"Briarwood" Trailer

Awhile back I posted about a kickstarter campaign for the film Briarwood directed by Ryan Farmer. Well, the campaign was successfully funded and production is finished. Its supposed to available May 2014, which is next month. A teaser trailer was released and from the looks of it, we are looking at suspense thriller that's going to have lots of twists and turns throughout. I personally am very excited to see it for the visuals alone. The film was shot by my friend Kyle Crowell who is a fantastic cinematographer and Ryan Farmer seems to have a very strong sense of direction. You're definitely going to want to keep your eye out for future projects from both of them.  Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think.

Briarwood Teaser Trailer from Ryan Farmer on Vimeo.

Criterion Pick: "A Man Escaped"

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge champion of the Criterion Collection. As with many devout cinephiles, I am an avid Criterion collector. Right now, I would say my collection is rather modest, but it's growing. During my journey through the collection, I've come across some of the greatest films I've personally ever seen along with the most informative supplemental material. It is because of this that I've decided that I'm going to try to write about one film in the Criterion Collection biweekly. I hope you all enjoy.

A Man Escaped (1956) Directed by Robert Bresson

Robert Bresson's A Man Escaped is a film that is completely unburdened from what viewers expect from cinema. There is almost no added music for suspense, no surprises in the editing, very simple camera work, and the film stars only non actors. The film itself plays very straight. We simply watch the main character Fontaine, as he goes through his daily routine in the prison and looks for a way he can escape his cell. We see very little of anyone else in the film and when we do, there is very little added drama. There is no stereotypical evil or overly nice Nazi guard. The guards just exist- doing their job as they are told.

Please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying this film is boring. Far from it. I found it gripping in every sense of the word and the subject of the film alone forces you to care about what happens. We as an audience want Fontaine to escape, because if he doesn't he faces his imminent death. As we reach the climax, there is a moment in the film in which Fontaine has to take decisive action on a matter. Depending on he chooses to handle the situation - it will change everything, including how we as an audience will judge him. It's these moments in the film that a completely natural tension is created without any superfluous elements.

Everything in A Man Escaped is a matter of life or death. It's the small details that exist that draw the viewer in, despite the film being void of almost any cinematic flare.

Kenji Mizoguchi Retrospective

When speaking of master Japanese filmmakers two names always seem to appear Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirô Ozu. And for good reason, both of them had a huge influence on cinema internationally both at them time and years to follow. There is another filmmaker however, who is just as great and in some people's opinion has a stronger body of work. Kenji Mizoguchi, who is often considered one of the early "feminist" directors has made around 85 films, most of which, disappointingly are lost. His work that does remain though, is incredibly powerful and contains very human stories that are still just as poignant today.

It's been 20 years since there has been a retrospective of Mizoguchi's existing filmography in the United States until this year. From May 2nd to June 8th the Museum of Moving Image will be presenting his entire body of work that still exists on both 35mm and 16mm film prints. This is a great opportunity for those who are unfamiliar with this master filmmaker to delve into his body of work and witness his famous extended takes on the big screen. This is definitely something cinephiles in New York City will not want to miss and if you have the opportunity to travel to the city for this, it would be well worth it.

Here is the schedule:

May 3rd

2:00 PM - Sansho the Bailiff (1954) (preceded by a presentation from film scholar David Bordwell)
7:00 PM - Street of Shame (1956)

May 4th

2:00 PM - Song of Home (1925) (with live musical accompaniment by Makia Matsumara)
3:30 PM - Oyuki the Virgin (1935)
6:30 PM - Sisters of the Gion (1936)

May 9th

7:00 PM - Utamaro and His Five Women (1946)

May 10th

1:00 PM - Hometown (1930)
3:00 PM - White Threads of the Waterfall (1933)
4:30 PM - Miyamoto Musashi (1944)
6:00 PM - The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (1939)

May 11th

2:00 PM - Hometown (1930)
4:00 PM - White Threads of the Waterfall (1933)
6:30 PM - Miyamoto Musashi (1944)

May 16th

7:00 PM - The Life of Oharu (1952)

May 17th

4:00 PM - The Downfall of Osen (1935)
6:30 PM - Straits of Love and Hate (1937)

May 18th

5:00 PM - Poppy (1935)
7:00 PM - Women of the Night (1948)

May 23rd

7:00 PM - A Geisha (1953)

May 24th

2:00 PM - The Famous Sword Bijomaru (1945)
4:00 PM - Portrait of Madame Yuki (1950)
7:00 PM - Osaka Elegy (1936)

May 25th

2:00 PM - The 47 Ronin (Part 1 & 2) (1941)

May 31st

5:00 PM - The Love of Sumako, the Actress (1947)
7:00 PM - Miss Oyu (1951)

June 1st

2:00 PM - The Crucified Lovers (1954)
4:30 PM - Victory of Women (1946)
7:00 PM - My Love Burns (1949)

June 6th

7:00 PM - Princess Yang Kwei-fei (1955)

June 7th

5:00 PM - The Lady of Musashino (1951)
7:00 PM - The Woman of the Rumor (1954)

June 8th 

2:00 PM - Tales of the Taira (1955)

For more information visit Museum of Moving Image