A Little More 'Core

A scene from Frank V. Ross's Hohokam, screening this week at IFC Center (Photo: IFC)

By S.T. VanAirsdale

You mustn't be Generation DIY-ed out yet if you're in New York; despite a precipitous drop in visibility, there's still more than a week of Mumblecore highlights left at IFC Center's The New Talkies series. I'm telling everyone I know about Aaron Katz's stunning Brooklyn meanderer Quiet City, but over at Spout, Karina Longworth has an in-depth survey of the series selections that aren't getting massive play from the likes of The Times or even my own disaster of a site:

(M)y crushes on individual films and filmmakers come and go in manic waves, and right now, I’m crushing heavily on Team Picture (directed by Kentucker Audley, who appears to be the same person as the film’s star, Andrew Nehringer), and Frank V. Ross’ Hohokam and Quietly on By. These are the least-known films on the schedule for sure, although all three have made appearances at Harvard Film Archive’s Independents Week. Seen as a unit, the three films point in an exciting new direction: towards the suburbs. ...

Funny Ha Ha and Kissing on the Mouth were initially revelatory because of the ways in which they seemed to somehow transmit things that I’d only previously seen in life onto the screen. In their own ways, Hohokam, Quietly on By, and Team Picture do the same. They’re not the filler or the dregs of the series; they’re signs that once the Mumblecore hype falls away, there will always be American, truly independent filmmakers producing work worthy of seeking out and paying attention to.

Karina tells you why over at Spout, and will also join us Wednesday on ReelerTV to share a little more background as the series enters its second week.

Posted at August 27, 2007 12:35 PM