded with big ideas, although it have some company. "Another Earth," the low budget sci-fi effort directed by Mike Cahill and picked up by Fox Searchlight at Sundance this year, also involves the sudden arrival of a new pl...

D.A. Pennebaker Discusses Richard Leacock and Leonard Bernstein.

Yesterday's obituary for documentary icon Richard Leacock included quotes from some of the people he affected in his life who have since obtained influence roles in film culture, including Mira Nair, Albert Maysles and D.A. Pennebaker. That last source, the director of such cinema verité classics as "Don't Look Back," ran the production company Leacock-Pennebaker for several years, and shared a number of remarkable anecdotes about meeting and working with Leacock during the early stages of their careers. In the following excerpt, Pennebaker recalls his experience with Leacock during the production of "Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philh...

Please Cast Christopher Dennis in "Superman."

Wandering around a hectic Hollywood Boulevard last night on my way to meet indieWIRE colleagues Peter Knegt and Dana Harris for an Oscar viewing party at the Egyptian, I ran into Superman himself. That would be Christopher Dennis, one of the compelling subjects from Matthew Ogens's disarmingly thoug...

Watch a Gory Scene from "Santa Sangre."

Meet the Mike Lacher, the Man Behind the Film School Thesis Generator.

There's a difference between thinking long and hard about something and only thinking that you're thinking long and hard about something; therein lies the brilliance of the Film School Thesis Generator, a vastly amusing work of interactive satire that popped on the web a few weeks back. Matt Singer ...

Tura Satana, RIP. 1938 - 2011.

Above: Shade Rupe and Tura Satana.

An Alternative Top Ten for 2010.

Today indieWIRE announced a group of top ten lists submitted by industry friends and contributors to the site. Since I already listed my favorites from 2010, I decided to offer a separate list of titles that in another year could just as easily serve as my favorites. After the jump, the alternative...

Escapism as Art: Steven Spielberg's 'Duel.'

This post is intended as part of the Spielberg Blogathon hosted by Adam Zanzie and Ryan Kelly, which ends today.

Three Critics: Talking Sequels.

Yesterday, Moviefone posted the second installment of Three Critics, a column in which I discuss various issues of the movie world, particularly those pertaining to new releases, with colleagues Anne Thompson and Leonard Maltin. I took the lead on this one and started a dialogue about sequels, a phe...