Food for thought from todays "Fox Trot" comic strip.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
A Clip From Cinderella Man
Today I am posting an .mpg of a clip that I captured from "Cinderella Man" in which as I mentioned in an earlier post I was an extra on for an extended time. I can be seen right near the end. Just after the announcer says "10 seconds". I'm the reporter 2nd from the bell man, next to the guy in the straw hat.
Click Here To View Clip
Later,
Kenaz
Click Here To View Clip
Later,
Kenaz
Egoyan Vents Over New Film Receiving NC-17 In The U.S.A
Last September, I had the fortunate pleasure of working three days on Atom Egoyans latest entry at the Toronto International Film Festival, "Where the Truth Lies". The film tells the story of a female journalist attempts to uncover the truth behind the breakup, years earlier, of a celebrated comedy (Kevin Bacon, Collin Firth) team after the duo found a girl dead (Rachel Blanchard)in their hotel room. Though both had airtight alibis and neither was accused, the incident put an end to their act.
The film, screening is the "Cannes cut" or the version seen before Egoyan attempted to appease the Motion Picture Association of America by re-editing the picture. Egoyan, en route to Toronto for the North American debut of his new film, lost his appeal to the MPAA in Los Angeles Thursday, with an NC-17 rating upheld by the organization according to distributor ThinkFilm. For the U.S. release, the company is inclined to release the film unrated and revert to Egoyan's original version.
The trouble for the film is a three-way sex scene involving stars Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, and Rachel Blanchard. The film is described as "the story of what happens during a ménage a trios that leads to a girl's death." In the film, Bacon and Firth portray a popular pair of entertainers who, after a night of antics, end up with a dead woman on their hands.
Egoyan, who argued at the appeal hearing along with Rachel Blanchard, actually won a majority of support at the session, earning 6 of 10 votes in a move to overturn the NC-17, but a 2/3 majority is required, leaving him one vote short.
After screening next week here at the Toronto fest, ThinkFilm will open the movie on October 14th. Blanchard told indieWIRE Wednesday that she worried that due to the restrictive rating, the audience of viewers would be smaller and clips of the film would be more likely to end up on the Internet, accessible to younger kids out of the context of the movie. Admitting that the film is not for young viewers she said that for mature teens, "there is an important dialogue that people can have... about celebrity and the abuse of power."
The film's producer Robert Lantos is the head of distributor ThinkFilm and said in a statement, "I trust that (the) moviegoing audience will see the film for the provocative intelligent entertainment that it was intended to be, and not as titillating fare."
While he had contractually committed to delivering an 'R' rated film, Egoyan said that determining what exactly an 'R' movie is can be difficult and added that he was not being held to the agreement. "Directors have to be very, very cautious when they sign that bit of a contract," advised Egoyan, "I don't know how you assess between 'R' and 'NC17'. It's a judgment call made by a group that you cannot predict." He added, "For the film to have been altered anymore than the version we saw this morning, if I was forced to alter it by cutting this scene I would have been horrified... that might have been the case if Robert Lantos were not supporting what I was doing."
Egoyan added that he found the ratings and appeal process intriguing and surprising. "I don't think anyone knows how tight or strict those guidelines are," Egoyan asserted, explaining the he went into the appeal process naively. What was eye opening, he indicated, was the configuration of the group. While there were ten people considering the appeal, two additional people whom he described as clergy (one Catholic and the other Episcopalian) were also on hand and were part of the closed-door deliberation process, he said.
The film has avoided ratings problems in other countries and will have a theatrical run in Egoyan's native Canada without problem. Egoyan added, "It will be great to come back to Canada and not to have to worry about it."
Egoyan, whose previous movies include (2002)Ararat and (1994)Exotica, is one of Canada's most respected film directors. He received Oscar nominations for direction and screenplay for his 1997 film The Sweet Hereafter.
So what ever happened to the division of church and state? I'm glad to be a Canadian. Click on the title link and purchase or rent any of this talented directors work, and I'm sure when people see "Where the Truth Lies" they will realize that the "offending" scene is necessary to the telling of the film and not intended to just titalize and the right for an educated eighteen year old to make their own judgment about about a piece of art work is not up to a group of uptight religious types. The old adage applies "If you don't like it, don't see it"
Later,
Kenaz
The film, screening is the "Cannes cut" or the version seen before Egoyan attempted to appease the Motion Picture Association of America by re-editing the picture. Egoyan, en route to Toronto for the North American debut of his new film, lost his appeal to the MPAA in Los Angeles Thursday, with an NC-17 rating upheld by the organization according to distributor ThinkFilm. For the U.S. release, the company is inclined to release the film unrated and revert to Egoyan's original version.
The trouble for the film is a three-way sex scene involving stars Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, and Rachel Blanchard. The film is described as "the story of what happens during a ménage a trios that leads to a girl's death." In the film, Bacon and Firth portray a popular pair of entertainers who, after a night of antics, end up with a dead woman on their hands.
Egoyan, who argued at the appeal hearing along with Rachel Blanchard, actually won a majority of support at the session, earning 6 of 10 votes in a move to overturn the NC-17, but a 2/3 majority is required, leaving him one vote short.
After screening next week here at the Toronto fest, ThinkFilm will open the movie on October 14th. Blanchard told indieWIRE Wednesday that she worried that due to the restrictive rating, the audience of viewers would be smaller and clips of the film would be more likely to end up on the Internet, accessible to younger kids out of the context of the movie. Admitting that the film is not for young viewers she said that for mature teens, "there is an important dialogue that people can have... about celebrity and the abuse of power."
The film's producer Robert Lantos is the head of distributor ThinkFilm and said in a statement, "I trust that (the) moviegoing audience will see the film for the provocative intelligent entertainment that it was intended to be, and not as titillating fare."
While he had contractually committed to delivering an 'R' rated film, Egoyan said that determining what exactly an 'R' movie is can be difficult and added that he was not being held to the agreement. "Directors have to be very, very cautious when they sign that bit of a contract," advised Egoyan, "I don't know how you assess between 'R' and 'NC17'. It's a judgment call made by a group that you cannot predict." He added, "For the film to have been altered anymore than the version we saw this morning, if I was forced to alter it by cutting this scene I would have been horrified... that might have been the case if Robert Lantos were not supporting what I was doing."
Egoyan added that he found the ratings and appeal process intriguing and surprising. "I don't think anyone knows how tight or strict those guidelines are," Egoyan asserted, explaining the he went into the appeal process naively. What was eye opening, he indicated, was the configuration of the group. While there were ten people considering the appeal, two additional people whom he described as clergy (one Catholic and the other Episcopalian) were also on hand and were part of the closed-door deliberation process, he said.
The film has avoided ratings problems in other countries and will have a theatrical run in Egoyan's native Canada without problem. Egoyan added, "It will be great to come back to Canada and not to have to worry about it."
Egoyan, whose previous movies include (2002)Ararat and (1994)Exotica, is one of Canada's most respected film directors. He received Oscar nominations for direction and screenplay for his 1997 film The Sweet Hereafter.
So what ever happened to the division of church and state? I'm glad to be a Canadian. Click on the title link and purchase or rent any of this talented directors work, and I'm sure when people see "Where the Truth Lies" they will realize that the "offending" scene is necessary to the telling of the film and not intended to just titalize and the right for an educated eighteen year old to make their own judgment about about a piece of art work is not up to a group of uptight religious types. The old adage applies "If you don't like it, don't see it"
Later,
Kenaz
Monday, September 12, 2005
Remembering Terry Fox
(1958-1981)
"Somewhere the hurting must stop." — Terry Fox
A natural athlete, Terry’s studies in kinesiology were interrupted by his diagnosis with osteogenic sarcoma — a form of bone cancer — as a result of which his right leg was amputated six inches above the right knee. During his recovery he resolved to undertake a cross-Canada run to raise awareness of the suffering caused by cancer. On April 12th, 1980 Terry Fox dipped his artificial foot into the Atlantic Ocean as he began his "Marathon of Hope". Then, on September 1st, 1980, Terry's relentless pace was cut short by the progression of cancer to his lungs.
He died on June 28th, 1981, one month before his 23rd birthday. Terry's dream of collecting $1 from every Canadian was realized; the Marathon of Hope raised $24.17 million for cancer research.
Today, his heroic perseverance is commemorated through numerous awards, research grants, and an annual fund-raising run held in 60 countries in his name and has raised more than $360 million world wide.
Please support your local Terry Fox Run or if your community doesn't have one bug your councils to organize one so we can help find a cure for cancer.
Click on the title link for achival footage from the CBC of Terry's Marathon of Hope and other external links.
Kenaz
"Somewhere the hurting must stop." — Terry Fox
A natural athlete, Terry’s studies in kinesiology were interrupted by his diagnosis with osteogenic sarcoma — a form of bone cancer — as a result of which his right leg was amputated six inches above the right knee. During his recovery he resolved to undertake a cross-Canada run to raise awareness of the suffering caused by cancer. On April 12th, 1980 Terry Fox dipped his artificial foot into the Atlantic Ocean as he began his "Marathon of Hope". Then, on September 1st, 1980, Terry's relentless pace was cut short by the progression of cancer to his lungs.
He died on June 28th, 1981, one month before his 23rd birthday. Terry's dream of collecting $1 from every Canadian was realized; the Marathon of Hope raised $24.17 million for cancer research.
Today, his heroic perseverance is commemorated through numerous awards, research grants, and an annual fund-raising run held in 60 countries in his name and has raised more than $360 million world wide.
Please support your local Terry Fox Run or if your community doesn't have one bug your councils to organize one so we can help find a cure for cancer.
Click on the title link for achival footage from the CBC of Terry's Marathon of Hope and other external links.
Kenaz
Sunday, September 11, 2005
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