Page 122 – Establishing Shot

A Brief Contextualization of Robert Altman’s The Player

Posted on March 9, 2018 by Nathaniel Sexton

“I feel my time has run out. […] The movies I want to make are movies the studios don’t want. What they want to make, I don’t.”
— Robert Altman, in an interview with The New York Times, 1981

“Norman Levy (president of 20th Century-Fox) and the rest are scum. […] They’re not interested in movies. They’re interested in ski lifts and Coca-Cola.”
— Robert Altman, in an interview with New York Magazine, 1980

Robert Altman might be the greatest American filmmaker of all time.

In the 1980s, Altman had been struggling to find the money to make his characteristically sprawling ensemble pieces, movies like his ’70s masterworks Nashville or MASH. He had mostly abandoned studio collaboration, producing his own films independently under the company Lion’s Gate (a company he eventually — and out of desperation — sold to producer Jonathan Taplin for $2.3 million). His ’70s films, although critically lauded and many reaching almost instant cult status, were often seen as commercial failures, even when they made more money than they cost to produce. Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark had changed the notion of commercial success in Hollywood and had transformed the “blockbuster” into an ever narrowing category of impossible money-making venture, and — given this industry shift — Altman had felt out of place and left behind. (more…)

The Abominable Mr. Price

Posted on March 7, 2018 by Michaela Owens

Vincent Price. Just saying his name makes me want to smile. It’s also a name that brings to mind many different things for many different people. For some, he is the ghoulish introduction to “Thriller;” others recognize him as a symbol for horror movies; classic film fans know him from a wide range of things, such as Laura (1944), While the City Sleeps (1956), and The Song of Bernadette (1943). Price’s achievements weren’t confined to movies and a Michael Jackson song, though. He was a passionate supporter and collector of art, and he published nine books, including three cookbooks that were co-authored by his second wife Mary Grant. He also worked in radio and made over 2,000 television appearances. No one could ever accuse Price of not living a full life.

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Edith Head: An Icon

Posted on March 5, 2018 by Katherine Johnson

On March 27, the Indiana University Cinema will be screening the documentary Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story as a part of the International Arthouse Series and this year’s Science on Screen series. Hedy Lamarr was a fascinating and incredibly influential woman in America, and not just because she was an actress of the Classical Hollywood period. In order not to give away too much about the woman’s talents, skills, and brains before the film, I’ll talk about another fascinating woman of the same period, a woman who worked with Lamarr and many other Hollywood stars. (more…)

St. Tony in Veiko Õunpuu’s Estonia

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Establishing Shot

Guest post by Piibi-Kai Kivik.

The second film in the Nordic Privilege and Anxiety series is The Temptation of St. Tony by the Estonian director Veiko Õunpuu. The film shocks and disturbs, its black-and-white starkness and surreal images visually contrasting with the saturated colors of Aki Kaurismäki’s The Other Side of Hope. (more…)

Monthly Movie Round-Up: February

Posted on February 28, 2018 by Establishing Shot

We Won't Grow Old Together — *We Won’t Grow Old Together*

Every month A Place for Film will bring you a selection of films from our group of regular bloggers. Even though these films aren’t currently being screened at the IU Cinema, this series will reflect the varied programming that can be found at the Cinema, as well as demonstrate the eclectic tastes of the bloggers. Each contributor has picked one film that they saw this month that they couldn’t wait to share with others. Keep reading to find out what discoveries these cinephiles have made, as well as some of the old friends they’ve revisited. (more…)

Joyeux Noël

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Establishing Shot

Guest post by Jamie Darin Prenkert.

Nominated for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Joyeux Noël depicts the fabled “Christmas truce” of December 1914, during which British, French, and German troops on the Western Front of World War I for a brief time laid down their arms and reportedly met in No Man’s Land to exchange gifts, sing songs, and even play a little soccer. The film is a fictionalized version of these events, told through the viewpoints of Lieutenant Gordon of the Royal Scots Fusiliers; Lieutenant Audebert, a son of a French general and member of the French 26th Infantry; Lieutenant Horstmayer, the multi-lingual, Jewish leader of the German 93rd Infantry; Father Palmer, a Scottish Anglican priest and stretcher-bearer; Nikolaus Sprink, a famed German tenor and conscripted private in the German infantry; and Anna Sørensen, an equally celebrated Danish opera performer and Sprink’s romantic partner. Each of these characters display varying degrees of ambivalence toward fighting and loyalty to their countries’ efforts. (more…)