Movieline Online

Chances are most folks will never attend any sort of film festival. They’re under the mistaken impression that the only folks who can afford to go will fly in on private jets and be shuttled to and from screenings on a flowered dais trailed by an entourage of personal assistants on cell phones. And, yeah, you’ll see a few of those. But the Big Secret is film festivals are surprisingly accessible to the average Joe. Take South By SouthWest (SXSW) which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year in Austin, Texas. As film fests go it’s a relative newcomer, but the music component of the event is well-recognized as the premiere showcase for emerging bands around the world. So by choosing South By (as the locals call it) as opposed to Sundance or Toronto, you’ve got a unique opportunity to not only check out the latest in independent film, but in between you can catch exclusive gigs from the best up-and-coming bands you’ve never heard of (and a few big acts in the sort of intimate settings y...

THE FLICK: Turns out, it wasn’t beauty that killed the beast, it was box-office expectations. Peter Jackson’s King Kong, the director’s labor of love and follow-up to his Lord of the Rings trilogy, was actually well-received by critics and brought in some sizable audiences, but its final theatrical take ($217 million in North America, $546 total worldwide) unfairly marred its reputation as the year’s 300-pound gorilla. It’s almost laughable for a film that made that much money to be labeled as only moderately successful (and even more pathetic to admit that box-office numbers supersede the quality of the film), but such is the sad state of Hollywood filmmaking. But don’t shed too many tears. After all, Hollywood filmmaking is what King Kong is all about. Jackson’s film embraces it like few others in the past decade. Fat with special effects (for which it earned an Oscar), bloated with marketing tie-ins (from videogames to Volkswagens), and besting the original film’s running time by a ...

THE FLICK: Cinema may have gone through a technical revolution in the past ten years, but the business behind it has not. And when one particular film or genre proves successful, it’s a safe bet the market will soon be glutted with copycat productions. Just as the success of Star Wars inspired a slew of sci-fi films throughout the 70’s and 80’s, the one-two combination of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings is bound to have lasting effects on the industry for years to come. The first of which is The Chronicles of Narnia – The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe which beat the odds and became one of the highest grossing films of 2005. It brought along a fantasy pedigree, some religious controversy (the text contains rather obvious Christian overtones) and a pantheon of computer generated creatures that hop, fly, snort, stampede and otherwise clutter the screen for the final 30-minutes or so. Andrew Adamson, the director behind Dreamworks’ Shrek films, was a rather logical choice to helm...

THE FLICKS: Although not packaged as such, the latest four releases from cult DVD studio Blue Underground serve as a sort of second Giallo Collection (the first released in 2002 through now rival studio Anchor Bay), comprised of some superior examples of the Italian murder-mystery genre presented in their usual flawless fashion. But in addition to the expected blood, boobs and (in a few cases) bad dubbing, this next wave also hides one of the most spectacularly photographed entries the genre has ever seen! The Fifth Cord (1971) is certainly not one of Vittorio Storaro’s better known films (the famous director of photography lensed Apocalypse Now, Bird with the Crystal Plumage and the recent made-for-TV Dune remakes), but it is just as visually striking as his best work. Playing off a familiar theme of light and shadow – as he did on Bertolucci’s The Conformist – Storaro literally slices the screen with harsh key lights and clever compositions that scream for film school analysis! It’s ...