directory of world cinema: american independent and sinescope

It’s been pretty busy around these parts and as the summer crawls forward… it’s only going to get busier as the Terry Gilliam book gets finished and a new book project gets started.  I’m not going to say anything publicly about the latter thingy… but it’s exciting and in time I can be more open about it.

First off, I noticed this evening that my comrade from across the pond, UK film academic/editor/writer John Berra, has been interviewed by Jeremy Richey over at his fabulous site Moon in the Gutter.  I was fortunate to have been able to contribute a number of reviews (and an essay on Yakuza cinema) to both of the books that Berra edited (when not teaching film studies at Sheffield Hellam University), Directory of World Cinema: Japan and Directory of World Cinema: American Independent (both published by Intellect).

The book on Japanese films is now available in the UK and will soon be available in the US.  The American Independent book can now be pre-ordered here.

I also want to mention a project that I’m very happy about.  I’m now a contributing editor and resident film critic at the online arts journal Sinescope.  The site just went up Sunday evening and… well, it’s just getting started.  Plenty of wonderful essays already up over there–including my own piece on Quentin Tarantino’s war epic Inglourious Basterds–and I also have a film-oriented blog (He Watched by Night) there too which will include DVD/Blu-ray, theatrical, and movie biz items.  And if you head over there you can read my reviews of the recent superb Criterion Collection releases Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy and Steve McQueen’s remarkable feature-film debut Hunger.

Whew!  Sorry for the self-promotion, but I really wanted to mention those nifty things.  We now return to regular programming…

grassroots gilliam

And speaking of filmmakers who know a little something about battling working in Hollywood, Terry Gilliam’s new film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, will be released in the UK on October 16.  From the sudden, tragic death of star Heath Ledger to uncertainty regarding completion of the film to unenthusiastic distribution from Sony in the US–this film has not had an easy road of it.  Gilliam and many of his fans have been eagerly getting the word out regarding its imminent release (as you’ll see below), trying to turn what was initially a tragedy into something of value.  You’ll get no argument from me that Gilliam’s work this decade has been uneven.  But Parnassus looks wonderful and the reviews have been strong on both sides of the Atlantic.

The video below shows Gilliam/Parnassus supporters getting the word out in London.  It’s not just new filmmakers who need publicity, you know.  Pretty cool.

And if you haven’t yet seen the trailer for the film… watch it below.  Gilliam is still one of our great fantasists and it looks like this may be a return to form.