What’s up, good people?! Our gold-medal worthy movie and short film news blog is here, but we’ll accept your cheers.
Legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola recently relaunched his virtual studio Zoetrope.com. Coppola founded the site way back in 1997 as a global creative community for writers, filmmakers and other creatives.
With this new relaunch, Zoetrope will showcase the short film genre. The shorts showcase will offer screenwriters, directors and producers peer feedback. Membership is free. This is how it works. For every story a member submits, they are required to review five submissions by other participants. Think of it as a virtual creative writing workshop.
For Coppola, who has directed some of the most influential films in history, Zoetrope is all about providing access.
“…that’s what I was trying to do with this site – let everyone have access to a movie studio or set a new context of creative community for people interested in cinema, music, acting, art, graphics, photography, songwriting, and so on.”
Again, for the low, low price of “Free.99,” you can take part in this amazing opportunity by going to Zoetrope.com.
Short of the Week
“Mirror” is about a man, haunted by his reflection in the mirror, who seeks help for his visions. When he gets that help, he plunges further into his nightmare.
This short film, directed by Dustin Biren and Thomas Ouziel, is kind of a big deal. It was screened at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, and was also nominee in the First Glance Short Online Contest.
If you’re into dark, psychological thrillers, then this short film is right for you.
So grab some popcorn and root beer (or real beer), and check out this harrowing 10-minute short film.
Hit this link to watch “Mirror” and buckle up!
Black Harvest
The venerable Black Harvest Film Festival has launched at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, and will screen some game-changing films all month. Already in its 22nd year, the festival highlights films that chronicle the black experience, both nationally and internationally.
Black Harvest, which runs until September 1, will screen 56 features and shorts in all. Amid that veritable gumbo are old classics like Prince’s Purple Rain and Charles Burnett’s To Sleep With Anger. In fact, the festival opened with a screening of that classic Prince film (Sigh, we still can’t believe he’s gone, either.)
The short film programs are highlight trenchant and relevant experiences, which have long been the hallmark of Black Harvest. For example, short film programs will highlight filmmakers from Chicago and abroad. Other curated programs will showcase shorts on family and love.
For more information on Black Harvest, please visit this site.
From Around the Web…
Everybody is talking about Suicide Squad, the summer blockbuster with subpar reviews.
The film about comic supervillians has taken some serious shots.
Take Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal: “Suicide Squad” amounts to an all-out attack on the whole idea of entertainment. (The opening lines of his review is even worse.)
And this zinger from Christopher Orr of The Atlantic: If I have not yet convinced you of the movie’s astonishingly slipshod quality, I’m unlikely ever to do so.
Ugh.
Still, Suicide Squad managed to break records as this weekend’s top-grossing film both here and at the foreign box office.
The question remains, how did this poorly-reviewed film rake in so much money? The New York Times provided a little “inside baseball” on how Warner Bros. was able to make Suicide Squad penetrate the American consciousness. The jury is still out on the film’s overall profitability, but it makes for an intriguing case study on how marketing can overcome critical reception.
Check out the piece for yourself. It is well worth the read.
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