Eve Before the Eve

Upcoming Events

Not all of these are necessarily Citizen-related, but we still wanted to help promote some local filmmakers.

First, taken from SignOnSanDiego.com:

Movie Screening: 'The Law of Human Gravity'
Today, Wednesday, Dec 9 8:00p to 10:30p
at Whistle Stop Bar, San Diego, CA

The new film 'The Law of Human Gravity' will debut in San Diego on Dec. 9, 2009. The evening kicks off at 8 p.m., local jazz musicians Trio Gadjo will perform music from their original soundtrack for the film. The screening of the film will begin at 9 p.m.. This is a special advanced screening of the completed film. read more
Price: Free
Phone: (830) 313-3209
Age Suitability: 21 and up
Tags: independent film, movie screening

The new film 'The Law of Human Gravity' will debut in San Diego on Dec. 9, 2009. The evening kicks off at 8 p.m., local jazz musicians Trio Gadjo will perform music from their original soundtrack for the film. The screening of the film will begin at 9 p.m.. This is a special advanced screening of the completed film.

The Law of Human Gravity is the feature film debut from San Diego director and producer David Sims, and the first film from his production company, Human Gravity Films.


Then, this coming Sunday, my former classmate and friend Destin Daniel Cretton will premiere his documentary for The Learning Channel, Born Without Arms, at the Pearl Hotel, 1410 Rosecrans Street. Here's a link for the Facebook listing, and another for the TLC info. Destin's had a great year so far; his amazing short, "Short Term 12," which premiered to the public for the first time in September 2008 for out CitizenFest at the Whistle Stop, went on to win Best Short Film at this year's Sundance, and continued to pick up awards at many other festivals. Just last week, it was announced that ST12 was nominated for the Best Short Film Oscar. Pretty exciting stuff for a local boy who still lives in South Park.

Next Wednesday, December 23, Citizen will be presenting the Lindsay Community School Gift Drive. Here's some info on that one:

LINDSAY COMMUNITY SCHOOL GIFT DRIVE
Please Join Us in Giving Gifts to the School’s 97 Pregnant and Parenting Teenage Mothers (ages 12 to 18) and Their 37 Infants and Toddlers (ages 3 weeks to 4 years).

GOOD GIFTS FOR MOMS:
Warm Clothes (new or lightly used) and Toiletries
GOOD GIFTS FOR CHILDREN:
Clothes, Diapers, Blankets, Bottles, Sippy Cups. Toys are Cool Too!

GIFT DRIVE LOCATIONS:
Citizen Video (www.citizen-video.com). So Childish (www.sochildish.com) and hopefully Whole Foods in Hillcrest.

Lindsay is a County school, part of the Juvenile Court and Community School System (JCCS). The mothers bring their children to the Infant/Toddler Center on campus while they attend classes towards earning high school diplomas.

The Gift Drive will wrap up with Citizen Video's Eve Before the Eve party at the Whistle Stop from 6pm to 9pm. A dollar from every drink will go to benefit the Lindsay Community School. DJ: Holiday Matinee (6:00 to 7:30). Craig (7:30 to 9:00). On Screen: Vintage Holiday Movies. And: A chance to wrap gifts or just drink and hang out.


Also, don't forget about our Whistle Stop Matinee screening of Arnaud Desplechin's A Christmas Tale, a modern instant classic about, what else, a dysfunctional family forced to spend time together during the holidays. You can check out the trailer below.




--co

Godard or not Godard?

Just ran across across this little note via WFMU:

French Singer Gigi Gaston's Jean-Luc Godard-Filmed Music Video
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Today at 9:20am

What words would you use to describe 1960s French pop sensation Gigi Gaston? With a growing cult discovering her through the dozens of photos, periodicals, songs and videos assembled by Josh Gosfield, some adjectives describing the chanteuse nicknamed the "Black Flower" include "sultry," "elusive," "scandalous," "murderous" and "misunderstood."

To that you must add the word "fictitious" — Gigi Gaston is wholly and entirely a creation of Gosfield, an artist and designer whose exhibition at the Steven Kasher Gallery in Manhattan closes on Wednesday, November 25th after a monthlong run. Not only did he cast Gigi, shoot the period-perfect photos and created the meticulously rendered versions of the covers of actual magazine of the era along with a staggering variety of her record sleeves, he's also responsible for the putative Jean-Luc Godard film short for Gigi's haunting song "Je Suis Perdue," which is presented here for your viewing pleasure.

Josh Gosfield will appear on this author's show on Sunday, November 22, 5-7 pm ET, during which he will expound upon his creation and dissemmination of the singer who put the "no-no" in yé-yé.

Out of the Way DVDs Coming Soon

If you keep tabs on our "New In Store Column" on our website, you can see a lot of the big name titles that are coming your way soon. But there's also a host of smaller stuff that will be making it to our shelves this month. A couple of the titles are by one of my favorite distributors Oscilloscope Laboratories. They include The Unmistaken Child and The Exiles. The Unmistaken Child follows a 4-year-search for the reincarnation of Lama Konchog, a world-renowned Tibetan master who passed away in 2001 at age 84. Tenzin Zopa, a disciple of the Dalai Lama, travels on foot, mule and even in helicopter to remote villages where he interviews children and eventually presents his chosen one to the Dalai Lama. The Exiles is a film from 1961 that has finally been released on dvd. A one of a kind film, THE EXILES chronicles one night in the lives of young Native American men and women living in the Bunker Hill district of Los Angeles. A formally wealthy neighborhood of decayed Victorian mansions and skid-row apartment buildings. Look for these titles on our shelves soon and keep on top of those titles that we work to unearth for you.

Laura Del Sol Kicks Gangster Butt in THE HIT

Just watched the Criterion release of Stephen Frear's THE HIT, a sly 80's gangster flick shot in Spain. The Criterion liner notes comment on the many future films and directors that borrowed from this little gem (most notably Sexy Beast, another great gangster flick shot in Spain but with some wonderful music video inspired moments by director Jonathon Glazer). However, being a female film watcher what impressed me about this flick was the unmentioned (at least in the liner notes) performance of Laura del Sol. Del Sol bites, scratches, and kicks her way out of gangster harm's way in a way that I haven't seen repeated on the screen except for Patricia Arquette's performance in True Romance (some of which was reportedly edited out of Hollywood Video's release of the dvd). Del Sol doesn't play the smartest study of the group, but she does play the fiercest. While Terence Stamp's character waxes philosophic about how he's ready for and accepting of his impending death (his gangster past has caught up with him), del Sol's character fights for her life with gumption. There are many other reasons to check out this film besides del Sol's performance. If you are searching for some solid filmmaking entertainment, this should be the next one on your list.

Our New Look & Our New Hours

We're vamping up our look. Come and check out the new face of citizen video this Sunday at 4pm. We'll also be extending our hours once again so you have more time to peruse our inventory. Starting Tuesday, November 3rd we will have the following hours:
Tues - Thurs: Noon - 9pm
Fri & Sat: Noon - 10pm
Sunday: Noon - 9pm.

Food and Movies!

With the onset of Halloween and beer week, lots of the 30th street corridor restaurants are picking up titles to screen at their establishments. Check out Sea Rocket Bistro's lineup for beer week including Drunken Master on Monday, November 9th at 7pm. Sea Rocket will also be screening the Nightmare Before Christmas, tomorrow night (Thursday, Oct 29) at 7pm. On Halloween, Saturday, Oct 31st, The Linkery will screen The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari as well as any other spooky background graphics they can scare up.

Two New Godard Films to Hit the Citizen Shelves Soon!

Judging from the posters on other video store windows, Citizen Video should be stocking Year One. Since I am blissfully ignorant to the theme of that movie, I'll be investing our hard earned citizen dollars on two Criterion titles I missed this past summer: Jean Luc-Godard's Two or Three Things I Know About Her and Made in the U.S.A. Although they may not be one the latest movies in theaters they seem oddly appropriate as both films deal with consumer culture (and we are currently dealing with a crisis from consumer culture). Made in the U.S.A. is a chaotic crime thriller starring Anna Karina "as the most brightly dressed private investigator." Criterion calls it a "Looney Tunes rendition of The Big Sleep gone New Wave." It sounds like it may be reminiscent of William Klein's Mister Freedom (another film to check out if you want to make a triple feature of anti-consumer culture). In Two or Three Things I Know About Her Godard uses the story of a housewife from the Paris suburbs who prostitutes herself for extra money to spin off into provocative philosophical tangents and gorgeous images..... this one I'm calling a WAY sexier version of Weeds.

If you're like "enough already with the foreign films," then you'll be glad to know there are a lot of great new independent movies coming out this November which we feel are worthy of shelf space at citizen, notably 500 Days of Summer, Humpday, The Limits of Control, Food Inc, and Thirst (the last one is foreign, but it deals with vampires which seem to be a universal theme these days).

Finally, we don't want you to always watch movies alone at home and for this reason we always plan great events in the 'hood. Don't miss our FOURTH ANNUAL HORROR TRAILERS FESTIVAL at the Whistle Stop this Thursday, Oct 29 at 9pm (see the trailer below). Also on Saturday, October 7th we'll be screening the newly-released-to-dvd FOOD INC at Velocult Bicycles. We hope to see you there!

Fury Road (Mad Max 4)

The Mad Max series still stands as one my favorites and pretty highly influential regarding what I look for in some films. I honestly forget to think of them as 'action movies,' because they're that rare breed in which the filmmaker--in this case George Miller, who most recently made the amazing Babe: Pig in the City and Happy Feet--creates an entire world, a post-apocalypse in which fuel is the highest commodity, one which reduces many to savages and a selfish anti-hero stands as the best hope. There's been talk for years about a fourth installment in the series, Fury Road, and it looks like it's finally inching it's way towards production. Check out some pics and a video below.



Interview with Australian news

Aintitcool.com article

Collider article

Horror Trailers at The Whistle Stop

We will be screening our fourth annual horror trailers this Thursday, October 29th at the Whistle Stop Bar. The show starts at 9pm. Come and be horrified by all the greatest moments in film horror history with a specific focus on American 80's and Italian horror. Heads explodes, zombies fight sharks, trash roams the streets and more. If you haven't decided on your Halloween costume yet, this is the place to be inspired. View the trailer below for a taste of what's to come. We'll have an intermission set by new-to-the-San-Diego-scene NUDE BOY. We can't believe how fun this is going to be.

Real Life Love Becomes Movie Love

Michael Cera and his girlfriend, Charlene Yi of Knocked Up, made a little movie called Paper Hearts, which premiered to rave reviews at this year's Sundance. Now the trailer is online, and a lot of people seem to be confused--is this about the two actors falling in love? Not really, though I'm sure they imbued the script with plenty of moments from their own relationship into this mockumentary about Charlene's quest for the definition of love. What would look too cute if anyone else went near it, everyone involved here seems to have tackled the subject quite nicely:



(Much appreciation as always to the beloved Chud.com for the info.)

Movie of the Week: Michael Mann's Thief

I'm not sure how I feel overall about Michael Mann's new video approach. I know it affords him a bit more when it comes to shooting his large-scope character-action films, but with a period piece like his upcoming Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp, it seems to take a little away from the aesthetic. Judge for yourself below.




With that said, we'd like to recommend his first film, Thief, starring James Caan. The tale of an "honest thief" in pursuit of the American dream, only to become ensnared in the violent trappings of the Mob, Mann gorgeously details the slippery slope of the quest for money at any cost and the downfall it can lead to.

Double Feature of the Week, April 15th

So Mike Judge has a new film due out in September, Extract, featuring Jason Bateman and Ben Affleck, among others. We'd like recommend two of his other great social commentaries, Idiocracy and Office Space.

Extract trailer:



Office Space trailer:



Idiocracy trailer:

Triple Feature of the Week, April 15th

Our triple feature this week includes three great films by the American-Indie auteur, John Sayles.

Matewan



Lone Star

(Watch the trailer here.)

Passion Fish

Tarantino Shows Inglorious Basterds Footage During American Idol

Yes, he was a guest judge last night, supposedly. I'll try and track down some of that footage, but here's a little TV spot they showed during the broadcast...



Here's Tarantino guest-hosting a few years ago...



Quentin vs. a "Movie Reviewer"



On Letterman in '97...

a

M-O-O-N spells Moon

So some dude, Duncan Jones, made this movie called Moon, starring Sam Rockwell. It's supposed to be pretty great, and here's a new trailer for it.

Valhalla Rising

I've written a little bit on here before about Nicolas Winding Refn, the writer/director who made a name for himself with the Pusher trilogy, and who has not one but TWO films coming out this year. The first is Bronson, which made a big splash at the festival circuit a few months ago, and just today I turned on the computer machine to find the trailer for his next film, Valhalla, a badass movie about vikings.



--co

Spike Jonze + Unkle = A Skate Video With Explosions

Repo Sequel and Wild Things Skateboards

So apparently Alex Cox just finished shooting a Repo Man sequel, Repo Chick, for under $200,000. Repo Man is one of my favorite movies of all time, a punk rock cult-classic that holds up as totally singular in its vision. If you haven't seen Repo Man, you're languishing in Cult Cinema Hell. Plus, Emilio Estevez totally rules in it.




Also, in light of the amazing trailer for Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are, these great skateboard tie-ins have popped up. For those of you who are unaware, Jonze made his start at a skate photographer and then videographer before the music videos and films.

(Check out his most recent skate film, Yeah Right!, here at Citizen!)

Thank You, Korea

A few years ago, a bevy of great filmmakers made up the Korean New Wave. Among them, and my personal favorite, is Bong Joon-Ho, director of The Host and Memories of Murder. He has two movies due out this year; the first one is a section of the anthology film Tokyo!, with two other sections by Michel Gondry and Leos Carax. Here's a synopsis and trailer below (taken from Collider.com):


"Shaking Tokyo" (Dir. Bong Joon-ho)

Teruyuki Kagawa stars as a Tokyo shut-in, or hikikimori, who has not left his apartment in a decade. His only link to the outside world is through his telephone, which he uses to command every necessity from a series of random and anonymous delivery people, including the pizza that he lives on and the hundreds of discarded pizza cartons he meticulously stacks in and around his cramped apartment. But one day is different - his pizza arrives thanks to a lovely young woman who succeeds in catching the shut-in's eye. Suddenly an earthquake strikes Tokyo, prompting the beautiful young delivery woman to faint in her client's apartment. And then the unthinkable happens - the hikikimori falls hopelessly in love. Time passes and the shut-in discovers through another pizza delivery person that the improbable object of his affections has become a hikikimori in her own right. Taking a bold leap into the unknown, our hero crosses the threshold of his apartment and takes to the streets in search of his mystery girl, at last discovering his kindred spirit at the very moment another earthquake strikes.



Here's a link to full information about the film, and another with an interview with Joon-Ho.

The other film coming out soon is Mother, a small dramatic production that tells "the story of a mother who desperately searches for the killer that framed her son for their horrific murder." Here's a link for info, and the new teaser below.



Also, here's a great NY Times interview from 2006 regarding his river-monster/family drama/dark satire, The Host.

Thirst-y for new Chan-Wook Park

Here's another trailer for a pretty highly anticipated film, Chan-Wook Park's (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance) Thirst.

Here the Wild Trailer Is

This might be just about my most anticipated movie this year. Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, scripted by Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius). There were a lot of rumored problems with this, but the trailer doesn't exactly give any indication of that...

A Bunch of Stuff

An assortment of news items, etc.....

David O. Russell signs on to adapt The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick.

Richard Linklater sort of follows up Dazed and Confused.

Did you know Ang Lee was making a movie about Woodstock?

The Farrelly Brothers finally make their long-rumored Three Stooges movie with actors who might be too good for it.

Slumdog actress to work with both Woody and Schnabel.

Lars von Trier makes a big-budget horror film.

True Grit for the Coen Brothers.


I'll leave it there for now and post a couple of stand-alones after this...

--co

Scorsese Opens the Shutters

I've been a little worried about 'ole Marty Scorsese for a while now. Gangs of New York was a bit of a mess, and I definitely don't have the love for the Departed that plenty of other folks do. So he's got a new flick coming out soon, Shutter Island, an adaptation of a novel by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone),

"in which Ruffalo will play U.S. Marshal Chuck Aule, who travels with his new partner (DiCaprio) to the eponymous Massachusetts island in 1954. As they investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, they encounter a web of lies, a hurricane and a deadly inmate riot that leaves them trapped on the island."

The film boasts an all-star cast, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Max von Sydow, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer and Jackie Earle Haley, and is due out Oct. 2. Here's a nifty teaser image:



Here's a link with some info, and if you're curious, I definitely recommend checking out this diary from the set.

--co

The Longest Takes

UGO.com has just compiled this great list of what they consider the most impressive long takes in film history.

New stuff

It's a New Year in capital letters, and in light of all this stupid economic hardship, we can look forward out entertainment. Which for some of us, or a lot of us, means MOVIES. Here's some stuff.

The Superbowl spot for the new film Year One, written and directed by Harold Ramis and starring Michael Cera, Jack Black, David Cross, and Paul Rudd. No, it's not a Batman movie. But it does look pretty funny.



Here's the new trailer for Pixar's latest film, Up. I loved Wall-E and have heard that this might even top that one.



Another Superbowl spot, this time for the big-budget adaptation of the fun low-budg Sid & Marty Croft TV show Land of the Lost, starring Will Ferrell and Danny McBride.




Some of us like BIG DUMB FUN too. There's a new Fast and the Furious, called Fast and Furious:



And Stephen Sommers' adaptation of GI Joe...



We can't forget Transformers 2...



That's all for now, more soon...

--co

Sundance 2009

So this year's Sundance Film Festival, held in the cold mountains of Park City, Utah, just came and went, and we have to start off by congratulating our friend, local filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton, whose thesis film for SDSU's Master's program in Television, Film, and New Media, "Short Term 12," was not only accepted for competition but won the Jury Prize for Best Short Film. You can read Destin's Sundance blog here. Check out the film's website, featuring the trailer for the film, here.

First, a list of the award winners:

Variety.com

And some nifty links for reviews of the films playing out in the snowy hills:

Chud.com

Film.com

I'll post some more about some of the individual films of interest in a bit...

--co

The Year of Refn

One of the most promising young filmmakers around, Nicolas Winding Refn, made a name for himself with the great Pusher trilogy. Three parallel, violent odysseys through the drug underworld of Denmark, Refn's take on the crime genre paired Euro style with Neorealism, with the ghosts of Scorcese (Goodfellas) and Friedkin (The French Connection) hovering over. He made his American debut with Fear X, an adaptation of a novel by cult novelist Hubert Selby, Jr. (Requiem for a Dream). Unfortunately, that film went into production without a finished script, and the final product definitely shows. This year, however, will see the release of two films by Refn. One of these is Valhalla Rising, what will possibly be the best Viking movie ever.



Today sees the arrival of the trailer for his other new film, Bronson, about the supposedly most violent prisoner in Britain, Charles Bronson (no, that's not his real name).



Rent the Pusher trilogy and Fear X here---www.citizen-video.com