'CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY'

It's here! Check out the brand new trailer for Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story.'

'Capitalism: A Love Story' opens nationwide October 2nd.

MichaelMoore.com
webguy@michaelmoore.com

link

Read more...

Guitar Giants Jam in New Documentary, 'It Might Get Loud'

Forget sex. Leave out the drugs. Just take rock 'n' roll and zero in on one precise element: the guitar. "It Might Get Loud," the new documentary produced and directed by Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth"), assembles three iconic players, U2’s the Edge, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Jack White of the White Stripes (and new band Dead Weather, on drums), to talk about their signature instrument

"... whatever differences might be at play, it's all a wash when Page, in one of the jam sessions he leads, begins the coiling, heated riff to "Whole Lotta Love." The Edge looks flabbergasted. White looks like he's watching his beloved walk down the aisle. Those are the unifying moments; the ones where they each look like they’re falling in love."

Coming to NY and LA August 14th.

link | Official Site

Read more...

Name That Schlong

"Name That Schlong" Contest

Take the Green Porno challenge and NAME THAT SCHLONG!! Unlike any match game youve ever played, this contest will force you put all your green porno knowledge to the test. Click through our brand new, grand gallery of penises and match these notorious members with their appropriate owners.

Is it a cow? A Barnacle? A tortoise? A slug? Find out and NAME THAT SCHLONG NOW!

START GUESSING

To help you find the proper penis, we have posted a Green Porno "Grand Gallery of Penises" on Sundancechannel.com.

Read more...

Betty Blowtorch and her Amazing True Life Adventures

FILM THREAT'S TOP 25 DOCS THAT ROCK

This list was originally posted 6 years ago but the list still holds up quite well. I saw BETTY BLOWTORCH last night which is #1 on the list. The mark of a good documentary or film to me is that long after it's over I'm still thinking about it. I woke up today thinking about Betty Blowtorch and what could have been.

"Betty Blowtorch and her Amazing True Life Adventures" is jam packed with live footage of the band playing various shows. It also features interviews with the band and those fortunate enough to come in contact with them. The history of Betty Blowtorch is pretty well laid out here, giving plenty for the die-hard fans out there to drool over, and maybe even opening a few eyes and ears to their brutal power.

We dare you not to be moved by the tragic story presented here.

link

Read more...

THE CHILDREN OF AGAPE CHOIR

WE ARE TOGETHER: THE CHILDREN OF AGAPE CHOIR celebrates the remarkable life-changing odyssey of orphaned, South African children who overcome hardship through love, community and music.

I watched this doc last night, well, around 3am or so, and I cried and I cried and I cried. (Did I mention that I cried?)

Their story moved me immensely. You might think that you wouldn't have a single thing in common with this family but as the story peels away, and it sounds so simple to say, but people really are the same all over the world.

I enjoy it when the stats roll away and the story can tell itself.

link

Read more...

Religulous

Religulous
Bill Maher's Religulous - Release date: October 3, 2008.

A poster for RELIGULOUS, a documentary about world religion, directed by Larry Charles (BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN, "Curb Your Enthusiasm") and starring political humorist and author Bill Maher ("Real Time With Bill Maher," "Politically Incorrect").

Synopsis:

The documentary RELIGULOUS follows political humorist and author Bill Maher (“Real Time With Bill Maher,” “Politically Incorrect”) as he travels around the globe interviewing people about God and religion. Known for his astute analytical skills, irreverent wit and commitment to never pulling a punch, Maher brings his characteristic honesty to an unusual spiritual journey. Directed by Larry Charles (BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”), RELIGULOUS will mark Charles’ first feature project since the critically acclaimed, wildly successful BORAT. Jonah Smith and Palmer West of Thousand Words (A SCANNER DARKLY, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM) are producing. [via]

Trailer | Official Site

Read more...

Gonzo

GONZO - 7/4/08

From Oscar-wining director Alex Gibney and producer Graydon Carter comes a probing look into the uncanny life of national treasure and gonzo journalism inventor Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. A fast moving, wildly entertaining documentary with an iconic soundtrack, the film addresses the major touchstones in Thompson’s life-his intense and ill fated relationship with the Hell’s Angels, his near-successful bid for the office of sheriff in Aspen in 1970, the notorious story behind the landmark Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, his deep involvement in Senator George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign, and much more. Narrated by Johnny Depp.

see trailer | imdb

Read more...

It Might Get Loud

It Might Get Loud

Davis Guggenheim has completed filming on a documentary that will look at the story of the electric guitar from the point of view of three significant rock musicians: the Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White.

Guggenheim, director-producer of "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Deadwood," directed and co-produced "It Might Get Loud," which Thomas Tull financed and produced. The Little Film Co. will represent the pic in Cannes.

Led Zeppelin's Page, U2's the Edge and White, leader of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs, were chosen for their impact across three different generations -- from Page's 1960s days as a session musician and a member of the Yardbirds into the Edge's unique sound developed in the '80s through White's current work. Each explains and demonstrates how he changed the sound of the electric guitar to suit his own style. Pic includes a jam session featuring the three guitarists.

Can't wait to see this. I know that Julie and Frank are looking forward to it.

link | variety | imdb

Read more...

Green Porno

Green Porno
starring Isabella Rossellini

Read more...

PROMETHEUS’ GARDEN

Prometheus’ Garden by Bruce Bickford



PROMETHEUS’ GARDEN (28 minutes, 1988) is the only film over which legendary stop-motion animator Bruce Bickford maintained complete creative control. Bright Eye Pictures is making PROMETHEUS’ GARDEN available to the public for the first time since its completion two decades ago. The DVD features a commentary track by Bickford, an alternate score by Shark Quest’s Laird Dixon, and the half hour documentary featurette, LUCK OF A FOGHORN: the Making of Bruce Bickford’s Prometheus’ Garden, directed by Brett Ingram.

Best known for his collaborations with rock iconoclast Frank Zappa in the 1970s (THE DUB ROOM SPECIAL, BABY SNAKES, THE AMAZING MR. BICKFORD), underground animator Bruce Bickford has influenced generations of artists with his startlingly original vision.

[MORE »]

Read more...

Polis is This: Charles Olson and the Persistence of Place

Next Thursday (April 17th, 2008)

A film by Henry Ferrini & Ken Riaf
7:00 p.m., Thursday, April 17
Fine Arts Theatre, 38 Biltmore Ave., Downtown Asheville
Admission: $7 BMCM+AC members + students with ID-$9 non-members
Filmmaker Henry Ferrini will be in town for the screening and will answer questions afterward.

"A beautifully composed homage to one of the few truly monumental American poets of our times." Jack Hirschman, Poet Laureate of San Francisco

"The best film about an American poet ever made." Bill Corbett, The Boston Phoenix

"...an impressionistic, yet informative and moving document about the act of creation that neither shies away nor oversimplifies." Michael Kelleher, ArtVoice

Just in time for National Poetry Month in April, the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, The Captain’s Bookshelf and Western Carolina University present a striking new film about Charles Olson, poet and charismatic leader of Black Mountain College during its final years, at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 17th. Polis is This: Charles Olson and the Persistence of Place wrestles with the six foot eight inch 275lb colossus of poetry through an extraordinary mix of word and image. Filmmaker Henry Ferrini will be present at the April 17th screening at the Fine Arts Theatre to answer questions following the film.

Polis Is This combines interviews, archival footage, commentary and animation into a single voice full of insight and visual beauty. The film allows the audience access to the subject even as it captures the zeitgeist of a formative era in literary history. The 60-minute documentary features John Malkovich, as well as interviews with poets and scholars Robert Creeley, Ed Sanders, Diane di Prima, Gerrit Lansing, John Sinclair, Pete Seeger, Chuck Stein, Anne Waldman, Charles Boer, Susan Thackrey, Amiri Baraka, Robin Blaser, Michael Rumaker, Jonathan Williams, Ammiel Alcalay, John Stilgoe, Vincent Ferrini and the poet’s son, Charles Peter Olson.

Read More »| x-posted to Around Asheville

Read more...

I'm Lijit, Baby! | SICKO in Asheville

I'm Lijit, Baby!

I'm trying out a search widget called Lijit. It is on the right sidebar of this website (for all of you feed readers). It not only searches this website, but you can add other sites and bookmarks and favorites of yours that you also want it to search. It helps me locate something and it helps readers find something quickly.

I have it set up to search my del.icio.us bookmarks, my flickr photos, my stumbleupon page, my youtube, myspace, and any other website I write or contribute to. I've just started using it so I can't totally endorse it yet, but so far, so good.

And the best thing is that it keeps stats for you. It helps me know what the readers are looking for and what they expect to find here. **For instance, someone was searching for the Michael Moore documentary, Sicko, to see if it was playing in Asheville soon and I'm off to find that out for the reader and for myself.

My Lijit


SICKO PREMIERE IN ASHEVILLE TODAY

**The Asheville premiere of Michael Moore's SICKO is today, Friday, June 29. So far Regal Hollywood Cinemas 14 is the first place announcing that they are showing the movie.

*Syntax tells us that SiCKO is also playing @ the Fine Arts Theater downtown as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Regal Hollywood Cinemas 14
1640 Hendersonville Road, Asheville
828.274.9500

SICKO
Rated PG-13, 2 hr 0 min
Showtimes: (1:00), (4:00), 7:30, 10:25

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fine Arts - CASH ONLY
16 Biltmore Avenue
Downtown Asheville
828.232.1536

SICKO (PG-13)
Showtimes: 1:00 | 4:00 | 7:00 | 9:30 (Daily)

Movie Schedules For Asheville

Read more...

The Bridge

A scene from Eric Steel's "The Bridge." Copyright Rich Waters, courtesy of First Stripe Productions. via: indieWIRE

"One of the most moving and brutally honest films about suicide ever made... remarkably free of religious cant and of cozy New Age bromides. Eerie and indelible." Stephen Holden, New York Times

"a haunting work of unquestionable power, full of moments that are bound to linger in the memory, whether we want them to or not."****Financial Times

THE BRIDGE

THE BRIDGE offers glimpses into the darkest, and possibly most impenetrable corners of the human mind. The fates of the 24 people who died at the Golden Gate Bridge in 2004 are linked together by a 4 second fall, but their lives had been moving on parallel tracks and similar arcs all along.

Looming behind these stories is the Golden Gate Bridge itself, a monument that mirrors our highest aspirations and our lowest natures. We are uncomfortable with the grim realities suicide forces us to confront. We'd rather not see the mentally ill; we'd prefer suicides to be invisible -- or at least to take place quietly in hotel bathrooms, barns, dorm rooms and closets.

Available this week on DVD. link

Read more...

Larry "Wild Man" Fischer

Derailroaded: Inside The Mind Of Larry "Wild Man" Fischer is currently running on Sundance Channel.

Josh Rubin's strangely fascinating documentary parses the life of outsider musician Larry "Wild Man" Fischer. Growing up in the '50s, Fischer was an undiagnosed manic-depressive schizophrenic who, after attacking his mother with a knife, landed in a mental asylum.

Eventually he headed to California in the late '60s, where Frank Zappa discovered him singing his own strange compositions for a dime a song along Sunset Boulevard. In a strangulated growl somewhere between a possessed Tiny Tim and Bobcat Goldthwait, Fischer's music is something of an acquired taste. Zappa championed him and he led a convoluted career appearing on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and landing on the British Top 50 charts.

Derailroaded is interspersed with plenty of talking heads delivering anecdotes, as well as footage of Fischer performing, but ultimately this is a film not about music or fame, but about the ravages of mental illness. Despite many moments of levity—such as a completely bizarre re-enactment of an interview between Dr. Demento and Frank Zappa, done with puppets—it's a devastating portrait of delusion and fathomless despair.

You sure can see the Zappa influence but man, oh man, was the poor guy ever out there.

link

Read more...

WE - A Documentary

WE - A Documentary

'We' juxtaposes the writer Arundhati Roy's eloquent 'Come September' address, with a collage of contemporary and historical footage of our world, against a stirring soundtrack (Lush, Curve, Love & Rockets, Boards of Canada, Nine Inch Nails, Dead Can Dance, Amon Tobin, Massive Attack, Tortoise, Telepop, Placebo and Faithless).

Roy asks her audience to consider September 11 in the years prior to 2001, and what this date might mean to the citizens of the world. She says:

"This historical dredging is not offered as an accusation or a provocation. But just to share the grief of history. To thin the mist a little. To say to the citizens of America, in the gentlest, most human way: Welcome to the world."

She then refers to the September 11, 1973 CIA supported military coup in Chile headed by General Augusto Pinochet, the British government's September 11, 1922 mandate in Palestine and George Bush Sr's announcement to go to war against Iraq on September 11, 1990.

"...to dogmatically hold to only one set of ideas results in, I think, a slow, sad, and unnecessary form of brain death. Westerners need to start reading non-western press if they ever wish to understand the world better than they do at this moment."


'We' was produced by New Zealander Scott Ewing, who initially released it anonymously on the internet. It first appeared on the Australian website: resist.com.au in September 2005.

It's a powerful antidote to the mind numbing propaganda disseminated by our mainstream media. Free your mind. Go to: www.weroy.org

Read more...

Gaia Media News

GAIA MEDIA NEWSLETTER

As individuals, collectives, and a species we are heir to a living library far older than the Sun, and we were born to enjoy, celebrate and preserve our personal and unitive rights and expressions of access. A few thousand years ago, there was an accident — and the road to the library disappeared. That road is open again. link

~ DEDROIDIFICATION ~ It's high time you broaden your cute little close-minded reality tunnel if you think wonder only exists in fiction -- let me tell you a fantastic story, a history -- welcome to operation mindfuck link

Ibogaine - Rite of Passage is a documentary project about the use of Ibogaine for the treatment of addiction and its spiritual background.

CoverPop - This is truly a digital archivist's dream: data displayed in a way that is both aesthetically pleasing and informative." --Annalee Newitz / Wired.com.
Lots of fun! I like the musical instruments.
**NOTE: I had to turn OFF my pop-up blocker for this site**

The Strange, Harrowing Journeys of Free Energy Activists - The human journey hangs in the balance today. Humanity is very capable of destroying modern civilization and even most of life on earth. We are also quite capable of turning earth into a heavenly place where we all live in beauty, peace and plenty. The crux of the situation relies in great measure on real economics, and energy has always been the underlying basis for all economies for all time. Wade Frazier

"I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world." - that underpin evolution.
--Richard Dawkins
The God Delusion part 1
The Virus of Faith part 2

Hubble Deep Field - Representing a narrow "keyhole" view stretching to the visible horizon of the universe, the Hubble Deep Field image covers a speck of the sky only about the width of a dime 75 feet away.

(all links via Gaia Media News, a monthly newsletter.)

Read more...

W A R/D A N C E

W A R/D A N C E

Across the country, Ugandan children are getting ready for the biggest event of the year: the annual Kampala Music Festival. Fifty-six schools will compete, but only one will go home the champion. No one expects it to be Patongo ? schools in the middle of refugee camps don?t win awards.

But when the music starts, expressions shift. After a lifetime of trauma, this year Patongo Primary School students have something magical to anticipate. For the first time, they have qualifed to compete in Kampala?s national festival. The capital city may as well be on another planet to these kids. Most have never left the camp, but they dream about Kampala?s towering buildings, plentiful soda and soldier-free streets. Unlike the wealthier schools from the south, Patongo?s students scrap for school uniforms and instruments. Despite the odds, the children endlessly practice their performances, filling the sweltering one room schoolhouse with dust. They are driven by heart, talent and, for some, the need to rebuild lives shattered by the L.R.A.. After months of practicing, it all builds to the big night in Kampala. If their bus can safely make it through rebel territory, they?ll take the stage and give it their all. Win or lose, these children will show what true heart can achieve. (via: World Vision)

Documentaries have richly peppered the film landscape quite generously of late and War/Dance is one beautiful and tender documentary showing at Sundance this week.

Read more...

FUCK: A Documentary
Tagline: The movie that dare not speak its name

via monochrom

"Scholars and linguists will examine the long history of fuck. Comedians, actors, and writers who have charted and popularized the upward course of fuck will be heard from, often while defending the Constitutional Right of Free Speech, all the way to the Supreme Court. FUCK will visit with those who actually fuck for a living. We'll hear from advocates who oppose fuck and it's infringement into our everyday lives. We'll watch some of the most famous and infamous film and television clips that feature fuck, we'll hear some of the most famous fucks ever uttered and we'll feel the impact of fuck on our everyday lives."

"The trailer looks amazing, it features Ice T, Kevin Smith, Janeane Garofalo, Billy Connolly and fucking Hunter S. Thompson!"

FUCK: A Documentary was released in the US on November 10, 2006. Maybe we'll laugh our fucking asses off.

link

Read more...

Hacking Democracy

I just finished watching the HBO documentary Hacking Democracy. This cautionary documentary exposes the vulnerability of computers - which count approximately 80% of America's votes in county, state and federal elections - suggesting that if our votes aren't safe, then our democracy isn't safe either. Premieres Thursday, November 2 at 9pm. It's fair. It's objective. And you won't soon forget it.

In 2002, Seattle grandmother and writer Bev Harris asked officials in her county why they had acquired electronic touch screen systems for their elections. Unsatisfied with their explanation, she set out to learn about electronic voting machines on her own. In the course of her research, which unearthed hundreds of reported incidents of mishandled voting information, Harris stumbled across an "online library" of the Diebold Corporation - which counted more than 40 percent of the presidential votes nationwide in 2000 - discovering a treasure trove of information about the inner-workings of the company's voting system.

Just think of how much pride we put into casting our individual votes. If you get HBO, try to catch a rerun of this documentary.

For more, see Bev Harris' Black Box Voting website.

Read more...

GREY GARDENS

A paper bird sits in a rusty gilded birdcage by the window in one of the 28 rambling rooms in Grey Gardens by the shore. We watch Little Edie place a loaf of bread onto the attic floor for the raccoon that crawls out from behind the wall and heartily digs in.

With no running water and cat feces everywhere in this dilapidated house, Little Edie always managed to dress each day in one of her "revolutionary costumes". She would knot up a turban and wear makeshift skirts with a lovely brooch decorating her daily headgear, always in high heels, and red lipstick. Under the skirt were hose. Always. Color: Suntan.

After all, socialites must look presentable.

Are you a "staunch woman?" Does your "best costume for the day" involve a moth-bitten sweater wrapped around your head and pinned with a jeweled brooch? If so, you're likely a devotee of Grey Gardens, the 1975 documentary about an elderly society mother and her aging daughter living in isolated squalor in an East Hampton, NY, mansion. The film, which fixates on the day-to-day insanities of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, 'Little Edie' (the now-deceased aunt and cousin, respectively, of Jackie O), has acquired an enormous cult following over the past 30 years, mainly due to the extreme eccentricity and campy joie de vivre of the women. Nowhere is this popularity more apparent than in last spring's loving adaption of the film to an off-Broadway musical, starring Christine Ebersole in the roles of both the elder and younger Edies (in separate acts). Ebersole entranced sold-out crowds during that first run, and now her powerhouse portrayal will hit the big time when Grey Gardens opens at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway opening night November 2.

Related:
* Fansite
* Documentary
* Yahoo Group
* The Musical

This post brought over from http://easybakecoven2.blogspot.com; date and time adjusted.

Read more...