Beyond the Multiplex

Don’t call it mumblecore
Ultra-indie American film grows up in a hurry with Joe Swanberg and Greta Gerwig’s erotic, wrenching relationship drama “Nights and Weekends.”
“Greatest film ever” or a cream cake?
Mocked on initial release and long unavailable, Max Ophüls’ wide-screen spectacle “Lola Montès” returns in a lustrous restoration. So what’s the big deal?
Torture porn, made beautiful
Pasolini’s “Salò” blends fascism, de Sade and upscale art cinema into the most notorious film in the medium’s history. Watch it at home!
Doc Hudson vs. Che Guevara
Paul Newman’s crusty, kid-friendly, oddly classic final role (as a car). Plus: Film-world eggheads battle over Soderbergh’s unconventional “Che.”
From Cannes headliner to pay cable
Why is the exasperating and delightful “Pleasure of Being Robbed” — a breakthrough American micro-indie about a charming female sociopath — barely getting released?
Bill Maher vs. the “talking snake”
The HBO host and comedian talks about “Religulous,” his onslaught against the religious idiocy that threatens to deliver America to Sarah Palin and her fellow “space god” worshipers.
Indie film’s ultra-realist overdose
Sundance critics went wild for the lo-fi, wide-screen, Mississippi bleakness of “Ballast.” But has American neorealism turned itself into audience kryptonite?
Chokin’ on Chuck
Sam Rockwell and director Clark Gregg render Palahniuk’s “Choke” as madcap sex farce. Plus: The man who destroyed American culture! Filipina ladyboys in Iceland!
Angelina, Mickey Rourke and disco madness
From Clint’s “Changeling” to Soderbergh’s “Che” and beyond, the New York Film Festival sets the table for the fall’s Oscar hopefuls, art-house maybes and wild-eyed cinematic rebels.
Coppola, Spielberg, Hammer Films and you
News roundup: I’m back, and so is New York’s oh-so-cultured fall fest. Plus: Coppola’s controversial “restoration,” Hammer Films reborn, and 12 movies you haven’t seen (but should have).
Wayne Wang isn’t missing
Peripatetic Asian-American indie-film hero is back from J.Lo exile with a double bill of intriguing new low-budget films — and YouTube distribution. (A podcast and interview.)
No country for human beings
Tastes bad! Less filling! Brad Pitt’s quasi-closeted gym boy and George Clooney’s beard star in the Coen brothers’ bizarre, coldblooded spy farce, “Burn After Reading.”
Arab-American beauty
En route from “Six Feet Under” to “True Blood,” TV genius Alan Ball snuck in “Towelhead,” an earnest drama about race and sexual awakening in ’90s suburbia.
Gone fishin’! Back soon — here’s what awaits
Alan Ball, the Coens, a re-release of the greatest film of the ’70s and a tribute to Britain’s most important filmmaker — and I’m on vacation!
A lovable pervert at your window
Weekend roundup: The noble peeping Tom hero of “Mister Foe,” Truffaut’s delectable Parisian noir “Shoot the Piano Player” and more.
A Jewish family’s hidden shame
Claude Miller’s wrenching “A Secret” distills the French nation’s Nazi-era guilt into one family’s incredible-but-true wartime story.
Indie film’s new, globalized realism
Do low-budget American films like “The Pool” (made in Hindi) and “August Evening” (made in Spanish) signal a new wave of cultural exploration, or just hipster tourism?
News roundup: Coens, Coco, John and Che
The Coens’ “Burn After Reading” sets critics ablaze; Chanel and Lennon, together at last? Plus, Soderbergh’s Guevara opus finds a home (maybe).
I married a Nazi — the comedy
Czech master Jirí Menzel’s black comedy about a lovable innocent turned Nazi collaborator is a work of nettlesome genius. Will anybody notice?
The ultimate Japanese Shakespeare spaghetti western!
Takashi Miike’s “Sukiyaki Western Django” offers a spectacular mashup of Kurosawa, Sergio Leone, Tarantino and the Bard — and it’s weirder than that sounds.
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Wayne Wang on “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers”

What I’m Reading

Nobel. Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio.
GreenCine Daily, 2008.10.09
Tokyo Sonata (Michael Koresky)
Reverse Shot, 2008.10.09
NYFF. The Windmill Movie.
GreenCine Daily, 2008.10.09
Body of Lies: Yes, DiCaprio is a Movie Star (Variety.com *)
Thompson on Hollywood, 2008.10.08
SNL: Wahlberg Talks to Animals (Variety.com *)
Thompson on Hollywood, 2008.10.08
On the new Hong Sang-soo (Glenn Kenny)
Some Came Running, 2008.10.08
Che (Michael Joshua Rowin)
Reverse Shot, 2008.10.08
Paging the Edna Ferber estate… (Glenn Kenny)
Some Came Running, 2008.10.08
Understanding Screenwriting #7 (noreply@blogger.com (Keith Uhlich))
The House Next Door, 2008.10.08
Links for the Day (October 8th, 2008) (noreply@blogger.com (Keith Uhlich))
The House Next Door, 2008.10.08

About Beyond the Multiplex

Andrew O’Hehir’s independent film blog offers reviews, news and interviews. Subscribe to the podcast through iTunes or RSS.

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