Current Issue - May/June 2012

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
By Scott Foundas
A magical child’s-eye view of Louisiana Delta fringe-dwellers after the flood

AIDS DOCUMENTARIES
By David Ehrenstein
Four films remember the battles and the fallen 30 years on

GOD BLESS AMERICA
By Laura Kern
Stand-up weirdo turned maverick auteur Bobcat Goldthwait targets the toxic state of the nation

SPAGHETTI WESTERNS
By J. Hoberman
How three Sergios transformed Hollywood’s iconic genre into a bloodthirsty anti-American free-for-all

WHIT STILLMAN
By Haden Guest
The writer-director of Damsels in Distress discusses his literary, cinematic, and personal roots

WERNER SCHROETER
By Ulrike Sieglohr
The most important New German Cinema maestro you’ve never heard of
Plus: Chuck Stephens picks five Schroeter must-sees

HBO FILMS
By Michael Sragow
A chorus of approval for the only game in town where quality counts

EDITOR’S LETTER

OPENING SHOTS
News, Hot Property, Alex Cox’s 10,000 Ways to Die, Site Specifics (expanded version), The Trivial Top 20®, David Wain’s Guilty Pleasures

ENCORE
Eight Deadly Shots

FURTHER RESEARCH
Dave Kehr on John Reinhardt

SOUND & VISION
The Phantom Carriage & Jeff Keen

A FACE IN THE CROWD
Ed Lauter

CRITICS’ CHOICE
Eight critics rate 25 new releases

BRIEF ENCOUNTERS
Nanni Moretti

FESTIVALS
Berlin by Olaf Möller and SXSW by Mark Asch

SCREENINGS
The Day He Arrives, Moonrise Kingdom, 5 Broken Cameras, Bernie, Bonsái, Headhunters, Hysteria, I Wish, Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present, Oslo, August 31st, and The Color Wheel

HOME MOVIES
A Hollis Frampton Odyssey, Dishonored & Shanghai Express, J. Edgar, UPA The Jolly Frolics Collection, Domain, Cinema Verite, Walking Tall, Treme Season 2, Through the Weeping Glass

READINGS
Between-the-Images by Raymond Bellour, When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA by Adam Abraham, Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars by Scotty Bowers, Camera Historica: The Century in Cinema by Antoine de Baecque

CLOSING SHOTS
Who’s who at recent Film Society events