Hannah is good :: A whole bunch of indie film kids are in NYC tonight :: Pioneer Theater was digging Gen DIY a year ago
I got to NYC and made it to the IFC Center about 20 minutes after Hannah Takes the Stairs's 8 PM show began. Enjoyed what I saw. Since the flick is now available on cable, I'll catch the first 20 minutes this weekend or maybe even tomorrow here in NYC (i definitely prefer to watch movies on a movie theater screen; much, much better - so maybe the theater definitely).
Quick thoughts re: Hannah: Andrew Bujalski playing a lead in the flick gives a very different flavor to this Swanberg flick - a huge improvement over his previous flicks as far as my movie watching enjoyment is concerned. Todd Rohal is very funny in his role, the theater (full or nearly sold out by the way) was cracking up at the boss role Todd played. Greta Gerwig (sp?) does a very good job most of the time. And don't tell Joe Swanberg this, but to me watching what I saw (most of the film, not all) tonight, I felt like I was watching something very close to Mutual Appreciation than something closer to Kissing On The Mouth or LOL, which, for me, is a very good thing 'cause Mutual App is a movie that I like a lot (#2 fave on my Mumblecore list, #1 being, so far, The Puffy Chair). The "Bujalski effect" on display in Hannah might make the flick a good bet for fans of Mutual App. Kent Osborne (sp?) also does a good job in his role (dude is also very brave and or is a very commited actor, here i speak of the final scene in the bathtub, more on that at another time).
All in all, great job Swanberg & Team Hannah.
More on the flick later this week (with spelling of names checked - too tired/shleepy now, on a foreign computer also), after I've seen all of it.
In the meantime, allow me to point you to this positive review of Hannah at indieWIRE - for more about the movie, and also to this New York Times review of Hannah (w/ more background on Gen DIY) by Matt "Home" Zoller Seitz, from today's edition. I read the NYT article while waiting for the bus in Chinatown DC this afternoon - was a pretty cool experience 'cause I knew Matt from way back (last year or so) through his film & blog & had seen Swanberg's earlier movies.
Tomorrow morning or on Fri I'll write more about the trip & events in NYC (w/ photos!), but here's a quick spelling errors full (no doubt) list of people I met/got to talk to for a bit/saw around town tonight: Mike Tully, Craig Sobel (spelling?) of the Great World of Sound (exact title?) fame, Joe & Kris Swanberg, Greta G. of Hannah fame, a lady from Indiepix (spelling?), Matt Dentler - all the way from Austin TX, Liz " Jericho's Echo" Nord, Todd Rohal, ST Van AirsDale (spelling?) of The Reeler fame, Brian "The Film Panel Notetaker" Geldin, & more. A lot of the indie film kids that I regularly hear about at indieWIRE related media/blogs & a few other places are in NYC tonight. Pretty cool.
Much of the glory for this eventful night in real indie film must go to Matt Dentler of course, the SXSW film fest producer who has been promoting Mumblecore filmmakers for several years now.
I just know that this night is gonna be talked about in years to come in the same kind of positive tone as the night Stranger Than Paradise screened in NYC prior to playing Cannes (not to say that Hannah is close to Stranger, but there is definitely an unprecedented amount of press & publicity & attention being channeled towards no budget/DIY/DV/art-indie filmmaking right now due to the Hannah & Gen DIY films run @ IFC, a significant/landscape altering event i believe).
And, to point you towards a Reeler story, programmer Ray Privett at the Pioneer was celebrating Mumblecore filmmakers like a year before IFC got excited by them (LOL screened at Pioneer in September '06, also I believe Dance Party, USA played there around the same time :: full disclosure: my flick Date Number One played there last year, but even if it didn't, I would still be a fan of Pioneer's programming - 'cause they keep it real indie quite a lot), which goes to show that if ya wanna know who & what might be getting a lot of press in indie film in the near future, keep an eye on Pioneer's programming; or better yet - go watch some real indie movies there so that they can keep programming more real indie stuff.
Goodnight from New York.
- Sujewa
Quick thoughts re: Hannah: Andrew Bujalski playing a lead in the flick gives a very different flavor to this Swanberg flick - a huge improvement over his previous flicks as far as my movie watching enjoyment is concerned. Todd Rohal is very funny in his role, the theater (full or nearly sold out by the way) was cracking up at the boss role Todd played. Greta Gerwig (sp?) does a very good job most of the time. And don't tell Joe Swanberg this, but to me watching what I saw (most of the film, not all) tonight, I felt like I was watching something very close to Mutual Appreciation than something closer to Kissing On The Mouth or LOL, which, for me, is a very good thing 'cause Mutual App is a movie that I like a lot (#2 fave on my Mumblecore list, #1 being, so far, The Puffy Chair). The "Bujalski effect" on display in Hannah might make the flick a good bet for fans of Mutual App. Kent Osborne (sp?) also does a good job in his role (dude is also very brave and or is a very commited actor, here i speak of the final scene in the bathtub, more on that at another time).
All in all, great job Swanberg & Team Hannah.
More on the flick later this week (with spelling of names checked - too tired/shleepy now, on a foreign computer also), after I've seen all of it.
In the meantime, allow me to point you to this positive review of Hannah at indieWIRE - for more about the movie, and also to this New York Times review of Hannah (w/ more background on Gen DIY) by Matt "Home" Zoller Seitz, from today's edition. I read the NYT article while waiting for the bus in Chinatown DC this afternoon - was a pretty cool experience 'cause I knew Matt from way back (last year or so) through his film & blog & had seen Swanberg's earlier movies.
Tomorrow morning or on Fri I'll write more about the trip & events in NYC (w/ photos!), but here's a quick spelling errors full (no doubt) list of people I met/got to talk to for a bit/saw around town tonight: Mike Tully, Craig Sobel (spelling?) of the Great World of Sound (exact title?) fame, Joe & Kris Swanberg, Greta G. of Hannah fame, a lady from Indiepix (spelling?), Matt Dentler - all the way from Austin TX, Liz " Jericho's Echo" Nord, Todd Rohal, ST Van AirsDale (spelling?) of The Reeler fame, Brian "The Film Panel Notetaker" Geldin, & more. A lot of the indie film kids that I regularly hear about at indieWIRE related media/blogs & a few other places are in NYC tonight. Pretty cool.
Much of the glory for this eventful night in real indie film must go to Matt Dentler of course, the SXSW film fest producer who has been promoting Mumblecore filmmakers for several years now.
I just know that this night is gonna be talked about in years to come in the same kind of positive tone as the night Stranger Than Paradise screened in NYC prior to playing Cannes (not to say that Hannah is close to Stranger, but there is definitely an unprecedented amount of press & publicity & attention being channeled towards no budget/DIY/DV/art-indie filmmaking right now due to the Hannah & Gen DIY films run @ IFC, a significant/landscape altering event i believe).
And, to point you towards a Reeler story, programmer Ray Privett at the Pioneer was celebrating Mumblecore filmmakers like a year before IFC got excited by them (LOL screened at Pioneer in September '06, also I believe Dance Party, USA played there around the same time :: full disclosure: my flick Date Number One played there last year, but even if it didn't, I would still be a fan of Pioneer's programming - 'cause they keep it real indie quite a lot), which goes to show that if ya wanna know who & what might be getting a lot of press in indie film in the near future, keep an eye on Pioneer's programming; or better yet - go watch some real indie movies there so that they can keep programming more real indie stuff.
Goodnight from New York.
- Sujewa
