The Friday 5
Your Weekly Film Update By Film Critic and Historian Jack Hanley
I. Film Moment I Am Loving This Week
One of our great triumphs during my programming/hosting days at the Crested Butte International Film Festival was the selection and screening of Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof's 2020 masterwork THERE IS NO EVIL- a film he had to shoot, edit, and produce in SECRET due to the authorities and have smuggled out of the country. We proudly awarded him a Special Jury Prize for "Courage In Film-making" that year- I still remember how his gracious acceptance speech to our audience was done clandestinely through my cell phone...
I was TREMENDOUSLY moved to see that Mohammad made a surprise appearance at the Cannes Film Festival last week after a dramatic escape from his homeland after being sentenced to eight years in prison for his art. Look for his award-winning latest film SEED OF THE SACRED FIG releasing soon (you WILL see it nominated) and learn more about his fascinating and courageous filmmaker HERE.
II. Film Score I Am Playing Non-Stop This Week
Not to be content with merely inspiring extremely sexy tennis play, Luca Guadagnino's CHALLENGERS soundtrack seems most intent on coursing through your veins to make EVERY endeavor more sexy. Modern score darlings Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (GONE GIRL, THE SOCIAL NETWORK) bring the club scene to the courts with a synthy and sensuous blend of techno and French electro that cranks up the urgency with pulsating bravado. Personal workout? Folding Laundry? A sweaty three-way tryst with your college tennis partners? This score is for YOU.
III. Interview Reunion I Am GUSHING About This Week
Ten years ago, I had the interview opportunity of a lifetime: Black Independent Cinema icon Pam Grier visited the University of Colorado-Boulder with the Miramax College Tour and agreed to meet with this gushing fan. Our scheduled 5 min interview quickly went over an hour- with a generous and lovely Pam sharing her musical influences, memories of guerrilla filmmaking at the forefront of the Blaxploitation Movement, laughing over deconstructing kung-fu movies with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and her (as of yet) unrealized Stagecoach Mary passion project. Needless to say, after hundreds of film interviews and talkbacks, Pam remains among my favorites...I simply adore her. You can listen to the original interview below (set to a filmic homage by my creative partner and unfairly talented filmmaker Chris Leising).
I am now THRILLED to announce that I will be reuniting with Pam THIS SEPTEMBER at the Colorado Festival of Horror (Sept. 13th-15th) for another hour-long interview to talk her early horror origins, being the WORLD’S first female action hero, and her return to the horror genre with THEM. Check out this week's amazing piece (via CBS Sunday Morning) on an even more amazing life…and if you are one of my Colorado readers, get your tickets NOW so you can join me in honoring one of our greatest American Icons!
Tickets: cofestivalofhorror.com
IV. Film I Am Most Looking Forward To This Weekend
You already HAD me at "...POV art-house subversion of the classic slasher- imagine Jason Voorhees wandering around a Terrence Malick film"; but friend of the site and cinephile extraordinaire Patton Oswalt just sealed the deal. IN A VIOLENT NATURE opens everywhere this weekend.
V. Film Countdown List I'm Enjoying This Week
Because, who DOESN'T love to argue these things?!? While there are obvious omissions (no Kirsten Dunst for INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE? no Lupita Nyong'o for 12 YEARS A SLAVE?), if you've ever taken one of my classes (or just been drinking with me) you KNOW that I approve of #1.
Get out there and watch something AMAZING this week!
Jack Hanley is a Boulder-based film critic, programmer, and historian. He is a programmer with the Chicago Underground Film Festival and Boulder International Film Festival. He is one-half of Blindspotting: A Film Discovery Podcast and Flicker with Jack and Scott on YouTube. Find him at Kinophilia on Medium and at HanleyOnFilm.com
