Read On is a regular feature in which The Dissolve’s staff recommends recent film pieces. Because there’s always someone writing something notable about the movies somewhere on the Internet.
Rolling Stone’s Phoebe Reilly talks to director Sacha Jenkins about her Sundance-debuting hip-hop doc Fresh Dressed:
“I moved to Astoria, Queens, from Silver Spring, Maryland, in 1977. I had a football—everybody else had Magic Markers and was breakdancing. I remember, growing up, how important it was how you dressed in a neighborhood where people didn’t have a lot. Like Damon Dash says, ‘When you live in an apartment with roaches and stuff, what else do you have?’ You have your appearance. So I felt like fashion was a really powerful way to tell the backdoor story of hip-hop. In the South Bronx in the Seventies, an important part of being a gang member was having this jacket that you made on your own. Flash forward to the same neighborhood in 2014 and kids are getting killed for $600 jackets from brands they can’t even pronounce. I wanted to look at the evolution of where hip-hop has gone.”
The New York Times’ Brooks Barnes outlines the reaction to The Hunting Ground’s take on college rape culture:
“The Department of Education, according to Mr. Dick’s film, is investigating 90 colleges for their handling of sexual assault complaints. Ms. Boxer, citing urgency created by The Hunting Ground, vowed to meet with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan ‘immediately, next week’ during her panel remarks. She said she planned to say, ‘You guys, get out ahead of this, because this is going to come back to your door after everyone sees this film.’ ”
Grantland’s Matt Patches on developments in virtual reality at Sundance:
“Picture this: Darkness dissolves, revealing a serene forest. You’re standing on a dirt road. A wooden sign specifies: ‘Pacific Crest Trail.’ To your left, a log cabin. To your right, trees, trees, and more trees. Cresting over the horizon is a hiker hauling a backpack twice her size. She comes into focus. It’s Reese Witherspoon, in character as Wild author Cheryl Strayed, trekking a few more yards in her 1,100-mile solo hike. Witherspoon topples onto a nearby stump, whispers her venturing fears aloud, and summons the spirit of her recently deceased mother, appearing behind you in the form of Laura Dern. You stand between them, detached yet present, like Ebenezer Scrooge without the spiritual accompaniment. Memory tells you this is Wild, but perception goes a step further. You’re living it. You’re there. A rustling branch above distracts you long enough for the Dern mirage to disappear. This is Witherspoon’s cue to leave, strapping in and walking onward toward the dense woods. Your sight fades to black. Goggles come off. Eyes adjust to dimmer light. You’re in a loft space—the ‘real’ world.”
Indiewire’s Paula Vernstein talks to Sundance cinematographers about film versus digital:
“The industry's transition to almost entirely digital capture is an unfortunate reality. I wish that we had more choices when it comes to tools we use to tell stories. There are things that I love about shooting on the Alexa that I miss when I am shooting film, and there are things that I love about film that I dearly miss when I am shooting digital. I shot Ten Thousand Saints on Super-16, and there is some life in it that wouldn't have been there with digital. The other day I said that it just might be the last movie I get to shoot on film. If film is truly something of the past, then all of us filmmakers have truly just lost a dear friend." —DP Ben Kutchins (Ten Thousand Saints, Sleeping With Other People)
Plus, the rest of today’s biz-ness:
- John Carpenter’s Lost Themes is streaming at NPR
- Tangerine Dream founder Edgar Froese—behind soundtracks for movies like Firestarter and Risky Business—has died
- Raekwon and Ghostface Killah announce Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Documentary
- Here’s a new trailer for Eden, which tells the story of France’s electronic music scene in the 1990s
- Edgar Wright will pen the screenplay for Dodge And Twist
- Luke Evans has flown the coop of The Crow reboot
- Mission: Impossible 5 has been moved forward to July 31