This fall, a new documentary on Houston street art is hitting the film circuit. Directed by Alex Luster, “Stick Em Up” follows local artists, critics and officials for the story behind the city’s “overshadowed world of wheat pasting.” Among the revelations: Houston police apparently could care less about street art. Watch as cops drive right by the wheatpasters after the jump. Read more »
The poor horses forced to pull carriages and schlep mostly tourists around the loop in Central Park are the subject of a documentary called Blinders. It delves into the evils inherent in horse-drawn carriages and the increasing public debate the gimmicky industry is causing. In 2006 there was at three dramatic accidents that received widespread media exposure and focused some attention on the fading tradition. The film plans to give viewers the real behind the scenes look “through original footage taken with hidden cameras and interviews with carriage drivers, veterinarians, accident witnesses, animal rights activists, politicians, tourists, residents who live near the horses and people who have rescued NYC carriage horses from slaughter.” It will be screened in the city on March 20th as well as other cities. Check the official website for more information. |Cinematical|
It’s hard to believe that a Tarantino script like this can somehow turn into the crappy trailer above. The Inglourious Basterds screenplay looked like it had a lot of potential and the makings of a great movie. Well after viewing the trailer maybe not. You would think that Harvey Weinstein would have learned after the dismal failure that was Grindhouse, but it’s not entirely his fault, Brad Pitt’s ridiculously unconvincing Southern accent should certainly take a big chunk of the blame when this thing bombs.
When it comes to the city’s tabloids, product placement and films, the New York Post always appears to get all the love. But in Notorious, the Biggie Smalls movie that opens today, the Daily News finally gets some coverage even if it’s spelled funny.
With the MTA’s looming ‘Dooomsday Budget’ likely to wreak havoc for straphangers, this trailer for “Subhysteria,” a horror film set in the New York City subway system, couldn’t have been released at a more perfect time. And with the way the F has been running lately, the plot is starting to sounds a lot like our daily commute: “Sixteen people get stuck in a subway car in NYC for 36 hours, without communication, food, way to escape, and a fatal sensation that they are going to die.” It’s being released in Spring of 2009 and there’s even a blog detailing the frightening fiction.
Although Hasbro failed to “hit the Cloverfield buzz at its peak,” the toy maker has confirmed that it will go ahead with its plan to a release a limited collector’s edition of the movie’s notorious NYC-destroying monster in December anyway. The 14″ tall toy comes with all sorts of accessories including a decapitated Statue of Liberty head. |ToyCyte|
It’s been 25 years since Wild Style, the coveted cult classic documenting the early rise of breakdancing, graffiti and Hip Hop in New York City first opened in theaters. The film is described as a “near-documentary” since it featured a cast of contemporary writers, DJs, dancers, and other characters that were mainly playing themselves. Long before these urban art forms achieved global significance though, they were still relatively obscure subcultures that media like the New York Times had an interesting way of describing. From a 1983 review:
“The film looks to be a partly improvised piece of fiction about the cheeky, highspirited art of the south Bronx, that is, subway graffiti, also known as ”writing,” and about rapping and breaking.”
Just last week, the full trailer was released for “Notorious,” the biopic about the rise and fall of rapper Christopher George Latore Wallace aka Biggie Smalls, played by Brooklyn MC Jamal “Gravy” Woolard. But it doesn’t look like they’re done filming just yet, with signs going up on Humboldt Street and Flushing Avenue warning residents to move their cars or face forced relocation. They’re shooting on Sunday right next to the Bushwick Houses housing projects. With the movie scheduled to drop on January 16th of 2009, less than 3 months away, we doubt we’ll catch Gravy sleeping this time around.
|Photo: ANIMAL|
Between the Folds is a film that documents a group of origami artists. Giang Dinh is one of the paper folders featured and he “does some fascinating faces, people, and animals with paper,” like the bear pictured. Watch the trailer here and click through for more samples of the art. |ArtNewsBlog|
A while back we took a look at the authentic script for Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming film, “Inglorious Bastards,” about a crew of revenge-seeking, Jewish American soldiers on a mission to kick some serious Nazi ass during World War II. The film has reportedly begun filming in Germany and more details on the cast besides Brad Pitt have been released. The director will be pulling actors from some of his previous films with the supporting cast including Julie Dreyfus (Kill Bill), Eli Roth (Grindhouse), plus Omar Doom and Michael Bacall (Deathproof). Although there’s been a rumor of a possible name change back to the original misspelled version “Inglourious Basterds,” (IMDB has it as “Basterds“) here’s the teaser poster spelled correctly, complete with a big ol’ bullet hole right where the swastika usually sits on the iconic and thoroughly evil, Reichsadler emblem.
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