Week Ending 25th November, 2001 Page 3 2 1
The End Of The Internet Is Nigh... posted 24 Nov 2001
Or rather, according to Lawrence Lessig, the end of the Internet as a space for unregulated discourse and free play of the imagination is nigh, as corporations and their running dog copyright lawyers move in to partition and police cyberspace... And ironically enough, the move from narrowband phoneline to broadband cable delivery - a development which makes media like video actually watchable over the Net - is hastening this process, with cable-based ISPs in the US moving to exert greater control over the content they are prepared to host.
A Few Words From Philosopher and Film Buff Slavoj Zizek posted 24 Nov 2001
This interview with Slovenian philosopher-du-jour Slavoj Zizek isn't really about film, but judging from the references to Charlie Chaplin, Fritz Lang and In The Realm Of The Senses, the man's a bit of a film buff... He also throws up some interesting ideas, like the notion that trading insults is the true mark of ethnic tolerance. Forget your fawning "we love all cultures" guff, says Zizek, that's ultimately just patronising... When you can slag the other off and cop it sweet yourself without either of you feeling demeaned or disempowered, then you're truly respecting one another as equals.
Osama Bin Gettin' Funky : Al Qaeda Recruitment Videos posted 24 Nov 2001
Not only is he a terrorist mastermind, but apparently he can whip up a mean bit of video propaganda... The Telegraph's Julia Magnet (repeatedly) witnesses the horror of an MTV-indebted al Qaeda recuitment video, complete with shots of Osama Bin Laden playing Virtua Cop style video games in which he wastes Colin Powell and Bill Clinton.
Its That Time Of Year Again... posted 24 Nov 2001
As the holiday season beckons and year's end draws near, the thoughts of all film critics turn to one thing - lists... And the first cab off the rank is Film Threat's Chris Gore with his Thanksgiving-themed list of the Top Ten Turkeys 0f 2001... I'm currently compiling my own list of the worst five Australian movies, and so far it looks like this - 1. Moulin Rouge 2. Moulin Rouge 3. Moulin Rouge 4. Moulin Rouge 5. Moulin Rouge... Any thoughts from the stalls?
Mohsen Makhmalbaf On Afghanistan posted 24 Nov 2001
As an alternative to the pontifications of Johnny-come-lately Western journalists, here are the thoughts of a man who has had a 13 year long creative relationship with Afghanistan and produced the only two feature films about the country that the world has seen (The Cyclist and Kandahar)... Of particular interest are his insights into the attitudes to Afghan refugees in his own country of Iran... The working class fear that they will take their jobs and want them deported, the anti-drug authorities hold them responsible for the drug trade and want them deported, the medical authorities accuse them of spreading exotic diseases and want them deported... Just about the only people who want them to stay are the Iranian middle class who see them as a reliable source of cheap labour...
A Light Shone On Those Faces In The Darks... posted 24 Nov 2001
Considering that docos have been made about almost every other group in society, it was only a matter of time before this happened - a documentary about moviegoers by Canadian filmmaker Gail Singer... And you have to admire the thoroughness with which she's gone about it... There are the usual stories of furtive back-row sex and people who can link key events in their lives to the attendance of movie screenings, but you also get sequences about 'the way the brain processes visual information' and 'the nutritional value of a bag of popcorn drizzled with fake butter'.
Flicks In The Sticks posted 21 Nov 2001
Its always gratifying to see film bodies acknowledge the existence of cinema audiences outside the multiplex-thronging western suburbs and arthouse-frequenting inner city. And especially at a time when this sector is facing the spectre of parallel imported videos and DVDs... On December 8, the FTO will be holding a conference in Bombala about setting up community and regional cinemas. (Sorry folks, but there are no links... It's happening outside an urban centre, so the FTO have been tardy about updating their site...)
Santa Walken posted 21 Nov 2001
Fark.com, who are obsessed with all things Walken, recently posted this startling revelation... In an attempt to lure tourists back to the Big Apple during the holiday season, ads are being shown that feature Christopher Walken fulfilling his childhood dream of being Santa Claus at FAO Schwarz... I can just see it now - "No son, you can't have a X-Box for Christmas... But I can give you this watch that's been shoved up my ass since the Vietnam War!"
But Women Still Aren't Allowed Into Cinemas... posted 21 Nov 2001
It looks like they take their cinema rather seriously in Afghanistan... The first film screened at the newly-reopened Bakhtar cinema in Kabul was Uroj, a rousing story about heroic mojahedin fighters defeating drunken Russian soldiers. Deliberately chosen in a jingoistic attempt to restore national pride, right?... Well no, savvy cinema manager Sultan Mahmood picked it because it 'projects the disunity among the mojahedin so people will see it is not good for Afghanistan'... As a further cautionary note to those who loudly proclaim the "liberation" of Afghanistan, women are still banned from cinemas, just as they were under the Taliban and the mojahedin...
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