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

This week's Washington City Paper has an article in which a judge of the DC Shorts film festival tells us about his experience. Here is the first paragraph from the article: "When I tell people I judged films for this year’s DC Shorts Film Festival, their first reaction is, “Cool!” Their second reaction is more circumspect. I don’t own a television. Or any movies. Why was I qualified to judge?" Read the rest here . Lots of inside-film-festival entertainment for those who may be into that kinda thing. - Sujewa

Lots of videomaking tech news, tips at the Videomaker blog . - Sujewa

Tyler Perry 's film Why Did I Get Married? sounds a tiny bit like the Dogme 95 film The Celebration or the Lawrence Kasdan film The Big Chill . From the Variety review of the flick: "At a fateful dinner party, the camera circling ominously, Angela, outraged that Mike has brought along his mistress (Denise Boutte), triggers an avalanche of aggressive secret-telling that leads to disaster." From Armond White's review at the New York Press: "He convenes a group of thirtysomething professionals, psychologist and relationship expert Patricia (Janet Jackson) and her friends: criminal attorney Dianne (Sharon Leal), esthetician Angie (Tasha Smith) and plus-sized housewife Sheila (Jill Scott). They rent a winter cabin in Pemberton, Colo., for a weekend marriage retreat with their husbands,..." Might be interesting. Here's the official website for the movie . Playing in lots of theaters now. - Sujewa

a few time consuming things to do over the next 2 weeks, not too exciting, check out the brief version of the list here . be back around 11/1 (unless "something film related that must be blogged about" comes my way). for Burma stuff & other non-film stuff check out the Year 200007 blog. there are a couple of things that i need to post there in the coming days. - Sujewa

check one out here . and then explore the site for more. funny. - sujewa

Nice to see Laura Bush taking an interest in the situation in Burma. Here's the first paragraph of a long Post article re: the First Lady's work on behalf of the Burmese people: "It's a long way from the broad expanse of Texas to the lush forests of Burma , from the boots-and-broncos rodeo in nearby Waco to the bloody crackdown against barefoot monks in Rangoon . Yet that troubled faraway land somehow has gotten under the skin of a former librarian from the Lone Star State and vaulted toward the top of the U.S. foreign policy agenda." Read the rest here . - Sujewa

Read about the new independent movie by a dependent 27 year old, at The Onion . Thanks GreenCine Daily for the link :) Also check out Filmmaker Mag blog re: the Onion article. - Sujewa

Found these today, looks interesting & promising, check 'em out: Can We Make A Movie With You? Art House Queen Sun In Libra, Moon In Taurus - Sujewa

On YouTube . Buy the film Ten Minutes Older , which contains Int. Trailer. Night & other short films by different directors, here . Jarmusch talks a bit about the short in this GreenCine interview . - Sujewa

Saw Darjeeling Limited . Nice to look at; nice images of India, the train looks cool, some of the music & shots looked good together, and there are some very sad moments in the movie. The banter between the brothers was amusing at times. Darjeeling was OK, I liked it more than I liked Life Aquatic. I'll probably check it out again on DVD. :: From a 10/11 CCN article re: Anderson: "Anderson, the middle of three brothers, grew up in Houston. At the University of Texas he met Owen Wilson, who was at first put off by Anderson's eccentric getup of duck-hunting boots and shorts." Check out the full article here . - Sujewa

Filmmaker Francesco Uboldi has several Burma related projects. Here are brief descriptions & links: On the Road to Bagan "On the road that leads from from Mount Popa to Bagan – the main tourist site in a country, Myanmar, which only recently has opened its borders to visitors – a farmer speaks of his everyday toils. Listening to his words, gradually the account throws light on the wider social and political situation in former Burma. The country has been subject to a ferocious military dictatorship since 1962." :: The Burmese Fable (in production) "A journey into the Golden Land, the charming country of thousands pagodas, among monasteries, temples, and a deep, archaic spirituality. Villages scattered among rice fields, mounted in between rivers, lakes, and mountains. Simple lives, smiling faces, an unreal quietness. And a journey underneath the surface of this rural paradise, beyond the appearance of political propaganda. The military regime, the social instabili

This National Geographic article from '05 says we (humans) are somewhere around 200,000 years old - the species, as "modern" humans. 200,000 years is a very long time. What exactly happened on Earth; what kinds of interesting things did humans do in various cities, villages & caves & who knows where else, during all that time? Assembling a comprehensive history of the species might be a cool thing to do (i think i feel a new blog coming on :). So I would have to say this is both year 2,007 according to the modern calendar, and also year 200,007 in the number of years (more or less, maybe give or take a few thousand years? :) that the species has been alive & kicking; year 200,007 in the age of the "modern" human. The mind, as they say, boggles. UPDATE : Check out my new blog Year 200,007 . - Sujewa

Latest from the BBC, a report on Burma post-crackdowns. Here is a bit: " The government is also trying to play down the scale of the protests and the ensuing crackdown, saying they were the result of a few "destructive elements" fomented with the help of outside broadcasters such as the BBC Burmese Service and Voice of America. But I did not meet anyone in Rangoon who actually believed this. The people I spoke to said unanimously that the protest marches were part of a popular movement borne out of grinding poverty, and that most of those who took part were not active members of pro-democracy or opposition groups - they were just monks and ordinary civilians." Read the rest here . - Sujewa