Blue is the Warmest Color U.S. Trailer Released

I wrote this article for cinemachords.com - direct link!

We all have been waiting for the Blue is the Warmest Color trailer for what seems to be an eternity. The official premiere at the Cannes Festival back in May 2013 had kept us all hanging on. When Adbellatif Kechiche’s movie won the Palme d’Or, audience anticipation for this film grew even stronger.

Well, the trailer is finally here!

It is a captivating premise to what will surely become a classic of New Queer Cinema. The simple waterfall of emotions to the tune of Beach House is a piece of art of its own. The mute characters displayed here are another attempt to keep the mystery alive until you get the chance to watch the full movie. For the UK, you will have to wait until the 15th of November to rush to your movie theater. Lucky for me, it will be shown at the Vancouver International Film Festival in a few days…

The French drama – based on the graphic novel by Julie Maroh – focuses on Adèle’s self-discovery and her love story with Emma, a blue-haired art student. The sublime Adèle Exarchopoulos / Léa Seydoux duo received critical acclaim for their performance. Blue is the Warmest Color has already been described as the first great love story of the 21st century. Expect some pretty realistic sensual scenes between the two actresses. In an interview earlier this year, Adèle and Léa were asked « What shouldn’t you think about during a sex scene ? ». Adèle looked into Léa’s eyes and simply stated : « I shouldn’t think… That I have my nose in your asshole.»

Local Legends: Interview with Director/Producer/Actor Matt Farley

Matt Farley as himself in Local Legends

The Squeerelist - We're in 2013 and you decided to make a black and white movie. What are the reasons for this directorial commitment?
Matt Farley - I think black & white is beautiful. The movie is heavily influenced by Woody Allen, who has done plenty of black & white. My previous movies are weird, silly, straight-faced comedies--so I thought doing this one in black & white would be an easy way to show that I'm being a little more serious this time. And, finally, when you're shooting a movie with a digital camera, sometimes the colors look too bright. On film, there's a softness to the image that is lost in a lot of digital photography. If you take out all the color, it's an easy way to look more like film.  

In Local Legends you keep mentioning how much you dislike pompous artists. Is this because you feel like their media is not reachable by the common folk?
It's hard to describe, but there's just something about a lot of creative people that drives me crazy. Lots of them seem to be lacking in self-awareness. I definitely have more sympathy for someone who's just trying to entertain an audience than I do for artists who make purposely "difficult" works. I feel like most of the best work from the past was made primarily as entertainment. Any additional "deeper meaning" should just be a bonus.

When did you decide you would spend your free time making music, movies and stand-up shows? Were your relatives supportive or were you the black sheep of the family?
I always wanted to make movies and music (I only dabble in stand-up comedy). I worked on projects all through high school and college. Upon graduating, I made sure I got a job that might not pay a lot, but would give me the time to continue to do music and movies. My family has always been supportive--especially because I have a full-time job and can support myself whether or not my creative endeavors earn me anything. I feel like a lot of the "pompous artists" from the previous questions are the ones who can't be bothered with day jobs as they embark on their selfish quests to create difficult art.

Watching Local Legends, we can feel that you praise the New-Englander way of life. Have you ever considered moving to L.A. or NYC to pursue your artistic career and have a better shot at breaking through?
No. I wish more creative people stayed in the area where they were born. If you're surrounded by nothing but people who share your interests, you quickly lose touch with the real world. You can tell pretty easily when you're watching or listening to the work of an artist who only spends time with other artists.

Your movie is extremely autobiographical. Some of the people your character encounters - the stalkerish girl for example - are very peculiar human beings. How much of what happens to Matt in the movie actually happened to Matt in real life?
Most of it happened in real life. The Abby character is based on the traits of lots of different girls I've met over the years. I really hired a girl to keep track of the stats of 1-on-1 basketball games with a friend of mine. I've seen plenty of ambitiously planned comedy shows get downgraded to basement show levels. Most of the characters play themselves, and most of the conversations are based on actual conversations I've had with them. Of course, plenty of it was manipulated for the sake of making the movie more entertaining. I guess the best way to say it is that this movie collects all of the best things that have happened to me, and makes them all better and funnier.

We can witness in your comedy that you embrace your narcissism and ridicule. Aren't you ever embarrassed?
Yes. I get embarrassed by all of this stuff from time to time. But, ultimately, my fear of embarrassment is weaker than my desire to make more music and movies. It's sometimes embarrassing when we're filming scenes in a public area and people walk by and start gawking at us, etc. And it was definitely risky to make this movie because it's hard to make a movie all about yourself without coming across as completely narcissistic. Ultimately, I justified making this feature-length ego-fest by telling myself that most mainstream artists have teams of publicists who do that dirty work for them. Small-timers like myself need to also be self-promoters. It might come off as crass. But ultimately, it's no different from big time artists who hire others to do the promoting.  

You give away your DVDs and CDs like peanuts at Fenway Park. You don't hesitate to go out of your way for people to watch your movies or listen to your music (I personally can testify as the postage on my package shows $7.35). It is very enjoyable as an audience member - and as an indie critic - to be treated with such respect and consideration. This being said, how do you do to make ends meet with such a generous marketing technique?
The only money I make from creative endeavors comes through sales of my music on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc. The movies are labors of love. But, even with all the money that goes into the movies, and giving away some of the music, I still end up making plenty more than I spend. And I have a day job, so it's all just bonus money anyway. I guess a long term dream would be that all this stuff I'm giving away will eventually create word-of-mouth that leads to more sales. But who knows? I'm just happy to have people hearing my songs and watching my movies.  

As an indie film-maker is there any advice or word of wisdom you would like to share with whoever tries to make it in the industry?
I've seen lots of people try to make movies but never finish. So I suggest setting deadlines for yourself. Declare that you must finish the movie by a certain time, and stick to it. If you stick with it, you'll end up with a finished product. Lots of people get bogged down trying to make everything perfect, and before you know it, you've wasted all your allotted time completing just a small portion of the movie. Better to have a flawed finished film than half of a perfect film. Also, don't write scenes that you won't be able to film.  If you don't have access to a police station, don't write any scenes that take place in a police station. And make sure you trust your actors. If one of your lead actors is unreliable, it's going to be very hard to film. Also, don't write scenes that require lots of different actors to be at the same place at the same time. It's very hard to get a lot of people together for any extended amount of time (if, like me, you're not paying any of them). Make it as easy as possible for the people who are helping you out. They're probably a lot less devoted to this project than you are, so don't expect them to devote more than a few hours here and there.

More on Matt Farley's projects at moternmedia.com !

Local Legends (2013)

Black & White Is the New CGI*

Black and white modern pictures seem to be trending these days. After discovering Frances Ha earlier this year and re-watching Manhattan, I'm reviewing this piece of comedy directed and produced by Matt Farley. Local Legends is an autobiographical comedy with Farley as the main character. The movie follows the unusual life of Matt, a New England entertainer who works at a nursing home by night and writes novelty songs by day. That is, when he doesn't walk through Manchester, NH listening to Red Sox games or perform live from someone's basement. Being from New England myself, I feel very attached to the universe of Farley and his portrayal of the entertainment industry from a little-towner perspective. Farley is a Woody Allen aficionado and you can sense this from his shots to the numerous Annie Hall references or the voiceover he uses. But the New England director doesn't copy the New York master of intellectual comedies. Farley keeps his style and authenticity and his dry humor is definitely to be taken with a pinch of salt. Farley is an enthusiastic supporter of self-mockery and a shameless protagonist who opens his feature film with a song about how Scarlett Johansson farts like everyone else. Farley's honest narration is not just about poop and puke - even though these cover a lot of his world - it's also about the weirdest human interactions, the hard work of local entertainers who thrive in their art but never seem to reach the slightest recognition, and uncommon marketing techniques. Local Legends is a whole concept of its own which helps define indie, low-budget feature film, amateur acting and fun. I am pretty amazed by its extraordinary screenplay structure. You will certainly burst into laughter as you encounter Matt's entourage and get aboard his routine and adventures.

1 reason to watch: it is definitely something else. And Matt would be happy to write a song about you.

Read my interview with Matt Farley here!

Watch the full movie here!

*Computer-generated imagery

Jeune & Jolie (Young & Beautiful - 2013)

Teenage Wasteland

Isabelle is turning seventeen. She comes from a somewhat wealthy family. On her birthday, she decides it's time to lose her virginity to a German tourist she met on her summer vacation in the South of France. Back in Paris, Isabelle steps into a dangerous spiral when she decides to become an independent sex worker. François Ozon tells her story during 4 seasons to the tune of 4 Françoise Hardy songs. The French director explores the teenage journey to self-indulgence. From typical fantasies to acting out, Ozon's movie is not a movie about prostitution. For me, Jeune & Jolie is a movie about adolescence and its complexity. I find the sex scenes to be artistically coherent to the plot and not just gratuitously titillating. Is there a more vulnerable time in one's life? The intricate relationship one has with their feelings and changing bodies, and what a teen is capable of doing out of boredom or just because they are looking for something they don't seem to find, are utterly common. The extreme acting out chosen by Isabelle is less typical though. Marine Vacht is a revelation who is able to give substance to the heroine's suffering and her conflicting emotions - and lack of emotion - without descending into cheap pathos. Jeune & Jolie examines a serious theme but keeps a certain lightness specific to Ozon's style. 

1 reason to watch: Charlotte Rampling appears for the last 10 minutes of the movie

Paper Man (2009)

Age Is Just a Number

Richard is a failed writer. He keeps in touch with his childhood imaginary friend, Captain Excellent, on a daily basis. To overcome his writer's block, his wife makes him move to Long Island for the winter. That's where he meets Abby, a misfit teenager, who soon becomes his first real friend. Paper Man is a sympathetic tale on coping with loss, relationship struggles, and making sense of unusual friendships. This movie is a cute take on ordinary issues. I find the Juno-ish artwork and soundtrack from the opening credits very appealing and the solitude core topic to be familiar. Anyone can relate to Richard and his inspiration loss whether they're writers or not. We've all experienced what it feels like to be judged by others. The friendship between two individuals from different generations portrayed here will speak to you if you've lived this kind of situation. The soothing Long Island quietness makes the plot a bit slow but the high weirdness dosage balances it. Paper Man lacks this little something I find in unforgettable movies but it still is a nice moment of entertainment with a special mention for Emma Stone's performance.

1 reason to watch: it speaks to your inner insecurity

Jurassic Park (1993)

The Ultimate Proof that Man Shouldn't Play God

 

Each time I watch Jurassic Park, the same first-timer feelings come rushing back. Goose bumps while hearing John Williams' majestic tune to the helicopter landing on the island off the Costa Rican coast. The T-Rex's haunting stare. My fascination for the paradoxically sexy chaos theorist played by Jeff Goldblum. I'm this kid with a sudden obsession for shaving cream cans all over again. Everyone is familiar with the plot: a panel of experts is taken to a secretive park to endorse it before its opening. The island accomodating cloned dinosaurs quickly turns into the deadliest zoo. As kids, only a few of us were spared a certain passion for dinosaurs and Jurassic Park mastered the dream we had to make mankind encounter those extinct creatures. 20 years later, this movie hasn't aged. The special effects are still impressive. Weirdly enough, the unbelievable part of the storyline - you know, the whole thing about man cloning dinosaurs - looks better than the computer operating system of the time. The appearance of Samuel L. Jackson as a deadpan engineer adds badassness to the film. Let's not forget the awesome electric SUVs. But the most important feature of the movie remains Laura Dern rocking the mini-shorts paleobotanist-style. And the limp she pulls off still is the hottest limp in the history of cinematic limps. Of course, this movie doesn't make sense. The intrigue basically revolves around scientists who can create dinosaurs but cannot take care of a simple power outage. But Jurassic Park is a timeless classic that should be part of your kids' education. Please forget about the bad sequels though.

1 reason to watch: JP is an inherent part of what growing up in the 90's meant

Manhattan (1979)

Defining NYC Since '79

Gershwin's jazzy tunes fade in a black and white majestic skyline. Welcome to New York City. Enter the lifestyle of Isaac (Woody Allen), a disillusioned writer. You witness his odd attempts at getting over his failed marriage. This old Allen classic is a masterpiece of witty comedy and an ode to the Big Apple. If you adore this city and are a sucker for clever lines, sarcasm and black humor, this movie should be on your must-see list. I find this film to be very avant-gardist for the time. More than 30 years later, Manhattan is still a sincere and accurate portrait of contemporary relationships. It deals with very modern-love topics. Cheats, underage sex, homoparental families, divorce, hate at first sight... those are among the plot's core themes. I can't get enough of Meryl Streep's interpretation of Isaac's deadpan emasculating ex-wife. Diane Keaton depicts an exquisite and impossible know-it-all. Her performance of this pain in the ass who can never be happy in a relationship is flawless. Even after so many years, the brilliant direction of Woody Allen has a very modern feel. The black and white commitment and the still-like shots make of Manhattan a surprising first-person-style comedy that didn't age.

1 reason to watch: Fun Fact - Woody Allen looked older in 1979 than he does now