Day: June 29, 2010

Explorations of Free Speech and Alienation: Two Short Films on Iran

By Govindini Murty. Today we commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Iran democracy protests.  I’ll be commenting at greater length later on some of the fine recent films by Iranian filmmakers that have explored Iran’s current social and political issues.  For now, though, I wanted to show you two interesting short films on Iran.

The first film, titled Iran: A Nation of Bloggers, is a fast-paced, informative two minute short about how Iranians have embraced blogging in order to express themselves freely to the rest of the world.  It was directed by Aaron Chiesa as a project for the Vancouver Film School.  (I have fond memories of Vancouver Film School from my early days as an actress when I was living in Vancouver, as I acted in some of the school’s short films.)  The short features striking animation reminiscent of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis (in fact, I think a couple of shots were used from Persepolis) – and a catchy, exotic, pop-music sound track.  You can watch Iran: A Nation of Bloggers above.

The second film is Exile Paranoia, a ten minute short by Iranian filmmaker Nassrin Nasser.  The film explores in a haunting, meditative manner Nasser’s own feelings of alienation and confusion as she seeks to get a visa/passport to leave Iran and come to the West.  Exile Paranoia moves at a dreamlike pace that is the opposite of Iran: A Nation of Bloggers, but I like the contrast.  And while Iran: A Nation of Bloggers features black and white animation done in the radical-chic, populist style that dates back to Soviet constructivist art (and that was most recently seen in Obama’s “Hope” poster), Exile Paranoia is a softer, more intimate film that explores one woman’s emotions in a poetic, understated style.  I like the subtle use of color in Exile Paranoia – from white to cream to green to blue – and the dream-like, computer-composited shots of night-time Tehran.  I also find it interesting to see a brief glimpse of life from the viewpoint of an Iranian woman filmmaker.  Whether I would agree with her feelings about the West or not (the one Western male in the film is portrayed as a cold jerk, but maybe that’s just what this filmmaker has experienced), it’s still interesting to see life from her viewpoint.

Posted on June 29th, 2010 at 9:26pm.

Hollywood Round-up, 6/29 + Happy Birthday Ray Harryhausen!

From Ray Harryhausen's "20 Million Miles to Earth."

By Jason Apuzzo. • Happy 90th Birthday, Ray Harryhausen!  Ray’s an acquaintance of ours, and we want to wish him all the best on his big day.  Ray’s birthday happens to coincide with a new exhibit of his work at London’s National Film Museum, and today’s announcement by the UK’s National Media Museum that they’ll eventually be receiving Ray’s collection of memorabilia from his career.

The great Ray Harryhausen.

Anyone who’s ever met Ray or worked with him knows what a consummate gentleman he is, and also how warm and generous he is in giving of his time and knowledge to younger generations of filmmakers and movie fans.  Ray’s place in the history of cinema is special: he is, in effect, the creator of the modern fantasy genre – a genre he needed to create almost single-handedly in order to bring his unique vision to the world.  The technical sophistication of Ray’s work is matched only by the breadth of his vision, which encompasses not only ancient mythology but modern science fiction.  He’s one of the absolutely essential figures in cinema history.

Tributes to Ray are pouring in today, and you can see them collected at MUBI.  Congratulations, Ray!

• The trailer is out for the next 2 Harry Potter films that will be wrapping up that series … but it isn’t nearly as good as the trailer for the new Japanese film Space Battleship Yamato!

• Confirming what we’ve reported here before, Tommy Lee Jones has joined the Captain America cast, apparently as Col. Chester Phillips.  Is this to make up for Valley of Ellah?

• The “Christopher Nolan’s Inception is the ‘smart’ alternative to summer pap” meme is gaining steam in advance of the film’s likely-to-be disappointing performance at the summer box office.  What a farce.  Once again audiences will be insulted by critics in order to protect a director’s reputation.  Btw, what’s Inception done exactly to so swiftly merit this ‘smart’ sobriquet?  All the ads actually show of the film are explosions.  Maybe they should market this film as ‘The Thinking Man’s A-Team.’

• It’s circle-the-wagons-time around Team Cruise, as one Fox executive falls on his sword to protect Tom, post Knight and Day. I’m also seeing some meaningless chatter on-line right now about a potential Top Gun sequel, but those rumors are old and long-debunked.  The reality is that Cruise has got nothing left in the tank right now beyond the Mission Impossible franchise.  We’ll see if he can reinvent himself again, or else find himself doing cop movies.

• M. Night Shyamalan is taking heat over the racially insensitive casting of his Last Airbender, and the reality is that Hollywood filmmakers are going to continue taking heat on this until they stop second-guessing who the American audience will ‘accept’ in major roles.  Have any of these guys noticed how multi-ethnic America is right now?  Do we really still need white people to ‘sell’ films domestically?

• Check today’s The Wrap to find out where the Hollywood money is going this political season. Funny that Bob Iger is giving money to Jerry Brown, given that Meg Whitman interviewed for Iger’s current job.

• New Malaysian TV show looks for Malaysia’s Next Top Young Imam. Reality TV for the rest of the world.  But is it as good as “Basketball Wives”?

Authentic Russian supermodel.

• Twilight‘s Kristen Stewart is debuting her new red hair just prior to her film’s launch.  I’ve always had mixed feelings about redheads, but I’m rolling with this.

• AND IN TODAY’S MOST IMPORTANT NEWS … Fox News does some hard news reporting today on the seedier aspects of recruiting Russian supermodels. Who knew?  So here at LFM we’re taking the occasion of posting a picture of former Russian supermodel, Bond girl and Centurion star Olga Kurylenko – just to provide some needed news context to Fox’s story.

And that’s what’s happening today in the wonderful world of Hollywood …

Posted on June 29th, 2010 at 2:49pm.

China Salt-Free? Jolie’s Salt Banned in China

By Jason Apuzzo. Over at Hollywood Elsewhere, Jeffrey Wells is reporting that the People’s Republic of China is currently refusing distribution for the upcoming Angelina Jolie/Phillip Noyce/Sony actioner, Salt.  As Wells puts it, this is:

… [n]ot one of those “scenes must be removed before your film is allowed to play in China” problems, but a “sorry, but no amount of edits will satisfy us” problem. Meaning that Salt is apparently cinema non grata in that country until further notice – no theatrical bookings, no DVDs, no Blurays.  Which, of course, means a huge opportunity for Chinese video pirates and a huge potential loss for Sony Pictures.

As I recall, Wells is tight with Salt director Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger), so I’m assuming this story is kosher.

I’m laughing at all this because Sony just did a gigantic co-production with China on Karate Kid – and went so far as to grant the Chinese communists limited editorial control of that film’s content.  Presumably Sony agreed to this in order to grease the rails for future Sony products making their way into China … and now the Chinese have predictably stabbed Sony in the back, now that their travelogue-propaganda piece Karate Kid is already out in theaters.

This is why American filmmakers should never give in to the Chinese communist regime, or to any tyrannical regime when they demand editorial control.  Tough luck, Sony!  You can always film in Tehran, Pyongyang – or maybe just West LA.

Btw, Jolie’s doing an anodyne interview in Vanity Fair right now.  She’s still one of the sexiest women in Hollywood, but a decade of weirdness has taken its toll and frankly she’s looking a little hard …

Posted on June 29th, 2010 at 1:09pm.

Bhutto Sundance Documentary Picked up for Distribution

By Jason Apuzzo. IndieWIRE is reporting today that North American rights to Duane Baughman’s 2010 Sundance  documentary Bhutto have been picked up by First Run Features.  A November theatrical release is planned for North America, with home video, internet platforms, and television to follow.  According to IndieWIRE:

“Bhutto” follows the epic story of Benazir Bhutto, the first woman in history to lead a Muslim nation. She was born into a wealthy family that has become Pakistan’s dominant political dynasty. Often referred to as the “Kennedys of Pakistan,” the Bhuttos share a painful history of triumph and tragedy, played out on an international stage. Educated at Harvard and Oxford, Benazir’s life changed forever when her father, Pakistan’s first democratically elected president, chose Benazir, instead of his eldest son, to carry his political mantle. After her father was overthrown and executed by his handpicked Army Chief, Benazir swore to avenge him and to restore democracy – or die trying.

We’ve embedded the film’s trailer above.  We’re pleased to see this film get picked up.  Benazir Bhutto was a fascinating and complex woman whose shocking assassination in 2007 ended the hope of many people that the current Pakistani regime could be effectively reformed.  Bhutto’s story, and that of her family, is very much the story of modern Pakistan.  We will keep an eye on this film, and report down the line on screenings.

Posted on June 29th, 2010 at 11:52am.