In Contention

Tag: LACMA

  • Slamming Scorsese for staying out of the trenches

    Martin ScorseseI was thinking along these lines last week when I read Martin Scorsese’s open letter to LACMA.  The director was speaking out against the closing of a 40-year-old weekend film program at the museum due money matters.  But here’s what Tom Gregory had to say about the matter at The Huffington Post:

    Martin Scorsese’s open letter to LACMA’s head Michael Govan is flawed. Mr. Scorsese has never been a member of, or financially supported LACMA in anyway. Ever. Not a dime. Nada. Zip. His L.A. Times letter is an example of a bankrupting trend across California and America. Everyone wants to complain, but no one wants to pay. In LACMA’s thirty plus years, the institution has received scant money from the film industry, certainly none commensurate with capacity and responsibility.

    Los Angeles is entitled to a film program, but in a city where so many have prospered from the industry’s fruits, the dearth of monies from Hollywood is shameful. We should be celebrating the LACMA’s massive leaps forward. The Broads, the Resnicks, Wallis Annenberg, the Koticks, the Ahmansons and scores of others have been faithful to the institution, but it’s always the same LA names. Where is the high-profile film community? With their endorsement, LACMA’s film program could soar.

    Agree?  Disagree?  Discuss.

  • 8/13 Web Round-up

    Charlyne Yi• Todd Gilchrist talks to “The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard” star Jeremy Piven. [Cinematical]

    • Anthony Breznican has the scoop on Charlyne Yi and “Paper Heart.” [USA Today]

    • Who’s your favorite cinematic psychopath? [Talking Movies]

    (more…)

  • ‘Following’ Chris Nolan at LACMA

    (from left) Christopher Nolan and Kenneth Turan at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Bing TheaterI had not seen Christopher Nolan’s directorial debut “Following” in six or seven years, which made for the perfect excuse to drop 20 bucks on a ticket to tonight’s Slamdance screening and Q&A over at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

    The film holds up as a wonderful, if slightly obscure excerpt from that sensational year of cinema: 1999.  It contains the seeds of a director’s fascination with broken narrative storytelling, borrows humbly from genre particulars already developed by David Mamet and Stephen Frears in years past (while turning them on their heads) and is a modest announcement of a significant new talent.

    Little did we know this unassuming director with a film rejected by Sundance would go on to helm one of the highest-grossing movies in film history.

    It’s a delight to listen to Nolan discuss the particulars of his craft today, with five other films under his belt and a lot of perspective to shine back on his initial cinematic foray.  The narrative with Nolan has become, “He still maintains that independent edge even in blockbuster territory.”  Yes, but it’s deeper, and yet simpler than that.  It would be fairer to say he still maintains an understanding of lean storytelling (for the most part), even in the midst of dramatically ambitious stories.

    “Following” is a case study in that.  And of course, the year-long filming process astounds me to this day, grabbing footage here and there on the weekends, the actors maintaining their appearance long enough to complete the project.  Amazing.

    Nolan spoke an all-too-brief 20 minutes to the LA Times’ Kenneth Turan (who was double-checking his notes constantly) in front of a relatively diverse crowd, bringing in examples from his steadily expanding portfolio to emboss artistic points about his view of the filmmaking process.  With Bat-hysteria flying off the rails this summer, it was a treat to listen in on a developing master’s serene take on the nuts and bolts of his art form.

    And that’s what it’s always about at the end of the day, no?

    Here is a recording of the proceedings.  Nolan is soft spoken, and Turan doesn’t exactly announce his queries with the loudest authority, but you might catch some gems of the conversation if you crank the volume:

    [display_podcast]

  • Phoning it in from LACMA

    I’m sitting here at LACMA’s Bing Theater awaiting a screening of Christopher Nolan’s “Following,” to be followed (no pun intended) by a Q&A with the man himself.

    The energy is pretty high. Nearly packed theater with a mix of anxious fans and reserved night-on-the-towners.

    I’ll report back later this evening or in the morning with some snaps and an mp3 of the discussion. Ken Turan is moderating, I believe.