Please adjust your schedules accordingly and I apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause anyone.
I'll have a full report on all the films I'm screening in a few days.
And to lighten the mood after Open City we'll screen this light comedy that playfully and gently mocks those overly earnest neo realist films. The Icicle Thief is a treat all the way around. I first saw it at an art house theatre down the street from my old apartment in Roanoke VA.
Night eight: Grandin Memories in black and white
I loved the Grandin so much that I had to devote a night to a few of the many films I saw there. Very often I was the only person in the theatre when they'd run some of the lesser known art house or independent films and I clearly remember being the only one in the place when I saw this over looked gem:
Say what you will about Robin Givens, in this movie she shone brighter than the sun. It's a crime that this film did not do better at the box office.
It's also a crime that White Mischief isn't out on DVD. This film is about some debauched Brits who live in Africa, sure that doesn't sound like much to base a movie on but believe me, it's kick ass good. Greta Saachi never looked better and her performance in this film is off the hook good.
Night nine: Hollywood comes to me
Yes, kids, I'd screen the film I'm in. 
Hey come on, not only am I in it, it's also a good little movie. Katherine Keener is very funny in this movie and Sam Rockwell is good in it too, as is John Turtrruo. It's another overlooked film of the past few years.
Not only was I in a film but a few films have been made near places I used to live. Parts of Crazy People were shot in Roanoke when I lived there, in fact one scene was shot across the street from my old apartment. They also shot parts of What About Bob? near Roanoke when I lived there.
Night ten: Monkey business!
Did you think I'd not show some movies with primates in them? We'll screen this classic:
And then this classic which I saw for the first time at the Grandin Theatre:
The day this film opened they put up on the marquee, "Now showing: Gorillas in the Midst." Thankfully someone noticed the mistake and it was changed later that day.
Night eleven: Bill Murray
Bill Murray has always been one of my favorite comedian/actors. Since I already screened one of his early works I'll use this night to show off some of his later stuff.
His supporting role as the shady lawyer in this fine film is one of his best. He's the much needed comic relief in this sexy suspense flick. The whole thing works all the way around and who knew Neve Campbell could be so conniving?
We'll close Bill Murray night with one of my new favorite's of his: 
Night twelve: Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it
History has always been one of my passions, I did major in it in college after all, and so we'll close my personal film festival with a couple of historical films made by one of America's best film makers, John Sayles.
This great film shows the story of the Matewan massacre that took place in Matewan WV. It's a damn fine realistic and sympathetic portrayal of the south that is not burdened by big time actors who do shitty southern accents and go all "actorly" on our asses. Chris Cooper deserved an Oscar for his role in this film. 
And finally we'd end with this sports drama about the Chicago Black Sox. It's one of the most poignant films ever made. The entire cast gives great performances in this movie and among them those of Studs Terkel, John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, and Bill Irwin really stand out.
Thanks for the tag PJ, this was a fun meme and it reminded me of how much I love films.
I saw this one when I was young and I loved it. It's light, yet still slightly criminal.Night three: Put the funk in Dysfunctional 1970's style!
It's a bit dated now but still it's funny as hell. Bill Murray's improvised dialogue, especially the bit about being the Dali Lama's caddy, is pure genius. We'll then close the night by watching this great comedy:
It's one of the best anti war films ever made. It's not bloody and violent but it makes it's pacifist case all the same.
We recently acquired this film for this years Southern Appalachian International Film Festival. Go read about it here. I am not exaggerating when I say it's the funniest documentary I have ever seen and if you have not seen it then you should do so right away. You'll never blindly accept what the "experts" on TV say anymore.
I finally landed a film for the Socially Conscious Cinema series at the upcoming Southern Appalachian International Film Festival which will take place here in Johnson City this November!
As promised yesterday, Sparky and I went to see the Bollywood film, Kabhi Kushi Kahbie Gham, last night at the same venue where we saw Rigadon and Edades. We learned from watching two films in that theatre/classroom the night before that if we wanted to save our asses from destruction we'd better bring cushions to sit on while we took in an over three hour Bollywood epic and so we walked in with our blue cushions under our arms and we found that there were about thirty people in the joint besides us, and most of them were young people of the Indian, India Indians that is, persuasion. It was an enjoyable experience, except for the loud talking during the film which a well placed dirty look silenced most of the time, watching the film with people who spoke the language spoken in the film, they'd get the jokes quicker than us peons who had to wait to read the subtitles. 
The plot of Kabhi Kushie Kabhie Gham goes a little something like this: young boy gets adopted by a rich family, boy becomes part of family, family has another son but adopted boy is still loved, adopted son falls in love with woman father disapproves of, father says no to marriage, son marries woman anyway, father tosses adopted son and new wife out, other son finds out about all this and vows to reunite family, other son goes to London to reunite brother with family, brothers reunite, younger brother manages to trick parents into coming to London to meet adopted brother and his family, father gets pissed, family gets reunited at end of long, long, long, exceedingly long ass movie during which many tears are shed and many songs sung and many dances danced.
Don't get me wrong I liked most of this film but the main problem I had with it was it's length. It clocked in at 190 minutes and 190 minutes of sitting a on a seat that was designed to break the will of a college student is a close cousin to torture. Yes, the cushion helped but it was still painful at times.
Despite some unfortunate costume choices foisted on the actor who played the youngest son, he was quite the magnetic performer. His dancing was at times humorous but always fun to watch.
Note to other Bollywood directors: No matter how much a guy works out or how buff he is, no one, and let me repeat that, NO ONE looks good in the outfit the makers of this film slapped on Hrithik Roshan. You've been warned.
For me the film fell apart when the younger brother went to London and his older adopted brother did not recognize him right away, of course I realize why he did not, it made for "compelling" melodrama that he did not recognize his own brother right away. But I could not get past the fact that the older adopted bother would have seen right off that the younger man was indeed his brother as soon as he laid eyes on him. It also added another hour to an already long film.
But honestly, who am I to complain about a film being too long that has women who look like hat in it? And not only do they look good but they also sing, dance, shimmy, and shake it like a Polaroid picture all over the place.
I've got to admit that I loved most all of the musical numbers in this film. I especially loved the birthday song and dance towards the front of the film and the numbers that took place in London. They were Bollywood musical numbers at their best. I also loved how in the birthday number that a shot of fast rotating helicopter blades dissolved into a shot of twirling dancers, it was pure genius.
