Michael Guillen

TIFF 2011: KEYHOLE
The applause was tepid for the world premiere of Guy Maddin's Keyhole, in which Maddin architects a house haunted with phantasmagoric hints of Homer and all the polymorphously perverse erotics that dreams allow. His admitted genre hybrid between "ghosts &... More »
  

TIFF 2011: THE KID WITH A BIKE
The Kid with a Bike / Le Gamin au Velo (Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne, 2011). The Dardenne Brothers return to form in their engaging The Kid With A Bike, the tale of a young boy abandoned by his deadbeat... More »
  

TIFF 2011: A DANGEROUS METHOD Review
Perhaps the film I most anticipated at this year's TIFF, it stands to follow that David Cronenberg's fictionalized treatment of the interaction between Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung and Sabina Spielrein is my first major disappointment. But mine is not... More »
  

TIFF 2011: VAQUERO
Vaquero (Juan Minujín, 2011). In his prickly survey of the CTC Programme for Cinema Scope magazine, Argentine critic Quintin singled out Vaquero as "a mess: an actor's narcissistic try at making a film about a double of himself and showbiz,... More »
  

TIFF 2011: THIS IS NOT A FILM
This Is Not A Film (Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, 2011). The amount of humor in Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb's hybrid effort is surprising, especially in light of the serious and well-publicized censure of Panahi's filmmaking by Iranian authorities. But perhaps there... More »
  

TIFF 2011: THE IDES OF MARCH
The Ides of March (George Clooney, 2011). It's perhaps obvious to expect a dark lining to the overcoats worn by men running for political office. It's perhaps even more obvious that political corruption has long been a favored form of... More »
  

TIFF 2011: THE TURIN HORSE
The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr, 2011). My kneejerk reaction to Béla Tarr's Berlinale winner The Turin Horse is to recite the childhood jingle, "One potato, two potato, three potato, four." Exacting but exquisite, Tarr's (allegedly) final film depicts the weight... More »
  

TIFF 2011: MICHAEL
Michael (Markus Schleinzer, 2011). Markus Schleinzer's truly disturbing directorial debut Michael--not to be confused with Ribhu Dasgupta's Hindi feature of the same name--exerts a morbid fascination on the viewer, compelling attention to an unpleasant yet skillfully suspenseful narrative of a... More »
  

TIFF 2011: BONSAI
Bonsái (Cristián Jiménez, 2011). With his wistful sophomore feature, Cristián Jiménez reminds me of what it is that I detest in Hollywood rom coms. They're nowhere near as brave, or sexy, or truthful as Bonsái's delicate exploration of a young... More »
  

TIFF 2011: FATHERLAND
Fatherland / Tierra de los Padres (Nicolás Prividera, 2011). The presiding conceit of Prividera's sophomore feature Fatherland is noble, to say the least, if not a bit protracted. It joins the ranks of films like Heddy Honigmann's Forever as a... More »
  

TIFF 2011: ACQUA (2011): Interview With Raha Shirazi

Raha Shirazi was born in Tehran, Iran and immigrated to Canada with her family at the age of eleven. Her short film Four Walls premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2007, and has gone on to screen at international... More »
  

GAINSBOURG (VIE HÉROÏQUE): Interview With Joann Sfar

I first caught Joann Sfar's feature debut Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque) (2010) at the 53rd edition of the San Francisco International Film Festival, where SFFCC colleague Pam Grady wrote in her program notes: "Best known in the United States for 'Je... More »
  

SFFS / New People Cinema Takes Off
[Our thanks to Michael Hawley for this contribution to Twitch.] June 2011 brought the fantastic news that--come September--the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS) would be transforming Japantown's New People Cinema into its very own year-round venue. Well summer's almost over... More »
  

FANTASIA 2011: Interview With Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare

Back during the 13th edition of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, while researching Tod Browning's The Unknown (1927), I chanced upon Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare's provocative essay " 'Even a Man Who is Pure in Heart': Filmic Horror, Popular Religion and... More »
  

FILM INTERNATIONAL (VOL. 9, NO. 3): Positioning Cinephilia; Taking a Stance with Jonathan Rosenbaum
I'm pleased to announce the publication of my interview with Jonathan Rosenbaum in the current issue of Film International (Vol. 9, No. 3). An excerpt of this transcript was published earlier on Twitch. Cross-published on The Evening Class.... More »
  

DFF: LIFE IN A DAY Review
"The only real important filmmakers at the moment are the thousand and thousand YouTube providers."--Heddy Honigmann, in a Facebook entry dated Wednesday, March 12, 2011. The Disposable Film Festival (DFF) and YouTube co-presented a special free screening of Oscar®-winning film... More »
  

FANTASIA 2011: EXLEY: Interview With Larry Kent

My first exposure to Canadian filmmaker Larry Kent was in Fantasia's tribute reel to the maverick producing team of John Dunning and André Link, co-founders of Québec's legendary Cinépix production company. That reel affords the opportunity to see Larry Kent... More »
  

FANDOR: SLEEP FURIOUSLY (2008): Interview With Jonathan Marlow
On Friday, July 29, 2011, Fandor presented the digital premiere of the acclaimed Welsh documentary sleep furiously (2008) in coordination with its U.S. theatrical release. sleep furiously debuted in the UK last year, receiving overwhelming praise from British critics and... More »
  

Fantasia 2011: MONSTER BRAWL Microreview
Unlike my Twitch cohorts Todd Brown and Kurt Halfyard, I am not as skilled in writing quick reviews of festival fare.  My gig is more to secure interviews, which by their very format afford me the time to secure, research,... More »
  

SFSFF 2011: Line-up Preview

[Our thanks to Michael Hawley for offering his preview of the 2011 San Francisco Silent Film Festival to the Twitch readership.] As the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF) prepares to launch its 16th edition this week, I find it... More »
  
 
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Hollywood Beat: Notes On Cutting The Cord And NBC's Genre Programs

I cut the cable cord last year, but I'm not always happy about it. I had to wait a year before seeing Season 2 of Game of Thrones, for example, and will have to wait to see Season 3 until next year. I only have to wait to see Mad... More »

Twitchvision: Talking STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS, MUD and THE ICEMAN

Another Twitchvision chat with Scott Laurie, this time me gushing about J.J.'s latest Star Trek film, which I unabashedly loved.Also talked about he fabbo Mud, and the less fabbo The Iceman, both with Michael Shannon doing his thing.Video embedded below.Update: Was asked to come in today and pick a few... More »

Learning from the Masters of Cinema: Henri-Georges Clouzot's THE MURDERER LIVES AT 21

While Henri-Georges Clouzot is best remembered for many of his later films, including The Wages of Fear and Diabolique, the French filmmaker's 1942 debut has gone largely unseen by Western audiences until now. The Murderer Lives at 21 (L'Assassin Habite au 21), based on the novel by Belgian author Stanislas-Andre... More »

China Beat: What did China See in IRON MAN 3?

Much has already been written, both on these pages and many others, about the landmark Hollywood-China co-production that is Marvel and DMG Entertainment's Iron Man 3. The film, directed by Shane Black, is the third solo outing for Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark, and has proved a phenomenal success around... More »

FEAR & LOATHING AT CANNES, PART 2: I'M IN LOVE WITH EVERYBODY'S GIRL

CHAPTER 4: THE PHILOSOPHY OF ANNA KARINA AND BUTT PLUGSI'm sitting outside at a small Café that my editor told me to meet him at. I'm a 10 minute walk from the Marche Du Film convention hall and I'm still waiting for my editor to arrive so he take guide... More »
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