‘Am I Blue?'
"Sita Sings the Blues" is a diaphanous dream of an animated musical. The movie opens on the voluptuous and glittery goddess Sita rising from salty blue waves on a pink lotus blossom. On another lotus blossom, a peacock Victrola balanced on a cobra table plays a scratchy torch song.
A Mother's Love
The nostalgically delicious aroma of a family feast is the first thing to envelope the senses in Minnie Spicer's home in Flora. Skillets of cornbread sit on a stove worn to vintage chic from years of large-scale dinner productions.
Anita's 2010 Oscar Picks
The red carpet rolls out on Sunday, which happens to land smack dab in the middle of the International Documentary Challenge (www.docchallenge.org). For me, that means it will be a weekend of multi-tasking like a champ, and for most women, particularly those with a brood of kids, we do this with relative ease. (That's my mantra and I'm sticking to it.) If the editing system breaks down or there are other snafus on the doc front, I know I can kick back on Sunday and enjoy Oscar time.
Shutter Island: You Can Never Leave
Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese's suspense thriller, begins with the blast of a fog horn. It's a warning, and I jumped in anticipation of sinister horrors. The loud thrumbling of music escalates the foreboding sense of doom and gloom.
Mississippi's Image in Film
Sundance 2010 may not have had a Mississippi made feature film, but a strong number of films in the festival program embraced rural America with open arms and enveloped bluntly realistic experiences with strong story telling. The festival screened over 120 films from all parts of the world, and the ones that I saw offered authentic personal experiences, rather than the slit- your-throat material of boys gone wild on drugs and violence that initially defined the indie film scene.
Dear John: A Babe, A Beefcake, A Break-Up
The allure of a babe and a beefcake in a priggish bodice ripper of conventional romance doesn't carry the same weight of appeal as it did when I was tween-aged. Cozy crush flicks, like Dear John, are snicker material for the over age 12 crowd. I didn't snicker as much as I yawned with sheer exhaustion. This is a monumentally sluggish and shallow film. This picture hums a tiresome whine of unrequited love that falters to a fuzzy fizzle at the end.
Sundance 2010 Award Ceremonies
I sat in the front row, up close and personal, for the closing night award ceremonies. I reveled in the space created by the amazing force of Sundance volunteers. Only a few hours earlier, I had watched Welcome to the Rileys, the much talked about film starring James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart and Melissa Leo, in this venue. Draped in black, lit in a neon purple glow, the space was fully transformed into a chic environment for independent cinema's elite.
Sundance: Best in Short Filmmaking
Short films invite limitless opportunities for creative exploration, and these films offer some of the best entertainment at the Sundance Film Festival. In this fiercely competitive category, a winning film is beyond formula and the expected.
Sundance: There Is Always A Mississippi Connection!
You know how this goes. Mark talks to our friend Diana Shows about going to Sundance and Diana mentions that her niece Elizabeth Mims has a short film in the festival. Mark tells me, and I get excited because I'm always proud of the creative talent from our state. Mims produced Jason Tippet's short documentary, "Thompson." I haven't seen the film yet, but the excerpt in the program book sounds promising. It's about two young men who share a bond of "speech impediments, weapons and things that go fast." It won the jury award at the SXSW Festival. I can't wait to see it, and hopefully meet Mims in a crowded cafe, or even better Thai restaurant, on Main Street.
Sundance January 27 - Liftoff
An uber early flight, a last minute gate switcheroo, and a quick transfer between the second and third plane commenced my journey to Sundance 2010. A few years ago, back when Delta would connect flights going west in Dallas, rather than the round-abouting through Atlanta, I meet Peggy Hemus, a filmmaker from Houston, Texas. We've kept in touch over the years. On Monday night, Peggy provided me with a quick guide on what's been going on at the festival, which started last Thursday.
Sundance Bound
Every year I gripe about the cold that chills my entire being when I'm in Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival. Despite the snow drifts and the messy aftermath of a daily freeze-thaw cycle, and even though I am weighed down by clunky fur boots, bundles of layers and a shamelessly ugly babushka wrapped over my head, I have an extreme fondness for Sundance.
Salsa Mississippi
A rich wooden floor, mirrored walls and flashy dance-club lights turn an ordinary parlor into a place of extra--ordinary possibility at La Salsa Dance Club and Studio in Fondren. Anything seems possible with the right attitude.
Anita's Favorite Movies of 2009
This is my first "official" blog for the Jackson Free Press, and what better way to take this virgin voyage through JFP blogland than discussing my favorite films of 2009. I compiled the list based on movies that have made their way into Mississippi multiplexes. Thanks to the efforts of Malco, Regal Entertainment and Cinemark, we were able to get a good portion of the year's critically successful films, and I hope that you continue to support their efforts and the smaller films that are not aimed at the adolescent male crowd.
The Sela Ward Story
When Sela Ward stars in a motion picture or a television show and has the freedom to use the full range of her talent, you certainly know that you've seen something exquisite. Men think she's sexy and seductive. Women think she's accessible and direct.
House Of Lott
"I love your wrap," drawls a genteel lady from the veranda of her Victorian on State Street. "It's a Sami Lott," I say with a smile.
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