AGNES VARDA: LOS ANGELS GRAFFITI & GANGLIFE 1981

A note on IMDB explains:

"The French director Agnes Varda spent a couple of different years in Los Angeles, and this particular year produced her documentary "Murs, murs" and her fiction film "Documenteur". The title means "Walls, walls", but also puns with the word "murmurs." Varda located dozens of murals around LA and filmed them. Many of these are gone today, so this is a true documentary, documenting a wonderful aspect of southern Californian visual culture. She interviews the artists, a truly multicultural and multicolored group--and shows the paintings in their urban contexts. One memorable scene shows a mural at Venice Beach with young people dancing in front of it (probably near where their sons and daughters are roller skating or skateboarding now). An enjoyable movie by a European with deep aesthetic appreciation for marvelous, imaginative, colorful imagery that was considered throwaway pop culture at the time. "

See more videos by/ about Agnes Varda at YouTube.com.

UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US: A NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL DOCUMENTARY

2008, Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell, USA, 93 min.
http://www.blackmetalmovie.com

“As richly compelling and artfully shot as rock docs get.”--Aaron Hillis, LA Weekly

This riveting documentary is not a music movie but a clear-sighted investigation into the murky subculture of Norwegian black metal music, whose history, though distorted and sensationalized by the press, is still pretty sensational even in the undistorted version, strewn with the ashes of torched churches and the blood of murder and suicide victims. As the filmmakers note, black metal “blurs the line between music, art, activism and terror...there’s really no other art or music or ideological movement like it.” Focusing on three figures--self-destructive pioneer Dead (of the group Mayhem), convicted murderer Varg Vikernes (of Burzum), and the relatively moderate Gylve Nagell (of Darkthrone)--UNTIL THE LIGHT draws a deeply, disturbingly ambivalent portrait of a contradictory movement that is too complex either to endorse or to dismiss. In English and Norwegian with English subtitles. DigiBeta video. (MR)

Additional info can be found at:
http://www.myspace.com/blackmetalmovie and http://www.blackmetalmovie.com

JIM JARMUSCH: THE LIMITS OF CONTROL

The Limits of Control is the new movie from filmmaker Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers, Down by Law). The film is set in the striking and varied landscapes of contemporary Spain (both urban and otherwise). The location shoot there united the writer/director with acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Doyle (In the Mood for Love, Paranoid Park).

Isaach De Bankolé stars in the lead role for Mr. Jarmusch; this marks the duo’s fourth collaboration over nearly two decades, following Night on Earth, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and Coffee and Cigarettes. The Limits of Control also features several other actors with whom Mr. Jarmusch has previously worked, including Alex Descas, John Hurt, Youki Kudoh, Bill Murray, and Tilda Swinton; and actors new to his films, including Hiam Abbass, Gael García Bernal, Paz De La Huerta, Jean-François Stévenin, and Luis Tosar.

The Limits of Control is the story of a mysterious loner (played by Mr. De Bankolé), a stranger, whose activities remain meticulously outside the law. He is in the process of completing a job, yet he trusts no one, and his objectives are not initially divulged.

His journey, paradoxically both intently focused and dreamlike, takes him not only across Spain but also through his own consciousness.

A Focus Features presentation in association with Entertainment Farm of a PointBlank production of a Film by Jim Jarmusch. The Limits of Control. Isaach De Bankolé, Alex Descas, Jean-François Stévenin, Luis Tosar, Paz De La Huerta, Tilda Swinton, Youki Kudoh, John Hurt, Gael García Bernal, Hiam Abbass, Bill Murray. Casting, Ellen Lewis. Costume Designer, Bina Daigeler. Sound Designer, Robert Hein. With Music by Boris. Production Designer, Eugenio Caballero. Editor, Jay Rabinowitz, A.C.E. Director of Photography, Christopher Doyle, H.K.S.C. Executive Producer, Jon Kilik. Produced by Stacey Smith, Gretchen McGowan. Written and Directed by Jim Jarmusch. A Focus Features Release.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN: a Swedish Vampire flick

A well-crafted horror film in the tradition of Guillermo del Toro's THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE, Swedish import LET THE RIGHT ONE IN ably blends genre chills with genuine feeling. Set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982. Oskar (K�re Hedebrant) is a 12-year-old outcast who is frequently picked on by his classmates. He dreams of getting his revenge, but he never stands up to the boys. With the arrival of his new next-door neighbor, 12-year-old Eli (Lina Leandersson), Oskar may finally have found a friend, ally, and first love. But Eli is no ordinary girl: she must keep her pale skin out of the sunlight, she can perform inhuman physical feats, and she has thirst for blood. The bodies begin to pile up, but Oskar can't stay away from the girl who has finally given him courage. Based on the novel by John Ajvide Linqvist (who also wrote the script), LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is the best kind of horror film: one that transcends the tropes of the genre to become something new. This is director Tomas Alfredson's first foray into horror, and he doesn't hesitate to include bits of vampire mythology. But his background making comedies and dramas gives the film a surprising depth; the relationship between Oskar and Eli is tentative and sweet, even though their interactions may be surrounded by blood and violence. Composer Johan Soderqvist and the sound department create a fascinating palette of music and sounds that add to the film's perfectly chilly mood, and setting the film in a snowy Swedish suburb gives director of photography Hoyte Van Hoytema a starkly beautiful environment for shooting. Though LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is ostensibly about a pair of children, this is a horror film for adults. There are plenty of scares, but it remains moving and intelligent, a rare feat for the genre.