MUMBLECORE ON MUMBLECORE

The Dirty Garage

This made me laugh. It's good to see they have a sense of humor. That's Kent Osborne (Hannah Takes the Stairs, among others) and Tipper Newton (Hannah, LOL, "The Mountain, The River, The Road")

BUJALSKI IN BERLIN WITH BEESWAX

I though I'd share a tidbit from a recent press release by the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival about Andrew Bujalski's new film.

"Andrew Bujalski’s Beeswax is in many ways symptomatic of the search for a new autonomy of narrative. Using the gestures, manner of speaking, and props of everyday life, Bujalski discovers small dramatic episodes of an astonishing cinematographic quality. His laconicism and intimacy can be considered the marks of a trend; a special genre term has, in fact, already been coined to reflect the way the actors, mostly non-professionals, speak in his films: “mumblecore”. This term can also be seen as an indication that the mumbling of everyday life all too often transmits the clearest signs of life."

Says nothing we don't already know, but hey, three cheers!

QUIET CITY DANCE SEQUENCE

I finally got a chance to watch Quiet City, by Aaron Katz this evening. I was thinking of posting the trailer for everyone to watch, but I thought I'd rather share one of the best scenes. A mixture of strangers and friends dancing before a party.

I enjoyed Quiet City more than other films like it (i.e. mumblecore) because I felt more of a connection to the protagonists. In Joe Swanberg's Hannah Takes the Stairs, Hannah is lost emotionally. Jaimie in Quiet City is physically lost. She arrives and the friend she is supposed to stay with isn't picking up her phone (something we can all relate to these days). Charlie has been unemployed for two months and spends his time fiddling with music. So when these two lost people start hanging out, boy it warms my heart. Warms my heart on a cold New England night. Available on DVD and friggin Netflix.