2005: The Year of the Film Blog
Indiewire, the premiere indie film news source online, has a great report on the proliferation and influence of film and film industry blogs. Their role, many pop culture gadflys agree, have assisted in getting smaller films like THE SQUID AND THE WHALE and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN more recognition during this awards season. Us film programmers subscribe to a lot of film blogs and websites, like Aintitcoolnews that help us in our formulation of the festival program. Some recommendations:
Reverse Shot: edited by key individuals working in Indiewood (the term commonly used for the indie film companies based in NYC like Miramax, New Yorker, Kino, Wellspring, Magnolia, etc).
GreenCine: The blog for the DVD online rental service, there are some great insight on a wide range of films, from the biggest blockbuster to the most obscure film titles.
Kaiju Shakedown: one of the best Asian cinema blogs maintained by Grady Hendrix, one of the founders of Subway Cinema.
Cinematical: An often hilarious look at cinema, from quirky film reviews, to insightful industry observations, to their own sense of justice, calling for the return of Remington Steele.
Midnight Eye: The definitive site on Japanese cinema, edited and maintained by two gaijins, Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp. Go buy their book The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film.
TwitchFilm.net: cool resource on international cinema, with a strong focus on Asian cinema.
Koreanfilm.org: Maintained by Darcy Paquet, this is the best resource for new Korean cinema. Highly recommended!
Monkey Peaches: The premiere website for new HK and Chinese cinema!
Hawaii Film Office blog: And if you're interested in the film industry in Hawaii, check out this highly informative blog maintained by the film office's Mynette Louie. She's organized, she's from Harvard, she can build this film industry!