There’s little doubt that François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard were the most notable of the over 30 directors to pioneer the French New Wave. Filled with quizzical scenery, haunting characters, existential themes, and political fire, this 1950s – 1960s cinematic style was both revered and rejected by audiences around the world.
It was with great relish that we learned of the new documentary Two in the Wave(2009, Lorber Films),a mesmerizing journey through the rise and fall of the artistic and often combative relationship between Truffaut and Godard as they fought for notoriety and cinematic freedom. Directed by Emmanuel Laurent, the film’s archival footage, amazing first-hand interviews, and clips from over 30 films of the era transport us to a remarkable, turbulent time in movie history. It’s a ride not to be missed! Fortunately for us all, the film is playing at none other than the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge — well worth the journey if you’re in the Merrimack Valley. While viewing, we recommend paying close attention to the era’s film scoring, essential to setting the erratic shift in tone and mood of the French New Wave.
Should Lowell ever get its own indie movie-house, we promise that New Wave film will play a major role in the programming! “What we film is life, and the camera is art. Or the opposite.”
Its been many, many months since Lowellians have seen those big movie trailers and bright spotlights. We got a little pampered for a while there with the downtown filming of Ricky Gervais‘ indie comedy The Invention of Lying, followed closely by the Mark Wahlberg – Christian Bale big budget film The Fighter, which has had to contend with its own share of left hooks and headbutts. To his credit, Wahlberg has completely embraced the project, and true to his welterweight training has fought hard to land the film a dedicated studio. According to movie buzz in the New York Times, the job has gone to Paramount, who will begin heavy promotion of the film during the fall football/sports season in anticipation of its December 10 release. The holidays marks Hollywood’s big push to the Oscars, so we should expect to see a bold lineup of films coming to DVD or to the cinema with heavy promotion leading the way, The Fighter included.
Second in line to direct The Fighter behind Darren Aronofsky (Lost, The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream), director David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees) commanded a tight ship, pushing actors to their emotional limits to fulfill his vision of Micky Ward‘s and Dicky Eklund‘s remarkable story. Unlike The Invention of Lying, shot almost entirely in Lowell but nothing ABOUT Lowell, The Fighter will put the Mill City at center stage, and we’re pretty darn excited about that.
Below are some one-minute clips found amongst the many Fighter teasers and interviews in the YouTube world. Some good footage also exists of Ward and Eklund, courtesy of the Lowell Sun.
6 MEN 25 OSCAR NOMINATIONS 400 FILMS 300 YEARS IN MOVIES
It’s incredibly exciting to discover new film and offer up a sneak peek, especially if the documentary celebrates that brilliant moment when the lights go down. From Academy Award-nominated director Daniel Raim (The Man on Lincoln’s Nose) comes Something’s Gonna Live, the real-life story of the friendship and film artistry of six of Hollywood’s master art directors and cinematographers, including production designer Robert F. Boyle (North by Northwest, Fiddler on the Roof) who passed away at the age of 100 on August 4. There’s no doubt this film will touch a chord in all of us who relish the movies of a bygone era that defined great American cinema.
Follow the lives and passions of the following film greats: Robert “Bob” Boyle, Henry “Bummy” Bumstead (To Kill A Mockingbird, The Sting) and Albert Nozaki (The War of the Worlds, The Ten Commandments), storyboard artist Harold Michelson (The Graduate, Star Trek: The Motion Picture), as well as master cinematographers Haskell Wexler (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Medium Cool) and Conrad Hall (In Cold Blood, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid). Described “not a nostalgia piece, but an exploration of the artist’s moral obligation to truthfully portray the human condition,” this filmwill remind us why we adore The Movies and should continue to honor the behind-the-screen legends that bring our inner fantasies to life.
“NO IMPACT MAN“
Tuesday, September 14
6:30 PM: Meet-n-greet
7PM: Film screening
OUTDOORS at the Market Mills Courtyard *
246 Market Street (next to the National Park Visitor Center) Free admission!
* Please bring your own lawn chairs for the screening!
If inclement weather, screening will be held inside at the National Park Visitor Center Theater.
Are you a certain shade of “environmental green”? Is recycling in your blood and waste not want not your mantra? Or perhaps you just enjoy an incredibly inspiring documentary. If so, we invite you to mark your calendars for our final outdoor film of the year, No Impact Man, screening Tuesday, September 14 in partnership with the Lowell Green Building Commission.Our location will be one the LFC has been attracted to for a long while — the lovely, wide open Market Mills Courtyard set between Lowell’s National Park Visitor Center and the Brush Art Gallery.
No Impact Man follows one year in the lives of New York City husband and wife team, Colin Beavan and Michelle Conlin, as they embark on a quite seemingly insane plan: reduce their carbon footprint to almost NIL. How? No electricity (candle use). No cars (bikes or walking). No cell phones (ack!) No buying products in containers (refill & reuse). No TV (family conversation instead). No shopping at the grocery store (farmers’ markets ONLY). And much, much more. It’s an experiment brought forth from the mind of Colin, and as we find out in the documentary, wife Michelle is left to sadly follow. What unfolds may seem simplistic, but it’s made heavier as you watch Colin and Michelle fall further and further into the pits of uber-green living. Life still must go on, even as they wash their laundry in the bathtub, dispose of their fridge and freezer, and light candles in their home every evening.
During their unbelievable “No Impact Year,” Colin and Michelle did the national talk show circuit, kept a daily online blog (which is still active), wrote of book detailing their experience, and looked to friends for support, even as they received ridicule and oftentimes mail from the outside world. No one understood why they did this, why they would seemingly “torture” themselves. As with most great cinematic experiences, the viewer is challenged to decide for themselves.
Before the event, feel free to learn more by perusing The No Impact Man Project. We hope to see you outdoors at Market Mills Courtyard on September 14!
The LFC is taking a weekend breather, but will be back next week with more film news! For now, we’d like to thank everyone who came out for our Shedd Park Pavilion screening of The Nature of Cities. We’ve discovered yet another great outdoor venue in Lowell and hope to be back next summer. Thanks to our partners and sponsors and to Lowell’s Parks and Recreation Department for their great site support!
We’ve been looking forward to this weekend for months now — the wait is over!
Billed as a three-day celebration of music and arts, the “Solid Sound Festival“ is the creative brainchild of supergroup Wilco who curated the entire lineup of live music, comedy, and film. It all takes place this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the breathtaking, vast expanse of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) campus in North Adams, MA. It’s our first trek out to MASS MoCA, and we couldn’t be more excited about the introduction.
As for the film portion of the program, taking place on Sunday from 11am – 4pm, the band hand-selected the following intriguing titles, including the VERY independent, offbeat 1967 film Fearless Frank (starring Jon Voight in his film debut):
Getting slightly off the film topic, the music lineup for the weekend is unbelievable, with Wilco headlining on Saturday and The Books taking the lead on Friday night. We’ve had the pleasure of seeing electronic/multi-media duo The Books at several different venues in the Boston area and continue to be stunned by their ability to transport us into the nether worlds of sight and sound.
There’s tons of information and buzz out there on this weekend’s events if your curiosity is piqued. We hear tickets are still available as well — consider packing your bags!
We’ve been hearing all sorts of buzz on this uber-hip, quirky new indie flick The Scenesters, so much so that we’re feeling compelled to share. Judging by their website, The Scenesters has already garnered beaucoups of awards from film fests across the country and beyond, including Slamdance, the Seattle True Independent Film Festival (STIFF), and the Edmonton International Film Festival. Pretty impressive for a low budget, hand-held camera piece. The magic is all in the story, and comedy film troupe The Vacationeers seem to have hit the mark as the film’s screenwriters, cleverly spoofing mystery/crime films and hedging their bets on today’s fringe hipster market. If you happen to hit the west coast this month or know any film buffs who might be interested, mark off August 20 – 26 and check out the great happenings in store for the film premiere at the Downtown Independent Theater.
If we’ve piqued your curiosity, GOOD. We love showcasing exciting indie film — if we find there’s demand, perhaps we could finagle a screening of The Scenesters here in the Mill City!
We invite you to visit The Scenesters and enjoy this sneak peek:
It’s rare that a film inspires me to truly learn more about its topic, let alone take action or encourage others to do the same. But this one has, primarily because of the passion and perseverance of the filmmakers and activists involved in the struggle. And of course, because it is so heinous and unbelievable.
If you have not seen this year’s Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove, it might be because of its difficult subject matter. It’s a descent into madness as well as utter sadness, and its images of violence are impossible to shake. But in my estimation, it is a powerful, necessary film. If you HAVE seen The Cove, then hopefully you are keeping up to date with the film’s impact in Japan and around the world. I encourage you, as difficult as it might be, to see the film and educate yourself on the humanitarian campaign to halt the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of dolphins in Taiji, Japan.
The fight to shut down the cove is ongoing and is one of the many causes found on Take Part’s social cause website — learn more about The Cove on Take Partatwww.takepart.com/thecove. The filmmakers have made the entire film available for digital download and it will be televised for the first time on Animal Planet on August 29. A new Animal Planet mini series “Blood Dolphins” is set to premiere on August 27 which follows the Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS) and activist Richard O’Barry as they continue their work at the cove (read the official Animal Planet press release HERE).
Thanks, everyone, for taking the time to read this — as you can see, this film has made a deep impact on me. How fortunate we are to have cinema that educates us and brings us closer to events and struggles around the world.
FORGOTTEN FACES OF HAITI Friday, August 6 | 7 – 9:45 PM
Essex Art Center, Lawrence
Thanks so much to our dear friend and supporter, Professor Bob Forrant of UMass Lowell’s Department of Regional Economic and Social Development, for forwarding this documentary film announcement to us. For complete details on this film event, CLICK HERE to view or download the event flyer directly from the Essex Art Center. The screening is free and open to the public!
An excerpt of Forgotten Faces is below, documenting the history and culture of White Haitians that reside in the West Indies:
Guest speakers at National Night Out in Lowell get the crowd ready for the outdoor show!
FAMILIES, FRIENDS & FILM: A GREAT SUMMER NIGHT
Thanks so much to everyone who came out last night for our outdoor screening of “E.T.” — our National Night Out event at the Morey School in Lowell was a grand success! Thanks again to all our event partners for inviting us to be a part of the evening. Hope we see you again on August 18 for our next outdoor screening in Lowell!
We’ve been hearing all sorts of buzz on this uber-hip, quirky new indie flick 
