Taqwacore breaks boundaries at VIFF

(photo credit: Mia Donovan)
We spoke with director Omar Majeed about his controversial film, Taqwacore.

MH: Could I ask you a little bit about your background?

OM: I was born in Canada. My parents are Pakistani. I wasn't raised Muslim in a very strict way. My parents identified as Muslim and that was always something in the back of my mind, but we weren't an extremely observant family. I did live for about four or five years in Pakistan as a teenager. My family moved back there for a couple of years so I got to experience that culture and by extensions, a little bit more engagement with Islam because it's a very big part of that culture. I have a particular attachment to being Pakistani as well as Canadian.

MH: Could you tell us a little bit about your film background?

OM: All my life I wanted to be a filmmaker. From a really early age.
Out of film school I went into television. I lived in Toronto for a long period of my life and worked for CityTV. I started off as an editor, eventually producing, in particular, short form half hour documentaries, but I really wanted to make something a bit more narrative and cinematic.

So four years ago I moved to Montreal with my wife, and decided that it was time to pursue different job in television and I would just try to kick around an idea I had in my head about making a film about what it was like to be Muslim in the post 911 world.

That was all I had at the time. That sort of notion that I knew I wanted to do something about that because I had certain feelings about it and wanted to get something out.

After doing some research, I connected with this idea about Taqwacore. I found out about what was going on and just decided to go for it.
I really tried to do a film in the way that I envisioned it, and take a more narrative approach to it, and here we are.

MH: Could you tell us about your film Taqwacore, the whole idea and how that formed.

Yes, well, as I was mentioning, I was doing this research just trying to find out what kind of interesting Muslim voices there were because my feeling was that we weren't hearing from those kind of people. We were hearing from very, very mainstream Muslim organizations that would apologize a lot for the fundamentalists or we were hearing from the fundamentalists themselves. We weren't hearing from anyone in the middle, in the gray zone. People who lived lives in between.

That was really important to me, so I was talking to all sorts of Muslim academics, Muslim artists, people like that, and time and time again they would ask me “have you read this book, Taqwacore?
It's really interesting considering what you're taking about. It's this novel by a man who converted to Islam, became a fundamentalist for a while, pulled back from all of that, and now, has written this very rebellious and challenging novel imagining what it would be like if there was such a thing as punk Islam.”

So I was like, that sounds a bit wacky (laughs) but you know, I'm going to give it a try. I got the book off Amazon and I read it and it blew my mind. On a personal level as a Muslim I was like, wow!

First of all, the kind of references that he was making, the language was so exact both in terms of his Islamic language and his punk language. I mean he really got the right references in there and the characters were really rich, full of contradiction and complexity, and a lot of the characters and the situations in the book really spoke to me.

So based on that I decided I had to meet this guy. So I made it happen. I emailed him and asked him to meet. He agreed, he's very amiable, so we met and from that point on I was hooked because he basically told me his life story which I found very fascinating.

The ideas in the book had already gripped me and then on top of that he was telling me, in our very first meetings, that he was starting to meet people who had read his book and were telling him they were Muslim and punk. I thought to myself, wow, this guy's written this fiction, this fantasy, and now life is imitating art. And that's just fascinating to be here on the cusp of that happening. I just jumped in and was sold.

MH: What was the most challenging thing about making this film.

OM: (laughs) Working with punks. The most challenging thing? The very origins of it date back to about three and a half years. By the time I actually got Michael and all the other guys, I'm assuming you've seen the movie...

MH: oh, yes.

OM: ... by the time I got Michael and all those guys involved in the thing, it had been about three years. And I think the most challenging thing with a film like this is you have very small, very astute, very media savvy subjects, people who understand the media. They're artists themselves so it's not as if we could script a lot of stuff or stage it.

As a filmmaker sometimes you kind of push and you prod to try to edge the story along in certain ways and sometimes you do that with people who are not as comfortable on camera as these guys are. Because they're performers, it took a long time to break through their distrust they have of the media and what the media could possibly do with their image and the message of what they're trying to convey. And like it or not, for a while I was considered part of that media.

First it took a long time to build trust, and even when we did that it was very hard to find very vulnerable, very real moments. The only thing you could do was to stand around. You just had to basically spend a lot of time with these guys, all of them, and be attentive and observant to capture moments that were very raw and personal. There was a lot of hanging around, waiting around, going with the flow, (laughs) a kind of Zen concentration in the end.
Sometimes I wasn't up for it, and neither was my crew, but I think that over that couple of years we got what we needed.

MH: How is your film being received so far?

OM: Last night was our world premier here at VIFF. It was surreal. This is my first feature length film. First of all, VIFF is awesome. I'm happy to go on any record and talk about how amazing VIFF is. They fly you out here, they feed you. I don't know any festival that feeds their filmmakers (laughs), so that's amazing. Everyone's really friendly and very helpful. It's incredible and I really get the vibe that the audience here is really in to going out and seeing interesting offbeat films. It doesn't seem to be about stars or industry. We're over indulgent in the industry side of things.

It was a well attended screening, which I was pleased about, but more important to me than that, was it was a screening of really thoughtful people. We had an excellent Q & A afterwards where the usual cliché questions weren't asked. I got really in depth questions from some of the Muslims in the audience, challenging me at some points, and some of the non-Muslims talked about things they found difficult or challenging as well.

You know at times I kind of felt that I really wasn't representing the punk side of things well because I was kind of pontificating. The Q & A ended up a discussion at the end, which was really nice. And it really made me feel like the film was working in terms of engaging people in ideas, which was my intent all along.

MH: What would you like people to take away from this film?

OM: That's interesting. Some people kind of challenged me yesterday asking if I was trying to make a definitive statement about Islam, was I trying to make some heavy handed point, and I totally don't think I am. I don't think that's what these guys who I portray in my film are trying to do either .

I think really in the end what Taqwacore (the book) is about, and what the film is endorsing as well, is this idea of being Muslim on your own terms, finding your own path, and that being ok. It's ok to be a complex human being. It's ok to have contradiction, we all do, let's just be up front about it and don't hide away from that.
If you don't feel like you can conform to your parents' Islam, if you don't feel comfortable with everything that's going on in the western world and the way you're getting stereotyped, don't be comfortable with it. Speak out against it where you can, express it in healthy ways like through music and through art, and through satire.

The ultimate thing for me is that Taqwacore is about a new space. It's not a movement, it's not an ideology, it's not trying to sell you something. Let's create a space here for all of us who feel like the labels don't work. I think the film is just asking for the right of that to exist.

MH: Where do you go from here? Is Michael writing another book? Are you going to make another film?

OM: Michael is one of the most prolific men I know. He's one of those people, as far as artists go, that just constantly inspires my jealousy, deep jealousy. He's younger than me, fitter than me, and has already published five or six books, and he's going to Harvard right now to study Islamic studies.
So the guy is just one of those guys that's got that kind of mind. The book, Taqwacore, is truly an incredible piece of writing. I urge people to read it. Michael's writing in general is quite vivid, and quite an amazing insight into Islam and the North American experience. And of course the bands and their music, all of whom people want to find out more about, you can find on the web site we just put up. (ww.taqwacore.com) We're trying to make that into a one stop resource.

There is one final screening of Taqwacore at the Granville 7 theatres this
Mon, Oct, 5th, at 1:15pm

moot or hooey?
there is a Taqwacore movement in Vancouver, BC

My Tehran for Sale, at VIFF

Today I had the great pleasure of speaking with director/poet Geranaz Moussavi, about her debut feature film, My Tehran for Sale, a poignant and unique look at life within the largest city in Iran.

We sit in the lobby of the Westin Bayshore and Ms. Moussavi is confident and relaxed.

ME: Could you please tell us a little about yourself?

GM: I was born in 1974 in Tehran and I went to primary school and secondary school in Tehran. When I was sixteen I started publishing my poetry relatively widely in magazines and newspapers: literary newspapers that were available back then. When I was in grade eleven, I acted in my first feature film. I had been active in school theatre and all that, but nothing professional. That was the first time I experienced cinema professionally. I did my second feature film when I was nineteen.

I was born to TV/film parents. My mother was a video grader and my dad was a sound engineer for film and TV, so I was raised amongst all these sorts of people.

I enrolled in science at university because when you're a good student and you come from a middle class family, you are expected to become a doctor or engineer, or something along those lines. I knew that I wanted to be active in the world of literature and cinema.
I miscalculated and thought that I could study science, so I wouldn't live a poor life, and could continue filmmaking and acting as well. This, of course, didn't work because I was always busy in drama classes while I was supposed to be studying science. Inevitably, I had to drop university half way through.
I was simply more focused on acting and drama school and writing.

Just after high school, I worked as a book reviewer and editor for a literary magazine.

When I was twenty-three, I immigrated to Australia with my family. It was then that I made up my mind not to be an actor, but a filmmaker. So I started with a bachelor degree, and graduated with honors in screen studies at Flinders University in Adelaide, and then went to the Australian Film Television and Radio School in Sydney, and did a post graduate degree in editing.

After that I did my doctorate in the field of filmmaking and screen studies, with a theme of poetic cinema, at the University of Western Sydney.

Meanwhile, this film happened. I was writing scripts all throughout these years, one thing lead to another, and I was able to make this film.

ME: Could you tell us about your film, My Tehran for Sale.

GM: I had had the idea for years, in my head. I wanted to tell a story of my generation. Un-said, and un-told Iranian stories. For some reason, mainstream media isn't interested in them. They are only interested in the hectic side of Iran, the political side of Iran, and not really focused on individual stories, the stories of middle class Iran.
It was always showing Iran poor, deprived, rural, or Iran upper class, politically run, and the whole tension between these two classes.

The Iranian industry was somehow dismissing the middle class story. Maybe because the market was more available to the exotic sides of Iran. Maybe that was what was being offered in a more kind way to Iranian filmmakers. I don't know the reasons. I've got my ideas, of course, but I can't be completely sure about them. The important thing is that, as a result, the Iranian films grew to be known to international audiences as rural films with no rhythm, landscape films, films for children or about children, or films with marginalized characters from the outskirts of bigger cities like Tehran. Rarely films concerning middle class people, urban life, contemporary life, and the complexities of these paradoxical lives within the city.

That was the main thing that got my attention because a lot of other stories existed that needed to be told.
Because the culture and society of Iran is so diverse, it seemed to me that that piece of the puzzle was missing.

I got to thinking about it, trying to collect stories using my own experiences, as well as my friends' stories, and my observations of society.
I lived in Australia for ten years but was never disconnected from Iran. I went back there, I lived there for a year, a few months, every now and then, and I was always filming, taking pictures and talking to people. I was collecting all these stories for the story I was going to tell in a film.

I had had an idea for the main actor in the film, Marzieh Marzieh Vafamehr. We'd been close friends for years, and we went to the same drama schools when we were eighteen and nineteen. We were very much aligned on the same page when it came to telling the story of our generation and had long conversations when I was in Tehran. She was the back-bone to the whole process and I wrote the script based on her acting in the film. That's why she uses her real name in the film.

It's my opinion that this story is not only authentic because it shows a truth that hasn't been seen, but also because it's coming from our hearts. It's a collective work of a few people who have poured their hearts into this project. People who participated in the film as writer, director, actor, assistant, and crew. They really helped in forming the ideas. It was interesting that people wanted to tell this story.

ME: Where was it filmed? Was it filmed primarily in Tehran?

GM: Yes. The whole pre-production and production happened in Tehran, and the post production was in Australia.

ME: How did it go throughout the filming process? Did you run into any obstacles?

GM: When it comes to Tehran, everything is so complex. There were a lot of problems, a lot of obstacles. This is why we have made this film. This is why the whole tension is there. When it came to our film, because it's a land full of contradictions, there was smoothness when you didn't expect, and problems and obstacles when you never expected. The whole situation was never predictable.

When I went to Tehran to film, I expected the whole process of filming to be a lot more problematic. But what I had, maybe I was just lucky, was a comparatively smooth, easy experience in terms of filmmaking.
It doesn't mean that we didn't have common issues that everybody has in Iran. We had electricity cut off every day for two or three hours, we had traffic, we had problems getting the gear in time, getting the right gear. These are common issues when it comes to the Iranian film industry.

Whether you have permission, whether you don't have permission, the whole film industry in Iran happens in a spectrum of gorilla filmmaking. Not because of the political or social situation, just because the whole film industry is not as organized as in other countries. We had to hire our equipment from individual people. There's no big organization that you can go to and order your stuff. You make your films through personal and individual contacts in a smaller system.

I was working with a very professional, experienced crew. It was small, so managing was not a big deal. And we tried to keep things small. We filmed low key. We didn't want a lot of press on set and articles being written about our film before it came out. We didn't want things to get out of control. We wanted to tell the story in our own way, without interruption.
I really like things to be more improvised and I care about this interaction between people. I wanted them to be part of the creative flow.

ME: What was your relationship like with your editor? There are a lot of poignant moments in your film. Was it a challenge to edit?

GM: Yes. We filmed the film in a free way and just let things happen and we tried not to self censor while filming. We left the editing to the editor.

Of course, while filming in Iran you have to be cautious. I respect the culture and situation there, and of course I want to challenge the boundaries, but we've seen the culture of the film industry there, and I had to consider the safety of everyone too. I didn't want to take my camera there and film everything in a way that you would film outside Iran, take the camera out, and leave people there with the consequences.
I had to be very thoughtful of how I wanted to tell my story. I wanted to take risks, but calculated risks, not go wild. The film isn't all about me. I am also dealing with people who are living in Iran, same as myself, and we have to think about our tomorrow. That's partly why we left it to the editor. We wanted to be safe, but not compromise the story for the sake of safety either. We wanted to find a balance.

I learned this from the Iranian director, Abbas Kiarostami's cinema. It is possible to challenge things in a proper way, and at the same time, say what you have to say. Everything comes through subtlety as well as risk taking.

My editor Bryan Mason was very quick and knew what he wanted to get out of those images. Because I did my post graduate in film editing, I made this film with an editor's mind. The rhythm and a little bit of the vagueness and openness to interpretation, I already had in my mind. Bryan was very quick in grasping that and being able to get all those nuances.

ME: What is Iran like for up and coming film makers?

GM: It's very difficult to say, but I think when the pressure gets high, and restrictions go beyond what is tolerable for filmmakers... there are a lot of restrictions. Very few people get permission for their script. Very few people get permission to be filmed. Very few films get permission for general release. Things become more and more difficult every day, not only in the area of filmmaking, but also in the field of literature, book publishing, galleries, visual arts and all that.

The situation has become so suffocating, in terms of restrictions and limitations imposed on the artist, that it's beyond tolerance. I believe Iranian artists and filmmakers have been so patient and still make beautiful pictures and beautiful works, against the odds.

I think that for young Iranian filmmakers, the future of filmmaking will be more unofficial. More home video style, more digital film. Iran is one of the countries that will most benefit from new technology because this is their situation. It's not so easy to make an unofficial film with 35mm. You need smaller cameras, something more portable. It's not possible to go full crew, full gear, because that requires proper permission.

ME: With your poetry, you stood in front of crowds and read your works. Did you read your script to anyone for feedback?

GM: No, not for this script. That was part of the improvisation. I think there is a better vibe when it's improvised. Not for everything, but there are certain things I am more comfortable with, improvised.
When you do this, it gives more of a documentary vibe, and that was part of the feel I wanted to have with this film. The film travels a fine line between documentary and fiction. I wanted to play with that line.

ME: How has your film been received? It played at TIFF, yes?

GM: Yes, that was the world premiere. We had the film at the Adelaide film festival, but that was more of a local film festival. I was really amazed by the warm reception of the film by the audience. There were three completely sold out theatres for the public screenings. It was really amazing.

ME: What would you like people to take away from this film?

GM: I'd really like them to take away a fresh and different picture of Iran. Something different from other Iranian films.

I actually played with that in the film. I opened the film in a way that for the first one or two minutes people might think “oh, another Iranian film” but instantly it changes. I'd like people to take this fresh image from Iran as something more authentic to the true lives of people behind the walls and behind the closed doors. I hope they take the feeling with them when they leave the theatre, that finally, they got a glimpse of the private, intimate places of real people who are living there today.

ME: What's in the future? What are you working on now?

GM: I have a few ideas in my head and two scripts that I'm working on at the moment. Again, Iranian themes, Iranian stories, urban, and I'm writing these hoping I can develop these scripts and get proper funding for making those films.
Of course, I have to stand by this film and make it more accessible to more audiences and hope that I can get to more festivals and theatres, because that is the main thing for me, especially with a lower budget, risk taking film. I want people to come and watch this film and this is a very good time for it. People are curious about the Iranian people they hear about in the media.

moot or hooey?
all the characters used their real first names in the film.

Heliopolis at VIFF

Ahmad Abdalla: “It all started with a failing love story”

I had the great fortune of contacting director Ahmad Abdalla, via email, to discuss his feature debut film, Heliopolis.

Abdalla gives us a compelling look the trials and tribulations of modern Egyptian life. The film beautifully intertwines the stories of a host of characters living in the neighbourhood of Heliopolis, Cairo, allowing us a deeper look at the common struggles of ordinary people.

ME:
Could you please tell us a little about yourself. What made you want to be a film maker, and when and how did that begin?

AA:
As a teenager, I spent several years trying to approach the local film scene in Egypt with no luck. I even failed to obtain admission in the only film school in Egypt. That's why I turned to another art-related subject instead. I graduated from the faculty of music in Cairo in 2001.

While I was in college, and thanks to that devil called the internet, I began to learn about non-linear editing. It was new in Egypt, and I played with it until I knew enough about it to actually edit. It occurred to me that I could work my way into film making by editing short films for students. That was a good way to meet young filmmakers from my generation while making some money at the same time. Later, I found myself editing commercial spots and eventually working as an editor.

Just when my name was starting to look familiar in the editing field, I discovered that I was only doing this to make my living, and not for the passion of cinema. I therefore took a radical decision; to stop my editing career immediately and to start working on my own projects.

ME:
Could you tell us a little about your film and why this subject matter resonated with you. What inspired you to make this film?

AA:
I don't consider myself a film director yet. I am just a film editor who happens to have a very personal story to tell: Heliopolis is my first feature film. I believe making it independently was the best choice, not only for financial considerations, but mainly for the experience of having people work with a fresh and different mentality, one that does not conform to the mainstream film making mindset.

It all started with a failing love story. This personal tragedy has inspired me to tell other related personal stories, about my life and my friends, and to put it in the context of the stunning Heliopolis neighborhood in Cairo.

I believe Heliopolis is the only remaining district in Cairo that still struggles to preserve its cosmopolitan spirit. This neighborhood is still home for people from different ethnicities, religions, cultures, and social classes, while Cairo, the mother city, is witnessing a rapid elimination of its multicultural character. I wanted to search for the sources of such transformations and to tell, in the process, my personal stories in Heliopolis.

ME:
How has your film been received so far? Is there anything that stands out that you may not have expected?

AA:
Vancouver International Film Festival is our world premiere. The film was officially selected to participate in Toronto International Film Festival, but it was withdrawn by the distributor.

We had a small screening of an early working copy at Cannes Film Festival's market. Several of the journalists and critics who attended this screening liked the film. Consequently, we received a very positive review from the respected Variety magazine.

I am hoping that people in Vancouver will like the film, especially that it is related to Canada somehow. But you have to see the film first in order to recognize this relation.

ME:
What would you like people to take away from this film?

AA:
I don't make films to convey specific messages nor to convince people of my beliefs. Films are just films. Heliopolis expresses questions rather than answers. I don't think I have any answers, and to be honest, I don't admire films that tell their audiences what they should think or do. I only hope to make the audience think with us, and see our lives the way we see it and the way we show it in the film.

ME:
What is in the future for you? What are you working on now?

AA:
Honestly, I am currently overwhelmed with film festivals and screening in different parts of the world. But I am trying to watch other films, to learn more about people and cultures, and most importantly to learn about my mistakes in this film.

My main concern now is to make this micro-budget film Heliopolis available to the largest audience possible, not for the sake of receiving awards or for personal publicity, but for the sake of proving to myself and to my small crew that it is possible for a crew of seven people, all volunteers, to make a film that can be recognized as such and watched in different parts of the world. Proving this to ourselves will help us continue to make the films we love, with the support of film lovers around the world.

moot or hooey?
absolutely everyone who worked on this film, did so as a volunteer, even the cast.

best correography ever!!

moot or hooey?
these two are listed as two of the top dancers in the world.

Rocaterrania rocks!

Director Brett Ingram's documentary Rocaterrania is a journey through the incredible imagination of the brilliant artist, writer, and visionary, Renaldo Kuhler.

Kuhler works as a scientific illustrator for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
He grew up in Germany and in 1948, when he was 17, moved to a remote ranch in Colorado. Introverted as a child, Kuhler found the isolation unbearable and retreated into his imagination, creating the fantasy world of Rocaterrania, “a little world made up of Eastern Europeans”.

Though Kuhler's father himself was an industrial illustrator, he didn't approve of his drawings and told him to burn them all. It was at this point that Khuler began to draw in secret. He's been doing so for over 50 years and has created a world complete with maps, alphabet, language, government infrastructure, revolution and executions.

For Kuhler, Rocaterrania has been a life long obsession. “I am Rocaterrania” says Kuhler. It directly tells the story of his life and his battle to be true to who he is as a person, and not to bend to conformity. “the ability to fantasize is the ability to survive” says Kuhler.

Rocaterrania is a film for the entire family. A fascinating must see for anyone who's ever chanced to dream.

Check out www.viff.org for tickets and screening times.

moot or hooey?
the language in Rocaterrania is Rocateranski, and the main body of the language is corrupted Spanish.

Haiku contest

a haiku is a short Japanese poem based on a pattern of five beats, seven beats, five beats.

for example:

/ / / / /
I love drin-king beer
/ / / / / / /
eve-ry night I dance and drink
/ / / / /
oh my ach-ing head

moot or hooey?
moot will mail a fabulous gift to the 100th haiku submission

A Groovy Strip of Celluloid

With Taking Woodstock, Director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) takes us back to August of 1969, for a behind the scenes look at the infamous concert known as Woodstock, where thirty-two of the biggest acts of the time performed to an audience of over 500,000.

This isn't a film about the concert itself, rather than events leading up to the infamous three days.

It follows Elliot Teichberg (Demitri Martin) as he attempts to help his parents save their family business, as well as help get a local theatre troupe off the ground.
Teichberg holds his own small scale music festival every year, so when he gets word that a large outdoor concert that was scheduled not far away has been cancelled, he recognizes a business opportunity, contacts the promoters and the seeds for Woodstock are planted.

A word of warning though: if you're hoping to see footage of Joplin, Hendricks, and The Who, you'll be sadly disappointed.

Lee slides past some of the biggest names on the bill, to hit all the right chords with his awesome soundtrack that includes Richie Havens, Ravi Shankar, Melanie, Ultimate Spinach, Arlo Guthrie, and a host of others that give the film a truly original feel.

Lee attempts a fresh take on a very old subject, and the result is lovely.

Avy Kaufman does an amazing job with the casting.

Imelda Staunton delivers an exceptional performance as the intensely hilarious Sonia Teichberg, Leiv Schreiber strikes the perfect balance with his character Vilma, and Eugene Levy as Max Yasgur, right on! Jonathan Groff (Michael Lang) and Paul Dano (guy in VWvan) deliver smaller yet poignant performances. We'll be sure see a whole lot more of them in the future.

Huge kudos to the production design, set decoration, and costume design teams. Not an easy job by any stretch, but they captured this era down to the last fringe, giving the film that extra credibility.

Taking Woodstock may not be the rock and roll film the title suggests, but it's an entertaining, uplifting film that satisfies on so many other accounts.

moot or hooey?
Jonathan Groff has never acted before but he's written a multitude of stuff for the TV industry.

Inglourious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino has done it again.
At least that's what many have been saying.

Tarantino is known for his edgy, gloriously gory revenge fantasies, and his latest work, Inglourious Basterds, delivers on all accounts.

What it doesn't deliver however, is a great film, and for someone who's a big Tarantino fan, this is extremely disappointing.

Christoph Waltz is uncanny. He absolutely steals the entire film with his take on the brilliant and chillingly sinister Col. Hans Landa. Melanie Laurent (Shosanna) and Diane Kruger (Bridget) are both awesome and believable. And we don't see nearly enough of the amazing Til Schweiger as the brooding Sgt. Hugo Stiglits.
However, Eli Roth should never have been cast in this film, the talented Mike Myers was wasted entirely, and Brad Pitt, though I didn't mind his acting, sounded like he'd stepped out of a Three Stooges film.

It's like Tarantino couldn't quite figure out what he wanted to do. Like he had three different films he wanted to make, couldn't decide which one to focus on, so threw them all together.

Having said that, the biggest beef lay with the platform he chose.

Who was he making this film for?
Does he expect his audience and cheer at the slaughter of the Nazis?
Wouldn't that parallel them to the nauseating Nazi audience watching the “hero's” film?

Tarantino missed the mark this time around. His films are generally enjoyable for what they are, and yes, it's a well written revenge fantasy, but this one blended in a very real piece of history that doesn't work at all with his genre of film.
It was presumptuous and sad. And at 2hrs and 33 minutes, much much too long.

moot or hooey?
Christoph Waltz won best actor at Cannes, and is short listed for an Academy Award.

District 9

what would you do if someone handed you 30 million dollars and said “here, make a movie, and do whatever you want”?

Peter Jackson did just that for lucky up and coming director Neill Blomkamp, and boy did he deliver.
Blomkamp's highly anticipated action film, is a captivating 151 minutes of onscreen magic.
Co-written by Blomkamp and writing partner Terri Tatchell, District 9 is a compelling original story that will keep you at the edge of your seat.

28 years ago a space ship settles over Johannesburg. Three months later, humans find a way to penetrate the ship and discover close to a million starving aliens. Not knowing what to do, the government cloisters them in an area they name District 9.
Almost three decades later, the area has become a slum filled with violence and corruption.

The film opens as a documentary following our protagonist Wikus (Sharlto Copely) on the first day of his newly appointed assignment of heading the government's resettlement of the aliens 200 kilometers outside, and out of sight, of the city.

Part of the “resettlment” includes the searching for and collecting of weapons.

Things go horribly wrong for Wikus when he discovers a mysterious vial of fluid. He accidentally sprays himself with what turns out to be DNA altering liquid.
Now everyone wants a piece of him and the film turns into a massive manhunt.

There are definitely a lot of things to keep us talking about this film for a very long time.
Most notably Sharlto Copely. He glides in and steals the film completely. Not bad for someone who never aspired to be an actor.

The story does take it's liberties with a few borrowed ideas:
-Pairing an alien with a human to make a commentary on racism (Alien Nation).
-Wikus pulling off his fingernails (The Fly)
-The larger than life exoskeleton (Aliens)

And it's not without its flaws and plot holes:
-Where were the female aliens?
-Why didn't he just tell the gangster how he got the arm?
-Inter galaxy prostitution? You saw that guy pee, right?
-Wikus thought he'd hop in the space ship and figure out how to fly it as he went along?

This is an ambitious film, to say the least. The topics it touches on are innumerable and difficult, and certainly unsolvable in 151 minutes, regardless of the amount of CGI.

Take it for what it is, and go see District 9!
You're going to want to have seen it on the big screen. Especially once the sequel comes out. And there will be a sequel. In about three years.

moot or hooey?
Sharlto Copely was a film producer who Blomkamp roped into playing the lead after he used Copely a couple of times as a stand in.

best underwater camera ever!!

moot or hooey?

the Olympus 1030 SW, Olympus PT-043, Fisheye FIX M46 52 Wide Lens, & Sea & Sea YS-17 was rated the best camera package in the world, for 2009.

Michael Jackson

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson, the sensationally gifted child star who rose to become the "King of Pop" and the biggest celebrity in the world only to fall from his throne in a freakish series of scandals, died Thursday. He was 50.

Jackson died at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Ed Winter, the assistant chief coroner for Los Angeles County, confirmed his office had been notified of the death and would handle the investigation.

The circumstances of Jackson's death were not immediately clear.

Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told the newspaper.

Jackson's death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music's premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

His 1982 album "Thriller" - which included the blockbuster hits "Beat It," "Billie Jean" and "Thriller" - remains the biggest-selling album of all time, with more than 100 million copies worldwide.

The public first knew him in the late 1960s, when as a boy he was the precocious, spinning lead singer of the Jackson 5, the music group he formed with his four older brothers. Among their No. 1 hits were "I Want You Back," "ABC," and "I'll Be There."

He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves and his high-pitched voice punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove, tight, military-style jacket and aviator sunglasses were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance.

"For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don't have the words," said Quincy Jones, who produced "Thriller." "He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I've lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him."

Jackson ranked alongside Elvis Presley and the Beatles as the biggest pop sensations of all time. In fact, he united two of music's biggest names when he was briefly married to Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie.

But as years went by, Jackson became an increasingly freakish figure - a middle-aged man-child weirdly out of touch with grown-up life. His skin became lighter, his nose narrower, and he spoke in a breathy, girlish voice. He surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, often wore a germ mask while travelling and kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions.

In 2005, he was cleared of charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him. The case took a fearsome toll on his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble.

Jackson was preparing for what was to be his greatest comeback: He was scheduled for an unprecedented 50 shows at a London arena, with the first set for July 13. He was in rehearsals in Los Angeles for the concert, an extravaganza that was to capture the classic Jackson magic: showstopping dance moves, elaborate staging and throbbing dance beats.

Singer Dionne Warwick said: "Michael was a friend and undoubtedly one of the world's greatest entertainers that I fortunately had the pleasure of working with........we have lost an icon in our industry."

Hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital as word of his death spread. The emergency entrance at the UCLA Medical Center, which is near Jackson's rented home, was roped off with police tape.

moot or hooey?
Ndugu Chancler drummed for Jackson on the hit, Billie Jean.

Who's Gonna Save My Soul

this is probably the best short film I've seen in a very long time.
awesome song! acting! script! animation! directing!...

moot or hooey?
this is the second video Chris Milk has made for Gnarls Barkley.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

please take the time to watch this 24:36 min video. it's beyond awesome!!

moot or hooey?

more successful positive world change has been made by individuals than any government in history.

Fat Pig

Neil Labute is the master of uncomfortable. Take the title of his controversial play, Fat Pig. With two, three letter words, he manages to outrage, a clever ploy that dares us to ask him to explain himself. And he does just that, with elegance, fluidity, and intelligence. The title may be a shock value tactic, but the play itself is clever, honest, insightful, and true.

Fat Pig, is a dark comedic look at how we are perceived and how we perceive others. The harsh truths behind who we are, with plenty of cringe in the process.

Labute thrives on exposing human frailty, cowardice, and vulnerability. He's also very good at comedy. His timing is superb. He can throw you into fits of laughter, and have you shifting in your seat, exposed and uncomfortable, before you've taken your next breath.

Director Michael Scholar Jr. has done a great job at staging the play in a way that keeps the audience focused and engaged. The set is minimal and shifts direction, both physically and metaphorically, at several points throughout the performance.

Kathryn Kirkpatrick delivers a brave and stellar performance as Helen, the object of Tom's (Lawrence Haegert) desire and Haegert pulls us in completely with his performance, giving us hope that he'll come through in the end. Jennifer Mawhinney and Aaron Craven's characters (Jeannie, Carter) provide the cringe. Their dialogue is rich with all we try to hide in ourselves.

Fat Pig is a play that everyone should see. If you can get past the title, it's definitely worth the time.

On Stage: Fat Pig

Where: Performance Works, Granville Island

When: May 20 – 30

Tickets: Tues – Thur & Matinees $21.50; Fri – Sat $25.50

contact: 604 684 2787

moot or hooey?

Labute has never drawn from personal experience for any of his characters or stories.

Idol Finale

I think America got it right.

I wanted to see them both win, and in the end, they did.

They are both great singers, but Kris said it himself, that he wouldn't know where to start in doing this on his own.

Now he'll have an entourage of people guiding him through to stardom.

He'll need that. It's a tough road.

Adam, he'll be just fine. He's been in the business long enough to know how to handle himself, and he's sure to get snapped up in a flash, if not by Simon himself.

Like I said before, If the results had been the other way around, I think Kris, for the reason above, would have stood a good chance at getting lost in the crowd as so many talented Idol finalists have done in the past.

That truly would have been a shame. He is one talented guy.

I've been a huge Adam fan from the get go. I accidentally caught Adam's audition one night while channel surfing, and that was that.

Adam will indeed reach "Madonna" status regardless, that, I am sure of.

So no regrets, "it is what it is"

moot or hooey?

Queen is looking for a new front man, and Adam is being considered.

final countdown

what the heck was that?

the grand finale of Idol performances and it just kind of (yawn)...

first, there were the repeat performances.

why?

why on earth, after (a) America and the judges have already given their opinions on the songs long ago, (b) it is the year 2009 and there are a freakin' gazillion crazy wild songs out there to chose from, and (c) with these two guys being as awesomely talented as they are at song choices and interpretations there of, would they ask them for a repeat performance, hmm??

why wouldn't they ask the contestants to pick their all time favourite song and do that instead?

a further glimpse into who they are, what they're capable of, and what we might expect to see on an album.

I'm just saying!

then there were the songs chosen by Simon. not Simon Simon, the other Simon.

I thought they were both ok, but just ok. no fault of the boys though.

both contestants did a great job on their songs, regardless of what the judges said, which brings me to what the judges said.

lol, this is rich.

"didn't like the songs. they weren't lively enough or good enough for this level of competition."

...bah, hahaha, you're kidding... right?

certainly they must realize they had no choice in the matter. that the songs had been hand picked... by a television producer. (a businessman, but I'm sure he's very musical)

I suppose someone had to crash and burn once the blunder was exposed.

and who's gonna bite the hand that feeds them.

last but certainly not least, the dismal DioGuardi song.

next to letting Paula get up on stage and lip sync her new single, that was one of the lamest things Idol has ever done.

poor Kris and Adam.

it wasn't right for either of them, the judges concurred. hmm, and yet somehow...

even Kara's face read clear the unsettling drudgery of the oversight, droning home the element of confusion that clung like hair to a glue ball over the night.

the boys must have been laughing their heads off when they heard that song for the first time.

that's probably where Kris' comment of Adam and him deciding "it wouldn't be a competition tonight, and instead, a great performance" came from.

"well, there's not much we're going to be able to do with this one" (high five)

after tonight, I really don't care much who wins. I love them both, and I think they both deserve record deals.

so, with that, I'm hoping that Kris wins tomorrow.

not because I think he's a better singer, but for this:

if humble, quiet Kris wins, he'll get an Idol record deal and have an entire entourage of people helping him through the transition to stardom.

He'll need that.

And there will be no doubt in my mind that someone will sign Adam as well, immediately, if Simon Cowell doesn't get to him first. Adam just stands out that much.

now if Adam wins, I'm not 100% sure that would work the same way for Kris. it should, and it'd be insane if it didn't, but I think there would be a good chance he'd get lost, like so many Idols in the past regardless of their awesome talent.

I'd like an opportunity to buy both their albums.

moot or hooey?

American Idol is going to let Alexis Grace go one tour with the others.

well who'd a thunk

I sure didn't see that coming... well, not really.

ok, so Kris really rocked it out last night. But Danny has never been in the bottom three, ever. Kris has been there a couple of times.

I guess at this point anything can happen.

who knows what they'll come up with for next week.

All I know is Adam better have his skates laced tightly, 'cause the race is on.

moot or hooey?

when Gokey cuts his record, he's going to guest star Jamal.

omega 3-6-9

Here's a glimpse of the journey I took:

Omega,

"great O"

standing O

Lambert's numbers are 3, 6, 9

He was the bomb tonight, no doubt...

however, I think Kris rocked the personal choice songs tonight more than anyone.

I was a little baffled at the song the judges picked for Danny.

All along they've been harping on him, and the others, about playing it safe and not picking songs with enough of a melody. It sounded like that song had six notes and that was it. All up high where he does his best work, yes, but a little surprising at the simplicity of the piece.

The song he chose for himself was a ton better as far as I'm concerned.

Kris, I thought did well on both songs, acing the second and clearly showing he has a huge gift. I agreed totally with Simon that the judges were lame in picking a song then placing blame on Kris for not doing it the way they wanted it to be done.

Personally, I've not been able to figure out why Kara is a judge, period.

If she's not cowardly echoing Randy, she's traveling down her narrow line of tunnel vision at the speed of light, surely not sound, or she may have picked up some audio expertise along the way.

Adam did quite well with Simon's choice of song, and it was a good choice. I didn't hear anything new though. Maybe that's one of the perils of being exceptionally exceptional. If Adam could have been just a little rotten in a couple of the previous rounds dammit!

I'm just mad at the $50 bucks I dropped the other day on eco-friendly eyeliner.

never mind.

The second song was good too, but how does one ice icing... glitter!

regardless of how this turns out, I'm buying tickets to catch the tour in Vancouver BC.

I know Adam's theatrical hands will be tied, but that won't stop me from hoping he burns a Wicked Ring of Fire in the middle of the stage.

way to go boys!

moot or hooey?

Madonna's manager has asked her not to contact Adam until after the announcement of the Idol winner.

Idol thoughts

I've thought from the very beginning (auditions) that Adam was the person to win. I still think so.

I'd originally pegged Adam, Danny, Allison, and Alexis as the top four. Not bad.

I do think that everyone's a winner this season. The top five anyway.

Adam's passion stands out though, and he has the showmanship to truly be great.

If he doesn't do something great through Idol, Tarantino is sure to write something for him.

I'LL write something for him!

I think Danny will be a very close second, Allison third, and Kris fourth.

Danny is very main stream and sexy. If he had just a bit more of an edge I think he'd pull ahead of Adam.

Allison can do everything. The only thing that's standing in the way of soaring past the boys is her age. She has yet to develop a "hunger" for what she wants.

I love Kris' voice. He has a very unique sound like REM, Aerosmith, Nirvana, but he's a bit too timid. If he doesn't reach out and grab it soon, it'll slip away from him.

having said all this, I think they're all ready to cut albums. Their careers have already been made. It's simply up to them to lasso the wave and ride it out.

moot or hooey?

if you ignore your hunger for 15 minutes, it won't come back until you've passed the ability to consume a full meal.

fortune teller

apparently i have to confess.
i went to have my fortune read and was told i need to write.

so, once i get back to vancouver, i will be inundating you with photos and stories of japan, until every rock has been turned, every blade of grass has been dusted.

yoyogi koen tokyo tomorrow, should put the proverbial icing on that cake.

moot or hooey?
if you do not do what your fortune teller tells you to do, you will be visited by large furry animals.

harajuku

tomorrow I board a plane to Tokyo.
the first place I'm going is Harajuku.
and if I manage to bump into these two, I'm never coming back :)

moot or hooey?
America may be the land of milk and honey, but Japan is the land of magic and truths.

deja vous? or simply really bad secret keepers...

well if it wasn't obvious before, it sure is now!
Adam's won Idol.
A standing ovation from Simon? hmm

So Allison gets a record deal too, eh.

And Scott said he wanted America to know he was versatile before they said goodbye.
He's going home?

Tonight was a strange night.
It reeked of betrayal.
Kind of like they'd all sat down and discussed what the outcome would be... with the top four, that is.

So Adam, Allison, and Danny have made deals already. Who's the fourth? That's the only thing I've not been able to peg. I'll bet though, that it's Matt or Kris. Just a feeling.

moot or hooey?
the odds of winning 6/49 are 1:64, while the odds of winning Super 7 is 1:12. The odds of winning Idol, 1:4, the others are just there for ratings.

CTV blooper

I don't know about you, but it drives me bonkers when people in the media publish ads, air commercials, read the news, and the like, with major grammatical errors.

It used to be that news editors and broadcasters, TV and radio hosts, etc, were reliable sources of proper grammar. One could always rely on them getting it right.

With all the possibilities to access Spell Check, Editors, Proof Readers, Grammar Check and a gazillion other things set up with the explicit purpose of aiding the writers and readers, there really shouldn't be any reason for grammatical mistakes.

This year's commercial build up to Tuesday's episode of American Idol ends with the announcer blurting out "this week the Idols will sing songs from the year in which they were born in"

Honestly CTV. no one caught that?

moot or hooey?

in Jan of 1989, the Mainichi daily news published the death of Emperor Hirohito, only he hadn't died yet. All those responsible were immediately fired.

more of my fav photos from '08

world's largest bath tub on L'ile de Porquerolles, in the south of France.Galapagos salt water Iguana (about a meter long), a projectile sneezer.
Sam, in a Lego box.
sea turtle tracks, Galapagos. It was mating season, but this is a G rated blog...I think.
Zorro's saddle, Costa Rica ranch in the northern hills. Zorro was off in the woods carving zeds in the trees.. on foot.
Lago Chico, Chilean/Argentine border. An awesome but very cold swim!
Heron, western Ecuador. Just as beautiful as the herons from the sanctuary in Stanley Park, Vancouver.
Chilean Mount Fuji, from high in the hills of Tinquilco.
back yard of American Astronaut Brian O'Leary's Ecuadorian oasis, along the Peruvian border.
visiting boyfriend George, on The Hour just before my friend Richard's documentary "Cubers" aired.
George tries solving the Rubik's Cube. moot or hooey?
George was so absorbed in solving the cube, that we missed the first 10 minutes of the show.

Nick of time

you know, I hate to say this, being the Adam fan that I am, but I really liked Nick's performance tonight. I still can't look at him when he sings, but I sure loved listening.

Adam pulled it back a bit which I think was a smart thing to do. Ear sex.
He was smart to change up the look again as well. Eye sex.
Kudos for acknowledging the band. I'll bet they're all on their cells right now, dialing your number... seriously.

Allison, omg, tried to do too much. In my opinion, that was an untouchable song. Gwen S. already did everything I ever wanted to hear done with it.

Danny was ok, but I didn't hear much of a difference between this and his other performances.

Megan, when is she going to find the right song. I love her voice but she may have blown it tonight.

Matt, I didn't really like it that much. He sounded like a cheap cover singer.

Scott, he didn't actually do that badly tonight, but again, it wasn't enough to stop me from going into the bedroom to finish folding the laundry.

Anoop, well, what can I say. Sayonara? perhaps. A strange choice of song. Again, someone who's really not that bad, when he has a little guidance. Unfortunately right now, he has no idea where he's going or how to get there.
But just to show you pretty much anything can go full circle into something amazing, I'm sharing this incredible rainbow that sat over my house the other day.

It's either a rainbow or an awfully large contact lens.

moot or hooey?
when you see a double rainbow, the colors on the second one, are reversed.