Syndicate content  Subscribe to our RSS Feed

Blogs

Films revealed at our I Heart HIFF event

Posted August 31, 2010 - 3:29pm by chris

In case you missed our recent member mixer and open house event at Nextdoor, these films were announced for the fall festival, and we played their trailers. To see trailers for these films, please take a look at our YouTube Channel. We'll be announcing more films through our email newsletter over the next two weeks, until the full program announcement around September 15th.

BASQUIAT - THE RADIANT CHILD

CONVICTION

 

ECILA

KINGS OF PASTRY

LEGEND OF THE FIST

ONE KINE DAY

ONE VOICE

THIS MOVIE IS BROKEN

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES

WELCOME TO THE SPACE SHOW

POSTERMAAAAAAANIA

Posted August 28, 2010 - 11:29am by matt

From browsing through the wall poster racks of Sam Goody in middle school, thinking, "Which one of these will impress my friends the most?" to spending $40 on a Pierrot Le Fou poster off the net in my college dorm room, thinking, "Who needs friends when I can look at this all day?," film posters have always held a special place in my camphor, nitrocellulose heart.

So after scourging the web, I came across this list of 50 Incredible Film Posters from Poland (or if you want more than just the edited fifty, I'm one step ahead of you: "Google image search "polish film posters"). We're walking the line of contemporary art here, people!

Clockwise from top left corner: ALIEN; ROSEMARY'S BABY; TOOTSIE; WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S; PERMANENT VACATION; THE FLYClockwise from top left corner: ALIEN; ROSEMARY'S BABY; TOOTSIE; WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S; PERMANENT VACATION; THE FLY

Our friends at MUBI made a similar poster-related post highlighting Iranian Cinema of the 60s and 70s after the jump...

AN OCEAN OF LOCAL TALENT

Posted August 24, 2010 - 10:53am by matt

There's without a doubt a stirring inner circle of filmmakers and made-in-Hawaii films starting to surface in the past few months. Just look at the recent 'Oiwi Film Festival and 'Ohina Short Film Showcase 2010 -- Hawaiian filmmaking seems to be everywhere.

Case in point: Two weeks ago, I met an aspiring local actress - and recent NYU Tisch graduate - who invited me to help on the set of a short she just so happened to be acting in (turns out, she just so happened to have written it also). Producer + Screenwriter + Actress = triple-threat Katherine Emily Mills. Gathering talent from New York City and Hawai'i, her cast and crew shot on-location in Kahala and the North Shore under the Last Pictures banner. If you've ever been on a shoot before, you know orchestrating that many bodies and equipment takes time and eat-your-breakfast energy, otherwise you might go Christian Bale on someone. Luckily I have infinite patience and I don't know, there's just something about small teams and operating on a shoe-string budget that really makes you feel like you're a part of something special (am I right, HIFF team?)

More about her film, STANDING IN WATER, after the jump...

Thanks to everyone who came out to 'I Heart HIFF'!

Posted August 20, 2010 - 9:04am by chris

We had a great event last night, with close to 400 people coming out and attending. Nextdoor was packed, everyone was enjoying the food from J.J. Dolans, and many of you won prizes during the raffle. We hope you enjoy those concert tickets, thanks again to BAMP Project for providing them.

You may be wondering, what's next? Well, here it is:

HIFF will be releasing some more info about films slowly over the next month or so, but the full program and schedule announcement will come Mid-September. We'll be launching our Online Program Guide at that time, so you'll be able to view synopses, photos and trailers from the films, etc.

There will be a Sneak Peek event with the unveiling of the HIFF 30 festival trailer and a film shown for free to HIFF Members (title TBD) on Thursday, September 30th. Tickets will go on sale for Members at that time, and for the General Public on Monday, October 4th. Then the films will begin October 14th and run through the 24th.

`Ohina Short Film Showcase Trailer 2010

Posted August 15, 2010 - 1:55pm by sarah

Congratulations to the `Ohina Short Film Showcase for a successful 2010 presentation! One of the highlights of the `Ohina program was the larger-than-life trailer by Gerard Elmore of Shooters, Todd Robertson of Hyperspective Studios, and Allan Payne of Payne Advertising. The trailer also stars the multi-talented Aidan Laprete Powell. Get your submissions ready for 2011!

Come join us at 'I Heart HIFF' next Thursday!

Posted August 11, 2010 - 1:55pm by chris

Come join us at our upcoming I Heart HIFF event, next Thursday, August 19th from 5pm to 8pm at Nextdoor in Downtown Honolulu.

You can find details about the event on this page, but what we want to talk about here is some of the raffle prizes. If you bought a 'HIFF 30' button during our Spring Festival, show it at the event to get two free raffle tickets. Additional raffle tickets can be obtained with a donation to HIFF. Due to generosity of BAMP Project, we have the following concert tickets to raffle:

2 (1 pair) tickets - Black Star
Friday, August 27th
Waterfront at Aloha Tower

2 (1 pair) tickets - Owl City
Saturday, August 28th
Pipeline Cafe

2 (1 pair) tickets - Chevelle
Saturday, September 11th
Pipeline Cafe

2 (1 pair) tickets - The Maine & Forever the Sickest Kids
Saturday, September 18th
Pipeline Cafe

2 (1 pair) tickets - Ghostland Observatory
Saturday, October 9th
Pipeline Cafe

2010: AN ON-DEMAND FILM ODYSSEY

Posted August 9, 2010 - 9:12am by matt

We covered the half-social networking/half-video-on-demand indie film site, MUBI, last week, but what we forgot to mention was this 2.0 business model is just the beginning. Check out this article from last Tuesday's New York Times about on-demand options for hard-to-find films.

Serious moviegoers may still see on-demand channels as a dumping ground for films that were in theaters six months ago or weren’t good enough to be in theaters at all. But as more and more “small,” serious films fight for screen time, a few distributors are starting to see on-demand television as a first option — which means that the quality of on-demand offerings is beginning to rise.

Imagine bringing To to youImagine bringing To to you

O JOAQUIN, WHERE ART THOU?

Posted August 4, 2010 - 8:24am by matt

New poster art for the Joaquin Phoenix "documentary" (I would use mockumentary here sans the "ironic" punctuation, but the film is being released as something un-Christopher Guest, whatever) that reared it's vice-y Vincent Gallo head on Letterman over a year ago, and I gotta say, behind this blurry and bearded mess, I'm into it.

Directed by Casey Affleck (Phoenix's brother-in-law), the footage depicts theAffleck shooting Phoenix in the headAffleck shooting Phoenix in the head star's "public" "breakdown" from his "announcement" that he's "retiring" from "acting" to "pursue" a "career" as a hip-hop "artist." My guess is the two are attempting to fog the line between fact and fiction (and is-there-even-such-thing-as-a-line?) with the depravity dripping Hollywood industry as a backdrop while making a commentary about fame, fortune, and happiness along the way?

The whatever-this-is is due out September 10 and I will probably see it because it looks weird.

Dinner for Schmucks: Before They Were Stars Edition

Posted August 3, 2010 - 12:13pm by anderson

Paul Rudd & Steve Carell in DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS

Seen DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS? Actor Paul Rudd has had a resurgence lately, as a key player in Judd Apatow's zany acting ensemble. But, remember when he was the dreamy, erudite stepbrother to Alicia Silverstone's Cher in the seminal '90s classic (wow, too soon?) CLUELESS?

Like many other young thespians in this film, it was Rudd's breakout role, but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? In Rudd's case, it was Bat Mitzvah DJ to young Jewish princesses in the San Fernando Valley. Check out this home video of one particular one in 1992. Love the yellow tuxedo jacket and early 90s Moe Howard/Jason Priestley sideburns hairdo.

Paul Rudd: Bat Mitzvah DJ from Jewish Forward on Vimeo.

10 YEARS AT 24 FRAMES PER SECOND... YOU DO THE MATH

Posted August 1, 2010 - 10:22am by matt

According to an online poll taken by "American Cinematographer" magazine last month, subscribers have named AMELIE, shot by Bruno Delbonnel, as the best-shot film of the decade (1998-2008).

To eat crème brûlée with Audrey leSIGHTo eat crème brûlée with Audrey leSIGH

Here's the complete Top Ten:

1. Amélie: Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC (AC Sept. ’01)
2. Children of Men: Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC (AC Dec. ’06)
3. Saving Private Ryan: Janusz Kaminski (AC Aug. ’98)
4. There Will Be Blood: Robert Elswit, ASC (AC Jan. ’08)
5. No Country for Old Men: Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC (AC Oct. ’07)
6. Fight Club: Jeff Cronenweth, ASC (AC Nov. ’99)
7. The Dark Knight: Wally Pfister, ASC (AC July ’08)
8. Road to Perdition: Conrad L. Hall, ASC (AC Aug. ’02)
9. Cidade de Deus (City of God): César Charlone, ABC (AC Feb. ’03)
10. American Beauty: Conrad L. Hall, ASC (AC March & June ’00)

If you've seen CHILDREN OF MEN, then you're not surprised to see why it's so high up here considering that insane tracking shot near the end complete with the accidental blood splatter that's so mad good, I feel stupid talking about it, so I'll leave that to the actual filmmakers.

Read more...