So...this week is my marathon at the Clinton Street Theater. I go from making movies to showing them, it seems. Anyway....I ended up at the CST on Saturday night for the Darren Stein (director of Jawbreaker) event, which drew a small but engaged crowd. Stein was also screening his new documentary "Put the Camera On Me", an examination of his early films and the friends who helped make them. A great window into adolescence and very fun to watch. Jawbreaker was a kick as well. Like "Heathers", but even more so. Those in attendance had a great chance to talk with Darren - who was very candid at times, and put everyone at ease. He had some great stories about moviemaking craziness and looked like he was having a good time. Apparently, he used this event as an excuse to hang in Portland for the weekend...he flew back to L.A. the next day.
Last night, I cued up Trailermania 2 to a crowd just slightly larger than what Darren got. Aside from the usual technical/projector jitters, things got going without a hitch and the audience was humming along - laughing and hooting at the occasional hyperbole or cheesy bit of dialogue. As the second reel got spinning, I had a splice break - and film started unspooling all over the projector room floor. Thankfully, I was still rewinding the first reel, so I was there when it happened, and managed to rescue the reel. The only other hangup came during the second show - when the sound dropped out of phase during the Magnificent Seven. Thankfully, Seth showed me a quick projector fix - the "reboot" button - which saved the rest of the first reel. Ahh....the joys of analog technology.
Tonight is the Investigative Journalism show - which I hope gets a decent showing. Both features are largely out of the public eye - and merit a viewing by anyone interested in corporate greed and public policy on the enviroment. "The Killing Ground" was even nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar in 1980 - the only investigative television production to me recognized as such. Anyway...the material is solid....we'll just see how it goes.
In other news...
Good on Cindy Sheehan! Despite efforts by the Right-wing noise machine, she continues to gather attention in Crawford. She has the courage to speak out against the pResident - and hopefully that courage will motivate others to do the same.
This month has been horrible for Iraqis and U.S. troops, with a mounting death toll that the Bush adminstration has done little to account for. After a while, the old "stay the course" mantra is going to start sounding a little hollow to the average American. What the Dems need to do now is step behind John Conyers and the few remaining passionate lawmakers - and offer the American people another option. Not of abandoning the Iraqis, but of withdrawl and reperations. As long as we are there - Iraq will never recover.
There is a better way....and it requires that we leave soon.
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VISUAL - Various 16mm films
AUDIO - NPR
BOOK - Kingdom of Fear - Hunter Thompson
EVENT - Investigative Journalism
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