“It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.”
Voltaire (1694 – 1778)
French Author
“It is when power is wedded to chronic fear that it becomes formidable.”
Eric Hoffer (1902 – 1983)
Longshoreman and Philosopher The Passionate State of Mind, 1954
Jodie Foster was on Jay Leno tonight to promote her new film, FLIGHTPLAN . She talked about her children and having grown up as a child actor. Jay had a clip from an episode of ADAM 12. About a year ago, I found a clip of Jodie on THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY. Foster talked about having discovered that you could input the name of an actor and find all of his/her old films and television appearances. (Finally, an excuse to get TIVO!)
I also found an old clip of Jodie’s McDonald’s Commercial. Foster also talked about her upcoming appearance on Bravo’s INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO with James Lipton. Airing this weekend (1:00pm and 8:00pm local time), Foster gets choked up talking about her career.
POST COMMENT: The Actors Studio session was terrific. Foster talked about the emotional movement from NELL that still makes her cry when she does it. She said all of her films were basically about abandonment and that movement of trying to pull someone close (someone who was going away forever) still causes a deep emotional response for her. She talked about how her unwillingness to perform on stage may be intertwined with the John Hinckley assassination attempt. She talked about her children. Lipton graciously did not probe about her relationships. It was fun for me to watch.
The Sundance 2006 Website is up and running and full of great information. The link to be a volunteer isn’t working yet but will be soon. If you’re over 21 and funds are an issue, volunteering is a great way to do the festival. You see tons of films, meet bunches of industry people and save a lot of moolah.
Sundance 2005 by the Numbers!
| TOTAL FEATURE SUBMISSIONS | 2613 |
| TOTAL SHORTS SUBMISSIONS | 3887 |
| U.S. FEATURE FILMS | 1385 |
| INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILMS | 761 |
| U.S. DOCUMENTARY FEATURES | 624 |
| INTERNATIONAL FEATURES | 843 |
| INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARIES | 385 |
| INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILMS | 1097 |
| U.S. SHORTS | 2790 |
| FILMS SCREENED IN 20 YEARS | 3393 |
| FILMS SCREENING IN 2005 | 202 |
| FEATURE FILMS SCREENING IN 2005 | 120 |
| SHORT FILMS SCREENING IN 2005 | 82 |
| WORLD PREMIERES | 85 |
| NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERES | 11 |
| U.S. PREMIERES | 19 |
| WOMEN FILMMAKERS | 54 |
| AFRICAN/AMERICAN FILMMAKERS | 9 |
| AFRICAN/AMERICAN INTEREST FILMS | 24 |
| ASIAN/AMERICAN FILMMAKERS | 15 |
| ASIAN/AMERICAN INTEREST FILMS | 20 |
| LATINO FILMMAKERS | 17 |
| LATINO INTEREST FILMS | 29 |
| NATIVE FILMMAKERS | 11 |
| NATIVE INTEREST FILMS | 14 |
| LESBIAN/GAY/ TRANSGENDER INTEREST | 29 |
| TOTAL MINUTES OF FILM SCREENING | 12,551 |
| FILMMAKERS WHO HAD A SHORT FILM PREVIOUSLY AT THE FEST | 10 |
| FIRST-TIME FEATURE FILMMAKERS | 51 |
| FULL LENGTH INTERNATIONAL FILMS AT SUNDANCE | 42 |
| SHORT INTERNATIONAL FILMS AT SUNDANCE | 31 |
| TOTAL NUMBER OF COUNTRIES REPRESENTED | 30 |
| TOTAL NUMBER OF LANGUAGES REPRESENTED | 23 |
| FILMS PROJECTING IN SONY HD CAM | 87 |
| FEATURE LENGTH FILMS SHOT WITH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY | 42 |
| SHORT FILMS SHOT WITH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY | 41 |
| PERCENTAGE OF FEATURE FILMS MADE ON VIDEO | 35% |
| PERCENTAGE OF SHORT FILMS MADE ON VIDEO | 50% |
| DOCUMENTARIES WITH PRIOR SUNDANCE LAB INVOLVEMENT | 3 |
| SUNDANCE DOCUMENTARY FUND GRANTEES | 6 |
| FILMS WITH PRIOR SUNDANCE FILM LAB INVOLVEMENT | 7 |
| SHORTEST FILM IN THE FESTIVAL | 2 Minutes |
Sundance Film Festival 2006 It’s here. It’s here. Sundance 2006 is here! Okay, almost here. The part where you plan, make reservations, spend money and get excited has begun! The festival runs from January 19 – January 29, 2006 in the always picturesque Park City, Utah.
Key dates for Sundance 2006:
- 12 Sep thru 14 Oct – Pre-Registration
- 19 Oct 05 – Notification of Purchase time
- 24 Oct 05 – Package Purchases Begin (Book your hotel, too!)
- 28 Nov 05 – American and World Competition Films Announced
- 29 Nov 05 – All Feature Films Announced
- 5 Dec 05 – All Short Films Announced
- 12 Dec 05 – Screening Schedule Announced (Happy Birthday to me!)
- 15 Dec 05 – Online Film Guide
So, if you’re thinking about doing the Sundance Thang this year, it’s time to buckle down and get busy!
Related Podcasts
Sundance for Beginners: Interviewer Karen Copeland discusses attending the Sundance Film Festival with Sundance veteran Cyndi Greening. Greening has been a Sundance attendee since 1996.
Sundance from the Teen Point of View: Alec Hart and Cyndi Greening discuss the Sundance Film Festival from the teen point of view.
Sundance Juror Emanuel Levy: Film Professor, Author and Critic Emanuel Levy discusses being a Sundance Juror, the importance of Sundance and festivals.
All podcasts can be accessed at the RSS Podcast feed
Complete Index of Sundance VideoCASTS and Podcasts
CinemaMinima Weblog
CyndiGreening Weblog
Email
Cory Doctorow: Michael Albert took these remarkable photos of mobulas — a kind of ray, related to manta rays — “breaching” in the Sea of Cortez. That is, zooming up to the surface and momentarily taking wing like a dolphin leaping out of the water.
(Comment: We went scuba diving in the Sea of Cortez a few years back but did not see anything like this. Our dive ship was boarded by the Mexican Navy and a storm at sea churned up so much crud in the water that the visibility was only 8 feet. That’s right, 8 feet. It is not a typo. So, perhaps no rays were flying that day. — :-{ Cyndi)
Link
(Thanks, Albert!) [Boing Boing]
Cory Doctorow: Michael Albert took these remarkable photos of mobulas — a kind of ray, related to manta rays — “breaching” in the Sea of Cortez. That is, zooming up to the surface and momentarily taking wing like a dolphin leaping out of the water.
(Comment: We went scuba diving in the Sea of Cortez a few years back but did not see anything like this. Our dive ship was boarded by the Mexican Navy and a storm at sea churned up so much crud in the water that the visibility was only 8 feet. That’s right, 8 feet. It is not a typo. So, perhaps no rays were flying that day. — :-{ Cyndi)
Link
(Thanks, Albert!) [Boing Boing]
Sundance Film Festival 2006 It’s here. It’s here. Sundance 2006 is here! Okay, almost here. The part where you plan, make reservations, spend money and get excited has begun! The festival runs from January 19 – January 29, 2006 in the always picturesque Park City, Utah.
Key dates for Sundance 2006:
- 12 Sep thru 14 Oct – Pre-Registration
- 19 Oct 05 – Notification of Purchase time
- 24 Oct 05 – Package Purchases Begin (Book your hotel, too!)
- 28 Nov 05 – American and World Competition Films Announced
- 29 Nov 05 – All Feature Films Announced
- 5 Dec 05 – All Short Films Announced
- 12 Dec 05 – Screening Schedule Announced (Happy Birthday to me!)
- 15 Dec 05 – Online Film Guide
So, if you’re thinking about doing the Sundance Thang this year, it’s time to buckle down and get busy!
Related Podcasts
Sundance for Beginners: Interviewer Karen Copeland discusses attending the Sundance Film Festival with Sundance veteran Cyndi Greening. Greening has been a Sundance attendee since 1996.
Sundance from the Teen Point of View: Alec Hart and Cyndi Greening discuss the Sundance Film Festival from the teen point of view.
Sundance Juror Emanuel Levy: Film Professor, Author and Critic Emanuel Levy discusses being a Sundance Juror, the importance of Sundance and festivals.
All podcasts can be accessed at the RSS Podcast feed
Complete Index of Sundance VideoCASTS and Podcasts
CinemaMinima Weblog
CyndiGreening Weblog
Email
“Divide and rule, a sound motto. Unite and lead, a better one.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 – 1832)
German Dramatist & Author
“Death is not the worst that can happen to men.”
Plato (427 BC – 347 BC)
Greek Philosopher & Author
Mike’s Best of IBC 2005 Picks (so far, updated)
So far, the most significant new stuff for indies at the show is (and this is my ranking):
1.) Panasonic’s HVX-200 -the Do It All camera – 720p (24 or 60), 1080p24, 1080i30 for the NTSC version. Also does DV and DVCPRO
… follow link for more info![HD For Indies]
I (Cyndi) LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this show! J.J. Abrams is a golden god (lower case Gs but a god nonetheless)! Lost: The Complete First Season. DVD Reviews: Buena Vista’s seven-disc collection of “Lost’s” first season, featuring enough carefully crafted bonus features to fill a secret hatch, more than matches the ambition of the show’s creators. [Variety.com]
‘Dynamite’ thesp hears ‘Mama’ call. Film News: Heder to take title role in laffer — “Napoleon Dynamite” star Jon Heder will take the title role in “Mama’s Boy,” a Warner Independent Pictures comedy that will mark the feature directorial debut of Tim Hamilton. [Variety.com]
Telluride. Wrap-up.. Jonathan Marlow looks back on the highlights – and occasional troughs – of the Telluride Film Festival. Unlike other events large and small, Telluride has a number of qualities of distinction that sets it apart from other film festivals. First… [GreenCine Daily]
Exploring 60s America in Three New Films: “Capote,” “Brokeback Mountain” and “No Direction Home” (And More From Telluride). On the nearly one hundred year old Sheraton Opera House building where the Telluride Film Festival began 32 years ago hangs a sign that reads simply, “SHOW.” The sign has been there since before organizers Bill and Stella Pence, who founded the event with Tom Luddy, first came to this mountain town in 1972. Somehow the word came to represent this festival, having been used on the first fest poster and etched into the silver medallion that organizers award honorees. “It’s the essence of what we are all about,” Bill Pence told indieWIRE, “We look upon ourselves as ‘The Show’.” Eugene Hernandez reports from Telluride, Colorado. (09/06/05) [indieWIRE]
Frog Design Mind. [Note: Even if you have never heard of frog design, you are undoubtedly familiar with the company's enormously influential industrial design work—the Sony Trinitron TV, Logitech's QuickCam... go to their site! Their work is incredible! [Gizmodo]
The Reeler’s Fall Movie Preview Review. FLIGHTPLAN’s Jodie Foster is concerned about the quality of this year’s fall movie previews (Photo: Touchstone Pictures). As sure as it brings leaves’ changing hues, gripping pennant races and a life-draining barrage of political ambition, autumn boasts the promise… (The Reeler). [blogs.indieWIRE.com: Independent Film]
Katrina: timelines (or, OMGWTF happened?). Xeni Jardin:
On-air, in print, and online: looking back on exactly what took place, who did or didn’t do what, and when. Here are a few timelines.
Reporters Laura Sullivan and Daniel Zwerdling of NPR’s All Things Considered did a terrific two-part timeline today. These two radio segments are essential listening.
Katrina Timeline:
(1) Unexecuted Plans
(2) Misdirected Aid
Mechanical papercraft toys — including a Maneki Neko. Cory Doctorow:This Japanese site features many stupendous mechanical paper models, including this Maneki Neko lucky cat whose hand waves and whose eye winks.
Link
(via Paper Forest)
[Boing Boing]
Cigarette packages through the ages. Cory Doctorow:This French site sports photos of literally hundreds of cigarette packets down from the ages. The artwork is truly lovely — Link
(via We Make Money Not Art)
[Boing Boing]
In the latest Cool Tools, Kevin Kelly reviews a DVD that teaches you how to make latex puppets for animated videos and films. How to make latex puppets for animated videos. With digital editing tools, stop-action animation (think Wallace and Gromit, or Tim Burton) has become more forgiving to make and therefore more new artists are trying their hand at it, making stop-action film more common in commercials, shorts and MTV-ish channels. But it’s really difficult to make a decent flexible figure for stop-action that will not move unless you want it to, but will move exactly as you want it to when you do, and even more challenging to make one that looks alive. There’s really no other way to do this; you have to make a special armature figure.
I can’t imagine there are more than five readers of Cool Tools interested in how to make a really good latex puppet for use in animated videos and films. But for you five, here’s some gold: an all-you-need-to-know step-by-step DVD from Kathi Zung in New York City who’s perhaps the only professional animated latex puppet maker in the galaxy. She does everything in her loft kitchen, and is very eager to tell you what she has learned. It’s as thorough a workshop course as I’ve seen, with no detail or potential problem unattended.
Note: This article is from [from Mark Frauenfelder at Boing Boing].
I ordered this DVD on Sunday and am eagerly awaiting its arrival. I am told the process is incredibly toxic and expensive as heck but I want to learn about it anyway. I’m also wanting to make miniatures and composite a groovy film! Got a GREAT email from Kathi Zung and am hoping to do a podcast with her after I’ve seen the DVD!
As usual, Jon Stewart gets it right in his explanation of The Blame Game. People who don’t want to play the blame game are usually to blame. A wonderful bit from The Daily show on everyone feigning ignorance! (Please, let them be feigning ignorance … they can’t really be that stupid, can they?!?)
Okay, so I LOVE Keith Olberman’s COUNTDOWN on MSNBC. The hour-long daily news show focuses on the issues of the day. Not suprisingly, the last ten days have been focused on the Aftermath of Katrina. Yesterday, Olberman did a story on The Katrina Timeline — a summary of who said what when. While ignorance is bliss and political officials can claim they did not know, videotape is a great reckoning tool. Even I recall them saying the Sunday BEFORE Katrina that the hurricane would likely make landfall near New Orleans as a category 4, if not a category 5 AND, if it did, the levees would not hold. I will never forget the pain and suffering on the faces of the people in the Convention Center that were broadcast on September 1st.
As Scott McClelland keeps smacking reporters around when they try to confront the total incompetence and ineptitude of FEMA, some reporters keep trying to shift the blame from the federal agencies and administration to the people of the region and/or local political leaders. Thank Gawd some of the politicians are willing to stand up for the citizens of this country. Today, there was a serious Nancy Pelosi SmackDown! As the Senate Minority Leader, Pelosi is doing a great job of speaking up for the Americans that were abandoned in this catastrophe.
Speaking of Smackdowns, I finally found the provocative clip in which Kanye West says “Bush hates black people.”
Brownie (Deservedly) on the Hotseat. Michael Brown, director of FEMA, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff five hours AFTER Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29 to send FEMA workers to Louisiana. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to “convey a positive image” about the government’s response for victims. In his request, Brown indicated that employees should have TWO DAYS to travel to the region. Perhaps this is appropriate for an Arabian horse show …
Yes, about 1/3 of my income goes for taxes and, after Katrina (or what Laura Bush calls it — Corinna), I know I cannot count on the federal government to provide timely aid. Fortunately, I’ve found a website with a DIY Rescue kit.
Make-And-Bake Clay Levee!
You will need:
- construction paper
- glue or glue sticks
- a can of baking soda
- some play-doh (optional)
- 200 gallons of distilled water and 100 pounds of canned food
For complete instructions, visit Do-It-Yourself Rescue Kit.
Accompanying her husband, former President George H.W.Bush, on a tour of hurricane relief centers in Houston, Barbara Bush said today, referring to the poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, “This is working very well for them.” The former First Lady’s remarks were aired on American Public Media’s “Marketplace”
program.
In a segment at the top of the show Barbara Bush said, “What I’m hearing which is sort of scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. “And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this–this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them.”
It seems Mrs. Bush thinks a cot in the Astrodome is better than one’s own home in Louisiana. A kitchen, bedroom, private bathroom, closet and pantry are no match for the hospitality of Houston. This reminds me of the time Bush Senior didn’t realize what a price scanner was at a grocery store. Sheesh. On top of that, she said it was “scary.”
Speaking of Bush 41, doesn’t anyone else find it odd that Bush 43 now sends Bush 41 and Clinton (42) out on humanitarian missions instead of going himself??? I don’t know if the subtext is that only these former leaders have the ability to connect with and comfort the people of America (and the world) OR if only these former leaders have the ability to inspire confidence, hope and leadership. I find it worth noting. As W’s approval rating craters … and the number of people who feel the country is going in the wrong direction peaks … we see more and more of our former leaders.
TELLURIDE, Colorado — According to the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, Philip Seymour Hoffman came to check out the competition, and he liked what he saw and heard. His starring role in Bennett Miller‘s CAPOTE was the talk of the sold-out 32nd Telluride Film Festival which took place during the four-day Labor Day weekend. Hoffman’s performance as fey New Yorker Truman Capote, in Kansas to report on Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, the murderers he portrayed in his 1966 nonfiction novel, IN COLD BLOOD (which featured Robert Blake as one of the murderers), wowed many of the 2,000 pass holders at the tiny Rocky Mountain ski resort. An Oscar nomination for Hoffman appears inevitable, observers said, and Catherine Keener, who co-stars as novelist Harper Lee, could find herself in the supporting actress race. Other likely Oscar contenders who emerged during the fest included Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, who star as Johnny Cash and June Carter, real-life lovers and country music icons, in James Mangold‘s $25 million WALK THE LINE.
