The best films of 2021 so far
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Clockwise from top left: Judas And The Black Messiah (Photo: Warner Bros.), The Mitchells Vs. The Machines (Image: Netflix), No Sudden Move (Photo: HBO Max), Saint Maud (Photo: A24), The Disciple (Photo: Netflix), In The Heights (Photo: Warner Bros.), Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar (Photo: Lionsgate)
Graphic: Natalie Peeples
It’s difficult to say, from the limited vantage of our present moment, if movie culture is going to return to the “normal” of a pre-COVID world. Yes, theaters are open for business again, and Hollywood has started flooding them with would-be blockbusters once more, banking on audiences being ready to return to the big screen for some big spectacle. But setting aside the possibility of a new spike and a return to quarantine conditions, the lost year of 2020 also seemed to accelerate changes in distribution strategy that were already happening, just a little slower. Which is to say: There’s a good chance that a futu
Photo: Grasshopper Film
If all the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players, then it stands to reason that “acting” is neither a craft nor an occupation, but rather a state of being. It’s certainly true for Stephanie (Stephanie Hayes), the elusive protagonist of Joe Denardo and Paul Felten’s
Slow Machine, a struggling actress who is always performing regardless of whether she’s on the clock. She glides in and out of various environments, speaking in different accents and spinning detailed yarns about her background that are the stuff of exaggerated literary tragedy. It doesn’t seem to matter to Stephanie if people buy into her charade or not. The point is to build a character from within and bring them into the world so that they become real, a cross between quasi-Method research and an elaborate defense mechanism. It renders her entire reality slippery and sinister, but always filled with reckless excitement.
Rolling Stone Menu Chloe Sevigny, Eleanor Friedberger Star in ‘Slow Machine’ Trailer
Film partially depicts recording of Friedberger’s “Your Word”
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Slow Machine, a thriller film co-directed by Joe Denardo and Paul Felten that saw its premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam last year. The film also screened at the New York Film Festival last October.
Slow Machine centers on Stephanie (played by Hayes), a disillusioned actress whose tumultuous breakup with an intelligence agent, Gerard (Scott Shepherd), leads her to wanting an escape. Stephanie decides to hide inside a house where a band is recording an album, but her new environment comes with its own set of problems.
What s her deal? Grasshopper Film has unveiled a trailer for an intriguing, experimental indie film titled
Slow Machine, the feature directorial debut of filmmakers Joe Denardo & Paul Felten. This premiered at the 2020 Rotterdam Film Festival last year, and also played at the New York Film Festival and Vienna Film Festival. After a brief relationship with intelligence agent Gerard ends terribly, tired & disillusioned actress Stephanie hides in a house where a band is working on a record, which proves to be less of an escape than she imagined. This one stars
Stephanie Hayes,
Eleanor Friedberger, and
Chloë Sevigny. Described as a miniature epic of music, murder, espionage, and paranoia. Sounds freaky. This looks a bit