Oscar Nominees on "Between Two Ferns"

  Comedian, actor, and owner of a most impressive beard Zach Galifianakis was lucky enough to land interviews with a number of 2012 Oscar nominees, including Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hathaway, Christoph Waltz, Naomi Watts and Amy Adams in the first segment.
  Warning: Adult language ahead!

Between Two Ferns: Oscar Buzz Edition Part 1 from Zach Galifianakis

  Part two brings Jessica Chastain, Sally Field, Bradley Cooper, and a special guest from Lincoln who apparently doesn't normally do interviews!

Between Two Ferns: Oscar Buzz Edition Part 2 from Zach Galifianakis

Horizontal Special Ed, by Linda Stonerock

The students receiving the "special ed" in this case would be people like myself, who have no physical disabilities, and who, consciously or unconsciously looked at people with disabilities as sexless. Film broke that stereotype for me. My ideas about others have been transformed over and over and this was another example.

This assumption of mine was first challenged a long time ago in 1978 when i saw "Coming Home," by Hal Ashby.

In that film Jane Fonda's character, Sally, who volunteers in a VA hospital during the Vietnam war, finds herself getting to know and then becoming attracted to, Jon Voight's character, Luke, who is a paraplegic in a wheelchair.
Their first meeting is not promising. Luke, who at that point is extremely angry, runs right into Sally in the hospital hall and his urine bag spills all over the floor. It's a humiliating moment full of rage and frustration, and puts the reality of what Luke's life involves right in Sally and the audience's faces.

Miyazaki's "Porco Rosso"

When I moved to Portland late last spring, the Northwest Film Center (sort of an IFS analog) showed a retrospective of Studio Ghibli’s works, most of which were directed by Hayao Miyazaki. (Miyazaki was one of the founders of Studio Ghibli). Hidden among the Miyazaki heavyweights like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away was Porco Rosso, which centers around a 1920s seaplane pilot who fights air pirates in the Adriatic. Who, at some point, also happened to be cursed and turned into a pig.

This is anime, so okay, sure!

Porco Rosso became my favorite of the entire retrospective, which surprised me. It tends to be quiet and moody, lingering on the sadness of lost love and eras long-gone (and in fact, that never were). But the flying sequences are exhilarating. Miyazaki is an airplane buff, and his love of flight (especially early airplanes) comes through in the attention to detail and breathtaking flight choreography. He communicates the joy of flying on a purely emotional level like no other movie I've ever seen.

It tends to be a bit silly and formulaic (the air pirates don’t really want to hurt anyone!), but it’s an amazing ride. Do yourself a favor and see it at least on Blu-Ray, on the biggest screen you can find. With a high-end sound system. That’s the way Miyazaki wanted you to see it, and by God he’s right.

Call for Film Submissions - Do it!

I don’t know how to write this without being a complete sell-out, but if you’re reading this and you’re a filmmaker, keep reading!  I’m using the IFS blog to push out a very specific agenda, but at the end of the rainbow is $11,500. 

GaiamTV.com is a relatively new streaming video channel that offers tons of films within the conscious media genre.  It was created by Gaiam, Inc., the folks that bring you quality yoga products, fitness videos, and uplifting entertainment and now the Conscious Media Film Festival. 

Being a filmmaker myself, living in very pretty Boulder, Colorado, having very few options for work in my field I did what any normal filmmaker in my position would do. I took the job of producing the festival.  

  

This is the fourth year I’ve run the festival and each year we’ve done it, we’ve given great heaps of cash to filmmakers from all over the world.  It’s a nice feeling to hand a sizable check to filmmakers like Jesse Scolaro, Michael Goorjian, Jamin Winans, Taggart Siegel and John Peterson.  Filmmakers always need money and money helps filmmakers make more films.  It’s a pretty simple equation and one that I’m proud that Gaiam really understands and supports. It’s for that reason that I’m back again: to help support independent filmmakers, to provide a venue for inspirational and uplifting material, and to connect audiences with the festival experience.  This message is coming to you from me and not the company – honestly.

Filmmakers!  The Conscious Media Film Festival is now open for submissions.  Find us at Conscious Media Film Festival or Withoutabox.com and consider submitting your film(s).  We’re looking for films that integrate spiritual, experiential, scientific and contemplative ideas.  You are encouraged to submit films that capture the “bigger picture” and inspire people to make positive change, tell stories that share collective wisdom with the world and promote harmony and peace, and show creative visionaries who are unafraid to follow the truth wherever it might lead.  We won’t consider films that have entire scenes of violence or sexual violence, harsh language or are overtly political or fundamental in nature.

The prizes:

$5,000 for Best Feature

$5,000 for Best Documentary

$1,500 for Best Short

The festival will program and screen two features, two documentaries and four to six shorts.  You do the math on the odds of winning.  I’d say it’s pretty good, if your film gets accepted to the festival.  And here is something I consider really special, we’ll screen films at the Boulder Theater practically in 2.35.  Won’t it be exciting to see your film up there, on that huge screen?  It will be big and beautiful and well, satisfying. There’s nothing like seeing your film go from being in FCP or Premiere on a tiny screen to seeing it blown up.   The magic of a dark room and the light of your film flickering in an audience’s face is incomparable.  I know.  I’ve been there.  

So, submit your film.  Be brave.  Do it.  www.consciousmediafilmfestival.com

I hope you were able to read the interview with  Judson Webb and soon I"ll be posting my recent interview with Azazel Jacobs.  It was great! We talked about Stan, The Clash, his upcoming shows and movies and working with Hollywood and the agents that really run the show.

Disney’s Got Your New Star Wars Right Here, Pal

Yes, well.

Joss Whedon suddenly got too expensive, I know. But still, Disney, did you try calling him first?

Since Abrams approached my beloved Star Trek like a bored trust-funder throwing together an English Comp paper the night before it’s due, I don’t have much enthusiasm for Abram’s new franchise conquest

But, maybe it won't be too bad. Everyone loves a time travel deus ex machina, amirite?

Toy Story 3?

The Battle to save Independent Cinema Moves to Kickstarter

Much like our own beloved IFS, many historic theaters and film programs around the country are struggling with the expensive addition of digital projection (as more and more studio offerings become unavailable any other way).

No Film School has an excellent post about an independent theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts that has taken to Kickstarter to raise funds for a digital conversion and HVAC system.

Watch their Kickstarter video and read about it here.