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

The LHC gets turned on this Wednesday, the last I heard. And some people think it will cause the planet to blow up. Not so says Professor Brian Cox in the YouTube video below. About the LHC's goals, from Wikipedia : "When activated, it is theorized that the collider will produce the elusive Higgs boson , dubbed the "God Particle" [6] , the observation of which could confirm the predictions and missing links in the Standard Model of physics and could explain how other elementary particles acquire properties such as mass ."

Looks good; first feature by Gary King: NEW YORK LATELY - Theatrical Trailer from Kitchen Table Films on Vimeo .

After making a lot of short films, Amir has completed his first fiction feature - titled Whale, here's the trailer & some info. about it: " whale Cameron, a writer who seems to have never finished his first novel, returns home to his mother’s house in Orange County Ca., after a failed relationship and lack of direction with life. Back home, Cameron spends his time reacquainting with old high school friends, only to find that life has only gotten more confusing for everyone. What is a young man to do when he seems to have lost all hope? The film uses a cast made up of mostly non-actors, including Motlagh’s real life parents. Many of the cast were first seen in Amir Motlagh’s short film, Dino Adino (2001). By using an alternative narrative style, the film destroys the lines of fiction and documentary by engaging the audience in a way that traditional narrative fictions cannot. Motlagh utilized an approach that mixes the cinematic language, using influences ranging from Dogme

A brief history of independent film, at New York Times . - Sujewa

Finally some indie film news to blog; this place was in danger of turning into a full-blown X-Files type strange stories zone :): "Kitchen Table Film Presents NEW YORK LATELY Friday, October 17 at Tribeca Cinemas New York, New York – September 8, 2008 - On Friday, October 17, Kitchen Table Films will hold a private premiere event of the independent feature film drama NEW YORK LATELY at the Tribeca Cinemas in New York. Written, directed and produced by Gary King, the premiere will feature a full screening of the 92-minute film and host an after party at the same venue. The filmmakers and select cast will be in attendance for post-screening Q&A's. NEW YORK LATELY follows multiple characters as they weave through their daily lives struggling to find happiness. Using New York as the backdrop, filmmaker Gary King interweaves several unrelated tales into a larger tapestry that not only pulls viewers into these intimate day-to-day lives,but also draws on those interactions to sho

Check out the video here . Clip also contains an evaluation of an ancient battery. - Sujewa

If you feel several years or several thousand years out of step (forward or backward) with much of the rest of the world, that's probably because a few layers below the commonly agreed upon idea of point in time lies the actual point in time in which you exist - the two numbers are not the same; more on that here . That and other "strange" ideas - such as ancient batteries, surprisingly complex navigational tools from thousands of years ago, possible records of ancient nuclear weapons - will be explored at this new blog of mine in the coming months as time permits; might give me some ideas for some sci-fi tinged movies, and - if nothing else- will probably be an interesting/entertaining blog. And now, for some video: - Sujewa

Indie filmmakers have used, typically & mostly, comedy and drama as the two film storytelling genres with which to tell the stories that they want to tell. Another very interesting genre, one that seems to have no boundaries; death, time, whatever, is science fiction. After getting caught up on most of the episodes of the four seasons of the new version of Battlestar Galactica, I can see how adding a sci-fi element to an indie film would allow the makers to explore issues that are not as well explored by a walking and talking comedy-drama movie. Any human concern - no matter how outlandish or vast; life after death, origin of life, nature of consciousness, genocide, death squads, Gods, right and wrong, whatever - can be tackled entertainingly & convincingly through sci-fi. So, new indie filmmakers should take a look at sci-fi as a possible genre to add to the mix for their features; maybe instead of a low budget indie feature about a young couple walking around the city &am

The DNO DVD cover design needs more work, but the face design (pictured above) I like. On Monday I should have the final cover design & should be able to order the first batch of retail DVDs. So, should be able to start selling DNO DVDs before this month is over. Indie Film Blogger Road Trip doc editing is happening. May not make the regular deadline for Sundance (9/8), but may make the late deadline (9/22). - Sujewa

The most interesting part of Battlestar Galactica for me is the space military vessel life stuff (the humans' attempt to strike a working balance between civilian rights & military needs, relationships between various officers & fighter pilots, and the bizarre reality of living in a heavily armed floating city that is a target for enemies). Apparently for this new version of Galactica a lot of elements of that life were drawn from the world of real life aircraft carriers. So, PBS's multi-part doc Carrier should be very interesting; looking forward to checking out some episodes soon. - Sujewa

Be back in a couple of weeks.