It seems that Mike Leigh is popping up everywhere these days. Our local premiere of Happy-Go-Lucky this weekend happens to coincide with the film’s opening in New York and Los Angeles. To mark the occasion, Manohla Dargis has offered up an excellent review of the film. What’s more interesting though is the Anatomy of a Scene feature from Happy-Go-Lucky. In it, they extract a scene from the film, and…

We’ve found some clips and trailers for the upcoming Mike Leigh: Moments Regis Dialogue and Retrospective for your viewing pleasure.

I try to keep my regurgutations of other blogs and news items relegated to my (ir)regular Shorts posts, but after reading this Observations on film art and FILM ART post, I find it necessary to give it a post of its own. In it, David Bordwell applies his mind’s analytical eye to an in depth look at cinephilia and the strategies cinephiles employ in their post-screening conversational games. It’s…

R.I.P. Youssef Chahine: One of the most prominent filmmakers of the Arab world passed away at his home on Sunday. Walker presented his Silence… We’re Rolling in April 2002. The New York Times reports. Minneapolis rooted River Road Entertainment (Brokeback Mountain, Into the Wild) has signed on to produce a biopic on The Runaways, a 70s rock band fronted by Joan Jett and Lita Ford. Joan Jett has signed on…

One of the biggest bits of film archive news I can remember hit this week. A print of the orginal version of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, thought lost since 1927, has been found in Argentina. This is incredibly exciting. It’s apparent by the images that have been released that the print is in rough shape, but given the current technology available, I’m sure a definitive version with all of the ‘lost…

As I’ve had a penchant for posting pictures of 35mm shipping containers as of late (here and here), I felt compelled to post this picture as it caught my eye on the cover of USA Today as I passed a newspaper box on my way in today. The massive fire on the grounds of Universal Studios destroyed several sets, one soundstage, and some of the studios video vaults. Apparently, nothing irreplaceable was…

R.I.P. Sydney Pollack. The 73 year old filmmaker died at his home yesterday. He was one of the most respected directors in Hollywood. He was nominated for three best director Oscars winning only for Tootsie. He’ll likely be most remebered for Tootsie and Out of Africa, but They Shoot Horsesm Don’t They? should be on everyone’s must-see list as far as I’m concerned. I’ve always been a big fan of his…

We’ve been hosting the Global Film Initiative‘s (GFI) touring film program, Global Lens, since its inception five years ago. For the first time, the GFI has made trailers available for all ten of the films included in their program.

I worked for years as a projectionist in archival screening venues that handle films of all kinds from all eras. These venues, the Walker counted among them, are typically equipped to handle just about anything that comes in the door, often via the octagonal shipping cans like those pictured on the left. As most projectionists can attest, it is not uncommon to receive a print that is not marked with…