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HIGH ON HI-DEF
David Poland's Moviecity News links to this interesting interview with Mark Cuban in Business 2.0 in which the Broadcast.com, 2929, and HDNet founder (and Dallas Mavericks owner) concisely lays out his long-term vision as a digital distributor and content supplier. It's a good read as it clearly lays out in one short article the thinking that informs Cuban's business ventures, which include the producer of low-budget indie HD films, HDNet. Cuban disparages the DVD format (he believes they'll be replaced by higher quality presentations delivered via satellite and broadband and stored on hard drives) and, in one great quote, dismisses all the current handwringing over digital piracy:
"It's all bullshit," he said. "A bunch of pathetic excuses. I personally have more than half a billion dollars invested in content. And I'm a lot less worried about piracy than I am about technological communism. I don't want Orrin Hatch's 'help.' I want technology unconstrained. Because if technology wins, content companies will benefit dramatically, like they always have."
# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 11/19/2004 06:56:18 AM Comments (0)
ACADEMY DOCS SHORTLISTED
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences yesterday released a list of films that will continue on in the voting process in the category of Best Documentary Feature for the 77th Academy Awards. The 12 films from which the five nominees will be selected are listed below in alphabetical order:
Born into Brothels (ThinkFilm), directed by Zana Briski and Ross KaufmannThe most stigmatized people in Sonagachi, Calcutta's red light district, are not the prostitutes, but their children. In the face of abject poverty, abuse, and despair, these kids have little possibility of escaping their mother's fate or for creating another type of life. Zana Briski gives these kids cameras and teaches them how to use them, igniting latent sparks of artistic genius. The photographs taken by the children are not merely examples of remarkable observation and talent; they reflect something much larger, morally encouraging and even politically volatile: art as an immensely liberating and empowering force.
Home of the Brave (Emerging Pictures), directed by Paola di Florio
Home of the Brave is about the only white woman murdered in the civil rights movement in America and why we don't know who she is. Told through the eyes of her children, the film follows the on-going struggle of an American family to survive the consequences of their mother's heroism and the mystery behind her killing.
Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train (First Run Features), directed by Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller
The life and times of the historian, activist and author of the best selling classic A People's History of the United States.
In the Realms of the Unreal (Wellspring), directed by Jessica Yu
Explores the parallel lives of legendary outsider artist Henry Darger. Reclusive janitor by day, visionary artist by night, Darger's 15,000-page novel The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, as caused by the Child Slave Rebellion details the exploits of seven angelic sisters who lead a rebellion against godless, child-enslaving men.
Riding Giants (Sony Pictures Classics), directed by Stacey Peralta Beginning with the history of surfing from its early Polynesian roots to its rebirth in the 20th Century, Riding Giants traces the development of a fledgling surf culture along the coast of Southern California in the 1940s, highlighting a group of surfers who began searching for bigger and bigger waves, pushing the boundaries of performance to explore the "unridden realm."
The Ritchie Boys, directed by Christian Bauer
The film follows the fates of a band of young German Jewish intellectuals, refugees from Hitler's Germany, who had fled to the U.S and were persuaded to sign up for intelligence work in their former homeland. They trained at the super-secret Camp Ritchie, in Maryland.
The Story of the Weeping Camel (ThinkFilm), directed by Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni
An enchanting tale about a family of herders in Mongolia's Gobi desert who face a crisis when a mother camel unexpectedly rejects her newborn calf.
Super Size Me (Samuel Goldwyn Films), directed by Morgan Spurlock
A tongue-in-cheek -- and burger in hand -- look at the legal, financial and physical costs of America's hunger for fast food.
Tell Them Who You Are (ThinkFilm), directed by Mark S. Wexler
A portrait of the acclaimed cinematographer Haskell Wexler by his son Mark.
Touching the Void (IFC Films), directed by Kevin MacDonald
Two twenty-something mountain climbers descending one of the world's highest peaks face the ultimate tragedy in this stunning true story.
Tupac: Resurrection (Paramount Pictures), directed by Lauren Lazin
The film explores the life of the slain rapper through his own words and music.
Twist of Faith, directed by Kirby Dick
The powerful story of a man who confronts the trauma of past sexual abuse by a local priest, only to find his decision shatters his relationships with his family, community, and his faith.
Eligible documentaries were screened by the AMPAS Documentary Branch Screening Committee, made up of members of the branch who serve on a volunteer basis. The above films were chosen after a preliminary round of screenings. The nominated films will be announced along with nominations in 24 other categories on Tuesday, January 25, at 5:30 a.m. PST.
Surveying the list, Anthony Kaufman asks, "Where was Tarnation? Where was Metallica: Some Kind of Monster? Where was Control Room?... The rest of the Academy lineup features some expected entries -- from Super Size Me to Riding Giants -- but the full list taken as a whole ignores some of the year's most potent nonfiction work."
# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 11/18/2004 01:27:24 PM Comments (1)
BERLINALE RETRO
Entitled "Settings - Locations - Scenes. Production Design & Film," the Retrospective of the 55th Berlin International Film Festival (February 10 - 20, 2005) will be dedicated to the profession and impact of production design.
"Production designers are much more than just set builders," says Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick on the Festival's revamped Web site. "'They are genuine artists who substantially influence the overall appearance of a film. At first glance the effects are often not evident, yet their work is of utmost importance for communicating dramatic action.' Production designers supply the visual key for the mood and story of a film. They bring out individual emotions and social conditions as well as accentuate what is mysterious or menacing."
In other Berlinale news, "In 2005, the Festival will present part 2 of the series of films from the U.S.A.'s recovery program for Europe following World War II. (Organized by IFP founder Sandra Schulberg with Richard Rena from the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Part 1 premiered earlier this year at the Berlinale and was reprised at the 2004 New York Film Festival.) "Conceived to run for a total of three years, the series will continue during the Berlin International Film Festival in 2005 and again in 2006." At the 55th Berlinale... Selling Democracy - Welcome Mr. Marshall will feature "works from the early post-war years, including so-called re-orientation films, are to be screened under the heading Selling Democracy - Winning the Peace. The programme will be augmented by feature films from the period that depict Europe's upheaval. In 2006, the project will close with Selling Democracy - Friendly Persuasion. The final series is to focus on how Europe changed as a result of modernization, mechanization and its emulation of 'the American way of life'."
# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 11/17/2004 10:44:40 AM Comments (0)
THE RESIDENTS
Blown Away! by The Residents. Courtesy of the Cryptic Corporation.
In 1980, a year before the launch of MTV, The Residents, a reclusive San Francisco-based band, released Commercial Album along with four short films (Moisture, Act of Being Polite, Perfect Love and The Simple Song) based on tracks from the album. The Residents' pioneering work is often cited as contributing to the development of the modern music video artform, and their One Minute Movies, directed by Graeme Whifler, are now part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
According to the Web site The Moles, "The premise of the Commercial Album... was for The Residents to create their own 'top-forty' of one-minute songs -- one minute being the length of a typical TV commercial. Taking over where the group's 1978 classic Duck Stab left off, the Commercial Album further distills the music of The Residents into a stream of compact and multi-faceted avant-pop gems. A model of economy, the songs on this kaleidoscopic album constantly convey more with less."
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Commercial Album, Mute Records has issued a Special Edition DVD to both compliment and complete the project with an amazing collection of 56 one-minute films based on the original 40 Commercial Album songs. "In order to produce this large number of films," the Mute site reports, "in addition to themselves, The Residents have assembled an outstanding group of 42 visual artists from around the world [including Kar Aermann, Leigh Barbier, Ty Bardi, Doug Carney, Bulk Foodveyor, Fabrice Fouquet, Incorect, Andrew Koehler, Harry Lagoussis, Chip Lord, John McNaughton, Cedric Mercier, Eric Montchaud, Takeshi Murata, Eric Nordhauser, Eun-Ha Paek, John Payson, The Penguin Bros., Martin Redlich, Stephane Ricard, Rosto A.D., Jean-Michel Roux, John Sanborn, Gunter Segers, Rajendra Serber, Rich Shupe, Casey Stockdon, Geert Vandenbroele, Veber Veber, Luk Willekens, and others]. Working in various forms ranging from animation, live action, and puppetry to drawing, photography and sculpture, the disc is a virtual film festival in miniature. In addition The DVD has an innovative game-like interface that allows viewers to explore a maze in the process of viewing the videos. This complex of rooms contains a unpredictable series of interactive features as it reveals the 56 videos created by The Residents and their all star cast of visual collaborators."
On December 1 at 8:30 p.m., the Museum of Modern Art in New York will screen ten new one-minute music videos by The Residents from the Commercial Album Special Edition DVD as part of its series of film and video premieres celebrating the reopening of the museum.
# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 11/16/2004 02:59:21 PM Comments (0)
THIS DVD WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN...
In a blog entry below we reported on "window-busting" release of Chazz Palminteri's film Noel, which will appear in theaters, on cable and on DVD all within the same month. It's part of a marketing strategy designed to score Noel some ink in the press -- perhaps to divert attention away from the reviews, which Rotten Tomatoes scores only 18% positive.
In our entry we were intrigued by the release strategy, but the folks at The Movie Blog linked to this USA Today piece which describes it in more critical terms. Some of the comments in the piece, like the ones from chain theater owners who disparage the concept, can be attributed to pure self-interest. (Of course theater owners don't want consumers to think that the movies they play can be seen in alternate formats so soon after release.) But the piece does pinpoint a downside to the technology we hadn't thought of: the discarded DVDs are yet another piece of environmental waste, destined to clog up landfills.
# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 11/15/2004 07:50:08 AM Comments (0)
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© 2004 Filmmaker: The Magazine of Independent Film