Now and then at Jaman we get to present a work by a favorite filmmaker. So the discovery of Give 'em Hell, Malone was a very pleasant surprise.
This rather fanciful and stylized gangster movie comes to us courtesy Russell Mulcahy, maker of Razorback, Highlander, and other . This writer's been a fan of Mulcahy's ever since his videos for Ultravox and Duran Duran back in the 80s helped define those groups, and legitimized music video as a medium. His work of late has been straight-to-video, but that's just another term for "b-movie." (Please discuss.)
Give 'em Hell, Malone is US-only, but Jamanites around the world can get in on the Mulcahy celebration with Resurrection, the tale of a detective's hunt for a Bible-minded serial killer that reunited Mulcahy with his Highlander star, Christopher Lambert. Both films are rife with the eye-popping visual imagery and tight pacing that made Mulcahy's music videos so powerful - here's hoping he never, ever stops.
Resurrection
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
FAHEY!
Sometimes you just gotta indulge in love for a talented character actor, so we'd like to call your attention to Jeff Fahey, an actor for whom we have all the time in the world. Fahey may be best known as Capt. Frank Lapidus, introduced halfway thru the popular television series LOST (a role tailored for Fahey personally), but we'll remember him better for his tireless work in contemporary grindhouse fare. Indeed, he figures prominently and is damn charming in Planet Terror, Robert Rodriguez' half of the Grindhouse omnibus. (And we could not be more pleased to see that Fahey will play a prominent role in Machete, a forthcoming feature spun from a Grindhouse trailer.)
Jaman viewers around the world can enjoy Fahey's work in the erotic sci-fi thriller Virtual Seduction, while US-based Lost-fans might be pleased to see Fahey alongside fellow Lost-alum Josh Holloway in the more earthbound erotic thriller Cold Heart.
Cold Heart
Jaman viewers around the world can enjoy Fahey's work in the erotic sci-fi thriller Virtual Seduction, while US-based Lost-fans might be pleased to see Fahey alongside fellow Lost-alum Josh Holloway in the more earthbound erotic thriller Cold Heart.
Cold Heart
Friday, July 16, 2010
Happy birthday, Stewart Copeland!
Stewart Copeland has been one of our favorite drummers since the heyday of The Police. And he's been one of our favorite film composers since his stunning ("expressionistic" per one film critic) score for Francis Ford Coppola's rumblefish. So we're delighted to wish him a happy birthday and recognize his body of work, and call your attention to films that are graced by Copeland's music right here on Jaman!
US Jaman users can enjoy Ken Loach's Raining Stones, an earthy but moving comedy-drama of a working class man's struggle to get his daughter a communion dress.
And viewers around the world can enjoy FutureSport, director Ernest Dickerson's action-packed and enjoyable tale of extreme athletes battling for peace in a troubled future.
Or if you just want to hear some fine drumming RIGHT NOW, there's this:
Happy Birthday, S.C.!
US Jaman users can enjoy Ken Loach's Raining Stones, an earthy but moving comedy-drama of a working class man's struggle to get his daughter a communion dress.
And viewers around the world can enjoy FutureSport, director Ernest Dickerson's action-packed and enjoyable tale of extreme athletes battling for peace in a troubled future.
Or if you just want to hear some fine drumming RIGHT NOW, there's this:
Happy Birthday, S.C.!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Seen And Not Seen
And we're back! We apologize for the period of maintenance - we've been updating the site in anticipation of a slew of new arrivals that we hope to put live on the site for you in the coming weeks.
Which has given us time to think more abstractly about the State of Cinema. Close to home the San Francisco Silent Film Festival kicks off a four-day run next week. The good news is they're showing a spiffy digital print of a full restoration of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. The bad news for some is that this is a digital print - the Festival has prided itself on presenting restored prints throughout its history, and some believe that digital projection tarnishes the event.
A while back I could understand the complaint, but given the high costs of shipping 35mm film (within the US, never mind domestically) and the increasingly sharp image that digital projection is capable of, this is a more than reasonable decision. As enraptured as I remain by the flickering of film images in a dark room, I've found myself just as taken in by several DP films in recent months. And there's something to be said for the ease of distribution that the digital format allows an important film like the deluxe METROPOLIS. Not to mention the preservation of the film.
So I do wonder about people who claim you haven't really seen a movie unless you've seen it projected theatrically, on film. Actually I remain one of those people at heart, but find myself wishing that I was watching a DVD quietly at home rather than having a screening of a pristine print marred by a blabbermouth sitting behind me. Indeed, the "you haven't seen blah blah" crowd conveniently ignore the fact that many people live outside urban settings and may have minimal access to rep cinemas.
Here in the states we're finding more and more that people are relying less on the Hollywood machine to program their thrills and are seeking alternatives either in rep houses or online. (Film Comment noted the high placement of Un prophète in their annual readers best-of poll, and attributed the high placement of the film, which released in few US cities, to its availability online). One of the great things about working at Jaman has been meeting people whose interest in cinema is inversely proportional to the size of the community they live in.
What constitutes truly seeing a film isn't a debate that will be settled with a single blogpost - we're still seeing where technology takes us and what communities will form in and around it. For further reading: Jonathan Rosenbaum's insightful piece on the changing nature of cinephilia.
Hope you find something of quality to watch this weekend, either here or out and about. In the interests of community, pop by our Forums and tell us about it!
Which has given us time to think more abstractly about the State of Cinema. Close to home the San Francisco Silent Film Festival kicks off a four-day run next week. The good news is they're showing a spiffy digital print of a full restoration of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. The bad news for some is that this is a digital print - the Festival has prided itself on presenting restored prints throughout its history, and some believe that digital projection tarnishes the event.
A while back I could understand the complaint, but given the high costs of shipping 35mm film (within the US, never mind domestically) and the increasingly sharp image that digital projection is capable of, this is a more than reasonable decision. As enraptured as I remain by the flickering of film images in a dark room, I've found myself just as taken in by several DP films in recent months. And there's something to be said for the ease of distribution that the digital format allows an important film like the deluxe METROPOLIS. Not to mention the preservation of the film.
So I do wonder about people who claim you haven't really seen a movie unless you've seen it projected theatrically, on film. Actually I remain one of those people at heart, but find myself wishing that I was watching a DVD quietly at home rather than having a screening of a pristine print marred by a blabbermouth sitting behind me. Indeed, the "you haven't seen blah blah" crowd conveniently ignore the fact that many people live outside urban settings and may have minimal access to rep cinemas.
Here in the states we're finding more and more that people are relying less on the Hollywood machine to program their thrills and are seeking alternatives either in rep houses or online. (Film Comment noted the high placement of Un prophète in their annual readers best-of poll, and attributed the high placement of the film, which released in few US cities, to its availability online). One of the great things about working at Jaman has been meeting people whose interest in cinema is inversely proportional to the size of the community they live in.
What constitutes truly seeing a film isn't a debate that will be settled with a single blogpost - we're still seeing where technology takes us and what communities will form in and around it. For further reading: Jonathan Rosenbaum's insightful piece on the changing nature of cinephilia.
Hope you find something of quality to watch this weekend, either here or out and about. In the interests of community, pop by our Forums and tell us about it!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
SERIOUSLY, YOUR MARKETING IS ?*@#ING COMPROMISED
Please consider this image for a moment.
This image was attached to the front cover of the free weekly San Francisco Bay Guardian (and, I assume, similar weekly papers in other urban markets in the US). It's part of a folding advertisement for the forthcoming film Cyrus, a mainstream film from mumblecore mainstays the Duplass Brothers. In the film a hapless, aging bachelor finds his shot at happiness with The Perfect Woman challenged by her contentious, maladjusted, probably lethal son (Jonah Hill, pictured above).
The image captures well the awkwardness and danger our hero finds himself in, but your blogger can't help but regret the censorship on the sign. Granted, even on the cover of a progressive weekly like the Guardian in a city like San Francisco it's unlikely you're going to see the word "FUCK" so prevalently featured. Would that we lived in a more fearless, less-litigious society. One would think from the trailers that Cyrus himself would actually inscribe the word on any sign displayed to a rival for his mother's heart (given the film's R-rating, perhaps he does). So the choice of this image to promote this film is an unfortunate one - it's edgy enough to suggest the rough, homespun indie cred of its makers but the absence of bad words comes across as a reassurance that the movie won't be too edgy, and thus safe for the mainstream viewer. I don't fault the Duplass brothers for the realities of marketing in America, but I can't imagine they're pleased that such an ultimately safe image has been chosen to announce their film.
The DIY misanthropy I've perceived in the press of the mumblecore features hasn't drawn me to them, but the sanitizing that this promo suggests has taken place in CYRUS (confirmed in at least one review I've read of the film) isn't terribly appetizing, either. We will see how the film does, and what doors it opens for its filmmakers.
This image was attached to the front cover of the free weekly San Francisco Bay Guardian (and, I assume, similar weekly papers in other urban markets in the US). It's part of a folding advertisement for the forthcoming film Cyrus, a mainstream film from mumblecore mainstays the Duplass Brothers. In the film a hapless, aging bachelor finds his shot at happiness with The Perfect Woman challenged by her contentious, maladjusted, probably lethal son (Jonah Hill, pictured above).
The image captures well the awkwardness and danger our hero finds himself in, but your blogger can't help but regret the censorship on the sign. Granted, even on the cover of a progressive weekly like the Guardian in a city like San Francisco it's unlikely you're going to see the word "FUCK" so prevalently featured. Would that we lived in a more fearless, less-litigious society. One would think from the trailers that Cyrus himself would actually inscribe the word on any sign displayed to a rival for his mother's heart (given the film's R-rating, perhaps he does). So the choice of this image to promote this film is an unfortunate one - it's edgy enough to suggest the rough, homespun indie cred of its makers but the absence of bad words comes across as a reassurance that the movie won't be too edgy, and thus safe for the mainstream viewer. I don't fault the Duplass brothers for the realities of marketing in America, but I can't imagine they're pleased that such an ultimately safe image has been chosen to announce their film.
The DIY misanthropy I've perceived in the press of the mumblecore features hasn't drawn me to them, but the sanitizing that this promo suggests has taken place in CYRUS (confirmed in at least one review I've read of the film) isn't terribly appetizing, either. We will see how the film does, and what doors it opens for its filmmakers.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Summer drive-by
Insulated as we are here in San Francisco we're occasionally slow to latch onto the fact that it's summer. But enough consecutive warm(ish) days and a specific trigger (in your blogger's case, the scent rising from the concrete of water from a hose) do put one in a summery frame of mind...
We'd be interested to know what you all are watching (either on Jaman or elsewhere). Sometimes our fancy turns to comfort movies - at least one person in this office enjoys kicking back on July 4th to John Wayne movies, preferably Stagecoach-era, but any of them will do.
Some might want to hideout from the multiplex and try something new - to placate this urge (and to offer a nice parallel to the shifting seasons), how about Shifted, the indie tale of a downsized corporate stooge who finds his old life haunting him even as he embraces new values?
Shifted
On the other hand, just 'cause we don't have the Twilight movies on the site doesn't mean you can't give us your thoughts on Eclipse over in our Forums.
We'd be interested to know what you all are watching (either on Jaman or elsewhere). Sometimes our fancy turns to comfort movies - at least one person in this office enjoys kicking back on July 4th to John Wayne movies, preferably Stagecoach-era, but any of them will do.
Some might want to hideout from the multiplex and try something new - to placate this urge (and to offer a nice parallel to the shifting seasons), how about Shifted, the indie tale of a downsized corporate stooge who finds his old life haunting him even as he embraces new values?
Shifted
On the other hand, just 'cause we don't have the Twilight movies on the site doesn't mean you can't give us your thoughts on Eclipse over in our Forums.
Friday, June 25, 2010
SCOTT PILGRIM (and Jaman) VS. THE WORLD
Indie comics artist Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series quickly became a cult hit upon its publication, and it's easy to see why. The gloriously insane story of a young rocker's battle against seven evil ex-boyfriends for the hand of the cool girl he loves was beautifully executed with an energetic graphic style.
It could only be a matter of time before the series was adapted for the screen, and if the trailer's anything to go by, director Edgar Wright and a game-for-anything cast had a field day with it. And when a movie's website lets you build avatars, we at Jaman are usually ready to throw ourselves in.
We're content to imagine that Bryan O'Malley created the office until the release of the final volume of the comic next month - Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World will hit screens on August 13. Can't wait for either one.
It could only be a matter of time before the series was adapted for the screen, and if the trailer's anything to go by, director Edgar Wright and a game-for-anything cast had a field day with it. And when a movie's website lets you build avatars, we at Jaman are usually ready to throw ourselves in.
We're content to imagine that Bryan O'Malley created the office until the release of the final volume of the comic next month - Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World will hit screens on August 13. Can't wait for either one.
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