This week’s list is very short, but most of the articles are substantive and extremely filling, starting off with two Absolute Must Reads:

1. The first Absolute Must Read is David Bordwell’s essay on how to watch an “art film.” Initially, as a fan of “art” films, this sort of sounded like a strange topic and I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy the article, but — Bang, Zoom! — Bordwell’s analysis of the first 15 shots of the Spanish film Sueño y silencio by Jaime Rosales is an infinitely captivating and intriguing read that had my head swimming with ideas of how to write about films.
2. The second Absolute Must Read is an absolutely fascinating Washington Post profile of Colorlab, the Washington, D.C. area film processing and restoration company. The best part of the article is that in recounting Colorlab’s 40-year history we get to learn how adept it’s been in changing with the times to stay alive. With the “film” world going digital, Colorlab hasn’t thrown in the towel and have completely adapted its business practices. Something to be learned in all of that.
3. The Slash Film Festival has an excellent interview with lo-fi genre filmmaker Brian Lonano that has some wonderful insight into his working processes and collaborators.
4. Donna k. has an excellent report of the Brothers Quay exhibit now on view at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. While it sounds like a great opportunity to see what goes into their work, the display of the exhibit sounds like it leaves something to be desired.
5. One+One Filmmakers Journal examines the Larry Wessel documentary Iconoclast and the film’s subject, the controversial Boyd Rice. Plus, checking out Oskar Fischinger and Paul Sharits shows in NYC.
6. For The Brooklyn Rail, journalist Aily Nash interviews Deborah Stratman on the occasion of a retrospective of her films at the Anthology Film Archives back in July.