I'm excited to spread the word about Hit & Stay, a documentary on the Catonsville Nine. Judging from the preview on Kickstarter it looks like it's going to be excellent.
I've been intrigued by the Catonsville Nine ever since I saw Lynne Sachs's Investigation of a Flame, a very cursory, talking-head movie that left viewers with more questions than answers. Other than the general gist of the Catonsville Nine, the only thing I remember from her film was the endless shots of flowers. Back in 2001, I wanted to see a far better film about the Catonsville Nine and it looks like Hit & Stay is what I've been hoping for!
NEW YORK, NY; February 23, 2010 - Rounding out multiple days of screenings and parties in its sixth annual appearance, organizers for CineKink NYC/2010 announced the recipients of awards in a range of categories during the film festival's closing celebrations held on Sunday, February 21, 2010.
"The audience and jury response was particularly enthusiastic this year," noted Lisa Vandever, CineKink co-founder and director, as she presented the awards. "We had a record set in the Audience Choice award ratings for 'S&M Judge' and the rankings on our selections were generally high across the board. My thanks to all of the filmmakers for allowing us to share their amazing works."
Audience Choice Awards were given to "S&M Judge" (Erik Lamens) for Best Narrative Feature and to "My Sexuality: A Sensory Experience" (Felicia Giouzelis) for Best Documentary Feature, with an Honorable Mention award going to the documentary "Waxie Moon" (Wes Hurley). The choice awards were determined by audience ballot just following each eligible film's screening during the festival.
In the shorts competition, juried festival awards went to "Walking the Dog" (Luigi Campi), "Balloons" (Charles Nuckolls) for Best Documentary Short, "Handcuffs" (Erika Lust) for Best Experimental Short, and to "The Pinky Song" (Rick Ferguson) for Best Music Video. Honorable Best Mention awards were presented to "Coverage" (Jef Taylor), "Hungry for Love" (Ruckus Skye) and "The Sheep and the Ranchhand" (Loretta Hintz).
Determining the shorts awards, CineKink jurors this year included Viviane, ring-leader of the sex blog "Viviane's Sex Carnival," Mike White, editor and publisher of the independent film-focused "Cashiers du Cinemart," Lolita Wolf, a BDSM educator and activist who also blogs as "Leather Yenta," and Bill Woods, a film festival programmer and curator of the New Filmmakers series at Anthology Film Archives.
The CineKink Select, an occasional festival award recognizing artistic innovation, was presented to three films this year, going to "Modern Love is Automatic" (Zach Clark) and "Anti-Samaritan Hotline" (A. Tad Chamberlain) for Creative Vision, and to "Libidoland" (Julie Keck and Jessica King) for Outstanding Viral Achievement.
The first-ever CineKink "Bring It!" award, determined by audience ballot during a presentation of excerpts showcasing current adult cinema, went to "Tristan Taormino's Rough Sex" (Tristan Taormino).
The CineKink Tribute, recognizing extraordinary depictions of kink and sex-positivity in mainstream film and television, was presented to "American Swing" (Mathew Kaufman and Jon Hart/Magnolia Pictures, 2009), a documentary about the infamous Plato's Retreat, for its "humorous yet respectful look back at a particularly free-wheeling time and place in America's sexual history." Honorable mentions for the CineKink Tribute went to the television series' "Dollhouse" (Fox), "Gossip Girl" (CW) and, for the second year running, "How I Met Your Mother" (CBS). Works eligible for consideration this year were those released or aired in the United States from January 1 until December 31, 2009.
Making its seventh annual run February 16-21, 2010, CineKink NYC featured a specially selected program of films and videos that celebrate and explore a wide diversity of sexuality. Billing itself as "the kinky film festival," the event is dedicated to the recognition and encouragement of sex-positive and kink-friendly depictions in film and television. With offerings drawn from both Hollywood and beyond, works presented at CineKink NYC ranged from documentary to drama, comedy to experimental, mildly spicy to quite explicit - and everything in between. Sponsors of CineKink NYC/2010 included B-Side Entertainment, National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, Njoy and Soho Journal, along with Tied-Up Events, For The Girls, Hot Movies For Her, OMG!, Pink/White Productions, Scarleteen, Shelly’s Toy Box and Wet International.
Selections from CineKink NYC will be featured in a traveling version of the festival, slated to appear in various cities throughout the coming year.
March 5 brings the premiere of Larry Withers's David Goodis: To A Pulp to Philadelphia. I've not seen the final cut yet but I've been assured that I'm in it, pontificating about the film adaptations of Goodis's work. For details on the premiere screening check out DavidGoodis.com. And, if you can't make the premiere, the documentary is (available on DVD).
The SXSW Film Festival of March 12-21 brings the premiere of The People Vs. George Lucas by Alexandre O. Philippe. The documentary plays as part of the Spotlight Premieres and I've been told that I'm also in this film, ranting about the criminal treatment of Star Wars by its creator. For more information about the film visit PeopleVsGeorge.com.
Readers may recall that I went down to Philadelphia back in 2007 for an interview about David Goodis. It was for Larry Wither's documentary, David Goodis: To A Pulp.
Now, I'm happy to announce that the project is complete. It's going to be premiered in March, 2010 in Goodis's native Philadelphia.
Here are the details from "The Writer In The Gutter":
What:
David Goodis: To A Pulp
Produced and Directed by Larry Withers
When:
Friday, March 5th, 2010 @ 8:30 PM
Where:
Society Hill Playhouse
507 South 8th Street Philadelphia, PA
215-923-0210
How Much:
Tickets are $10.00 at the door
Seating is LIMITED!
Q & A Session will follow the screening of this one-of-a-kind David Goodis Documentary! DO NOT MISS THE STORY OF PHILADELPHIA'S UNSUNG NOIR WRITER AS IT HAS NEVER BEEN TOLD BEFORE! http://www.thewriterinthegutter.com
I'll be taking a bite of the Big Apple in the middle of February when I'm in town for the Cinekink Film Festival. If you're not familiar with the kinkiest film fest in the U.S. be sure to check 'em out:
I'll be blogging about the films while I'm in town. If you can't make the event itself be sure to check out http://impossiblefunky.blogspot.com for reviews!
Kimberly Lindbergs over at Cinebeats has awarded ImpossibleFunky Productions with a pair of prestigious awards (really memes pretending to be something their not). I'm honored and thrilled! Rather than go with the "Kreativ Blogger" award or the "Zombie Chicken" award, I've combined the two into the Kreativ Zombie Award.
Here are the rules:
Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
Nominate 7 Kreativ Zombies.
Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.
Seven Things About Me:
I'm very petty and vindictive.
I was once accused of plagiarism in college... the paper was something I wrote in high school.
I can type at 72 wpm.
My alter ego gets far more attention than I do.
My "to kill" list has gone down significantly in the last three years.
I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom. And by "busy" I don't mean "having sex."
I own thousands of VHS tapes and DVDs and have only watched a fraction (.001%).
Seven Award-Worthy Blogs:
Nate's Plate - He eats things so you won't have to.
Paracinema Blog - The online arm of one of my favorite magazines.
YOU can help us complete the highly-anticipated feature-length documentary about the last great action subgenre to be rediscovered! EUROCRIME! THE ITALIAN COP AND GANGSTER FILMS THAT RULED THE '70s has already pulled together a roster of the top actors and directors in the Italian crime genre in order to get their perspectives on these tough, brutal, and occasionally dangerous films.
The film is currently in post-production, but even with the bevy of euro-superstars who have offered up their time and support for the film, the biggest challenge still lies ahead – licensing all the great film clips that really showcase the genre and demonstrate why it was such a dynamic and prolific part of cinematic history! Hundreds of dangerous stunts, chases and explosions – not to mention some of the most inspired dialogue you will hear in ANY genre – are integral to illustrate the film's numerous anecdotes, and YOU can help make it happen!
As a backer of this project, you will be the recipient of numerous perks, many of which are unique to the world of EUROCRIME! and ensure that you are acknowledged and kept in the loop as a key part of the process.
Thursday 29.October 2009
5.45 p.m.
Location: Traum-Kino 1:
Clip by Domina WS
Shortfilm SM1 by Ida Feldman
Shortfilm SERVICE by Julie Simone
Documentary FETISHES (OV) by Nick Broomfield
Thursday 29.October 2009
8 p.m.
Location: Traum-Kino 1:
Musicvideo by Gitane Demone from CultEpics
Shortfilm UN PIEDE DI ROMAN POLANSKI by Lauren Wissot
Film COMME UNE LETTRE A LA POSTE von Filippo Filliger
SM RECHTER (english subtitles) by Erik Lamens
Friday 30.October 2009
5.45 p.m.
Location: Traum-Kino 2:
Film by Baroness Bijou
Shortfilm KINK INC by Casey Clark
Shortfilm by Julie Simone
Shortfilm PICCOLI PASSI(italian with german subs) by Daniele Baricordi
Documentary SERVING MADAME GINA by Dr. Gabriele Hoff
Friday 30.October 2009
8.30 p.m.
Location: Traum-Kino 1:
Filmnight
MODERN LOVE IS AUTOMATIC (OV) by Zach Clark
Shortfilm from Femdom Austria
Animated film BUTLER by Erik Rosenlund
Shortfilm from Fetish Film CH
Shortfilm BARBIE & KEN by Lazarus Walking
Shortfilm WASHI by Lazarus Walking
Shortfilm PAUSA PRANZO by Fudesan
Shortfilm by Amber Moelter
Shortfilm by Lady G from Mexico
Shortfilm NEO FETISH POSTURE by Manon des Gryeux
Shortfilm WALKING DOGS by Kyle Porter
Documentary COMING OUT SPANKO (OF) by Tanya Bezreh
Shortfilm CAN CAN by Stefania Goffredo
Shortfilm CROSSING by Ignacio Rivera
Shortfilm HOUSEMAID by Steven Speliotis
Shortfilm LA GABBIA (italian with german subs) by Daniele Baricordi
Musicvideo LET ME BE YOUR FANTASY from Restrained Elegance
Shortfilm LUSTAMEROS by Antonella Cavallo
Film by Madame Catarina
Shortfilm XMAS TREE by Gala Fur
Collage DECADENT DREAMS by Veronica Vinyl
Film starring Bojana
Trailer from new work of Sebastiano Montresor
Sa. 31.October 2009
5.45 p.m.
Location: Traum-Restaurant-Turm:
HERAS HARTE SCHULE: ROLLENSPIELE produced by Robert Wilde for Beate Uhse TV
Shortfilm LA CROIX de Gala Fur
Shortfilm by Lady Monroe
Shortfilm from Elegant Femdom
Sa. 31.October 2009
8.30 p.m.
Traum-Kino 1:
Shortfilm THE PAWN LAYMAN by Frank-Peter Lenze
Shortfilm starring Lady Asmondena
Shortfilm by Julie Simone
Film from LatexGirls HD
Shortfilm STRENGES THEATER by Susanne Klein
Shortfilm from Young Femdom
Shortfilm ZIMMER FREI by Morphine
Shortfilm HARDsCORE by Mike Fuhrmann and Florian Mengel
Sa. 31.October 2009
10.00 p.m.
Location: Traum-GmbH
Two halls:
Party FETISCH-TRAUM (Dresscode)
A few weeks back I was interviewed by Lee Gardner for the Baltimore City Paper in Baltimore. His article, Clicking and Streaming has been picked up by Detroit's Metro Times. Playing up the "local boy" angle, the Metro Times even included a few photos by Doug Coombe of yours truly in my basement lair, showing off the walls of video tapes.
Also, Lee and I were interviewed by Craig Fahle for Detroit Today on WDET 101.9FM.
Please note the Jabba the Hutt figure (courtesy of Leon Chase) and my Black Shampooo (Turkish version) t-shirt. See what other fun stuff you can pick out in the mess.
Even if my interview makes it to the cutting room floor, I'm still encouraging folks to keep up with The People Vs. George Lucas. The filmmakers have a new blog up which has some great posts. Enjoy!
If you’ve never seen THE WORLD’S GREATEST SINNER… you need to. It’s an absolutely amazing flick. Psychotronic and just psycho in general. It’s the brainchild of Timothy Carey – one of my favorite character actors. He wrote, directed, produced, and stars in this film about a rock & roll preacher who declares himself the one true deity.
The film’s score was written by a young Frank Zappa and the movie’s been incredibly difficult to see for decades. TCM is bringing it to cable tonight “around 2AM” and it’s a must-see.
I'm all like Web 2.0 and sh*t. Yeah, I'm still using using Yahoo Groups for getting the word out about updates but I've also started a group on Facebook so folks can keep up with the goings on at Cashiers du Cinemart. There's a topic that may be of interest on the Discussion Board. Take a look and join up!
Sometimes web traffic statistics can be a hoot. I was just poking around in Google Analytics and found that my most popular posts in the years that I've been doing this blog have been:
This seems like a rather eclectic mix of media critique (Symbicort), movie reviews, and Lost theories. There are a lot of things that I've written/posted that I would have hoped to garner better numbers but the people are fickle...
People were pretty good about keeping the secret of The Sixth Sense, The Crying Game, and even Fight Club. But let's not put it past the movie companies themselves to keep the cat in the bag about their own films.
Last week I caught a commercial for Hancock - a movie I wasn't necessarily thrilled about but even when I was discussing it, I refused to give away the "twist" of the film, no matter how lame it is. Anyway, so there's the commercial and--BAM--there's the "twist" right there in the middle of this 30-second spot... big as life.
It's fairly obvious that they still have no idea how to treat this movie, as evidenced by this spot and by the recent news of some various cuts of this film coming out.
I just found out over the weekend that The World's Greatest Sinner played on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) recently! I would have loved to have seen this again and finally gotten a decent copy of it. I'm still awaiting this one's release on DVD though I know director Timothy Carey's son is a bit cautious due to the widespread bootlegging that kept Sinner afloat for so many years.
If you're unfamiliar with Carey and why the showing of Sinner is a major coup for TCM in general and television overall, be sure to check out the article Sam McAbee penned back in Cashiers du Cinemart #12. BTW, I think that Sam's original article still exists over at his own site - 5mtl.com. I see that he still has the "brilliance of Einstein" quote. What John Cassavetes really said was that Timothy Carey had the brilliance of "Einsenstein."
So why am I reporting about something that I missed? Because there's another chance to see a pristine copy of The World's Greatest Sinner on April 17, 2009 according to TCM's Underground schedule.
BTW, I'm also still awaiting the release of Carey's sophomore effort, Tweet's Ladies of Pasadena. Here's hoping Romeo allows this and any other films from the Carey archive to be consumed by the public!
Rudy Ray Moore, the comedian known as Dolemite, has shuffled off this mortal coil. Best known for his foul-mouthed stand up routines, party records, strong pimp hand, and influence on the rap world, Moore starred in films such as Dolemite, The Human Tornado, The Avenging Disco Godfather, Petey Wheatstraw: The Devi's Son-in-Law, and Rude.
Moore made several unsuccessful bids for the Presidency of the United States running on the following platform:
"I'm not gonna lie to you like those other motherfuckers. I'm not promising you a chicken in every pot. I'm not coming to you with no heavy heart. I'm not promising to make every mother fucking thing perfectly clear. I'm not promising a god damn thing. But, if I am elected, you can bet your sweet ass I'm gonna legalize grass. And I'll have a constitution to legalize prostitution. You heard me right, I'm gonna be running this country as President Dolemite!"
I'm glad that I managed to catch Moore's act live twice - both times at the Magic Bag in Ferndale, MI. I even managed to talk to RRM a bit after one of the performances where I asked him about The Human Tornado and its director, Cliff Roquemore. I tried to ping Moore last week in hopes of getting a front cover blurb for the Cashiers du Cinemart book. I would like to think this is not what did him in.
Moore passed away at age 81 on Sunday October 19, 2008. Via rhymed couplets, free form verse, and dirty versions of the alphabet, Moore entertained audiences for decades. His best-remembered routine, "The Signifying Monkey," continues to echo through the world of popular culture. Without two turn tables, and only a mic, Moore rocked the world as Dolemite.
Here's a sample of some classic rhymes with Dolemite going against Big Daddy Kane:
And here's some live concert footage of Moore in action:
Sometimes it's really tough to live in Detroit, especially when I see all of the cool things going on in sister cities like Toronto and Chicago. This morning I got word of two amazing events:
Toronto - Phantascope keeps coming with great "underground" screenings. Today they announced their latest... members only, though. More details here
Chicago - The Movieside Film Festival presents "Terror in the Aisles," a 13 hour marathon of flicks. More details here
If there are cool things like this going on in Detroit... I don't know about 'em.
I believe that this will be good news for fans of Richard Stark's Parker series; the hardboiled killer is getting the royal treatment in a new series of graphic novels by Darwyn Cooke. For more on this effort click here.
For years punk rock film fans have been clamoring for a Beta, VHS, Laserdisc, or DVD release of Lou Adler's Ladies & Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains. Many folks had hoped for a release of this back when late filmmaker Sarah Jacobson was taking the film around to various venues such as the Chicago Underground Film Festival. Instead, the film will be released to DVD on September 16, 2008!
So far it looks like the features include:
Restored from original vault masters
Audio commentaries by stars Diane Lane and Laura Dern
Audio commentary by director Lou Adler
Includes original theatrical trailer
If any movie were deserving of a deluxe release, this would be it.
Sarah's enthusiasm for the film was infectious and well-justified. It's a tremendous film. She made a documentary in 2004 about the 1981 film. It's available on OtherDVD's release of Rainbow Man - click here for details.
Cashiers du Cinemart contributor Rich Osmond focused on the film for his series on Punk Rock Girls in issue #11. Click here to read it.
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