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Filmbrain's Screen Capture Quiz: Round 15, Week 4

As every Star Wars geek (guilty as charged) can tell you, it was Han Solo who fired the first shot in the Mos Eisley Cantina when confronted by the bounty hunter Greedo. Lucas modified the scene in his 199? so-called special edition, having Greedo fire first, thereby justifying Han's action. What began as a wonderful tribute to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly became a ridiculous bit of revisionism on Lucas' part to have Han appear more the hero than a killer. Feh. The Greedo allusion in last week's alt-text clue led many of you to guess von Stroheim's Greed, which makes perfect sense. However the image in question comes from (wait for it) 1957's Il Grido, Antonioni's brutally powerful road movie that finds a handful of beautiful women falling in love with lead actor Steve "I don't even speak Italian" Cochran. It's a shame the DVD looks so poor, but even in its un-remastered form this film is a masterpiece. Before I move on to this week's quiz, I wanted to announce two recently discovered film blogs. The first, Dennis Grunes, is run by (not surprisingly) Dennis Grunes, a critic from Portland Oregon. Besides his numerous meaty reviews of (mostly) foreign-fare, the site contains a few wonderful annotated "100 greatest" lists, including a remarkably thorough and broad list of the 100 greatest Asian Films. Lots to chew on – food for thought indeed. The other great discovery is that Salon critic Andrew O'Hehir has expanded his Beyond the Multiplex column into a full-fledged blog. I had the pleasure of meeting Andrew last year at the NYFF, minutes before we recorded a podcast together (along with Aaron Hillis) about Stellet Licht. His blog has already become a new daily stop, and his coverage of Sundance was some of the best to hit the 'sphere. Be sure to check them both out. This week – from the sublime to the oh-so-ridiculous. No, this isn't a photo from one of Kevin Lee's Karaoke nights, but rather from a film that really isn't all that good, but nonetheless fascinating. Name it. Submit your answers to this address. Good luck!

A double dose of Katz arrives today

It's been five months since our debut release, but Benten Films is back with their second title, Quiet City & Dance Party, USA: 2 Films By Aaron Katz, which lands on store shelves (both real and virtual) today. We're especially proud of this release, as it features not only the Independent Spirit Award nominated Quiet City, but also Katz's first film, the underseen, powerful Dance Party, USA, a film which Amy Taubin placed in her "pantheon of coming-of-age movies." The two-DVD set includes multiple commentary tracks for each feature, alternative and extended scenes, the short-film prank Joe Swanberg's Quiet City, an interview with composer Keegan Dewitt, footage from the NYC premiere of Quiet City, as well as an early 8mm short, The Lunch Hour. For the booklet, we commissioned essays from a pair of Rays - critic Ray Pride and critic/professor Ray Carney. The Carney essay, Trumping Trump is available online at the Filmmaker Magazine website. The DVD has already received some nice reviews from DVD Talk, Michael Atkinson at IFC News, the LA Times, and Toronto Screen Shots. Buy it, rent it, borrow it from a friend, but do try and see both films for a taste of truly independent American cinema. I promise you there's not a single pregnant snarky teen or precocious tween to be found in either film. You won't have to wait nearly as long for Benten's third release, but more on that shortly...

Filmbrain's Screen Capture Quiz: Round 15, Week 3

Though a lousy beer, the Pabst responsible for last week's screen capture was the groundbreaking director that brought us this 1931 version of Brecht & Weill's Die Dreigroschenoper, or The Threepenny Opera. Though Brecht himself had problems with the filmed version (as documented in a bonus feature on the recent Criterion DVD), the film is still a masterpiece of German cinema. Congrats to all who guessed it! A quick digression about the Oscar nominations: A crime even bigger than the Juno nom for best picture is the ruling that Jonny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood is ineligible for a nomination owing to its use of pre-existing music. According to the Academy, "Greenwood's score contains roughly 35 minutes of original recordings and roughly 46 minutes of pre-existing work." I've seen the film four times now, and I refuse to believe there is anywhere near 46 minutes of non-Greenwood music. Arvo Part's Fratres is heard after H.W.'s accident, though not in its entirety. The Brahms concerto is played during the end credits, and briefly during the blessing of the well scene. Other than a hymn sung at the church, that's it for pre-existing work. How they claim this equals 46 minutes is a mystery. Can anyone enlighten me on this? This week: another black and white masterpiece. This is a hard one, I have to admit, but watching the film again recently, I was completely taken by the composition of this shot. Name the film. Submit your answers to this address. Good luck!

Great news on an otherwise miserable Friday...

From the moment I opened my eyes this morning, I've been hit with one problem after another -- personal, professional, financial etc. to the point where it's almost become farcical. By high noon I was at the peak of despondency, and I was seriously questioning whether a tiny DVD distribution business committed to quality can survive in a world where mediocrity holds sway. But then an email arrived from D-Kaz with a bit of news that managed to make it all disappear, if at least for a few moments: Night and Day (밤과 낮), the latest film from Hong Sang-soo will have its world premiere at this year's Berlinale, where it has been added to the competition lineup. This is Hong's first film shot outside of Korea, and I'm curious to see how his trademark male-female dynamics play out in Paris. Now back to the pain.

Filmbrain's Screen Capture Quiz: Round 15, Week 2

"Filmbrain....A gun pointed at someone's privates? Well there's a fine how do you do! Now is that any way to begin a round?" Perhaps the writer of the above email is right – starting off with something as deliciously sleazy as John Frankenheimer's 52 Pick-Up, particularly a shot of Clarence Williams III pointing a pistol at John Glover's package, is a bit...well, bleh. Still, as I've been on an 80s sleaze kick lately, it seemed an obvious choice. Based on the Elmore Leonard novel, 52 Pick-Up features porn, a snuff film, Ann Margret on smack, and Vanity repeatedly being smothered with a pillow. Lovely stuff, and fun for the whole family! Speaking of the former Prince protégée, I was surprised to learn that the former Nasty Girl is now "Denise Matthews, the Evangelist formerly known as Vanity." Her Pure Heart Ministries website has all sorts of neat stuff, including a breakdown of God's financial plan. At the same time, she's also looking for cash donations, as she no longer collects checks for her Vanity work. God provides, but not as much as Action Jackson, I guess. This week, a fantastic re-discovery. It's a hard one, but think tigers, sharks, and pirates. Name the film. Submit your answers to this address. Good luck!

New York Sleazy: Street Smart

Right around Christmastime, I watched John Frankenheimer's 52 Pick-Up, a film I hadn't seen since its theatrical run in 1986. (For truly, what spells Christmas more than a film about a pornographer blackmailing an adulterous businessman?) I was all prepared to write about the film when I came across two other recent pieces – one by Vince Keenan, and another by pal Glenn Kenny, who gave us a who's who of the porn superstars that appear in the film. In an email exchange with Glenn, we discussed other great pieces of studio sleaze from the decade, and agreed that Street Smart (coincidentally, another Cannon/Golan-Globus production) would rank high on the list. Directed by unsung genius Jerry Schatzberg, Street Smart is set during the final throes of the old Times Square – when pimps, prostitutes and pushers would leisurely stroll the Deuce, offering their services in front of the Lyric, Victory, Rialto and other palaces of projected porn. Set in the glass offices of the Fourth Estate as well as the dilapidated brownstones and by-the-hour motels where streetwalkers ply their trade, it's a gritty, rough street tale that suffers from a few cracks in its facade. Harvard educated and whiter-than-white journo Jonathan Fisher (Christopher Reeve) is itching for a cover story. His editor at the New York Journal (the always wonderful Andre Gregory) pays little attention until Jonathan offers to give him 2000 words on 24 hours in the life of a pimp. Problem is, Jonathan doesn't know any mack daddys, and none are too eager to speak with him. His solution? Fabricate the entire story. (Screenwriter David Freeman did exactly that for New York magazine back in 1969.) Unfortunately, Jonathan's fictional creation too closely resembles real-world pimp Fast Black (Morgan Freeman), who is busy trying to fight a murder charge. It's not long before our Harvard boy is drawn deep into Mr. Black's web. Freeman, who picked up a handful of best supporting actor awards for the role, is the best thing about the film. Of course, this was before he became the go-to guy for expository voice-over and warm-hearted goodness. With gold tooth and bottle of Yoo-hoo always in hand, Freeman manages to elevate the character from mere stereotype; the threat of violence is ever present, even when he's at his most charming. Fast turns on a dime more than once, and Freeman pulls it off swimmingly. Equally impressive is Kathy Baker as Punchy, a prostitute who befriends Jonathan. Neither the clichéd hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold nor the hardened, tragic figure, there's a complexity to her character rarely found in Hollywood portrayals of working girls. The weak link, however, is Reeve. Pauline Kael nailed it when she referred to him as "a big nothing," going on to say that he's "too inexpressive to play inexpressiveness." Though convincing as newspaper man Clark Kent, he's here entirely unbelievable as a journalist lacking the street smarts he believes he has. It's a performance that ranks with some of Tom Cruise's efforts at the dramatic. (Cruise's first wife, Mimi Rodgers, plays Jonathan's girlfriend/conscious.) Like the current season of The Wire (which appears to have a similar thread about journalistic integrity), Street Smart draws parallels between the world of mass media and that of the street, particularly in the levels of corruption (and corruptibility), as well as the power relationships between pimp-whore and editor-journalist. The blending of the two worlds at a cocktail party, which finds members of the media elite delighted to be playing host to common procurer, is even more acerbic than Tom Wolfe's similar efforts in Bonfire of the Vanities. Schatzberg maintains a cool distance from both sides, though he seems to enjoy exposing the dishonesty and hypocrisy of both the media and the legal system. His depiction of prostitutes is eyebrow-raising at times, and perhaps guilty of romanticizing the profession, particularly when he has Punchy describing her first John to Jonathan while Aretha's Natural Woman fills the soundtrack, eventually drowning out the dialog. Though not as powerful as Panic in Needle Park, or as artful as Puzzle of a Downfall Child, Street Smart is a wonderful bit of 80s sleaze (with a funk soundtrack featuring Miles Davis) that is a fond adieu to the Times Square of yore.

Filmbrain's Screen Capture Quiz: Round 15, Week 1

The New York City temperature on 8 January peaked in the mid 60s, the financial markets are tumbling, and the Golden Globes have been cancelled. Are these indeed the end of days? Well, hopefully the planet will keep revolving for another twelve weeks as it's time to begin the fifteenth round of Filmbrain's weekly Screen Capture Quiz! A quick rundown of the rules for the benefit of the newcomers: Each Wednesday morning a new screen capture quiz will be posted. All films come from my personal collection, and are limited to Region 1 releases. Answers may be submitted, via email, up until the morning of the following quiz. (Please don't post answers in the comments section.) Some quizzes will contain an additional bonus point question, which is a good opportunity to flex your cinephilic muscles and clobber the competition. At the end of twelve weeks, the top three scorers will be allowed to choose any DVD used in the round as their prize, which can be placed in a crystal display case on your mantelpiece, should that be your, you know, thing. With just a few weeks left until Benten Films' second release, Quiet City + Dance Party, USA: Two Films By Aaron Katz lands on store shelves everywhere, things have obviously been super busy here at Benten HQ. Be sure to check out our ad in the latest Film Comment, and for fun why not throw the film in your Netflix queue? To begin this round: No, this isn't a photo snapped at last Saturday's There Will Be Blood gathering. It's from a film that drips with sleaze, but then again, the gun to the crotch shot probably made that fairly obvious. Name the film. Submit your answers to this address. Good luck!

There Will Be Blood (and Wine and Discussion)

Still haven't seen There Will Be Blood? Can't convince your friend/partner/lover/spouse/dumb co-worker/roommate/priest/mother to sit through a 158 minute move? Well, if you're in the vicinity of NYC, there's a happening this Saturday evening (5 Jan) that might be of interest. Fellow film blogger (and friend) Kevin Lee is organizing a gathering of film folks to see the 5:40 showing of Paul Thomas Anderson's masterpiece at Brooklyn's own BAM Rose Cinema, followed by drinks and discussion at an imbibing establishment yet to be determined. There's an impressive roster of attendees so far, so please feel free to join us for what will no doubt be a memorable night. Here's an opportunity to discuss the Kubrickian and religious elements, the misconceptions, and argue whether or not the ending is a meant to be funny. (It isn't.) It's probably a good idea to order tickets in advance, which can be done by clicking HERE. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via email. Hope to see you there on Saturday! [UPDATE: It looks like the post-screening gathering will be held at Thomas Biesl, a Viennese bistro located right across the street from BAM. Herr Biesl has been kind enough to set aside a room large enough to accommodate us all.]

Filmbrain's Screen Capture Quiz: Round 14 - The Winners!

Happy 2008, readers of Like Anna Karina's Sweater! Here's hoping you all had a pleasant and relaxing holiday break. Last week's quiz was of course the great Orson Welles, playing (with more than a hint of irony) World Wide Studios head honcho Lew Lord in The Muppet Movie, moments before offering Kermit and his friends the "standard rich and famous contract." Guesses ranged from Casino Royale to Voyage of the Damned to F is for Fake, but the slightly blurry Oscar statuette in the background should have served as a hint. I've tallied the results of Round 14, and the numbers were very impressive -- nearly 100 of you managed to correctly identify 11 of the 12 films in the last round. Give yourself a round of applause! Three of you managed to score a perfect 12, and I'm pleased to announce that we have a new contestant in the winner's circle this round, Gina T, who also happens to be the brains behind a few wonderful blogs. Along with Gina are regulars Max G and Will P, who I'm now convinced have seen every film ever made. Congratulations to the three of you! Any DVD used in the round is yours for the asking. Be sure to check back next week for the start of Round 15!