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August 23, 2006
Lazy Wednesday Night Links
Coming down from a long first day of teaching (three sections of freshman comp, one of intro to film), but didn't want to lose these links. First, by happenstance, I came across Emanuel Levy's review of Jesus Camp, the documentary about the evangelical "Kids on Fire" youth camp. His take on the film is similar to my own, but it's worth highlighting his observation that the documentary "is directed in such a way that I won't be surprised if Becky Fischer and her cohorts are delighted with the results."
Also worth noting: two Pop Matters articles by two of my regular film blog reads, including one by Shaun Huston (blog) on the perception that digital technologies will lead to the death of cinema. Huston argues, correctly in my opinion, that "rather than see the rise of digital as the death of film, it makes more sense to view the newer media as expanding options for movie making." Also check out Andrew Horbal's review (blog) of The Syrian Bride.
In other news, I'm watching Sundance Channel's The Hill for the first time tonight, and given my obsession with documentary and politics, I could become addicted very quickly. And, if you get a chance, I can't recommend enough Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke. I probably won't have time to write a longer review, but Lee's film brought home FEMA's incompetent handling of the hurricane and the outrage that many New Orleans natives feel a year later.
Update: I forgot to mention that the trailer to Chris Hansen's brilliantly funny mockumentary, The Proper Care and Feeding of an American Messiah has been climbing the "comedy trailer" charts on iFilm. In just a couple of days, Messiah has vaulted into the top 15, passing the trailers for My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Little Man, and other recent theatrical releases. The trailer provides a nice glance at Messiah and reminded me of just how much I enjoyed the film.
Posted by chuck at August 23, 2006 11:56 PM
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Comments
Thanks for directing people to PM (and the blog).
Posted by: Shaun Huston at August 24, 2006 12:49 PM
As unlikely as this sounds, it appears that When the Levees Broke has been posted to YouTube. [info via boing boing]
Posted by: George at September 14, 2006 9:17 PM
Wow, I wonder how long it will stay online. It's certainly worth watching for folks who don't have HBO.
Posted by: Chuck at September 14, 2006 11:52 PM