Whack-a-Flick

Coming Attractions: Good Night Good Morning

2012-01-19T20:52:00.000-05:00

For those of you still smarting from Puja Jatinder Bedi's Ghost (see the previous post) or who had the sense to keep clear, your patience is about to be rewarded with this weekend's simultaneous theatrical / IPTV stream release of Sudhish Kamath's Good Night Good Morning, opening tomorrow.

Seema Rahmani (Loins of Punjab Presents) and Manu Narayan (Bombay Dreams) co–star.

I really like this trailer, which is part hommage to the old–style Hollywood previews of way back when:

Courtesy Sudish Kamath and PVR Pictures.

Who's got popcorn this time?

First-Run Review: Ghost (2011-2012): Rest in pieces

2012-01-17T17:07:00.000-05:00

Ghost (2011 production, 2012 release)
Starring Shiney Ahuja, Sayali Bhagat
Directed by Puja Jatinder Bedi
Produced by Bharat Shah
Mega Bollywood (Private) Limited
In theatres (India) / Streaming on demand via Mela
CFBC: not declared in IPTV presentation, but likely A (Adults only —
religious blasphemy, adult themes, intense graphic violence)

WARNING: Trailer embedded below is for adult audiences only (please see above).

Statutory Disclaimer (Before We Begin…):

I wish to state before diving into the following review that I screened this film — which was simultaneously released to theatres in India and IPTV (Internet protocol television) services — via Mela, a United States–based IPTV service for South Asian (Indian) audiences. Mela was launched last year to deliver both movies–on–demand and Indian television broadcasters as different as Doordarshan, Sun Network, Maa, UTV, Raj Networks, and Jaya TV among others.

One of Mela's goals is to convince their target audiences — Indians living abroad, Bollywood fans, and the like — that they don't have to go to video pirates in order to get their first–run filmi fix. Indeed, Puja Jatinder Bedi's Ghost, which opened in Indian cinemas on Friday 13 January, was made available to Mela viewers on-demand the same weekend — the first of, I am sure, many to come in the months ahead.

I have also been informed that the cut of the film under review is the same that moviegoers in India saw, right down to the last frame.

Finally, I want to make it abundantly clear that Mela is above all else an open window on Indian media and entertainment, both good and bad. It is about something for everybody, no differently than what a legacy media company (Cablevision, Verizon, Comcast et.al.) does for its subscribers. And Mela deserves support and praise for delivering on its promise of "pure entertainment," as their slogan makes clear. Those who've had a taste of Bollywood and want more should seriously consider Mela; they will soon discover another world of pop culture they may not know exists.

And with that out of the way…

©2011 Mega Bollywood (Private) Limited.

It is almost incredulous to believe that Bharat Shah, who once helped support Ram Gopal Varma's move to Bollywood (remember Satya?), would want to even invest one rupee into Puja Jatinder Bedi's Ghost, which can now declared the first true filmi bomb of the New Year.

And that is hard enough to swallow.

To be sure, it'd be easier for me to write this off as the sort of picture that has one breaking out the Criterion Collection's Region 1 DVD of Nobuhiko Obayashi's 1977 House (ハウス) or hit VODO online for the torrent of Carlo Ledesma's The Tunnel.

But then, both House and The Tunnel are films that actually respect their audiences. Puja Jatinder Bedi's Ghost (which needs to be tagged with the director's name to avoid confusion with the Hollywood blockbuster of the same title) doesn't even bother caring. Indeed, it won't matter if the viewer is a practicing Christian (as are some of the characters), holds Southeast Asians or women in high esteem (one nurse of Southeast Asian birth meets her doom before the main titles kick in), or expects a coherently–told story. Bedi's Ghost, quite simply, will offend anyone who fits into any or all of the above.

And is that ultimately what Bharat Shah wanted? After all he did for Ram Gopal Varma? Was he serious?

First off, even minor Ram Gopal Varma can be amusing (Contract e.g.), but here we are in the hands of someone who can't even summon a little inner RGV. All Bedi seems capable of doing is to crib like mad from so many past creature features — the omnibus Creepshow, Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist, the Ringu or Ju–on franchises, the Steven Spielberg / George Lucas—made Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom™, and so on. (The opening titles, themselves a complete mess without declaring the film's title, include a subtitle–style come–on for accepting Christ Jesus that unfortunately seems to have been indirectly inspired by — it hurts to utter the name — Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Except that the object of worship isn't a moose or a llama.)

And we have not even dealt with the plot — such as it is.

Basically, a string of gruesome murders in which the victim's heart is savagely removed, à la Spielberg and Lucas, is bad enough to put a call out for a supposedly hotshot detective (yeah, right), who himself, midway through the film's second half, can't help but make this a personal matter (despite what his superiors say as a warning)… because, sadly, he is a witness to one sadistic act — and the victim of another, albeit minor by comparison, which blanks out part of his memory à la, of all things, Ghajini (except that recently–disgraced actor Shiney Ahuja is clearly no Aamir Khan).

If this review seems messy, it's because Bedi's film is even more so. When this Ghost isn't ripping off Tobe Hooper, Steven Spielberg, or A.R. Murugadoss, it's offering up a head nurse (Sayali Bhagat) in clearly hospital–unsuitable attire and a cross swiped from pop idol Madonna's collection, a suspicious father figure who can't accept his son being a detective, some item songs that only drag the film's pace and running time (and one of them could have been spun off into a 60–second spot for Mercedes–Benz — that's how anonymously bland Mr. Ahuja is here), and an Aussie Christian woman who in flashback marries our hero… only to be subject to "like Jesus" sadism that could have been swiped straight out the 20th century European sado–masochistic exploitation movie catalogue.

Courtesy T–Series /Super Cassettes Industries, Ltd.
©2011 Mega Bollywood (Private) Limited.

This is a Bollywood horror movie? Shall we revisit the Ramsay Films catalogue?

(Reportedly, the Government of India's Central Board of Film Certification demanded some scenes be trimmed from the film. Although the digital print that Mela obtained isn't preceded by the expected rating card, I assume that it was given an "A," or adults–only, rating.)

Yes, I know, as a Creative Commons campaign made abundantly clear, that "creativity is built on the past." Certainly Puja Jatinder Bedi understands this very well, as anyone else would, like A.R. Murugadoss, Ram Gopal Varma, Nobuhiko Obayashi, Steven Spielberg, Shaik Nasir (Malegaon ka Superman) or for that matter Damon Packard. But if his Ghost is any indication, Bedi is not in league with any of them — certainly not even Damon Packard, whose ability to rework plundered material into something completely distinct and intriguing is beyond question (Reflections of Evil makes that perfectly clear, but so do Space Disco–One and Tales from the Valley of the Wind).

Of course, Bharat Shah is welcome to discover this for himself. May I suggest that he invite Mr. Packard to make his next film in India — and then fund the whole project from script to simultaneous theatrical / home video / IPTV release?

He would certainly learn something.

We interrupt this broadcast...

2012-01-15T09:09:00.000-05:00

… to bring you a General. Internet. Strike.

We wish this was just a joke. But on Wednesday 18 January, it won’t be.

On that day, many of your fave Internet sites and portals — including (but not limited to) Reddit, Mozilla, Tucows, Free Press, all of the Cheezburger Network, and even Rosegarden Television — will be inaccessible due to a general strike in protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), on which the United States Congress has scheduled a vote for Tuesday 24 January.

We at Rosegarden are against this proposed legislation (and its companion bill in the U.S. Senate, the Protect IP Act, or PIPA), which would have devastating consequences not only for the Internet as a whole, but also for those who are its many users (like you) and those who rely on an open Net for creativity and communication.

It is bad enough that a Great Firewall of (Mainland) China exists. We do not want one on North American soil.

You can join in the strike by 1) accessing the official Strike Against SOPA site and asking your fave site or portal to black out on 18 January and 2) adding your own site to the list.

And please plan accordingly for the rest of the day. Maybe get out of doors, visit with loved ones face to face if you can… you get the idea.

Are you in?

Music Time: Robin's Egg Blue

2011-12-31T23:39:00.000-05:00

Our gift to you for 2012… two sweet songs from Atsumi Ishibashi and her band, Robin's Egg Blue:

©2011–2012 Atsumi Ishibashi / Masashi Ishiura / Robin's Egg Blue /
Rosegarden Media & Entertainment.

Please remember to support the band by purchasing their Songbird mini–album. Atsumi and Masashi will thank you from their hearts. And so do we.

あけましておめでとございます！！ Happy New Year!

Finally, music for Mr. Dickens

2011-12-30T23:06:00.001-05:00

Many apologies for the delay (created by a crazy–inducing combination of the holidays and an industrial–strength head cold that refused to leave until a few days ago), but now while we are still in the midst of the Twelve Days of Christmas, here at last are the best of the 2011 Dickens Festival Sessions from Port Jefferson (Long Island, New York, weekend of 2nd and 3rd December).

First up are Cecila Kirtland and Robin Greenstein with a pair of evergreen German Christmas carols (and a little trivia on how the English and the Yanks got the Yule tree habit):

Next are the Unicorn Singers of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Stony Brook with two well–known carols in English (and a little history behind one of them):

Both videograms ©2011 Rosegarden Media & Entertainment.

And, yes, we are asking you to support the artistes we feature by buying their albums (none for the Unicorn Singers yet, but I am certain the Fellowship will welcome your PayPal donation).

Finally, due to frustrations with YouTube, it looks like we will be a Vimeo exclusive for quite a while. This is not what I had wanted, and I apologize to those whose Internet TV (IPTV) sets or devices cannot access material on Vimeo just yet. Please contact your IPTV device provider or the manufacturer of your Internet ready TV or other device and ask that they produce a firmware update that will support Vimeo.

Mr. Dickens goes into post

2011-12-07T20:00:00.001-05:00

Image ©2011 Cecilia Kirtland/Robin Greenstein — Rosegarden Television.

This has already been posted on our Tumblr page — I have to admit that publishing on Tumblr can be so addictive that you forget about your other blog, as I did — but regular readers of this blog deserve to be treated fairly, so…

Many thanks and blessings to Cecilia Kirtland and Robin Greenstein (pictured above) for letting us capture as much as we could of their Songs of the Season performance for the opening night of the 2012 Charles Dickens Festival in Port Jefferson (Long Island), New York.

Here’s a still frame of them giving the audience a Yule (Jul) song from… Sweden.

We also recorded a performance by the Unicorn Singers (of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Stony Brook), and we will post what we legally can the week of 11 through 17 December.

There may be much more, however — and very soon. Watch this space (and our Tumblr space, too).

Feature Presentation: Black Pamphlets

2011-11-07T09:59:00.001-05:00

Welcome to November, and — in honor of Election Day in the States (tomorrow, 8 November), we offer you Nitin K.'s documerntary Black Pamphlets.

This film is also available in India on DVD fromn Under Construction. Here is the description of the documentary on Flipkart's website (they apparently only ship to India):

In the sylvan, chirpy campus of Delhi University, eighty thousand students directly elect their union representative. Following the twelve–day election campaign, [Black Pamphlets] becomes both an [exposé] of the money and muscle behind student elections, and a portrait of a generation of global consumers as they engage with the idea of politics. The film asks important questions about Indian democracy: how do the future citizens of a neo–liberal democracy feel about elections? Are they idealistic, cynical, indifferent? Are the political heroes of the Indian freedom struggle, who were the same age as the students of today, meaningful to them, or are they simply fictional characters in Bollywood narratives[?]. Or, if there is any space left for ideas that do not conform, that ask for change in the [world's] largest democracy.

This feature is split in six parts for YouTube, and I've gathered them up here so you can watch each one in turn, in the correct sequence:

©2007 Nitin K., courtesy of the Magic Lantern Foundation.

And to my friends in the States who go to the polls tomorrow: Please. Vote. With. Your. HEAD.

House Lights: S.978, showbiz, and you

2011-10-23T08:59:00.001-04:00

Before I say any more, do take a look at this video recorded on behalf of Huntington (Long Island), New York singer/songwriter Patricia Shih (I wish they could have come in a little tighter on her, but hey) and enjoy this little "flash mob" action from 11 October 2011, meant to support the Huntington Arts Council (whose funding was being targeted for budget cuts).

Oh, and by the way, this one was clearly made with no harm meant to the creative team behind the classic Broadway musical Damn Yankees:

©2011 Shih Enterprises, Inc.

Thank you. Now take a look at the lead story in this 3 October Tubefilter episode with Marc Hustvedt (you're welcome to view the balance of it, but it's the first story I'd like to you to note):

©2011 Tubefilter, Inc.

Yes, I wish the first story was a joke, even a late April Fools' one. But there's nothing funny in S.978, according to OpenCongress::

The bill would make web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a prison sentence of up to 5 years. That means you could go to jail for posting a video to YouTube with the wrong background music, all in the name of protecting big media companies that don’t want to update their old business models for the age of peer–to–peer sharing.

And there is a lot of money being wagered that this bill will become law. Many of the names will be all too familiar (Disney, Viacom, Sony, Universal Music, some very powerful unions, and the usual lobbying groups). And look at the names of the officials being showered with that cash to go their way.

By now, you may have heard that a new digital rights advocacy group Fight for the Future is hitting back with a campaign that should make more than just a certain teen idol's fans especially fearful. Because while Justin Bieber may be the biggest of the names to possibly run afoul of S.978, future teen idols aren't the only ones who may take a hit.

Go back to Patricia Shih. The celebrated musician (and a close friend, I should disclose) could also face jail time for her take on "You Gotta Have Heart" even though her target wasn't Broadway but the Huntington Village Board (and she wasn't alone, as you no doubt noticed).

Underground filmmakers, such as the notable Damon Packard (Reflections of Evil, Space Disco–One) could also get hit with the full force of this bill. Ditto mash–up maestros whose inventive takes on pop apparently haven't swayed the minds and hearts of music execs who wonder why their clammy junk hardly ever moves (hint: shouldn't you let a DJ take over and tinker with it?).

What troubles your Projectionist even more is the potential damage to the "Fair Use" clause of the United States Copyright Act, which does allow for the sampling of fragments from Copyrighted works (as in the Tubefilter episode shown above, by the way) for the purpose of commentary and criticism, so long as the samples are worked into an entirely new work. The folks who are Negativland certainly understand this; so do the Media Education Foundation, even if you find their efforts less than stellar (Consuming Kids had to be one of the worst "agenda" flicks I've ever seen — and I actually agree with the points made in that one).

While I could go further, I believe action will indeed speak louder than words. OpenCongress will let registered users (USA only, of course) take action by urging their elected officials to defeat S.978; you can also take action at the Free Bieber site if you feel more comfortable there. Those outside the USA can also do their part to educate people about wrong–headed legislation like this and the damage (intentional or unintentional) it can create if not stopped.

Look at it this way: The next flash mob video you save could be your own.

Just remember Patricia Shih.

House Lights: "Once upon a time," reloading [reloaded 2011-10-09]

2011-10-09T09:31:00.000-04:00

This is a reposting of the message currently on the Promenade Digital [Mediaworks] website (link at right).

Dear Friends:

This summer started on a difficult note for Promenade, as I was forced to miss the start of Central Park‘s annual story season. That said, I did make up for lost time by recording Diane Wolkstein (our biggest and most kindhearted supporter) telling both Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales and Hasidic stories. I also added a new teller to the Just One Story… roster — Rafe Martin — as he told Jakarta tales.

All that is something special, and I hope it will all be worth the wait. And that alone deserves an explanation.

First, I will be going back to the beginning of Just One Story… and start remastering each episode for the best possible picture quality (at as high a resolution as can be done).

Second, the remastered episodes will get upgraded packaging (specifically improved opening and closing titles) and then be mirrored on both YouTube and Vimeo, in new channels created for each.

Third, my net–studio is getting a re–branding. And it will actually be the first thing that happens — because some recent Google use has revealed that, not only has the name Promenade been spoken for (by, among others, a Christian family–centric company), but so has my Esperanto signature, Konstelacio.

So why “reload” everything? In two words: Internet TV.

Quite simply, Internet–delivered television programming has taken off in a very big way — starting with ethnic audiences (KyLin, Jadoo, NEPALiPTV) and conservatively–religious viewers (Sky Angel) and now moving on a more mainstream level (Apple TV, Roku, and Boxee, not to mention a growing number of widescreen televisions and disc players with Internet capabilities). And for many people, it is simply replacing cable and satellite TV because of what it can deliver for the money.

And your Projectionist is now an Internet TV adopter — of Mela. (One a filmi fan, always…)

All of this forced me to re–evaluate my own show (and in turn, my net–studio), and it became clear to me that, while I do have a foot in the door, the show is still not quite as ready for prime time as it should be. I’m not sure how much can be done about the video quality for the first four episodes (recorded with standard definition camcorders, you will remember), but the content is still valuable.

I want to ensure that it looks as good as possible — not just on 13–inch computer monitors, but on the newest of widescreen TVs as well.

As for the re–branding: It is actually going to be a welcome thing for me, because I have always had issues with naming something after yourself — it has always struck me as exceedingly vain. Thankfully, I think you will like the new name, as it will also better reflect what I now know my net–studio should be doing: cultivating a cultural garden worthy of your attention.

For financial reasons, the re–branded studio will probably not have its own domain name (at least not for a while), and will probably have its home page hosted on Google Sites or tumblr. I will make a decision soon, and it will be announced here.

I promise the reloaded net–studio and all that grows within will be a true garden of delights.

Many thanks for staying tuned to us.

UPDATE 2011.11.08: The re–branding has begun.

Music Time: Großstadgeflüster

2011-09-14T08:10:00.000-04:00

And now for something completely different: a German pop-rock trio on bikes.

Here's "Weil das Morgen noch so ist" by Großstadgeflüster, from their newest disc, Alles muß man selber machen.

Start pedaling!

©2011 Großstadgeflüster.

For those with an Internet TV service that can fetch YouTube material, this one looks very good on a larger screen.

In Memoriam: Shafeeque Ahmed

2011-09-07T21:08:00.000-04:00

Very sad news today, courtesy of Dear Cinema:

Shafeeque Ahmed, who played Malegaon Ka Superman in the film by the same name passed away Wednesday morning.

Due to his ill health, a special screening of his film which is due for release was organized in Malegaon on Tuesday. The screening was attended by Anurag Kashyap and Sunil Bora, the producers of the film.

The original film, which was made on consumer–grade camcorders, is excerpted in Faiza Ahmad Khan's documentary Supermen of Malegaon, available on DVD (all region, NTSC) via FilmKaravan. I had hoped to see it in all its lower–than–low budget glory, as Mr. Nasir and I seem to have a few things in common.

Right now, however, my thoughts belong first and foremost with his surviving family and the entire town of Malegaon. May all who live there be able to carry on after the loss of one of their own.

Coming Attraction: Ghosts with Shit Jobs

2011-08-25T09:40:00.002-04:00

The timing for this one couldn't be more appropriate: Jim Munroe, the Canadian author of the film Infest Wisely, is back with a new movie that's just about ready to go — just as we in the States are facing some very bitter–tasting medicine that has more to do with politics than the economy.

And I'm sorry to say, there is no way to sugarcoat or get around the title: Ghosts with Shit Jobs.

Could any of these characters be you?

©2011 No Media Kings.

Think about it.

Or you can read more on the No Media Kings website.

My sentiment exactly

2011-08-08T16:23:00.003-04:00

Finally back after a short spell, with the Campaign of the Season:

Grab the one you want, and Make. It. Viral.

House Lights: Define "fair"

2011-07-30T09:28:00.000-04:00

Yes, I've been away too long. And yes, I know. Blame it on a stack of transcription jobs that have kept your Projectionist from being… well, your Projectionist.

Thankfully, there will now be a bit of a break for a while, and I can finally get to some unfinished business, including at least one more Just One Story… episode from the 2010 Central Park sessions. (And we will be back in September for at least one more time. I will decide the future/fate of the series by year's end.)

There is more, though, and I will gradually reveal things over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, how about a little Mimi and Eunice action?

2011 Nina Paley.

Like we'll be allowed to have any, right?

House Lights: Hey, it must be the money!

2011-06-07T08:59:00.002-04:00

Whoa… Nina Paley cuts to the quick:

2011 Nina Paley.

PSA: You text, they boot (very NSFW)

2011-06-07T08:39:00.001-04:00

Have you ever had to endure someone using his mobile (be it a phone, a tablet, or something similar) to text or tweet just as the house lights are being dimmed and the show is about to begin?

Annoying, right?

You might appreciate how things are done at the legendary Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain of Austin, Texas, as per their top banana Tim League:

When we adopted our strict no talking policy back in 1997 we knew we were going to alienate some of our patrons. That was the plan. If you can't change your behavior and be quiet (or unilluminated) during a movie, then we don't want you at our venue. Follow our rules, or get the hell out and don't come back until you can.

In other words, be courteous and considerate of everybody else that's in the cinema with you.

The Drafthouse's policy makes that abundantly clear: Patrons who cannot abide by the the cinema's no–texting policy get ejected, and their money is not refunded.

Unfortunately, the staff at one of their theatres had no choice but to do just that to one patron who ignored two warnings to turn her device off.

Not long after the customer was given the boot, she rang the Drafthouse's headquarters and left an obscenity–peppered message.

Uh–oh. Guess what the Drafthouse staff did with it:

©2011 Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

You just had to give them useful ammo, did you, ma'am?

For the record, here's another PSA made years ago with the late Ann Richards (then the Governor of Texas):

©Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

Got the drift, kids? Good. Now turn off that damn toy and put it away.

P.S.: The Drafthouse has twelve locations altogether — 11 in Texas (5 in Austin, 2 in Houston, 4 in San Antonio) and one as far north as Virginia (Winchester). That's a lot of enforcement.

House Lights: Far from over

2011-06-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

There is hope for Just One Story… after all. And this should be the last such status change we make for a long while.

A few weeks ago, we announced that we would be unable to make new episodes of Just One Story… in New York City’s Central Park, due to an unexpected crisis back home on Long Island. Some time has passed since that rainy day announcement, and we are happy to say that our show and our online presence are indeed far from over.

The cancellation announced in early May only affects the NYC shoots for June. It does not mean the end of the show itself, as we had earlier feared; we will hopefully be back in Central Park this September. And there is the off–chance that we will be able to produce at least one episode on Long Island this year — something we’ve been wanting to do ever since we launched our show in late 2009.

You will also be relieved to know that we will be staying put on Vimeo after all. We have enjoyed the ease of sharing our work on their servers since last July, and we didn’t want to have to let it go. Thankfully, it will not have to be that way.

While things will seem a little quiet here at Promenade Central, rest assured that a lot will still be going on behind the scenes — we just can’t reveal it all just yet. But suffice it to say that, as our website gets a little tweaking here and there, you will eventually find out.

For the moment, then, as the cliché goes — stay tuned.

House Lights: Zip on, zip off

2011-06-03T23:33:00.000-04:00

This is too good to share. Courtesy of Becky Stern and Boing Boing:

Go forth, and give Big Media nightmares.

House Lights: You sure that was a good idea?

2011-06-03T11:44:00.001-04:00

Nina Paley and her pals Mimi and Eunice just summed up my feelings about "locked" technologies — broadcast flags, Macrovision, anti–copy schemes on mass–made CDs, DVDs and Blu–ray discs, DRM, HD Radio {ewww}…

2011 Nina Paley.

Here are the gears she used (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons), and here at Techdirt is what sparked this episode.

Nice going, Sony. How soon do you go ashcan? (Only on those days when trash burning is permitted, we're sure.)

Whoa, Canada

2011-05-31T10:17:00.002-04:00

Class War Films comes out swinging against ExxonMobil and their minions in Canadian and U.S. government circles. That simple. And in this case, very effectively.

This one's for the Stimulator at subMedia, whose web–series It's the End of the World as We Know It and I Feel Fine gave me an introduction to what he referred to as "The Muthaf***in Tar Sands."

You don't know what "The Muthaf***in Tar Sands" are, or what's on ExxonMobil's map to obscene wealth? Press play and find out:

H/T to LUV News (a/k/a Liberty Underground), among whose readers are the two who crafted this piece.

Coming Attractions: The Tunnel

2011-05-18T22:05:00.003-04:00

Well, if this won't sink Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer's pirate ship franchise, I'm not sure what will. It is a new horror film called The Tunnel, and its Aussie production company, Distracted Media, went one better than the House of Mouse…

They took it directly to VODO.

Read on if we got your attention:

In 2007 the New South Wales government suddenly scrapped a plan to utilise the water in the disused underground train tunnels beneath Sydney. In 2008, chasing rumours of a government cover-up and urban legends surrounding the sudden backflip, investigative journalist Natasha Warner [Bel Deliá] led a crew of four into the underground labyrinth. They went down into the tunnels looking for a story — until the story found them.

Here comes the trailer, mates:

Courtesy Distracted Media.
©2011 The Tunnel Project Pty. Ltd.

You know what to do, horror buffs. And a few extra greenbacks/Euros into their PayPal account probably wouldn't hurt.

Feature Presentation: Chicken chicken chicken

2011-05-18T21:55:00.000-04:00

Well… why not?

You have to watch the whole thing to get "it," you really do. (You can also right–click to get the original Microsoft PowerPoint presentation and a PDF made from it.)

H/T of the (Buffalo) wing to BoingBoing.

For those of you who are vegan or vegetarian, just kidding.

House Lights: Aiming higher

2011-05-10T09:11:00.002-04:00

Ah, what technology and social media will let you do. Courtesy the ever–observant Nina Paley:

2011 Nina Paley.

Except that what Promenade Digital does is quite a bit above poop. Stressing the word "quite."

Feature Presentation: Are You with Us?

2011-05-07T20:36:00.000-04:00

For the more thoughtful souls amongst us, we bring you Rajesh Chittineni's Are You with Us?, made with the aid of his software engineer friends — all of them fed up with India's ever–enduring history of corruption (and how anyone can be affected by it), and able to craft a simple vignette based on the fight for the Jan Lokpal bill, which, according to India Against Corruption, would require that "investigations into any case should be completed within a year and the trial should get over in the next one year so that a corrupt person goes to jail within two years of complaint and his ill gotten wealth is confiscated."

Please do watch it:

©2011 Dreams Unlimited.

Take a bow, gentlemen.

Feature Presentation: Kung Fooled

2011-05-07T20:16:00.003-04:00

Tonight, we give our big screen over to Wong Fu Productions for a nice little smackdown of stereotypes and perceptions.

Or to cut to the quick: Did you just get Kung Fooled?

©2011 Wong Fu Productions.

Oh, yeah.

House Lights: Pushed back — way back

2011-04-22T09:24:00.001-04:00

Ah, the best–laid plans of mice and men. Except that the cat scored first.

In a nutshell: The Ram Gopal Varma movie review project is on indefinite hold — in part because of my work schedule and in part because not all of his films are properly accessible. The big stumbling block: Some of his films are in Telugu. Just try to find them in a Hindi–speaking home video market near where I live.

Also, because of my shooting schedule (a client video recording on Monday night), it doesn't look good for Dum Maaro Dum. I am expected in New York City early this week; unfortunately, the schedule prevents me from even catching an afternoon screening. Most likely, I'll probably decide later on if I really want to see this one on a legitimately–made disc. (The reviews haven't been tremendously encouraging thus far. And before you ask: No reviews thus far in the major non–Desi papers, some of whom put their online content behind a pay wall.)

Complicating things is something else that I cannot divulge here but which could be a long–term project. No, I can't say if it will be a film, although I won't rule it out. For now, you'll have to wait and see.

Just One Story… is still very much alive and well, and I hope to have a new episode out eventually. I'm not sure at this point when we'll be able to do new episodes (or whether we will be able to return to Central Park this summer). I'll say more eventually, so do stick around.

Just as we were warming up…

2011-04-14T21:14:00.001-04:00

…we received some unhappy tidings from Cisco Systems (via TechCrunch):

Wow. Cisco has just issued a release stating that in a strategic plan to “align its operations,” the company will exit parts of its consumer businesses and realign the remaining consumer business to support four of its five key company priorities: core routing, switching and services; collaboration; architectures; and video. One of the casualties of this realignment: Cisco’s video camera Flip business, which was part of its [USD] $590 million acquisition of Pure Digital.

To be fair to Cisco, this move probably makes smart business sense. Take a look at how many mobile devices — Apple's iPhone (and iPod Touch), for example — can now record high–definition video. That and so much more, except doing your laundry.

That leaves the once novel Flip — of which we have two different models (one that records and saves as standard definition AVIs, and the UltraHD model that we've been using since last June) — out in the cold.

Along, sadly, with 550 employees that will be sacked by Cisco shortly. 550 souls that will now be forced to look for jobs that may or may not exist (much less provide a proper living).

Certainly we will continue to use our Flips for as long as they last and as long as we can buy suitable batteries for them.

Just mark it well, though, that it will be a while before we can begin the search for video recording gear to back up and eventually replace our Flips (alright, a very long time). Frankly, we're not happy about this news. Cisco apparently decided that its chief business — networking (and, no doubt, the eventual remote shaping of Internet traffic in a most user–unfriendly way) — couldn't take on the eventual burden of a product not related to said business.

Which makes one wonder why they bought Pure Digital in the first place.

One thing we can say for sure: There is no iPhone or Blackberry in our future. There are, simply put, some things we simply can't afford to buy, let alone use.

Our business is media content, not surrendering cash to legacy companies (Verizon, AT&T, and so on).

And with that, we'll get back to our movie making.

To borrow from a recent Ram Gopal Varma film: Topic is over.

Cross–posted from the Promenade Digital [Mediaworks] website.

A true "gotcha" moment

2011-04-12T11:55:00.000-04:00

Leave it to Nina Paley's Mimi and Eunice to land you where they want you:

2011 Nina Paley.

What? Not even over brown basmati rice?

Just One Story… Episode 10: The Princess and the Pea

2011-03-19T23:43:00.000-04:00

I haven't had a chance to update the Promenade Digital homepage to reflect this, but I do welcome you to the Second Season of Just One Story… my simple and humble streaming series devoted to oral storytelling done live (and done best that way).

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please welcome Jeslyn Wheeless, here to sing you a song and tell you a Hans Christian Andersen favorite:

©2010–2011 Jeslyn Wheeless / Philip David Morgan —
Promenade Digital [Mediaworks].

This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Welcome to Season 2.

The not–so–secret word next time is… cornbread.

Feature Presentation: 11 March, 2001, without words

2011-03-16T20:52:00.002-04:00

This is extracted from a TV Asahi broadcast on 11 March 2011 — clearly shot at street level (in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefuncture), and notable for the absolute absence of needless commentary.

And I stand speechless.

Do watch it to the very end.

Merci to the Kanpai group in France, who snagged this at the moment that they did.

Coming Attraction: Dum Maaro Dum

2011-03-11T13:34:00.001-05:00

Your Projectionist is starving for some big screen filmi goodness. Will Rohan (son of Sholay director Ramesh) Sippy's crime drama Dum Maaro Dum — the second genuine Bollywood movie picked up by Fox Searchlight — deliver when it drops on 22 April?

Here's hoping it does, what with its Goa setting and Abhishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu in the leads:

Courtesy 20th Century Fox Film Corporation.

Especially when you have to make your sell in less than ninety seconds.

Oh, yes: No mention of the film on the Fox Searchlight website, even though the release date is close.

House Lights: Light your candles, say a prayer

2011-03-11T12:56:00.001-05:00

Dear Friends:

Post–production on the next Just One Story… episode(s) will be temporarily on hold due to the heartbreaking news of the 8.9–magnitude earthquake and tsunami that have devastated the east coast of Japan (including the port city of Sendai).

I have friends and acquaintances who either live in Japan or have family members there. Thus far, no one has been lost to the whims of Mother Earth.

It has been impossible to access Facebook today and not see a few posts related to the earthquake and tsunami; I've generated a few myself, asking if anyone's alright and still very much with us. (200 to 300 hundred people alone reportedly perished in Sendai.)

The BBC has set up a dedicated section of their news site for detailed reports and updates. Check it often, and in the meantime, pray/meditate/visualize for the safety of so many loved ones… maybe yours.

One step closer to becoming [past] history

2011-03-10T12:53:00.005-05:00

I don't like being distracted.

There are at least two new Just One Story… episodes I would love to get put together and bopped off to Vimeo. Then there is the grain of a brand new project that, once translated and subtitled in Esperanto, could give the gesamideanoj a glimpse of the United States that rarely gets seen. In other words, I've got movies to make.

The problem is, I end up having to dissect this:

©2011 James O'Keefe / Project Veritas.

For those not familiar with the story: outgoing National Public Radio fund–raising executive Ronald Schiller and a colleague named Betsy Liley arrived at Café Milano, a Georgetown, Maryland eatery, to meet who they believed to be two representatives for a Muslim organization willing to give the public broadcaster a large windfall (USD 5 million).

It didn't happen.

What happened instead… well, you can see for yourself above. Basically, Mr. Schiller and Ms. Liley — and by association, NPR — got "punk'd" (gamers would say "p8wned") by James O'Keefe and Project Veritas (ironically, the Latin word for "truth") — the same Conservative agitation team that brought you the downfall of ACORN.

It's done more, however, than just show Ronald Schiller the door (he was readying to take a new role over at the Aspen Institute, anyway). Now NPR's own CEO, Vivian Schiller (no relation, by the way), is gone, too.

One possible reaction to the above is to echo the words of NPR ombudsman Alicia Shepard:

"Doesn't anyone in NPR’s top management think of the consequences before they act?"

Exactly. Didn't anyone in Mr. Schiller's team bother to check the background of the people who sent the invite? Couldn't they even had bothered to poke around the faux organization's phony website to see if there wasn't anything fishy going on — especially when it was clear that Project Veritas is made up of Conservatives determined to take down as many big name "liberal–leaning" entities as possible through video stings like this?

"Embarrassing" doesn't begin to describe my sentiments right now.

Worse, still, this is happening at a time when public radio and television stations are trying to raise funds through their occasional beg–a–thons, something I am very resistant to.

Does this mean that I don't value public broadcasting? Well, my hangup isn't with the idea of non–commercial radio and TV — rather, it's over how NPR, PRI (Public Radio International), APM (American Public Media), and television's PBS have (d–)evolved.

Worse, I don't hear any big names in the Republican–led House of Representatives raising questions about Public Radio Capital. It too gets funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — so it can grease the wheels of buying out (in back room deals) and taking over college and university radio stations that were better off being programmed by their students and members of their surrounding communities. That alone takes the "public" out of public broadcasting, as does making programming decisions (whether for TV or radio) without direct public participation, even if those who participate have no money to give (but whose voices should still count).

Sadly, the current tone of the arguments for the de–funding (and in some quarters, the abolition) of U.S. public broadcasting remain fixed on perceived "liberal bias." I don't have the bandwidth to hyperlink every essay that would disprove that (a good round of Googling will fish them up), but it's clear that, while, yes, public broadcasting is riddled with issues, you won't see them getting much air time. Especially when a Conservative operative who believes himself to be a filmmaker (Damon Packard he isn't) is the latest media darling.

As I said, "embarrassing" is hardly the word that describes my current sentiments.

Joel Meares has a more emotionally–metered assessment of the sad affair over on the Columbia Journalism Review website. Read and digest deeply.

[UPDATE 2011.03.11: More words of wisdom and reflection, from Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, over at Common Dreams. Like me, they question how someone like Ronald Schiller could just fall for James O'Keefe's bait. Read it in full, and ask yourself what you can do to deal with this mess.]

Feature Presentation: WISCONSIN

2011-03-02T21:55:00.001-05:00

Vimeo user @paulmadethis offers what can only be considered the movie of our time, made back on 21 February, 2011.

Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy WISCONSIN (also hosted at YouTube):

©2011 @paulmadethis.

Stay strong, Wisconsin. "Forward!"

House Lights: One Estrella that deserves to fall

2011-03-01T14:43:00.001-05:00

Apologies to Liberman Broadcasting.

The last time your Projectionist commented on anything involving Spanish–speaking radio or television in the States, it was about Televisa's control of the Univisión networks.

But then, I wasn't planning to comment on EstrellaTV, part of the Liberman Broadcasting group (just look at their station maps to see how much of the States they cover). This network is accessible in the New York metro area via WPIX/11 (as a digital side–channel).

Have you ever tried watching EstrellaTV? And how often have you ended up switching to one of the Univisión or Telemundo channels, for example?

Moreover, did you find yourself reaching for the remote to escape the likes of José Luis: Sin Censura? [Explore the NSFW site at your own peril.]

It is perhaps the most brazen and vulgar item on the EstrellaTV schedule. Even worse than the slots given oven to butchered movies (themselves minus all opening and closing titles — no way to show movies).

And it is now the target of a complaint filed with no less than the Federal Communications Commission — jointly filed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the National Hispanic Media Coalition — according to The Advocate.

The hyperlinked article also has some choice (again NSFW) examples of the "show" (such as it is) subtitled in English. I won't embed it here out of respect for my readers — not to mention respect for those working to bring profound and positive change in Hispanic radio and television. What the Liberman gang is doing is nothing less than criminal, and a betrayal of the trust of the audiences they want to attract in the first place.

Hopefully the fact that this complaint is being filed by two distinctly different entities will prevent the inevitable fallout from being swept under any rug.

Of course, the once–proud WPIX (itself part of Tribune) could distance itself from this quicksand by quickly ditching Liberman's disgrace of a network and either 1) court another entity with better programming or 2) start work on its own Spanish–speaking channel that can be programmed by those already living in the New York metro area. Unfortunately, with Liberman having a huge sway and a cash flow to match (they're not just a TV company), neither option is likely.

Maybe it would take bringing down the whole Liberman empire — and jailing their execs (and Mr. J.L. himself) — to send a serious message to those seeking to profit from the Latino communities of the United States: Respect their sensibilities first and foremost.

Or kiss your stars goodbye. It's up to you.

Music Time: Jane Lui

2011-02-24T19:50:00.001-05:00

Time to break the silence, and bring you a song of hope — in the words, music, and voice of the charming California–based Jane Lui.

Here's the infectious title song from her latest, Goodnight Company. With an infectious music video to match (bravo, Steve Ellington).

Sing along, boys and girls…

©2010–2011 Jane Lui.

Make sure you get the entire album, via the links on her website.

Feature Presentation:The Silent National Anthem (of India)

2011-01-25T22:24:00.000-05:00

How often do you get something this amazing and special?

For the nation of India's 61st Republic Day (their national holiday), a team led by director Amit Sharma (of Chrome Pictures) made a new short video featuring his country's National Anthem (a/k/a "Vande Mantram") for the Reliance ADA Group's BIG Cinemas chain.

It's not unusual for audiences to be greeted by "Vande Mantram" before a movie in India; in fact, it's customary for theatres to run a short reel with the anthem before showtime.

But this version is… in sign language.

To quote Bobby Pawar of Mudra:

…Our idea was to use the Anthem to make people do more than just stand and sing, but make them feel a little differently about their country and while driving home a strong message about unity in diversity. The idea is centered on the thought, ‘Patriotism knows no language’ and it is brought to life by hundreds of special kids singing the National Anthem with their hands. The film is the first part of a program to engage people, on ground and on line, in a dialogue about how we can free our nation from the prejudices that can divide us.

Watch, then, without prejudice:

Courtesy Reliance ADA–BIG Cinemas.

Jai Hind!

Coming Attractions?: Chai Charitra

2011-01-20T19:29:00.001-05:00

In advance of our upcoming series of DVD reviews spotlighting the movies of Ram Gopal Varma — and because this one is impossible for your Projectionist to resist — we offer you one of many streaming parodies of the man's recent two–part opus Rakta Charitra (both now available on DVD in India from T–Series).

I have Mr. Sameer Panje at Cinemaa Online to thank for the heads–up on this pretend trailer, for which YouTube user "rahulnsm" calls Chai Charitra.

That first word should give you an idea of what you're in for:

There is also an English subtitle stream for this parody (thank you, Arun Surendran and Sharath Bulusu). Just click on both the "CC" and speech bubble icons (they should both turn red, meaning they're activated) to follow along.

It's too bad the two original films are already out on disc — I'd like Mr. Ramu to ask for and gather all the best web parodies he can find. They'd make a nice bonus feature. Certainly this one should make the {ahem} cut.

On DVD: Las 77 Páginas

2011-01-20T19:13:00.001-05:00

Yet another trailer for your perusal: a teaser created by GH (Gradual Hate) Records (based in Valencia, Spain) for Diego Arandojo and Mauro Savarino's Las 77 Páginas (The 77 Pages), a film with a curious premise indeed.

Here's a brief summary, adapted from the product page on GH Records' website:

The Earth is in a dangerous geological process: all the continents are moving back to the original Pangaea position, the first continent that arose more than 200 billion years ago. This will [result] in the extinction of the human race. Nevertheless, there is a solution. A group called the Necessary Council presents itself before the [United Nations], claiming to have the key for the salvation of Humanity: a strange book of indeterminate age, which possesses on its pages the great secrets of History and Science. But very soon the Necessary Council will realize that the fight against Nature has its cost…

I'm actually intrigued by this one. Here's GH Records' teaser:

©2007–2011 Diego Arandojo & Mauro Savarino —Lafarium Producciones.

You can buy the Region 0 PAL DVD either directly from GH (using PayPal) or their friends at Britain's Cold Spring Records.

I'll have more to say about this one when it reaches my desk.

Coming Attractions: Hostel (Manish Gupta, 2011) [UPDATED]

2011-01-19T19:15:00.004-05:00

For those of you who shuddered at the heading of this post, relax. Your Projectionist is not even thinking (once) about a certain denounced snuff horror franchise that didn't deserve to get made.

No, the Hostel in this case is Manish Gupta's statement against what we would call in the States "hazing" (read: acts of humiliation — usually through the use of violence — committed against college students by their elder classmates). In India, it's called "ragging."

The topic of ragging isn't news in pop culture; readers of Chetan Bhagat's Five Point Someone (What Not to Do at IIT!) — later adapted for the movie 3 Idiots — will recall that the three college friends who are the book's protagonists face the threat of being ragged in the very first chapter. They were spared, thankfully.

Mr. Gupta's Hostel depicts what happens to those who aren't so lucky.

There's more on the film, including some storyboards, over at Passion for Cinema. But for now, here's the theatrical trailer, definitely NSFW:

©2011 Matrix Medias.

~~It was supposed to be released last December but will finally hit cinemas in India this Friday.~~ I'd like to see this one, although it looks like I'll be waiting for the disc to street later on.

By the way, Mr. Gupta is also the screenwriter for Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar; you can read or download the screeenplay here. (Sarkar will be reviewed here soon.)

One more note about the above trailer: It is, to me, a good example of how I would like to see Indian movie trailers streamed online: the CFBC rating card is the first thing we see (an "A" rating for adult content here), and the contractual credits are given at the end, where they should be. UTV, Yash Raj Films and all the rest, please copy.

[UPDATED 2011.02.25-26: Shree International has released the export disc, available to North American customers via Nehaflix. As is usually the case for Indian home video, don't look for extras to be included — although I certainly would have wanted an English–speaking commentary track. Too much gets left unsaid about movies like this one.]

Coming Attractions: 7 Khoon Maaf

2011-01-19T10:07:00.001-05:00

This trailer is heavily edited for streaming (no Central Board of Film Classification rating card, and there are no contractual credits at the end), but you do deserve an advance look at Vishal Bharadwaj's new film 7 Khoon Maaf, which gets released by UTV Motion Pictures and Mr. Bharadwaj's own vanity imprint on 18 February.

It's also the second time he has worked with Priyanka Chopra (she was in his last film, Kaminey), but the cast also includes John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Naseeruddin Shah (A Wednesday!), Irrfan Khan, Anu Kapoor, Vivaan Shah and Aleksandr Dyachenko. (Mr. Abraham, Mr. Mukesh, and Mr. Khan also appeared together in the Yash Raj Films–made New York.)

At least get a taste of what you can expect in a few weeks:

©2011 UTV Motion Pictures (Mauritius), Limited.

Despite the lack of the CBFC's rating card, I suspect this one will be rated "A" for adult content, as was Kaminey. Since multiplexes in the States don't take the time to learn anything about India's film rating system, it will probably be designated as "NR" (not rated) in the papers. Just don't bring the kids to this one.

And yes, this flick's got its own Facebook page. And yes, it also tweets.

So long as it's worth seeing, folks.

Coming Attractions: Rubber

2011-01-19T09:39:00.002-05:00

With a 1st April theatrical release date, either this will be one big April Fools' Day prank or else the sort of event that tops Snakes on a Plane for outright… well… you finish the sentence, boys and girls.

From maverick Mark Cuban's Magnolia Pictures (their Magnet imprint, to be exact), with a 25 February "on demand" premiere date:

Courtesy Magnolia Pictures.

You didn't want it as a double–bill with Tarzan the Wonder Car, did you?

My new friends and a puzzle called RGV

2011-01-14T22:31:00.002-05:00

A belated Happy New Year to my readers. (As for why: blame most of it on the sudden changes to my supermarket job schedule for the last two weeks and the wave of winter storms that have been sucker-punching the New York metropolitan area. And we're only in the second full week of January 2011. Really.)

While Just One Story… is getting a much–needed break (in part to raise funds for the production of a new wave of episodes this year — hit our PayPal "donate" button if you want to see me make more), your Projectionist wants to pay public respect to two new friends he has made via Facebook — both of whom have made Indian movies their beat in different ways.

Pooja Kohli, of FilmKaravan.

First to be acknowledged is Pooja Kohli, who handles acquisitions for the New Jersey-based distributor FilmKaravan. You may have heard of them in connection with Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues, as they have published a "Creator Endorsed" DVD of that wonderful animation. But FK's small catalogue also includes Beware Dogs (Spandan Banerjee's visit with the group Indian Ocean), the Mira Nair–curated omnibus AIDS JaaGO, and Faiza Ahmad Khan's "making of" documentary Supermen of Malegaon. (And, yes, I still want to see the finished product, Malegaon ka Superman, along with any and all commercially–available movies made in that modest town some 296 km from Mumbai.)

Sameer Panje, editor of CinemaaOnline.

While Pooja works behind the scenes at FilmKaravan to add to the tiny distributor's catalogue, Sameer Panje writes about Indian cinema from his home base in Pune, as both the editor of CinemaaOnline (the extra "a" is intentional) and via his own blog, The Narcissist's Rant (where you can also read his poetry in English and Hindi).

So… Mr. Narcissist, meet Mr. Projectionist.

I first heard of Sameer through his recent CinemaaOnline piece (signed as "Bollyfan"), "The A 2 Z of 2010 in films," which reminded me of an old South Bank Show special in which British moviemaker Ken Russell went through his own personal ABCs of British music.

While I recommend you check out the entire piece for yourself, here are some choice letters of Sameer's worth sharing.

For starters, A is for Amitabh Bachchan (a/k/a "the Big B"):

The man introduced us to levels of shamelessness never seen before in people of the arts, and I’m not talking about anything personal here. His behavior in public space before and after the releases of [Rańń: The News Battle], Raavan and [Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey] was completely unbecoming of someone who is idolized by millions across the country. And what’s with the sycophantic moderation of his blog comments?

Skipping a little, D is for Debutants:

If there was one bright spark in the Bollywood skies this year, it was the debutants Filmmakers like Abhishek Choubey, Abhishek Sharma, Anusha Rizvi [Peepli [Live]], Bela Negi, Habib Faisal, Sanjay Pooran Singh Chauhan and Vikramaditya Motwane stormed on the scene with highly promising efforts that makes me beg for more. Add to that the debutant actors like Omkardas Manikpuri, Shalini Vatsa, [and] Rajat Barmecha and it's clear that 2010 would have been frightening minus them.

Further down, F is for the indepedently–made and released For Real, which I want to see:

If Independent films have to make an impression, they need to create parallel promotion and exhibition structures for themselves. Sona Jain (another debutant) served up For Real, a film that could serve as a fantastic prototype for these parallel structures. The film was promoted extensively through social media and Sona worked her way around conventional exhibition structures to ensure a decent theatrical release for the film, something even big distribution houses failed to achieve for their smaller releases. Are indie filmmakers listening?

Let's hope they are, and not just in India. It's a lesson more people in North America can use.

Meanwhile, L is for Jaideep Varma's Leaving Home: The Life and Music of Indian Ocean, which we both like:

The first documentary to get a theatrical release in India. And the epicness just started there. The subject was epic — the story of India’s most successful band, Indian Ocean. The execution was epic — a beautifully woven narrative that takes you back in time and on a journey with the band. The experience was epic — inspiring (here’s my rant after watching it) and insightful. The only thing not epic was the audience reception — and we expect good cinema to do well.

I first heard of this film when I did a search for the band on Amazon.com (following the release of Peepli [Live], which uses some of their music), and was surprised when a DVD of this one surfaced. It turned out to be one of the best documentaries on any musical group anywhere. I will be looking forward to the "Longer Trip" cut (spread out on two platters) when Amazon finally gets some copies in.

For some of us, home video provides the only feasible exposure to smaller films. A sad reality, but a reality all the same.

Back to the alphabet. Staying on the subject of supporting indie cinema, N stands for what irks both of us: "No country for the small film":

The criminal neglect of the small film by our exhibition structures was one of the worst aspects of 2010. The near demise of the single screen in bigger cities has also spelt doom for the low–budget films as they don't feature anywhere in the multiplex' list of priorities. And it's sad to see that a majority of our audience was deprived of some of the better films of the year. Hoping against hope to see a change in this trend in the coming years.

It would also help if the smaller cinemas on Long Island — yes, Cinema Arts Centre, I'm looking at you — would add India's (indie) cinema to its calendar. They could have given Peepli [Live] a much needed push — and do it better than the National Amusements chain. The CAC could have also given smaller films such as For Real and (yes) Love Sex aur Dhoka serious exposure if they could only pay attention. (Of course, not giving preferential treatment to big studio fare like Black Swan would help.)

Back to the alphabet for one more, which I find amusing. R is for Ram Gopal Varma, one of the most interesting "name" directors India can claim:

Even if his films have long stopped being the pop–culture icons they once used to be, the man himself remains as unapologetically bombastic as ever. And in the process, we get some unforgettable gems from him like “In front of [Farah Khan's] Tees Maar Khan, even [Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag] looks like Sholay”. And though the two Rakht Charitra films themselves were pretty much below average, they did showcase gore as never seen before in Hindi films.

Let me stop there, and let you read the rest of the piece (which also offers some of his takes on what came out of Hollywood last year, both the sublime and the ridiculous).

And now back to Ram Gopal Varma.

Recently, I told my friends on Facebook that I'd be willing to start a series of DVD reviews of Indian movies. Pooja suggested that I focus on a single director, perhaps starting with Mr. RGV (or "Ramu," as he is also known) and his body of work.

So I have bookmarked the expected Wikipedia page as well as his "blog and lifestream" (it could use an update right about now — that makes two of us), for leads. The Wikipedia page, as you might expect, also gives his filmography as director, which is what I will be working from.

I should say, however, that it won't be a chronological survey of his filmography, for one big reason: Try finding legit (read: "original") DVDs of his Telugu flicks on store shelves in the States or on eBay. (His first film, for example, was a Telugu feature called Siva, released in 1989. Because it was so successful, the film was remade in Hindi the following year.)

So essentially, I will be trying to piece together a jigsaw puzzle of RGV, knowing full well that there will be some missing pieces.

Perhaps my new friends can help me track down the Telugu titles. If you, dear readers, have better knowledge of Telugu video labels and know how to get RGV's work in that language legally, please don't hesitate to reply in the (moderated) comments. All responses will be shared with Pooja in the States and Sameer in Pune, so consider yourselves advised.

Of course, Just One Story… will continue to be priority one for Promenade Central. This "puzzle" will be worked on and resumed when there is time to spare.

Hopefully the man will consider himself fortunate that Hollywood isn't my beat, and with good reason.

And with that done, Mr. Varma, you may, as we would say, bring it.

Just One Story… Episode 9: The Most Incredible Thing of All

2010-12-25T20:37:00.001-05:00

Many apologies for delaying this post, largely due to obsessions with trying to make this Christmas at least an acceptable time for my parents and me.

Suffice it to say all went well, and if it isn't too late to spread some holiday cheer, here at last is Just One Story… Episode 9 — and our first one to feature a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.

Without further adieu, here is Diane Wolkstein telling an audience favorite, "The Most Incredible Thing of All":

©2010 Diane Wolkstein/Philip David Morgan —
Promenade Digital [Mediaworks].

This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

There are some great holiday bundles at Mme. Wolkstein's website, so do take a look at them now while you still can. You can at least ring in the new year with stories that will bring some much needed warmth during the rest of the Winter.

Merry Christmas, dear friends.

Greetings of the season

2010-12-07T18:56:00.000-05:00

Because we want to wish you the best for Yule… here are members of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Stony Brook's Unicorn Singers, performing the English version of the carol also known as "Er ist ein Ros' entsprungen," one of your Projectionist's favorites.

Please forgive the clumsy framing at the start, and just take in the singing:

2010 Philip David Morgan / Promenade Digital Mediaworks.

And Happy, Happy Birthday, Lisa Martin (who was one of the altos in the New Century Singers, so missed at this year's Charles Dickens Festival), with all the love in the world.

Manish Acharya has left the soundstage

2010-12-04T10:24:00.000-05:00

Very sad news this morning, from Passion for Cinema:

Filmmaker Manish Acharya who shot into prominence with his very first film Loins of Punjab Presents (he even co–wrote and produced it) passed away a short while ago today (4th Dec, 2010).

Fans of Nina Paley's modern animation classic Sita Sings the Blues may recall that he provided the voice of one of the narrating shadow puppets who appeared from time to time in the movie, commenting on the Ramayana, the main source material from Ms. Paley's movie.

Please read the rest of the PFC post, get your copy of Loins of Punjab Presents (from IndiePix in the States, or Eagle Home Entertainment in India), and download or buy your copy of Sita Sings the Blues when you have a chance. Both come heartily recommended and both show so much promise of what could have been had he been allowed to make just one more.

Farewell, Mr. Acharya. I wish I had a chance to meet you. You did good.

House Lights: A shortened Promenade? [Update: NOT!]

2010-12-03T12:28:00.005-05:00

Dear Friends:

It is almost one year since the Promenade began. The Promenade Digital [Mediaworks] website went up on 10 December 2009, and the first Just One Story… episode was posted nine days later. In that time, I have had the good fortune of being cross–posted on the Parabola website and Story Lab X.

Here it is again, because the story is so good and the message is still so true.

Indeed, who knows, what the future will bring?

©2009 Philip David Morgan — Promenade Digital [Mediaworks].

This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Right now, unfortunately, the future is very much on my mind.

You see, your Projectionist is amongst the underemployed (yes, that stress is intended), and like so many others in the States, he has had to prioritize his health and his one big financial obligation (a car lease) over the production of new Just One Story… episodes.

And on top of that, the annual bill for Promenade's web–hosting account (serviced by the fine people at Fat Cow) is due next Friday. (See the PayPal link in the right–hand menu? Please use it, and help me pay the bills, if you want the Promenade website to roll on in 2011.)

In the past year, I've taken note of a few facts:

1) every Just One Story… episode produced and released thus far has been recorded in New York City;

2) the lion's share of this year's episodes were recorded somewhere in Central Park (most of them at the Statue of Hans Christian Andersen); and

3) most of them feature my good friend Diane Wolkstein. (I do have two upcoming episodes with Jesslyn Wheeless, and there's also one episode with Dianne R. Carr, with whom I will be working again eventually.)

Which leads to…

4) Not one Long Islander has come forward to offer a story for the show. (Even though I've run into a few of them on Facebook.)

As a Long Islander who wants Promenade (and its Esperanto sister, Konstelacio) to be a source of pride for my neighbors and friends in the Long Island arts scene, it's pretty depressing.

I am formulating a plan to help one artist (a painter and poet) with no Internet access develop a strong online presence, and I will say more about it in the coming year. I also want to revive Konstelacio in the coming weeks, even though the revival may have to take a far different path than the one I had wanted.

To understand what I mean, have a look at what Julianne Escobedo Shepherd at AlterNet recently learned:

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security seized 82 [eighty–two] domain names for allegedly hawking counterfeit goods ranging from knockoff Coach handbags to bootleg DVDs....Most of the seized Web sites… sold reproductions of designer goods and hard copies of jacked movies. A few sites on the list, though, stuck out: Onsmash.com, rapgodfathers.com and dajaz1.com are popular music blogs that were generally involved in the promotion of artists, rather than outright piracy. Well–known among rap fans for posting the latest videos, singles and remixes (always hosted from third-party download sites), their seizure was shocking, not just to the hip–hop blogosphere, but to music sites everywhere. Their inclusion on a list of sites that profit from manufacturing hard goods seemed arbitrary and ignorant. Furthermore, these sites were directly involved with artists, widely viewed as outlets that could help artists build buzz and promote their upcoming albums.

Is it the proverbial tip of the iceberg? These words from the Department of Homeland Security's ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) squad certainly suggest it:

The coordinated federal law enforcement operation targeted online retailers of a diverse array of counterfeit goods, including sports equipment, shoes, handbags, athletic apparel and sunglasses as well as illegal copies of copyrighted DVD boxed sets, music and software.

Except that music blogs — not just those covering hip–hop and other pop sounds but also eclectic and outsider scenes — don't sell "a diverse array of counterfeit goods." That's not their purpose in the first place.

It doesn't seem to matter to the ICE squad, who took pre–emptive action while Congress is playing hot potato with the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) — something that is likely to gain traction and perhaps even become law with the next U.S. Congress. (Although I encourage you to sign an online petition to stop it dead, as it should be.)

While you might think that Promenade is immune from this kind of arbitrary cyber–raiding, I am still worried — not so much for myself, but for others whose only crime would be to remix culture as a higher form of art critique. That would snare not only well–known plunderers as Negativland ("that's the letter 2 and the numeral U?"), but also organizations such as the Media Education Foundation, whose own (expensive) DVD line pushes the fair use envelope while wedding it to the sorry talking–heads/agenda video formula. (Would they get nailed for daring to, say, challenge the power of Madison Avenue to ensnare children and indoctrinate them in a lifetime of unhealthy consumption?)

And don't forget that my first video, signed as Konstelacio in 2008, is also a mash–up — forged in a rage over people still shopping as ever even as the U.S. economy went into meltdown. Another future target?

I'd hate to think how big ICE's dragnet really is. But next year, if my finances improve, I'll probably be stocking up on USB flash drives for video circulation. It's an idea that recently made perfect since to Sarah Fimm, who is a brilliant unsigned musician. Stress the word "unsigned."

Thinking about it now, I could welcome several 4GB USB sticks in my stocking this year.

We often credit the Chinese for the expression: "May you live in interesting times." But as Heather Forest quotes the farmer as a refrain in her version of the Taoist tale above, "I don't know if it's a good [bad] thing or a bad [good] thing."

And that's where my mind is, as Promenade turns one.

Here's hoping it gets there. You can help by clicking the "Donate" button to the right. Please don't hesitate. Xie xie (Thank you).

UPDATE 2010.12.07: One very generous soul came through on 6 December, so our website is still very much alive and well and will keep on ticking in 2011.

The literal lesson

2010-11-30T09:57:00.001-05:00

Nina Paley's Mimi and Eunice and the power of ideas:

Courtesy Nina Paley.

How would you want to meet your next "good idea"?

See you again on the other side of the month, with a new Just One Story… episode.

Your lesson for today

2010-11-23T10:23:00.001-05:00

This picture says it all; I have nothing to add:

Class dismissed.

Whatever happened to dignity? (NSFW)

2010-11-17T23:09:00.000-05:00

Those of the Projectionist's followers living in the States will get this PDQ:

Methinks I should get an XtraNormal account — not for original works, but for rants that become full–flung dialogues like this.

You mean…?

2010-11-17T09:14:00.000-05:00

Nina Paley's Mimi and Eunice (now available between two covers!) get it so right, which is why we love 'em:

Courtesy Nina Paley.

Tim O'Reilly has more on the subject.

Just One Story… Episode 8: Horse and Toad

2010-11-12T22:23:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year, I gave you a live performance of the Haitian story "Horse and Toad" featuring Joy Kelly Smith and Diane Wolkstein (as Horse and Toad, respectively). That video was cut for Mme. Wolkstein's website and was made at a benefit for Haiti back in May.

Now we have the redux, recorded especially for you Just One Story… fans:

Story ©1978, 1997 Diane Wolkstein.
Video ©2010 Diane Wolkstein/Philip David Morgan —
Promenade Digital [Mediaworks].

This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

That wraps our Haiti series for 2010. A Hans Christian Andersen story recorded back in September will be coming your way just after the U.S. Thanksgiving. Maybe just in time for Buy Nothing Day — that is, if you all can be as good as Santa (or the Three Kings) would want you to be.

Shall we all give it the ol' college try?

Sita sings the WHAT?!

2010-11-10T18:15:00.001-05:00

Nina Paley's best–recognized character (to say nothing of mythological) is getting places, as this Yfrog–hosted image demostrates:

Uhh… "whatever."

Coming Soon: Conlang (updated — no embeddeable video)

2010-11-10T18:00:00.000-05:00

Disney can keep their holiday video release slate — your Projectionist wants Marta Masferrer and Baldvin Kari's short Conlang this holiday season!

Unfortunately, the preview that used to be on the movie's Kickstarter page is gone, and I can't embed the replacement video. But waltz over to the project page and have a look around. If you're sufficiently tempted, you can help fund the home video release (via Amazon Payments, so have your credit card ready).

One New Year's resolution, already declared

2010-11-08T11:44:00.003-05:00

The beginning Esperanto student, or komencanto, wants to make a comeback:

Courtesy La studio Konstelacio, k.t.p.

Translation: Stop buying movies. Start making movies.

Rest assured he will. Even if it means doing Esperanto–subtitled episodes of Just One Story… for starters.

By the way, the search is still on for the Malegaon–made movies in the previous post. And yes, I still want to see the finished Malegaon ka Superman (on a legal, original disc). For those wondering why, get FilmKaravan's disc of Supermen of Malegaon and pay close attention to the way the movie got made. It's very DIY, very I–can–make–this stuff, and it's why I want to see the complete, finished product.

Why should finding Malegaon–made movies be so hard?

2010-11-06T15:38:00.001-04:00

Today, your Projectionist is on a campaign of his own making. And this poster should say all he needs to say:

With apologies to Krunal Music.

For anyone willing to help (seriously), you can also let me know in the comments. No span, virii, or counterfeit goods. Original VCDs only.

Subtitles (or the lack thereof) are not an issue.

So that's the secret of your success

2010-11-05T09:05:00.003-04:00

Words (and drawings) of wisdom from none other than Nina Paley:

Courtesy Nina Paley.

If you like what you see, Mimi and Eunice's creator has a whole book to OD on.

An offer you can't refuse?

2010-11-02T09:04:00.000-04:00

Oy. VEY:

The above is a video version of a radio advert that aired in Minnesota, bankrolled by the Election Integrity Watch (consisting of, among others, the Northstar Tea Party Patriots and the Minnesota Majority… of conservatives, that is).

A full rogues' gallery is offered by The Nation (and cross–posted at Common Dreams).

Read it, be forwarned, and then go out and VOTE.

National Pumpkins, Rolling (like cameras)

2010-11-01T19:41:00.000-04:00

For those of you wondering why NPR dropped its full three word identity (National Public Radio), perhaps this piece posted on Vimeo will explain. Then again, maybe not.

At least it's useful for those who wanna do pinhole photography on the dirty cheap:

©2010 NPR.

Whether or not it will placate public radio and TV foes is another story.

Creature Features: IT Came from Citizens United!

2010-10-31T10:08:00.001-04:00

Aren't you glad Hallowe'en will be over in a matter of hours? Can't end too soon for your Projectionist.

Today we come (thankfully) to the end of our barrel of conservative agenda movie trailers and teasers. And today, I've saved the baddest for last: a trio from (drumroll, please)…

Citizens United.

That would be all I need say, save for the fact that David Bossie's group is about more than sly money used to grease the wheels of conservative politics in the States. It's about making expensive (to me at least) agenda flicks that, when they don't take pot shots at famous people (not just Michael Moore, but also Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama), rail against all they see as wrong with their belovéd America. (Never mind that America, when viewed on a globe, is one big, three–part continent where you're expected to get along with your neighbors. But who needs that pesky fact when you can be busy making flicks like Border War?)

Ah, but elections happen in two days, so this time we'll give you previews for the three DVDs they have been pushing online in recent weeks — starting first with Generation Zero:

©2010 Citizens United Productions No. 1, L.L.C.

Not shivering yet? How about a peek at Battle for America?

©2010 Citizens United.

Got the chills now? Time for the creepiest of the lot, Fire from the Heartland: The Awakening of the Conservative Woman:

©2010 Citizens United / Victory Media.

Gonna dare yourself to order these discs? Do so, and… you become ONE OF THEM! (Demonic laughter in the background.)

No, seriously, you can't buy these videos and not accept Citizens United membership. I checked.

It's scary enough to watch these guys make monster movies. Watching them is even scarier, because the horror (for lack of a better word) "creeps" over you bit by bit.

But enough for another year, everyone. Try to enjoy 31 October. And, please, as Radio New York International's Pirate Joe would tell listeners: "Don't! Vote! Republican!"

Seriously, though, please vote with your head. See you at the polls.

Creature Features: Eye Spy for the MPI

2010-10-30T16:19:00.001-04:00

…and I don't mean the company formerly known as Maljack Productions, Inc., or MPI Home Video. (Although they will sell you a Region 1 DVD or Region A Blu–ray disc of Tom Six's The Human Centipede [First Sequence], or all the Dark Shadows episodes you want.)

No, the MPI in this case is the Moving Picture Institute ("promoting freedom through film"). They were in the news recently (not the newspapers regularly devoured by your Projectionist) when one of their own, John Papola got to share a Templeton Freedom Award (with collaborator Russ Roberts) for a little rappish number called Fear the Boom and Bust.

See, these guys — Friedrich von Hayek and John Maynard Keynes, I believe — meet in a bar…

Courtesy John Papola & Russ Roberts.

For the record, Messrs. Papola and Roberts' piece got them an Innovative Media trophy and USD 10,000 (plus 1.5 million hits for Google's YouTube).

O.K., that's impressive. Give them props, even if the message of the video makes you ill. The Moving Picture Institute favors free market politics, and the movies they choose to get behind reflect a free market/conservative philosophy.

Don't feel bad if you haven't heard of this MPI. (I would have preferred they use another name, to avoid confusion with the company once notoriously known for releasing the Faces of Death franchise.)

Last night, we gave you trailers for The Cartel and The Rubber Room, two films attacking the education establishment, both of which the Moving Picture Institute have backed. (Sorry, guys, but I refuse to use just your initials — please see the opening paragraph above.) Today, I'll give you the previews for three more titles that could be considered inflammatory, starting with Nick Tucker's 2008 feature Do As I Say, which tried to puncture holes in the public reputations of former U.S. Vice–President Al Gore and moviemaker/gadfly Michael Moore (who has been used to getting skewered in the past, and always survives each attempt, including this one).

Again, no need to feel bad if you didn't hear of or catch this one. It seems to be yet another fly–by–night title that faded fast (and in any event, you can buy a DVD if you really want to):

©2008 Do As I Say Productions, L.L.C.

Say, I did promise you "rancid Greenpeace soldiers," so how about a taste of Mine Your Own Business (also out on disk)?

Courtesy New Bera Media and the Moving Picture Institute.

Or how about U.N. Me ("you and me"?) for a few laughs?

©2010 Disruptive Pictures.

The Moving Picture Institute does help back some films that, judging from their descriptions, don't seem as outraged (or is that outrageous?) as these three. We'll deal with them post–Hallowe'en. Or maybe post–Election Day in the States (Tuesday 2 November).

Besides, the real chillers are yet to come.

Creature Features: School of the Teaching Dead?

2010-10-29T23:56:00.003-04:00

You know something is up when no less than four "non–fiction" features target the educational establishment in the United States.

I will review one of them, Madeline Sackler's The Lottery soon, but here's the teaser in the meantime:

©2010 The Lottery, L.L.C.

You probably have already heard of Waiting for "Superman," Davis (An Inconvenient Truth) Guggenheim's recent take on the subject — only because three big names (Viacom's Paramount Pictures, Participant Media, and Walden Media) poured their cash into the project. So far, Guggenheim's film has been a public lightning rod for pundits on the side of unionized teachers (or representatives of their unions) and united in their distrust of charter schools. (You will have to visit Paramount's site to view the theatrical trailer, which I can't embed without it launching automatically.)

But the Moving Picture Institute ("promoting freedom through film") has gotten behind two other features that unionized teachers and their supporters will dread if they are not already — namely, The Cartel (due out on DVD 1st December):

©2010 Bowdon Media.

… and one with the creepier title of The Rubber Room (Flash rules the film's website, unfortunately):

©2010 Five Boroughs Productions.

What'll be tomorrow's chiller, people? Maybe some rancid Greenpeace soldiers?

Creature Feature: I heard it through the tannoy

2010-10-28T18:23:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of 5–Second Films, every cashier's (and supermarket manager's) worst nightmare:

©2010 5–Second Films, L.L.C.

Heaven help the "closers"…

The 800–pound monster in the room

2010-10-27T22:17:00.000-04:00

Nina Paley is clearly an expert on the stuff of nightmares, such as what happened to the TV Shack website, among other web destinations:

Courtesy Nina Paley.

If that's their dinner, I'd shudder to think what (or who) would constitute "desert."

Creature Feature: Trailer for I Want Your Money

2010-10-27T20:10:00.002-04:00

Beginning tonight, your Projectionist is bringing you teasers and trailers for some of the creepiest movies available to humanity. That is, if humanity is depraved enough to demand them.

Case in point: The trailer for the recently–released (and subsequently yanked) agenda flick I Want Your Money, which purports to show "how… big government programs have been tried in the past at great moral and financial cost to the nation."

But is it for real? Or has Ray Griggs merely put an Obama costume on a over–worn boogeyman?

I embed. You decide.

© 2010 RG Entertainment, Ltd.

But good luck finding a theatre that's playing it right now. Most likely they've made room for Lionsgate's (supposedly) final Saw flick. Stressing the word "supposedly."

Just One Story… Episode 7: Owl

2010-10-27T00:55:00.001-04:00

Finally! The long overdue Episode 7 of Just One Story… is here for your viewing pleasure.

We still have a couple of Haitian tales to share with you — and this time, it's the story of "Owl" (from the collection The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folktales), who has to… well, "face" a very real obstacle to love.

Once again, drummer Oneza Lafontant is backing the delightful Diane Wolkstein — all the better to give this story its crucial "beat."

Take it away, Diane!

Story ©1978, 1997 Diane Wolkstein.
Video ©2010 Diane Wolkstein/Philip David Morgan —
Promenade Digital [Mediaworks].

This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Hmm… shall I give you Episode 8 in time for the Hallowe'en weekend? Hmm? Cric?

Creature Feature: Pest Control

2010-10-26T20:51:00.000-04:00

A lite appetizer for you courtesy of 5–Second Films (who do much more than just give Chico, California a bad name):

©2010 5–Second Films, L.L.C.

You think that's a monster movie? Stay tuned, folks. The real chills come later this week.

Feature Presentation: Welcome to Chico!

2010-10-26T20:33:00.003-04:00

Courtesy of 5–Second Films (one of the marginally–sane net–studios on Vimeo) is their quickie series Welcome to Chico! — the kind of show you might wish was never made in your hometown.

Definitely NSFW time…

All ©2010 5–Second Films L.L.C.

All we want to know is… what did the people of Chico do to deserve this?

P.S.: The "old–school" wavy look on all three videos is intentional.

VOD: An Invitation to World Literature

2010-10-24T21:14:00.005-04:00

Just learned that the WGBH–TV/Seftel Productions series An Invitation to World Literature is now streaming for free at Annenberg Media's Learner.org website.

Of special interest to me is Episode 7, which deals with the Asian epic Journey to the West (also known as the Monkey King Epic), and which has my friend Diane Wolkstein as one of the guest experts.

Here is the episode description provided by the Annenberg people:

"The powerful and mischievous Stone Monkey King brings chaos to heaven and earth. Freed from a mountain prison in order to guard a Chinese monk on his journey to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures from India, Monkey seeks his own spiritual transformation. Modern performance, contemporary art, and Buddhist philosophers provide a rich context to the ancient tale. Featured cast members include playwright David Henry Huang, storyteller Dianne [sic] Wolkstein, and translator Professor Anthony Yu."

I wish I could embed Episode 7 directly, but Annenberg clearly doesn't "get" YouTube or Vimeo (unlike those of us who actually do, and with good reason), so you will have to:

1) go to the Annenberg site linked above,

2) scroll down the episode list until you reach Episode 7 ("Journey to the West"),

3) find the "VOD" (video on demand) icon and click on it, and

4) make sure you allow pop–up windows for the Annenberg site (Firefox may be set to block them, so you will have to un–block them and refresh the page so that the window opens and the video loads).

Look at it this way: you won't have to petition your local PBS station to air the series, let alone in prime time.

I'll say more after I've had a chance to view the episode.

DVD Review: Beware Dogs and moments captured

2010-10-09T21:31:00.010-04:00

Beware Dogs (2008)
Directed by Spandan Banerjee
FilmKaravan/Overdose DVD, NTSC all region
CFBC rating: V/U

©2008 Overdose Films Pvt. Ltd.

When I began the Just One Story… series, my intent was clearly to document live storytelling as it happens. I had no intent to do a "polished" or "stylized" series of videos — all I wanted was to capture a series of moments when art is created, however "small" it might seem to the larger world.

Had I been aware of it sooner, I could have taken my inspiration from Spandan Banerjee's delightful forty–five minute featurette Beware Dogs, made in 2007 at an aging mansion in the Karol Bagh section of Delhi, India — a space that has served as the "workshop" for the musical group known as Indian Ocean.

Thankfully, FilmKaravan obtained the North American rights to Mr. Banerjee's little film and released it recently on a limited–run DVD. And, with some stylistic differences aside, it seems like we're both interested in capturing "moments."

Mr. Banerjee and his camera team got the green light to visit with and record the band — Susmit Sen, Rahul Ram, Amit Kilam, and the late Asheem Chakravarty — as they were working on music that would be used by Arindam Mitra for his film Shoonya. At the time, the band had very little to work with — no footage or script, just vague ideas supplied by the producers. The title itself means "nothingness," and as Mr. Chakravarty observes, how do you work with that as a cue?

Despite this limitation — or, perhaps, because of it — we witness the four musicians gradually piecing together the words and music to the song that they hope will satisfy Mr. Mitra and his team as their own movie gets made.

And the way the members of Indian Ocean make music is itself remarkable: they actually rehearse and create together, in a space that allows for anything and everything to happen, when any one of the four can step in and make his contribution to a tune. It's an organic approach that they take to the level of art, never releasing a song until it is "ripened," as they put it.

The beauty of Beware Dogs (and the forty–five minutes of extra deleted scenes) is that Mr. Banerjee never intrudes or gets in the way of the band's brainstorming, but merely records it as it happens. Except for some stylistic touches (post-production effects or overlaid stills and live concert footage), he keeps the proceedings as natural possible. Quite simply, we are free to witness the "brewing" of music as it happens, as free from interference as is possible. It's something I try to do with Just One Story…, and it's a pleasure to see this in a film made far from where I live.

My one concern comes directly after the Central Board of Film Certification rating card is displayed: we suddenly hear someone (one of the band members?) giving driving directions to the old mansion in Karol Bagh. (The cover art shows a large statue of Hanuman, a nearby landmark, and the film's title is a reference to the two words on a metal plate attached to the gate of the manor.) While the band as a whole may have had no qualms about the driving directions being on the soundtrack, who else might take this as a breach of their rights to privacy?

That aside, I can strongly recommend Beware Dogs not only as a welcome look into the creative process of making music, but also certainly in how we as video–makers can document that process. Of course, fans of Indian Ocean will want this disc, too — especially as a souvenir of the band's celebrated line–up since Mr. Chakravarty's passing away in 2009 — but even those new to the band (as featured in Anusha Rivzi's black comedy Peepli [Live]) are encouraged to check this one out.

I also encourage newbies to hit Amazon.com for Jaideep Varma's feature Leaving Home — The Life & Music of Indian Ocean (Cartwheel/EMI India, NTSC all region, CFBC rated V/U), a rich feature–length documentary that not only offers more of their rich sound in the raw, but also allows the band members to tell their own story in their own voices and words. It's a rich enough feast at 1 hour 55 minutes plus almost a full hour of extras&hellip but one of those extras is a prevue for an even longer cut of the film (more than four hours), promised for Christmas Day. Talk about giving the fans a big present!

And let's not forget about Peepli [Live] (CFBC rated A), due out on DVD from UTV shortly — and just in time for gift giving.

[UPDATE 2010.10.14: Amazon.com has notified me that my copy of Peepli [Live] won't ship until at least… December 6th. Fine, I'm a patient man.

Meanwhile, FilmKaravan must really love my review — they've cross–posted it verbatim!]

[UPDATE 2010.12.30: That longer cut of Leaving Home has arrived.]

You wish

2010-09-29T15:02:00.002-04:00

I Can Has Cheezeburger has a nifty way to get rid of George Lucas' long–in–the–tooth franchise:

©2010 Pet Holdings, Inc.

Gesundheit!

Diversion: UTV logo makeover

2010-09-29T10:36:00.003-04:00

Those of you who saw I Hate Luv Storys [sic], Peepli [Live], and We Are Family may have noted that UTV (one of India's biggest media player and certainly the nation's best filmi studio, hands down) recently gave their logo a complete makeover. It looks fine on a poster, but how good is it on the (big) screen?

Here's part of the old UTV ID, side by side with the new:

©2010 UTV Software Communications, Ltd.

I just hope that UTV's Ronnie Screwvala doesn't abandon the studio's penchant for edgy masala moviemaking; they're so damn good at it.

The reason for Just One Story…

2010-09-29T01:13:00.004-04:00

I've made some significant changes to the Promenade Digital website, including a much–needed revision of the page about Just One Story… Part of the reason was to elaborate a little on an example of how storytelling met the VHS videotape. I'll expand on that elaboration here.

In 1987, when I was at the National Storytelling Festival, I suffered from a bombardment of marketing overload. Quite a few tellers were hawking VHS videotapes of their work (Ed Stivender's The Kingdom of Heaven is Like a Party ended up being my fave of the lot), but I also saw a monitor playing select volumes of a eight–tape series called American Storytelling.

You see, in 1986, the H.W. Wilson Company (still very much in business) partnered with a new venture called Storytel [sic] Enterprises™ (itself long out of business) to produce the American Storytelling collection.

Made solely for library and school use, it presented some of the best tellers in the United States — including my friend Diane Wolkstein, Heather Forest, Mr. Stivender, Jay O'Callahan, and the late Chuck Larkin and Brother Blue — each telling a different story… but recorded inside a television studio, under standard TV production conditions. (Mme. Wolkstein's segment used her beautiful picture book White Wave: A Chinese Tale.)

Today, I unearthed H.W. Wilson's brochure for the series, which made some rather lame claims for the series, among them being:

"The intimate nature of the video medium is especially well–suited to to reproducing the unique relationship between storyteller and audience, capturing all the flavor and vitality of a live storytelling session. In simple but evocative stage settings, each personal storyteller creates the immediacy of a live performance."

Well, to quote one of the characters in the recent masala comedy Khatta Meetha:

"I'm allergic to bullshit."

As I asked in my revised Just One Story… page, how can intimacy and immediacy be possible when your subject is recorded under studio conditions with the only other human presence being not an audience of ordinary people, but a phalanx of technicians?

One more quote from the brochure, and then I put it away:

"In a recent article in the Wilson Library Bulletin, Augusta Baker, Storyteller–in–Residence at the University of South Carolina's School of Librarianship, noted that 'The purpose of storytelling is to motivate children to read.' Librarians, teachers, and parents can use this series to encourage children's appreciation of literature."

Funny, but to me that doesn't sound like the sole (or even the most important) purpose of storytelling. And the line that "librarians, teachers, and parents can use this series to encourage children's appreciation of literature"… why does this sound like a taste of what would later come with the "edu–tainment" swindle personified by the Disney–owned Baby Einstein® franchise?

Just as toddlers can't (and, according to some very high–profile studies, don't) learn anything from the deluge of toddler–targeted videograms, what made H.W. Wilson and Storytel believe that children would truly be motivated to seek out world folklore because of a rather antiseptically–made series of videos, however well–intended? (Beyond US dollar signs, that is?)

Let's face the facts, my dears: while the series may have helped the careers of the chosen tellers, American Storytelling was in fact an attempt to put a living art "under glass," not to be touched or interacted with, the publishers' claims notwithstanding. You want true storytelling, you gotta go to the tellers themselves. Just One Story… makes no false promises of changing people's minds and tastes, and in any event, that's not why I make the show. I make it because 1) Diane Wolkstein is both a living legend and a dear friend whose art deserves to be documented, and 2) there are others in the same boat with her, and attention needs to paid to them.

No bullshit from me. But then — all together now:

"I'm allergic to bullshit."

P.S.: Diane Wolkstein is one of the Featured Tellers at this year's National Storytelling Festival, with a packed schedule for all three days. If you're going, make sure you see her, and then introduce yourself afterwards. Please tell her that Philip David, your faithful Projectionist and her faithful Webmaster, sent you.

Keeping your balance

2010-09-28T10:07:00.003-04:00

Ah, WordPress…

Your Projectionist is re–casting his website using the popular CMS (content management software) after having trouble with getting Joomla to play nice with Vimeo Universal Player embeds. The template I'm using right now needs serious tweaking (I need to insert a Copyright declaration, and the brown trim needs to be changed to the colour I use in the Promenade logo), but at least we're on our way. If you've got an iPad® and couldn't access the Just One Story… episodes on our homepage, try it now.

Meanwhile, Nina Paley and her friends Mimi and Eunice strike again:

Courtesy Nina Paley.

Uh… "quite."

I think.

House Lights: Random frames in September

2010-09-15T17:50:00.000-04:00

Just a few short items to share with you this time:

First, we did record a new Just One Story… episode to share with you in December: Diane Wolkstein telling the Hans Christian Andersen story "The Most Incredible Thing of All." This makes two HCA stories that we've captured thus far in 2010. So let's see… Buddhist stories, Hans Christian Andersen, and Haiti. Plus two original stories. We must be doing something right.

Second, because you might be asking, "So why wait until December?"… we are intentionally keeping to one episode per month because we can't record every week (personal circumstances prevent us from doing that) and we don't want to run out of material as it happened to us earlier this year. As of now, we should be able to offer you a story video each month through at least February of next year.

Third — and this one hurts — we may be forced to switch our website from Joomla to Wordpress in the coming days. The reason is that, as much as we like Joomla, we've been frustrated by the CMS's inability (in its most recent version) to support Vimeo's Universal Player embedding. (We switched to Vimeo itself because of the limits and frustrations we had with YouTube.) And, yes, we did try a plugin fix that hasn't worked for us.

The way we found out about this weakness in Joomla came when I visited an Apple Store and tried to access our website with an iPad®. The page loaded, but not the embedded videos. While you can visit the Just One Story… page and jump to our videos on Vimeo from there, I'd rather that iPads (and aPads) be able to load our videos, on our website, without issues.

We may make the switch as soon as we can find a Wordpress template comparable to the one we used with Joomla. I hope to do it late in any one evening so as to minimize disruptions on your end.

Finally, our last Central Park shoot for 2010 could be Saturday, September 25th. It is still up in the air, as we have another recording commitment later that day. After that, baring any invitations to come back to the big city for a special video day, we will likely be staying put on Long Island for the rest of Autumn and all of Winter. Unless Diane Wolkstein tempts us out for one more shoot. We love her that much.

Thank you, everyone, for standing by us.

Just One Story… Episode 6: Two Donkeys

2010-09-06T23:16:00.001-04:00

It's the first week in the month, and you know what that means. Right, a new Just One Story… episode.

I'm still working my way through the 5 June 2010 video shoot with Diane Wolkstein and drummer Oneza LaFontant; this is the second of four stories recorded that day:

Story ©1978, 1997 Diane Wolkstein.
Video ©2010 Diane Wolkstein/Philip David Morgan —
Promenade Digital [Mediaworks].

This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Enjoy, and stay tuned for Episode 7!

Music Time: Marina V

2010-09-03T18:03:00.001-04:00

Lucky peeps in Washington (D.C.), Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland: Marina V is coming your way… and here's a taste of the sweet sounds you can expect to hear (from her latest album, My Star):

©2010 Marina Verenikina and Nick Baker.

Your Projectionist is catching her live in New York on September 13th. Will you (and where and when)?

Hmm?

House Lights: Talk is still cheap

2010-08-29T23:11:00.002-04:00

Quoting Avatar director James Cameron (as recently interviewed by the Washington Post):

DVDs are wasteful. I think there's less plastic in a DVD than there is in a VHS. It’s a consumer product like any consumer product. I think ultimately we're going to bypass a physical medium and go directly to a download model and then it’s just bits moving in the system. And then the only impact to the environment is the power it takes to run the computers, run the devices. I think that we’re not there yet, but we’re moving that direction. Twentieth Century Fox has made a commitment to be carbon neutral by the end of 2010. Because of some of these practices that can’t be changed, the only way to do that is to buy carbon offsets. You know, which again, these are interim solutions. But at least it shows that there’s a consciousness that we have to be dealing with carbon pollution and sustainability.

Given Fox's recent "special edition" re–release of Avatar and the no–extras release of the film on home video (three different packages already on the market), any talk of being "carbon neutral" isn't exactly translating into a News Corporation–run studio "walking the talk."

Especially when ClearBits™, VODO, and the Internet Archive, among others, already lead by example.

Oh, yes: Mr. Cameron's output (a considerable glut of monetary excess and with a gigantic "footprint" of its own) is overrated. Including Avatar — itself a gigantic waste that didn't deserve to be bankrolled, dazzling visuals aside.

Just observing...

2010-08-27T11:54:00.001-04:00

Courtesy of The Daily What, and taken outside the Skyway Drive–In Theatre in Warren, Ohio:

It reminds me of why I went Bollywood.

And I hope that this particular drive–in doesn't go out of business anytime soon.

P.S.: The film line–up has since been changed.

P.P.S. And here's where you might be able to find any of the surviving drive–ins here in the States.

Sound familiar?

2010-08-22T08:43:00.000-04:00

In honor of a May 25th Indian Express story (cross–linked, interestingly, on UTV Motion Pictures' website) about a comic book being circulated in India (in English, Marathi, and Hindi versions) urging the young not to download movies (itself part of a joint effort between Hollywood and India's film industry)… we bring you another visit from Mimi and Eunice:

Courtesy of Nina Paley.

One has to wonder how Malegaon Ka Superman auteur Shaik Nasir would see things.

That first step's a lulu

2010-08-16T17:25:00.004-04:00

Leave it to Nina Paley to nail what it's sometime's like for me, whether it's finding a lasting job or getting a video series off the ground:

Courtesy of Nina Paley.

Uh… quite.

Just One Story… Episode 5: The Magic Orange Tree

2010-08-15T22:14:00.002-04:00

Without any further adieu, here comes Diane Wolkstein with a storytelling classic. That's all I need to say, really.

Except that this one's shot in widescreen and 720p HD (you can watch it that way on its corresponding Vimeo page):

Story ©1978, 1997 Diane Wolkstein.
Video ©2010 Diane Wolkstein/Philip David Morgan —
Promenade Digital [Mediaworks].

This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

It's the first of four stories recorded at the Statue of Hans Christian Andersen (in New York City's evergreen Central Park) back in June. We'll have the second one in a few weeks.

Coming Attractions: Peepli [Live]

2010-08-13T10:04:00.005-04:00

It's been a while since we did a Coming Attractions post, but then we've been waiting for one movie to stand out in a crowded field.

The day has come, and the film is Peepli [Live]. Already it has gotten some good reviews, such as this one from Screen India.

There is an entire YouTube account full of videos from UTV (which is handling the release of the film almost everywhere but Germany and the UK) and producer Aamir Khan's company, but I'm highlighting the international trailer. (Note: this video has no opening studio logos or Central Board of Film Certification rating card. The CBFC gave the film an "A" rating — for adult audiences — due to adult humor and swearing.)

Courtesy UTV Motion Pictures and Aamir Khan Productions.
©2010 Aamir Khan Productions (Pvt.), Ltd.

See you at the movies.

UPDATE 2010.08.13: For what it's worth, the producers posted this quote, reportedly from actor Salman Khan, on Facebook (apologies for the Hindi that's peppered throughout, as well as the need to correct some of the spelling):

"Mr. Midas Touch has produced a picture. Midas touch matlab ke aamir khan. Nattha. [Peepli [Live]] has a mad–ass touch [, especially] the press [should see] the film. [When] I came out of the movie[,] [Peepli [Live]] was happening right outside and I was nattha and went nutta.I [didn't] let [Aamir] touch me after the film. Agar mujhe gold mein badal deta toh??? Last — [Everybody should] watch this film. Its comedy tragedy khulasa sansani breaking news."

Sincere reviews are welcome in our moderated Comments.

UPDATE 2010.08.14: An interview with Mr. Khan is now up on AlterNet.

House Lights: Ronald SMASH! (Sorry, wrong character, but still...)

2010-08-11T14:59:00.009-04:00

There are many things that truly irritate your Projectionist. Not among the least of them is the way Big Food, Big Toys, and Madison Avenue do a tag–team body slam on the inner workings of kids in the States. (We'll try to tackle how it's done in other nations another day.)

In the meantime, Flesh and Stone has called McDonald's and Disney–owned Marvel on the carpet for an unwelcome appearance in many a kid's "Happy Meals"™ by two {ahem} big shot cast members of The Fantastic Four® franchise:

"McDonald's Happy Meal promotions are under attack. It’s not just the negative impact fast foods are known to have on child obesity, say public health advocates. It’s also the major food marketers’ unconstrained advertising tactics aimed at children and their promotion of unhealthy stereotypes.

"McDonald’s latest marketing campaign features 'The Thing,' a bulky orange Marvel comic action figure, who roars, 'It's clobbering time!' when the button on its back is pushed. The toy is inappropriately aimed at preschool boys, says the Campaign for a Commercial–Free Childhood (CCFC). The organization has launched a letter writing campaign telling McDonald’s to remove the toy, and its colleague 'The Human Torch' from Happy Meals.

"'It's bad enough to use junk toys to sell children on junk food,' said CCFC's Director Susan Linn. 'But now, for preschool boys, a so–called happy meal at McDonald's features the horrifying spectacle of a man engulfed in flames and a menacing figure that explicitly spurs them to violence.'"

At last check, when Disney acquired Marvel in 2009, they acquired properties populated by some five thousand characters, heroes and villains alike, as part of the House of Mouse's efforts to claim and dominate the young male populace. So I suspect we will be seeing more of this, not less. (Just visiting the Marvel site will provide a [ahem] taste of sights to come. And don't forget DC Comics, owned by the peeps at Time Warner… yep, the Warner Bros. peeps.)

For those not interested in seeing your toddlers suddenly bellowing "Hulk SMASH!"™ for no apparent or justifiable reason, the CCFC has an online letter–writing campaign waiting for you.

But before you click on that, I recommend devoting a good chunk of time reading Henry Giroux and Grace Pollock's very in–depth probing of marketing the Disney way at Truthout. If you're not already asking questions about the motives hatched at 500 Buena Vista Boulevard in Burbank, California… well, you soon will. Trust me.

Oh, yes: This isn't the first time that the CCFC has tangled with Disney: Here's the organization's "never surrender" declaration on the House of Mouse and the Baby Einstein® properties they bought back in the year 2000 and still vigorously defend to this date. (Even though they're indefensible.)

UPDATE 2010.08.11 @ 15:36: Here is the text of my message to McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner:

Good Hello Mr. Skinner:

Up until now, I have had no reason to contact McDonald's management. But the recent Happy Meals promotion using Disney–owned Marvel Entertainment properties, such as the "Thing" and "Human Torch" characters from the Fantastic Four franchise, has upset me to the point of writing this note.

It is bad enough that the Walt Disney Company routinely promotes its media properties — movies, TV shows, whatever — through your establishments (as do other well known entities). But when you aim a character toy programmed to play a "IT'S CLOBBERIN’ TIME!" message at the press of a button, well…

I am aware that Disney acquired Marvel in 2009, as part of a concerted effort to corner the young male market (and as one of many profit making motives to make more of the world's populace captive to anything branded with one of the many names Disney owns outright). But you can and must learn to set limits, if for no other reason than that of taste.

Yes, I know, this promotion involves The Fantastic Four, a long–established Marvel Comics franchise involving four people with… well, "issues," who suddenly have their worlds turned upside down as a result of radiation that makes them mutate into something other than human. (To call them "superhuman" is another matter of individual taste — you either like Marvel product or you don't; ditto Time Warner–owned DC Comics.) But your decision to hand little boys the horrifying spectacle of a man perpetually aflame or a menacing rock–textured figure with a violence–inducing call is enough to tarnish McDonald’s reputation — if, indeed, it has one — as a family–friendly company. (Disney stopped being family–friendly years ago when, among other things, they acquired Miramax Films and allowed the studio to develop its family–un–friendly Dimension banner under Disney's watch.)

I am a media producer myself, but I know my limits. Please recognize your own, and end this obscene promotion at once.

Thank you.

Getting down to business

2010-08-05T15:54:00.002-04:00

Your Projectionist is a wee down in the dumps, having recently lost his full–time warehouse job. While he gathers his wits and prepares to re-work his resumé, he is also putting some spit and polish on Promenade Digital [Mediaworks], his little hole–in–the–wall studio. Apple's iWork is now installed on his parents' iMac, which can do things much faster and easier than with his old Mac Mini — and do it in widescreen as well. It'll help because the next episodes of Just One Story… are shot that way.

Post-production will begin soon on Episode 5, the first of a handful that were shot at the Statue of Hans Christian Andersen in New York City's Central Park. This is manna to story lovers in the Big Apple: stories al fresco, in the company of children and their parents. Community wrapped around an hour of story. We'll soon have some of the fragrant fruit for you both here and on the Promenade website.

In the meantime, Mr. Morgan has been working to represent what he "sells":

And a good thing they came out well once printed.

Feature Presentation: The Story of Cosmetics

2010-07-22T16:36:00.001-04:00

It's been two years since ex–Greenpeace staffer Annie Leonard and the creative team at Free Range Studios brought the world The Story of Stuff, an amazingly quick analysis of our shabby consumer habits. The collaboration has since resulted in separate pieces about "cap and trade" strategies and bottled water — and a Story of Electronics is now in the planning stages. (Oh, yes: Free Range also brought you What is the Meatrix. Can't forget that one.)

So without further adieu, brace yourselves for… The Story of Cosmetics:

©2010 Annie Leonard / Free Range Studios — The Story of Stuff Project.
Produced and released under a Creative Commons Attribution–Non Commercial – No Derivative Works 3.0 license.

Maybelline execs, you've been warned.

Just One Story… Episode 4: One, My Darling, Come to Mama

2010-07-15T17:37:00.003-04:00

Just in time for the weekend... another helping of good ol' Just One Story…

This time, Diane Wolkstein offers the world a poignant Haitian folktale in which the most amazing thing is the fourth — and intentionally neglected — daughter's capacity to forgive her mother for the injustice done to her as a child.

Watch what happens:

Story ©1978, 1997 Diane Wolkstein.
Video ©2010 Diane Wolkstein/Philip David Morgan —
Promenade Digital [Mediaworks].

This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

This is our last 4:3 (or "academy" ratio) episode. We'll be going 16:9 widescreen next time.

"CRIC?"

Just One Story… Episode 3: And now, Dianne R. Carr

2010-07-11T09:33:00.004-04:00

Last month was a busy Just One Story… month, with three Saturdays devoted to recording the celebrated Diane Wolkstein at the Statue of Hans Christian Andersen in Central Park. You will soon see these episodes posted here, and I will hopefully have something in place soon that will let you download the episodes in MP4 and XviD (perhaps via the Internet Archive and/or ClearBits, so stay tuned).

In the meantime, with our first episode hosted on Vimeo, here is Dianne R. Carr offering her 1973 story (with a 1990 Copyright), "Dragon Days and Rabbit Ways," our first non–Buddhist episode. Something nice for the kids in your family — or just the kid in you:

Story ©1990 Dianne R. Carr.
Video ©2010 Dianne R. Carr / Promenade Digital [Mediaworks].

This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

For the record, Dianne describes her opus as "a story about a dragon who finds what no flaming fury has ever revealed — his heart and his imagination."

It was recorded at the Central Park Dairy (a coffee shop inside the park), so please excuse the patrons.

Just press play and enjoy.

Wakey, wakey! Chop—OOPS!

2010-07-11T09:23:00.000-04:00

A little I Can Have Cheezburger? action for your Sunday morning:

Courtesy Pet Holdings, Inc.

Because not every one is a morning… er, creature.

Horse vs. Toad — and may the best critter win

2010-07-11T00:58:00.001-04:00

Do you like to watch a race? Wanna hear a good story about one race that will live on in the heart of humanity?

Splendid! Press the play button to bring yourself trackside for the already–classic match of "Horse and Toad," brought to you by your color commentators Diane Wolkstein and Joy Kelly Smith — themselves recorded live at a Mother's Day Benefit for Haiti (Sunday, 9 May) at New York City's Scandinavia House.

Oh, and did we mention that it's the Princess' hand in marriage to the victor?

On your mark… get set…

©2010 Diane Wolkstein / Cloudstone Productions.

GO!

Oh, and get ready for more Diane Wolkstein goodness this month!

(P.S.: "Already–classic," because the story appears in Diana's must–have collection The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folktales, which you can get at the link below.)

Thanks, Google, for the post date fix!

2010-07-11T00:46:00.000-04:00

Just when your Projectionist was about to give up and abandon (or even delete) his own blog, Google has managed to fix the post date bug on their end, meaning that the post dates on this blog have been restored!

Plus… they've added a new template tool in their Blogger Dashboard which has helped make the blog a little more attractive. (I never did like the standard issue templates save for one I used to use but which wouldn't quite serve my purposes here.)

Just one more change is coming to the blog: Now that Promenade Digital [Mediaworks], my own little net–studio is spreading its ever growing wings (stronger, always stronger), you will be seeing more PD[M]–related posts — most featuring new Just One Story… episodes, yes, but hopefully there'll be other attractions to keep you glued to your monitor. Not to mention the occasional "behind the scenes" piece to show you what's going on in the video making process.

And, of course, when there's something too good to resist on YouTube, rest assured it will eventually wind up here for your viewing pleasure.

So with all that said, I apologize for the long and needless silence. We will now return you to your normal blogging at the point where it was interrupted.

On the hope that we won't be interrupted again. ;-)

Coming Attractions: Road, Movie

2010-03-06T12:08:00.004-05:00

Your Projectionist is trying to restrain himself from seeing more masala movies at the multiplex due to a deadline for filing income tax returns, but do color me impressed by the images in this trailer for Dev Benegal's Road, Movie, which opened this week:

Courtesy The Indian Film Company, Fortissimo Films,
Studio 18, and August Entertainment.

Sadly, it didn't open on Long Island — the National Amusements multiplex near me chose Karthik Calling Karthik and Ashwani Dheer's comedy Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge? instead. So Road, Movie is now on my DVD list. At least it's there.

[UPDATE 2010.07.11: Because of the blogging troubles we were having, we couldn't mention the fact that it is now on an all–region Studio 18 DVD! Go get it!]

A new home for the blog?

2010-03-06T11:48:00.003-05:00

Due to ongoing issues I seem to be having with posting on Blogger, there is the serious possibility that I will re–locate the blog — and perhaps re–focus it a little — by the end of the month. Since I now have a dedicated website for Promenade Digital [Mediaworks], it might be better having the blog there and retooling it to reflect what goes on at my new venture.

So while I work out the logistics, here's a short item from the Geethanjali video release Natya Manjari - Bharata Natyam. This actually is a complete short dance, and you might end up sufficiently intrigued to buy the full DVD for the rest. Geethanjali has one of the best line–up of Indian classical dance videos in the industry, and judging from the sample here, they really know their stuff.

© Super Audio (Madras) Pvt. Ltd.

I'll try to have more to say in a few days, if not weeks.

Dealing with instability

2010-03-03T06:12:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the sudden template change, everyone. There were apparently major changes to Blogger that I wasn't aware of - such as the sudden loss of the post dates.

Bear with me while I try to figure out what happened and what can be done.

Copyright, the Saudi media, and you

2010-02-25T06:03:00.005-05:00

Saudi television sevice KSA2's Faisal Alsaif takes on the matter of Copyright on this offering of his network's Up to Date:

©2010 KSA.

Look for Nina Paley (Sita Sings the Blues) as one of the guests (for those with little time on their hands, here is her segment).

A little favor to ask of you...

2010-01-23T09:18:00.009-05:00

To cut to the chase:

That's right, folks. I now have a PayPal button. (No "what took you so long?" wisecracks, please.)

Up until now, I've never asked people for donations. The reason for the change is in three words: Promenade Digital [Mediaworks], my little hole–in–the–wall studio (and the force behind the Just One Story… series).

Promenade Digital [Mediaworks] exists by living within or beneath its means. I would like to build on what I've done thus far — and maybe even do feature–length masala movies if the spirit and imagination are up to it. The one issue is, of course, one of money. This is PD[M], not PBS, after all, and I have no corporate sugar daddies to speak of (and wouldn't want any to begin with). Your donations will make a huge difference in everything PD[M] does, whether its merely maintaining our website (kudos to our webhost Fat Cow, by the way) and this blog, or something bigger such as getting our Mac Mini repaired (and perhaps raising funds for an upgrade, hopefully to a more powerful iMac). All you do will help.

Just click on the button above to go straight to PayPal and donate whatever you feel capable of giving. As always with PayPal, your bank or card information is secure every step of the way, so give with confidence.

Thank you on behalf of my mouse–sized dream. May it become the mouse that roars.

Just One Story… Episode 2: Diane Wolkstein

2010-01-19T22:12:00.005-05:00

My apologies for the delay in embedding the latest Just One Story… episode, made last month at New York City's Orchard House Café (on a cold January night) and again featuring my belovéd friend Diane Wolkstein.

This particular episode is way too brief, only because the story itself was a bit brief, but hey…

©2010 Promenade Digital [Mediaworks].

This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Hopefully we'll have another (much longer) episode in the coming weeks.

Adieu et merci, Kate McGarrigle

2010-01-19T21:59:00.006-05:00

Your Projectionist has been saddened, as has the entire Canadian folk scene, by the passing away of Kate McGarrigle at the age of 63.

For some of you, the surname alone will be sufficient. Kate and Anna McGarrigle made music that had a distinct sound and character, that sounded like nothing else in the genre.

Thanks to the efforts of CBC producer Sarah Liss — who writes more on the CBC's Things That Go Pop! blog — we can at least view this short concert piece together, made at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England last year:

Be sure to read the post; there'll be more to watch there.

There's also a welcome appreciation on the NPR Music site. Please don't miss it.

How to bring Haitians to their knees (the hard way)

2010-01-15T18:01:00.006-05:00

As with you no doubt, your Projectionist has been haunted by the tragic earthquake (7.0 on the Richter scale) in Haiti on Tuesday January 12th. By now you've probably digested the grim statistics and the "how you can help" stories, but have you ever given some thought about how much this adds further misery to an already persistent pain that has become ingrained in practically every person who lives there?

Thankfully, the Al Jazeera English service did. Back on July 4th, 2008. And here is how they responded on Inside USA (split in two halves for the sake of YouTube):

©2008 Al Jazeera.

Message to Pat Robertson: Haiti did not make "a pact with the devil" Our country did.

Intermission: Mameshiba

2009-12-27T21:39:00.004-05:00

Think a few of the last otaku crazes were odd enough? (Think 7–Eleven's mismarketing of poor little Domo, for instance.) Wait 'til you meet these "bean dogs," or Mameshiba:

Visit J–List if you're ready to adopt them as die–cut index tabs. Just don't say we didn't warn you if they start spouting trivia that would make one Alex Trebek blush.