chalk Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Movie blogging is cool and all, but I would argue that cinema's best use of the Internet is making rare fare available to the audience at large. That's slowly but surely starting to happen, and CRM (Cinetic Rights Management) is adding to the pile with a new arthouse deal. Teaming up with a bunch of arthouse film distributors, CRM will slip content online through their FilmBuff label, hitting desinations like iTunes and Hulu.

The plan is to make "award-winning and critically acclaimed films" available, and they've listed four titles thus far. There's Ti West's Trigger Man (Scott called it a "watchable curiosity"), Olivier Assayas' Demonlover (Jeffrey M. Anderson called it a "hopped-up, arty cover for a standard issue Hollywood thriller"), Mike Akel's Chalk (Jette said it was "a great illustration of how a movie can truly blossom with the right crowd"), and Margaret Brown's doc The Order of Myths (which Jette said "gives us a good feel for the fun and exciting parts of Mobile's Mardi Gras as well as the undercurrent of "traditional" racial segregation that still exists today").

Having grown up in a town that had nothing more than a "Video World" stocked with only the crappiest of B fare and mainstream numbers (I remember driving to the closest city to rent Tromeo and Juliet), I'm always jazzed about more rare fare getting out there. But the best piece of pie will come when anyone, anywhere, can read up on a movie and be watching it in one or two clicks -- no matter how rare it is.

Before we look back at the past week, let's peak at what's opening this weekend: Francis Ford Coppola's family drama Tetro; Duncan Jones' sci-fi trip Moon; Daryl Wein's AIDS activist doc Sex Positive; Tommy Wirkola's Nazi zombie flick Dead Snow; Robert Kenner's appetizing (maybe) doc Food, Inc.; and Chai Vasarhelyi's music / tolerance plea Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love (poster and more info after the jump).

Box Office. Opening in four theaters, Sam Mendes' Away We Go scored a smashing $32,603 per-screen average last weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. The road trip comedy / drama, starring John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph as anxious, expectant parents searching for a place to raise their family, far outpaced other debuting indies, which had, on their own terms, decent returns: Seraphine ($6,640 per-screen at four theaters), Unmistaken Child ($6,293, one screen), and 24 City ($6,082, one screen). Our critic William Goss feels that Away We Go is "easily among the very best films that the year has offered so far." I was less impressed; the real test will come as it expands over the next couple of weeks.

Deals. Our friends at indieWIRE have details on the recent acquisitions of Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein's doc No Impact Man, due September 4 from Oscilloscope; Jonathan Parker's comedy (Untitled), due September 18 from Samuel Goldwyn Films; and Kenneth Bi's The Drummer, due this fall from Film Movement.

Online Viewing Options. New selections at iTunes Movie Store include Bob Odenkirk's comedy Melvin Goes to Dinner; Scott Smith's dysfunctional 60s family drama Falling Angels, with Miranda Richardson; and Mike Akel's mockumentary Chalk, which school teachers have assured me is very funny (it drove me this former bad student nuts).

After the jump: CineVegas, the "Mile High Mutiny," and a sweet-looking poster.

Paul Verhoeven in his native land, making an independent movie about a hot naked woman and Nazis? That's got to be my pick of the week. Of course, this being Verhoeven, he subverts expectations, at least according to the critics, and produces a film with a serious intent in mind. And the result was so good it prompted Cinematical's Ryan Stewart to declare it "the best film of 2007 so far" when he reviewed it in April. I'm talking about Black Book, Paul Verhoeven's "sweeping war epic ... following a Jewish girl on the run in Nazi-occupied Holland." Sony Pictures' DVD features an audio commentary by Verhoeven, who is usually entertaining on yak tracks, and a "making of" feature.

William Friedkin's films have been generally derided for many years -- pretty much everything since The Exorcist in 1973 -- though, personally, I have a soft spot for the failed Sorcerer, really love To Live and Die in L.A., and am glad that Cruising has recently received some critical reevaluation. Though it didn't make much of a ripple at the box office, Bug seems to be a comeback of sorts for him. Our own Jette Kernion wrote: "Bug blends paranoia, trust and love into a riveting story, driven by intense characters." She also commented very favorably on the "incredible" performances, especially the one by by Michael Shannon, but also those by Ashley Judd and Harry Connick, Jr. The Lionsgate DVD includes both a commentary by director Friedkin and a discussion with him.

If you're looking for something a bit further out of the mainstream, Ten Canoes sounds like the best bet. The critics were pretty well united in their praise. Stephen Holden of The New York Times said it "interweaves two versions of the same story, one filmed in black and white and set a thousand years ago, and an even older one, filmed in color and set in a mythic, prehistoric past." The Palm Pictures DVD sounds like it's worth a rental.

Also out are two comedies: mockumentary Chalk (about high school teachers) and Jake Kasdan's The TV Set (about a television pilot). Several friends of mine -- and many festival audiences -- thought Chalk was hilarious, while The TV Set has received mixed response. Perhaps the respective subjects will help you decide if you'll want to check those out.

The greatest thing about the Gen Art Film Festival is its simplicity. 7 nights. 7 premieres. 7 parties. That's it. That's all you need to know. The films are chosen for you; there's no giant slate to flip through and -- perhaps this is the best part -- all of the movies are screened in one venue. Of course, you do need to be in New York City in order to take full advantage of the fest; however, for the first time in its history, the Gen Art Film Festival will be heading to Chicago later this summer where they'll showcase five different films, as well as host five different parties.

Tonight, Gen Art kicks things off with Gary Walkow's Crashing, starring Campbell Scott, Isabella Miko and Lizzy Caplan. Story revolves around a writer whose wife kicks him out of their house, forcing him to crash with two sexy college students. Gosh, what a predicament! Other films screening include: When A Man Falls in the Forest, The Signal (yay!), Sharkwater, Chalk, You Are Here and He Was A Quiet Man. Cinematical will be on hand for a few of these nights, providing you with extensive coverage of the films, the stars and ... um, the open bar. That's right, each film is followed by a swanky after party at some of New York's finest hot spots (not that I'm, like, cool enough to know what's hot and what's not). Tickets are still available through the festival's website, so feel free to head on over there after you're done reading. I'll see you at the after party -- first drink is on me. Oh wait, they're free. Even better.

Gen Art has a remarkable line up of seven films for this year's festival. The 12th annual festival is responsible for bringing together many of the most diversely talented filmmakers for one week of screenings, parties and fun. The opening title, Crashing, directed by Gary Walkow, is a regular winner and nominee of the film festival circuit; pic stars David Cross, Campbell Scott and Izabella Miko. The film is about a famed Hollywood writer who is thrown out of his extravagant home and forced to live with two attractive young women. (Doesn't sound like a terrible situation for him ... )

If you are in town to see anything at this festival, I hands down suggest Chalk. I screened the film when it made its rounds at the L.A. Film Festival this past year and I personally thought it blew the rest of the filmmakers out of the water. Mike Akel and Chris Mass -- a comedy duo in Texas -- penned a skeleton of what was a mostly improvised script. The story is about public school teachers in Texas; they deal with over sized classrooms, gaining student's respect and competing for the coveted teacher of the year award. The film embodies both humor and heart; and I look forward to its future success.

This year will also be the first year that Gen Art expands its festival to the Chicago area beginning June 25; this gives five more innovative filmmakers the opportunity to get their work seen. They are also doing their part for the environment by creating an online festival in conjunction with Planet Green Game. I was not previously aware of the Gen Art organization but find their mission in the art world is worthy of applause: "Gen Art strives to provide access to the film, fashion, art and music worlds for those that are interested in these areas, but often are intimidated and made to feel unwelcomed by the exclusive nature of these art/entertainment realms."

The New York Gen Art festival begins on April 11, and each feature is preceded by a short film. Need more incentive to go? Each after party features a two-hour open bar and is free admission with your festival ticket for that night. So if you're in the city, go support these fabulous films ... and then stay for those groovy free drinks.

Writer/director/producer Morgan Spurlock, who became known to the world at large with his 2004 doc Super Size Me (in which we learn that eating greasy fast food and giant sodas every day just might make you fat) is busy these days expanding the waistline of his distribution label, Morgan Spurlock Presents. Variety reports that Spurlock is working with Hart Sharp Video, and has acquired three new films, two of which have planned theatrical releases.

Indie Spirit nominee Chalk is one of the acquisitions; the mockumentary about a group of high school teachers won the narrative feature award at the Austin Film Festival earlier this year. Jette Kernion reviewed the film during the AFF; she liked the film, but wondered if she found all the in-jokes about teaching and copying machine politics funnier because she saw it at a screening packed with teachers. Spurlock has also picked up tsunami doc Third Wave, about a group of idealistic volunteers who travel to South Asia after the tsunami to help rebuild a village. The third film, Class Act, a documentary about the importance of arts funding in public schools, focuses on Miami Beach drama teacher Jay W. Jensen, was exec produced by Spurlock, whose prodco provided finishing funds for the film. It is scheduled for home video distribution.

Spurlock's label previously acquired The Future of Food, about genetically engineered food, and Czech Dream, a doc about mass marketing. It was supposedly controversial in Czechoslovakia, but the official website is in Czech, natch, so I can't figure out exactly why, other than some folks felt misled or betrayed (hey, join the line forming behind Borat if you want to complain about that, folks). Spurlock plans to release six to eight socially relevant films per year on his label.

Personally, I think it's cool that Spurlock is supporting films that he feels are socially important, documentary or otherwise. Do you have an interest in any of Spurlock's new acquisitions?

The screening of Chalk I attended was the only sold-out movie I encountered at Austin Film Festival, and it was on a Tuesday night after the conference had ended. I heard that the previous night's showing of the feature film sold out as well -- and this was at the Arbor's largest screen. Was it because the movie won AFF's narrative feature award? Or was there some sort of word-of-mouth building in town among Austin educators, since teachers were the focus of this film? Before the movie started, Chalk's director Mike Akel asked how many teachers were in the audience, and I saw a large show of hands. It probably didn't hurt that Chalk was filmed in Austin, either.

Chalk uses that mock-documentary style found in The Office to focus on a group of high-school teachers (and one former teacher, now a vice principal) struggling to deal with their jobs in the course of a school year. There's the brand-new teacher, Mr. Lowrey (Troy Schremmer), who can't maintain control of his classroom; a comically ambitious, extroverted teacher, Mr. Stroope (co-writer Chris Mass); the short-haired, strident gym teacher, Coach Webb (Janelle Schremmer); and continually overworked vice-principal Mrs. Reddell (Shannon Haragan). The situations are usually played for laughs, but there are a few touching moments, particularly with Mr. Lowrey as he tries to connect with his students. Since they occasionally look right in the camera and talk to us, we know who has a little crush on whom, who's about to lose their mind, and who wants to strangle certain other teachers.