Results tagged “harvardfilmarchive”

While Spanish films have always had a certain cachet amongst American moviegoers, Latin American cinema has not always met with the same curiosity, and certainly not with the same critical engagement. But these last few years have been a breakthrough for Latin American movies in the US. Mexican directors Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón, and Guillermo Del Toro all featured prominently at the 79th Academy Awards, with Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth considered by many to be the best movie of 2007. Only a few years earlier, City of God captivated American audiences with its mix of wistful, lighthearted storytelling and unflinching exploration of urban poverty in a society orphaned by drugs.

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Tony Conrad, violinist and experimental filmmaker, stood prepared to electrocute a six foot strip of film Sunday evening. "Experimental filmmaking isn't like real experiments because you don't have to be careful," he told the crowd at Harvard Film Archive. "If you talk to an experimental filmmaker, ask if they know what they're doing."

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Nothing helps avant garde art go down like a good gimmick, and filmmaker Robert Fenz had a great one. Fenz screened two films Monday at the Harvard Film Archive, each accompanied by live improvisation from the renowned jazz trumpeter Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith.

Free admission!

Some super-snazzy stuff is going on around Boston this week in the film world. The African Film Festival at the MFA is going strong, and Harvard Film Archive brings us José Luis Guerín's In the City of Sylvia (En la ciudad de Sylvia) with the director live and in person. (Sometimes we wonder what the point of saying "live and in person" is--would we really go to an event with someone dead and in person? We think that's called a funeral. Anyway.) The Brattle warms up for Valentie's Day with the kooky love story of Harold and Maude, and the Coolidge brings us a set of short films that screened at Sundance in 2007.

There is no public institution that inspires Bostonist with so many warm feelings as the public library. And there is no charity event quite like a library book sale to make Bostonist into a heartless marauder, fighting tooth and nail with no quarter given nor expected. City-wide Friends of the BPL are offering one today at Copley. Stay out of our freaking way. Central Library, Copley Square, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm.

--Haven't you always wanted to go to an event called HARVAPALOOZA? Well, now you can. Local band The Franklin Kite bring a special combination of musical prowess and astrophysics knowledge to Tommy Doyle's, where they'll play alongside Maya and The Trolleys to commemorate the palooza that is Harvard. Or something like that? Anyway, the show starts at 9 and it's totally free. A dance party will follow, so put your best foot forward. Hopefully it's not the left.

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Meet the Spartans, which is now at 3% on Rotten Tomatoes after starting off in the negative, is enjoying the number-one position at the box office this week. Meanwhile, Sylvester Stallone's comeback vehicle of-sorts, Rambo, wound up in second place.

Johnny Pesky will be at the Barnes & Noble in Peabody tonight from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm signing books.

This weekend's Hollywood blockbuster openings are even more depressing than usual, with an ancient Stallone (looking like "an overcooked Ball Park frank," according to E), a cybercrime flick, and a take on a decade-old SNL skit "leading" the pack. Rambo, Untraceable, and Meet the Spartans (which currently has a negative rating at Rotten Tomatoes, something we haven't seen very often, if ever!) will open this weekend, most likely to some box office clamor despite the high probability that all these films will send discerning viewers clamoring for the exits.

--Normally, Bostonist commends the Brattle for its impeccable taste in movies, but they are boldly venturing into stinker territory with the Lindsay Lohan polefest I Know Who Killed Me. It's listed as part of the Brattle's Best of 2007 series. The inclusion of La Lohan means we've entered an alternate universe. Midnight, tonight and tomorrow night. More info on this shlocker.

The 2008 Golden Globe nominees were announced yesterday, and to nobody's surprise, they skewed heavily toward the period drama Atonement. Charlie Wilson's War, No Country for Old Men, American Gangster, and Sweeney Todd all emerged with at least 4 noms each.

How did The Golden Compass, Juno, and Atonement do critically and commercially? Of Compass and its controversy, the Dig's David Wildman said, "So screw the religious nuts, there's no reason not to see this fun little flick." James Verniere at the Herald disagreed, finding it a "long and often tedious slog." Unless you're a sci-fi fan or want to stick it to The Man, you might want to stay away. The movie opened at Number...

This big movie news this weekend is The Golden Compass, the adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel of the same name. The first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Golden Compass tells the tale of the "orphan" Lyra as she and her polar bear Iorek (voiced by Gandalf--er, Ian McKellen) embark on a journey to rescue Lyra's friend Roger from his kidnappers. We hear the movie's anti-religious themes have been played down (maybe thanks...

A Tribute to Ingmar Bergman Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge Friday, December 7-Wednesday, December 12 Tickets and more information Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, who died in July, made too many movies to fit neatly into a polite retrospective. With that in mind, be grateful that the Brattle Theatre has arranged its Bergman tribute around a tidy theme -- films starring Liv Ullmann -- that demonstrates the broad range of Bergman's mastery. (The Harvard Film...

A Girl in Every Port (1928) and The Canary Murder Case (1929) Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge Sunday, 7:00pm More information Come for the haircut. Silent film's iconic flapper, actress, writer, and theorist Louise Brooks is the subject of a double feature tomorrow night at the Harvard Film Archive. Brooks is best known for playing a pair of prostitutes in the daring New Objectivity movies of German...

Magner's Boston Irish Film Festival November 9-11, 2007 Brattle Theatre and Harvard Film Archive $8-10 If you haven't got enough Irish in your everyday slang, be sure to check out the 2007 Boston Irish Film Festival (BIFF) for a strong shot of Irish flavor. This year focuses on four strong feature films: The Front Line, On Broadway, Short Order, and The Tiger's Tale, but features several other Irish films as well. View the trailers and...

Southland Tales Directed by Richard Kelly With Dwayne Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seann William Scott Tonight, 9:15 p.m. Harvard Film Archives, Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge Tickets $8 for general public More information Tricky, Harvard, tricky! We've had Richard Kelly on the brain this week, thanks to A.R.T.'s world premiere of the stage adaptation of Kelly's 2001 flick "Donnie Darko." The Harvard Film Archive is ready to provide even more of the director's work...