Invoking fascinating conspiracy theories surrounding Nikola Tesla only to turn them into a macguffin, this neonoir detective flick ultimately disappoints. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
A shady Buffalo private detective whose business seems to consist mostly of blackmailing cheating husbands stumbles into a bit of a conspiracy surrounding missing pages from Nikola Tesla’s diaries, landing him in interlocking schemes among nests of villains willing to do anything to get the documents back. If you know anything about Tesla — the scientist and inventor whose work has, in recent decades, become the stuff of myth — you are sure to be hugely disappointed by The American Side, because Tesla is nothing more than a tease here. Pi Charlie Paczynski (Greg Stuhr) wanders through a bunch of mysterious deaths and encounters with dangerous dames and accusations by...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
A shady Buffalo private detective whose business seems to consist mostly of blackmailing cheating husbands stumbles into a bit of a conspiracy surrounding missing pages from Nikola Tesla’s diaries, landing him in interlocking schemes among nests of villains willing to do anything to get the documents back. If you know anything about Tesla — the scientist and inventor whose work has, in recent decades, become the stuff of myth — you are sure to be hugely disappointed by The American Side, because Tesla is nothing more than a tease here. Pi Charlie Paczynski (Greg Stuhr) wanders through a bunch of mysterious deaths and encounters with dangerous dames and accusations by...
- 5/3/2016
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
When a film shot in Buffalo, NY co-written and starring a native of the city comes across you’re desk you look upon it with a certain level of skepticism. I’ve lived here almost my entire life and I’m still guilty of seeing my hometown as a B-level sector in comparison to New York City or Hollywood. This year has changed that thought-process for locals and the industry with two effective genre works exiting the Queen City with aspirations for the big time. Against all odds I have to admit they both deserve every accolade bestowed upon them. Horror flick Emelie came out of the gate first with success and now The American Side hits theaters with a chance at earning more. This hard-boiled noir is the real deal.
Written by lead actor Greg Stuhr and director Jenna Ricker, this adventure of a yokel private investigator is full of MacGuffins and shady characters.
Written by lead actor Greg Stuhr and director Jenna Ricker, this adventure of a yokel private investigator is full of MacGuffins and shady characters.
- 4/20/2016
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Film critic Thelma Adams moderated a provocative discussion with filmmakers Courteney Cox (feature directorial debut "Just Before I Go," Friends actress, actress/producer/director Cougar Town), Debra Granik (Academy Award nominated director/co-writer "Winter’s Bone" nominated for four Oscars, "Down to the Bone" Best Director at 2004 Sundance Film Festival), Leah Meyerhoff ("I Believe in Unicorns" her debut feature premiered at SXSW 2014, previous award-winning short films have screened in over 200 film festivals), and Jenna Ricker (wrote, directed and produced her first feature film, "Ben's Plan" awarded Best Drama at the Aof Festival, Distinguished Debut at the London Independent Festival, and honored with the Mira Nair Award for Rising Female Filmmaker).
According to Celluloid Ceiling (the report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University) only 6% of directors working in the top movies in 2013 movies were women; a 3-point drop from 2012. Only 16% directors, writers, executive producers, producers, editors, cinematographers in 2013 were women. Women directors working independently, outside the Hollywood studio system, are finding more opportunities, but there is still a vast inequity.
Moderator Thelma Adams cited some additional statistics to which the panel commented about their dismay of the reality of these numbers before jumping in on the question:
What is this thing with the title women’s panel?
Granik: There’s always a question whether it’s a ghettoization of women or raising them up by using the word “women” as a gender identifier. Using language that allows a person to be a person without a gender identifier can feel more powerful than using the word “woman”.
Meyerhoff: We all struggle with how to identify as a female director. When I came to film, I felt I didn’t want to be pigeonholed. I founded a female filmmaker collective --Film Fatales (http://www.filmfatalesnyc.com/#!leah-meyerhoff/c14fk) for this reason. There’s strength in numbers.
Cox: I had one man on set of a project I directed, who would go to other people to get their opinions before he would come to me, the director. I called him up so I could understand why he was doing that. And then I told him to get over it.
How do stories live without gender?
Kathryn Bigelow’s name came up in the discussion (the first woman director to win the Oscar) and how Hurt Locker was not categorized in Hollywood terms as a female film. The panelists agreed that there are myths about what audiences want, and wanting to make movies about women was important despite the naysayers; there is indeed an audience for these films – the box office numbers confirm this.
Whining?
I asked the panel their advice to student filmmakers about breaking into the (independent and/or Hollywood) industry, opening my question with the quote from director Agnès Varda: “Stop categorizing us as women filmmakers,” which I cited in an article I wrote about her at the Locarno Film Festival this year, and the vitriolic Facebook post comment I received from a male producer: “Stop complaining and just make movies.”
Granik: We’re going through pushback. There’s often that accusation of complaining, calling women “whiners” when discussing this topic. The reality is that it’s not so easy for women to get a film financed. For students, they need to come to their power and work together as a collective. Their power is not to look at the industry for reasons to make films; go smaller. Work together
Ricker: I was on panel at Sundance and a producer on the panel said: “I won’t trust money with women directors.” The producer was female. For students at college now, they need to start working with their peers -- these are the people with whom you’ll be forming meaningful work relationships, which will continue after you graduate. Take advantage of these relationships at school.
Perhaps using male pseudonyms might further women’s careers
Adams : There was George Eliot.
The directors agreed that their first names were often a hindrance in getting hired, and jokinly added that in order to get the word out about women directors was to start the hashtag: #wheresthecock.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
According to Celluloid Ceiling (the report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University) only 6% of directors working in the top movies in 2013 movies were women; a 3-point drop from 2012. Only 16% directors, writers, executive producers, producers, editors, cinematographers in 2013 were women. Women directors working independently, outside the Hollywood studio system, are finding more opportunities, but there is still a vast inequity.
Moderator Thelma Adams cited some additional statistics to which the panel commented about their dismay of the reality of these numbers before jumping in on the question:
What is this thing with the title women’s panel?
Granik: There’s always a question whether it’s a ghettoization of women or raising them up by using the word “women” as a gender identifier. Using language that allows a person to be a person without a gender identifier can feel more powerful than using the word “woman”.
Meyerhoff: We all struggle with how to identify as a female director. When I came to film, I felt I didn’t want to be pigeonholed. I founded a female filmmaker collective --Film Fatales (http://www.filmfatalesnyc.com/#!leah-meyerhoff/c14fk) for this reason. There’s strength in numbers.
Cox: I had one man on set of a project I directed, who would go to other people to get their opinions before he would come to me, the director. I called him up so I could understand why he was doing that. And then I told him to get over it.
How do stories live without gender?
Kathryn Bigelow’s name came up in the discussion (the first woman director to win the Oscar) and how Hurt Locker was not categorized in Hollywood terms as a female film. The panelists agreed that there are myths about what audiences want, and wanting to make movies about women was important despite the naysayers; there is indeed an audience for these films – the box office numbers confirm this.
Whining?
I asked the panel their advice to student filmmakers about breaking into the (independent and/or Hollywood) industry, opening my question with the quote from director Agnès Varda: “Stop categorizing us as women filmmakers,” which I cited in an article I wrote about her at the Locarno Film Festival this year, and the vitriolic Facebook post comment I received from a male producer: “Stop complaining and just make movies.”
Granik: We’re going through pushback. There’s often that accusation of complaining, calling women “whiners” when discussing this topic. The reality is that it’s not so easy for women to get a film financed. For students, they need to come to their power and work together as a collective. Their power is not to look at the industry for reasons to make films; go smaller. Work together
Ricker: I was on panel at Sundance and a producer on the panel said: “I won’t trust money with women directors.” The producer was female. For students at college now, they need to start working with their peers -- these are the people with whom you’ll be forming meaningful work relationships, which will continue after you graduate. Take advantage of these relationships at school.
Perhaps using male pseudonyms might further women’s careers
Adams : There was George Eliot.
The directors agreed that their first names were often a hindrance in getting hired, and jokinly added that in order to get the word out about women directors was to start the hashtag: #wheresthecock.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 10/29/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
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