No, your eyes do not decieve you. Roberto Benigni is making an movie about the Iraq War.

I wasn’t feeling the ‘happy concentration camp fun time’ of his award-winning ‘Life Is Beautiful’ in the first place, but this seems even more misjudged. Not that I’m saying film-makers shouldn’t tackle such topics, just Benigni’s not the kind of director I’d have in mind. That, and the fact he’s not in the least bit funny.

I haven’t been more disturbed since I’ve heard that Joacquin Phoenix is to star as Johnny Cash in a biopic of the man in black himself (biopics are all the rage in Hollywood at the moment, Ray Charles, Peter Sellers and er, a few others I cant think of right now)

This is JackUzi for b00mb0x Entertainment Tonite. Good Night.

White House West
starring Will Ferrell as George Bush

People who know me will know that I prefer rolling news to prime time TV, non-fiction to novels and recently I’ve been shying away from movies a little in favour of documentaries, both for features and TV. I’m an extremely exciting individual, I am I am.

Mind you, this year is better than most to delve into factual movies considering the massive successes of Morgan Spurlock’s and Michael Moore’s hatchet jobs on Bush and Mickey D’s. Fahrenheit 9/11 and Super-size Me savagely went after huge institutional scalps and where ever you are in the political/junk-food spectra, their impact on the public has been undeniable.

For those like me who found Fahrenheit 9/11 high on rhetoric but low on substance, check out the Corporation and the End of Suburbia. Co-directed by the same Canuck who spent four years crafting Manufacturing Consent, The Corporation traces the history of how corporations evolved from organisations chartered to provide essential tasks, to legal “people” propagating the surging post-war American economy to the continent straddling global leviathans of the last 20 years. Where Manufacturing Consent lacked focus, the Corporation is methodical and well structured with coherent analysis from Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky and our pal Michael Moore. The End of Suburbia investigates hydrocarbon depletion and it’s likely effect on suburban sprawl and includes contributions from the rest of the usual liberal suspects Ruppert and Heinberg, as well as respected energy analysts Campbell and Simmons. Boo, evil capitalism!

Chávez: The Revolution will Not be Televised was made by the Irish Film Board, I noticed with interest and surprise as the movie began. This starts off as a fairly compelling close up view of the populist and charismatic Venezuelan President as he embarks on controversial social reforms. About thirty minutes in, the film crew find themselves inside the Presidential Palace as the opposition deftly deposes Chávez in the world’s first media coup. I’m not going to spoil this because it is a really extraordinary, enthralling and frightening story. If you see it, let me know what you thought of it in the comments. My mouth’s still open, to be honest.

Koyaanisqatsi is a vivid 1983 montage of civilisation superimposed on nature, time-lapsed and slowed down with no narration coupled with a relentless, hypnotic soundtrack. It’s a documentary in the broadest sense of the word and may be more properly described as an art flick. I started craving a joint while watching this, unfortunately Limerick’s drug dealers are under pressure at the moment and I can’t lay my hands on squat. Blah.

Capturing the Friedmans was the film that started me off on my current documentary binge. The Friedmans, a closely knit New York family with a penchant for video-taping everything, find themselves torn to pieces by child abuse allegations. They literally fall apart on screen. There are arguments as to whether father and son are in fact guilty at all. This ambiguity is unsettling and altogether riveting because the family are so amiable and seemingly rock-solid. See this one too.

July 28th, 2004: “How to Kick People Goes to Hawaii”
featuring: Kirsten Major, Patrick Borelli, & music by John Wesley Harding

The show started off with those nitwits reading love letters that they wrote to each other at summer camp. Well, ain’t that sweet, boys. I’ll be sure to drop some fruitcake in the mail for you.
Then the Jewish one starts whining about how horrible it is to live in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I spent 36 months in a tiger cage in Pyoktong, Korea but I guess that don’t compare to the agony of walking three whole blocks to buy a pint of Haagen-Dazs & Jerry. I think it was when his face started melting like French cheese that I really wished I’d refilled my meds scripts.

via theplasticcat