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

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

Greg Araki's stoner comedy Smiley Face might have been a lot of fun to check out at the theater. However, the pic's distributor First Look is only going to show it on one screen in LA (as far as I know at the moment. First Look's website didn't have any information on Smiley). I guess I'll have to wait for the DVD :( indieWIRE's got an interview with Greg Araki re: Smiley Face. - Sujewa

A segment of the response from WGA West's website : "WGA Statement in Response to AMPTP Newspaper Ad LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK -- The Writers Guild of America (Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West) issued this statement today in response to the AMPTP's misleading newspaper ads: Nice try, AMPTP. In the words of the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. The AMPTP's paid and patronizing advertisement in today's New York Times and Los Angeles Times is guilty of what most charitably could be called sins of omission. The AMPTP maintains, “It is important to make clear that writers currently do receive residuals for digital downloading (regardless of whether the download is temporary or permanent)... The Guild is seeking at least a 700 percent increase over what writers currently receive, and more than a 200 percent increase over what they receive for Internet 'pay per view.&

Have not seen Francois Truffaut's movie Day For Night yet. This YouTube clip/video makes it look interesting: And, from another French movie about making movies; some Irma Vep clips: Now a clip from everyone's favorite indie movie about indie moviemaking; a tiny bit of Living In Oblivion: I think the rain is fat because there are aliens in it. A Bowfinger clip (with subtitles from an unknown land): Any other good movies about making movies? - Sujewa

From Late Show Writers On Strike : "CLASSIC MOVIE SCENES IF THERE WERE NO WRITERS It's time for...CLASSIC MOVIE SCENES IF THERE WERE NO WRITERS by Lee Ellenberg "Casablanca" INT./EXT. AIRPORT HANGAR - NIGHT RICK ILSA RICK ILSA Ilsa's eyes fill with tears. Rick puts his hand to her chin and raises her face to meet his own. RICK Ilsa boards the plane. OUT." Visit Late Show Writers On Strike for more. - Sujewa

Check out the article here , very interesting. Here is a lil' bit of it: "This is not a difficult thing to envision. And in fact, it's already happening. Will Ferrell's Funny Or Die , in which I am a minority investor, is one early existence proof of this model. And there are a ton of other such new companies either already underway, or currently being incubated, or currently being negotiated." Read the rest here . Hollywood labor & owners/studios issues aside, the article has some ideas that can apply to the independent film world RIGHT NOW, specially those of us who are slanted towards the DIY/real indie side of things; those of us interested in owning our creations, having final say on how our movies are made at each stage of production & controling the distribution of same. - Sujewa