June 30, 2005
A Call To Arms (I Mean Movies)
I see a potential PdD dissertation in MoveOn’s efforts to use film
(particularly Hollywood film) as outright political propaganda:
Here’s how hosting works: you just need to set up a party online, and invite your
friends. It only takes a minute, then we’ll invite other MoveOn members to join (if
you open your party to the public).
We’ll recommend some progressive videos for you and your guests to watch and discuss—documentaries
like “The Corporation”, “OutFoxed,” and “Roger & Me,”
as well as feature films with progressive themes, like “Wag the Dog” and
“Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” Or, if you know a film that others should
see, you can show that one.
These parties won’t only be about watching movies, they’ll also be about laying
the groundwork for upcoming actions. At these parties we’ll give you what you need
to form a local team, so it’s easy for you and your new friends to continue working
together. We’ll also give you materials for a simple action your group can do after
the party around a likely Supreme Court vacancy. We need to be ready to act quickly
to have an impact on who President Bush appoints.
Beating the Bush agenda and electing a progressive majority will take the help
of everyone who agrees that the Republican leadership is out of touch with America.
Help us fight the right by hosting “Progressive Movie Night”.
Filed by cynthia rockwell at 12:56 pm under Uncategorized
1 Comment


Have you seen a Jay Rosenblatt film? They are not easy to see, but if you can, see some. Especially
My pick for best of the fest would be the same as the jury’s pick:
It seemed I gravitated toward foreign films at the festival, and among those there seemed to be a theme of divisions/walls/barriers. First there was 
Patton Oswalt 
The next day, on the aforementioned comedy panel (which, in in addition to Brian Posehn and Zach the great, included Paul Provenza, Gilbert Godfried, Judy Gold, and Fred Willard), the discussion turned to the commercial success the comedians have had in sitcoms and other TV shows. Posehn (who was on Just Shoot Me and who is possibly the most well-adjusted comedian I have ever seen) saw no problem with the kind of schizo art/commercial approach to work. “You do stand-up to save your soul, and you take other gigs to pay the bills.”
I’m just back from the Netflix party at 

I have a thing for funny guys. I always have. So I just watched a film that for me is like porn: 


Greetings from the Silverdocs Cinema Lounge, with free food and free wi-fi and free tepid air conditioning. Opening Night festivities were pretty Big Time, with a red carpet and flashing lights and heavy police presence and everything. Half of the experience here for me is the experience of a “revitalized” Silver Spring–the town had for a long time been very neglected and run down was a bit of a cultural wasteland and social ghost town, but once AFI moved here from downtown D.C., along with The Discovery Channel, the city has a whole new face. I’m not convinced of the revitalization, though that may just be because I knew the old Silver Spring for so long. But to me the “new” Silver Spring seems to be a facade. There are many artificially constructed social spaces, and the city looks like one big mall now–Borders and every big restaurant chain in the world are all here in a 2-block radius, all with clean new brick and glass storefronts and cobbled-brick pathways. Maybe it’s just too new to feel city-ish, I don’t know. Maybe age is what makes a city. It needs dirt. Especially when I know of the dirt that is lying just beneath (or just 2 blocks away from) the polished new facade. To quote some Cassavetes film I can’t quite recall: “It’s like a good smell trying to cover up a bad smell.” And I think the main problem is that corporations aren’t what makes a city cool. It’s always the migration of artists that gives birth to a new “cool” area. If you start off with corporations you get the soulless sanitized city that Silver Spring now is. I think I will write to Doug Duncan and tell him to give rent breaks to artists if he wants to make his “revitalization” authentic. A bunch of yuppies sitting around a fountain outside Macaroni Grille does not a city make.
not the filmmaking itself. I enjoyed the film, but I’m hoping to find at least a few exceptions to this trend in the festival this week. I’m hoping there are some emerging Fred Wisemans or Ricky Leacocks out there who are making documentaries with some vision. I’ll let you know if I find any.
In the film