by Sam Juliano
We were so thrilled to get some splendid positive reviews on our short film Best Picture, perhaps most notably from the distinguished critic Steve Kopian who is well known as the most comprehensive Tribeca Film Festival scribe, but over the weekend our longtime friend and former site colleague Jaimie Grijalba of Chile has chimed in with his own superlative appreciation at the film journal “Kinoscope” where he covers the entire 2019 BAM Fest. His capsule review, in which he correctly notes the pervading “tongue-in-cheek” aspect of this short is as follows:
On a far lighter note, Jay Giampietro’s “Best Picture” (2019) is a seven-minute documentary that glimpses at an Academy Awards viewing party taking place in a fire station. The host, film buff Sam Juliano (an enthusiastic 64-year-old man with a thick Brooklyn accent), welcomes everyone by telling stories about how his family adopted the latest animal in their house: a rooster. The faces of the people watching the Oscars telecast become the protagonists alongside Sam, who seems continually baffled and disappointed by the “upsets.” It’s a specific look at someone who’s forged his identity around the things that he loves, and building his relations (both to family and friends) around that passion. Giampietro sneaks enough inserts of people yawning to signal that there’s a tongue-in-cheek attitude to the whole endeavor intermingling with an admiration for the passion on display.
Jaimie is identified at KINOSCOPE in these terms: “Grijalba is a Chilean filmmaker and critic, and a regular contributor to Kinoscope, Brooklyn Magazine, and film sites, MUBI and Conlosojosabiertos. He writes primarily about Latin American cinema and festival experiences around the globe, both in English and Spanish,” and the link to his full coverage of the BAM Fest is:
In the meantime the 2018-19 school year concludes for us on Tuesday, June 25 (tomorrow), though Yours Truly will as usual be teaching a summer literature-writing enrichment program from July 1st through July 31st. Wishing all our readers and staffers a wonderful summer, though the site will be in full operation with reviews from Jim Clark, J.D. Lafrance and myself during the hot season. Jim has been moving through his monumental Ingmar Bergman series and this past week added Autumn Sonata to his archives.
Lucille, Sammy, Jeremy and I saw two films in theaters this week:
Toy Story 4 **** (Saturday evening) Secaucus multiplex
The Last Black Man in San Francisco **** 1/2 (Sunday) Montclair Claridge
The moody, melancholic and deeply moving “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” depicts a black man who refuses to yield on his dream of one day moving back into his childhood home, a now exorbitantly expensive Victorian building in the Fillmore section of the city. The film showcases miraculous chemistry between the director Joe Talbot and the lead Jimmie Fails in a narrative drama-documentary hybrid that rightly fingers the Caucasians in the district as overbearing and territorial. The camera transcribes visual poetry and the lush, impressionist music score in fairy tale mode by Emile Mosseri is the finest I’ve heard in any film this year. Very close to a 5/5 rating and surely one of the very best films of the year. Toy Story 4 features rich and dazzling animation and emotional resonance but the screenplay isn’t all that focused. It’s fun and again some great voices, but perhaps not quite up to the level of its predecessors.
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That’s a terrific review from Mr. Grijalba. I also read the one from Steve Kopian, which is another excellent rave. Hoping the film gets picked up elsewhere too!
I have heard all good things about ‘The Last Black Man…’ and can’t wait to see it!
It really is Ricky! Jaimie has been around these parts a long time and he continues to improve dramatically as a writer. Greatly honored and also hoping other festivals do pick it up! Run don’t walk to see LAST BLACK MAN! Thank you my friend!
Good reviews and it makes me want to see the movies
Thanks so much Patricia! If it makes you want to see it then I am happy with the presentation!
I miss Grijalba’s capsule commentary in MMD. His reviews were always singular and thought-provoking.
RIP Franco Zeffirelli, a minnow among leviathans in the Italian cinema. Cf. Rossellini, De Sica, Visconti, Fellini, Antonioni, and Olmi, although Mr. Z.’s Shakespeare spectacles are as sumptuous-looking as Renaissance painting. I’m sorry he’s gone.
Shadow on the Wall (1950). Aka. Maisie Goes to Hell. Ann Sothern’s repeated attempts to murder a child are truly disturbing. Ever since the shock of M, children in peril dramas have made me squirm with apprehension. With noir staple Zachary Scott and a robotic Nancy Davis as the girl’s therapist.
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948). Beige satire of upward mobility in postwar America. Includes a bucolic 360-degree pan shot that would make M. Godard turn chartreuse with envy. The film’s two charismatic stars give this snoozer a much-needed boost.
Happy Fourth of July, Sam, and please pay no attention to Trump’s jingoistic self-promotional display in DC on the Fourth.
Mark, thank you so much! I greatly miss them too, and concur with your specifics. They really enhanced this age-old weekly thread immeasurably and can never be replaced. Still I understood it was time for Jaimie to move on and he is busy now on a number of fronts. Ha, I actually feel the same way about YOUR contributions which for many years have given this round-up post a real shot of adrenaline! I did of course report expansively on Franco Zeffirelli’s passing on the prior MMD as he was a huge personal favorite of mine dating back to the late 60’s with his unmatched ROMEO AND JULIET. I do understand the minnow-leviathan comparison and cant argue that but his fame mostly rests in opera where he stands perhaps at the very top as set-designer, choreographer and the creative force behind so many memorable productions of Puccini and Verdi. He lived to a remarkable age though today Olivia de Havilland turned 103. I always found MR. BLANDINGS a snoozer myself but you do make and excellent point there, and I have high regard for SHADOW ON THE WALL and much appreciate your terrific capsule analysis. Oh be rest assured I will pay no attention to that pathological liar and cretin. But I will give yet another viewing to 1776, a film Allan used to love to dump on!! Ha I took heat over my love for it! Have a great holiday week!
I too remember the movie reports from Jaimie Grijalba on past MMDs. Very diverse and perceptive. But I would imagine quite time-consuming for someone as busy as himself. I wish to congratulate you and your family and Jay Giampietro for that great satirical short. You have a screen magnetism Sam, and Giampietro knows how to heighten it. Love the intensity in the faces, especially the older woman jaw agape when Glenn Close lost and that yawning Yankee fan. What a cast! The film deserved to win a spot in BAM and more yet!
Those are wonderful words you say about our longtime Chilean friend Jamie Grijalba, who continues to be relevant in a very big way. Yes he gave us a very long run and needed to move on. His weekly reports were fantastic for sure. Thanks for the compliments my friend, deeply appreciated! You make some terrific observations! Have a great week!
Congratulations Sam! I always knew you’d become a star!
Hahahahahahaha Frank! If only!! Thanks and have a great week!