Week Ending 26th August, 2001 Page 2 1
Sex Scenes Anyone ? Audiosexual 31 Aug 2001
I'm afraid things will be a bit quiet on Film Cement till September, as I have been given the task of editting together a video to be projected at Audiosexual, a multimedia dance event at La Bar on Friday 31 August. The video is going to be a peep-show into the many, varied forms of cinematic sex - straight, gay, lesbian, group, necrophile, trans-species, extraterrestrial, voyeuristic, exhibitionist... And it's all going to be tasteful... mostly... Any ideas for scenes I could use?
Surprise! Surprise! American Films Are Pro-American posted 24 Aug 2001
Novelist Robert Harris recently made this damning accusation about Hollywood films based on historical events: 'No matter what the situation, or where the film is supposed to be set, an American has to be central, to be seen as the good guy, or to save the day in some way'... Not only is this bleedingly obvious, but it's hardly about to change? So why bother complaining?... Well, because Hollywood holds such a sway over the global imagination, Harris worries that the rest of us will end up accepting their version of events as the truth. Your thoughts? Do US films have a responsibility not to be pro-US?
Coil : Surveillance Camera Cinema posted 24 Aug 2001
Coil tells the story of a TV news reporter who, after being sexually assaulted by a co-worker, decides to take revenge on society by embarking on a nightly crime spree that she reports on air the following day... It's an interesting idea, but what really grabbed my attention when I read the review in Film Threat is that the film is shot entirely on news and surveillance cameras... It's only just premiered at a film festival in Chicago, so I have no idea when it will be released.
Aunty Em Warned Me About The Brown Acid... posted 24 Aug 2001
There's a legend among burnt-out stoners that Pink Floyd's Dark Of The Moon was conceived as a score to The Wizard Of Oz. Considering what a pretentious knob Roger Waters was, this is quite possible... And considering the influence that Pink Floyd has had on subsequent generations of musicians, surely there are other artists who have done this sort of thing... Radiohead, for instance. Ever tried listening to Kid A and watching Something About Mary at the same time?... Anyone know of any others?
Dear Joanie 4 Jackie, I Am Making A Movie... posted 23 Aug 2001
You always suspected it, and now you know it's true : Girls and women are making movies everyday... Joanie 4 Jackie offers women filmmakers a chance to forge links with one another through video chainletters. If you have a short film simply send a VHS copy, and it will be included in a compilation tape with films from 9 other filmmakers. Also add a letter about your filmmaking experiences. The tape and the letter will be passed on to the other women on the tape... You may not make it big on the festival circuit doing this, but you may just meet some like-minded cinematic souls.
Trainspotting II : Guess What It's Called ? posted 23 Aug 2001
Porn, porn, porn, porn... Face it folks, it really is the flavour of the month... And now, Irvine Welsh has jumped on the bandwagon. He's just debuted extracts from a sequel to Trainspotting - provisionally entitled Porno - at the Edinburgh Festival. This one picks up the story 10 years later, with Sick Boy finally realising his dream of directing porn films. As yet there are no plans for a film version, but no doubt Danny Boyle will be putting the hard word on him as soon as the novel's finished.
Visit Villawood, Angelina ! posted 22 Aug 2001
In an obvious attempt to raise the profile of the great work they do, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees is due to appoint Angelina Jolie as its celebrity ambassador. Although the woman who was once quoted as saying 'We want land. We want beavers' would not be my first choice for the job, maybe we can use her to our advantage... Next time she's in Australia, let's suggest that she take a tour of our refugee concentration camps and expose their appalling conditions to the world... I don't have Ms Jolie's email address, but I do have the one for the Australian UNHCR (aulca@unhcr.ch)... Wanna start a petition? Let's get together and discuss the details.
This Week's 'End of the Australian Film Industry' Stories posted 22 Aug 2001
Hardly a week goes by without some story about our 'doomed' film industry and its waning ability to attract Hollywood mega-productions to these shores... This week, we're supposedly being shafted by New Zealand, which has been chosen over us as the location for the multi-million dollar TV series, Ringworld... And by forces within Hollywood, where the Screen Actors Guild is trying to stop Hollywood productions going OS.
Page 2 1