Some people have a knack for putting themselves at the center of history. Daniel Fields was just a middle-class kid from Queens, but — during the second half of the 20th century — he discovered the Ramones, burned down the Beatles and seemingly had sex with every gay man at Harvard in the early 1960s. He was, to quote John Cameron Mitchell, “Handmaiden to the gods, midwife to some of the most important people in music.”
And Fields will be happy to tell you all about it, recounting his glory days with the bluntness of a grandfather recording his life story for posterity and the candidness of a 75-year-old man who’s remembering it for himself. So why, after 100 minutes of listening to him ramble on about everything he’s seen and everything he’s snorted, do we still have no idea what he actually did? Why, at the end of Brendan Toller...
And Fields will be happy to tell you all about it, recounting his glory days with the bluntness of a grandfather recording his life story for posterity and the candidness of a 75-year-old man who’s remembering it for himself. So why, after 100 minutes of listening to him ramble on about everything he’s seen and everything he’s snorted, do we still have no idea what he actually did? Why, at the end of Brendan Toller...
- 9/29/2016
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The sudden passing of rock music legend Lou Reed has inspired many to memorialize The Velvet Underground frontman through the never-tired tunes that made the singer-songwriter an icon. But in the spirit of uniting film and music to honor the life of one of the world's great creative voices, we have put together a list of films by and about Lou Reed free to watch on SnagFilms. Read More: In Memory of Lou Reed, Watch His Short Film 'Red Shirley' List below (synopses courtesy of SnagFilms): "Red Shirley" (SnagFilms exclusive), Lou Reed's directorial debut Red Shirley, a 99-year-old woman formally known as Shulamit Rabinowitz, is the star of this short film co-directed by her cousin, none other than former Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed. Rabinowitz lived through the devastation of the First World War, and fled Poland for Canada during the Second. At ninteen, she immigrated illegally to the U.
- 10/28/2013
- by Ramzi De Coster
- Indiewire
The death of music icon Lou Reed this past Sunday had pop-culturalists of every breed sifting through the musician's vast body of work. For good reason: His time with Velvet Underground and his later work as a solo performer is an essential slice of rock 'n' roll history. But Reed's creativity extended beyond music. Before his death, Reed made appearances in a number of films and directed one of his own, Red Shirley, a documentary portrait of his cousin, Shirley Novick. In the film, available to view through up-and-coming streaming service SnagFilms or via the embed below,
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- 10/28/2013
- by Matt Patches
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The music world lost a legend today with the death of Lou Reed. But the film world is mourning as well. Reed provided music for the soundtracks to many television shows and films, including "Berlin Alexanderplatz," "Natural Born Killers," "Velvet Goldmine," "High Fidelity," "Trainspotting," "Prozac Nation," "The Royal Tenenbaums," "Brick," "Juno" and many more. Reed also appeared in many films, including Wim Wenders' "Faraway, So Close!," Wayne Wang's "Blue in the Face" and Paul Auster's "Lulu On The Bridge." Reed had his directorial debut in 2010 with the short film, "Red Shirley" co-directed by Ralph Gibson. The film is a portrait of Shirley Novick, a 99-year-old woman who lived through the Wwi and fled Poland for Canada during WWII. She eventually illegally immigrated to the U.S. where she worked in a textile factory. She engaged in union struggles and participated in the Civil Rights March on Washington,...
- 10/27/2013
- by Paula Bernstein
- Indiewire
Ingelore
Directed by Frank Stiefel
2009, USA, 40 mins.
Red Shirley
Directed by Lou Reed
2010, USA, 28 mins.
These are the sorts of films that future historians will thank us for. Ingelore and Red Shirley are cut from the same cloth; hence the joint review. Both are documentaries about Jewish women (Ingelore and Shirley, of course) telling us their life stories. Both are made by relatives. And both pack extraordinary lives into deceptively short runtimes.
Escaping War Stories
Red Shirley takes the form of an interview – interspersed with family photographs – between director Lou Reed and his cousin, Shirley, on the occasion of her one-hundredth birthday. Their relation adds a sense of familiarity to the proceedings that extends to the audience. Reed knows how parts of these stories go, and his prodding and pleading with Shirley adds something special to the typical documentary interview. Shirley’s story is, of course, incredible: she tells us of fleeing Poland,...
Directed by Frank Stiefel
2009, USA, 40 mins.
Red Shirley
Directed by Lou Reed
2010, USA, 28 mins.
These are the sorts of films that future historians will thank us for. Ingelore and Red Shirley are cut from the same cloth; hence the joint review. Both are documentaries about Jewish women (Ingelore and Shirley, of course) telling us their life stories. Both are made by relatives. And both pack extraordinary lives into deceptively short runtimes.
Escaping War Stories
Red Shirley takes the form of an interview – interspersed with family photographs – between director Lou Reed and his cousin, Shirley, on the occasion of her one-hundredth birthday. Their relation adds a sense of familiarity to the proceedings that extends to the audience. Reed knows how parts of these stories go, and his prodding and pleading with Shirley adds something special to the typical documentary interview. Shirley’s story is, of course, incredible: she tells us of fleeing Poland,...
- 5/9/2011
- by Dave Robson
- SoundOnSight
The annal Toronto Jewish Film Festival in Toronto kicks off May 7 with 118 films from 21 countries, including 1 world premiere, 1 international premiere, 3 North American premieres, 34 Canadian Premieres, 7 free programmes and 1 World Class Film Festival. The festival runs until the 15 of May and will also feature a tribute to “Three Lennys” – Bernstein, Cohen and Bruce – with special guests Alexander Bernstein and Kitty Bruce; and with Offerings From Eytan Fox, Lou Reed, Claude Lanzmann, Dani Levy, Tony Palmer. Also the festival will screen China’s First Animated Film To Deal With The Holocaust.
Here is the official press release:
One of the largest festivals of its kind in the world, Tjff returns May 7 and runs through May 15, with films from 21 countries that reflect aspects of Jewish identity and diversity with universal themes. This year’s Tjff features 118 films from Argentina, Austria, Brazil, China, Cuba, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Mexico, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia,...
Here is the official press release:
One of the largest festivals of its kind in the world, Tjff returns May 7 and runs through May 15, with films from 21 countries that reflect aspects of Jewish identity and diversity with universal themes. This year’s Tjff features 118 films from Argentina, Austria, Brazil, China, Cuba, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Mexico, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia,...
- 4/6/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Quintessential Sundance experience: I arrived in Park City earlier today. Got my badge. Went to The Troll Hunter because, well, I like monster movies. And trolls? I love trolls! The Troll Hunter is kind of like Troll 2, except with, you know – good special effects, decent actors, a coherent story…that being said, I’m a die-hard Troll 2 fan and will continue to sing its praises.
But I digress.
After The Troll Hunter, I saw a film that will probably go down as the worst of the festival. Tons of walkouts. Awkward laughter. Not really a “so-bad-it’s-good” movie. Just awful. I won’t name it. But I’ll devote another post to describing the experience of sitting in that theater for over two hours. What I’d like to describe right now, though, is this:
As I was leaving the Holiday theater, a Sundance volunteer yelled: “Hey – the...
But I digress.
After The Troll Hunter, I saw a film that will probably go down as the worst of the festival. Tons of walkouts. Awkward laughter. Not really a “so-bad-it’s-good” movie. Just awful. I won’t name it. But I’ll devote another post to describing the experience of sitting in that theater for over two hours. What I’d like to describe right now, though, is this:
As I was leaving the Holiday theater, a Sundance volunteer yelled: “Hey – the...
- 1/25/2011
- by James Ponsoldt
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Park City—Lou Reed and Carole King are both 68. They both have been inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Both have movies at Sundance: King and touring partner James Taylor are the pivots for “Troubadours,” while Reed is here with “Red Shirley,” a documentary about his aunt. And both played here on Jan. 23. But that would be where the similarities end. Reed played at one of Sundance’s hottest tickets, the annual Celebration of Music in Film, while King performed at a party at Cicero’s (dubbed The House of Hype during Sundance) to celebrate “Troubadours.” Reed opened with...
- 1/24/2011
- Hitfix
A quintessential New York band finds the spotlight at the 20th Annual New York Jewish Film Festival. This band biodoc is a rumination on what it means to be an artist. Now in its 20th year, the New York Jewish Film Festival is in full swing over at Film Society of Lincoln Center (co-presented by the Jewish Museum). With narrative and documentary films from around the world that 'explore the Jewish experience,' the festival is encompassing in scope, offering something for everyone. In looking through the program, highlights include a narrative interpretation of Eichmann's capture (Eichmann's End: Love, Betrayal, Death); a documentary directed by musician Lou Reed about his 100-year-old activist cousin (Red Shirley); and the closing night feature The Matchmaker, a narrative set in 1968 Haifa. Another film on the schedule - one that will appeal to New Yorkers in particular - is the documentary The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground,...
- 1/16/2011
- TribecaFilm.com
On the eve of her 100th birthday, Shirley Novick, sat down for an interview about her storybook life with her first cousin (once removed), Lou Reed. A staunch unionist and social rights activist since emigrating to the Us, Ms. Novick, dubbed "Red Shirley," for her left leaning inclinations, first fled her home in Poland during Wwi after her home was destroyed by a dud shell. She came to Canada at age 19, and New York soon after, where she as lived since, avoiding the fate of the rest of her family in holocaust that followed in WWII.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Lou Reed commented, "I've said to her, 'Shirley, how do you deal with all these things? You don't get angry, how do you deal with this?' And she said, 'Eh! I take what's given.' And she means it. Doesn't complain, doesn't try to get away. It's amazing.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Lou Reed commented, "I've said to her, 'Shirley, how do you deal with all these things? You don't get angry, how do you deal with this?' And she said, 'Eh! I take what's given.' And she means it. Doesn't complain, doesn't try to get away. It's amazing.
- 1/12/2011
- by Brandon Kim
- ifc.com
It's an exhaustive look at cinema of the old, and the new in Austria's capital. Starting today, and moving into November (3rd), Vienna celebrates almost two weeks' worth of film culture via the Viennale (a.k.a. Vienna International Film Festival). Bookended by Xavier Beauvois's Of Gods and Men, which took home the Grand Prix from this year's Cannes Festival, and Pedro González-Rubio's Alamar, Tiger Awardee in Rotterdam, the non-competitive fest tries to balance fiction, documentaries and short films in its main program. World premieres of this edition stem from German primary rocks like Rudolf Thome (The Red Room) and Klaus Wyborny (Studies for the Decay of the West). Another highlight is the first showing of Houchang Allahyari's fictionalised doc Die Verrueckte Welt der Ute Bock (The Crazy World of Ute Bock), portraying everyday life of a locally famed asylum helper. However, features like Sofia Coppola's...
- 10/21/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
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