Summertime means summer blockbusters, which means ubiquitous and inescapable summer blockbuster marketing. It’s rare that I let a movie I haven’t seen (and never will) obsess me, and yet certain films are made a too-present part of our landscape. One can’t simply look at a trailer, decide the movie’s missable, and leave it at that – one is bombarded with advertising tie-ins, not to mention the weird kind of peer pressure that attends The Summer Movie. One doesn’t want to miss out on a huge chunk of the cultural conversation, after all, and since the movie seems to be everywhere one might as well dive in.

And yet I can’t help but wonder how many tickets get sold every year to people who know in advance that they’re going to hate the movie they’re seeing. The summer blockbuster seems to thrive on inertia – as long as people keep buying tickets to sequels, they’re going to keep getting made. I wonder what’ll happen when people stop buying tickets to movies that, in their hearts, they don’t WANT to see. And I wonder if that day will ever come.

Complex questions surrounding films that are intended to be diversionary, sure. There’s a thread open in our Forums to talk about summer movies. Tell us about the movies that (again, in your heart) you WANT to see.

And heck, if you enjoyed a Hollywood blockbuster, tell us about that, too.

It’s been a fairly explosive couple of weeks. With history being made (and ending) every day, from the ongoing tumult in Iran to the startling death of Michael Jackson, the headlines (and indeed our collective psyche) seem very crowded indeed. But this weekend is a time of celebration for gays and lesbians, with Gay Pride festivities taking place around the world. Sunday, June 28, 2009, marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the event that catapulted gay issues into the public eye and blossomed into the Pride movement, so the celebration is bound to be particularly memorable.

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, in addition to what’s sure to be a lively and well-attended Pride Parade on Sunday, Frameline, the long-running gay and lesbian film festival, has screenings running throughout the weekend.

Jaman is proud, as always, to offer some of the finest gay and lesbian films. One of our favorites is Trembling Before G-d, a fascinating and moving documentary about the struggle of Jewish gays and lesbians to balance their sexuality with the teachings of their faith.

Happy Pride, everybody!

The new Jaman App for iPhone has us all pretty excited here at Jaman Central. Download the app to your iPhone and you can enjoy a different free movie every week, starting every Friday. Right now we’re pleased to showcase the propulsive and exciting hip hop dance documentary Planet B-Boy.

But we’ve also paused to note and mourn the passing of the fine actor and independent spirit David Carradine. We all have a different favorite Carradine performance (your humble blogger leans toward his laid-back plainclothes detective in Larry Cohen’s Q: The Winged Serpent), but the man was all over the cinematic map, with his quiet charm masking a fiery go-anywhere, play-anything spirit in films as diverse as The Long Riders and Kill Bill (both volumes), and a diversion of lesser-known oddities, such as the truly offbeat and perplexing erotic odyssey The Donor, available here on Jaman.

The Donor

The most compelling hero Hollywood’s given us so far this summer isn’t a hirsute superhero with adamantinum claws, or a headstrong starship captain (now revised with George Bush’s entitlement and daddy issues), or even the future leader of Earth’s resistance. It’s a square old man (physically, I mean) with a heavy heart and a floating house.

UP, the new film from Pixar, is possibly their most ambitious and complex work, and yet it offers a funny, accessible, and very sweet story. I don’t want to talk about that story in too much detail (it’s best to go into the movie as cold as possible). But the quest undertaken by the film’s two heroes - sullen 78-year-old Carl and rambunctious 8-year-old adventurer Russell - is a perfect balance between them. UP’s profound grasp of loss and longing makes it Pixar’s most adult feature yet (it comes by its PG rating honestly), but the whimsical and fantastic story is one that an eight-year-old would tell.

The movie’s subtlety extends to its effects. Technically, it’s gorgeous, and the 3-D effects are well-used to bring you into the world of the story, rather than wow you with stuff flying at the camera.

It’s definitely a film for everyone, grounded in emotional reality, aloft in the very heights of fantasy, and an adventure worthy of the spirits of its characters and its creators.

A discussion has been opened in our forums here - if and when you see the film, please stop back here to talk about it!

We’re always happy to hear word of a new film from any of our Top Ten Directors, but it had been a while since the fiery and provocative Lars von Trier has had a film to offer. We were intrigued by advance word that his new film, Antichrist, would be a horror film (and largely a two-hander at that, starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg). Well, Antichrist had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, and though the reviews are split over the film, they’re passionate either way: Hollywood Elsewhere calls it “easily one of the biggest debacles in Cannes Film Festival history and the complete meltdown of a major film artist,” while Movieline hails Antichrist as “the most original and thought-provoking work von Trier has done since Breaking the Waves.”

This is hardly the first time a new von Trier film has aroused this kind of controversy. Love his work or hate it, it’s hard not to be challenged by it. Happily much of von Trier’s work is available here on Jaman, allowing you a chance to figure out where YOU stand on the work of this distinct and unique figure

The Five Obstructions

The Idiots

Last night I was lucky enough to catch an advance screening of Tetro, the latest film by Francis Ford Coppola, in San Francisco’s East Bay. The film tells the story of Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich in a remarkable feature debut), a young sailor who takes the advantage of a few days downtime in Buenos Aires to look up his seriously estranged older brother Angelo, who settled there years prior. Angelo (Vincent Gallo) has forsaken all ties with his family, and redubbed himself Tetro. The reunion of the brothers initiates a chain of events that includes the rediscovery of some lost writings, and the revelation of several long-buried, painful secrets.

The first three minutes of the film can be seen here.

The film is certainly a new masterpiece from Coppola - the story is moving and compelling, and it’s delivered in high style. Looking over the short list of Coppola’s favorites of his own oeuvre, one finds many commonalities with Tetro: the film echoes the road movie aspects of The Rain People; the timeless B&W cinematography and tale of brothers in extremis recalls Rumble Fish; and the collaborators include editor Walter Murch (a key player on both The Conversation and Apocalypse Now), cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr. and composer Osvaldo Golijov (the latter two key players on Coppola’s previous film Youth Without Youth). The film feels like one of Coppola’s most personal films, and its commonalities with these other works suggests that it’s been gestating long in the director’s mind.

The evening concluded with a generous Q&A by Coppola’s producer/long-time cohort Anahid Nazarian, who offered background on the film’s genesis and production. The film was loosely-based on Coppola’s relationship with his own older brother, and the story initially took the form of a five-page treatment Coppola composed at age 19 (in this incarnation, the story was set in working-class Detroit, where the brothers Coppola grew up). Ms. Nazarian also noted that the notoriously tempestuous Gallo was an ideal on-set collaborator, and that Coppola had never seemed to have as much fun with a single actor as he did with Gallo during Tetro’s 70-day shoot. When asked which of Coppola’s films was her favorite, her immediate reply was simply “This one.”

After its screening in the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, Tetro’s set to open wide in Europe. Here in the US the film is being self-distributed by Coppola’s company, American Zoetrope, and will open next month in seven cities. Here’s hoping the film garners enough success to spread to more cities throughout the summer – meanwhile, Jaman’s US viewers can enjoy The Conversation right here:

The Conversation

Viewing Peter Greenaway’s marvelous, mind-expanding essay film Rembrandt’s J’accuse at the SF International Film Fest last night was like skimming the wildest art history text. The film lays out many (31, to be precise) mysteries surrounding Rembrandt’s famous painting The Night Watch. One of many digressions was a mention of the assassination of Theo van Gogh, a controversial and outspoken Dutch filmmaker killed by radical Islamist Mohammed Bouyeri. Though the circumstances surrounding van Gogh’s death tend to go against the Italian connection suggested by Greenaway, I was delighted to have my memory jogged.

van Gogh is a favorite here at Jaman – his dedication to free speech and his intense political engagement with the issues facing Holland and the world fuelled a remarkable body of work, both visceral and personal. Ironically, the film he was finishing at the time of his murder, May 6th, was itself spun from the events surrounding the assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn. The film’s page is here; the trailer’s below.

Additionally, van Gogh’s earlier feature Cool!, a work about (and starring) juvenile delinquents, is also available.

Cool!

Both films are streaming free, and available to our users worldwide.

I’d like to talk to you today about Flo.

American television is rife with them: familiar faces that deliver subliminal but memorable comedic bits and then disappear. Sometimes, like Flo above, they become downright ubiquitous – it’s hard to imagine spending a couple of hours within the American TV landscape these days without running into Flo at least once. She’s become an incredibly popular spokesfiction for Progressive Insurance – their business has picked up considerably since introducing her to America, and many people are unaccountably smitten with the perky, white-uniformed lady.

After doing some digging into her origins (being not completely immune to her charms myself), I’ve found that Flo is played by actor/comedian Stephanie Courtney. Like many actors playing those memorable but anonymous comedic bits you see on television, Courtney is a veteran of the Groundlings, a Los Angeles improv comedy team that has trained some of our best-known and most loved funny people (including half the cast of Saturday Night Live – the other half come from the equally storied and largely-Chicago-based Second City).

Pleased was I to find that we had some of Ms. Courtney’s earlier work right here on Jaman. Flo-fans (or just those seeking quality, quirky comedy) are hereby commended to Melvin Goes To Dinner, a quietly funny film directed by Bob Odenkirk (himself an insanely funny person from the Chicago side, best known for HBO’s Mr. Show). Courtney is but one of several solid comedic talents on view in the film, an award-winning, low-budget adult comedy. You’ve been warned. Enjoy!

With the Tribeca Film Festival set to begin in less than two weeks and (closer to Jaman HQ) the San Francisco International Film Festival kicking off at about the same time (not to mention Cannes right around the corner), it feels like film festival season’s about to begin. But in reality there is no “festival season,” and it’s highly probable that on any given day in the year there’s a film festival happening somewhere.

With this in mind (and with my own tix for the SFIFF just bought), perhaps the time is right to offer some tips on how to get the most out of your festival-going experience. Here we go:

-You’re not going to be able to see everything. It’s okay. There’s always plenty of buzz accompanying any festival, and just the sheer frenzy of it is enough to overload one’s senses, never mind the stress of trying to cram in so many films. Sheer logistics make it nigh-impossible to see everything on offer during any festival, so try and focus less on the things you’re missing in favor of being in the moment for the things you’re attending.

-Catch up with old friends. A film festival is a great place to get caught up on some of your favorite filmmakers. Last year Catherine Breillat and Olivier Assayas rocked me with Une vielle maîtresse and Boarding Gate (respectively), so I snagged tickets to their new films at SFIFF, Bluebeard and Summer Hours. (In Breillat’s case, this might be my only theatrical shot at Bluebeard, since it hasn’t been picked up for US distribution. Which leads me to the next item…)

-If pressed for time, make note of which films are slated for distribution in your country. SFIFF is very good about making an updated list of films in the festival that have secured US distribution. Though it’s fun to be in on a great film’s local premiere, waiting for a less-stressful screening down the road can be gratifying too.

-See a film that is its country’s sole representation at your festival. Every movie, regardless of genre, can serve as a newspaper from its country of origin. Your ticket’ll throws some attention toward a deserving film (that was probably championed by somebody during the festival’s selection process). And you never know when a country’s cinema is going to take the world by storm.

-Take in a short film program. A great way to see a number of different films and perspectives during a festival, to catch some young talents on their way up, or to watch some filmmaking veterans working in miniature.

Naturally, many of these tips can help you put together your own film festival right here on Jaman. Films can be searched by name, star, director, or country of origin. You can even search by festival in some cases (we’ve tagged films that have been in Tribeca, Berlin, and Cannes). A plethora of shorts are here too, including a bunch from our friends at Cinelan (have a look at one of our favorites, The Deadliest Man Alive, below). So you can enjoy a quality (and quirky!) festival without even leaving your desk.

After getting the band back together on a mission to dethrone the President, what does one do for an encore? Well, if one is iconoclastic rock musician Neil Young, one converts one’s beloved classic automobile to run on alternative fuels and then drives it to Washington to raise environmental awareness.

The creation of LincVolt (Young’s beloved 1959 Lincoln Continental, now a fuel-efficient, zero emissions, environmentally friendly dream machine for the 21st century) has been Young’s obsession for the last year. The issues surrounding both the pollution of the world and the LincVolt’s role in reducing it are explored in Young’s brand new album, Fork In The Road. And now Jaman users around the world can see the LincVolt tearing down America’s highways in the exclusive music video Get Around.

Get Around

Directed by Bernard Shakey (Young’s filmmaking alter ego), Get Around offers a real-time trip in LincVolt, with Young himself behind the wheel singing the songs from Fork In The Road. Reminiscent of the road movies of Wim Wenders (with perhaps a bit of Zabriskie Point era Antonioni in there as well), Get Around continues Young’s career-long exploration of other media. Bernard Shakey’s first feature, 1974’s Journey Through The Past, captured the members of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young both on the rock stage and in the mundane realities of touring. More recently, Greendale took on various lives as an album, a film, and a multi-media stage performance.

So it should come as no surprise that the LincVolt project should manifest as a film in addition to its other iterations (a documentary website; the album Fork in The Road; and the planned journey to Washington). In the end, Get Around is a remarkable (if minimalistic) music video, both a calling card for the ambitious and politically charged LincVolt project and a compelling portrait of life on the American road, ca. 2009.

A classic car on an open road, with rock ‘n’ roll blazing on the stereo, is as iconic and American an image as apple pie. In Get Around, Young (and Shakey) give the image a profound (and ROCKING) 21st century update.

Get Around is available to Jaman’s users all over the world FREE. Take the ride!

A leader of downtown New York’s new music scene, and one of my favorite composers for the last twenty years, musician John Zorn is well-known for combining disparate musical influences, often in the course of a single song. As many of his strongest influences are film composers (including Ennio Morricone, Bernard Herrmann, and Carl Stalling), it is unsurprising that Zorn’s body of work includes a vast assortment of film scores. It is also not surprising that a composer with such a fiery independent streak should be mainly sought out as a composer for independent films. Jaman is pleased to offer two films, both remarkable documentaries, showcasing the remarkable film music of John Zorn.

Trembling Before G-d is a moving look at orthodox Jewish gays and lesbians and their ongoing struggle to balance their sexuality with their faith. Zorn contributes an intimate, brooding score, performed largely on clarinet and keyboards. The main musicians are Chris Speed and Jamie Saft, both active on the New York scene that Zorn calls home.

Workingman’s Death offers perspective into the lives of the men and women working some of the most physically dangerous jobs in the world. The film probes the coal mines, slaughterhouses, and shipyards and those who work within them (be advised that some footage may disturb sensitive viewers). Ikue Mori and Cyro Baptista, two of Zorn’s most frequent collaborators, execute the score on percussion and electronics, with the composer adding organ and gamelan to the mix.

Zorn continues to balance an often-hectic performance schedule with intensive periods of film composing (his label Tzadik has released five albums of new film music in the last fifteen months) - tracks from a variety of his projects can be heard on his MySpace page.

Some cineastes fixate on certain filmmakers and start, for lack of a better word, “collecting” them – seeking out videos, attending screenings, keeping a mental list of the filmmaker’s work and checking off each film on it after seeing it. For lovers of obscure filmmakers, this process of collection can be a thing of frustration and joy, from a look at an undiscovered gem to the disappointment of being countries away from a rare screening.

This writer has been “collecting” the work of filmmaker Robert Florey for a few years. Florey was a French filmmaker who cut his teeth on both well-respected experimental films and Hollywood during the silent era. Though his filmography includes work on such well-known titles as the Marx Bros. classic The Cocoanuts (co-director) and Charlie Chaplin’s serial killer opus Monsieur Verdoux (assistant director), the bulk of his work remains relatively unknown. Those quirky few who have studied Florey’s work tend to regard his late 30s/early 40s gangster noir films as his best, citing their offbeat visuals and excellent pacing. And just premiering on Jaman is Florey’s Lady Gangster, a fantastic and funny B-picture.

The story of an actress (Faye Emerson here) embroiled in a bank robbery and sent to prison could easily be turned into a sprawling epic/Oscar bid for the likes of Angelina Jolie or Jodie Foster. In Florey’s hands, dramatic histrionics are kept to a minimum. In fact, the thing clocks in at a brisk 61 minutes, and has the break-neck pace of the wackiest screwball comedies. Groucho Marx said of The Cocoanuts’ two directors that “one didn’t understand comedy, the other didn’t understand English.” The statement casts intriguing light on Lady Gangster – everyone in it plays it heroically straight, and one wonders if Florey couldn’t communicate a comic design or just didn’t bother to do so. The result is a delightful and bewildering film in which lives hang on the outcome of the craziest schemes, agendas shift every minute, and the forces of law and order can only stare bewildered as the details come in over the radio.