The New Girlfriend Written & Directed by François Ozon France, 2014 The latest from prolific French auteur François Ozon opens on a somber note as Claire (Anaïs Demoustier) recounts her lifelong friendship with the deceased Laura (Isild Le Besco), whose untimely death has left her grieving husband David (Romain Duris) alone with their infant daughter. …
Tired Moonlight, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance 2015, aired at Treefort Film Fest as Filmmaker Magazine’s selection for its Guest Showcase. The film offers a portrait of small-town life in the director’s hometown of Kallispell, Montana as it follows a number of semi-fictionalized characters. A loosely-connected series of vignettes weave in and out of the characters’ lives, all of them blue-collar workers: a motel cleaner, a young grocery store cashier, an elderly Russian woman and her son, and others.
The terrorist attack on the American Embassy in Benghazi so consumed the media and Washington that it’s bound to make good fiction. There’s potential for an on-the-ground action thriller, Zero Dark Thirty style, there’s potential for a thorny, political drama surrounding the ensuing scandal, and one can even look at the conspiracy theorist angle. And …
Girls, Season 3, Episode 12: “Two Plane Rides” Written and Directed by Lena Dunham Airs at 10 PM EST on HBO In “Two Plane Rides”, Lena Dunham manages to capitalize on last week’s big reveal where Hannah (Lena Dunham) finds out that Marnie (Allison Williams) and Ray (Alex Karpovsky) have been sleeping together for most …
In “I Saw You”, the penultimate episode of Girls Season 3, writers Lena Dunham and Paul Simms manage to balance plot and characterization for Girls’ ensemble cast while commenting on the show’s overall themes. The episodes sheds light on the characters’ strength and weaknesses and exposes and accentuates the tension in their relationships. Adam (Adam Driver) is growing apart from Hannah (Lena Dunham) as his play gets closer to premiere and begins to bond with Ray (Alex Karpovsky). Marnie (Allison Williams) gets to meet one of her art heroes, the photographer Beadie (Louise Lasser) while preparing for a big open mic night with Adam’s cast-mate Desi (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). Director Jesse Peretz uses timely scene transitions to show how the different “girls” rise and fall. “I Saw You” does a great job balancing the various characters’ plot lines while still having room for keen observations about them and several funny moment.
Girls Season 3, Episode 8: “Incidentals” Written by Lena Dunham and Sarah Heyward Directed by Richard Shepard Airs Sundays at 10 PM on HBO With the exception of the storyline involving his sister, Adam (Adam Driver) has been on the margins of Girls Season Three. Much of the focus has been on Hannah’s (Lena Dunham) writing career …
Girls Season 3: Episode 6 – “Free Snacks” Written by Paul Simms Directed by Jamie Babbit Airs Sundays at 10 PM on HBO In “Free Snacks”, Girls gets to flex its comedy muscles, and writer Paul Simms sticks hilarious words in the mouths of Hannah (Lena Dunham) and Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet). But he also crafts those two …
Girls, Season 3: Episode 5 – “Only Child” Written by Murray Miller Directed by Tricia Brock Airs Friday nights at 10 PM EST on HBO In “Only Child”, Murray Miller moves the season’s overall plot along and creates a lot of tension between the characters of Girls. While trying to save her “dead” book, Hannah (Lena …
Girls, Season 3, Episode 4, “Dead Inside” Written by Judd Apatow and Lena Dunham Directed by Jesse Peretz Airs Sundays at 10pm (EST) on HBO Like last week’s episode which focused mainly on Hannah’s (Lena Dunham) 25th birthday party, “Dead Inside” takes another big moment in her life and uses it as a lens …
Girls Season 3, Episode 3 “She Said OK” Written by Lena Dunham and Jennie Konner Directed by Jesse Peretz Airs Sundays at 10 PM ET on HBO In “She Said OK”, writers Lena Dunham and Jennie Konner slam on the brakes after the big Jessa-centric events of the last two episodes and put plot on the backburner. …
Rubberneck Written by Garth Donovan and Alex Karpovsky Directed by Alex Karpovsky USA, 2013 Lena Dunham isn’t the only filmmaker who also appears in front of the camera on the HBO series Girls. Alex Karpovsky (who plays Ray on the show) is a director in his own right, having directed the micro-indies The Hole Story …