Wednesday Nite cinematheque Kickoff

Come, spirit.
Help us sing
the story of our land.
You are our mother;
We, your field
of corn.
We rise...
from out of the soul
of you.
~prayer in Powhatan

The first screening at the wednesday nite cinematheque was an event enjoyed by all present and it was unanimously decided 2 make it a weekly event.
The first screening "The New World" was in ways just the perfect movie to kickstart this phenomenon ---
While the purpose of wednesday nite cinematheque is to experience new worlds and visions by great minds in the artistic world of cinema (contrary to the corporate world of cinema where cinema is a source of revenue, here the commercial value of cinema has zero importance)...the movie also in a way was about exploring the very concept of exploration....
- while in the beginning the Europeans are surprised to see the new world, towards the end we see the total surprised reaction of the native on reaching England where he has come with a bunch of sticks with instructions from his leader to tie a knot for every white man the native encounters, and more importantly to meet this God that white men talk about so much.
- The New World was about love in its purest form where it knows not of anything other then giving and expressed through Pocahontas it spoke of a culture where these values were intact.
- Through the time of Captain Smith spent with the tribes the film maker observes the striking contrast between the peaceful and happy natives with the ever fighting (lots of infighting and politics) attitude of the settlers...smith reiterates through the rest of the film that the only truth in his life were the time spent in the jungle with Pocahontas (though throughout the movie this name is not uttered) but the film maker is not going to take the easy way by setting the direction for the movie, Captain Smith still slave to his own personality knows he does not deserve her love and abandons her for other missions...
- The movie asks very fundamental questions, in one scene we have Pocahontas asking John Rolfe - "Why does earth have colors?"
- It was a typical Terrence Malick movie...poetic, expecting the audience to surrender to the movie, lots of space which some people would refer as slow...
- A lot of effort went in recreating the history, apart from extensive research a lot of natives out of the 3000 who speak Powhatan today were employed to teach the language to the native actors, the movie was given a seal of approval by the Tribal Heads of Native Americans..more then a million feet of reel was used and more then 2000 females were auditioned for the role of Pocahontas before selecting 14 year old actress Q'Orianka Waira Qoiana Kilcher, her age probably the reson why the intimate scenes have refrained from even a kiss.
- the movie was shot entirely in natural light like all Terrence Malick movies

While the movie garnered only a measly 12 million compared to 75 million by Brokeback Mountain it was by far the most loved movie of the year in the Cult Cinema section.
A interesting review of the movie...

Watch this space for next wednesday movie announcement...

SPUN

You know I take the pussy
seriously. Let me tell you.

You gotta take the pussy seriously.
I mean, there's a priority for a tight ass.

But if it's hairy, I go for the tits.

But if the tits are hairy,
hey, it's right back to the pussy.

But you've gotta speak
to that pussy, son.

You know, really talk to it.
You make a vow to it.

Now, no nation has
ever been so ready...

...to seize the power and the
freedom of the pussy as our own...

...and we must all care for that pussy.

Today, we do more
than just celebrate the pussy.

We re-dedicate ourselves
to the very idea of pussy.

I mean, friends, ask not
what the pussy can do for you...

...but what can you do for the pussy.

The Postman

Trivia about the italian classic Il Postino and its hero Troisi ->

Troisi literally gave his life to make Il Postino. He was aware of his heart condition and was told that he needed treatment, but he believed that the making of this film was more important. He died 12 hours after the camera stopped rolling...

This trivia helped me put my own feeling aroused by the movie in the right context.

Bought and Sold (from 'Too Black, Too Strong')

Smart big awards and prize money
Is killing off black poetry
It’s not censors or dictators that are cutting up our art.
The lure of meeting royalty
And touching high society
Is damping creativity and eating at our heart.

The ancestors would turn in graves
Those poor black folk that once were slaves would wonder
How our souls were sold
And check our strategies,
The empire strikes back and waves
Tamed warriors bow on parades
When they have done what they’ve been told
They get their OBE's.
~ benjamin zephaniah

What is OBE? out of body experience does not seem 2 fit well.

Only arrogance and zero Art

Hollywood seems to be capable of making only the most ridiculous movies coz the only thing they care about is themselves and according to them the rest of the world is barbaric and stupid. i doubt Mel Gibson has the slightest idea about nething he is making coz his only purpose is to make a thriller and find situations to put in some nicely shot violence scenes..the only thing that changes from one movie to another is the type of weapons.
I have never seen a more stupid movie, instead of accepting that he is incapable of understanding nething about this evolved culture because he is an idiot he has ended up making a big budget movie for other idiots to feel very nice that they are living in this system and any other system that existed before them was corrupt and violent.
Mel Gibson has shown his own insanity through the movie, and the movie has nothing to do with Mayan Culture which he is also very aware of but sadly i know many people are going to be seeing this movie to form an opinion that all ancient cultures were barbaric and we have made so much progress...overlooking the fact that in fact we are the most barbaric people who ever lived on this planet.