finnegan

So who is actually going to this? Here's the sucky thing: Out of all the weekends, this is the one weekend I'm supposed to help shoot part of a film in the Shenandoah Valley (a good hour and 20 minutes away from C'ville). I may go Thursday evening to Iraq in Fragments. I'm going to try to get off work on Friday and go to Iraq in Fragments (if I don't see it Thursday), and the Tender Mercies screening. Then I'd like to see Jesus Camp. If they actually have a film print of the Seventh Seal, I'll be sorry I missed that. And I wish I could go to the Shadyac screening at 10 pm, but... If any A&F folks are going to be there on Thurs or Fri, PM me and maybe we could meet up for coffee between screenings. I know C'ville pretty well, so I know of some cool places to meet.

I'm bummed that I'm going to miss Flickerings this year. I should have at least shot and submitted a short film (my brother and I wrote one, but never shot it). I guess I thought that summer was a lot farther off that it really was. Next year.

A brief update: The producer quit a few months back. The project sat in limbo for a while and I picked up the pieces... The executive producer said he wants a "60 minutes/Frontline feel", so that's what I'm giving them. I had to start my research from scratch basically, because the former producers notes were inadequate. I've been interviewing sheriffs, community activists, victim's family members, gang members, etc. All in all, I guess it's turning out ok. I still feel like I could have gone deeper into the political aspects of how the police tend to exaggerate the problem to get more money for the task forces, etc, but I only have 26 minutes to cover this complex topic, and I simply don't have the time. So it's turning out to be a basic "report-style" show. I'm not even sure if it qualifies as documentary or extended news report... Either way, I'll be glad to move on to the next project: an in-depth look at the relationship between the Shenandoah Valley and Long Beach, Mississippi after Hurricaine Katrina.

my reaction was the same. i found myself actually getting annoyed and almost offended at the first part (lightbulb over head?) FWIW, i think these kids' intentions are good. they're raising awareness of something that most people in the US (especially teenagers--the film's target audience) don't know anything about.

Mathewes-Green almost always has an interesting take on matters like these. Like her, I instantly recognized the (blatant and intentional) Last Supper image, but couldn't make sense of it in the context of the religion. Here's a double-feature I'd like to see: Paradise Now and Munich. Good movie. I agree, with Darrel, though: not as good as The Battle of Algiers.

Apples and oranges. Winged Migration is 100 percent about birds. Wild Parrots is mostly about humans. Mark is the real subject of the film. The film points out how birds have human characteristics, and the fact that human "interference" with nature is the only reason that the parrots appeared in San Francisco in the first place. While I really enjoy documentaries like Winged Migration and March of the Penguins, I'll take a human story over an animal story any day. I generally find them more interesting becuase I can relate to the subjects in some way... with the exeption of maybe Timothy Treadwell of Grizzly Man. I can't relate to that guy at all.

My local paper ran an AP article about this recently. One of the "non-actors" is from a KFC not too far from here. If Bubble is anything like Full Frontal, then it will be another one of Soderbergh's cool concepts poorly executed. Although, I suppose one could argue that Bubble is the exact opposite of Full Frontal, considering that Frontal was a flatulent piece about Hollywood actors, and Bubble is full of "regular" people. I'm curious to read some reviews and see if it's worth watching.

Well, had I written a 10-second review of this movie on the way out of the theatre it might read something like: "Sitting through this movie is exactly like watching bees pollenate flowers while listening to really bad high school love poems." But as much as I hate to admit it--only because I like to stick to my guns--Jeffery might have a point with the love story. But that is the ONLY redeeming quality of this movie for me. I swear I heard music from Braveheart several times during this movie.

Favorite actor. Favorite director. YES!

Is anyone catching them on tour anytime soon? I have a ticket to see them in Charlottesville Feb 9th. I'll post here after the show.

HECK YES! What an awesome series. And 99% of the work was done by one guy. If you like Steve James' Hoop Dreams, you need to check this out. I would guess that Netflix will eventually carry this. If Frontline wasn't a television show, I would nominate this for the next round of Top 100.

I would also add Baraka, the "knockoff" cousin of Koyaanisqatsi. This list could end up being very long, but I would just add Return to Paradise.

This is mine, too. I caught them up in Philly at the electric factory. Wow.

Arg! I don't want to see "the backstory" 'till I've seen the actual movie. I want to see the real thing!

Baby steps, gigi. The Academy couldn't handle Larry David. IMO, Steve Martin was the best host I've ever seen. But I think Stewart will be even better.