ARTHOUSE FILM NEWS - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene at Facets, Chicago 11/29/23

I saw Le Grand Voyage (an On The Road in Europe & the Arab world story, except with a family member & some family drama), distributed by Film Movement, a few months back & liked it a lot. Here is a synopsis: "A few weeks before his college entrance exams, Reda (Nicolas Cazale), a young man who lives in the south of France, finds himself obligated to drive his father to Mecca. From the start, the journey looks to be difficult: Reda and his father (Mohamed Majd) have nothing in common. The wide cultural and generational gap between the two is worsened by the lack of communication between the two. Reda finds it hard to accommodate his father, who demands respect for himself and his pilgrimage. From France, through Italy, Serbia, Turkey, Syria, Jordan to Saudi Arabia- the two will embark on a road trip to Mecca that will change their lives." Le Grand Voyage was directed by Ismael Ferroukhi . Find out more about the movie & Film Movement here . Movie is availabl

I have not seen it yet, but this 1948 New York Times review of the movie Paisan makes it sound very interesting, kind of like some contemporary indie dramas & comedies I've seen. Here is a little bit from the review: "It is useless to attempt an explanation, in familiar and concrete terms, of its basic theme and nature, for it is not an ordinary film—neither in form nor dramatic construction nor in the things it has to say. In some ways, it is the antithesis of the classic "story film," and certainly it throws off glints of meaning which are strangely unfamiliar on the screen. Possibly for some persons who are accustomed to the routine sort of film, it will be completely bewildering and leave a sad sense of emptiness. But at least it cannot fail to rattle the windowpanes of your eyes. And for many it will crash into the consciousness and leave the emotions limp." Read the rest of the review here . - Sujewa

Have not seen Man Push Cart yet, but am looking forward to checking it out. Here is the trailer: - Sujewa

Here is a little bit from the Pop Syndicate interview with director Bahrani re: movie Chop Shop : " Q: It was a very gritty, New York film but it could have been filmed anywhere. Although we usually think of kids who fall between the cracks living in a 3rd world environment. Why New York? A: Because the location really is in New York. Also to help erase ideas of entitlement and the brainwashing of colonialism that spur on false classifications such as “3rd world.” Categories like 3rd and 1st world, or East and West, or the “Orient” were shrewdly created in order for one to exploit the other, economically, mentally, and imaginatively." Read the rest of the interview here . And an intro to Chop Shop (i believe this came from the AFI Fest): "Chop Shop USA, 2007, 84 min, 35 MM DIR: Ramin Bahrani SCR: Ramin Bahrani, Bahareh Azimi PROD: Jeb Brody, Marc Turtletaub, Lisa Muskat DP: Michael Simmonds ED: Ramin Bahrani PROD DES: Richard Wright EXEC PROD: Peter Sa

Saw Galaxy Quest again, still very funny. Some deleted scenes, found on YouTube: - Sujewa

From the interview : " What was the inspiration for your film "In Search of a Midnight Kiss"? I was dumped, flat broke, at a career low after watching my life fall apart in three months and working at a video store on New Year's Eve when I started to consider, "In Search of a Midnight Kiss." I wanted to watch a really funny and cynical movie about how ridiculous New Year's Eve was when you were dateless and depressed. So that led to thinking about that nether zone of the year between New Year's and Christmas when all the lonely people are hanging around their families going crazy and thinking about the next year and what they will do differently. So Sara Simmonds (Vivian in "ISOAMK") and I walked the streets of downtown talking about this movie and discovered all of these amazing locations. We could not believe that no one had captured the beautiful and post-apocalyptic downtown. That set the wheels in motion, but it took getting the axe w

And I thought it was just a kids movie. From the press release : "The American Humanist Association announced today that Philip Pullman, esteemed author of the controversial book, "The Golden Compass"--which has been made into a movie scheduled for release December 7--will be honored with the International Humanist Award in Washington DC in June. The award decision comes near the end of a two-month protest by the Catholic League, which has charged that the book and film are "anti-Catholic" and that the film, by being less confrontational, is part of a deceitful "stealth campaign" to promote an "anti-religious" book series. "We didn't hear complaints about a pro-evangelical stealth campaign when C.S. Lewis' ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’ was made into a film," noted Fred Edwords, American Humanist Association director of communications. "No humanists organized protests nor did the Catholic League complain of ev

As I was checking out a DVD at my local Blockbuster Video store earlier today, I saw a small video camera called Flip Video for sale there. Price: $180, stores 1 hour worth of video, looks like it is very easy to use & the best part is that it has a USB arm that plugs into the computer; no cable needed. Looks like it is a cheap & easy to use YouTube machine - a device created pretty much for people interested in easily capturing home/amature/non-professional quality video & getting it up on YouTube & other similar sites. I guess this camera has been around for a few months now, but the first time I found out about it was today. Might make a nice gift for someone who is interested in getting some stuff up on YouTube but is not interested in doing the post-production stuff that comes with shooting on tape. Some Flip Video links: Official website CNN Money article on the camera geeksugar article - sujewa

Check out the trailer for Ed Burns's new movie Purple Violets here . Violets in now available for download/purchase from iTunes . Here is a synopsis of Violets (from Apple's site ): "Set in lower Manhattan, PURPLE VIOLETS is a relationship comedy about four friends from college ready for change. PATTI PETERSON (Selma Blair) is a promising writer, but her marriage and conventional job keep her from her dream. She longs to return to her writing, especially after running into her first love BRIAN CAHILL (Patrick Wilson), a successful crime novelist. KATE (Debra Messing) is Patti’s best friend since college. She’s a tough-talking schoolteacher who plays therapist to all Patti’s problems, while she’s got a few of her own. Despite Brian Cahill’s gorgeous Tribeca loft and perfect house in the Hamptons, he longs to write works of greater literary value. MURPHY (Ed Burns), his lawyer and best friend from college still carries a flame for his former girlfriend Kate, even though the

check out the interview at MovieMaker . here is a segement: "MM: Since you are the first person to premiere a feature on iTunes, you get that added press, too. EB: There is that, yeah. We never really factored that in or gave that much thought cause the press, it still may very well prove to be not necessarily positive. I think it was more about… none of my films have played theatrically in St. Louis since 1996. There are plenty of people there who like my stuff, so maybe now they can see it on the day it opens. MM: Exactly. Is there any thing you can see though as a threat to the success of this experiment? EB: I don’t, you know. You’re a filmmaker, and especially as a kid in film school, you dream of sitting in the movie theater and seeing yourself projected on a big screen. I mean, that’s why I think people become filmmakers and actors. You fall in love with the environment and the feeling you get sitting in a theater with an audience. That being said, my movies to date

happy thanksgiving day everyone :) - sujewa

From Deadline Hollywood Daily : "On Thanksgiving Day (November 22), a group of Writers Guild Of America members will begin posting Public Service Announcements featuring A-list Screen Actors Guild talent as part of an independent WGA membership's "Speechless" campaign conceived by director/writer George Hickenlooper and writer Alan Sereboff. For the first time in the TV and movie industry, high-profile SAG actors will be taking their talents directly and exclusively to the Internet -- the very medium which is at the center of the current WGA labor strike against the Alliance Of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The spots will begin appearing on Thursday morning which will begin posting Thanksgiving Day and run exclusively on DeadlineHollywood.com through Sunday night. Beginning Monday, they can be found on SpeechlessWithoutWriters.com with links on UnitedHollywood.com and every day thereafter during the duration of the strike. Included are SAG talent such a

Coming in '08, read about it here . Now, in a somewhat unrelated note, this might tie in with one of my "wacky" theories about ancient civilizations having computers; what if we eventually make all computers completely (& relatively quickly) bio-degradable, then, in a couple of hundred years after a city is abandoned, there may not be any trace of that city having computers left for future civilizations to discover. This kind of thing could have happened in the past. I think that it is possible that flight, nuclear weapons, computers, etc. could have been invented & used at some earlier points in the 200,000 year long human past; or that as our modern age discovers them, this may not be the first time that those high tech gadgets have made an appearance on Earth. Perhaps that's a theory best left to a sci-fi movie script :) But, the drive to create both high-tech & eco-friendly products does make me wonder. - Sujewa

(well, to be entirely accurate, what Wagner James Au said was " Screenwriters, DIY! ", i just couldn't resist using a version of go west... :) In the article " Screenwriters, DIY! " (thanks to Thompson On Hollywood for the link), we find the following: "In the mid 90s, during a strike against The San Francisco Examiner, a bunch of staff writers and editors abandoned the newspaper to start up their own “web magazine.” Though it seemed like a weird idea at the time, the web mag eventually became Salon.com , now a site with more readers than most newspapers — including The Examiner itself. As the WGA strike moves into its second week, it’s hard not to see a similar opportunity: What’s to stop WGA writers (especially those associated with well-known TV shows and movies) from doing a similar thing with YouTube? Create new, low-budget shorts à la Lonely Girl , then leverage them as spinoffs for new TV series/movies when the strike ends? Or perhaps even better,

According to a little known & rarely active indie film blogger named Matt Dentler , Greg Araki's stoner comedy SMILEY FACE was selected by Sundance (that's THE SUNDANCE f*ing FILM FESTIVAL - "#1" in America), Cannes (that's THE CANNES INT'L f*ing FILM FESTIVAL - "#1" in the world), Toronto & SXSW film festivals (all together that's four of the most important film festivals in the western world & Austin!!!) YET the film is only being released in 1 theater!!!!!! The mind boggles. It is actually still boggling. OK, boggling over, let me list other ticket sales friendly qualities of this movie (granted, i have not seen it, but, given these ingredients, i am sure TONS of kids will want to see this movie): - directed by Greg Araki; yes, not a household name across America, but, a well respected indie director with a solid following. Didn't his last "properly released" film (MYSTERIOUS SKIN) earn several million dollars? - star