FEATURES
SUNSHINE STATE
By Kent Jones
This newest mini-epic from American cinema’s most unapologetically leftist director is all about traditions in the making and packaged history in the land of Spring Break and gated communities. With a little help from Sopranos star Edie Falco, Angela Bassett and a stellar supporting cast, John Sayles takes on the formidable task of dragging mercenary capitalism into the sunshine.
INSOMNIA
By Amy Taubin and Mark Olsen
Al Pacino, playing a cop whose sleep-disorder is the least of his troubles, collaborates with director Christopher Nolan on a journey into strange new territory: a linear story.
Plus: an interview with the director about remakes, bigger budgets and more.
TSCHERKASSKY VS. THE ENTITY
By Alice Lovejoy
An experimental filmmaker uses a 1982 horror film starring Barbara Hershey as both source material and inspiration.
CHRIS MARKER
By Paul Arthur
The melancholy ex-Marxist reminisces in his re-released documentary/poetic essay, A Grin Without a Cat.
BOLLYWOOD
By Chris Chute, Maithili Rao, Nasreen Munni Kabir, Mira Nair, Jacob Levich, and Travis Crawford
In a good year, the largest film industry in the world produces nearly 800 titles, with only a handful making it to western screens. In a special midsection guest-edited by David Chute, a small army of specialists tackles various aspects of Indian popular cinema, including narrative form, epic tradition, music, history, and even the tabloid crimes behind the scenes in this mind-boggling cultural mix-down. Plus, a guide to some key films to sample, guilty pleasures from the director of Monsoon Wedding, and tips on further reading and how to track down the films themselves.
ALEXANDER DOVZHENKO
By Vance Kepley, Jr.
This modernist revolutionary’s attempt to fuse the peasantry of his native Ukraine with avant-garde Russian culture under the oppressive eye of history led to much frustration and some of the greatest Soviet art ever created.
JENNIFER JASON LEIGH
By Chris Chang
Everyone’s favorite bad girl is not who we think she is. And if she has things her way, we’ll never know the truth.
DEPARTMENTS
EDITOR’S LETTER
OPENING SHOTS
News, Books, Guilty Pleasures, and more
DISCOVERY
Intacto director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo by Mark Olsen
ROME JOURNAL
The current state of Italian cinema by Giona A. Nazzaro
FIRST LOOK
Pedro Almodóvar’s Talk to Her by Kent Jones
SOUND & VISION
The Last Waltz by Harold Bloom & Tacita Dean by Chris Chang
DISTRIBUTOR WANTED
Takeshi Miike’s Ichi the Killer by Chris Chang
CRITICS’ CHOICE
Eight critics rate 25 new releases
STORYBOARD
“The Relentless Approximation of Feeling” by Sam Lipsyte
FESTIVALS
Berlin by Phillip Lopate and New Directors/New Films by Amy Taubin
REVIEWS
Lan Yu by Chuck Stephens, The Importance of Being Earnest by Sarah Kerr, The Fast Runner by Olaf Möller, Panic Room by Amy Taubin, The Believer by Greil Marcus, plus Reviews in Brief
VIDI VIDI VIDI
The latest video and DVD releases
FSLC SEEN
Who’s who at recent Film Society Events
