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| Week Ending 3th February, 2002 |
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| Another Shitty Week |
another bloody rant |
Yes, the slacker ethic has been alive and well in Film Cement Land recently. I suppose I've been distracted by a script I've been writing and
events in Woomera where Australia has been pushing to be a world leader in
the brutalisation and demonisation of the undeserving. (God, we could even give the Americans some tips on traumatising
the imprisoned at the moment!) But Micheal Bevan scored a ton, and that's all that matters! Right?...
Bugger it, here's some film-related crap.
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| Mises En Scenes |
posted 31 Jan 2002 |
Mises En Scenes is an excellent weblog devoted to indie film. It's written by a couple of US film students
and is infinitely superior to my patchy efforts. I urge you all to check it out... It's latest batch of postings
include a link to a great Japanese cinema site and Polterchrist,
the 'worst Jesus slasher movie ever made'.
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| See You In Court! |
posted 31 Jan 2002 |
Two studios went to court recently to test the sacred cow status of their respective franchises. LucasFilm
lined up against a cheesy X-rated animated parody of Star Wars. It's called Star Ballz and follows the
adventures of Wank Solo. The judge in that case concluded that there was little chance that anyone might
think that Lucas had given the thumbs up to something that was obviously infinitely more entertaining than what
he's currently churning out... Less luck for Team Austin Powers, who may be forced change the name of their new film,
Goldmember because it is too close to the title of the 1964 James Bond film, Goldfinger.
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| What The Eye Don't See... |
posted 31 Jan 2002 |
A company in the US recently released a device called the Digital Time Machine that allows TV stations
to cram more ads into a screened movie by imperceptibly trimming the film. Using a process called 'micro-editing',
a frame is shaved here and there over the length of the film without anyone supposedly noticing. The end
result can be up to 30 seconds of "saved time" every 30 minutes... No doubt Daz will be lobbying the company
for a perceptible trimming version of this that can reduce a Jim Jarmusch feature to pacey 15 minute short.
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| One For The Raincoat Brigade : Celebrity Nudity Database |
posted 31 Jan 2002 |
Ahh! The never ending search for on-line titillation! For all you cine-pervs out there, here's the latest
installment - the Celebrity Nudity Database. It has reviews of over 12,000 nude scenes in Hollywood films,
and even gives you the chance to add your own review! What are you waiting for?
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| Science in Art |
posted 31 Jan 2002 |
Once upon a time, science in films meant "long, complicated-sounding words uttered for sheer effect,
or bug-eyed characters with excitable hair -- a la Albert Einstein -- muttering theories." With
technology increasingly dominating our lives and biotech breakthroughs making front page news on
almost a weekly basis, an interest in narratives that explore science in a more serious, thoughtful
manner has emerged.
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| Somalis Watch US Butt Get Kicked And Love It ! |
posted 31 Jan 2002 |
Locals in short-listed target in the war on terror, Somalia, recently got a special treat - a screening
of a bootleg video of Black Hawk Down. The film, which tells the story of a botched US
attack on the Somali capital of Mogadishu in 1993, was a big hit with its Somali audience. Each time
a US chopper went down, the crowd cheered, and when US soldiers were killed, they cheered even more...
And while were talking about Bruckheimer latest blockbuster, here's a very interesting article about the
new myth of US nationhood - as both victim and saviour - that it perpetuates.
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| So, this dude, Sauron, made a big badass ring... |
posted 30 Jan 2002 |
One of the best things about cultural events are the inevitable parodies they inspire. It's
early days for Fellowship of the Ring but already the wags are out of the woodwork, and this is
probably the finest piece of pisstakery so far - LOTR: The Abridged Script. So pack a few cones of Thunderweed and
giggle along...
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| Sundance Wrap-Up : The Rise of Animation and DV |
posted 30 Jan 2002 |
The Sundance Film Festival may have degenerated into yet another venue for Hollywood whorebaggery,
but there's still some interesting things to be observed beyond the next-indie-hit bidding wars. Probably the most significant
of all is the visible rise of animation as medium that, thanks to tools like Macromedia Flash, no longer requires big budget assembly
lines or a monastic lifestyle. Of no less importance is the championing of digital video at Sundance.
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| A Sanitised Mind |
posted 30 Jan 2002 |
The latest "our" Russell vehicle, A Beautiful Mind, has been receiving plaudits at the Oscar rehearsal award ceremonies
and been commended for its portrayal of schizophrenics by schizophrenics themselves.
But still, it has been unable to escape Hollywood's watering down of real life to create uncomplicatedly sympathetic
central characters... John Forbes Nash Jr, the brilliant mathematician who is the subject of the film, fathered an illegitmate child that he
abandoned to poverty, had homosexual relationships and tried to renounce his US citizenship in 1960.
As the New York Times A. O. Scott notes, however, none of this makes it into the biopic...
(If you're asked to log in; username : filmcement password : burton)
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