Six actors portray six personas of music legend Bob Dylan in scenes depicting various stages in the musician’s life. Chronicling Dylan’s rise from unknown folksinger to international icon, the film reveals how he reinvented himself many times. Todd Haynes directs this stylized portrait, the first biography approved by the singer-songwriter. Marcus Carl Franklin, Ben Whishaw, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Richard Gere and Cate Blanchett (in an Oscar-nominated role) star.
Just in time to start getting people psyched for the upcoming cyclocross season, I found this short 40-minute film by 14-year old Andy Frothingham … there’s a few name misspellings, but the kid is only 14, and the film is otherwise excellent. I think that can be forgiven.
Now hie your ass on over to littlebelgiummovie.com, and click the DONATE button to kick a little dough in the kid’s direction.
An old friend of mine in San Francisco, Cianna Stewart (one of the Sexiest Geeks Alive), is becoming quite a prolific independent filmmaker … her latest project, just going into production, will be a documentary about Zivity.com, a new online social network for connoisseurs of pin-up photography.
Cianna’s basic treatment of the film is as follows:
It’s Not Porn: Behind the doors of a modern pin-up company
In the world of erotic photography, sexy women are objects whose pictures garner huge profits for other people. A handful of young entrepreneurs have decided to upset this system, putting control into the hands of the models & photographers, challenging who defines “sexy,” and creating a new revenue model for the next wave of the internet. Will they succeed? And what happens when regular women become known as online pin-up stars?
Now if I can just figure out a way to get an invite to the beta.
Cianna is looking for investors to help finance the film; so if you happen to know anyone willing to buy shares, head over to Thumbnail Productions and get in touch. For those that want to support, but can’t afford to the extent of investing, donations will also be accepted, with a thank you to be determined (I’ve suggested a private premiere screening, or a copy on DVD) …
» by flahute in: Movies on March 5th, 2008 at 00:38:22 UTC |
I’ve said it before; if not on this blog, then elsewhere …
I love chick flicks, especially of the romantic comedy sort. Perhaps it comes from being raised by women; or perhaps I just have a keenly defined sense of the aesthetic and am not afraid to let my self experience emotion (except in terms of my own relationships, in which I’m deathly afraid to do so).
I just finished watching The Jane Austen Book Club. The Netflix blurb has this to say about the film:
Six book club members find their lives resemble a modern-day version of Jane Austen’s novels in this drama. Sylvia’s (Amy Brenneman) husband of 20-plus years has walked out; Jocelyn (Maria Bello) breeds dogs to escape loneliness; Prudie (Emily Blunt) dreams of other men; Bernadette (Kathy Baker) hopes to find Mr. Right; Allegra (Maggie Grace) has issues with her girlfriend; and Grigg (Hugh Dancy), the only man, wonders why he’s even in the club.
It’s so much more, actually … for one, it’s not truly a drama, although it has a few dramatic moments, the film is presented with much more of a light note, showing the humor that can be found in even the most difficult of situations.
It’s a complex exploration of relationships, not only romantically, but betwixt the characters of the film itself. The sole male member of the club cannot make the first move on the woman with whom he is in love, even though she (in complete denial of her own feelings towards him) pushes him towards another member. A teacher, whose own marriage is falling apart, finds herself falling for a student … will she be able to resist the temptation?
Perhaps I should pick up one or two (or all six) of Miss Austen’s novels to find out what so captivated the characters in the film, as well as the novel on which it was based.
A couple of days ago, Fastgrrrl plugged the documentary Heroes of the Slopes, about a number of the world’s top adaptive skiers … a film which she promptly suggested that those who have a life TiVo, so they can watch it later.
Well, these days it seems like I don’t have much of a life, so I’m actually sitting and watching the show; and I find it really quite fascinating, so I’m going to go a step further and go buy the film!
So when you hear the phrase “Down By Law”, what pops to mind?
Is it the incredible punk bank fronted by Dave Smalley (who also fronted Dag Nasty and ALL)? Or is it the even more incredible independent film by Jim Jarmusch, starring Tom Waits, John Lurie (of the Lounge Lizards), and Roberto Benigni?
As slang, the phrase “down by law” carries a couple different meanings. In a musical sense (primarily jazz), “down by law” means having paid your dues, to have earned respect for your talent through hard work. In its other sense, that of prison slang, “down by law” means to have someone’s back.
Having just finished watching the film, I find myself contemplating whether the phrase is applicable to my own life, and to the people in it …
Have I paid my dues? Do I have the respect of the people around me … and most importantly, will they have my back if something happens and I really need it?
This is when my self-doubt and lack of self-esteem are most apparent … I’m pretty sure the people I consider to be my friends respect me and will support me when I need their help, but there’s always a little niggling thought in the back of my mind that tells me that I’m a fraud, that no one really likes me, and makes me worry that my entire world is going to come crashing down around me at a moment’s notice.
This is also when I know that I am not ready to quit seeing my crazy doctor, and I’m not ready to start easing myself off the happy pills … but that I’m also getting more control over my emotional well-being, and gaining better knowledge of who I really am.
And so I continue to live each day, with the conscious knowledge that the feelings are temporary, and that today’s emotional lows will be counterbalanced by tomorrow’s emotional highs; that the lows are not quite the same deep chasms they’ve been in the past, and that the transitions are not quite as drastic.
Great movie … rent it … watch it … then go buy some music, if you don’t already own it.
To me, there’s nothing better than watching a film starring my favorite actor, about one of my all-time favorite singers …
Cianna’s basic treatment of the film is as follows:
A couple of days ago, 
