http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/ THE BACK ROW MANIFESTO by Tom Hall en Copyright 2009 2009-11-13T13:00:45+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_messenger_opens/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_messenger_opens/ In the interest of full disclosure, I need to get a few things out of the way;  Oren Moverman’s The Messenger has been a very important film for me this past year. I am unable to assemble my thoughts about the film itself; I have no critical distance when it comes to this movie. Let me just say I think it is one of the finest movies of the year and an instant classic. I saw the movie at Sundance and fell in love with it. With a little help and some true generosity, we were able to showcase The… Film News 2009-11-13T13:00:45+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/my_faith_in_humanity_temporarily_restored/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/my_faith_in_humanity_temporarily_restored/ The line for Frederick Wiseman’s La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet, Film Forum, NYC, 1:15 PM Tuesday, November 10, 2009. When you sell out a two and a half hour Frederick Wiseman film at 1:15 PM on a Tuesday, you earn my love and respect. I ♥ you, New York City…. Screenings 2009-11-10T22:39:11+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/festival_programming_last_refuge_of_the_critic/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/festival_programming_last_refuge_of_the_critic/ In reading the reaction to today’s announcement that Newsweek film critic David Ansen has joined the Los Angeles Film Festival as its Artistic Director (congrats to David, and to my friend and colleague Doug Jones, who received a much-deserved promotion, and to the LAFF for finding their man), a number of lights switched on for me, most of which have been flickering for weeks now. It’s been a tough couple of years for print critics and film criticism in general, and with Ansen’s appointment and the recent wrap of the AFI Fest (programmed by film critic Robert Koehler), it seems… Festivals, Industry 2009-11-09T20:25:45+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/r.e.m._live_at_the_olympia/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/r.e.m._live_at_the_olympia/ I can hear you, can you hear me?—R.E.M., Sitting Still R.E.M. is the absolute seminal band for me; their albums are the soundtrack of my life. I was a thriteen year-old heavy metal-loving dork living in working class Michigan in 1984 when, on Easter vacation in Toronto, I stumbled upon Chronic Town in a cutout bin at Sam The Record Man on Yonge St.  From the moment the needle hit the vinyl on my shitty, department store turntable, I was literally tranformed into another person. It is hard to remember the fabric of a pre-internet,  pre-iPod, pre-video on demand world,… Music, Personal 2009-11-07T03:55:21+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/nominating_the_gothams/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/nominating_the_gothams/ For the second year in a row, and, I fear, the last (since I know the Gothams try to mix up their nominating committees), I was asked and honored to serve as a Nominating Committee member for the Documentary Feature category for the 2009 Gotham Awards. Yesterday, I watched with some interest (and a little horror) as the nominees in all categories were announced and feedback began rolling in from all over the internet. While many reactions targeted omissions (Lee Daniels’ Precious: Based On The Novel “Push” By Sapphire seems to be drawing the most curiosity in its absence), other… Awards 2009-10-20T17:16:49+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_2010_sarasota_film_festival_call_for_entries/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_2010_sarasota_film_festival_call_for_entries/ We’ve just opened up the 2010 Sarasota Film Festival’s Call For Entries on Withoutabox. If you’re interested in submitting a film to us, we’d be honored to take a look. I have compressed the submission timeline this year and all of the deadlines are set, so let’s get to it, shall we? This year’s event is already coming together and I have a lot of interest for some exciting projects; I’m convinced this will be a special festival. Let’s be honest; at this point in the economic meltdown, that fact that so many regional festivals are still taking place, despite… Festivals 2009-10-14T15:19:35+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/funny_how_you_still_find_me1/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/funny_how_you_still_find_me1/ *ha* enjoy a little pop bliss to cap off your holiday weekend. Music 2009-10-13T00:48:39+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_2009_new_york_film_festival_everyone_else/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_2009_new_york_film_festival_everyone_else/ There are moments at the movies when, watching one film or another, for whatever reason, everything seems to come together. And then there is every other waking minute of my life.  I have spent the better part of the last five years attempting to sift through piles and piles of the low-budget relationship drama with a comic touch or the low-budget relationship comedy with a dramatic hook, all of them made on the cheap and each of them featuring unique problems that, with a little more craft or artistic concern, might have been overcome. You know what I’m talking about;… Festivals, Reviews 2009-10-07T14:00:12+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/we_interrupt_our_commitment_to_elitist_seriousness/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/we_interrupt_our_commitment_to_elitist_seriousness/ ... for a moment of lowbrow genius. Behold, the greatest sports hype video in the galaxy… Feel that? That’s your brain melting. A tip of the hat to MGoBlog for pointing in the right direction. Please enjoy your weekend… Sport 2009-10-02T22:18:56+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_2009_new_york_film_festival_white_material/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_2009_new_york_film_festival_white_material/ A brief warning: some of the links below point to images and articles of a graphic and or controversial nature. Be advised. Is there role for white people in post-colonial Africa? If you ask some African leaders, they’ll tell you that the legacy of white colonial power on the continent has established an oppositional, almost dialectical relationship between white (read: Western) opinion and action; nations pay lip service to the civil wars, famine, poverty and diseases that have plagued the continent while continuing to exploit Africa’s resources, political corruption, tribal rivalries and large scale suffering for their own gain. The… Festivals, Reviews 2009-10-02T14:33:28+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_2009_new_york_film_festival_the_art_of_the_steal/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_2009_new_york_film_festival_the_art_of_the_steal/ One of the worst and most tedious arguments in American film culture is the debate over the responsibility of so-called “non-fiction” filmmaking to act as reportage, a perception among some that documentaries should present facts, be balanced and tell the story in an even-handed way so that the audience can make up their mind about the complexities of the issues raised. Too often, this argument (which is being generous) focuses on the intersection of political, bureaucratic minutia and the necessary individual perspective of the filmmaker; while it is okay for, say, Chris Marker to make cultural juxtapositions in a film… Festivals, Reviews 2009-09-30T16:20:17+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_2009_new_york_film_festival_antichrist/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_2009_new_york_film_festival_antichrist/ I know, I know…I am late to the party on this film. Still, a reminder that spoilers abound… Lars von Trier has a complicated relationship with women. I think it is safe to say that, amid the cries of sexism and misogyny that have accompanied many of his films, von Trier has done himself no favors with his hilarious, deeply self-deprecating approach to his own work. Here is an artist who claims that each and every one of his characters is an empathetic part of himself, only to immediately remind the world of his own self-hatred in the next breath.… Festivals, Reviews 2009-09-29T14:02:11+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/2009_new_york_film_festival_hadewijch/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/2009_new_york_film_festival_hadewijch/ ”Some art aims directly at arousing the feelings; some art appeals to the feelings through the route of the intelligence. There is art that involves, that creates empathy. There is art that detaches, that provokes reflection… In film, the master of the reflective mode is Robert Bresson. All of Bresson’s films have a common theme: the meaning of confinement and liberty. The imagery of the religious vocation and of crime are used jointly. Both lead to “the cell.”— Susan Sontag, Spiritual Style in the Films of Robert Bresson Bruno Dumont’s Hadewijch is certain to be one of the most misunderstood… Festivals, Reviews 2009-09-28T14:55:03+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_2009_new_york_film_festival_launch/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/the_2009_new_york_film_festival_launch/ While the 2009 New York Film Festival opened last night with Alain Resnais’ comic charmer Wild Grass, press screenings have been under way for more than a week and I’ve been spending my days as the Walter Reade Theater taking in as much as I can. It is one of the true privileges of my life, to sit among friends and colleagues and engage with the films at The NYFF. I could go on all night; the amazing projection set-up at the Walter Reade, the way in which the slow changing of the season is completed in small increments, each… Festivals 2009-09-26T14:41:35+00:00 http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/toronto_2009_wrap/ http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/archives/toronto_2009_wrap/ Rambling thoughts from the other side of the 2009 Toronto Film Festival… Did I mention rambling?... OK, good… Home from Toronto for a little less than a week now and finally, a moment to sit and think about this year’s festival. One of the wonderful things that keeps me coming back to Toronto year after year is that, despite the festival’s broad, inclusive and dramatic scale, I always feel able to piece together a great experience. I find that, by setting limitations for myself, I end up in the films that will resonate for me, as well as those that… Festivals 2009-09-24T04:34:18+00:00