Filmbound - Episode 8: Annihilation

On this week's episode Paul Markoff and I venture into ANNIHILATION.  It didn't occur to me until I was writing this that the film's metaphorical zone, The Shimmer, could be thought of as cinema itself, although I don't think that's what writer-director Alex Garland was necessarily trying to say.  Still, art can refract how we understand ourselves and our surroundings.  This reading could put a more pointed or amusing spin on the climax as it regards the interaction between the observed and observer.  I really need to have this kind of revelation prior to or during the podcast recording and not days after the fact, though.



The recommendations segment on this episode is expanded a bit because I wanted to spread the word about the Wexner Center for the Arts' Cinema Revival: A Festival of Film Restoration. The event is a fantastic way to see a bunch of old films that look and sound perhaps as good as they ever have.  The educational components, such as an enlightening session on the art of subtitling, are well worth attending too.  A pass costs less than the manufacturer's suggested retail price of a Criterion Collection Blu-ray, so you get great value for all the films you can see at this easy-to-attend festival.  Aside from the presenting guests, I suspect it draws few out-of-towners, but if you live within a reasonable drive or somewhere unlikely to get most of what is shown, it's worth your time and money to make a weekend of it.  Screenings are spread over six days, but the bulk of the festival takes place Friday through Sunday.

We also spent more time than usual talking about Paul's recommendation of writer-director Cory Finley's debut THOROUGHBREDS.  The drama with dark comedic elements was on my shortlist of potential recommendations for this month's recording session as well.  If it hadn't been a film I was unaware of until it showed up in theaters, we might have given it the featured slot on an episode.

This is the first of two new episodes this week in an attempt to put out future episodes about three weeks from their films' release dates.  You'll also notice below that we have scheduled our first episode featuring a film not in current release.  I don't know how often we'll dig into the past for an in-depth film discussion, but it's something we'd like to do from time to time.   

Upcoming episodes:

-March 23: GAME NIGHT and a discussion about the ideal theatrical experience
-March 28: RED SPARROW and our recommendations segment
-April 4: A WRINKLE IN TIME and a discussion about films from the last twenty years that were critically or commercially unsuccessful when released but may come to be considered classics
-April 11: MINORITY REPORT and our recommendations segment

A Tribute to Frank Gabrenya

(Still from Melvin and Howard, which is showing on June 4 at the Wexner Center for the Arts as part of "A Tribute to Frank Gabrenya")

It seems like every couple days Movie City News links to yet another article about a film critic being laid off. Newspapers are struggling, and local arts coverage is often one of the services deemed non-essential by decision makers. Syndicated film reviews, often coming from New York or Los Angeles, replace of the hometown voice and perspective. It may make business sense, although I wonder if losing writers with whom readers form relationships is productive in the long run.

Frank Gabrenya wrote about film for the Columbus Citizen-Journal before moving onto the Columbus Dispatch in 1987. Frank was the fulltime film critic there until this April when he was among 45 Dispatch employees let go.

While the Columbus area has more film critics than the average reader might expect, Frank was the most prominent and, I’m guessing, the longest serving in this community. He continues to write the occasional freelance review for the Dispatch, but it’s not the same as seeing his name attached to bylines for the pieces covering most of the new releases every Friday. (Of course, no disrespect is intended to Nick Chordas and the other freelancers. Nick is doing an admirable job striving to keep a couple locally written reviews in the Dispatch each week.)

Tonight, as a way of saying thanks for his years of service, the Wexner Center for the Arts presents "A Tribute to Frank Gabrenya". He will introduce the Jonathan Demme comedy Melvin and Howard. The program begins at 7 p.m.

Back in 1997, when my Now Playing co-host Paul Markoff and I were new film critics, we asked Frank if he would include us in his annual column surveying local critics on their favorite films of the year. We were (and still are) largely unknown to most in the Dispatch’s readership, but he gladly welcomed us into the fold. It's the least I can do to say thanks here for his help, cooperation, and friendship through the years and to be among those honoring him by attending this evening's tribute.

Coming up at the Wexner Center

Want to be among the first to find out what's on the Wexner Center's Film/Video calendar this summer?

The Wexner Center will announce its slate of summer films—both the indoor and outdoor series—next Wednesday, April 15 at 2 PM via streaming video at http://www.wexarts.org/live. Film curators Dave Filipi and Chris Stults will announce both the highly anticipated Wex Drive-in Outdoor Film Fest titles and the indoor summer film series. Along with the names of the films, Filipi and Stults will be giving background on the series and taking questions from those viewing the stream via live chat. Information on the films being screened is being kept under wraps until the announcement, but the series are expected to set the “tone” for the summer this year.

Something else to keep an eye on is a June 4 showing of Melvin and Howard as part of A Tribute to Frank Gabrenya. Showing one of the longtime Columbus Dispatch film critic's favorites seems like a fitting way to honor his recently ended career at the paper.

Cinema paradiso

The next week and a half is a good time to be a cinephile in central Ohio. Tonight the Wexner Center is screening HUNGER, the debut film of writer-director Steve McQueen. I've yet to see it, but advance word, such as J. Hoberman's rave review, is strong. At last year's Cannes Film Festival McQueen won the Caméra D'Or for this film about a hunger strike in a Northern Ireland prison.

I'm regularly impressed with the world-class filmmakers the Wexner Center is able to bring in for visits, so it comes as no surprise that they landed one of only two appearances that McQueen is making to promote the U.S. opening of the film. (The other is in New York, naturally.) McQueen will introduce HUNGER at this evening's screening. More information is available here.

If you're willing to drive a couple hours north and stay indoors while the weather is becoming more spring-like, more than 300 films await at the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival. Opening night is Thursday, March 19, with the jam-packed daily schedules commencing on Friday the 20th and lasting through Sunday, March 29.

I've been attending CIFF since 2005 and have felt it's particularly good at finding interesting Scandinavian films that often never reach Columbus. For instance, Joachim Trier's REPRISE played CIFF in 2007 and had a cursory commercial release in 2008 but never opened here.

This year their Pacific Pearls sidebar looks potentially strong, with new films from Jia Zhang-ke, Hong Sang-soo, and Johnnie To. CIFF also has some of the IFC Festival direct titles, like Joe Swanberg's ALEXANDER THE LAST, which just premiered at SXSW.

Other higher profile titles include the baseball drama SUGAR from the co-directors of HALF NELSON; 2009 Sundance buzz film MOON with Sam Rockwell; James Toback's docu-biography about Mike Tyson; and Joe Berlinger's oil documentary CRUDE. Writer-director Ramin Bahrani has been tabbed as Someone to Watch, and all three of his feature films will be screened, including his latest GOODBYE SOLO.

Keep an eye on this space during the festival as I plan to cover eight of CIFF's eleven days as best as can be done with catching up to seven films in a day and not having time for much else, including sleep. Coverage will begin on March 20, although my first post will probably not hit the web until I get to the hotel on the 21st.

Happy Valentine's Day

What more could one want for Valentine's Day than a card from Lionsgate featuring Larry the Cable Guy holding a rose in his mouth?

How about VERTIGO in 70mm at the Wexner Center and buzz band Vampire Weekend in Mershon Auditorium? Yeah, that's more my speed.

(For a blast from promos past, here's Lionsgate's 2006 Valentine's Day card.)

Weekend documentary: The Rape of Europa

I wanted to direct Columbus readers' attention to the Wexner Center screenings of THE RAPE OF EUROPA this weekend. Here's what I wrote about the film during my Cleveland International Film Festival coverage last March:

The doc is concerned with the Nazi plundering of art and cultural treasures during World War II and the measures that museum workers took to safeguard their precious collections. Workers at the Louvre and Hermitage cobbled together evacuation plans to keep their most important items from being stolen. Although decades in the past, the story continues with legal skirmishes waged over the rightful ownership of paintings taken at the time. The sheer volume of artwork the Nazis stole, hid, and destroyed is mind-boggling. In one sense, it's a miracle anything survived.

THE RAPE OF EUROPA also looks at the damage inflicted on architecture during the war and the repairs still being done today. Allied commanders had to decide what they would attack and bomb despite the historic or artistic value of the buildings. Information like this keeps the documentary fresh.

I wouldn't be surprised if THE RAPE OF EUROPA turns up on PBS or The History Channel at some point. It's a solid piece of work that presents a unique aspect about the war. The title suggests a bleaker film than it is. To be sure the loss of life in the war was a greater tragedy, but this film underscores the idea that valuable parts of culture and history were lost too.

Co-director Bonni Cohen will introduce the film on Saturday night. More information is available here.