Liberation's Forge: A tense moment from STONEWALL UPRISING.

And so now we catch up on a couple of very good films that opened last week, but — because there’s only so much podcasting I can do before my ears start to bleed — had to wait a week to be covered. In the case of the film featured in this episode, STONEWALL UPRISING, the delay turns out not to be too bad: We’re still in the midst of  Pride Week, after all, so this documentary remains relevant.

This is from Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, whom we met earlier this year with the release of their black metal documentary WAITING FOR ARMAGEDDON. There are fewer church burnings in STONEWALL, but that doesn’t mean the event depicted — a 1969, NYC riot sparked when the police raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn and the patrons decided they’d had their fill of harassment — didn’t stoke its own kind of fire, specifically the birth of the gay rights movement. Davis and Heilbroner rally some great, eyewitness interviews — including the vice cop who led the raid — and manage to put the story in context with considerable footage from news shows and “educational” films showing how, even in the mid- to late-sixties, attitudes towards homosexuality had barely advanced beyond the let’s-burn-’em-at-the-stake stage. If you paired this up with another great doc released last week — 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION, about the Mormon church’s concerted efforts to have their institutionalized homophobia turned into law — you’d get a good view of how far gay rights have come, and how far they still need to go.

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This Episode is Brought to You by:
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STONEWALL UPRISING
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A Worthy Complement.

Clowntime is Over: Dany Boon confronts the enemy in MICMACS.

The premiere audio review of science fiction, fantasy, and horror is back with another exciting episode! This time, Dan Persons, Lawrence French, and Steve Biodrowski eschew the big-time summer blockbusters in favor of the French comedy-fantasy MICMACS (Micmacs a tire-lairgot, or “Non-stop Madness”), latest surreal confectionery from supreme stylist Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who charmed audience with AMELIE). Also this week, we bring you the latest news, the Cinefantastique Calendar of upcoming events, and previews of the week’s home video releases. All in all, it’s more fun than a Jerry Lewis festival!

Tougher than You: Doctors at work in LIVING IN EMERGENCY

It’s getting to be that my fortitude is being tested on a weekly basis. I’ve witnessed the psychotic outrages of THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (and liked it), the moral confrontation that is THE KILLER INSIDE ME (liked it), and the let’s-put-The-Rock-in-a-tutu TOOTH FAIRY (you’re kidding, right?). But all that was make-believe stuff. LIVING IN EMERGENCY is very real, a documentary, and at points can be rough going. But if you can work up the nerve to tough it out, your courage will be greatly rewarded.

‘Course, if you want to talk about courage, you have to talk about the subjects of the film: four doctors who have volunteered to work for Doctors without Borders (aka Médecins Sans Frontières) in two, war-ravaged countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia. Director Mark Hopkins — making his feature documentary debut having previously produced numerous docs — takes his cameras into the exam, operating, and break rooms, and doesn’t flinch from showing both the staggering challenges the volunteers face, and the effect those challenges sometimes have on them (one doctor compares the attitude of another to Heart of Darkness — that’s never a good thing). The film winds up an unwavering, credible evaluation of why the organization has justly received a Nobel Peace Prize — one of the best docs I’ve seen so far this year. It also reminded me why I need to stop whining when I have to watch movies like TOOTH FAIRY.

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LIVING IN EMERGENCY
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No connection, but a great doc.

In MICMACS, Jeunet gives us a cockeyed protagonist in the person of Bazil (Dany Boon), a man who quite by chance winds up at the precipice of the eternal when a stray bullet gets lodged in his brain. This makes him not so charitably inclined towards the manufacturer of said bullet, a matter only exacerbated when he discovers that the land mine that killed his father in the Middle East was created by a neighboring company. His only recourse: Take down both corporations, with the help of a ragtag assortment of unusually talented junkyard misfits. For such a dire theme, the film turns out to be quite a lighthearted adventure, with Jeunet deploying all his powers of visual invention into the narrative, while also making copious nods to film history, particularly to the works of silent comedians and Sergio Leone.

George Romero is also taking a few pages from cinema history, most specifically from classic westerns. In SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD, the group of renegade guardsmen we met in DIARY OF THE DEAD — led by Alan Van Sprang — decides they’ve had enough of zombies, and aim themselves for a respite on an island off the coast of Delaware. Problem is: Not only is the place already infested with the walking dead, but they’ve become a rather peculiar stake in a kind-of range war between waged between two feuding clans. As always, Romero mixes zombie assaults with some particularly vivid death scenes — for both living and dead — along with some trenchant observations of our current, fractious times. Turns out the departed still have something to say to their survivors, and it has nothing to do with moving into the light.

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This Episode is Brought to You by:
HALO: REACH – Autumn 2010

MICMACS
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SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD
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It’ll make you smile.

]]> http://mightymoviepodcast.com/blog/2010/05/21/survival-of-the-dead-and-micmacs/feed/ 0 Activism,Art,Comedy,Death,Emotion,Explosions,Fantasy,Gore,Horror,Indie,Justice,Love Y'know, people probably shouldn't be this gleeful about issues of mortality, but in the cases of the movies being discussed in this episode, we're kinda glad they are. This episode features interviews with Jean-Pierre Jeunet and George A. Romero, Y'know, people probably shouldn't be this gleeful about issues of mortality, but in the cases of the movies being discussed in this episode, we're kinda glad they are. This episode features interviews with Jean-Pierre Jeunet and George A. Romero, both of whom have previously addressed matters of life-and-death in their own, unique ways, and have decided that there's still more sport to be had from the subject. Twisted Love: Dany Boon (left) and Julie Ferrier meet peculiar in MICMACS. In MICMACS, Jeunet gives us a cockeyed protagonist in the person of Bazil (Dany Boon), a man who quite by chance winds up at the precipice of the eternal when a stray bullet gets lodged in his brain. This makes him not so charitably inclined towards the manufacturer of said bullet, a matter only exacerbated when he discovers that the land mine that killed his father in the Middle East was created by a neighboring company. His only recourse: Take down both corporations, with the help of a ragtag assortment of unusually talented junkyard misfits. For such a dire theme, the film turns out to be quite a lighthearted adventure, with Jeunet deploying all his powers of visual invention into the narrative, while also making copious nods to film history, particularly to the works of silent comedians and Sergio Leone. Home on Deranged (Sorry): Joris Jarsky (left) wrangles Kathleen Munroe in SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD. George Romero is also taking a few pages from cinema history, most specifically from classic westerns. In SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD, the group of renegade guardsmen we met in DIARY OF THE DEAD -- led by Alan Van Sprang -- decides they've had enough of zombies, and aim themselves for a respite on an island off the coast of Delaware. Problem is: Not only is the place already infested with the walking dead, but they've become a rather peculiar stake in a kind-of range war between waged between two feuding clans. As always, Romero mixes zombie assaults with some particularly vivid death scenes -- for both living and dead -- along with some trenchant observations of our current, fractious times. Turns out the departed still have something to say to their survivors, and it has nothing to do with moving into the light. Click on the player to hear the show. This Episode is Brought to You by: HALO: REACH - Autumn 2010 MICMACS Trailer [youtube TjKW0tG7I8s nolink] www.sonyclassics.com/micmacs IMDB Listing ==================================== SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD Trailer [youtube aFqUbY-pWqQ nolink] www.magnetreleasing.com/survivalofthedead IMDB Listing Subscribe to MMP on iTunes Sign Up for E-Mail Updates [amazonify]B0000640VO[/amazonify] It'll make you smile. Dan Persons no 38:48 http://mightymoviepodcast.com/blog/2010/05/18/lance-bangs-on-the-lazarus-effect/ http://mightymoviepodcast.com/blog/2010/05/18/lance-bangs-on-the-lazarus-effect/#comments Tue, 18 May 2010 20:48:51 +0000 Dan Persons http://mightymoviepodcast.com/blog/?p=1838

Living Proof: A beneficiary of ARV treatment poses with her former self, from THE LAZARUS EFFECT.

Before the big show this weekend (Jean-Pierre Jeunet on MICMACS and George Romero on SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD, yippee!), here’s a bonus episode focusing on a special, short documentary that HBO will be debuting next Monday, May 24th, at 9 PM, eastern time.

It’s called THE LAZARUS EFFECT, it was produced in cooperation with (RED), a private sector organization that works with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to help curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. At the behest of Spike Jonze, who executive produced, filmmaker Lance Bangs (DAVID CROSS: BIGGER AND BLACKERER; THE BLACK KEYS LIVE AT THE CRYSTAL BALLROOM) travelled to Lusaka, Zambia, and met with the men, women, and children who are being treated with antiretroviral (ARV) drugs provided by these funds. Over the span of months, Bangs captured some dramatic before-and-after footage showing how these people’s lives were being restored by the treatments — the so-called Lazarus Effect. It’s moving stuff, particularly for a film that runs just over thirty minutes.

Director Bangs spared a few minutes to talk with us about the experience of capturing these near-miracles on film, and also of exploring how help is still desperately needed. Click on the player to hear the interview.

THE LAZARUS EFFECT

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THE LAZARUS EFFECT on hbo.com

www.joinred.com

Days of Future's Past: Iconic images from Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS.

In Volume 1, Episode 14 of the Cinefantastique Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction Podcast, Dan Persons, Lawrence French, and Steve Biodrowski visit the futuristic city of METROPOLIS, the 1927 science fiction classic from director Fritz Lang. The subject of a recent restoration that added over twenty minutes of footage, the film is ripe for reappraisal. Is it even better than before, or is the additional running time a mere marketing ploy to get you to buy more DVDs? Also under consideration this week: a Frank Frazetta obituary, Dario Argento does Dracula in 3D, plus a week’s worth of news and a look at upcoming home video releases.

Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) takes on mob boss Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong).

Cinefantastique’s Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction Podcast returns with a blow-by-blow knock-down debate regarding the merits (or lack thereof) in the new comic-book superhero fantasy KICK ASS, starring Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, and Nicolas Cage. Does the film kick ass, or does it fall flatter than an empty cape? Also on the agenda, the usual round-up of news, recommendations, and home video releases.

First up is an interview with Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, the married directors of THE SUN BEHIND THE CLOUDS, a documentary about Tibet’s struggle for independence. A few years back, there were a handful of docs released on this topic. Most seemed to want to garner audience sympathy through scenic views of Buddhist temples and extended footage of prayer services — not really the most compelling argument for this viewer. Sarin and Sonam take a less romantic approach, focusing on the protests that rose up both within and without the country in 2008, while simultaneously following the Dalai Lama on his mission to gain international support for his controversial “Middle Way Approach,” wherein the struggle for independence would be ceded in return for more autonomy and religious freedom. That the filmmakers chose to present real world politics — including divisions within the movement itself — rather than trying to seduce people with pretty images goes a long way towards making this film a valuable and comprehensive evaluation of one country’s ongoing fight for liberty.

And while we’re talking about seduction, we follow up with a conversation with Nash Edgerton, the Australian stuntman-turned-director whose debut feature is the wicked noir thriller, THE SQUARE. I’d seen this film at a screening almost a year ago, and ever since have been champing at the bit for its long-delayed release. The film definitely traces its roots to the likes of BLOOD SIMPLE and RED ROCK WEST, but with a sense of brutal irony and a gratifyingly twisty interlacing of schemes and deceptions that makes it stand out on its own (and pretty much distinguish itself as uniquely Australian). It’s a good, dark ride; however long it took to finally hit the screens, it’s well worth the wait.

Pretty nice way to get back into production, methinks. Click the player to hear the show.

This Episode is Brought to You by
THE INFIDEL

THE SUN BEHIND THE CLOUDS

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THE SQUARE

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How Could We Not Recommend the Coens?

]]> http://mightymoviepodcast.com/blog/2010/04/10/the-square-and-the-sun-behind-the-clouds/feed/ 0 Activism,Controversy,Death,Debut Feature,Drama,Emotion,Gritty,Indie,Justice,Murder,Off Beat,Racism So what have we been doing for the past couple of weeks? Pulling our hair out, what's left of it. Making repeated calls to Verizon. Hosting a visit from their friendly and professional service person (really, no sarcasm there, the guy was good). So what have we been doing for the past couple of weeks? Pulling our hair out, what's left of it. Making repeated calls to Verizon. Hosting a visit from their friendly and professional service person (really, no sarcasm there, the guy was good). Being granted the privilege of shelling out for a replacement modem and still not having all of our problems resolved. But we're at least back more or less to where we were before our internet went south on us, so we're going to catch up on the outage by covering two films -- both very good -- this ep. No Clear Solutions: Exiled Tibetans protest in THE SUN BEHIND THE CLOUDS First up is an interview with Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, the married directors of THE SUN BEHIND THE CLOUDS, a documentary about Tibet's struggle for independence. A few years back, there were a handful of docs released on this topic. Most seemed to want to garner audience sympathy through scenic views of Buddhist temples and extended footage of prayer services -- not really the most compelling argument for this viewer. Sarin and Sonam take a less romantic approach, focusing on the protests that rose up both within and without the country in 2008, while simultaneously following the Dalai Lama on his mission to gain international support for his controversial "Middle Way Approach," wherein the struggle for independence would be ceded in return for more autonomy and religious freedom. That the filmmakers chose to present real world politics -- including divisions within the movement itself -- rather than trying to seduce people with pretty images goes a long way towards making this film a valuable and comprehensive evaluation of one country's ongoing fight for liberty. A Fool to Do Her Dirty Work: Ray (David Roberts) digs himself in deeper in THE SQUARE And while we're talking about seduction, we follow up with a conversation with Nash Edgerton, the Australian stuntman-turned-director whose debut feature is the wicked noir thriller, THE SQUARE. I'd seen this film at a screening almost a year ago, and ever since have been champing at the bit for its long-delayed release. The film definitely traces its roots to the likes of BLOOD SIMPLE and RED ROCK WEST, but with a sense of brutal irony and a gratifyingly twisty interlacing of schemes and deceptions that makes it stand out on its own (and pretty much distinguish itself as uniquely Australian). It's a good, dark ride; however long it took to finally hit the screens, it's well worth the wait. Pretty nice way to get back into production, methinks. Click the player to hear the show. This Episode is Brought to You by THE INFIDEL THE SUN BEHIND THE CLOUDS Trailer [youtube 34cLHNfFiZg nolink] www.thesunbehindtheclouds.com IMDB Listing THE SQUARE Trailer [youtube 49bD6LAKCN0 nolink] www.squarethemovie.com IMDB Listing Subscribe to MMP on iTunes Sign Up for E-Mail Updates [amazonify]B001B1UO7G[/amazonify] How Could We Not Recommend the Coens? Dan Persons no 35:18 http://mightymoviepodcast.com/blog/2010/04/02/delay-in-the-sun-behind-the-clouds-episode/ http://mightymoviepodcast.com/blog/2010/04/02/delay-in-the-sun-behind-the-clouds-episode/#comments Fri, 02 Apr 2010 21:15:44 +0000 Dan Persons http://mightymoviepodcast.com/blog/?p=1707 For reasons known only to Verizon (and maybe not even to them), I’ve lost my ability to upload files of any significant size, and so can’t get the interview with directors Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam discussing their new documentary, THE SUN BEHIND THE CLOUDS, up in time for the film’s debut weekend at Film Forum.

Which is a pity, because, of the films I’ve seen in the past few years about Tibet’s struggle for independence from China, SUN — in focusing on the tumultuous year of 2008 and the numerous protests that took place both within and without Tibet– provides the most comprehensive explanation of the issues involved, including an exploration of the rifts occurring within the independence movement itself. Instead of focusing purely on the spiritual side of this struggle — a narrative gambit I’ve noted in other docs, and not always the most compelling argument for non-spiritual guys like me — Sarin and Tenzing acknowledge the politics of this issue, and show political realities are occasionally competing against religious ideals. It’s a worthwhile film if you’re interested in better understanding this fight, or even if you’re just interested in political documentaries in general.

Right now, I’m looking to Monday to finally have the episode up. Meantime, please check out the trailer and visit the website.

Trailer

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www.thesunbehindtheclouds.com

Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal in CRAZY HEART

So if the acceptance speeches didn’t get anywhere close enough to satisfying your curiosity about how these films came about, click on the players below. We’ve got MIGHTY MOVIE PODCAST interviews with the directors of all these films:

And come back Friday, when have an interview with the director of the Piaget Producer’s Award winner, THE EXPLODING GIRL