So this is what I've been fantasizing:  a group of friends get together once a month to view a film or two, have a discussion on the film(s) -- maybe a potluck dinner or a Sunday brunch. The films would be thought provoking and the discussions would revolve around the problems, the solutions and making the world a better place . . .

The above scenario is easily do-able with the Ironweed, a subscription film club. I was asked if I wanted to preview some of Ironweed's environmental films in honor of earth day. The April 07 disc included "Blue Vinyl" and two shorts, "Crude Impact" and "The Man Who Planted Trees". I finally had a chance to sit down and watch the films this past weekend. The films were great, but I lamented my solitary viewing and kept wishing that I'd some friends over to watch with me discuss the films.

Ironweed isn't just about environmental films -- the films cover a wide range of progressive and political topics. Some of the past films have included: This Film is Not Yet Rated, Black Gold, The Boys of Baraka, Genesis, Sir! No Sir!, American Blackout and several titles that I recognized from past Sundance festivals. At $14.95 per month, the cost could easily be split amongst a group of film club friends for a lot less than a movie ticket.

Any progressive SLC folks want to form a film club?

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
 - George Bernard Shaw

An Unreasonable Man starts March 30 at the Salt Lake Film Society. I saw this documentary about Ralph Nader during the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and I reviewed it at that time. Here are some highlights of the film that I chose from that review:

The film covered a variety of perspectives. Those who criticized Nader's run (including those who had formerly worked with Nader -- Nader's Raiders) and those who felt that it was important for him to run.

The film is also very inspiring. Ralph Nader has accomplished more to make this country a better place as a citizen than most politicians could ever dream of in office. That accomplishment came at a price: long work hours that made a personal life difficult. Nader never married, and the film suggested that he didn't have time for a girlfriend (or boyfriend? don't want to assume sexual preference.) But we can thank Nader for so many things that many people probably aren't even aware that we have because of Nader.

My biggest criticism of the film is that it didn't cover any of the controversy and splitting within the Green Party in 2004 over Nader's decision to run a second time. The film seemed incomplete without those events and conversations. The filmmakers were present at the screening and did a Q&A afterward and I regret that I didn't ask them about that while I had the chance. I was still trying to absorb all that I had seen -- there was a lot of perspectives and information presented and the omission didn't occur to me until about half an hour after the film finished.

Lisa Viola, who reviewed the film for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival catalog wrote this:

“The name Ralph Nader sparks fiery debate among people across the country. To some,  he is an icon of rare idealism, while others see him simply as the political spoiler of the last two elections. No matter what you think of the man, the fact remains that he is a tireless crusader.

Hailing from modest means in small-town Conneticut without a family pedigree, Nader rose to prominence during the 70s as a consumer rights activist. Over his lengthy career, he has impacted the public in countless ways. He has saved thousands of lives by initiating legislation ranging from seat-belt mandates for cars to food safety regulations. This well-documented film recounts his early days going up against General Motors and inspiring young liberal minds, who adopted the name “Nader’s Raiders” to help fight unregulated corporations.

This exhaustive and potentially charged film by Henriette Mantel and Stephen Skrovan includes well-placed archival footage and newly shot interviews with Nader himself. Numerous extended interviews  with former colleagues, supporters, and family members allow the riveting, dramatic story to unfold. An Unreasonable Man skillfully dissects the life and work of an unparalleled human being. The film begs the question, when do we speak for what is right without compromise and when do we surrender one battle for the sake of the war? America, it’s your turn to vote.”

Salt Lake Film Society Screening Times (doesn't show 3/30 and beyond times yet)
Film trailer
metacritic
Official website

I wait listed Low and Behold at the Sundance Festival in Salt Lake City tonight and have time to share my thoughts about this film

Low and Behold combines fictional and non-fictional elements to create a compelling story about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The fact that most of the cast and crew were from (or near ) New Orleans gives this film a personal flavor.

Tanner Stully comes to New Orleans to work for his uncle as an insurance claims adjuster. Tanner's crass uncle is mostly in it for the money (and in the film as our main comic relief, helping to ease some of the somberness of the subject matter).

Tanner has difficulty adjusting to this job and finding his way around New Orleans. He's stopped near some abandoned warehouses trying to figure out a map when Nixon, a New Orleans native sticks his head in the car window and offers to help Tanner find his next client's home in return for a ride to the park to look his daughter's missing dog. A scared Tanner leaves Nixon in the dust, but is later forced to form an alliance with him when he gets trapped on a client's roof and needs the passing Nixon to prop the ladder back up so that he can get down.

Tanner and Nixon form an unlikely partnership and eventual friendship. Nixon helps Tanner with roof inspections (Tanner has a major fear of heights) and Tanner helps Nixon look for his dog. During all of this we hear Katrina tales from the real people that have lost everything, and we see the damages to actual homes and buildings, the garbage piled in the streets, kids roasting marshmallows on a mattress that they've set on fire to outside an apartment building. The fictional story and the real stories interweave and flesh out our experience of this place. Eddie Rouse's performance as Nixon is excellent -- and the times when he's not talking, his face tells us thousands of things and lets us into his pain.

Most of Low and Behold was filmed in the early summer of 2006, we learned from the director during the Q & A that followed the film, and it's appalling to see that 10 months post-Katrina the conditions that people are still living in.

The film was written by the director, Zack Godshall, and the actor who played Tanner, Barlow Jacobs. Godshall lived 40 minutes outside New Orleans and Jacobs lived in New Orleans when Katrina hit. Previously they had talked about making film together, but didn't come up with any ideas that inspired. After Katrina, Jacobs was homeless and almost broke when got the opportunity to train to become an insurance claims adjustment in Florida. He described his two-week training period as the most "surreal" experience of his life. After working as a claims adjuster for a bit, he called up Godshall and told him he had the film idea. He continued to work as a claims adjuster for 3 months to research the subject, and as an ironic twist, helped fund the film from the money he earned doing the job.

Jacobs told the audience that there is a lot of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder amongst the people of New Orleans, which as far as the filmmakers could tell, is not really being addressed. They believe it was the cause of the suicide of one of their actors two months after the film was shot, and who the film is dedicated to. Godshall also told us that a lot of the people that they interviewed for the film are worried that they will be forgotten, and were willing to tell their stories to help keep our attention on the many problems still plaguing their post-Katrina lives.

The filmmakers will be giving a portion of the  proceeds from the film to some type post-Katrina charity.

The Sundance 2007 Film Guide's review of Low and Behold.

Low and Behold on MySpace

The only Sundance Film I've been able to catch so far this festival is "The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" a lucid and very important film.

I wait listed this film last Saturday, but you don't have to go to Sundance or wait too long to see this film, which will be debuting on HBO February 22nd.

Since our nation attacked another country, I feel it's the duty of every American to bear witness to the evil of this war. This film offers a glimpse of some of that evil. It shows us some of the damage that we do to ourselves and to others when we choose to unleash the evil that is war. It's also an exploritory look at how everyday people can commit such atrocities.

The film has interviews with many of the soldiers that have served time for their part in the atrocities of Abu Ghraib and interviews of some of Abu Ghraib's victims, mixed in with clips of Bush and Rumsfeld spouting off B.S. and the infamous photos of the tortured detainees.

The director, Rory Kennedy, was present at the screening to answer questions. One of the questions that came from an audience member was regarding an interview in the film of John Yoo, formerly of the Justice department and according to Jack Huberman's 101 People Who Are Really Screwing America a  "Counselor of War and Torture" (and also #35 on that list). Yoo gave the justification that the methods used in Abu Ghraib were justified because these people are terrorists who torture others (not taking into account that 75 - 90% of those held at Abu Ghraib at the time were estimated to be innocent). The audience member was concerned that there was nothhing to counter Yoo's argument in the film, which he believed is an attractive argument of the right-wing. Kennedy stated that she believed that the film in it's entirety countered Yoo's argument -- but then she went on to tell of another George's response to prisoners of war -- George Washington, who regardless of the brutatlity of the British on the American POWs, responded with a higher moral authority.  I found the story in greater detail here . The whole piece (written by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., brother of the director of this film, incidentally)  is worth reading, but the quote from Washington was recorded as this:

Treat them with humanity, and Let them have no reason to Complain of our Copying the brutal example of the British army in their Treatment of our unfortunate brethren.

*Progressives, Political Junkies, Activists, and Greenies

Sundance Film Festival 2007 Screenings and Events for Sunday, January 21: The Unforseen, Wonders Are Many, The Devil Came on Horseback, Miss Navajo, Joe Strummer, and many more below the cut

Got some free time on Saturday? Here are Saturday's Sundance Film Festival films and events for progressives, political junkies, activists and greenies -- January 20, 2007
Waitlist Tips

I'm getting to this a bit late, so I'm only listing screenings and events for this evening. Don't worry if you don't have tickets you are going to Salt Lake Screeings -- wait listing is a great way to go and I've yet to not get into any film that I've waitlisted in the past 9 years that I've been doing it. You can find wait list tips here . Plan on a meal at one of the downtown eateries for the in-between time of receiving your waitlist # and lining up for the film (an hour to an hour and a half). Next door to the Broadway theatre downtown is Mr. Z's Cucina with really yummy eats. There are lots of great places to eat with in a very close walking distance of the Rose Wagner venue as well. Other Wait List Tips

January 19th (Friday)

Waitlisting is a fun way to do Sundance in Salt Lake City -- I don't have any personal experience with waitlisting in Park City or other Sundance venues. Every film that I've waitlisted in the past 9 years, I've been able to get into.

This year, the waitlist begins 2 hours before the screening of any film. If you anticipate that  a screening you want to waitlist is going to be popular, you might want to show up an additional 1/2 hour earlier. You will receive a wait list number, and then you are free to go and come back no later than 1/2 hour before the screening and line up in numbered order. I usually pair the film with dinner or lunch, depending on the time of day. I get my number, then go enjoy a meal at a nearby eatery and come back to line up for the film.

According to the Sundance 2007 Film Guide, wait list tickets are still $10 each (cash only), while advance tickets have gone up to $15 each

Here's what the Sundance Website says about "The Wait List":

Wait-list Instructions
A) Arrive roughly 2 hours prior to the screening time
- Receive a wait-list number (one per person)
B) Return no later than 30 minutes prior
- Line up according to number
- Available tickets are sold directly to the line by number
C) Restrictions
- CASH ONLY
- Saving places in line is NOT permitted
- Failure to follow these guidelines could result in invalidating the wait-list number.
* Wait-list ticket sales begin no sooner than 30 minutes prior to the screening. If no space is available, ticketed wait-list patrons will receive a full refund.
** A wait-list number does not guarantee tickets will be available for purchase.
*** All timetables for wait-list tickets are subject to change at the discretion of the theatre manager.

Just for a nice change of pace, I thought I'd post a bit of good news for a change>

• I love this idea from Brittain -- "Green Gyms" . You get in shape by doing environmental conservation projects or gardening -- each session last up to three hours.
• This year's Oscars may be greener than ever, with designer gowns made with bamboo silk and hemp.
• Speaking of the Oscars, this year is quite politically progressive, as noted in this article I found on Alternet.

I finally got the chance to see Brokeback Mountain  -- I was very moved by the film, and I've struggled for a bit to say something about it that hasn't been said a thousand times already. No luck.

I'm unable to do my feelings justice, but I did check out some blog entries on the film that I found through Technorati to get some other perspectives.

I read this interesting blog entry reviewing the film -- from a born again Christian. He was surprised that he liked the film and gives it a really good review. I have to admit that I am surprised at the conclusions that he came to. I would have never guessed that someone from that background could be so open minded. I've gotten a bit cynical about religion in the past few years from living in this state and through 5 years of the Bush Administration.

Salt Lake City's Wednesday and Thursday Sundance Films for political junkies, activists, progressives and more

Wednesday, January 25

 

The Short Life of Jose Antonio Gutierrez {Documentary}Broadway Theatre (300 S. just east of State Street), 6:45 pm

From the film guide: “Jose Antonio Gutierrez was one of the 300,000 U.S. Army Troops sent to Iraq in March 2003. A few hours after the war began, he also became the first American soldier to be killed. The nightly news eulogized him as a Guatemalan boy who wanted to be an American and serve his country. Heidi Specogna’s remarkable documentary, The Short Life of Jose Antonio Gutierrez, reveals another powerful and poetic story that resonates in the lives of hundreds of thousands of emigrants searching for survival today.”-Shari Frilot

 

An Unreasonable Man {Documentary} Broadway Theatre (300 S. just east of State Street), 7:00 pm

From the film guide: “The name Ralph Nade sparks fiery debate among people across the country. To some,  he is an icon of rare idealism, while others see him simply as the political spoiler of the last two elections. No matter what you think of the man, the fact remains that he is a tireless crusader.

Hailing from modest means in small-town Conneticut without a family pedigree, Nader rose to prominence during the 70s as a consumer rights activist. Over his lengthy career, he has impacted the public in countless ways. He has saved thousands of lives by initiating legislation ranging from seat-belt mandates for cars to food safety regulations. This well-documented film recounts his early days going up against General Motors and inspiring young liberal minds, who adopted the name “Nader’s Raiders” to help fight unregulated corporations.

This exhaustive and potentially charged film by Henriette Mantel and Stephen Skrovan includes well-placed archival footage and newly shot interviews with Nader himself. Numerous extended interviews  with former colleagues, supporters, and family members allow the riveting, dramatic story to unfold. An Unreasonable Man skillfully dissects the life and work of an unparalleled human being. The film begs the question, when do we speak for what is right without compromise and when do we surrender one battle for the sake of the war? America, it’s your turn to vote.”-Lisa Viola

 

small town gay bar {documentary} Broadway Theatre (300 S. just east of State Street), 9:00 pm

From the film guide: “With gay marriage as one of the most divisive topics in today’s political arena, it is clear that the fight for equal rights is far from over, and nowhere is this more evident than in small towns in the Deep South. Homosexuals in these communities lack the social outlets of their cosmopolitan brethren. However, in the face of cruelty, ridicule, and even violence, they manage to find sanctuary in the only place they are offered within hundreds of miles – gay bars.

small town gay bar presents an intimate portrait of these establishments and the patrons who inhabit them. Focusing primarily on two bars in Mississippi, Rumors and Crossroads, the film introduces us to their proprietors as they struggle to stand their ground in hostile terrain.” – Trevor Groth

 

Thursday, January 26

 

TV Junkie {Documentary} Broadway Theatre (300 S. just east of State Street), 7:30 pm

From the film guide: “ A self-imposed Truman Show with a dark twist, TV Junkie transcends one man’s tragic story and becomes a harrowing reflection on a generation obsessed with celebrity and technology.”- Trevor Groth

 

All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise {Spectrum} Tower Theatre (900 S. just west of 900 E.) 6:00 pm

From the film guide: “Five hundred families from across the nation are on board a ship chartered by Rosie and Kelli O’Donnell for the first-ever cruise for gay and lesbian families. This historic event, a kind of nautical utopia, offers a world without prejudice, where love, compassion, and true family values prevail. But when the families disembark in Nassau after a week of fun and adventure, angry protesters accost them, hurling hatred in the name of Christ. For many of the younger children, still untainted by the scars of human bigotry, these protests are a confusing and frightening initiation, while the parents and teenagers are left with a piercing reminder of their struggle for acceptance.”-David Courier

 

Beyond Beats and Rhymes: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs in on Manhood in the Hip-Hop Culture {Spectrum} Broadway Theatre (300 S. just east of State Street), 9:00 pm

From the film guide: “At it’s root, hip-hop is a politically charged music born from explosive frustration in the South Bronx, a community cast aside by a power structure that left it impoverished. How did this urgent, political message of hip-hop transform into the gangbanging, drug-lording, misogynistic gangster rap that dominates urban radio today? And how did gangster rap become the predominant voice and model of black masculinity? Filmmaker Byron Hurt addresses these questions in his remarkably insightful and articulate documentary . . .”-Shari Frilot

 

Right at Your Door {Dramatic} Tower Theatre (900 S. just west of 900 E.) 9:00 pm

From the film guide: ” . . .It begins on a beautiful, sunny morning in Los Angelos, where Brad (Rory Cochrane) has just kissed his wife, Lexi (Mary McCormack), off to work and started his day when the radio reports the detonation of a bomb. Announcements of additional explosions and an ominous, possibly toxic, cloud blowing ash across the LA basin quickly follow. With roads immediately closed off and phone contact elusive, Brad makes the decision to seal himself into his home, accomplishing the task with the assistance of a neighbor’s handyman, Alvaro (Tony Perez), while awaiting his wife’s return until . . . Right at Your Door perfectly portrays the realities of this kind of attack – the isolation and fear, the panic, the frustration, and the media misinformation, When authority arrives, the anticipated help may be anything but.” – Geoffrey Gilmore

 

This Divided State's blog has a couple of posts of Sundance experiences.

Dee's 'Dotes wrote about a Slamdance film screening for B.I.K.E. she attended, and has a photos on her post on the Slamdance festival's poetry slam this past Saturday.

More blogging on Sundance can be found at Technorati.

I've been recommending times to show up for wait list lines, but yesterday I attended a screening that was only 2/3 full even with the entire wait list line, something I've never seen in Salt Lake before. There was even one screening in Salt Lake City yesterday (according to a Sundance volunteer that I talked with) that had no wait list line at all, so I won't be putting earlier recommendation times anymore. Just show up 1 hour before the film and you should be fine. All that could change by next weekend, though.

Monday's (January 23) Sundance Films showing in Salt Lake City for political junkies, activists, progressives and more.

Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner {Spectrum}, Broadway Theatre (300 S. just east of State Street), 6:45 pm

From the film guide: "One of our greatest living playwrights, Pulitzer and Tony Award -winner Tony Kushner (Angels in America) is a consummate artist and indomitable political activist committed to equality and social justice. A Jewish homosexual raised in the heart of the Deep South, Kushner has become a compassionate voice for outsiders in a climate of repression and censorship. Wrestling with Angels covers three years of Kushner's life, from 9/11 to the 2004 presidential election, capturing the fierce moral responsibility that pervades this passionate artist's work." - David Courier

Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon {Spectrum}, Broadway Theatre (300 S. just east of State Street), 7:30 pm

From the film guide: " . . .As the fading lumber industry gave way to new hig-tech industries, Philomath found itself in flux, with old and new ways of life dividing residents. As one of the descendants in charge of the Clemens Foundation, Steve Lowther was determined to change what he felt was a "politically correct" (read "antilogging") curriculum and lack of morals among students. He pressed the school board to stop the liberal bias that was allegedly overrunning the school's administration. What unfurled was a drag-out fight - under intense national media scrutiny - involving the future of the foundation, with the students caught in the middle." - Lisa Viola

 

Tuesday’s Films (January 24)

 

God Grew Tired of Us {Documentary}, Broadway Theatre (300 S. just east of State Street) 6:00 pm

From the film guide: “In the late 1980s, 27,000 Sudanese “lost boys” – some just toddlers – marched barefoot over thousands of miles of barren desert, seeking safe haven from the brutal civil war raging in their homeland. Half died from bombing raids and starvation; the others resided together in Kenya’s Kakuna refugee camp with few prospects. Recently, the U.S. invited some of the boys to settle in America.

Moving and mind-expanding, Christopher Quinn’s God Grew Tired of Us follows three unforgettable young men – John, Daniel, and Panther – on their unbelievable odyssey in a strange New World.” – Caroline Libresco

 

The World According to Sesame Street {Documentary}, Tower Theatre (900 S. just west of 900 E.) 6:00 pm

From the film guide: “. . . These three producers from New York’s Sesame Street Street workshop take Sesame Street as we know it and localize it with indigenous songs, puppets, and curricula. However, this is far from the straightforward, benevolent task it may seem to be. The cultural and production challenges of formulating each region’s program are a complex of the political and personal and make The World According to Sesame Street dramatic and edifying viewing. Education is always more than simply alphabets and numbers, and the contradictions inherent in teaching humans values in worlds where AIDS, ethnic genocide, and poverty dominate the landscape make this filma primer on art, media, and intercultural dialogue.” – Geoffrey Gilmore

 

Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out {Spectrum}, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center (138 W. 300 S.), 9:30 pm

From the film guide: “Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out is not another documentary about a band. Rather, it is a first-person account of what it feels like to rise from obscurity to international superstardom, a priceless glimpse at the making of legends from the inside. Comprised completely of super-8 footage from Stewart Copeland, the drummer of the band turned filmmaker, the film shows the Police form a perspective never thought possible.” – Trevor Groth

I attended a screening for Shorts Program II as part of the Sundance Film Festival here in Salt Lake City yesterday -- it was an excellent collection of films, although one of the films, "Range" did not appear in the program. I'm not sure if there were some technical difficulties with the film.

 The next to the last short film of the set, "No Umbrella: Election Day in the City" was especially fascinating to the part of me interested in politics and our electoral system. An 80 year-old black city council woman, Fannie Lewis, arrives at her polling place in Cleveland, Ohio on November 2, 2004 to find people waiting in long lines, with not enough voting booths or officials.

Fanny gets to work immediately, making phone call after phone call trying to get more voting booths, then election officials, and then finally the voting inserts for the booths to get the long lines moving.

She points to a recent redistricting map that shows how unevenly the voting precincts have been drawn, in this case most inequitibly in predominantly black communities.

This film is a fascinationg look at our voting system and politicians, but especially of Fannie Lewis -- an amazing woman and leader. I wish I could vote for someone like her, she knows how to get things done and doesn't care about performing for the cameras or the voters, unlike some of the other politicians we see briefly in the film. 

This film would be an excellent addition to some of the free political film screenings we have here in Salt Lake as election day draws nearer.

 

 

 

Sundance is finally in full swing both here in Salt Lake City and in Park City. I try to see at least two screenings -- at $10 per ticket on a tight budget AND a very busy life as a mom, employee, activist and (of course) blogger, it's difficult to justify more than that.

New this year, Salt Lake has it's own Festival Cafe: At Panache, Wells Fargo Building (299 S. Main Street, second floor). The cafe is open weekends from 11 am to 10 pm and on weekdays from 4 to 10 pm. Cafe is open to credential and ticket holders.

Looking through my Sundance Film Guide I noticed a variety of films that would appeal to those of us who are interested in a lot of political and progressive topics. I thought it might be fun to profile a few of the films here.

I discovered that for me the best way to Sundance is to do the "Wait List" method, at least in Salt Lake City where the screenings aren't as full. Buying tickets ahead of time can be an exercise in frustration -- most screenings sold out, long lines. And I don't have the kind of money it would take for an all access pass (though it is my fantasy to have one, one of these years).

With the Wait List method, the guide recommends that you show up 1 hour or more before the show to get a numbered card that they give out 1 hr before. You can then wander off for 1/2 hour or so and then line back up in order. After all the ticket holders and access pass folks have been seated, they will then fill up the theatre with those in the wait list -- you don't pay unless they are going to seat you. I usually show up 1 1/2 hours before so that I have a good spot in line. The few years I've been doing this, I've been seated every time, even when I was further back in line. Last year I was doubly fortunate. One screening I attended I was near the front and some friends of mine was first in line. The filmmaker for that particular film showed up with complimentary filmmaker passes and handed them out to my friends and we all got in free. The second screening I attended I was first in line with my daughter and someone had two passes they couldn't use and handed them to us. I almost hate to relate those stories because I'm creating some competition for myself for those first spots in line . . .

I'm going to only include partial info from the film guide. You can read more at the Sundance Website. I will also include my recommended wait list time, but you should be fine for most films if you arrive 1 hour prior to the screening. Dress warmly, most wait list lines are outside. Bring a book or just be prepared to meet other film fans while in line.

Sundance Saturday in Salt Lake City (Jan. 21) Film tags ~activism, social justice, equlity, war in Iraq, immigration, social movement~

Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner {Spectrum}, Broadway Theatre (300 S. just east of State Street), 12:45 (my wait list recom. 11:00-11:15)
From the film guide: "One of our greatest living playwrights, Pulitzer and Tony Award -winner Tony Kushner (Angels in America) is a consummate artist and indomitable political activist committed to equality and social justice. A Jewish homosexual raised in the heart of the Deep South, Kushner has become a compassionate voice for outsiders in a climate of repression and censorship. Wrestling with Angels covers three years of Kushner's life, from 9/11 to the 2004 presidential election, capturing the fierce moral responsibility that pervades this passionate artist's work." - David Courier

The Ground Truth: After the Killing Ends {Documentary}, Broadway Theatre (300 S. just east of State Street) 4:30 p.m. (my wait list recom. 2:45-3:00)
From the film guide: "The military has long realized that war is fought on many fronts; the battle at home -- getting the media to represent the war as a battle between clearly identifiable sides and include a transparent understanding of the mission -- is as essential to vistory as actions ont he battlefield. This, Patricia Foulkrod's resonant examination of the war in Iraq is both a timely and welcome contrast that offsets the omnipresent flag-waving portraits of heroism and glosry that have so dominated recent war reportage. Even more critically, The Ground Truth: After the Killing Ends doesn't simply inquire into policies about Iraq, but also scrutinizes effects of modern warfare, especially on its combatants." - Geoffry Gilmore

La Tragedia de Macario {Spectrum}, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center (138 W. 300 S.) 3:30 (my wait list recom. 1:45-2:00)
From the film guide: "When his native town of Sabinas Hidalgo can no longer provide much more than nightly beans and tortillas, Mexican peasant worker Macario finds himself drawn uncontrollably to thoughts of crossing the border to find work and a more dignified life for his wife. When his struggles worsen, he can no longer wait, so Macario and his best friend set out on the dangerous journey north to Estados Unidos, guided by faith, determination, and a watchful holy eye." - Joseph Beyer [note: in Spanish with English Subtitles]

American Hardcore {Park City at Midnight}, Broadway Theatre (300 S. just east of State Street), 7:30 pm (my wait list recom. 5:45 - 6:00)
From the film guide: "Generally unheralded at the time, the early 80s hardcore punk rock scene gave birth to much of the pop rock music and culture that followed. There would be no Nirvana, Beastie Boys, or Red Hot Chili Peppers were it not for the hardcore pioneers such as Black Flag, Bad Brains, and Minor Threat. Hardcore was more than music; it was a social movement created by Reagan-era misfit kids. The  participants constituted a tribe unto themselves -- some found a voice, others escaped in the hard-edged music; some sought a better world, others were just angry and wanted to raise hell. American Hardcore traces this lost subculture from its early roots to its extinction." - Trevor Groth

I received an email today calling for a boycott of Larry Miller's businesses in response to the cancellation of "Brokeback Mountain" that's making national headlines.

I've posted the list of business attributed to Larry Miller behind the cut for those interested.
( Boycott Info )

-- That's quite a list. I'm surprised at just how much Mr. Miller owns --

Sometimes I love living in Utah -- we have Moab, great mountains, a really salty lake, the Sundance Film Festival, a few wonderful people -- among other cool things.

Sometimes it's very embarrassing. We just passed a regressive law in 2004 to forbid marriage to gay couples, one of  our state politicians is trying to ban gay/straight alliance clubs in  Utah high schools (again -- Utah lost money defending this policy a decade ago), and now a commercial mega-plex, Jordan Commons,  is buckling to pressure from the homophobes that live in the state, banning the film "Brokeback Mountain" from its theatres. What ever happened to letting the market determine what is shown? This film is selling out or near selling out at the Broadway Theatre (part of the non-profit theatre group, the Salt Lake Film Society) downtown every night. It's stuff like this that makes me wonder why I'm still living in such a backward and bigoted state.

Just received this info in an email:

"THIS DIVIDED STATE"... Michael Moore comes to Utah, some Mormons try to kill him, a battle of free speech between red and blue.

For a short time only, the first 26 minutes of this controversial film will be available to watch or download FOR FREE on the website, http://www.thisdividedstate.com

( more info )

Locally you can also purchase "This Divided State" at: Free Speech Zone 2144 S Highland Drive in Sugarhouse

(A note of interest, some of us Radical Cheerleaders make a very brief appearance in the film.)