Renowned puppeteer Basil Twist's aquatic extravaganza Symphonie Fantastique became an overnight sensation when it debuted in a 500-gallon water tank at the 78-seat HERE Arts Center in Soho in 1998.

One-of-a-kind entertainment, the show combines the magic of puppetry with the powerful suggestions of dance, film and art, set to the five movements of Hector Berlioz's hour-long 19th-century classic composition. Out of view of the audience, five puppeteers swirl fabrics and feathers, glitter and vinyl, plastic, dyes, bubbles, fishing lures and flashlights through the water tank to create an utterly original work that is alternately funny, romantic, joyful, haunting and whimsical.

Beginning September 17, Symphonie Fantastique returns to New York as the inaugural production of the new Dodger Stages on West 50th St. The revival will feature a 1,000-gallon water tank.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/30/2004 05:45:00 PM Comments (0)

Following in the footsteps of Richard Linklater, whose sequel to Before Sunrise was a hit with critics and audiences this summer, the Associated Press reports that Kevin Smith "has begun work on a sequel to Clerks, his homemade indie classic from 1994.

"That $27,000 movie, shot at night in a store where Smith worked, chronicled the adventures of Dante and Randal, two guys who talk about life, death, sex and movies while working at neighboring stores.

"The sequel, [to be called The Passion of the Clerks], picks up 10 years later.

" 'It's about what happens when that lazy, 20-something malaise lasts into your 30s. Those dudes are kind of still mired, not in that same exact situation, but in a place where it's time to actually grow up and do something more than just sit around and dissect pop culture and talk about sex,' Smith said during an interview at his Hollywood office."

"A new 10th anniversary DVD of Clerks debuts September 7, and Smith said working on that three-disc set inspired him to write about what became of those characters." The three-disc 10th-anniversary DVD release of Clerks, titled Clerks X, will be released by the Miramax Collectors Series. It will include the original theatrical version of the film, an extended Sundance Film Festival (news - Web sites) cut and a new documentary.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/30/2004 04:51:00 PM Comments (0)

Director Larry Fessenden (Wendigo), visual/FX/storyboard artist Brahm Revel (Wendigo, "Californication") and producer/director James Felix McKenney (The Off Season, Cannabalistic!), have released "What Are You Voting For?", a free informational 32-page comic book "profiling the life and crimes of the Bush administration."

"While we want to share this work with friends and like-minded folks," Fessenden said, "we didn't do it to get a pat on the back, we really want to make a difference by presenting the issues in a digestible format like a comic book. Our goal is to get it to the swing states this fall. So we're looking into ways to distribute it. Any ideas would welcome."

Contact Fessenden at larry@glasseyepix.com

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/30/2004 01:44:00 PM Comments (0)

Beginning September 23, The Museum of Modern Art presents three evenings of dialogue with leading music and media innovators.

Laurie Anderson, Michel Gondry and Brian Eno will discuss how the fields of music and moving image production overlap. According to the MoMA press release: "The common element uniting these artists is their musical backgrounds -- Anderson as a solo performer, Gondry as a drummer and director of music videos, Eno as a pioneer of electronic music -- allied with their subsequent careers in the visual and moving-image arts. While cross-pollination between other artistic media, such as painting, sculpture, drawing, and printmaking, has long been acknowledged and examined, Anderson, Gondry and Eno's careers have utilized elements from their musical backgrounds and works to create hybrid projects -- installations, feature films, performance pieces -- that have developed the frontiers of media art."

Anderson will be interviewed by writer/actor Wallace Shawn on September 23 at 7:00 p.m.; Gondry by journalist and film programmer Ed Halter, on September 30 at 7:00 p.m.; and Eno by director Todd Haynes on October 7 at 7:00 p.m.

The series will take place at CUNY Graduate Center, Proshansky Auditorium, 365 Fifth Ave. at 34th St. Tickets are $15, $10 for MoMA members; $8 for students with ID. Tickets can purchased at the MoMAVistor Center at the MoMA Design Store, 44 W. 53rd St. and at the CUNY Graduate Center box office.

Commemorating its 75th anniversary, The Museum of Modern Art will re-open its newly renovated building on West 53rd Street on November 20, 2004.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/30/2004 01:04:00 PM Comments (0)

In a promising sign for indies, the Sundance '04 feature Evergreen will premiere theatrically September 10 on 115 AMC theater screens via a satellite link and digital projection. Via Movie City News comes this press release in which AMC Film Group Chairman Dick Walsh says, "This engagement also showcases the capability of AMC's DTDS system to bring quality programming directly to our theatres on a national basis."

Says the release, "Written and directed by promising newcomer Enid Zentelis and screened at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, Evergreen tells the story of Henri, a teenage girl who lives in poverty with her mother, who goes to great lengths to become part of her boyfriend's affluent family. Shot on location in Everett, Washington, the cast features Mary Kay Place, Cara Seymour, Bruce Davison and Addie Land as Henri...

"AMC will present the film digitally, using AMC's proprietary Digital Theatre Distribution System (DTDS). The DTDS system eliminates the need for the production and distribution of 35mm film prints, a costly process which the producers of independent films often cannot afford. The digital file of the movie will be distributed to each AMC theatre via satellite."

According to director Zentelis, she spoke with Walsh at Sundance where the theater exec saw the film, loved it, and spoke of his interest in getting the film in front of audiences. UTA agent Jeremy Barber worked out the deal between the filmmakers and AMC. For more info on the film visit the website.

# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 8/28/2004 03:40:00 PM Comments (0)

"Genesis P-Orridge is talking about the day he was asked to rescue a series of radical movies made by William [S.] Burroughs, artist Brion Gysin and filmmaker Antony Balch from a skip. It was 1980 and P-Orridge was living on the dole in Hackney, east London, fronting art-punk band Throbbing Gristle. 'Brion called me from Paris,' recalls P-Orridge. 'Antony had died, and all the films they had made in the 1950s and 1960s were about to be destroyed. 'Here's the address,' he said. 'Do what you can to save them. Go and get them, and they're yours. You'll know what to do with them.' "

No, this isn't the sequel to The Da Vinci Code.

According to The Guardian, the episode really did take place, and Genesis P-Orridge rescued the films on which Burroughs, Gysin and Balch collaborated -- including Towers Open Fire and The Cut Ups -- from imminent destruction.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/27/2004 10:31:00 AM Comments (2)

Via the dishy Weblog A Fly on the Wall comes the following link to Jennifer Shiman's hilarious animated 30-second "re-enactments" of popular movies, including Alien, The Shining, Titanic and The Exorcist.

As in her previous films, Shiman's latest masterpiece, Jaws in 30 Seconds, is re-enacted entirely by bunnies.
.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/26/2004 10:40:00 AM Comments (0)

With Tuesday's announcement of 10 more titles, the Gala Presentations program of the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival is now complete. Among the additional titles announced are:

Mike Barker's A Good Woman, a world premiere and a charmingly comedic tale of high-society Americans in Italy starring Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson;

Kevin Spacey's Beyond the Sea, a world premiere starring Kevin Spacey as Bobby Darin;

Oliver Hirschbiegel's Downfall, an intense thriller that dramatizes the fall of Berlin at the end of the Second World War starring Bruno Ganz and Juliane Kohler;

John Stephenson's Five Children and It, a dazzling combination of live action and animation starring Kenneth Branagh and Freddie Highmore;

the world premiere of Jean-Paul Salome's Arsene Lupin, the thrilling and passionate story of the whirlwind adventures of a legendary hero starring Romain Duris and Kristin Scott Thomas;

the international premiere of Carlo Mazzacurati's An Italian Romance, which follows two estranged lovers and the passionate love affair that ensues when they reunite;

Mick Davis's Modigliani, a world premiere starring Andy Garcia that recounts the untold story of the bitter rivalry between Modigliani and Picasso;

Bille August's Return to Sender, a world premiere starring Kelly Preston and Aidan Quinn in the rivetting story of a cynical lawyer who fights to exonerate a woman on death row;

Walter Salles's The Motorcycle Diaries, which traces the youthful origins of revolutionary Che Guevara;

and a fascinating look at the theater during the height of the English Restoration, Sir Richard Eyre's Stage Beauty.


The complete Masters lineup boasts 21 films from 19 countries, including Buddhadeb Dasgupta's Chased by Dreams;

Brides from Pantelis Voulgaris;

Goran Paskaljevic's Midwinter Night's Dream;

Wong Kar Wai, Steven Soderbergh and Michelangelo Antonioni's portmanteau film, Eros;

Low Life from Im Kwon-Taek;

Hou Hsiao-Hsien's Cafe Lumiere;

Bad Education from Pedro Almodovar;

Land of Plenty from Wim Wenders;

The Ninth Day from Volker Schlondorff;

Human Touch from Paul Cox;

and Theo Angelopoulos's Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow.


As Planet Africa celebrates its 10th anniversary, the Festival presents Ousmane Sembene's Moolaade and Spike Lee's Sucker Free City in Masters.

Planet Africa begins on Monday, September 13 with the North American premiere of Moolaade, the latest from novelist and veteran filmmaker Ousmane Sembene. Moolaade confronts female circumcision, a horrific ritual still practised in several African countries, through the dramatic and moving tale of a mother who challenges the established order to protect her daughter.

Spike Lee's latest is Sucker Free City, a world premiere. Nick (Ben Crowley), a white boy, and his family are forced to move from wealthy Mission Point to the poor black side of town, where they are harassed by the local gang. Planet Africa includes six features, and seven shorts, including three world, two international, and one North American premiere from 11 countries.


The complete Special Presentations lineup offers 31 films from 14 countries, 29 of which make their world, international, or North American premieres, including Florian Gallenberger's Shadows of Time, a tragic love story that traces the lives of two teenagers who meet in a carpet factory near Calcutta;

Danny Boyle's Millions, a comic fantasy about a pair of young Liverpudlian boys who stumble across the loot from a robbery and have one week to spend it;

Sally Potter's Yes, a complex and arresting narrative about a distinguished scientist (Joan Allen) whose love affair with a Lebanese surgeon (Simon Abkarian) takes them on a global journey;

Laurence Dunmore's The Libertine, which follows the rise and fall of John Wilmot (Johnny Depp), Second Earl of Rochester -- a licentious wit and poet who frequented the court of Charles II (John Malkovich);

John Waters's NC-17 A Dirty Shame, an outlandish comedy from the cult-hero director featuring Tracey Ullman and Johnny Knoxville;

and Jim Brown's Isn't This a Time! A Tribute Concert for Harold Leventhal, the first screening of which will be followed by a rare, live performance by The Weavers with Pete Seeger.


Contemporary World Cinema represents a rich diversity of world cinema, showcasing premieres and prize-winners from international directors. An additional 49 titles have been added to Contemporary World Cinema for a total of 58 features and one short, 51 of which are world, international, or North American premieres, from a total of 37 countries.

Highlights of this year's selection include Carlos Sorin's Bombon -- El Perro;

Frederic Fonteyne's La Femme de Gilles;

Robert Guediguian's Mon Pere Est Ingenieur;

Pawel Pawlikowski's My Summer of Love;

Christophe Honore's Ma Mere;

Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin;

Bahman Ghobadi's Turtles Can Fly;

Alex de la Iglesia's Ferpect Crime;

and Liu Bingjian's Plastic Flowers.


The complete lineup of documentaries throughout the Festival was announced on Tuesday, including the North American premiere of Mark S. Wexler's star-studded Tell Them Who You Are, which screens at the VISA Screening Room at the Elgin Theatre as part of Real to Reel. The Festival includes 38 documentaries from 18 countries, including 19 world and 10 North American premieres. In addition to Real to Reel, documentaries also screen in Masters, Special Presentations, Visions, and Planet Africa .

The Festival lineup also includes seven films in the National Cinema program, South Africa: Ten Years Later; 23 films in Wavelengths; 21 films from 14 countries in Visions; 28 features from 23 countries in Discovery; 10 films in Canada First!; 39 shorts in Short Cuts Canada; The Rowdyman as the Canadian Open Vault; the films of Pierre Perrault featured in Canadian Retrospective; and 10 films in Midnight Madness.

The tenth installment of Dialogues: Talking With Pictures features seven films that have influenced the lives of the presenters, such as a restored version of Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate, as presented by cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and MGM archivist John Kirk.

As a pilot project this year, the Festival collaborates with world-renowned curators of The Power Plant Art Gallery to present several film-based installation works by internationally recognized Canadian and international artists. Art Project: Role Play screens at various locations downtown. Additionally, the Festival presents the work of gifted cinematographer Christopher Doyle via a DVD installation of his work at the year-round Box Office. These installations are free and open to the public.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/25/2004 02:28:00 PM Comments (0)

As reported in The Guardian, "At first glance the text of the advert running in national newspapers [in th UK] today reads like an attack on the burger and fries giant McDonald's.

"The advert says it supports the core argument of a film where a man who eats burgers for 30 days piles on weight to such a health damaging extent that his doctors order him to stop eating them.

"But it is not placed by campaigners savaging the firm's nutritional record -- it is placed by McDonald's.

"So concerned is the multinational about the U.S. independent film Super Size Me, which [screened this past weekend] at the Edinburgh film festival and goes on general release in Britain in three weeks' time, that it decided to mount the unconventional campaign."

The ads are reportedly not unlike those the fast food corporation had previously run in Australia. Unlike the Austrailan ads, however, which challenged the conclusions of the documentary, the UK ads reportedly "support" the conclusions of Super Size Me film but challenge the film's methodology: "The ad claims the film is flawed because an average customer would take six years to eat the same amount of burgers as the filmmaker ate. It also claims the weight gain was exaggerated because the filmmaker cut his physical activity to a bare minimum."

As cited on the JKL Blog: [McDonald's rival] "Subway Restaurants, a U.S. sandwich chain, recently withdrew a highly controversial German ad campaign [promoting Super Size Me] due to mounting pressure from employees, consumers, think tanks, members of congress and bloggers" [which attacked the ad as anti-American]. The headline of the ad, which features a cartoon of an obese Statue of Liberty reads, in German, "Why are Americans so fat?"

"Earlier this year, Larry Light, McDonald Corp.'s chief marketing officer, said McDonald's has adopted a new marketing technique that he dubbed 'brand journalism', reports the Free Enterprise Blog... His insight? Offering a free DVD of Super Size Me for every ice tea sold."

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/24/2004 01:30:00 PM Comments (0)

Vincent Gallo in Sunday's New York Times:

Q: "Why aren't you married?"
A: "Intimacy always creates an urge in me that I am missing out on something."

Speaking of Gallo, via his Drowning in Brown Web site comes news that he will be performing live on August 25th at Rothko in New York.

Gallo will be performing with Sean Lennon in a rare live performance that will include music from Gallo's album "When." Tickets are $18 advance, and $22 day of the show. Tickets include a ticket to a screening of his latest film, The Brown Bunny.

# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 8/22/2004 08:28:00 PM Comments (0)

The last time I linked to the Cyan Pictures Web site it was to make fun of founder Josh Newman's constant posting of new film sales and starts that never seem to quite happen. So it's only fair that I eat some crow and link to the site again now that a new film, a doc called More than a Game has gone into production.

From the site: "Late this may, B'nei Sakhnin became the first Arab-led soccer team to win the Israeli national cup. Now the team heads off to Europe to represent Israel on the world stage of the UEFA tournament. Comprised of seven Arabs, four Jews and four foreigners, the team is a microcosm of the divided Israel that exists today; can they work through their differences in pursuit of a common goal?" Newman is regularly updating the blog with a blow-by-blow of MidEast doc producing. Check it out.

I got an e-mail from Todd Rohal thanking us for blogging his new feature, The Guatemalan Handshake. He noted in his e-mail that, a la George Washington, he shot the no-budget feature in 35mm anamorphic scope. Now he's got a lovely trailer up that appropriately whets one's appetite for the feature while showcasing the beauty of the 'Scope format.

# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 8/22/2004 08:07:00 PM Comments (0)

There's been a bunch of cool stuff popping up in the film blogosphere lately. Below are a couple of links that have caught my attention; the sites these links are from should be immediately bookmarked!

The Movieblog, subtitled "The Official Home of Correct Movie Opinions," actually isn't a compendium of hastily scribbled film "reviews" but rather a sharp assortment of interesting movie links with a particular emphasis on Asian horror and art films. Click over there now for stuff like a stylish Japanese website for Wong Kar-Wai's 2046 and a giant Quicktime trailer of Wes Anderson's new The Life Aquatic.

Over at Moviecity News, Ray Pride has a great interview with Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly on the occasion of that film's new director's cut re-release.

By the way, most of the above I was alerted to by the beyond essential Greencine Daily, still the best film blog out there.

# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 8/21/2004 11:25:00 PM Comments (1)

In Jeff Levy-Hinte's piece, "The Digital Divide," in the current issue of Filmmaker, Levy-Hinte discusses the major studio's battle against new technologies like the file-sharing services which, while they enable the free distribution of copyrighted materail, also have legitimate uses. Levy-Hinte's fears of expanding governmental control over legal technologies were abated this week by a federal appeals court ruling stating that two file sharing services, Grokster and Streamcast, weren't liable for the distribution of copyrighted works on their networks.

Judge Sidney R. Thomas wrote, "History has shown that time and market forces often provide equilibrium in balancing interests, whether the new technology be a player piano, a copier, a tape recorder, a video recorder, a personal computer, a karaoke machine, or an MP3 player. Thus, it's prudent for courts to exercise caution before restructuring liability theories."

Download Levy-Hinte's piece if you haven't, and check out also David Poland's combative three-part reply in his The Hot Button.

# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 8/21/2004 04:56:00 PM Comments (0)

When Travis Crawford last interviewed director Paul Schrader for Filmmaker in Fall 2002 he was looking forward to beginning work on a prequel to the 1973 film The Exorcist. "It will be nice to do something with a larger tableaux from a quality script," said Schrader. "I don't feel like I'm doing something beneath me. It's been 20 years since Cat People, and it will be refreshing to work the big arena again."

Little did he know what was in store for him.

In the LA Weekly Scott Foundas details the behind-the-scenes debacle that led to Schrader's eventual replacement by Renny Harlin at the helm of Exorcist: The Beginning.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/13/2004 10:48:00 AM Comments (0)

Nerdy Brooklyn Math teacher Keith Black, who still lives at home with his mother at age 35, has gone from your "average joe" math teacher to a cult movie star through the unlikely success of his award winning $3,000 short Get the Script to Woody Allen. Against all odds, Black has garnered national press and recently closed movie, TV and airline deals.

Black's critically acclaimed short will play before several classic films by Allen as part of Loews Cineplex Entertainment's tribute to Woody Allen's 35th anniversary in films during the month of August.

Performance Schedule:
Thursday, August 12 at 7pm - Annie Hall
Thursday, August 19 at 7pm - Broadway Danny Rose
Thursday, August 26 at 7pm - Manhattan

Theatre: Loews @ 34th Street, NYC
Vicinity: 34th St. (8th & 9th Ave)
Screenings are free; no reservations

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/12/2004 10:57:00 AM Comments (4)

As reported in The Guardian today: "A silent film cinema in Hollywood has been forced to cancel a screening of the landmark 1915 movie The Birth of a Nation following protests from members of the public and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The film was due to screen on Monday at the Silent Movie Theatre in Hollywood, California, until owner Charlie Lustman bowed to pressure. Lustman said that he was concerned that customers would have to cross a picket line and was also fearful for the safety of Bob Mitchell, his 92-year old organist."

Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid, recently toured the country with a remix of Birth of a Nation. As Ana Finel Honigman writes in Artnet: "Today, while the film is reviled for its politics, it is revered by film critics and scholars for its cinematic innovations (including the first color sequence). Its power as propaganda remains unnerving and it is reportedly still used as a recruitment piece for Klan membership. During a private screening at the White House President Woodrow Wilson is reported to have exclaimed: 'It's like writing history with lightning.'

"Miller's Rebirth of a Nation [premiered] in mid-May at the Vienna Festival and [travelled] to the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston South Carolina [prior to arriving] at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York on July 23, 2004. For each performance Miller [mixed] audio and video on-site and a DVD of Rebirth of a Nation will be released in the upcoming year."

Paul Miller offers the following rationale for his interest in Birth of a Nation: "[The film] focuses on how America needed to create a fiction of African American culture in tune with the fabrication of 'whiteness' that undergirded American thought throughout most of the last several centuries: it floats out in the world of cinema as an enduring albeit totally racist, epic tale of an America that, in essence, never existed. The Ku Klux Klan still uses this film as a recruiting device and it's considered to be an American 'cinema classic' despite the racist content. By remixing the film along the lines of dj culture, I hoped to create a counter-narrative, one where the story implodes on itself, one where new stories arise out the ashes of that explosion."

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/11/2004 03:48:00 PM Comments (2)

"TV's new artistic credibility is making the small screen an alluring alternative for directors, offering freedom from the stresses of financing and distribution that beset any adventurous filmmaker," writes Joy Press in this week's Village Voice ["Out of the Box," August 11-17, 2004].

"According to film and TV director Barry Levinson, 'Movies these days are less and less about characters and behavior. All that's gone out the window. It's television that's taken over the role of capturing the small moments of human behavior -- a role that's been abdicated by theatrical films."

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/11/2004 11:46:00 AM Comments (0)

The Toronto International Film Festival, the largest film event in North America, has announced additions to this year's line-up:

"Six films, four world premieres and one North American premiere, have been added to the Special Presentations line-up at the... Festival, for a total of 13 films in Special Presentations announced to date.

"The world premieres are Crash, from Paul Haggis [and featuring Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser, Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillipe, Thandle Newton, Larenz, Nona Gaye, rapper Ludacris and Don Cheadle]; Haven, by Frank E. Flowers, [featuring Bill Paxton and Orlando Bloom]; Alexander Payne's Sideways [with Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen]; and James Toback's When Will I Be Loved [starring Neve Campbell and Frederick Weller].

"Also screening as part of Special Presentations are Niels Mueller's The Assassination of Richard Nixon [starring Naomi Watts, Sean Penn Don Cheadle and Jack Thompson], a North American premiere, and John Duigan's Head in the Clouds [with Charlize Theron, Penelope Cruz and Stuart Townsend]."

The Festival also announced two additions to its Gala Presentations:

Director David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees, which "delightfully explores the highs and lows of self-discovery, in an existential comedy that is simultaneously sublime and ridiculous." The film featues Dustin Hoffman, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Naomi Watts, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg, Isabelle Huppert.

Bill Condon's Kinsey "tackles the life and relationships of a man who set out to research the sexuality of Americans and found himself at the height of a controversial media frenzy." Starring Liam Neeson in his compelling portrayal of scientist Alfred Kinsey, the film is supported by a stellar cast that features Laura Linney, Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow, Tim Curry, Oliver Platt, Dylan Baker and Lynn Redgrave.

The Festival will close with the world premiere of Adim Jean's Jiminy Glick in Lalawood, in which Martin Short reprises his Comedy Central character, the exuberant entertainment critic Jiminy Glick. Also starring Jan Hooks, Linda Cardellini, Janeane Garofalo, John Michael Higgins, Elizabeth Perkins, Larry Joe Campbell, DeRay Davis, Aries Spears, and Gary Anthony Williams, the film is a rollicking romp that follows Jiminy as his dreams of all-encompassing celebrity land him in the comical trappings of an outlandish murder mystery.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/11/2004 10:04:00 AM Comments (0)

A series of 24 anti-Bush campaign ads produced by filmmaker Errol Morris for MoveOn.org will began airing in select markets during the Republican National Convention later this month. According to Variety, each of the ads "feature real people who voted for Bush in 2000 but have been let down by the president's performance and now support Kerry.

"'This is a very simple idea: a different kind of political advertisement. Not a prepared speech, not a voiceover narrative, but rather people speaking one on one,' said Morris.

"Others who are directing campaign ads for MoveOn include Rob Reiner, comedian Margaret Cho and helmer Allison Anders. A separate animated spot will feature the voices of Scarlett Johansson, Kevin Bacon and Ed Asner. Woody Harrelson is directing an ad that will star Alicia Silverstone."

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/10/2004 10:31:00 AM Comments (0)

Andre Noble, who stars in the film Sugar, which has been playing to great success at the leading gay and lesbian film festivals this summer, died from inadvertant poisoning on July 30. According to a news release, Noble, 25, died a few hours after he came in contact with a poisonous plant known as monkshood on a small island near his Newfoundland home.

Noble appeared in productions of Shakespeare's Hamlet, As You Like It and Twelfth Night and he co-founded a new theater group in Toronto, The Young Company. He began his television career by appearing in the popular CBC mini-series "Random Passage," TVO/TFO's "Ta Voix Dans La Nuit" and the TV-movie "Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story."

He made his feature film debut as "Adam" in Jacob Tierney's Twist, a modern retelling of Oliver Twist, which opened in Canada in 2003 and is currently in limited release in the U.S. through Strand Releasing. Noble then got what might have been his breakout role as the lead in Sugar, an adaptation of Bruce LaBruce's "JD" stories directed by John Palmer. Noble played "Cliff," an 18-year-old suburban boy who heads into the city and falls in love with a seductive, crack-addicted hustler, played by Brendan Fehr ("Roswell").

Sugar is currently in theatrical release in Canada through ThinkFilm; it will be released on DVD/VHS in the United States by TLA Releasing and ThinkFilm on November 16, 2004.

In his memory, Noble's family has set up a scholarship fund in his name for the Theatre Department at the Sir Wilfred Grenfell School of Fine Arts in Newfoundland. Tel: 709-256-1600.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/10/2004 09:54:00 AM Comments (1)

New York's first annual Imagine Festival, of Arts, Issues and Ideas coincides with the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City. From August 28 to September 2, 2004, the Imagine Festival is hosting over 125 events that mix artistic and educational activities through a series of concerts, performances, screenings, forums, town meetings and other extraordinary cultural happenings. The complete schedule of events -- including an evening with John Sayles, who will discuss and preview his new film Silver City, and Robert Altman will revisit his classic Secret Honor on the 20th anniversary of its release -- can be found here.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/09/2004 05:38:00 PM Comments (0)

Photographer Johnny de Brest's "Vladracul" photo series is currently being exhibited in Washington, D.C. through August 27 at Goethe-Institut Washington.

"'Vladracul,' a modern-day allegorical spin on the Dracula tale, shot in Berlin and Poland... was culled from over 15,000 images, from brightly-lit contemporary clubs pulsating with undercurrents of darkness to shots of Auschwitz that are simultaneously horrific and beautiful" (LA Weekly).

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/09/2004 10:43:00 AM Comments (1)

Filmmaker Alison Murray emailed to say that she's launched her new Web site, The Hellhound, which contains a trailer from her forthcoming debut feature Mouth to Mouth as well as short films and other info.

Says the Web site, Mouth to Mouth, executive produced by Atom Egoyan, "features Alison's signature choreographic style, woven into a powerful narrative about a search for belonging. Sherry, a teenage goth, runs away with a bizarre collective called SPARK (Street People Armed with Radical Knowledge) losing her lip ring, her virginity and her family in one road trip. Cast include Natasha Wightman (Gosford Park), Eric Thal (Snow Falling on Cedars), Ellen Page (Marion Bridge), August Diehl (Was Nutzt die Liebe in Gedanken) and Maxwell Mccabe-Lokos (of cult band The Deadly Snakes)."

Murray's company, Hellhound, is an associate producer of the project, and it's also getting involved in other types of productions as well. One of the most fascinating is Carnesky's Ghost Train, "a real ghost train ride featuring live performers and magic illusion. This phantasmagorical journey starts up in London's Brick Lane this coming August, before commencing an international tour." Conceived by theater artist Marisa Carnesky, the travelling event reconceives the traditional amusement park haunted house ride for darker, more psychologically distressed times.

# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 8/08/2004 02:15:00 PM Comments (0)

Anne Thompson reports in The Hollywood Reporter: "As the rules governing the film landscape continue to shift, professionals from all corners of the industry wonder how to define 'independent' . ...

"From Miramax's co-production of Martin Scorsese's $100-million epic The Aviator at one extreme to Jonathan Caouette's $218 Tarnation at the other, the definitions of Hollywood and Indiewood have never been more unclear."

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/06/2004 05:55:00 PM Comments (0)

The always interesting Ratchet Up this week posted the following notice:

"Grass-roots journalists are dismantling Big Media's monopoly on the news, transforming it from a lecture to a conversation. Not content to accept the news as reported, these readers-turned-reporters are publishing in real time to a worldwide audience via the Internet. The impact of their work is just beginning to be felt by professional journalists and the newsmakers they cover. In We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People, nationally known business and technology columnist Dan Gillmor tells the story of this emerging phenomenon, and sheds light on this deep shift in how we make and consume the news."

The book, just published in a hardbback edition by O'Reilly Media, Inc., is also available as a free download.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/06/2004 03:00:00 PM Comments (0)

From this week's IFP e-newsletter:

"The recent box office success of politically aware documentaries like Fahrenheit 9/11, The Corporation, Super Size Me, Control Room and Bowling for Columbine has brought unprecedented attention to the genre. And with it, stirred debate among critics, filmmakers and popcorn-guzzling audiences, alike. When is fairness and balance necessary in a documentary? Can filmmakers with an agenda be relied on to be telling the truth? Where does advocacy cross the line and become propaganda?

"From August 9 to 13, join two leading practitioners of the form, Academy Award-winner Pamela Yates (Witness to War, Presumed Guilty) and Jehane Noujaim (Startup.com, Control Room) on The D-Word Forum for a timely and provocative week-long online discussion on The Political Documentary."

Free. Registration required.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/06/2004 10:48:00 AM Comments (1)

Eight short films funded by the Bravo! Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent (Bravo!FACT) have been selected to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, September 9-18, as part of its inaugural Short Cuts Canada section "showcasing the originality and artistry of our Canadian short filmmakers."

Among the films supported by Bravo!FACT, which finances short films in Canada, are two titles by Manitoba-based Guy Maddin, both produced by Rhombus Media:


Sissy Boy Slap Party: a micro-montage of mime with music and sound effects of seven slap-happy suntanning sailors;






and Sombra Dolorosa: a short featuring a widow who wrestles El Muerto for the ghost of her dead husband, a race against an eclipse, and an attempted suicide.






Among the other Bravo!FACT-financed films in Toronto are: Superhero Wannabe, directed by Patricia Harris Seeley, The Human Kazoo, directed by Fabrizio Filippo and co-written and produced by Karen Walton (Ginger Snaps), Boyclops, directed by Jay Dahl, Choke, directed by David Hyde, Trouser Accidents, directed by Semi Chellas, and Bad Luck, directed by Brad Peyton.

For the first time, the Toronto International Film Festival has also launched an interactive filmmaker blog on its Web site, called Director's Dish. The blog will be written by filmmaker Rob Stefaniuk, whose debut feature Phil The Alien (in which he also stars) premieres in the festival's Canada First section focusing on emerging filmmakers from north of the border.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/05/2004 02:39:00 PM Comments (0)

Are you looking for constructive feedback on your feature-length documentary rough-cut? DocuClub's monthly screening program In-the-Works invites filmmakers to a screening of your work-in-progress and then opens the floor for a discussion about the film's structure, content, pace, character development, and length.

In-the-Works, which kicks off September 13, 2004 at Symphony Space in New York City, is also an ideal place to network with other documentary filmmakers.

For info visit DocuClub's Web site, www.docuclub.org, or call Liz Ogilvie, Program Manager at (212) 582-3055.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/05/2004 01:19:00 PM Comments (0)

I received sad news from my friend Claire Best today. Geraldine Peroni, one of New York's top film editors, died unexpectedly at her home yesterday.

Peroni has long been associated with the films of Robert Altman -- she cut The Player, Short Cuts, Pret-a-Porter, Kansas City, Dr. T and the Women, and The Company -- but she also contributed her considerable skills to a number of other great independent films by a wide range of directors. She cut Alison Maclean's Jesus' Son, Rose Troche's The Safety of Objects, Tom DiCillo's Johnny Suede, and Sande Zeig's The Girl, among others. At the time of her death she was editing Ang Lee's in-production Brokeback Mountain.

All are welcome at a memorial service that will take place this Friday, August 6, 11:00AM at St. Veronica's church, 153 Christopher Street between Washington and Greenwich.

# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 8/04/2004 08:34:00 PM Comments (0)

From a press release we received today:

The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre and the Erotic Museum Hollywood present For Adults Only: Pre-NC-17 Cinema in America, September 10 -12, 2004, a weekend of movies that were rated X upon original release.

All screenings are at the newly renovated Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the historic Egyptian (6712 Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Las Palmas) in Hollywood.

"The series kicks off with a new 35 mm print of Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris (1972, MGM/UA), presented in memory of the film's star Marlon Brando. Other films include Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970, 20th Century Fox/Criterion), a pop-culture sexfest about a girl band, written by Roger Ebert; Ralph Bakshi's animated Fritz the Cat (1972, MGM/UA), based on R. Crumb's '60s counter-culture comics; Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971, Warners); New York hustler drama Midnight Cowboy (1969, MGM/UA) starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman; Haskall Wexler's Medium Cool (1969, Paramount), a look at the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention riots; [Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg's] Performance (1970, Warner Bros.) starring a very young Mick Jagger; and Ken Russell's blasphemous The Devils (1971, Warner Bros.).

"Writer, critic and author of the book The Movie Rating Game, Stephen Farber will appear for discussion after the screening of A Clockwork Orange [on September 11].

"Starting in the late 1950s, a flood of largely foreign motion pictures offering a franker, more realistic view of the world hit American shores, some prime examples being Roger Vadim's ...And God Created Woman (1956), Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1959) and Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960). But, there were also such groundbreaking domestic movies as Otto Preminger's Man With the Golden Arm (1955) and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) that pushed the envelope of what was acceptable on American screens. As the 1960s progressed, the mushrooming counterculture, coupled with the struggle for civil rights, the equality of the sexes and a growing anti-war mentality, spurred a gradual, steady rise of ever more controversial films on U.S. screens.

"When Jack Valenti became president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in 1966, he quickly acknowledged that changes would have to be made. In an effort to stave off federal censorship and find a replacement for the antiquated, virtually useless Hays Code, Valenti laid the groundwork for a ratings system that would address the concerns of parents, educators and politicians but still leave a 'liberal latitude' of what the discriminating adult might view on his or her neighborhood movie screen.

"The rating system went into effect in November, 1968. Out of the initial rating letter symbols -- 'G' for General, 'M' for Mature, 'R' for Restricted, and most notoriously, 'X' for no one under 17 admitted -- only X was not trademarked by the MPAA. Brian De Palma's biting anti-war satire, Greetings, was the first film to receive the X rating, followed soon after by such adult-themed movies as Midnight Cowboy (famous as the only 'X' film ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture), If..., The Killing of Sister George, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Medium Cool, The Devils, Myra Breckenridge, Last Tango in Paris, In the Realm of the Senses and A Clockwork Orange. While many of these films contain sexual material that seems tame today, by the standards of the era they were seen as seriously provocative. Just as important, many of these films were politically and socially subversive, redefining the boundaries of what could be shown and said in commercial, mainstream cinema.

"Unfortunately, every pornographer in the country began exploiting the X-rating as bait for the libidinous viewer interested in hardcore porn. The deleterious effect on serious adult fare with artistic or social merit still too edgy for an R rating was almost immediately felt. Many 'respectable' theater chains refused to book films with an X rating, no matter the quality or origin, and newspapers boycotted advertising for any movie with the disreputable rating.

"The ratings system went through a series of various permutations, especially during its first two decades in existence. Although the ratings were amended to change the confusing M (Mature) rating to GP, then once again in 1984 transforming the GP to PG and PG-13, it wasn't until 1990 that the X-rating was abolished and replaced with NC-17. Initial films to receive the rating were Philip Kaufman's Henry & June and Pedro Almodovar's Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down (both 1990). The intent behind the NC-17 rating revision was to rescue quality adult cinema from the pariah status of what had become an X-rated ghetto.

"Unfortunately, as many studios, distributors and exhibitors soon learned, NC-17 carried its own commercial stigma, largely propagated by the religious right in America. Many theater chains and newspaper and media outlets picked up the torch, boycotting exhibition and advertising of NC-17 movies, a heinous practice that continues to this day. Although several of the films in our series such as Midnight Cowboy, Performance and The Devils (as well as many other worthwhile, originally-rated-X movies) were later re-rated with the R rating after miniscule cuts (or sometimes no cuts at all), others would undoubtedly receive the stronger NC-17 if released today for the first time."

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/03/2004 03:53:00 PM Comments (0)

SXSW has announced the winners of its 2004 SXSWeb Media Festival. The winners of the Jury Prize and the People's Choice Award will both be included in a special program in SXSW 2005, March 11-20, at the Austin Convention Center. Download the winners here.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/03/2004 12:39:00 PM Comments (0)

Something Awful continues to randomly alter its front index page, this week parodying Harry Knowles's font-obsessive Web design and headers with "Is It Not Cool News".

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/03/2004 11:39:00 AM Comments (0)

Robert Greenwald's controversial documentary, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism will be released in theaters Friday, August 6 in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C. It will subsequently open in select cities across the country. The film is being distributed by Cinema Libre Distribution, which is also distributing Greenwald's Unconvered: The War in Iraq, opening in theaters August 20.

"Since its debut on home video more than two weeks ago, Outfoxed has sold a significant number of units via the Internet while simultaneously creating noteworthy controversy among the media and public alike. Prior to its release on DVD, the Center For American Progress sponsored premieres and MoveOn.org organized 3700 house parties across the nation. The DVD has been listed as Amazon.com's bestseller for two weeks with over 145,000 hits on Yahoo!

"Philippe Diaz of Cinema Libre Distribution says, 'We've had the privilege of collaborating with Robert to break all the rules in distribution, by changing the order of traditional distribution practices, and working with grassroots organizations like MoveOn.org to create new forms of promotion which are not usually part of the movie world.'"

Outfoxed will open August 6 in New York at the Quad, in Washington D.C. at the Avalon, in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Fairfax and in San Francisco at the Roxie. In addition to Outfoxed and Uncovered, Cinema Libre Distribution will also be handling limited theatrical releases for Greenwald's "Un..." series, including Unprecedented and Unconstitiutional.

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 8/02/2004 12:49:00 PM Comments (0)

The British newspaper The Guardian has long been a daily read for its left-leaning political coverage. Now they've added a Gamesblog, so you can check them out for smart takes on gaming played on platforms ranging from PCs to phones.

Amid the obvious -- like links to the new Doom 3 demos -- the blog discusses a game featuring an s/m virtual world, a forthcoming game in which one can hunt Osama Bin Laden, and the poltical potential of quickly conceived and rendered downloaded Java games.

# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 8/02/2004 11:29:00 AM Comments (0)