J.R. Hughto on Diamond On Vinyl: "You are looking to capture naturalism in the performance." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In my conversation with Sonja Kinski, a family tree was rooted in the cinematic threads revealed by her. Speaking with the director J.R. Hughto, the mining of his Diamond On Vinyl starts out with the nature of sound, the influences of the Dardenne Brothers, Thomas Vinterberg, Walter Murch, and the way Katharine Hepburn responds naturally in George Cukor's The Philadelphia Story. We talked about the need for more of a discussion on gender and the part Abdellatif Kechiche's Blue Is the Warmest Colour can play for this awareness.
Anne-Katrin Titze: Your protagonist In Diamond On Vinyl collects records called Safe and Sound, originally meant to be played when you're not at home to give burglars the impression someone is there. Are the records real? Do they exist?
J.R. Hughto...
In my conversation with Sonja Kinski, a family tree was rooted in the cinematic threads revealed by her. Speaking with the director J.R. Hughto, the mining of his Diamond On Vinyl starts out with the nature of sound, the influences of the Dardenne Brothers, Thomas Vinterberg, Walter Murch, and the way Katharine Hepburn responds naturally in George Cukor's The Philadelphia Story. We talked about the need for more of a discussion on gender and the part Abdellatif Kechiche's Blue Is the Warmest Colour can play for this awareness.
Anne-Katrin Titze: Your protagonist In Diamond On Vinyl collects records called Safe and Sound, originally meant to be played when you're not at home to give burglars the impression someone is there. Are the records real? Do they exist?
J.R. Hughto...
- 12/30/2013
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Sonja Kinski on Charlie in Diamond on Vinyl: "I felt like I wanted to explore already what was there and go further." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
I met up with Sonja Kinski at Anthology Film Archives in New York's East Village to discuss her provocative role and style in J.R. Hughto's mysterious Diamond On Vinyl. Some of her favourite "family films" thread together Sam Shepard, Wim Wenders with Nastassja Kinski in Paris, Texas and Klaus Kinski to Werner Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath Of God and Nosferatu.
Diamond On Vinyl stars Sonja as Charlie, a very curious photographer with a not so safe and sound Henry (Brian McGuire) who is involved with Beth (Nina Millin). The threesome becomes intertwined in beautifully timed transitions that move the story forward with a precision and quietude rarely seen.
Anne-Katrin Titze: Tell me about the character of Charlie. What did you think of her...
I met up with Sonja Kinski at Anthology Film Archives in New York's East Village to discuss her provocative role and style in J.R. Hughto's mysterious Diamond On Vinyl. Some of her favourite "family films" thread together Sam Shepard, Wim Wenders with Nastassja Kinski in Paris, Texas and Klaus Kinski to Werner Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath Of God and Nosferatu.
Diamond On Vinyl stars Sonja as Charlie, a very curious photographer with a not so safe and sound Henry (Brian McGuire) who is involved with Beth (Nina Millin). The threesome becomes intertwined in beautifully timed transitions that move the story forward with a precision and quietude rarely seen.
Anne-Katrin Titze: Tell me about the character of Charlie. What did you think of her...
- 12/28/2013
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Last week, the Slamdance Film Festival, now entering their 20th year, laid bare their competition slate of films for 2014. Today brings us the rest of their program. Rounding it out we have the always eclectic and well worth catching now expanded series of shorts, the special screenings which features Bill Plympton's latest Cheatin'. And then we have the Beyond program, which features second and third features from indie directors. Last year's Beyond slate proved to be rather fantastic with Adrian Sitaru's humorous metapysical ponderer Domestic and J.R. Hughto's romantic thriller Diamond On Vinyl leading the pack. At this point it is anyone's guess as to how this year's five films in Beyond will play, but it's great to get a clue. So get one...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 12/9/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Diamond on Vinyl
Directed by J.R. Hughto
USA, 2013
When Beth (Nina Millin) discovers that her fiancé Henry (Brian McGuire) has been secretly recording themselves having sex, and more disputably, rehearsing his marriage proposal, she storms out of their celebratory hotel room and emotionally stays dominant in her car at a nearby parking lot. When a mysterious passerby named Charlie (Sonja Kinski, granddaughter of Klaus Kinski) takes interest in her ordeal, a seemingly romantic triangle emerges testing the plight of the couple’s meaning of love.
Beth takes a friendly liking to Charlie, possibly because of how distraught she is, and asks Charlie to return her key to the hotel front desk. Charlie’s curiosity leads her to their hotel room, introducing herself to Henry. After a brief confrontation, Henry and Charlie agree to meet up again for private recordings. As platonic and romantic intentions compete with one another, the film...
Directed by J.R. Hughto
USA, 2013
When Beth (Nina Millin) discovers that her fiancé Henry (Brian McGuire) has been secretly recording themselves having sex, and more disputably, rehearsing his marriage proposal, she storms out of their celebratory hotel room and emotionally stays dominant in her car at a nearby parking lot. When a mysterious passerby named Charlie (Sonja Kinski, granddaughter of Klaus Kinski) takes interest in her ordeal, a seemingly romantic triangle emerges testing the plight of the couple’s meaning of love.
Beth takes a friendly liking to Charlie, possibly because of how distraught she is, and asks Charlie to return her key to the hotel front desk. Charlie’s curiosity leads her to their hotel room, introducing herself to Henry. After a brief confrontation, Henry and Charlie agree to meet up again for private recordings. As platonic and romantic intentions compete with one another, the film...
- 12/8/2013
- by Christopher Clemente
- SoundOnSight
Sound Off: Hughto’s Film Explores Artificiality of Performance and Interaction to Varying Effect
It’s unfortunate that director J.R. Hughto’s sophomore effort, Diamond on Vinyl never quite keeps up the eerie tone it subtly cues for us. A metaphor that uses voyeurism to explore the artificiality of our interactions with those around us and the performances we play on a daily basis has the slight narrative asking questions too large to grapple with for its own purposes. An intricate sound design clues us in to the chronological time line, and we have to piece together the puzzle of events. If only some kind of discernible pay off by the final frame could have been created, then perhaps the ends would justify the means. Instead, we’re left wondering if maybe this shouldn’t have been a short film.
Celebrating their engagement by checking into a romantic hotel, Henry...
It’s unfortunate that director J.R. Hughto’s sophomore effort, Diamond on Vinyl never quite keeps up the eerie tone it subtly cues for us. A metaphor that uses voyeurism to explore the artificiality of our interactions with those around us and the performances we play on a daily basis has the slight narrative asking questions too large to grapple with for its own purposes. An intricate sound design clues us in to the chronological time line, and we have to piece together the puzzle of events. If only some kind of discernible pay off by the final frame could have been created, then perhaps the ends would justify the means. Instead, we’re left wondering if maybe this shouldn’t have been a short film.
Celebrating their engagement by checking into a romantic hotel, Henry...
- 12/6/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation and Brian de Palma's Blow Out are two films in the American cinematic canon that present to their audiences worlds of conspiracy and voyeurism through the provocative role of the audiophile. No less important or enticing, these films are, however, now decades old, taking place well before the digital revolution and our new state of Diy. So what happens when digital brings a new found intimacy to the voyeuristic landscape? J.R. Hughto's second feature Diamond on Vinyl proves to be a most suitable, and thought-provoking playback of these themes, a SoCal-set Noir that effortlessly weaves genre into a naturalistic story of a man who is just trying to gain some semblance of a normal life.The premise goes down like this:...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 12/5/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Check out this exclusive clip from writer-director J.R. Hughto's psychological and sonal mystery "Diamond on Vinyl," starring Sonja Kinski (a brunette ringer for her mother, Nastassja). I got to catch up with this strange, hypnotic film back at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival, where it made its debut. At the time, I wrote for Indiewire in a fest highlight piece:Husky-voiced, sleepy-eyed Sonja Kinski (daughter of Nastassja, granddaughter of Klaus) stars alongside Brian McGuire in this kinky, unsettling portrait of sound-recording fetishists rambling around the wilds of a bright white Los Angeles. When Henry (McGuire) repels his fiancée after recording them having sex, he meets Charlie (Kinski), an aimless soul looking for “adventures,” as she puts it, and willing to indulge his peculiarities. J. R. Hughto’s film, which moves from one sparsely decorated room to another, with patches of palm tree-lined streets in between, recalls the stripped-down aesthetic of Steven Soderbergh,...
- 12/2/2013
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
The 10th annual Atlanta Underground Film Festival, held back on October 16-20, have released their impressive list of award winners, which includes 22 films.
The Best Feature award went to Dane Dakota’s Alex Dreaming, a comedy/drama about a Vietnam veteran who may or may not be imagining that assassins want to kill him. The Best Documentary Feature, Stephen Graves’s A Body Without Organs, previously won the Most Visionary Award earlier this year at the Chicago Underground Film Festival.
The Best Comedy Feature went to Jerzy Rose’s Crimes Against Humanity; while J.R. Hughto’s Diamond on Vinyl took home the Best Drama Feature award.
Lots of short films took awards, too, including Kurt Dettbarn’s Sad Monster for Best Short Film; Grey Wears’s Cereal Mascots Trix Rabbit for Best Animated Short; and Kevin Lonano’s awesome Space Dracula for Best Experimental Short. You can watch Space Dracula...
The Best Feature award went to Dane Dakota’s Alex Dreaming, a comedy/drama about a Vietnam veteran who may or may not be imagining that assassins want to kill him. The Best Documentary Feature, Stephen Graves’s A Body Without Organs, previously won the Most Visionary Award earlier this year at the Chicago Underground Film Festival.
The Best Comedy Feature went to Jerzy Rose’s Crimes Against Humanity; while J.R. Hughto’s Diamond on Vinyl took home the Best Drama Feature award.
Lots of short films took awards, too, including Kurt Dettbarn’s Sad Monster for Best Short Film; Grey Wears’s Cereal Mascots Trix Rabbit for Best Animated Short; and Kevin Lonano’s awesome Space Dracula for Best Experimental Short. You can watch Space Dracula...
- 11/8/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The Atlanta Underground Film Festival celebrates a decade of being in the business of bringing great alternative cinema to the South. The 10th edition of the fest runs Oct. 16-20 and is screening an eclectic mix of feature films and loads of shorts.
Some of the feature include the voyeuristic drama Diamond on Vinyl by J.R. Hughto; the oddball consipracy of Crimes Against Humanity by Jerzy Rose; the rockin’ documentary Discoverdale by George Kane; the Christian shame of Bhoner by Frank Anderson and Colin Shields; the medical documentary A Body Without Organs by Stephen Graves; and more.
Short films are organized in blocks for comedy, drama, experimental and the always popular Animation Attack!.
The full film lineup is below. For more info, please visit the festival’s official website.
October 16
6:30 p.m.: Diamond on Vinyl, dir. J.R. Hughto. A complete stranger attempts to heal the shattered relationship between a formerly engaged couple.
Some of the feature include the voyeuristic drama Diamond on Vinyl by J.R. Hughto; the oddball consipracy of Crimes Against Humanity by Jerzy Rose; the rockin’ documentary Discoverdale by George Kane; the Christian shame of Bhoner by Frank Anderson and Colin Shields; the medical documentary A Body Without Organs by Stephen Graves; and more.
Short films are organized in blocks for comedy, drama, experimental and the always popular Animation Attack!.
The full film lineup is below. For more info, please visit the festival’s official website.
October 16
6:30 p.m.: Diamond on Vinyl, dir. J.R. Hughto. A complete stranger attempts to heal the shattered relationship between a formerly engaged couple.
- 10/16/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
In the final hours of the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival a group of filmmakers and I confiscated the Gallery screening room at Treasure Mountain Inn, made an impromptu circle and tossed a chair in the middle for my digital recorder and iPhone. We then settled in for a spirited talk on all things Slamdance. Joining me were Harry Patramanis and Eleni Asvesta, director and producer of the minimalist thriller Fynbos, Kimberly Culotta, cinematographer for Kate Mark's short film Pearl Was Here, Jan Eilhardt and Sanna Akehurst, the filmmakers behind the dazzling The Court Of Shards, J.R. Hughto director of the La noir Diamond on Vinyl, from the New York noir Joy de V. director Nadia Szold and editor Kristen Swanbeck, the directing/writing/producing pair behind the...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 1/31/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Before we sat down to chat with J.R. Hughto at Slamdance Headquarters to discuss the intricate layers of meta-narrative within Diamond on Vinyl, we dutifully scripted out all of our questions and rehearsed for hours on end in the mirror of our Park City condo. (We can only assume that Hughto approached his side of the conversation in the same responsible manner.) Whether or not our constant striving for oratory perfection was achieved during this interview is for you to judge... Enjoy!
- 1/28/2013
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
If Sundance is the alternative film festival, Slamdance is the alternative to the alternative. We’re proud to be media sponsors for the festival, and to share a few filmmaking spotlights on the movies playing there this year. This second batch features some secret and educational recordings. A talk with directors Scott Rutherford and Ben Peyser shows how they crafted Ghost Team One — a paranormal comedy where two things get weird in the spirit world after two guys chase after a beautiful woman. Plus, J.R. Hughto talks about his film Diamond on Vinyl, where a man is secretly recording private moments with his fiancee. Of course, she finds out. On the educational front, Cary McClelland brings his globe-trotting expertise to the cause of illuminating what’s going on in Pakistan with the film Without Shepherds. So let’s get uncomfortably close and dig deeper to learn more about these budding filmmakers: Ghost Team One Diamond on Vinyl...
- 1/24/2013
- by Scott Beggs
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
J.R. Hughto's second feature Diamond On Vinyl premiered today at Slamdance. In my review I called the film a "SoCal-set Noir that effortlessly weaves genre into a naturalistic story of a man who is just trying to gain some semblance of a normal life." I then surmised that "at it's core the film challenges and uproots the perceptions and roles deemed fit for society, giving us an intimate, ultimately empathetic, but no less easy to handle character study." Just prior to the fest's start I was able to chat with both Hughto and star Sonja Kinski on the unique relationship in the film between Henry, a voyeuristic audiophile, and Kinski's Charlie, a young photographer. When Henry's fiancee, Beth, leaves him, Charlie steps in as a...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 1/19/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation and Brian de Palma's Blow Out are two films in the American cinematic canon that present to their audiences worlds of conspiracy and voyeurism through the provocative role of the audiophile. No less important or enticing, these films are, however, now decades old, taking place well before the digital revolution and our new state of Diy. So what happens when digital brings a new found intimacy to the voyeuristic landscape? J.R. Hughto's second feature Diamond on Vinyl proves to be a most suitable, and thought-provoking playback of these themes, a SoCal-set Noir that effortlessly weaves genre into a naturalistic story of a man who is just trying to gain some semblance of a normal life.The premise goes down like this:...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 1/18/2013
- Screen Anarchy
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.