- Machine is back with an interesting project.  1) At 6pm on Sunday July 6th a stuntman will leap from Machine Project’s 2nd story window. We would like to invite folks to attend and document the leap with a miniDV camera and then give us the video footage (tapes to be provided, unless you want to donate one) to be edited to create a very clumsy “Matrix” effect that suspends the stuntperson in mid-air with a 360 degree pan. Please email us at machine@machineproject.com with subject line JUMP if you're interested in participating.

- Sujewa Ekanayake work on his doc The Indie Film Bloggers: A Portrait of a Community.  If you are one or both of the fore-mentioned, check it out.

- Vanity Fair's Bright Young Hollywood?  KAT DENNINGS Age: 22. Hometown: Philadelphia. Breakthrough role: Catherine Keener’s daughter in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Upcoming film: The House Bunny. Number of shoes in your closet? “I would say at this moment a conservative number would be 40 pairs because I’ve gotten rid of a lot. I mean, I’m adding to them, though, sadly, so soon it will be 50 pairs.” Hmm, I wonder.

 -Finally, if you are not already a fan you will be. Mad Men is out on DVD this week.

George Carlin, the Grammy-Award winning standup comedian and actor who was hailed for his irreverent social commentary, poignant observations of the absurdities of everyday life and language, and groundbreaking routines like “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television,” died in Santa Monica, Calif., on Sunday, according to his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He was 71.

David Branin and DreamRegimeproductions have announced they are about to shoot their first full-length feature, Night Before the Wedding. "I have a strong, passionate team involved
with this one.  It will easily be my best work upon it's completion."
 Without further ado, go here and congrats David and Team.

- Go to ExploreTalent.com for your casting needs. They make it as easy as possible.

- Never Say Macbeth is coming out on DVD, oddly enough, at about the same time Hamlet 2 hits theaters in August. In Never Say Macbeth, a science teacher says "Macbeth" in a theater and unleashes mayhem upon a troupe of actors. It's a cross between Waiting for Guffman and Beetlejuice.

- Two Nobel prize winners, Kenzaburo Oe and Orhan Pamuk discuss the West and its influences.

- File under JESUS!!: "The FBI raided  Ira Isaacs’ Koreatown offices in January 2007. “The FBI guys were really nice,” Isaacs says. “[One] asked me, ‘How do you get girls to eat shit?’ I never had a problem getting real pretty girls for $500 or $600 — they were attracted because there’s no sex involved and such a little audience for these films that no one’s going to recognize them. Plus, “I don’t have that much talent to compete with artists,” Isaacs says in his New York accent. “I chose shit to get to the ****ing edge.” 
 

- Intriguing news, even if just a rumour. PT Anderson might be considering a script from-set down your coffee- from Variety's Peter Bart (!) about the war between the casinos and Native Americans called Power Play with Jack Nicholson  possibly attached. Check out Cigarettes and Red VInes and HE for more.

- Filmmaker/Writer David Lowery reviews Carlos Reygadas's Silent Night for Hammer to Nail.

- Our web serial Masher will be up very soon. Promises, promises, I know, but we did run into some bumps in the road in the form of a flying Gus, day-job intrusions, lost weekends, etc., but we are on track now.

DVD reccos: Blast of Silence, early noir minamalism; and the Romanian  07 Palmd'Or  winner,4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, which the lovely Ms. Dargis called "a ferocious, unsentimental, often brilliantly directed film about a young woman who helps a friend secure an abortion, the camera doesn’t follow the action, it expresses consciousness itself. "

If one is to believe what one reads in Hollywood, Peter Bart has always struck me as a strident high-class call girl as opposed to the rest of us who are willing to do the down-and-dirty work of whoring for a place here in the smogged-smeared sun. Vareity blog Fodder for the cannon:

Although the film has yet to be completed, several people I trust have seen Valkyrie and testify that it's a superb thriller. "Bryan Singer is back in form," says one source, referring to the Valkyrie director whose last film was Superman Returns.

Gotta pay the mortgage, eh Mrs. Bart?

- The LA Filmfest is coming! Go here for tixs and info. I highly recco Roy Andersson's You, the Living.

- The always lovely Manohla Dargis writes about Nina Davenport's doc Operation Filmmaker for the NYTS.

Michael Baldwin has launched a very cool new site. It's called ZotFish.com, and it contains pages for nearly 100 actors and directors that you can individually submit questions for. What's really special about the site is that users get to vote on the questions other users submit -- so you can see what questions people most want answered. Then, we go after the these actors and directors to get those questions answered.

E.G., I would like to ask Jenna Fischer if she is free to have a coffee sometime but I don't think that question will garner many votes. Baldwin says

Our idea is to make artists truly accessible to their public, and create true dialog where none exists today. Once, in a college film club, I got a chance to see "Natural Born Killers" followed by a lengthy Q&A session with Oliver Stone himself. He answered students' questions about his vision, what certain elements of the film symbolized, reactions to it -- it was a liberating and fascinating experience to get these answers, and have the kind of access normally reserved for select journalists. We're trying to recreate the same experience, only on the scale of the entire Internet.

Pop on over and find your favorite artisit and submit your questions.

You've heard and seen it already. Universal Studios caught fire on Saturday I believe. I hope none of the vids in the vault that were not backed up were lost. Wonder how the fire started?

                                (photo by Adam Housely)

- Charles McGrath takes an early look at the making of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" for the NYTS. "It's the anti-Mad Max end of the world movie", says John Hillcoat, the director of the excellent The Proposition.

- Karina Longworth says there are reports that some of the statements in the new bio pic on Mike Tyson by director James Toback might not be true. Really? 

- Finally, The Student Filmmaker Bookstore has a complete film school in a box; and much cheaper than your local University.

Sydney Pollack, the director, producer and actor whose 1985 drama Out of Africa earned him that year's Best Picture and Director Oscars, died today at his home in Pacific Palisades. He was 73.  He had been suffering from cancer for over a year. One of the Hollywood Greats.

- The Journal of Short Film releases Volume 11 (Spring 2008), The Portland Volume

- Don't forget to catch Date Number One if you are in the DC area on 5/22.

- CALL FOR ENTRIES - BIG BANG FILM FESTIVAL - OCTOBER 1 - 5, 2008.  contact@bigbangfilmfestival.com

- THE FINAL DAY, will be released on legendary director George Romero’s DIARY OF THE DEAD DVD (his new movie). The DVD hit stores shelves on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008.

Get you coverage from Jeff Wells  who has a relatively good review of the new Indy film. For strolls through the film market of Cannes, visit with Karina Longworth,  and Greencine for everything else. Try as I might I can't get very excited about the fest, even with Sean Penn running the jury. Will wait and see what emerges.

The pic is from  Luc Dardenne's Le Silence de Lorna

I did catch Lumet's/Masterton's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead this w/e.  Excellent!!

Over the last 10 weeks, the independent film “industry” has been restructured before our eyes.

Bob Alexander takes a good hard look at the state of the biz. 

1. ThinkFilm, in a financial crises having overpaid for films that it can’t make money on in distribution, sells its catalog to a Canadian investor/speculator.

2. New Line Cinema, respected for its having pioneered “edgy” films into the mass market, is closed by Warner Bros; 450 jobs in NY and LA lost.

3. Picturehouse, run by top indie film distributor Bob Berney, is closed by Warner and titles folded into the studio.

4. Warner Independent, the so-called “independent” arm of Warner managed by a former studio exec, Polly Cohen, is closed and folded into the studio.

5. Cablevision, owner of the IFC channel, successfully bids an estimated $500 million for the Sundance Channel, now controls all cable presentation of independent film.

6. Discovery Networks, after purchasing rights to and then declining to show “Taxi to the Dark Side“, Discovery is rumoured to be closing their independent film activity and may cut back on their support of Silver Docs

Off-Chance Productions Presents:
ANATOMY OF A SLAP
"When who you are and who you think you are collide at the curtain...who gets slapped?"

When:
MAY 9th through MAY 31ST
Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays @ 8pm

Nick Cave is...back? He offers up an odd one. Two you must read (or see as the case may be): Charles Bock's Beautiful Children and Tracy Letts' August: Osage County. Yea, Nick Cave is always interesting.

Maybe it's my burn-out, but the film world seems in a bit of the doldrums. Not much catching my eye at the multiplex, the DVD player, or on the web. Probably need a vacation or a good, long bender.

Here's a couple of things of note. Michael Tully has some great behind-the-scenes pics of the just finished Sarasota Filmfest.

The newly-discovered Marilyn Monroe Sex-tape might be a fake.

Finally, it's happening. Video games, namely Grand Theft Auto IV, looks to outgross the biggest Hollywood $$$-maker of all time. Maybe that's why I am depressed.

Wow, time has flown by this week as it usually does when you have a million things to do. Hmm, where to start. First, our serial "Masher" has been delayed due to reshoots. Apologies but it will be up soon, promise.

-Sujewa has posted a long interview w/ Barry Jenkins - writer/director of the new film Medicine for Melancholy.  The interview digs into some "big ideas" :) connected to the movie.  Check it out:

- I just saw Olivier Assayas' 5 minute short for the Paris Je T'aime compilation (w/ Maggie Gylenhall) and it was pretty good. The lovely, lovely Manohla Dargis reviews his lastest "Boarding Gate" in the NYTS.

- Our friends at Machine have come with a weekend of all things India. These events sound like great fun!

Our visiting artist Robin Sukhadia (and his parents!) have come up with a weekend to-do list for you...

1. Friday at 7pm - An evening celebrating Bollywood film music featuring live song performances, analysis, and historical/political insight by Rajen Sukhadia. Free

2. Saturday at 7pm - A concert of devotional music featuring Sheela Bringi (vocal and bansuri), Clinton Patterson (trumpet and Rhodes), Carter Wallace (Upright Bass), Rajen Sukhadia (vocals and harmonium), Saroj Sukhadia (manjira) and Robin Sukhadia (tabla).  Free

3. Saturday afternoon at 1pm is a cooking class with Saroj Sukhadia entitled Dahl 101. $65

4. Sunday 4pm is an epic Bollywood film screening of Mughal-E-Azaam. Free. Go here for details.

-  For Indie filmmakers waiting for reviews on HIT, please give us a bit more time. We working on them. Have a very nice weekend.

Intermittent readers might recall me mentioning that our little production group was working on a web serial about a young man challenged with a desire to pick up annonymous tall women or bump into them in the street. Rare readers won't recall that announcement but be that as it may, the the first three episodes are finally finished!!

Briefly, Masher is the story of the rehabilitation of a serial lifter and habitual masher. With the help of his therapist, lawyer (both court-appointed), and friend, Masher travels the difficult road to wellness and who knows?- perhaps even love.

We are setting up Masher's own blog to launch the project and of course, will shoot the episodes into the great world wide web (Youtube, Vsocial, myspace, ad nauseum) Watch this site for the official launch and we look forward to your comments, criticism, etc.

Cheers!

The almost-abriged academy awards are upon us once again. Long-time producer Gil Cates was on NPR saying that a little part of him wanted to see how the show would turn out if the writer’s were still on strike. Hmm, I guess we won’t know this year. Here are my picks and what I think the ‘venerable’ academy will go with. Admittedly, I have not seen all of the films but then again, who has, including the academy?

BEST PIC                Me:  There Will Be Blood        The Academy:  Atonement

Director                    Paul Thomas Anderson                                Julien Schnabel

ACTOR           Daniel Day-Lewis                                     Daniel Day-Lewis

ACTRESS                      Marion Cotillard                                       Julie Christy

SUP. ACTOR          Casey Affleck                                                             Hal Holbrook

SUP. ACTRESS      Ruby Dee                                                                    Ruby Dee

ORIG. SCRIPT       Tamara Jenkins                                        Diablo Cody

ADAP. SCRIPT       Coen Brothers                                          Coen Brothers

ANIMATED            Persepolis                                                                      Ratouille

CINEMATOG          Roger Elswit (TWBB)                       Roger Deakins (NCF..)

The only logical way for Machine to follow a week of live insects and organic pickling is to premiere scenes from a new film on the history of television, the Cold War, and Alfred Hitchcock doubles.  Please join us this Saturday, February 23rd at 8pm for a free lecture and presentation by video artist Johan Grimonprez, the current Hammer Museum artist in residence. Joined by filmmaker Tyler Hubby, Grimonprez will discuss his work-in-progress "Double Take" and present scenes from the film.