The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the 15 titles on the shortlist for Best Documentary feature for the Academy Awards (airing Feb. 22).
Which films do think are the best in this bunch? Are there some that aren’t on the shortlist that the Academy should have included? Let me know your thoughts…
There are a plethora of social media tools available, to maintain an open dialogue with us, your potential customers. As such, there’ s no reason that any of you (who want to stay in business) should be talking AT us anymore! We consumers demand a two-way interaction with potential vendors. And no, that doesn’t mean that we’ll be fooled just because you have a MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube account. We demand non-objective engagement! It’s about relationships and community… How long will it take for you to figure this one out? Here, maybe this will help:
If you still don’t get it, that’s ok… there’s someone, who does, that will gladly take your place!
The nominees for the 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards™ which will take place on Tuesday, December 2nd at New York City’s Cipriani Wall Street, have been announced. It also announced the new name for the awards, making the subtle shift from the Gotham Awards to the Gotham Independent Film Awards™.
Presented by IFP, the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers, the Gotham Independent Film Awards™ is one of the leading awards for independent film and the first major honors of the film awards season. Many look at it to be the start of the Oscar race.
Frozen River
Courtney Hunt, director; Heather Rae, Chip Hourihan, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)
Synecdoche, New York
Charlie Kaufman, director; Anthony Bregman, Charlie Kaufman, Spike Jonze, Sidney Kimmel, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Visitor
Tom McCarthy, director; Mary Jane Skalski, Michael London, producers (Overture Films)
(no trailer available yet) The Wrestler
Darren Aronofsky, director; Scott Franklin, Darren Aronofsky, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Best Documentary
Chris & Don: A Love Story
Guido Santi & Tina Mascara, directors; Julia Scott, Tina Mascara, Guido Santi, James White, producers (Zeitgeist Films)
Encounters at the End of the World
Werner Herzog, director; Henry Kaiser, producer (THINKFilm / Image Entertainment)
Man on Wire
James Marsh, director; Simon Chinn, producer (Magnolia Pictures)
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Marina Zenovich, director; Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Lila Yacoub, Marina Zenovich, producers (THINKFilm in association with HBO Documentaries)
Trouble the Water
Tia Lessin & Carl Deal, producers/directors (Zeitgeist Films)
Best Ensemble Performance
Ballast
Micheal J. Smith, Sr., Jim Myron Ross, Tarra Riggs, Johnny McPhail (Alluvial Film Company)
Rachel Getting Married
Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe, Mather Zickel, Anna Deavere Smith, Anisa George, Debra Winger (Sony Pictures Classics)
Synecdoche, New York
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis, Tom Noonan (Sony Pictures Classics)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz (The Weinstein Company)
The Visitor
Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbas, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira (Overture Films)
Something about screaming “VOTE!” and telling me to spam my friends is not my idea of motivation… but maybe I am just not in touch with the youth of this country anymore. Are they acting? And what is up with the Spielberg-ian attempts at jittery cameras and dialogue. And who is that one guy with the beard anyhow? (…you think I should dress up like him for Halloween?!!)
We’re in the homestretch of this political cycle. As such, we can expect the blitzkrieg of campaign ads attempting to sway the undecided. Not living in one of the “battleground” states, I’m shielded from most of the presidential attack ads, although state and local ads still permeate the airwaves. Thank [insert deity here] that I don’t have to see those ads as much as people in Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Florida do! But what if the ads were more entertaining? What if some of the big Hollywood directors were in charge of swaying the undecided? How would that play out for the candidates? It would definitely be more entertaining to watch! Here’s a little montage of what it would be like if John Woo (Mission Impossible II), Kevin Smith (Clerks), and Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums) were to direct attack ads for John McCain.
This feel-good story centers around Jamal Malik,an impoverished orphan from the streets of Mumbai, who becomes a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. He goes on the show,not for money, but to reach the missing Latika, the love of his life, who is a big fan of the show. With just one question away from winning the 20 million rupee jackpot, the show breaks for the evening. Jamal is subsequently arrested by police on suspicion that he must be cheating. I mean, come on… how could an illiterate boy of no means possibly be this intelligent, right?!?! Of course, the police have wrongfully accused him, as the quiz show proves to be a framing device for Jamal to flash back on the events that shaped his life - events that enable him to answer the game show questions. The main driving force of this film is Jamal’s attempts to reconnect with his one true love. The power that love has to transcend a life of struggle and hardship is the film’s most resonant theme.
Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) and shot on location in Mumbai, Slumdog Millionaire looks to be one of, if not the best, film to hit theaters this fall (although Aronofsky’s The Wrestler will give it a run for its money). The film has been on the festival circuit picking up awards in Toronto, Austin, and what is sure to be London later this month. The film hits theaters on November 12, in limited release.
…may have helped with the MPAA (read: smug, holier-than-thou, morons), but it fails to address the main issue for many who see this latest Kevin Smith movie as vulgar. That issue– the title… actually the word “porno” that resides within the title. This movie is running into trouble everywhere. As its producers, The Weinstein Company, start the all important marketing push, mainstream media outlets are saying no to the marketing money, fearing a backlash from viewers.
Just last week, Fox Sports dropped all Zack & Miri commercials after the spots that aired between innings during a Dodger’s playoff game yielded complaints from viewers. As always, the complaints are filed “to protect the children.” Heaven forbid parents would ACTUALLY have to talk with their kids and explain the meaning of the word “porno.” No, no… better those kids hear the definition from another kid on the playground! Hell, I’m certain the friendly neighborhood sex-offender would have no problem addressing the child’s query! But I digress.
I applaud The Weinstein Company for standing firm in keeping the title, as is, under what must be enormous pressure to change it! For every outlet that wants to drop the promo, there’s another that will happily pick it up. Let’s face it, the puritanical, let’s-not-talk-about-sex-until-it’s-too-late, set weren’t going to go see the movie anyway.
As Mark Twain once said, “Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak, just because a baby can’t chew it.”
Reality Jockey just released the my most-anticipated iPhone app of all time… RjDj!!! (Read below the video for our first impressions.)
[ ...skip to 1:20, 2:50, 4:15, and (my fav) 6:00 for the music ]
It truly is a soundtrack to life. By “listening” to input on the iPhone microphone, RjDj plays back music based on whatever it hears. Depending on the “scene” you are listening to, it will play any number of feedback mechanisms, all of which are delightful.
I have been listening to Frank Barknecht’s Gridwalker scene all morning. Just typing away on the computer, or even coughing, generates beautiful, ambient, background music. I can imagine taking the bus or public transportation and listening to the other scenes generating all sorts of fantastical music, based on noises in those surroundings.
On the negative side, I would really love to have more scenes available. This version comes with 6 scenes (the free version has 1) and it is a good start, but a lot of the ones they show on the website are missing. It sounds like they are going to release more scenes as paid or free updates, but there is no download mechanism yet in the RjDj tool. And my fear is that they they release a bunch of different “albums” with different scenes in them… because it would be nice to have all of them in one single player on my phone like the video shows.
Nevertheless, a fantastic purchase and wonderful application showing not only the amazing potential of the iPhone, but more importantly, the ingenious indie spirit of creative developers around the world!!
Available as of this morning on the iTunes store in two flavors: FREE and CHEAP
(both links point to the iTunes App Store)
Check out this lo-fi version of LEGENDmag’s new indie movie commentary segment called Movie Mopup! I’m super excited about this new segment! We’ll get the fidelity up in the next few webisodes, but this beta should get the ball rolling!
I’ll look up something when I have to, but I prefer getting my information directly from an expert. Someone who immerses themselves in the topic and chooses to painstakingly film, edit, design, press, and post a video of the information instead.
Reading through daily inspiration, more specifically a post on The Skinny (@Veer.com) makes CJ and I click through and take notice–a Gap ad encouraging voters to vote. Quickly an IM conversation starts:
CJ — “interesting social responsibility campaign! like the design and message… too bad it’s the gap!”
kc! — “good example of big business doing responsibility? or just another way to seem indie?”
And so launches another episode of Editor’s Battle:
kc! — Honestly, watching the ads, they feel really sincere and honest. In fact, they made me want to watch all of them. I imagine the design team sitting back with the marketing team and wanting to just get the message of voting out to the masses. Behind every big corporation, there are tons of independent people.
CJ — No doubt… it’s a well put together, timely, campaign. The message is invaluable in that voters, ALL VOTERS, need to make their voices heard! Fact is: That message is still being put out by The Gap Company– a publicly traded, gigantic corporation, that makes homogenized “fashion” for pennies (actually yuan), then charges the highest possible margins for those threads. Publicly traded companies have one mission: Use any-and-all means necessary to maximize profits for shareholders. This is a feudal attempt to seem relevant given the current circumstances. All the while, even their die-hard, burb customers can’t help save the sinking ship; let alone this poser, indie attempt.
kc! — So does this mean that any attempt at social responsibility by a corporate entity will be read as pandering for our dollars? Or is there a more viable way that big business can participate in conscious thinking?
CJ — It’s all about the dollar. What has Gap really done to get out the vote? Has there been ANY grassroots efforts in making registering and voting easier? This campaign should be highly visible in swing states. This campaign should bombard critical states like Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. But why will it play more in safe state centers like NYC, LA, and Chicago? Because they will pick up on the indie-cool factor. Indie=young, mind-share=more, sold=more, profit=higher stock price. Not saying it’s bad, just not indie.
kc! — Time will tell, that is for sure… but I don’t think it is right to assume that just because a company is out to make money, that advertisements such as these don’t help both the consumer and the business image without necessarily having to promote money-making endeavors. I still feel that there is room for individual independent thinking bubbling up from within a large corporation. Unlikely, yes… but possible.
Brought to you from the crew that put on the Grand Central Freeze stunt and Food Court Musical comes the Mp3 Experiment Tour. After great turnouts in NYC and Toronto, the Mp3 Experiment makes it’s way to SF, then Chicago.
Basically, everyone will download an Mp3, transfer it to their portable player and then show up at the event ready to press play simultaneously with others. Then the fun begins!
Date: Saturday, October 4 (rain or shine) Location: Mission Dolores Park [map] Time: The event will begin at exactly 2:00 PM. Arrive early! The event will be over at 2:45. Wear: A Red, Blue, Yellow, or Green shirt Bring: An umbrella and an uninflated balloon.
Check out CJ on Twitter, FriendFeed, and LifeStream
