In Contention

Tag: The Auteurs

  • Kickoff for The Auteurs World Cup

    TheAuteurs.comI must say, The Auteurs is rapidly becoming one of my favorite film-related sites out there. I can take or leave the social-networking side of it, but it’s an increasingly useful (and beautifully designed) source of world cinema and critical discussion, not least in the must-read Auteurs Daily blog.

    Recently, they also launched a fun novelty exercise, The Auteurs World Cup. Structured like the football tournament for which it is named, it’s a cinematic knockdown contest between the world’s assorted filmmaking nations. Each represented by three film classics selected by a team captain, countries go head-to-head in a series of match-ups — the results determined by the votes of Auteurs users.

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  • Another look at ‘Enemies’

    Christian Bale in Public EnemiesI must say, while I’m still struggling to see the use of The Auteurs as a social networking site, it’s a smashing source of film writing. The range and intelligence of discourse there is a joy to read, and is rapidly making the site a daily essential.

    A case in point is today’s superb three-headed discussion of “Public Enemies” — well-timed given that today (as noted at the Film Experience) marks the 75th anniversary of John Dillinger’s death.

    I’ve said before that I don’t think the film has generally received the critical credit it deserves, so it’s a treat to read three equally well-informed writers debating its complexities, and its relationship to the Michael Mann canon, in more detail than any review I’ve read. Daniel Kasman is upfront in his enthusiasm, declaring it the year’s best American film so far. (Short of “The Hurt Locker,” I don’t disagree.)

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  • The Auteurs: Your online cinema, anytime, anywhere

    TheAuteurs.comI’m quite late to the table on The Auteurs, an on demand film streaming and social networking website mentioned briefly in this morning’s round-up.  I probably should have given it a closer look, since I’ve certainly noticed Glenn Kenny’s continued editorial contributions to the site, but I didn’t really get in there and start digging until over the weekend, when I noticed CNN’s story concerning a partnership with Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation to exhibit restored lost classics.

    “The basic ambition behind The Auteurs,” writes CNN’s Mairi Mackey, “is to make high quality cinema accessible to a young, global audience by making it available on demand cheaply…The Auteurs’ particular niche is auteur-driven cinema combined with social networking.”  The site is the brainchild of former Goldman Sachs banker Efe Cakarel and was funded by Argentine millionaire Eduardo Costantini of Costa Films.  It features a novel community component where you can create a profile, designate your favorite films and interact with other users as well, creating a “platform for discovery,” as Cakarel puts it in the CNN piece.

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