 Aaron Katz’s early movies are stories of young, mostly white, twenty-somethings stumbling through relationships and rambling exchanges, their encounters filmed in a handheld style that captures their day-to-day frustrations. His first movie, Dance Party U.S.A, was one of the seminal entries in the ‘mumblecorps’ genre. His second film, 2007′s Quiet City, became a critics’ favorite, along with Joe Swanberg’s Hanna Takes the Stairs. The former featured Swanberg and writer/actor/director Michael Tully (Ping Pong Summer, Septien). Thus a repertory of ‘mumblecorps’ actors and directors took shape, moviemakers dedicated to interesting low budget work that ignored stars in favor of real people, chose simple awkwardness over gross-out comedy, and explored the difficulty of relationships rather than wallow in Hollywood murder, mayhem, and explosions. Many of these artists continued to evolve: Swanberg, Mark and Jay Duplass, Greta Gerwig, Lynn Shelton, and Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture,Girls). They have attained varying levels of success as writers, directors, and actors. Chad Hartigan, an actor in Katz’s first film, directed the charming This is Martin Bonner in 2013. That film featured a subtle knockout performance by Australian actor Paul Eenhoorn in the title role Continue to More ... |