Island Zero

Closed for business

2010-01-16T18:10:00.000-08:00

I'm retiring the old Island Zero blog for the time being. I'll leave the site up in case anyone wants a glance back into historical curiosity.

I'll be sharing Internet ephemera over on my tumblr which you can find here.

And the longer film pieces will mostly be hosted on the AFI FEST blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

MIchael Cain's Starck Club?

2009-05-13T13:02:00.001-07:00

Filmmaker Michael Cain is taking a slight hiatus as the Director of the AFI Dallas Film Festival to direct another documentary film. Details are still scant, but the film seems to be focused on the legendary Starck Club in Dallas in the 1980s. Known for its ultra-modern design (it was the first major effort by designer Philippe Starck) and rampant ecstasy use, club lasted five years, from 1984 to 1989.

Cain's last directorial effort was the very successful TV JUNKIE which premiered at Sundance and went on to win numerous awards and acclaim around the world.

More details to come as they become available.

Pizza Box technology advances again

2009-04-29T17:16:00.001-07:00

It's very similar to the "World's Best Pizza Box" I reported on back here. Watch the video for the new innovations in pizza box technology. I love the idea but sadly I don't see myself ever caring enough about this to make my pizza order choice based on it. But convince one of the delivery giants to switch to this design and your golden! (Sadly I'm sure the bottom line would win out over innovation here.)

Why putting Bioshock on hold is great news

2009-04-29T12:01:00.000-07:00

According to various news sources, the planned film adaptation of Bioshock has been put on hold, possibly indefinitely. The film adaptation of this award winning video game was to be directed by Gore Verbinski and was budgeted at around Eleventy million dollars. (The budget is being oft cited as the reason for the production’s troubles.) I loved Bioshock probably more than any other game last year, and I love movies. However it's clearly a good thing that this adaptation will most likely not come to pass.

I was as excited as anyone else to see the movie version of Bioshock. It was without a doubt the best-written, designed and conceived game of the last year. But because it was so good, doing a movie version does damage to serious game innovation. Once a great source material is co-opted into a film it can really tarnish the image of said source (see Watchmen.)

This is obvious, but while comics are getting more and more mainstream respect every day and have a serious level of proper criticism these days, the game world seriously lacks such introspection. Chuck Klosterman recently wrote in Esquire about this very issue. He wonders aloud where is the Lester Bangs of games journalism and how much longer will it take for him to arrive?

So as we search for better game criticism in the world, it will inevitably be games like Bioshock, the best of the best which call out for a deeper appreciation and understanding of game design. When these games are then converted into film it makes it all the easier to write off the need for serious game criticism. After all, people with serious critical faculties can then just wait for the inevitable linear adaptation, which is much easier to apply standard critical tools to. The constant adaptation and re-appropriation only further delays the creation of new critical thought for the interactive medium. Klosterman himself acknowledges this difficulty in analyzing artwork, which takes on different form for every audience member.

Therefore, yay to Mr. Verbinski's troubles. My apologies for the Scradenfrude.

World's largest deliverable pizza

2009-04-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

It requires 24 hour notice before ordering. It costs $200. And I need to throw a party ASAP for an excuse to order this monstrosity. Did I mention, they just opened a new branch right in my neighborhood? Looks like I'm about to lose $200 bucks sometime soon. It serves 50-70 normal people but I'm sure I can find a dozen more gluttons to throw this party with. Click here to order from my new masters.

Cinemad

2009-04-24T15:47:00.001-07:00

Quitter

2009-04-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

Alright as much as I hate to admit it I’m trying to quit smoking. Now that I’m sharing this online I’m sure I’ll immediately relapse. I was having trouble breathing, probably from allergies but it sucked so I thought I’d bail on my sweet smoky friends.

Really the hardest part for me is he psychological, I’ve so many moments I my life when it just seems right to smoke, driving especially. Or coming out of a movie. Plus no one is more annoying that people who used to smoke and no longer do. I’ve been smoking for 17 years no and I’ve seen a lot of quitters come and go in that time. Losers. And now I am aiming to join their ranks.

I’ve enlisted the aid of a prescription drug called Chantix to help me quit. (Here is a scary story about the side effects, 2 words: horrific nightmares.) I don’t notice any physical difference if I take the pill or not but mostly its just useful to have something to do, to look forward to instead of smoking. It helps to fetishize the pills too, I take them when I want to, not on a set sched like medication but more like how I smoked and sometimes I even pretend I am getting high or something, crack them in half and wash them back deliriously.

At least now I end up with lighters at the end of the night mysteriously. I used to just lose one every other day. So all along it has been the fucking quitters who have been walking off with them. Assholes.

But anyway, quitters suck, now I have become one of them and I hate myself.

(I know I should not smoke here’s the proof: According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, between 310,000 and 580,000 of us will commit suicide by cigarette this year. But I still wanna smoke.)

Obama orders pizza from St. Louis, snubs Chi-town

2009-04-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

Obama made pizza news again this week. The President invited 140 people over to the White House for deep dish pizza and had it brought in from a place called Pi in St. Louis. This is of course of note since deep dish is one of his hometown's claims to fame.

The incident was reported via this AP story which is hilarious because it kinda quotes Marc Malnati, owner of Chicago's famous Lou Malnati's pizzerias in Chicago. (You can also order Lou Malnati's to be delivered packed in dry ice to anywhere in the USA.)

The only other thing to be assumed is that that St. Louis pizza place is fucking delicious. A cursory glance at the restaurant's website would seem to confirm that assumption.

Webisodes and The Streamys

2009-03-29T16:54:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night was the first ever Streamy awards! The Streamys recognize excellence in entertainment created specifically for online broadcast. Normally award shows seem to be a very self congratulatory affair, but this was different. Mainly for the reason that most of the nominees are relative unknowns. The awards served as a great introduction to some really inspired content being shown online this year.

Here are a few of the most interesting shows I found in the weeks leading up to the Streamys:

Dr. Horrible is probably the best know of all the web series nominated this year. It also won the most awards, natch. If you don't know this show you really need to stop everything and go watch it now. The coupling of Neil Patrick Harris and Joss Whedon alone should be reason enough. But throwing in Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day make this one a no brainer.

Who is Felicia Day you might ask? Well, she is the star and creator of The Guild. The Guild is about a group of online gamers who really would rather never venture outside their games but are reluctantly forced to once or twice. The creation of The Guild is an inspiring story as well, the creator, an unemployed actress in Los Angeles, decided to stop waiting for someone to cast her and instead went out and created something herself. Day's acceptance speech on Saturday said something to this effect as well and it got the biggest ovation of the night at the show.

There was another show related to The Guild that was up for a number of awards last night. The Legend of Neil is created by one of the stars of the Guild, Sandeep Parikh. The subject matter is similar as well, it's about a man who falls asleep and finds himself living in the game world. Like TRON but with more masturbation jokes.

Sometimes you get sucked into these shows and end up watching 20 episodes in a row. That’s what happened when I found Dorm Life. This (like the above two) is a classic sort of web series since it features a fresh faced cast and crew. College life comedy is a well worn path but Dorm Life really stands out with killer characterizations and performances. If you spent your entire first year of college doing absolutely no work you will most likely relate to this show.

On the flip side of the emerging talent trend, many shows online boast impressive amounts of recognizable talent. One of the best known being Children's Hospital which is created by Rob Corddry and features many, many other comedic actors. Simply the image of Corddry in bloody scrubs and clown makeup was enough to get me into this show (and he wears that in every scene.)

Another celebrity centered show, which I enjoyed but might be too rough for some audiences, is Star-ving created by David Faustino. You might know him as Bud Bundy and this series depicts his life post stardom in a twisted fun house mirror image of tinsel town. It’s reminiscent of the TV series Action and like I said is not for everyone but I'm sure it has an audience out there. (Mark Lisanti I'm looking at you.)

It's interesting to watch the trends in entertainment evolve but it's much more interesting to stop reading news stories about it and simply enjoy some great performance and great writing. Thanks Streamys for showcasing such great shows, there are literally dozens more I have to delve into still.

Swingles

2009-03-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

Congrats to my buddy Duncan! Variety reports today that his screenplay SWINGLES has gotten Cameron Diaz attached to it! It's an excuse for me to type more exclamation marks and for me to post this picture!

Generation Loss

2009-03-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

This film was made by opening and re-saving a single jpg over and over until the increased compression rendered it incoherent. The film was featured in the Rotterdam Film Festival this year and on Boing Boing. It's a creative new process of making a moving image and definitely worth 60 seconds of your time:

Generation Loss from hadto on Vimeo.

Virginia Festival of Student Film

2009-03-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna be a featured guest there! And look, they already put my name up on their website, isn't that lovely! I'll be sure to post all the postmortem details here.

I love Virginia and I love film students so this is an obvious delight for me.

Sudoku Pizza

2009-03-19T10:41:00.001-07:00

In my ongoing pizza coverage I am happy to provide you with...Sudoku pizza!
Nerdy and delicious. Found via Neatorama.

Daylight savings rant

2009-03-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

Last year I complained about daylight savings time here. And I've also cheered rumors Obama would do away with this relic here. And finally I've tried to make an argument for globalized time here. So as we spring forward this morning, I feel the time has come for more complaints.

As we approached this particular DST, I thought about how the government takes my money, gives it to insurance companies who refuse to pay for my medical needs, they regulate where I can smoke, what I can do to my body, in my own house... everything. But the one thing I hate them for regulating more than anything is time. TIME? How can you regulate time? It's like if they wanted to alter gravity or the laws of thermodynamics. If you want to regulate time you should establish global time and that's it!

It's as stupid as Illinois deciding that Pluto is still a planet. So Pluto is a planet once you cross the state line of Illinois but not after you leave? I live in a state where the government representatives can barely figure out how to keep the economy moving, so I really don't trust them to coordinate arbitrary recalibration of time.

Let's please do away with this pointless exercise once and for all.

I love robots

2009-03-05T11:49:00.000-08:00

I was cleaning the house this morning in tandem with my robotic helper, Dirt Dog. This is not the first robot I've owned but it's easily the best. Looking forward I'm sure the next generation will wonder at how we ever lived without robots EVERYWHERE. This industry is going to be key to our future growth as well, undoubtedly. Look at some of the pictures from this Boston Big Picture collection of modern robots. These are not Sci-Fi imagined models of what we might have some day. These creatures exist on our planet right now.

Also, I'm reading Saturn's Children right now which is about a universe populated with robots after all of humanity has died off. Looking at these photos, I'm more and more convinced that we will be leaving more than a few of these machines whirring about after we are gone.
(This is a simulation with dummies. This robot is supposed to act in a situation where the area is irradiated and people cannot otherwise be retrieved.)

2009 Silverlake Cheese Pizza Competition

2009-03-02T21:51:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in this tremendous event last week. Admittedly this was a non-scientific assessment of the pizza delivery skills of our neighborhood. But I got some great feedback and made a lot of people eat a lot of pizza so the least I could do is to post the results here.

Arrival time:
Nikki D approx 20 minutes
Tomato pie 21 min
Hard times 31 min
Lucifer’s 37 min
Buena Pizza 39
Andiama 59 min
Il Capriccio 1 hr 1 minute
Garage pizza 1 hr 9 min

Bear in mind this was on high volume Oscar Sunday so in consideration of that I feel all the contestants did very well.

Sifting through the pizza stained ballots, I thank all the participants and apologize for this year’s slight sloppy event. I can tell we were a little under prepared since a few people had to use paper plates to record notations

Here is the judges’ feedback:

Nikki D; “good, light” 1 star “A” “Awesome!” “Good, soft crust, oregano finish, very pleasant” “doughy, smoky, so-so tomato and cheese” Oregano finish, cheese start, crust chewy and supple 8” “cheese yummy but fell off”

Tomato Pie: “Ok, pedestrian” 3 star “B” “good” “less taste, very straightforward cheese, not enough taste” “nice crust” “ Oily start, subtle sauce 7” “not enough sauce”

Hard times “ok” 3star “C” ”good” “Tangy cheese, in between Nikki D and Tomato pie,” “very tasty, good cheese, a little crispy but nice crust” “ rubbery and tasteless 3” “too sweet”

Lucifer’s, “good, hot, points for unique” 2 star “D” “too spicy” “too dry, not enough cheese, spiciness needs more cheese” “tastes like jalapenos, cheese is hard, crust dry, not enough sauce” “spicy, inedible” “spicy jalapeno”

Buena “good tough, first few bites great but dry crust at the end” “too salty, very salty” “ok, like pizza hut” “unremarkable, pretty bland, I’d put it in the middle” “good parts but cheese is light and crust too chewy” “cheese thick and fantastic crust, crunchy soft finish 9” “too salty”

Andiama: “Great, but weird crust” 3 star “canned tomato sauce” “terrible! Shite! I throw it up!” “Very tomatoey but in 2nd place” “sauce too sweet, cheese light, doughy crust, crunchy at edge but soggy. Illegible” “sauce tangy and delicious/crust cornmeal yuck 6” “crust bad, undercooked”

Il Capriccio: “Damn good” 2 stars “too salty” “ok, salty and cold” “could care less” “ tough, a little too much salt” “a blue cheese aftertaste but good crust 5” “salty”

Garage:” eh” 3 star “weird tasting sauce” “good but cold” “also unmemorable” “chewy, weird taste” ‘Good sauce, not enough cheese 5”

I disagree with some of these comments, but everyone is entitled to their own opinions I suppose. I for one enjoy a bit of saltiness in my pizza but it seemed to turn off many other participants.

An important factor seemed to be arrival time; a pizza hot out of the oven scored much much better than one sitting in the box. So pizza purveyors take note, be fleet of foot and do not get concerned if you approach a door and there are already 2 other pizza guys there.

If I had to declare a winner, I would say that Nikki D’s came out on top this weekend. I still will be ordering from some of these other places but it definitely gave me a different perspective on that classic across the lake.

Additionally I’ve learned that I clearly have too much free time on my hands and if you place your average group of friends in a critical setting they will become very judgey all the sudden and find something to complain about with everything! Seriously though, this was a lot of fun and I really appreciate everyone who indulged in my silliness.

Stay tuned for the next installment in Island Zero pizza challenges, The Great Pepperoni Adventure!

Creeping fear as WATCHMEN approaches

2009-02-19T23:38:00.000-08:00

As early reviews come in, I'm still very much excited to see the film for myself. But yet I'm still very trepadatious. I think I've figured out why.

The worst thing about a bad WATCHMEN movie is that it will kill the desire of anyone to read the book, who haven't done so already. It's happened before with EVERY single other Moore adaptation. Good luck getting anyone to want to read V FOR VENDETTA, LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN or FROM HELL now. Unless they are comics nerds already they won't because they will associate them with these horrible adaptations and that's a shame.

It's a huge shame mostly because Moore is undoubtedly the medium's greatest living writer and arguably the greatest comic book writer of all time. He is an obvious choice to try and get people reading some truly monumental comic book stories and with every passing film adaptation, that has become harder and harder.

Admittedly I should of course hold judgement on WATCHMEN, the greatest and most high profile Moore adaptation ever, but if history is any lesson, the outlook is not bright.... At least it's not looking likely that this will help me convince my friend to pick up the book.

Early Works

2009-02-17T11:06:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting website. It's a collection of rare first films from well know directors. Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Tim Burton, it's a diverse and pretty well rounded collection. These are mostly Super 8 or 16mm student films from now living legends. Amazing.

As a film programmer one of the most difficult things to look for is the potential in a young film maker's early work. It's important to remember that we all started somewhere.

This is a fabulous online resource.

Valentine's day failure

2009-02-14T13:24:00.000-08:00

Well I blew it. I actually got one of the gifts listed on this page of the 25 worst Valentine's Day gifts. Let's see if you can guess which one I thought was funny/quirky enough...

Satelites are colliding in space!

2009-02-12T15:33:00.000-08:00

Well, this is what it feels like to live in the future. Two satellites collided in space this week. There is no air traffic control type system set up currently for Low Earth Orbit, but it sounds like we are gonna need one soon.

My new refrain is gonna be "where's my space elevator already?"

The Film Maker's Co-Op is threatened

2009-02-11T12:13:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late in reporting this but Karina on Spout Blog wrote here about a crisis for an experimental film archive in San Francisco.

These are the names that made me jump up and take notice of this news:
Stan Brakhage, Carolee Schneeman, Hollis Frampton, Jennifer Reeves, Jack Smith, Ken Jacobs, Michael Snow, Maya Deren, Marie Menken, Jonas Mekas, Shirley Clarke, Martha Colburn...

These and hundreds of other artists have rare prints being housed by the film distribution company Film Maker's Co-Op in their offices in San Francisco. Art Radio International renegotiated the terms of its lease of the Clocktower Gallery with MoMA recently, consequently terminating their sublease with The Film-Maker’s Co-op (FMC)

And the FMC does not even have the resources to move these fragile prints.

The FMC is petitioning Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin in the hopes she’ll help them either stay in the Clocktower or find a new space (and presumably the resources for the move)

To express your support for Independent film and write to Kate D. Levin directly at http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildcla.html

(via)

Free Parking ends for Hybrids?

2009-02-10T21:31:00.000-08:00

Ugh. According to this report, there will be no more free parking for Hybrids in the city of Los Angeles. This sucks. I bought my Prius a little under two years ago, and this incentive was definitely one of the reasons I bought the car. Now here I am less than 48 months later and the cost of operating my vehicle in the city is going to increase. (Not a ton of money admittedly, but still...) On the bright side, the news story made me realize that I was supposed to have a sticker on my car to qualify for the fee waiver. I've been parking without the sticker this whole time and never got a ticket. Maybe the meter maids saw my eco-conscious choice and decided to cut me a break. Here's hoping they continue to.

Ice Station Zebra

2009-01-25T19:12:00.000-08:00

Long time readers might recall that I wrote about the perfection of ice spheres back here. Basically, you need a sphere instead of a cube to get evenly perfect melting in a glass of whisky. Well, my wonderful girlfriend got me a ice sphere mold recently and it got me thinking about other ice molds.

Here are some amazing ones currently available:

I already own these, the ice dentures, and it's incredibly satisfying to watch them melt (rot?) away in a glass of whisky.

It would be great to have these Lego brick ice cube molds, but I fear it would be too frustrating to try and lock them together, still they look very cool.

I would also love to own these bullet shaped ice cubes, although they might be a bit too subtle. You could slip these into someone's drink without them noticing.

The irony of course is that our fridge has an automatic ice maker...but I almost wish it didn't.

(Bonus point for any readers who have seen the film ICE STATION ZEBRA, it's a weird beast. Legend has it Howard Hughes used to screen it over and over again for days on end.)

Real life Portal gun

2009-01-21T20:14:00.000-08:00

A man who is a much better boyfriend than I built this real life Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device for his cosplay girlfriend. This baby looks so good!

More pics here on Kotaku.

Sundance makes Twitter shine

2009-01-21T12:49:00.000-08:00

People have been trying to point to the turning point for the hugely popular micro-blogging service Twitter for a little while now. The mainstream media reporting of the attacks in Mumbai being twittered was of huge significance. However, for me it was this year's Sundance Film Festival that really illustrated the potential of Twitter. Granted this is the case because most of the people I follow are film people, but not being in Park City and following these micro reports has been quite illuminating. I wish I was there myself of course, but not being able to go this year, I'm even more grateful that I have an army of eyes, seeing the same event from disparate angles, like a fly’s segmented eyeball.

Twitter was famously launched from the South by Southwest Film festival where it won the web award in 2007, so it's only fitting that now in Sundance it really seems to have blossomed. Here are some people I've been following who are covering the festival:

There is the Official Sundance Twitter (which I think could be a bit chattier.)
Queen of the online critics, Karina Longworth is always great to follow and her Sundance perspective has been refreshing.
Kelly Williams, Director of the Austin Film Festival is a relatively new follow for me and I've loved it.
Erik Davis from Cinematical is very funny in 140 characters and I think he has taste similar to mine.
Kevin Kelly from Cinematical is also twittering under the name Gadgetguy.
Eric Snider (also on Cinematical) has been cracking me up with some very punny micro reviews and some great OH conversations.
Film critic James Rocchi went twitter silent after seeing the documentary WE LIVE IN PUBLIC but he's back now.
AFI Dallas Senior Programmer James Faust twitters under the alias of Movieforce, he's up there now and I've outed his secret identity so there.
My good friend Christian Gaines is no longer with AFI FEST but he's up in Park City catching lots of movies and giving us his dryly-comic perspective as well.
My other good friend and blogger Levi Elder is up there passing along film recommendations via twitter and other important info (like what parties are worth attending.) My favorite tweet from him was: "Uh, just went to the wrong movie, like an amature. And nobody stopped me! What?"
You can tell Sperling Reich loves Sundance, his Twitter background is a pic of the Egyptian and he changed his thumbnail to his fest credentials!
Matt Dentler of course has the most Twitter cred out here. He's so old school that his handle still has "SXSW" in it.
Tamara Krinski is up there writing for IDA. But it looks like they are keeping her pretty busy since she has not said much since a jubilant arrival. (In fact I bet everyone will start tapering off this week as the festivities take their toll.)
Kevin Rose was even up there for the beginning and he launched some sort of contest with Ashton Kutcher over twitter that I didn't really follow all the details of.
Peter Sciretta from Slashfilm has been doing great coverage and tweeted this interesting incident: "Sundance security just accused me of video taping a movie, like I would risk my entire career to have a handheld copy of a movie called Dare"
Roger Tinch, the voice of Cinevegas (also an early adopter) has been kicking ass with his bite size festival coverage. Like all good bloggers, he hits a good balance of films criticism with banal/funny stuff.
Agnes Varnum has been covering all things docs as well up there and has been keeping us posted on the Cinema Eye awards announcements this year.
And of course, my friend Shaz Bennett, who sadly has also left AFI, is in Utah this week also. Her Twitter coverage is been the most enthusiastic of all and makes me the most jealous that I'm stuck peering through these keyholes.

An amazing resource that I've never had before is to follow the festival from a filmmaker’s perspective. Even more incredible is that it's a filmmaker whose work I already know and love, documentarian Ondi Timoner has been providing great photos all week long.

And of course one of the best things has been watching these people run into each other or have concurrent experiences of the same movie/event. It's been great watching from the sidelines.

I'm sure I've forgotten some important ones, sorry. So please drop a note in the comments if there is anyone I should be following.There are lots of other festival programmer and film critics who are not actually up there in Park City but like me are still writing and reacting about it which is also, you know, interesting.

Children's toiltries I want

2009-01-19T18:19:00.000-08:00

I love these two prodcuts, someone buy them for me!

First is this soap dispenser, created to promote good hand cleaning! The dispenser stamps your hand and you know if its clean once the stamp has been cleaned off! Brilliant.

And the other thing I want is this brand new product from the good people at Listerine. It's a mouthwash that dyes your teeth blue temporarily. You know you are done brushing when all the blue is gone. Again, brilliant.

Wonderful concepts these 2 products, the kid in me wants them right now! Please mark your calendars for November 21st, my 33rd birthday.

Batttlestar Galactica Film Festival?

2009-01-18T20:15:00.000-08:00

I loved lots about the season premiere of Battlestar Galactica this weekend. One image that jumped out to me was this shot of Galen Tyrol walking past a non-descript film festival poster.

Tyrol is probably my favorite charchter in the show. And I loved that this flashback to happier times, a utopian world if you will, suggested a film festival would be part of a future idyllic world. Here's a closeup!

Andrew Wyeth

2009-01-16T18:13:00.000-08:00

Artist Andrew Wyeth passed away today.

I really like this Slate article juxtaposing this late painting by him:

With his most famous work, Christina's World:

Star Wars recalled...poorly

2009-01-15T10:52:00.001-08:00

I love this video this guy made about his friend who has never seen Star Wars and yet is trying to describe the entire plot, fun times!

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.
(Found via Erik Davis @ Cinematical)

WATCHMEN tie in toys

2009-01-05T12:48:00.000-08:00

Selling Dr. Manhattan Lunchboxes pretty much sums up my fears about the WATCHMEN movie. One part of my brain is excited about the idea of WATCHMEN merchandise hitting shelves. Unfortunately the quality of merchandise being created looks....underwhelming. Plus, the layout of websites like this just heighten the rushed, under thought and generally crappy nature of these promotional items. The shoddy nature of this product design and release then makes me realize the ironic wrongness of having WATCHMEN merchandise in the first place! If they had done this with a bit more care and intelligence I would probably be buying this stuff by the truckload.

Just to be clear, this does not really diminish my excitement to see the movie, it just makes my cautious optimism a bit more cautious.

THE WRESTLER is this year's best film

2008-12-31T12:19:00.000-08:00

In keeping with the tradition of last year, I'm going to suppress my distaste for end of year lists/awards and pick one film for the year to call the best. Last year there was a stellar selection of work from master filmmakers. This year it seems a bit more divided among various critics groups and other organizations so it makes for a fun discussion. For my two cents the best film this year was THE WRESTLER.

I’m not going to recap the plot since everyone reading this either already has seen the film or knows what it’s about generally. Besides the strength of this film (as with any great film) is not necessarily the plot, but the characters. This is where THE WRESTLER excels, as a character study. Mickey Rourke is tremendous as the titular character. His performance as Randy “The Ram”, plagued by nostalgia and recklessly hopeful, is a portrait of the American culture in glorious decline. It is timely subject matter indeed.

The object of Randy’s affection is a striper played by Marisa Tomei. By choosing to link these two characters together the film is touches on even deeper ideas. Selling your bodies, relying on the physicality of humanity to make a living is ancient and this message seems to echo some of the timeless themes in Arronofsky's last film THE FOUNTAIN. However in this case the filmmaker has pulled the narrative down to a supremely human scale and has found much more success there.

The film is artfully delicate and real step forward for Arronofsky. It seems to have been a strong choice for him to choose to adapt someone else’s work. In this case it is the work of writer Robert Siegel who will be making a splash at Sundance this coming January with his directorial debut, BIG FAN.

The strength of strong writing comes from strong characters and that is clearly the case with THE WRESTLER. His journey feels tragic, inescapable and inevitable and in the end finds a strange kind of glorious splendor. It’s a real unexpected treat to end the year on such a note.

Holiday movie theater shooting

2008-12-27T16:05:00.000-08:00

Some of you might have heard this story over the holiday. A man in a screening of THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON was so upset that another patron was talking during the movie that he shot him. The story I linked to does not say this but I swear in one news report I read he then sat back down and attempted to finish watching the film as the rest of the audience fled the theater.

I also found this review of the movie theater in question (via reddit) which complains about the audience talking in every screening. Perhaps if this deranged man had read the reviews of his theater options online the entire incident could have been avoided.

Home alone

2008-12-19T17:08:00.000-08:00

I got the place all to myself this weekend, so this is what I will be acting like most likely:

A call for improved film criticism in Los Angeles

2008-12-12T15:25:00.000-08:00

I have issues with the roles for critics in today's culture. However, this post is to draw attention to a few interesting things posted recently about the state of film criticism in the heart of the film world.

First up was this report from Scott Foundas about Los Angeles Times' film editor Tim Swanson and his general approach to the paper's coverage of the cinema world. He compares the paper's coverage of films like HUNGER and FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON with the coverage granted to HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 and PUNISHER: WAR ZONE. Then the piece openly reports on the coverage the Times gave the prestigious REDCAT theater with no mention of the theater's popular film programs. This omission was something a number of other film programmers around town (myself included) have been discussing recently. Scott makes a very strong argument for concern in this piece and it's recommend reading for anyone interested in film culture and criticism.

Then the very next day, on the LA Times blog, Patrick Goldstein wrote this piece about film critic Manohla Dargis. In it, he claims it's a "well known secret" that no one wants Dargis reviewing their film. The idea being she is too critical or too harsh, especially to Oscar baiting type films (which are my pet peeve.) Yesterday one of my favorite writers/critics Karina Longworth posted this piece in response. It ends with this line:

But if he’s actually suggesting that critics should allow “empathy” for the architects of blatant awards bait to temper their judgements, then this might be his harshest anti-criticism statement yet.

It's all very interesting writing. I would love for the level of cinematic discourse to be raised in this town. The column inches dedicated to ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS are gonna be wasted space, no matter who you ask. Plus, in this digital age where institutions like the LAT are struggling for relevance, column space is not really an issue any longer. Why not invest in smarter writing? We have been trying the opposite for so long, it can't hurt to change.

More on Spanish genre resurgence

2008-12-08T11:53:00.000-08:00

Green Cine Daily has a nice piece up here about the recent trend in Spanish genre films. The trend being people making awesome ones. It's similar to the piece I wrote detailing the same trend this year back here. The Green Cine Daily essay is timed to coincide with the release of TIME CRIMES in theaters this week.

The only troubling part about this is the rush to remake these films in America instead of simply releasing the Spanish language versions. I still have not yet seen the film REC from earlier this year, mostly because the remade version, QUARANTINE looked unimpressive. I suppose I should really just get over that though and watch the original. If you have not seen TIME CRIMES do yourself a favor and head to the theaters this week. Hopefully BEFORE THE FALL will be following soon as well.

Tina Fey Pinball game

2008-12-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

Well, she did like 2 snippets of voice work for a pinball game, but still I think it's pretty cool. I love Tina Fey (who doesn't) and I love pinball (again, who doesn't!) So to me this is like 2 great tastes that taste great together. According to Kotaku (and Vanity Fair): "Tina Fey (of "Saturday Night Live" fame) did the voices of the "Opera Singer" princess and the Cockney-talking princess." This was for the 1997 pinball game Medieval Madness. So now you know what to buy me for Christmas. Thanks!

Rotterdam FF gets new programming sections

2008-12-01T17:13:00.000-08:00

Basically I'm just re-posting what you can read in this Twitch post, but what the heck. Rotterdam's new festival director has decreed that the 7 programming sections of the past are now winnowed down to just three sections:

The three new categories are:

Bright Future: a platform to show work from novice film makers (this includes the Tiger Awards).
Spectrum: work by experienced artists who are known for contributing to international culture.
Signals: a series of thematic sub-programmes, changing every year.

Rotterdam was one of my best...hell I'll go ahead and say the best, festival experiences I had last year. You can read about my adventures here. I hope I can go again this year!

Emergency Services -- from The It Crowd

2008-11-29T11:47:00.001-08:00

This is the song stuck in my head today.

Hopefully now yours too.

Obama to abolish Daylight Savings time?

2008-11-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

Again, could I not love this man any more? I keep waiting for him to do SOMETHING that I disagree strongly with but I keep hearing stories like this: According to various reports, Obama might get rid of daylight savings! Avid readers of this site (Islanders? Zeroes?) might recall that I hate daylight savings time for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that the benefit of gaining an hour in the fall does not make up in my mind the cost of losing an hour in the spring.

Needless to say, I would whole-heartedly support this forward thinking decision by our next president. This is the type of action of a man unafraid to make big decisions, to shake up the present for the benefit of the future. He aims to move no less than time itself! The next step? I would vote for Globalized Time.

Weekend Birthday!

2008-11-20T18:03:00.001-08:00

My birthday is Friday November 21st. First time I have had a weekend birthday in forever! The best part about it is all the other cool things going on that night that I can't go to because I'll be celebrating. I know that sounds weird but I like it, it's like the whole rest of the world decided to party too.

Here are just a few of the things happening November 21, 2008:

The Kids In The Hall are performing in Las Vegas for one night only! I also love the recent video of them online that I posted here on my tumblr. They are a little wasted in the tour bus watching Scott try to play Portal and for some reason it is the funniest thing in the world to them. Giggle fest ensues.

Also on my birthday this year, the world's best comic shop, Secret Headquarters is hosting an opening of new work on display from the comic Umbrella Academy. This is one of the most original comic books to have come out in maybe the past five years. Written by Gerard Way it's the story of a group of orphan superheroes united by their adoptive father who is an alien disguised as a famous entrepreneur. It's kick ass, and Way will be at the event.

Finally this Friday is the premiere of Season three of The It Crowd, my favorite current sitcom. If you are not watching this show, go look on You Tube for some love. It's worth its weight in solid gold!

Best birthday evar!

Obama pizza fueled inauguration?!?!

2008-11-14T19:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I thought I could not love him anymore but here it comes. According to this report, Barack Obama will be flying into Washington the makers and the ingredients from his favorite local pizza place. In all the excitement abut Obama, I neglected to realize that a president from Chicago meant, a pizza man in power. I know some of you might be too caught up in the whole NYC style vs Chicago Style pizza war to really embrace this but I say let's put our differences aside a celebrate a new era for this glorious land.

My previous post regarding Chicago pie can be found here. For more pizza related news, click the pizza tag below. (pictured here is a pizza heart I made for my gf--didn't turn out perfect.)

Tom Perriello's epic win

2008-11-10T12:30:00.000-08:00

A big congratulations to newly elected congressman Tom Perriello from my hometown of Charlottesville VA. Clay Tweel had originally tuned me into this candidate months ago, and it's one of the happiest upsets of the election season. You should go read this killer Slate article about Perriello and his big bastard of an opponent Virgil Goode. It's got great links to debate video and it expresses what is so wonderful about this win much better than I can. Nice work Tom, you did it!

(ps--his dad is my childhood doctor! Lollipops for everyone!)

Darth Vader Toaster

2008-11-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

Reminiscent of my epic blog post here about the BSGLT, there is another pop culture way to heat bread out there. The Darth Vader toaster is also totally awesome. The only problem being, how many of these things can a grown man own? (found via Topless Robot)

A QUIET LITTLE MARRIAGE at AFI FEST

2008-11-06T22:00:00.000-08:00

(This is a series of brief unedited descriptions of films in the festival I found time to write about. There are MANY other great films playing at the fest but I only have time to write about these few.)

In this portrait of a loving young couple, things begin to fall apart when they realize they have different thoughts about the fundamental nature of their relationship. This conflict begets a series of secrets and lies, which slowly begin to unravel the world around them.

Very few films come with such emotional honesty as this one. The title of the film speaks volumes about the essential theme of this story. This is a story about what happens to a relationship that lacks adequate communication and what pain can be birthed across the chasm of silence that can grow in a relationship. The silences in this film speak volumes about what is breaking this young couple apart and why they are facing such a crisis.

A small story with big performances from the film’s co-creators this film is a powerful debut from the talented director Mo Perkins and announces the arrival of several new young talents on the independent film scene.

A QUIET LITTLE MARRIAGE plays AFI FEST Friday, November 7th 7:00pm

PLAYING COLUMBINE at AFI FEST

2008-11-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

(This is a series of brief unedited descriptions of films in the festival I found time to write about. There are MANY other great films playing at the fest but I only have time to write about these few.)

The videogame Super Columbine Massacre RPG! Instantly provoked more debate and discussion than any other videogame in existence.

After being created it has been held up countless times by media pundits as an example of a society gone off the rails. However what most people fail to realize is that Super Columbine Massacre RPG! is less a violent impulse fantasy than it is something much more interesting. This film follows the history of the video game whose mere existence provokes outrage in some but has actually been therapeutic and even life changing to those who actually sit down and interact with the work.

The rapid advancement of our culture has led to some lagging behind. For some people there are subjects that can never be made into interactive works and for them “games” are always meant for play an nothing larger. Fortunately there are other artists out there who choose to explore larger questions and issues about society

Super Columbine Massacre RPG! Is a magnet for controversy, the most famous example of which was the incident in 2007 when the film was selected for the Slamdance Guerilla Game maker Competition and then unceremoniously dumped out by the festival director. Almost all other games developers in the competition pulled their projects in response and the competition has not returned since.
Clearly the game has polarized audiences worldwide, giving way to ardent defenders as well as staunch critics. Beyond the controversial game itself, the film explores how controversial media is covered in the press, the school shooting phenomenon, and the future of games as an expressive medium.

PLAYING COLUMBINE plays AFI FEST Friday, November 7th 7:10pm

Gulfs of silence cover the landscape of LA RABIA

2008-11-05T10:10:00.000-08:00

We have a showcase on Argentina in our festival this year. Unfortunately I have not actually seen ALL the films in this showcase this year but the ones I have seen are amazing. One example is the film LA RABIA. This is the simple story of small farming families. There is a perceived slight or affront, between neighbors, some sexual infidelities and a little girl who tells too much even without speaking a word.

In fact the thing I liked best about this film was it’s overall use of silence or voiceless ness, the dominant theme of the film. Silences are what define the characters in this world whether it is the mute daughter or the cheating wife; people are expressed by what isn't said. And I think this film with its graphic depiction of animal slaughter is saying more with its silence. The biggest silence of all of course is the lie that we tell ourselves every day.

We are not in control of our lives or our worlds no more than the farmyard pig controls when the butcher's knife comes for him and the more we try to convince ourselves that we control our bodies or our fates, the more we devolve into those primal beasts exerting influence over smaller weaker being whenever and wherever we can. It’s futile to try and escape this vicious food chain and trying to only leads to rage....

LA RABIA (or rage) plays AFI FEST Thursday November 6th at 7:15 and Friday November 7th at 3:30 pm.

Election day outrage

2008-11-04T15:47:00.000-08:00

That's bullshit!

IMAGINADORES at AFI FEST

2008-11-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

(This is a series of brief unedited descriptions of films in the festival I found time to write about. There are MANY other great films playing at the fest but I only have time to write about these few.)

This powerful documentary focuses on the amazing cultural force that are Argentine comic books. The film begins with one of the artists explaining the appeal and potential of the fantasy genre with a quote for Tolkien. Referring to fantastic literature he says: “What’s wrong with wanting to escape when you are in prison?” And with that perspective begins an intensive decades spanning journey into the history of this vibrant art form.

In Argentina comic books are revered much higher than in most other countries. What began as a work mostly for children evolved to take on bigger subjects, eventually challenging those in power. This exhaustively comprehensive doc meets all the major players in the filed from over the years and even goes as far as to animate some of the most well known and influential 4 color dramas.

If you consider yourself a comic book nerd or a manga fan, you must see this exploration of South America’s center for sequential art.

IMAGINADORES plays AFI FEST Wednesday, November 5th 7:00pm

PROPER EYES at AFI FEST

2008-11-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

(This is a series of brief unedited descriptions of films in the festival I found time to write about. There are MANY other great films playing at the fest but I only have time to write about these few.)

The Argentine films this year have been just stunning. One that really stood out for me early in the process was PROPER EYES. This narrative film is about two young women who are trying to make a documentary. They want to interview the many women that wait outside of the local prison every day hoping to meet with one of the inmates. The filmmakers try to talk to the women outside the prison but almost all of them are unwilling to share their stories. Finally one woman agrees to help them with their film if in return one of the young filmmakers will go into the prison and visit with her son.

From this jumping off point the film unfolds. One thing that is so impressive about the film in my opinion was the dramatic de-glorification of crime. It's difficult to make a cinematic work about criminals and have them become so transparent that they remove all glamour from breaking the law. What also is surprising in the film is that it never goes where it is expected to go. I thought this was going to be reminiscent of FORBIDDEN LIE$ and OPERATION FILMMAKER, the allure of a doc filmmaker getting duped by their subject and the fun in watching that downfall, yet the ending is something much more emotionally complex than that....

PROPER EYES plays AFI FEST Monday, November 3rd at 9:40pm

BEFORE THE FALL at AFI FEST

2008-11-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

(This is a series of brief unedited descriptions of films in the festival I found time to write about. There are MANY other great films playing at the fest but I only have time to write about these few.)

The world ends in three days.

The leaders of the world have just announced hat a comet is hurtling toward the earth, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. Even worse, the mass of the object is so immense that there is no hope for any of us. You cannot hide, you cannot hope, in three days we will all be dead. Against this backdrop is the story of a small family in a Spanish village. They are a simple group but they have a troubled history. There is a disturbed man from their past who wants nothing more than to bring misery to the family, most likely through the smallest most innocent members of this clan. Luckily this man is locked safely away in prison but with the impending global catastrophe chaos begins to take hold, the prisons empty and the terror begins.

This is the premise for one of the most original genre films to come from anywhere in years. Quite simply the conflict is this; the world is ending in three days, but for one small Spanish family that isn’t soon enough. If they can live long enough to see the end of the world they might just avoid an even more horrific fate.

BEFORE THE FALL plays AFI FEST Sunday, November 2nd 1:30pm

NIRVANA at AFI FEST

2008-10-31T11:28:00.000-07:00

(This is a series of brief unedited descriptions of films in the festival I found time to write about. There are MANY other great films playing at the fest but I only have time to write about these few.)

Alisa leaves Moscow for St. Petersburg, hoping to get away from loneliness there. Looking for love, she destroys everything on her way to happiness. This young woman finds herself in a bleak modern landscape and tires to pull together some semblance of a life. In this stark Russian landscape he soon becomes involved in the lives of her troubles neighbors and so begins her tragic journey. This tale of drugs and sex is set against one of the most visually innovative backdrops in contemporary cinema

This is the latest visually stunning effort to emerge from modern Russian cinema but this time from an emerging talent in the filed. NIRVANA is a brightly colored gritty punk drama with amazing artistic ambition. The thumping pulse of the story is dashed with neon and sharp design. And the high contrast and vibrant set decoration is like none other you will see in any film this year.

A fantastic example of the stunning visual innovation, which is the defining characteristic of the modern Russian film renaissance, this work from director Igor Voloshin, is a powerfully cinematic vision.

NIRVANA plays AFI FEST Saturday, November 1st 12:30pm

VISIONEERS at AFI FEST

2008-10-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

(This is a series of brief unedited descriptions of films in the festival I found time to write about. There are MANY other great films playing at the fest but I only have time to write about these few.)

George Washington Winsterhammerman lives an ordinary life. He has a wife, a kid, a house, and a boat. Every day George gets in his minivan and goes to work as a Level Three Tunt at the Jeffers Corporation, the largest and most profitable corporation in the history of mankind. It is an utterly comfortable life, but when people around George begin exploding, he fears he might be next. George visits his doctor and learns that the dreams he’s been having are a symptom of impending explosion. Unfortunately, George can’t stop dreaming, and as the explosion epidemic worsens, he is forced to question the life he’s been living.

This is a quirkily unique story, utterly original in every way. One of the most inspired casting decisions of all time has placed acclaimed actor and comedian Zach Galifinackis at the lead of this ensemble. He is joined by the delightful Judy Greer and terrific indie mainstay James Le Gros. VISIONEERS is the debut film from the sibling filmmaking team of Brandon and Jared Drake. It’s a darkly comic view at a world so skewed it could only be our own.

VISIONEERS plays at AFI FEST Saturday, November 1st 9:45pm.

WENDY AND LUCY gets an R-rating

2008-10-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

This is a perfect example of the deep problems of the MPAA's rating system (and possibly of their bias against independent film.) Kelly Reichart's film WENDY AND LUCY received an R-rating from the organization today. The under 13 audience for this film is probably not very big but it's still a shame that such a beautiful film is made so difficult for young cinephiles to see. (We were all young once, right?)

None of the films that play at AFI FEST (or most film festivals for that matter) have any ratings. The festival relys on individuals to learn about films and make their own informed decisions. Unlike other festivals though, AFI FEST does however create an "Under-18" guide where they identify films that audience members should consider sharing with their younger film fans.

The irony of course, is that WENDY AND LUCY was selected as one of the "Under-18" films for this year. Where the MPAA saw something dangerous, the AFI FEST staff saw a great opportunity to share an independent film with our younger audience.

ps-if you have not seen Kirby Dick's fantastic documentary about the MPAA's rating board, THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED, do yourself a favor and put it on your Netflix list now.

Bad book re-design

2008-10-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

This article about a possible film adaptation of the YA book "Lizard Music" sent me into a tizzy of nostalgia. And one of the strongest things that set me off was the image of the old book cover:

So then I hopped over to Amazon to look a bit more at the book. To my dismay I was presented with this new cover image.:

Who possibly thought this was a better design choice?

Digital Filmmaking and the subjective point of view

2008-10-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Two films at AFI FEST explore the world in unusual and original ways especially in regards to the use of a subjective point of view and image framing which heightens the intensity of a story in most unusual ways.

The films are: AFTERCHOOL from the US directed by Antonio Campos and INVOLUNTARY from Sweden and directed by Ruben Ostlund.

What’s most interesting and most similar about these two films made in the same year but from radically different cultures is this: they both use new media sources to tell their stories. In AFTERSCHOOL, the kids are drawn to You-Tube and pornography online like moths to a flame. Their lives become so enmeshed in the world of video that two characters end up getting their death captured on video camera. In INVOLUNTARY two young girls make themselves the dangerous object of desire by posing and vamping for their web cams. Besides the webcams, this stilted, unprofessional framing is the defining aesthetic of the film. This device carries thought the Swedish film most memorably in claustrophobic scenes capturing the human drama boiling over on a cross-country bus line, and in the film’s opening moment with its distant and unwavering framing heightens a startling small scale terror.

A teenage rites-of-passage drama, AFTERSCHOOL vividly captures the corrosive omnipresence of web video footage for American teens. From violent You Tube-style clips to Internet pornography, our new media is creating a tangled web of confusion for the young people going through puberty. Among them is the skinny, socially awkward sophomore Robert (Ezra Miller), who already has developed a taste for rough porn. As two girls suffer fatal drug overdoses on campus, Robert inadvertently captures the tragedy with his video camera. When his video begins circulating, the atmosphere of paranoia and unease on campus grows, and he becomes increasingly troubled and withdrawn. But AFTERSCHOOL scratches gently at this phenomenon, rather than pushing to excess. Just 24, Campos demonstrates his skill at weaving together a variety of themes and concerns: the alienated angst of voyeurism, the pervasive influence of media violence, and the empowering nature of the web cam

I loved this director’s previous effort BUY IT NOW about the real life attempt of a young girl to sell her virginity on eBay. And this latest effort is winning raves from its recent showcase at the NYFF.

And these raves are also being received from the other film, INVOLUNTARY.

It’s almost summer in Sweden. Throughout the city, people are engaging in minor indiscretions and misbehavior. Leffe likes to show off for his friends and play salacious pranks, especially when he’s drinking. A righteous grade-school teacher doesn’t know where to draw the line: she insists her fellow educators need a bit of instruction. And two young teenage girls who like to party and pose for sexy photos go a few steps too far. Inflected with an edgy, urban realism and dark, laconic wit, INVOLUNTARY offers an astute meditation on the intermingling of humans in our modern world. It's innovative in form, defiantly deeper in tone than a mere series of comic vignettes, and beautifully enacted by its ensemble cast. Director Ruben Ostlund writes about the germ of the idea behind the stories: “I played a computer game. The aim was to build and maintain a city. It was played from a bird’s eye perspective, with humans represented by small dots. One press of the icon resulted in pandemonium amongst the inhabitants. I felt that through the emotional distance, I was able to observe in an interested yet distanced manner, without judging and without any feelings of discomfort.” Ostlund replicates this effect, with astonishing success, with INVOLUNTARY.

It’s this distancing in our modern society that both of these filmmakers are clearly interested in exploring. And they do so in tremendously successful ways with these two cinematic endeavors.

Candid photos of Obama

2008-10-22T13:59:00.001-07:00

I love this gallery of images. I looked at it last night and again today. Hard to pick a favorite, I love the pull-ups and the shoes, but this one rocks:
The photographer's caption is:

It was primary morning in New Hampshire. Barack and Michelle Obama had been campaigning separately all week. In the first few months of 2008 their private time seemed to consist of a few crossover moments in back hallways before rallies. This moment was rare and you could tell they just loved being able to sit together. Jan. 8, 2008.

Plus I also love that he's reading a newspaper. Just one of them of course, not "all of them" like Palin "reads."

AFI FEST short film competition

2008-10-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

As I tweeted earlier, the most fun part of my job is probably building the short film programs. It's like making a movie mix tape! So this year we have grouped them a little more thematically than we have in the past. In one program we have the majority of the Documentary shorts together. A few other doc shorts leaked out into other programs but I think these films sit together quite nicely.

We have also grouped together a bunch of our animated shorts again this year. One of my favorite things growing up was a Saturday morning cartoon, and I eventually went on to study animation in school so this is a subject close to my heart. However I don’t want to give the impression that these "cartoons' were meant as fun for the whole family. They do have some frank sexual content in them and besides I think they would just be more interesting to adults that to children anyway. So we've called it the Adults only Cartoon show. We should have programmed it on Saturday morning that would have been clever.

And then we have what is being called the ALT_shorts program. These are the more challenging films in the short competition. (All films in all sections are part of the International Shorts Competition. Fair warning, not all of these films will have linear narrative story telling or other conventions of mainstream filmmaking. But they are stellar examples of artist pushing the medium further and being unafraid to explore their world s more fully with the use of cinema.

Our final two shorts programs are the narrative or dramatic shorts. They are titles, Worldviews and Amuse Bouche. I don't want to give away why they are titled that here, you have to come down to the theater and see for your self!

AFI FEST films nominated for Gotham awards

2008-10-21T17:59:00.000-07:00

IFP announced their annual "Gotham Awards" yesterday and a number of films that we are showing got nominated.

Best Feature nominee THE WRESTLER is one of our Centerpiece galas at next week's festival.

Anotonio Campos and Dennis Dortch both got nominated for Breakthrough Director for AFTERSCHOOL and A GOOD DAY TO BE BLACK & SEXY respectivly.

AFTERSCHOOL also got nominated for the "Best Film Not Coming To A Theater Near You Award" along with the film WELLNESS which also has its Los Angeles premiere here at the festival.

Congradulations to all our nominees! Can't wait to see you next week!

MY support for Obama

2008-10-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

Here's to a smooth victory.

And avoiding the bitter taste of defeat.

Thanks to Stacey for my Obama 08 shotglass!

AFI FEST 2008 and the Ripley Rule

2008-10-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

Eisner winning cartoonist Alison Bechdel articulated her three rules for a movie to attract her interest thusly:

1. Does it have at least two women in it,
2. Who [at some point] talk to each other,
3. About something besides a man

Her admiration for the film ALIEN led her to name this commandment “The Ripley Rule.” Sadly it seems to become increasingly harder these days to find films, which meet this criterion in mainstream multiplex. Luckily AFI FEST comes to the rescue this year with a few films about genuine and insightful stories involving women.

From Iran there is 3 WOMEN the story of Minou, an expert weaver, who grows so obsessed with repairing a valuable old rug that she barely notices when her daughter disappears. Minou sets off on a quest, through one of Iran's most remote regions, that may both reunite her with her daughter and help her discover herself.

Another film from the middle east, NILOOFAR is about Niloofar, a 12-year-old Iraqi girl, who dreams of reading and writing, but she lives in a village where education is only for boys. Her mother, a well-known midwife, insists that Niloofar become her apprentice. While assisting her mother during a delivery, Niloofar meets a feminist woman who undertakes to educate her in secret. Unfortunately, in exchange of a field of palm trees, Niloofar's father promises her in marriage to an older man once she becomes a woman. Horrified, Niloofar does everything in her power to postpone her first period. Destiny catches up with her, but she continues to hide her womanhood from her community, until one day, the truth is revealed.

And representing the Argentine showcase is LION’S DEN. This film, which swept the Lima festival awards, follows an ill-fated and beautiful woman who, after killing her lover, gives birth to a son in prison. A brave new take on the women-in-prison genre, Trapero's movie explores the themes of redemption and survival.

Finally, kind of stretching the rules a bit is American independent film WENDY AND LUCY by director Kelly Reichart. Wendy is driving with her dog Lucy to Alaska, in hopes of a summer of lucrative work at the fish cannery. When her car breaks down in Oregon, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she faces a series of increasingly dire challenges. The latest from Reichardt (OLD JOY) affirms her status as cinema's poet laureate of the American working class.

In-and-Out rumors and secrets

2008-10-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

A popular celebration technique for restaurant anniversaries is to roll back the prices to their original pre-inflation prices. I think this is especially popular here in Los Angeles, where we are often lacking in historical perspective but have some lovely old restaurants. So the rumor going around town was that In-and-Out Burger was going to be rolling this priced back in honor of their upcoming 60th Anniversary. Well on a trip to my Sunday morning burger church today I found out this was NOT TRUE!

Outrageous. But I do love and admire a company that actively addresses the issues instead of ignoring them. In-and-Out is a burger palace of the information age.

Actually one of the best examples of their attitude towards communication are the legendary "secret menu items" at In-and-Out. With no traditional marketing to support it, this is probably the best known aspect of In-and-Out and aside from their general high level of quality is probably what they are best known for.

And the levels of secrecy increase (as does my fascination) the more you learn. In every listing or article about the secret menu items, no one ever mentions my personal favorite item, the flying Dutchman. Order one next time you are there, in my opinion it's way better that the wish burger or the Neapolitan shake.

Spanish Science Fiction

2008-10-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a trend in some contemporary Spanish filmmaking toward unusual genre storytelling these days. Time travel, cloning and apocalyptic fiction are themes in films coming from the nation of Spain this year.

This trend first hit the global stage in January of this year with the premiere of Nacho Vigalondo’s TIMECRIMES at the Sundance film festival. The film won strong praise and the remake rights have already been attached to the mast of genre mutation David Cronengberg.

The Spanish science fiction slant continued later in the year at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival with the premiere of Javier Gutierrez’s BEFORE THE FALL. This film further shatters genre mold by applying a disaster movie backdrop overtop a slasher film, which sounds like a disastrous idea but somehow it works really well. This is due in no small part to the dusty Spanish setting, which infuses everything in the film with golden grit.

And the trend continued in many other films which we have unfortunately not had space for in our festival, but hope to see them pop up in some of the other fantastic genre festivals around the world this year.

It’s unclear what perfect combination of inspiration and innovation has lead to this recent resurgence of Spanish Science Fiction, but we can all be thankful for it. Now all that is left to find a fun name for this funky fresh movement. Maybe Cyberia? Or Barcelonasploiation?

Doc short Acadamy Awards

2008-10-15T16:41:00.000-07:00

The Academy Awards have released the short list of short docs (follow me?) I've seen about half of these during my sojourn as a programmer this year. The ones I have seen were really fantastic docs but unfortunately you won't be seeing them at my festival. The biggest drawback for me being able to program them were the fact that they were long shorts, each about 30 minutes or so in length. I was hoping to have some slots in the festival to showcase these types of films, like a 90-minute program of 2-3 mid length docs. But unfortunately we just did not have the time/space this year.

I'll try and make this a priority for next year, because these types of combo programs were some of the best experiences I had at the various documentary festival I attended this year like Silverdocs and Full Frame.

However if you want to see some other truly outstanding short docs, you easily can at AFI FEST. We have set up a single showcase of short documentaries for your viewing pleasure. The subjects and style are diverse and I hope we've come up with an enjoyable program for all. Come check it out, one show is on election day, so tell your boss you are leaving early to vote and come see movies (be sure to vote too.)

BSG on The Office

2008-10-14T17:56:00.000-07:00

This was the best scene in last week's episode of the Office. And it's how my mean roommate treats me all the time!

If you liked that be sure to check out the BSGLT.

The intimate POV of family documentary

2008-10-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Every year there are a number of fantastic documentaries that deal with personal family issues, from such an intimate perspective they seem like incredibly dramatic home movies. The Sundance FF even had a small section for these types of family dramas a few years ago, yet they don’t break these out this way any more. Probably the most successful of this type of film was Jonathan Colette’s TARNATION which was famously edited on a home computer and became one of the most highly praised documentary films of the decade.

The spectacular epic stories that come out of these modest perspectives seem to ebb and flow over the years, last year there was a relative dearth of these family drama documentaries, with notable exceptions. This year however there has seemed to be an explosion of films being discovered that are either made from within a small family or with such access as to feel internal. And these documentaries all have emotionally expansive impacts even if their scope never extends beyond the small towns they are set-in.

One possible reason for the increased visibility of these types of documentaries might be the success of documentary film festival in the US. These are the types of films which do not have easily marketable appeal but once you get an audience to view them, the have the potential to become word of mouth smash hits. And there are a number of “smaller” documentary festivals in this country, which have really seen tremendous success in the last few years. The top three festivals that come to mind and have been championing these films are Silverdocs in Silver Spring Maryland, Full Frame in Durham North Carolina and True/False in Columbus MO. Drawing from these festival and from other corners of the world, these are some of the amazing family drama documentaries:

INTIMACIES OF SHAKESPEARE AND VICTOR HUGO -- A filmmaker uncovers the true tale of her grandmother Rose Elena's friendship with Jorge, the strange, transsexual and perhaps schizophrenic man who rented a room from her. Could Jorge, Rose Elena's close companion, have been responsible for a string of unsolved murders in Mexico City?

PINDORAMA - THE TRUE STORY OF THE SEVEN DWARVES -- A wandering family of performers—all dwarves, all children of a legendary Brazilian clown—travels the countryside celebrating magic, humanity, happiness and courage. In this award-winning documentary, a team of filmmakers follows this remarkable, enchanting circus as it charms audiences.

PRODIGAL SONS -- This is a family reunion film like no other. It involves two rivals who were once like brothers, and are now like brother and sister and the DNA of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. This film is an unforgettable, moving first-person excursion into family dynamics, identity, gender and the past.

And finally, possibly most strongly to this point, there is:

OF ALL THE THINGS -- In the 1970s, songwriter Dennis Lambert had four songs in the top 100 at once, a feat previously accomplished only by the Beatles. Now retired, and selling real estate, Lambert's discovery of an unlikely cult following—in the Philippines!!—lures him back on tour. This hilarious doc captures every note.

Festival full lineup announced

2008-10-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

I spent the last couple of weeks sad and depressed about the films that we could not find space for. But now I'm all about being excited for the films we do have!

So we announced all the films yesterday and I could not be more thrilled.

The films selected this year are more challenging and more original than the types of film we have chosen in the past. One reason it that it has been such a wonderfully original year in filmmaking is that there are many new voices in international cinema using incredibly unique storytelling styles and there are a number of more established anti establishment filmmakers who continue to challenge the very notion and definition of film.

Also we felt like it was time for the festival to evolve a bit. In the past we have always shown incredibly unique and talented fare, but as audiences become more evolved and sophisticated so must we.

We have seen a trend in many smaller film festivals across the country to become increasingly international in their selections which is wonderful but also to showcase rather melodramatic Oscar bait type dramas, in moving away from that type of programming we are trying to reflect the increased sophistication of our audiences and the continued innovation of the global filmmaking community.

I look forward to discussing it more with you here, and I hope to see you all at the festival.

Sorry for my low output

2008-09-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

I apologize for my rare blogging here. I blame twitter. Why bother to write out anything when I can just post ambient self awareness throughout the day with a fraction of the effort?

But seriously, it's because the festival is coming up and this is the busiest/most stressful part of my year. I'll be sure to post some great pre fest items here soon so don't give up on me! In the meanwhile, why not check out my new co-venture, Blogging About My Kitties. It's the latest blog of mine to suffer from my neglect.

My moms for Obama!

2008-09-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

My mom went to this awesome rally for Obama recently and they took a picture of her, sadly not with Michelle. I am really jealous and think I should be in Charlottesville right now! Plus my cool aunt Nancy is at a rally in Charlotte tonight! Keep it up swing staters! Everyone in California is counting on you!

Maria Bamford -- Cleaning up after your cats

2008-09-20T22:21:00.000-07:00

I know I have not been sharing much online recently, it's that time of the year.

Anyway, here is a slice of my brain courtesy of Tim and Eric and Island Zero Superstar Maria Bamford:

My proud family

2008-09-14T18:11:00.000-07:00

According to this police report, Mr Charles Kneedler of Lancaster PA was arrested for public drunkeness last week. My dad is from this area so I bet this guy is a distant relative. Charles was 39 years old at the time of his arrest, near to my age! The best part is that he was arrested at 12:30 in the afternoon! So he's either a distant relative or a version of me from an alternate dimension that has traveled here somehow and now spends his time drinking the morning away in suburban Pennsylvania.

AFI screening of THE FLY

2008-08-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned back here, David Cronenberg is mounting a musical production based on his 1986 film THE FLY. Oh, and Howard Shore is doing the music for it. Well, to get you excited or to just remind you why this will be so wonderful, AFI is hosting a screening of the film with Cronenberg and Shore on hand for a Q&A next week. And it's going to be in the dome of the Arclight theater. Here is a link to the site for the play, they have production videos on there which look amazing. And here is where you can buy tickets, see you next week!

Congratulations Lex and Alexis!

2008-08-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

Call me Uncle Red Beard.

Ben Russell at Cinefamily

2008-08-16T23:21:00.000-07:00

Blasting out of Chicago, experimental filmmaker Ben Russell makes vibrant,
"tryppy" films as emotional as they are beautiful to sink in to. His Black
and White Trypps subjects range from elliptical trees in high contrast to a
crowd at a Lightning Bolt show to a Richard Pryor performance blown out
visually. Live at the theater, Russell will also perform The American War
(#10), a 16mm double-projection live performance involving film loops, mixer
feedback, a delay pedal, and a homemade light-sensitive synthesizer.

So if you like stark footage of trees, the music of Lightning Bolt, earnest
teenagers, Richard Pryor and/or 16mm projectors, you will be thrilled this
fine night.

August 19
8pm

Tickets - $12/$8 for Cinefamily members
Info here
The Cinefamily @ The Silent Movie Theatre
611 N. Fairfax Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 655-2510

Azazel Jacobs at BAM

2008-08-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

The film MOMMA'S MAN premiered to much acclaim at the Sundance film festival earlier this year. Unfortunately, we won't get a chance to show it at AFI FEST because it will have its theatrical release before our festival. But there is a retrospective of all of Jacob's earlier films showing at BAM in New York this week. I am proud to boast that these earlier works both premiered at AFI FEST first. In reading the BAM notes, I was delighted to see this quote by Aza about the last film we premiered of his: THE GOODTIMES KID:

"The GoodTimesKid was as fun and freeing as we hoped, and ultimately allowed my next film to happen"

To me that makes so much of our work worthwhile. (I need this reminding during these stressful months.) Congratulations to Aza, I wish I could be in Brooklyn this week with you.

AFI screening of NETWORK

2008-08-12T21:59:00.000-07:00

AFI On Screen is hosting a screening of NETWORK this Wednesday and I get to introduce it!

When people ask me what my favorite movie is I usually complain about how you can't choose a favorite, ranking different filmmakers against each other is unfair, etc. But if I'm really pushed to pick a favorite I usually say NETWORK. This is because great films come from great writing and it does not get much better than this:

As relevant today as it was when it was first released, in 1976. (The year I was born!) I got free tickets to any Island Zero reader who wants to contact me.

New video from my friends Frangela

2008-08-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

(And some other people from Best Week.)

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

The Original BSGLT

2008-08-07T22:09:00.000-07:00

At Comic-Con 2008 there was one object more coveted than all the rest.... the Battlestar Galactica Toaster.

On this epic television series the derogatory term for robots is toaster. That makes this one-of-a-kind object a brilliant pop culture totem. Once this classic collectible was obtained by the Island Zero staff there was only one thing to do, make a BSGLT. Here are the pics:
(This episode of Island Zero was Executive Produced by Sue .)

7:35 IN THE MORNING

2008-08-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

I just saw the brilliant first feature TIMECRIMES by Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo.It's a wonderful tale of an unlikely time traveler and the complications that are inevitable with causality.

Expect to hear more about this film from me in the future. But for now, enjoy his short film 7:35 IN THE MORNING. It's about seven and a half minutes long which I know is long in Internet time but I think you will enjoy it. It's a hostage romance musical... the less I say the better but this is how you make short films: with explosive originality.

Without further ado, 7:35 IN THE MORNING:

The morality of selling Manson paintings

2008-08-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

I was discussing a film with a colleague the other day and they voiced a concern about giving publicity to sick/deranged individuals. An analogy was used that was something along the lines of "would you approve of selling paintings by Charles Manson?" Well the analogy wasn't really apt and the discussion went in another direction but I was just thinking...why not?

It's not like Manson is gonna get more famous for his paintings or that anyone will emulate him because now he can sell paintings. I'm asking you the Internet, what do you think? Is there any downside to selling artwork made by serial killers? If so what? And if there is a downside are you not just advocating that capital punishment is the only solution to the problem of societies' malcontents?

Seriously, this is an interactive forum, let me know if I'm way off base here.

Chris Carter presents GREAT EXPECTATIONS

2008-08-05T23:08:00.000-07:00

As part of AFI ON SCREEN's program, Cinema's Legacy Chris Carter (of the X-Files) will be leading a screening an discussion of the film GREAT EXPECTATIONS. Carter will be explaining how David Lean's classic film was an influence on his work.

Carter began his career as a writer for Surfing Magazine. He got his start in the entertainment business in 1985 when Jeffrey Katzenberg, then chairman of Walt Disney Studio Entertainment, read one of Carter's screenplays and signed him to a development deal. Carter went on to develop projects for Twentieth Century Fox, where, in 1993, he created THE X-FILES. THE X-FILES was the winner of the Golden Globe for Best Drama in 1995 and 1997, Emmy-nominated three times for Best Drama, and winner of a Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.

This program is part of Cinema's Legacy, an ongoing series of conversations presented by the American Film Institute and the Skirball Cultural Center, where contemporary filmmakers---including some of cinema's greatest producers, directors, writers and actors---screen work they credit with encouraging and shaping their art. Now in its seventh year, this acclaimed series has featured numerous notable filmmakers including Richard Gladstein, Norman Jewison, Dennis Hopper, William Friedkin and James Horner.

I know some Island Zero readers are fans of the X-Files, I've got free tickets for any fans who contact me in time.

The screening and conversation will be August 26th at 7:30.

Science fiction showcase in August

2008-08-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Science fiction is a genre capable of the highest highs and the lowest lows (ENEMY MINE anyone?) This month AFI is proud to showcase four of the most original, and influential Science Fiction films of all time.

It’s telling that science fiction is one of the few genres that has not gotten its own list from AFI’s 100 years series (it was lumped in with fantasy.) Some legendary artists eschew the term and prefer more pretentious or confusing labels like speculative fiction. Much of the shunning or ghettoization of sci fi is in the past, it’s the era of the geek now (as it has been proclaimed in dozens of cultural journals.) Maybe this is the result of living in the strange cultural landscape where so many ideas first born in science fiction have come to life. One need look no further than the clamshell phones and blue tooth headsets on the classic Star Trek series to see the reality of this influence. So let's plug into some of the best sci fi films ever made and say a prayer for the missing android body of Phillip K Dick.

Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four had a miscarriage

2008-07-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

One of my goals for Comic Con 2008 was to track down Fantastic Four issues 276-278 from the early 80's. I had read weird whispers that Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman had suffered a miscarriage in the pages of these funny books years ago but I was skeptical that this had indeed happened. For one, it seemed that this was too serious and adult a subject to have been in a comic book back in these relatively old days. Also this was the most famous family in the Marvel Universe and if they had a second child who died I'm sure I would have heard about it before.

Well after searching high and low across the floor of Comic Con I finally found the books that were rumored to contain these dramatic moments, and the rumors were true.

Possibly the reason this event is not often spoken about is that it isn't handled particularity well. The writing seems a bit childish given the circumstances. On one page Johny Storm is comforting his devastated family but then he promptly heads off to give She-Hulk a tour of the Baxter Building (seriously.) Still, the story is of curious interest simply because of the nature of its subject matter. The immature writing style seem to be exemplary of the unique period in comic writing. The stories were beginning to grow up, and deal with more sophisticated ideas but the market was still aimed very much at the attention of casual and very young readers.

One reason I was so skeptical that this event ever happened was that a couple of years earlier I had heard something similar and went to comic con to investigate. I asked some knowledgeable gentlemen there about the Richards family's other kid. They looked at me with incredulity and laughed me out of the con. Well I am back now with the proof (you bastards.) Here are some selected scanned pages from the original comics.

Here is a page from issue #267 where She-Hulk's thoughts give some back story to the difficulties with Sue's pregnancy (cosmic radiation is involved.)
And here is the final splash page from that same issue, where Reed Richards is given the devastating news. (Click to enlarge.)The beginning of issue #268 starts with this single page image:
And finally here is the majority of the aftermath, right before Doctor Octopus goes nuts and other cliche comic book action ensues:
(Thanks to Sue Ghoulsby with research assistance.)

WATCHMEN trailer to comic comparison

2008-07-22T21:03:00.001-07:00

I'm trying not to post too much about WATCHMEN either but who am I kidding? I should just go ahead and create a tag for it.

Some guy posted some pics here comparing the new trailer to the images from the comic. I have to admit it's pretty thrilling seeing these characters move around on the screen, despite me being very cautious in my optimism for this movie.

Fish nibble you pedicure

2008-07-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

I try not to re-blog from Boing Boing too often but I've got a local angle on this.

A salon in Alexandria Virgina has imported the exotic technique of having tiny live fish nibble the dead skin off the feet of paying customers. Will any of my Virgina based IZ readers have the guts to go try this out please? I'd do it if I was there and I bet my feet would be the most delicious.

Oh yeah, and CNN's got video.

Boing Boing visits Secret Headquarters

2008-07-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

Talk about two great tastes that taste great together, Boing Boing (the world's greatest website) visits Secret Headquarters (the world's greatest comic shop) in the video below.

What a fantastic thing, and next week: San Diego.

Horrible Blog leads to internet weirdness

2008-07-16T22:24:00.000-07:00

The interwebs are all a twitter with Joss Whedon's latest creation, Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog. It's a wonderful little venture for all, unless you are a crotchety spoilsport type who hates everything fun. And the fun does not stop there, you can cruise over to Dr. Horrible star Felicia Day's site for her own clever blog and web series The Guild.

Dr. Horrible also led to this interview with Mr. Whedon which is very funny. And inexplicably in the middle of the interview there is a weird link to the website of Handlebar Harry, "the world's most magnificent moustache." That in itself is a rabbit hole of the arcane. Strange and hilarious internet ephemera is everywhere today...

Server fire knocks AFI Fest offline

2008-07-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

On Monday there was a fire in an underground bunker in Vancouver Canada that houses the server for AFI FEST's submission system. As the final deadline is a week away, the timing was pretty bad for us. However it was worse for Outfest which is going on now and went completely dark. Additionally I heard that Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival was knocked down for their first day of sales. It's pretty funny to think that a part of the internet fell down. It's back up and running now but you can read the angry thread over on the Peer 1 message board here.

Miracleman experimental theatre

2008-07-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

People sometimes ask me what my favorite comic book is and I want to sounds like a snobby asshole so I usually respond Miracleman. The reason this response makes me an asshole is that despite it being a superdude in tights title and being written by Alan Moore almost no one has read it. That's because its been out of print forever, and it was only released on a relatively small print run when it was available. I wrote more about it here.

The reason I get to bring up MM today is that IO9 reports there is an Australian stage production being put up based on the comic. (?!?!?!?) So basically all I need now is a ticket to Australia and my obsession will be complete. (In case you were wondering, I already own a complete run of the original comic, complied with much difficulty and cost over the years--see how snobby I am?)

Bruce Conner passes away

2008-07-09T13:16:00.000-07:00

I was just talking with a co-worker yesterday about how great it was that Bruce Conner was still making films and how cool it would be to invite him to our festival. I had just seen his latest film at Cinevegas. Later that afternoon, I read the sad news that he has passed away at age 74. He is the father/inventor of collage or found footage filmmaking. Here is his most famous film the groundbreaking 1958 work, A MOVIE.

Bruce Conner, a movie.
by zohilof

My first contact with Conner's amazing films was in film school. I remember a professor saying that if there was any justice in the world MTV would be sending Conner a check for a million dollars every year. Conner was among the first to use pop music for film sound tracks. His films have inspired generations of filmmakers, and are now considered to be the precursors of the music video genre. Here is his film for the Devo song "Mongoloid"

A few years later in Los Angeles I was lucky enough to see the Conner exhibition at the Kohn Gallery. Wandering into the back of that small space I found a small screen showing TAKE THE 5:10 TO DREAMLAND. Stumbling into that film in such a unusual way was purely magical. Take a look:

Take The 5 10 to Dreamland
by zohilof

On a side note, the book "2000 BC: The Bruce Conner Story part II" was a dearly a treasured object, my own copy has alas slipped through my fingers. I'm sure it must have been passed to a dearly loved one, and lost in the sands of time.

Saying goodbye to this towering figure in art and cinema is heartbreaking. Now it is our sad duty to update all biographies and profiles from "one of our greatest living artists" to simply one of our greatest.

Bush being protested in Charlottesville

2008-07-06T10:52:00.000-07:00

The "Worst POTUS in History" visited my hometown on the 4th of July this year. He had the gall to give a speech at Monticello to celebrate the holiday. Well the locals did a good job of stepping up and protesting the speech and you can see it on CNN right here. Unfortunately the cameras were not able to capture zombie Jefferson rising from the grave to throttle the life out of Bush.

Fritz Lang's unseen METROPOLIS is found

2008-07-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

The original version of the 1927 film METROPOLIS has not been seen since it's initial German premiere. Up to a quarter of the film was believed to have been permanently lost. But now a film museum in Buenos Aires reports that they have found a copy of the complete film. This classic dystopian film had previously seemed a bit disjointed and difficult to comprehend but the researchers say the complete version of the film answers questions audiences have had for 90 years.

Dark horse political candidate

2008-07-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

Well this was certainly unexpected:

Pizza shortage!

2008-07-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

According to Boing Boing, the global food crisis has lead to Italians choosing to eat pasta over pizza. I blame the Global Warming and pretty much view this as a major sign of the apocalypse.

btw--I have ended my self imposed pizza ban. I lasted about 3 weeks but had to order one this weekend to celebrate my new kittens!

Moustache power

2008-06-27T18:34:00.001-07:00

Pictured below: me, Mike Plante and Morgan Spurlock at Cinevegas 2008.
Like Mike said, "You do not want to fuck with this festival."

2 Guys 1 Story

2008-06-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

I just thought I'd pass this little nugget of wisdom on. I recently got back from a screenwriting conference with these guys and found their perspective on film to be totally insightful. Even if you're not interested in the industry and you just like movies, you should totally check their website out:

www.2guys1story.com

Good news for DEAR ZACHARY

2008-06-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

One of the best films I saw at Silverdocs, DEAR ZACHARY has been selected as the first film from the new MSNBC Films division. As reported here by Indiewire, MSNBC will support the documentary during its festival and theatrical release. Congratulations to director Kurt Kuenne, his film is a powerful work and I hope many more people get to see it as a result of this deal.

IDA profiles my drunken antics

2008-06-23T21:24:00.000-07:00

Hilarious... (to me at least) Tamara Krinsky posted a picture of me and my cohort Jacqueline Lyanga in the Director's Suite of the Palms. Click here for my Documentary world infamy.

Silverdocs unlocks unusual subjects

2008-06-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

To be honest with you it can get a bit dreary watching 7-9 documentary films a day at a festival. But while the political environmental or socially conscious films are great here, I‘d also love to point out a few films which focus on less conventional subject matter that are unexpected highlights from the first three days of Silverdocs 2008.

First up is a delightful and silly documentary about Dust titled, DUST. It’s one of those docs that proves there is no subject that can’t be made interesting in the hands of the right filmmaker. The film is a fun trip thought various lives and experiences all related to dust. There are filmmakers who explain the nature of dust on film, art preservationists, OCD housewives and on and on.

And then there’s GONZO. Recently featured at the AFI Dallas film festival as well, I can’t do a better job of getting you excited for this film than this trailer does:

Finally I’d like to mention HI MY NAME IS RYAN. This is a sparkling and polished doc about the Phoenix outsider art scene, which made the American artist seem as vibrant and relevant now as ever. The artist that accomplishes this and that sits at the center of this film is Ryan Avery, a cherubic and tortured young man who begins confounding every preconception you make about America’s youth, performance art subcultures and even human beings in general as soon as you meet him. This is the only film that was at both Cinevegas and Silverdocs this year and it’s one to watch out for. I can see Ryan Avery coming as the next big cultural movement in America and this unusual and accomplished film is the crest of that wave.

Silverdocs is doing a fantastic job so far of highlighting the power of film to illuminate the cobwebbed corners of society.

Cinevegas farewell: the best gift bag I've ever gotten

2008-06-19T18:08:00.000-07:00

I've gotten a number of film festival gift bags over the years but the ones from Cinevegas are the most fun I've ever seen. Not because they are filled with high price tag items, but because they are filled with fun and creative ideas. The people who work for this fest do it because they are passionate about the organization and want all the attendees to have fun. After all, it is supposed to be festive, right?
Check out the Cinevegas band-aids! Hilarious!

And the classic Cinevegas temporary tattoos. (Get an actual Cinevegas tattoo and get festival admission for life!)
I love that they made branded nude pens! Some had stripping nuns.
And here are festival branded chocolates...

(Not pictured--a Cinevegas branded plastic funnel. Terrifying for it's deliberate absence of suggested uses.)

Cinevegas day five: the no pictures night

2008-06-18T13:25:00.001-07:00

Nothing happened at Cinevegas last night*. Nothing at all.

*This post sponsored by the Sapphire gentleman's club, official gentleman's club of Cinevegas 2008.