Screen Rush is the blog of film critic and journalist Eric Kohn, whose work regularly appears in indieWIRE, New York Press, Filmmaker, Moviemaker, Heeb Magazine and a half dozen other outlets. A true twenty-first century movie buff, his writing centers around the impact of new media on the moving image, the changing face of film criticism, and the tempestuous relationship between pop culture and independent artistry. This site includes links to his recently published work and allows for additional thoughts on cinema's modern state. E-mail Eric at erichkohn(at)gmail(dot)com.
I brought my whirlwind of recent festival travels to a close this weekend with a relaxing quasi-vacation at the Nantucket Film Festival. Be sure to check out my dispatch for a run-down of the highlights.
Additionally, here’s some Vulturenews from Saturday’s all-star comedy roundtable.
I was encouraged to attend this year by my friend Livia Bloom, Nantucket’s new programmer, who did a great job. I thank her, Artistic Director Mystelle Brabbee and Executive Director Colin Stanfield for making my time there a pleasant one. My graciousness also goes out to Fatdot publicist Brandon Rohwer for his help with various logistical things and my college buddy Jack Knorps for letting me and my significant other/partner-in-crime crash at his parents’ vacation house.
In my dispatch for indieWIRE, I emphasized the intimate vibe of the festival. That’s no exaggeration. Having barely exited the plane from CineVegas, a very fun but also extremely tiring ordeal, I will attest that Nantucket offers a packed but immensely relaxing environment for filmmakers and audiences alike.
Harold Ramis received the festival’s screenwriting award on Saturday. You can find an excerpt from his speech below, which came on the heels of host Brian Williams’s surprisingly hilarious delivery. Ramis gets cut off at the end of the video (so you’ll never know what happens with that rabbi) and the camera work looks worse than an early Joe Swanberg movie, but try to understand: Earlier in the evening, a guy was going around serving a green “ectoplasm” drink that mixed vodka and Mountain Dew. Couple that with the free Stella associated with nearly every film festival these days, and I did the best I could, OK?