DIFF 2012 Reviews of “Cinema Six,” “Compliance,” and “Faith, Love and Whiskey” @ The Moving Arts Film Journal

I feel like every time I post here, I should probably remind my readers that I’m still alive. We should hang out more, blog.

I haven’t just been sitting on my laurels in the past two and a half months – a lot of that time has been spent trying once again to make the vast jump from film critic to creator, and I’m reminded of just how true that Douglas Adams quote is about how writing is essentially staring at a blank piece of paper until your forehead starts to bleed. Hopefully, something interesting will come out of it, this time around.  And if not, we aim to fail gloriously, and it’ll be an ungainly mess of random shots of feet, and uninhibited pretension of an amount previously unheard of since Troy Duffy himself, and you’ll all be the first to hear about it, either on here or in the obituaries and back pages of the Dallas Morning News.

But in any case, I’ve also been covering the annual Dallas International Film Festival, which this year landed basically right on my front porch. The first round of my reviews are up over at The Moving Arts Film Journal, including the aggressively middling Cinema Six, the disconcerting Compliance, and the beautifully lyrical Faith, Love and Whiskey, which you can find here.

 

Oh, and because I said I would, I might as well say hi while I’m in the neighborhood to one of the more interesting volunteers that I had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with in my spare time this year.  So – hey, Diana! I see you! 🙂

Dallas International Film Festival – Opening Night Coverage Up

Over at my new mainstay, EInsiders, they’ve just posted up the first part of my four-day, five-night DIFF coverage – with more to come, I’m certain. I believe there’s an Opening Night red carpet gallery in there somewhere, as well. What’s been posted was originally one lump article, but EInsiders have decided to chop it up into relevant segments. And, more power to ’em, say I, although I don’t know what this will mean for how these individual pieces will read, being written as pieces of a whole as they were – something that’s a little obvious with the review of Multiple Sarcasms, which was originally two lump paragraphs. In any case – what’s up at the moment, though? We’ve got:

The Dallas IFF is Decadent and Depraved – Opening Night Coverage

A Review of Brooks Branch’s Multiple Sarcasms

An Interview With Brooks Branch

One of the things I’m particularly looking forward to writing in the next couple of days is a review of the new release, Winter’s Bone – which is possibly the best film I was an audience member of. It is dazzling in it’s mundanity and it’s humanity – in the way its raw emotion pops out at you, and grabs with harsh hands. But, I’ve said enough. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.

Oh, and – see those two mooks goofing off on the stairs behind and to the left of Gary Cogill, in this video? That’s my crew and I – I’m the leprechaun with the red hair and steno pad, y’know.