Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Aaron Katz and all the other filmmakers who have been lumped together as "mumblecore" don't even like that word, especially since their films couldn't be more different from one another. Katz's QUIET CITY and DANCE PARTY, USA are lyrical, smart, beautifully shot, expressionistic, naturalistic dramas about believably real people. These two films are NOT the superficial, 20-something hipster-fests like they're misrepresented to be. (Maybe some are, but not either of these two films!) Just check out some of the DVD reviews I've read from critics who say it far better than me:
"Through the course of this two-disc set, Aaron Katz can be seen to mature as a writer/director right before the eyes. The talent suggested by Dance Party, USA is confirmed by Quiet City. Katz is most assuredly one of the best emerging voices in American independent cinema. This splendidly produced and reasonably priced 2-disc set is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED."
- Chris Neilson, DVD TALK
"Katz's aesthetic is, on one hand, Ozu by way of high-def (lots of lovely haiku cutaways to New York City skylines and textures), and on the other, decelerated realism (twentysomethings chatting aimlessly and guardedly). It's easy to mock in the overview, but Katz has an eye for the in-between moments, and a satisfyingly subtle agenda for his films' overall arcs."
- Michael Atkinson, IFC NEWS
"Like other movies in the mumblecore sub-genre, Quiet City concerns itself with characters in their early 20s whose longing for intimate connection and self-definition far surpasses their ability to articulate it. But Katz distinguishes himself by embodying their anxieties rather than merely observing them. Shots of traffic lights changing in perfect harmony or an airplane cutting through a burnt orange sky resonate with a depth of feeling the movie's protagonists can only express in the furtive spaces between words. The second release from New York-based Benten Films, the Quiet City DVD boasts a surfeit of extras: multiple commentaries, short films, and, on a second disc, Katz's embryonic first feature, Dance Party USA."
- Sam Adams, LA TIMES
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Widely praised for his contemplative lyricism, character-driven style, and his "gift for naturalistic dialogue" (The Village Voice), writer-director Aaron Katz now stands at the vanguard of American cinema's new wave of forward-thinking independents.In QUIET CITY, Katz's deceptively simple drama that has been called "a Terrence Malick film for the new lost generation" (The Austin Chronicle), we meet twentysomething Jamie (Erin Fisher) as she arrives in New York to visit a friend who never shows. On an empty subway platform, she crosses paths with a kindly stranger named Charlie (Cris Lankenau), and an unlikely connection is formed over the next 24 hours through city parks, abandoned apartments, and art galleries in the heart of industrial Brooklyn. Achingly sincere and shot with a painterly eye, Katz's approach is refreshingly devoid of romantic clichés.Then in his impressionistic and tenderly heartbreaking debut, DANCE PARTY, USA -- hailed as "one of the best films of the year" (The New York Sun) and one of Amy Taubin's Top 10 Films of 2007 (ArtForum) -- apathetic teens Jessica (Anna Kavan) and Gus (Cole Pennsinger) share a fleeting moment at a Fourth of July party in Portland, but their relationship grows closer and more complex after Gus confronts her with a troubling secret.
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