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

So Michael Moore has a new movie - a documentary - coming out soon, called Capitalism: A Love Story . Sounds like it is incorrectly titled (probably on purpose, to get the maximum number of people interested in it) - sounds like Moore's target in this doc is not capitalism but corruption in the financial sector. Fine, great subject to talk about - knowing being half the battle & all. But why call the film capitalism? Possibly for two reasons - either Moore believes that all business activity in the US is corrupt or he wants to sell his movie to people who equate capitalism/creating & operating businesses with corruption. So, much remains to be seen re: the doc. In the meantime, here's a quote from Variety's review of the pic : "Unfortunately, elsewhere, Moore strives so hard to manipulate viewers' emotions with shots of crying children and tearjerking musical choices that he's not so much over-egging the pudding as making an omelet out of it. Whil

First, a little bit about the benefits of capitalism , from Wikipedia : "Many theorists and policymakers in predominantly capitalist nations have emphasized capitalism's ability to promote economic growth, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), capacity utilization or standard of living . This argument was central, for example, to Adam Smith 's advocacy of letting a free market control production and price, and allocate resources. Many theorists have noted that this increase in global GDP over time coincides with the emergence of the modern world capitalist system. [85] [86] While the measurements are not identical, proponents argue that increasing GDP (per capita) is empirically shown to bring about improved standards of living, such as better availability of food, housing, clothing, and health care. [87] The decrease in the number of hours worked per week and the decreased participation of children and the elderly in the workforce have been attributed to capita

Cooking With Werner Herzog (and Special Guest Jim Jarmusch) - watch more funny videos

From a Jonathan Ames interview at The Rumpus : "Rumpus: The first story in this collection has spawned an HBO show, Bored to Death , that will premiere this fall. Tell me about it. JA: Oh, man, I’m running out of steam… Somehow I managed to create a whole TV show, with lots of characters and stories. It stars Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, and Zach Galifianakis, and lots of other interesting people, like John Hodgman, Oliver Platt, Sarah Vowell, Parker Posey, Krisin Wiig, and Patton Oswalt. I worked eighty, ninety hours a week on it and we’re nearly done, just sound-editing left, and it premieres September 20 at 9:30pm." Read the rest of the interview, including stuff about giving money, here . - S

Saw Miracle at St. Anna recently - very interesting story, but I think maybe Spike Lee was not the best director for that kind of material - Mr. Lee's vision seemed too hard edged for a fantastic story such as Anna. I think that movie should have been handled like a myth or a fable - by a director who is more comfortable with that kind of softer storytelling. On the other hand, I think Mr. Lee could make an awesome movie - a more realistic story (from perhaps a script based on actual events only) - about African-American or any other type of soldiers in WWII (i thought his Malcolm X was a very good movie). - S

:: One of the final (maybe the final or the one before last) dreams I had last night/this morning was about working on an epic movie with a story that starts in the 1940's & ends in the 1960's. And the song above had something to do with the movie - maybe a key music piece. It was a good dream. - S

A list I compiled & published a few months ago (some of the links may not be alive anymore), but may be new & could be useful for some people, check it out here .

:: While I prep my 2 Week Film project Unlimited Dreamtime (previously known as The Screening) for the web, check out Reid Gershbein's 2 Week Film The Dabbler (i believe dabbler was the first 2 Wk Film to be completed, thus i am calling it 2 Week Film #1). Unlimited Dreamtime is more or less done, need to burn DVDs, format & upload to web - will probably be able to get those done around Wed or Thu, after taking care of a whole lotta day job work today & tomorrow. Later on, enjoy The Dabbler 'till then. - Sujewa

Most people who read this blog probably know all these tips already, but just in case, here's the link to the eHow article How to Earn Money with a Video Camera . :: ADVERTISEMENT Al Maiorino - Italian Genealogy, Public Strategy Group, & more! Alfonse Maiorino http://almaiorino.blogspot.com/2011/12/al-maiorino-welcome-to-blog.html Al Maiorino Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/al-maiorino/a/5aa/48b http://www.energias-renovables.net/energias/renovables/index/pag/entrevistas/colleft//colright/blog/tip/articulos/botid/160/title/Al%20Maiorino/len/en - Al Maiorino Energias renovables http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/3741/facing-the-vocal-opposition http://www.manta.com/g/mm8xr23/al-maiorino Al Maiorino - Ceramic Industry article: http://www.ceramicindustry.com/authors/2275-al-maiorino Al Maiorino - a Facebook post: http://www.facebook.com/publicstrategygroup/posts/283878914964005 Dan Dubelman Productions article: http://drdanmusic.wordpress.com/tag/al-mai

:: Read Reid "2 Week Film Project" Gershbein's review of the movie here . :: ADVERTISEMENT Al Maiorino - Italian Genealogy, Public Strategy Group, & more! Alfonse Maiorino http://almaiorino.blogspot.com/2011/12/al-maiorino-welcome-to-blog.html Al Maiorino Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/al-maiorino/a/5aa/48b http://www.energias-renovables.net/energias/renovables/index/pag/entrevistas/colleft//colright/blog/tip/articulos/botid/160/title/Al%20Maiorino/len/en - Al Maiorino Energias renovables http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/3741/facing-the-vocal-opposition http://www.manta.com/g/mm8xr23/al-maiorino Al Maiorino - Ceramic Industry article: http://www.ceramicindustry.com/authors/2275-al-maiorino Al Maiorino - a Facebook post: http://www.facebook.com/publicstrategygroup/posts/283878914964005 Dan Dubelman Productions article: http://drdanmusic.wordpress.com/tag/al-maiorino/ http://italiangenealogyinterest.blogspot.com/2012/04/daddezziocoms-itali

I know nothing about the new show (?) Cougar Town, and am too busy today to research it, but here's my proof that it exists - a poster seen at a NYC subway station yesterday. :: ADVERTISEMENT Al Maiorino - Italian Genealogy, Public Strategy Group, & more! Alfonse Maiorino http://almaiorino.blogspot.com/2011/12/al-maiorino-welcome-to-blog.html Al Maiorino Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/al-maiorino/a/5aa/48b http://www.energias-renovables.net/energias/renovables/index/pag/entrevistas/colleft//colright/blog/tip/articulos/botid/160/title/Al%20Maiorino/len/en - Al Maiorino Energias renovables http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/3741/facing-the-vocal-opposition http://www.manta.com/g/mm8xr23/al-maiorino Al Maiorino - Ceramic Industry article: http://www.ceramicindustry.com/authors/2275-al-maiorino Al Maiorino - a Facebook post: http://www.facebook.com/publicstrategygroup/posts/283878914964005 Dan Dubelman Productions article: http://drdanmusic.wordpress.co

Get all the info. at Shadow & Act . Here's an excerpt from Tambay's post re: the grant: "I’m issuing a challenge to black filmmakers. Every few months – likely once per quarter – I will fund, as well as produce and distribute a short film by a filmmaker of African descent, with a film about people of African descent. The budget for each short will be $300 (funded entirely by me) and I get to pick the theme of the short (for example, a short film about love, greed, hate, envy, mothers, fathers, rain, etc, etc, etc…)." More at Shadow & Act . - Sujewa :: ADVERTISEMENT Al Maiorino - Italian Genealogy, Public Strategy Group, & more! Alfonse Maiorino     http://almaiorino.blogspot.com/2011/12/al-maiorino-welcome-to-blog.html Al Maiorino Linkedin :   http://www.linkedin.com/pub/al-maiorino/a/5aa/48b http://www.energias-renovables.net/energias/renovables/index/pag/entrevistas/colleft//colright/blog/tip/articulos/botid/160/title/Al%20Maiorino

Lots of strange/somewhat evil people/entities gravitate towards film production & distribution due to it's proximity to being able to influence large numbers of people relatively quickly (mass mind control), fame, & wealth (probably also sex & power) - and some of those people end up in indie film (even though there is very little wealth, fame, ability to influence the larger culture in this sector of art/entertainment, not sure how much sex there is in the indie film world) - unfortunately - for some of us who are not as evil - but, Brandon Harris seems pretty un-evil (as far as I can tell :), is a good writer , has made a couple of interesting shorts, so, let's see how his first feature turns out. All he needs is $35K. Go here to donate whatever you can (so that's like 1000 people giving $35 each, sounds easy right?). Here's a little about Brandon's planned first feature, Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa : " Synopsis: At the end of the Bus

Back from beyond the iW blogs page that is (the page just doesn't read as well/entertaining without my occasional rants on way-too-indie/small films, stuff completely unrelated to film, & causing some trouble - so, out of mercy for the iW blogs reader's entertainment needs, I'll be back blogging here occasionally - until iW kicks me out :). So, I've been gone about a month, some things worth mentioning, off the top of my Sunday morning/pre-coffee or tea head: - The 2 Week Film Project (movement?) is gaining steam - more filmmakers are lining up to make features in 2 weeks, I just shot one myself, editing it now (more info on that flick here , title is Unlimited Dreamtime , previously known as The Screening ), and a couple of the completed films are on line to watch - go here (for a 2 Week Film & another film by Reid Gershbein - the founder of the project), and here for a film called The Original Soundtrack . - Speaking of 2 Week Film Projects, I screened