WATCHING THE OSCARS

Fortunately I slept through some of it.

I rarely watch TV, so why I rearrange my life to watch the Oscars eludes me. Most years I don't care about the films. This year, for the first time sincel997 when SECRETS AND LIES was nominated, I really did care. And I was rooting for MILLION DOLLAR BABY. Most of the films were worth forming an opinion about.

But the show was terrible. Chris Rock did not live up to his reputation (although his excursion to the Magic Johnson Theatre to find out what people realy like was diverting and to a point) Maybe it was the predictibility of the awards; maybe because of the obvious teleprompting for the presenters (it's amazing that some of these people can do great line readings in fims, butr do such a bad job of it at the Oscars). And maybe the strict adherence to t time limit eliminated any change for spontaneity. I liked the Charlie Kaufman countdown, and I actually felt relieved when Jamie Foxx went beyond his time limit. But, in spite of the fact that by and large the awards went to worthy recipients, it was a more static evening than sny I can remember.

OSCAR NIGHT

Since I never did a l0 best list, I thought I'd list my favorites among those films that have been niminated for something.

Mt top dizen films that are being considered are, in order -

MILLION DOLLAR BABY
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS
STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL
MARIA FULL OF GRACE
VERA DRAKE
SIDEWAYS
KINSEY
BEFORE SUNSET
HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKAB AN
THE INCREDIBLES
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
LEMONY SNICKET'
and, because the first half is so good, THE AVIATOR

Then, some mention for those films that did not get nominated at all - most of which would place higher than THE AVIATOR and LEMONY SNICKET

BAD EDUCATION
DOOR IN THE FLOOR
FAHRENHEIT 9/11
INFERNAL AFFAIRS
HERO
MOOLADE
LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE

My hopes for Oscar night: a significant MILLION DOLLAR BABY showing, although I could understand a Martin Scorsese Best Director choice. Cinematography for HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, writing for SIDEWAYS. I'd be unhappy if Annete Bening on, but more unhappy if the 7-second delay deprivedus of any of Chris Rock's material

OSCAR ANTICAPATION

Although none of this year's Best Picture Oscar nominees have broken the hundred million dorrar mark (it reminds me of the Reagan-Bush legacy of the widening gulf between rich and poor), the major nominated films this year are at least worth talking about. In a year where PASSION OF THE CHRIST and FAHRENHEIT 45L provked controversy of their own, all of the nominated films, whatever their virtues or shortcomings, are worth talking about. In fact, MILLION DOLLAR BABY has generated as much ink as either of those two earlier blockbusters. In fact, the latest entry is a yet another New York Times piece, this time by a Yale professor who analyzes the use of Yeats and Celtic in the film

For me, this is the first year in a long time, that I will be anticipating the results in most of the categories. It's too bad that in our increasingly Orwellian universe that there will be a 7-second delay, especially with Chris Rock hosting.

Tomorrow, I;ll post my favorites among the nominated films, and remember those quality films, of which there were many, that failed to get any mention.

TASTE, TITS, TURDS AND TEDIUM

Programming an underground film festival is not necessarily as much fun as one might think. As with any festival that asks for submissions, one has to wade through an awful lot of bad films. With inexpensive digital technology, the number of bad films has gone up considerably. In the case of underground festivals, this problem is compounded by films which wallow in pervisity for the sake of peing perverse. How does one separate a film in which the characters become increasingly obsessed with excrement, from am award=winning Bill Plympton film like EAT which has a similar structure in that the characters increase their vomiting as the film goes on, or for that matter, Jean Luc Godard's celebrated tracking shot of cars pied up near the beginning of WEEKEND?

In past festivals, we've seen and shown films which push the b oundaries of taste - which, not so incidently, an underground film festival ought to do. We've shown television umages of the 9/ll World Trade Center planes in slow motion being watched by someone who is masturbating with an Americal flag over his penis, and another about pedophilia which ends with a cum shot on a chold's face. This year a former cohort in crime sent me a soft core porn film he made in Florida with some of the most breathtaking breasts this side of Russ Meyer, and there is another, deeply disturbing film which ends with a couple making love after which he sices off her breasts before slicing off his pwn penis. It's a darker version of WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF.

In the case of the turd film, it hovers somewherebetween a film like PUCKING ZOMBIES, where the grossness is the point, and Plympton.s EAT. But it was way too long, and I did find it ultimetely boring. The screening group seemed to like it. Maybe it's a generational thing, and a friend of mine, not unknown for his liking of excremental humor, gave it his seal of approval. But I found it boring, unisteristingly animated, and, yes, no pun intended, tasteless. That I'm bothering to write about this at all probably is an indication that we ought to show it, just for the controversy, a;though I shudder to think about the audience that might attend.

CRUNCH TIME FOR BUFF

BUFF is only 6 weeks off, and, as usual, the seeds of panic are setting in. The program looks as good as ever, but some of the anchor films are not locked down; there is still a venue to secure; sponsorship is just beginning to happen; advertising is ahead of last year; we have more guest filmmakers, but less money to pay for them; interns are working, but my managers are showing preliminary signs of burn out; and not all the films that we are considering are adequately accounted for and the first press release has yet to go out.

Fortunately, my volunteers are good, and there are more of them than ever. Apart from the dedication of may managing directors, Anna and Kevin, there areKim and Izzy who seem determined to bring order to chaos against all odds.

BUFF 7 will happen. It will be fun and a complement to the Boston film scene. I should be used to such anxieties by now, having always been a little last minute and a veteran of other festivals as well, but the anxieties are there. Stay tuned.

THE MDB CONTROVERSY CONTINUES

Rosemary, my former wife, has jumped into the MILLION DOLLAR BABY debate with enthusiasm. The English teacher in her analyzes the Morgan Freeman narrator in ways that are literary rather than mere voice over exposition; the film teacher sees the patterns of light and shadow, and the Catholic sees Eastwood's final desicision less as salvation or redemption, more like atonement, or, because of his Catholocism, punishment.

Yesterday, she brought me a letter to the Editor from the New York Times. It says, "How could Frank Rich allow the right-wing media to define the debate...as one about euthanasia, and ignore the film's vile gender, class and racial politics."

Obviously, in light of all this controversy, I'm going to see the film again, probably within the next few days. I'm sure it's worth it

REGIONAL FILM FESTIVALS AND WOODS HOLE

On a day which to most people was a holiday, for me it was filled with film festival business. I spent almost 8 hours with BUFF people. With Anna and Kevin virtually taking over the festival, they have organized the szcreening process and are even taking some responsibility for the finances. Late in the afternoon, we met with half a dozen new volunteers who will address issues of obtaining sponsorship and advertising, , PR, and program design. After a roller coster of six years, BUFF 7, and the people who are beginning to run it, does seem to have a future.

On the less optimistic side, I talked with two New England festival administrators yesterday whose festivals are in an awkward state of transition. One festival, run for years onan all volunteer basis, hired a non-film related administrative director at a higher salary that any small sized festival could afford. For the first time the festival ran a deficit; the administrator resigned. And there is noone th fill the shoes, and there is no commitment from someone who knows how to program. At the other long-running festival, the much less-saleried director is also stepping down, but the newly energized Board still hasn't addressed the issues of fund raising or programming. People are in place to do administrative work, but there has been no offer to them so far on the part of the Board. It's getting late, but fundamental issues need to be addressed.

Then there is Woods Hole, . Now in its l4th year, due to the sheer tenacity of founder and director Judy Laster, the Festival has grown from a one-day, one-show event to not only a multi-venued 8-day annual event well attended by fimmakers, which takes over Water St, but has also established an important year round presence in the community, what with the off-season Dinner and a Movie series at the Captain Kidd. And now she is doing an Oscar night fund-raising event for the Festivals new Filmmakers in the Schools program. With a full time job on Beacon Hill, Judy also finds time to run the Reel Blues Fest and to make movies. In fact she was the sixth film festival director I talked with yesterday, and she called about submitting her short film, AUTOMATIC DRIP, a surrealist cmedy about coffee obsession shot in Woods Hole. We'll look at it at the BUFF screenings Thursday night. I've seen an earlier cut, and and what I liked best is the way the film has a quiet charm in presenting the almost WAKING NED DEVINE/Ealing Studios eccentricities of the inhabitants of this small coastal community. Just as Judy has captured the spirit of the community in her short film, so too has she established the film festival in the community she so clearly loves.

RWANDA AND 100 DAYS

With all the deserved attention given to HOTEL RWANDA an the upcoing documentary on the same subject, there is an overlooked fim that complements those other films. It is called l00 DAYS, and was made by British documentarian Nick Hughes. Less interesting for its narrative arc that HOTEL RWANDA, it shows in graphic terms the horrors of that period of time. Scenes such as the burning of a school containing Tutsi children, the slaughter of Tutsi refugees in a Catholic church, whose pastor was alltoo complicit - these are incidents that will stay with me. These are the kinds of scenes that HOTEL RWANDA only hints at.

With its low promotional budget and uneven production quality, few people have had a chance to see the film. Those who have have been deeply moved. Those wishing for copies of the film can contact this website (localsightings.com) or the email Jean Nganji, the heroic man who is devoting his life to raising consciousness about what happened in Rwanda, where he lost almost 40 relatives. His email is nganji@hotmail.com

TRUMBO

It was with great anticipation that I was taken to the production of TRUMBO, staged by the Huntington at the beautifull Calderwood Pavillion at the Boston Center for the Arts. Not only is the subject about Hollywood, but it is also about the "Blacklist," during the time of McCarthyism. That my own family was affected by McCarthyism and that some harbinger of that period seems to be einating from Washington now only whetted my appetite for the production. And it stars one of my favotrites, Brian Dennehy, whom I had just admired in ASSAULT ON PRECINCT l3, as Dalton Trumbo.

Unfortunately, seeing the Pavillion almost matched seeing the production. While the subject matter remained fascinating, the choice of having the text almost exclusively from Trumbo's letters seemed limiting. He was an extraordinarily good screenwriter. I liked SPARTACUS, KITTY FOYLE and ROMAN HOLIDAY, but I was less fond of EXODUS , PAPILLON, and the film for which he got as Oscar under an assumed name, THE BRAVE ONE. He was also a good letter writer (although the funny letter to his son in college about the joys of masturbation went on way too long), but the limiting dramatic context for the writing of the letters lessened their potential impact. There was no real dialogue - hence, little dramatic conflict. And Dennehy seemed constrained by having to sit behind a desk, reading his letters like an old professor reading from yellowed notes. No standing, little gesticulating.

THE BUSKER AND ROUGH CUT SCREENINGS

Last night I went to the tail end of a rough cut screening of Stephen Croke's THE BUSKER. Steve is a client of mine and I've seen two earlier cuts of the film and attended three fund raising events. He's trying to get completion money for this finely acted, beautifully shot (in Lowell, which has never looked better) about a young teenage street musician, whose father was killed in a racial incident. The earlier cuts showed some pacing problems, and, in spite of the fine acting. there was a little too much dialogue and too little music.

But Steve has been go9d in soliciting and taking feedback, and I helped him get one of Boston's finest editors, Loren Miller, to help in toward a fine cut. What little I saw is making a difference, and I should be able to see all of it within the next l0 days.

THE BUSKER, even with its low budget, and its quality, but no-name cast, does have a shot, probably at festivals, cable and DVD. He's also getting some interest. Those who've seen it, even in its earlier rough cut forms, genuinely like it.

I'm glad I'm still seeing rough cuts, in spite of the fact that I've gotten some negative comments on my having blogged them. Garth Donovan (FINGERNAILS AND FENCEPOSTS) has invited me to his March 4th screening in Dedham, and I received a great message of support "Keep on blogging" from those wonderful, talented and fun loving folks at the appropriately named Liquid Lunch Productions (NUMBER 2 PENCIL).

REVAMPING

It must have something to do with turning 65. In the last two months, I've revamped the Local Sightings website, started blogging, and this weekend, Kim DiVincenzo will try to redo my Local Sightings ad which appears in Imagine/ Having lost a roommate recently, I badly need to redo my condo - bathroom, kitchen, living room, bedroom - before someone can move in. And, given my financial state, I am in the process of revamping my finances. Now if I can revamp my eating and drinking habits, and with the motivation of THE MILLION CALORIE MARCH behind me, I ought to do smething about exercise, that would be quite an accmplishment. And, just maybe, I might even get a haircut. Maybe I ought just to start a whole new ife.

MILLION DOLLAR CONTROVERSY

Little did I realize how far reaching this little attempt at blogging might become. A few days ago I received a comment from Stepjhan Drake, head f an organizatin called Not Dead Yet. It was a response to not only my own comments about the film, but my comments about the controversy about the resolution of the film. Drake writes, "Eastwood's latest probably has a whole lot less to do with his relationship to Christianity than to his relationship to people with disabilities."

Although I'm not satisfied that Eastwood's character's probems with Christianity (he seems to b e going through his own"dark night of the soul"), are adequatly developed, I don't think the film is much ABOUT people with disabilities. There may be some insensitivity here, but, Eastwood has never made a film with the thought of being politically correct. But the film is a complex portrait of a man wavering between redemption or damnation as a consequence of the choices he has made.

If nothing else, MILION DOLLAR BABY is the film most worthy of serious discussin in quite a while.

FILM TALK AND BIRTHDAY PARTIES

An old English professor of mine, the objective of whose course was to help us learn how to "talk about literature" once told a story of how Leon Edel, the famed biographer ofHenry James would "fall into a doze" at parties once the cnversation drifted away from talk about Henry James.

I don,t think I'm that bad, but I do know my energy level and alertness went up when I found people who could "talk about film" at two birthday parties I went t this weekend. Everyone knows movies, but not everyone knows how to talk about them.

So, it was with pleasure that I had a chance to talk with former Scout Productins development director, Roger Danzik and with filmmaker (MY FATHER THE GENIUS) at the birthday for filmmaker Alice Stone, thrown by her about to be 8-years old daughter, Sylvie. Lucia is not only a talented filmmaker (Her film won first prize at Slamdance a couple of years ago, but she is gracious and knowledgeable

The other party was for Northeastern journalism professor Bill Kurtz, himself the king of filmgoer who can be found regularly at the more esoteric venues like the MFA and the Harvard Film Archive. Apart from talking about Henry Adams rather than Henry James, we could also talk about how we discovered the earlyy films of Bergman and Fellini in th o ld pre-DEEP THROAT Combat Zone. But the rea treats were his children: Jake, who lives in China, has a deep knowledge of Asian cinema, and can go on about the aesthetics of Wang Kar-Wei and the visual poetry of cinematographer Christopher Doyle (IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE and HERO)And there is Kate, his half-sister, who is a graduate student at Columbia Not only has she had a documentary in competition at Sundance a few years ago, she has a scholar's knowledge of American experimental film (she envied my having taken courses with P.Adams Sitney), and talking about Bresson, Polanski, Bunuel, etc. It was even bearable that she finds IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE a bit too precious. To top it off, she is a big Missin of Burma fan. She jwas even at the old Bradford ballroom the same night that Burma performed their last concert 23 years ago.

Maybe that's whyI'm glad BUFF is going to be in one area this year. I can envisin myself sitting at a table at Johnny D's, and spending 6 days talking about movies. My ambitions are realy very modest.

PERILS OF BLOGGING - II

After yesterday's posting on the downside of blogging, where I focused on some of the negative feedback I've gotten, even from sensitive souls who pick up on something I have said parenthetically in an otherwise positive comment, I must say that many people have expressed gratitude that I've mentined them at all, In fact, some people have complained that I haven't mentioned them. And I did notice yesterday that I was careful not to use any names.

But from Casnada to California and from Maine to Gary Marino, I've received comment. Toronto's Ambrose Roche, who sends me Canadian films, and for whom I try to find music-themed fims for his NXNE festival, comments on my film aestetics;former BUFF manager Kat Thomas, who is running a marathon next weekend, and who aways kidded me about my computer phopia; friend, former colleague and writer Richard Flanagan, who is writing his autobiography on line; Gary Marino, producer and subject of MILLION CALORIE MARCH, who himself is in training to run the Boston Marathon; Anna Feder and Kevin Monahan, who have fundamentally taken over BUFF: The LiQuid Lunch crowd and Kim DiVincenzo, who drives all the way from Haverhill to do volunteer work with me, and who has two jobs and a developing social life, who can't possibly have any time to read my blogs; Coolidge samurai Alan Spatrick, who, with his wonderful wife Kaj Wilson, who programs the Boston Jewish Film Festival, took me to hear The Alloy Orchestra in Somerville on the night of the big storm; good friend and former wife, Rosemary, who comments on how my typing skills have declined; filmmaker (PACKRAT) Kris Britt Montag, who scouted films for me in Sundance (although she preferred skiing), who led the team of people who redesigned my website, taught me how to blog, and who sent me a Washington Post article about a woman who got fired because of her blog; and, cinematographer and friend Ed Slattery, who talked me into blogging in the first place, and who can quote me things I've said in blogs weeks after I've forgetten I've even said them.

So, thanks to these and the scores of others, some of whom I've never met, who not only have taken the time to read whatever random thing I may be thinking at the moment , but who also have given me the kind of cnstructive feedback I try to give to others.

THE PERILS OF BLOGGING

"You won't have any friends left if you keep writing things like that," says a blog reader, or, rather, that sentiment is a summary o f several responses I've received now that I've started my attempts at blogging

A few weeks ago I blogged that I thought I was beginning to find my blog voice. Clearly, several people don't like hearing that voice. Actually, I'm surprised that so many people have read these musings. Don't people have better things to do with their time? Four months ago I didn't even know what a blog was, and only once have I read some other person's blog.

I started blogging at the suggestion of a couple of friends (I believe they still are my friends). I've never kept a journal or a diary, and, over the last thirty years, I've found the task of writing mildly excruciating. But I thought it would be good discipline, no matter how random or inconsequential my thoughts might be. When a friend up in Maine told me he was writing his autobiiography on his computer, and urged me to do the same, I thought that was far too focused. On the other hand, I thought that by blogging almost daily, I could track myself to see if there is any cohenence to my thoughts and beliefs, at least as they relate to film. A talk with a friend in California the other day led me to believe that is beginning to happen.

And it's going to continue. I stand by everything I've written, except for the too frequent typos. I may have been incautious about the manner in which I expressed nyself, it's never come out of mean-spiritedness. In fact, I've tried to put in some constructive comment. I've had a passion for film for over 60 years, and sometimes I do get fed up with the institutions and individuals that serve film. As one who was told in 3rd grade that he wasn't working up to his potential, I as especially sensitive to that in film related issues. In one recent blog in which I was very critical, it was really my way of saying, "Come on, you can do better than that!" And, I wrote it with genuine disappointment.


At this point in my life, I am not building a career. And, having studied fim, seen film, and shown fim, indeed, shared by passion for film most of my life, I think I know something about the subject. Others do, too, and they know they can count on me forhonest feedback (even if that feedback might cost me a client or two) My true friends (of which I am fortunate tohave many) know all this.

So not only do I plan to keep on blogging, but I also plan on enjying my friendships.

ASSAULT ON PRECINCT L3

Every now and then it's just great to go out and have a good time at the movies. The remake of SSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 provided just that. A remake of a remake, which was already a remake, the new film is a reminaging of John Carpenter's lean film, which itself wss a remake of Howard Hawks' RIO BRAVO, with John Wayne, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson. The current is less lean but provides more characterization and motivation than Carpenter's,, but has far less of the humor of the Hawks' film.

The action keeps coming, right from the start, and the actors are not just types. It's good to see Lawrence Fishbuourne not being the sententious character he played in THE MATRIX or the the much overrated BYZ IN THE 'HOO D. (Nevertheless, his character was named Bishop, and had enough gravitas to go around) And the always reliabe Brian Dennehy managed to do the too predictable wisdom f old age bit. And it's always good to see Gabriel Byrne.

To be sure, there are some pitfalls, such as the "babe" shrink assigned to Ethan Hawke, and some f the action, particularly toward the end, was so darkly filmed and quickly edited, that I had trouble figuring out what was going on and why

I went to see this film in ways I often do. Go to get away from the phone, with the intentin of only seeing only part of the film. I stayed for the whole thing, and, since it was the last show, I even stayed awake. I'm sure before the year gets much further along, I wil see more higher profile films that are far less satisfying.

CANADIAN FILM DISTRIBUTORS ON THE PROWL

American indie filmmakers don't often think of their cousins to the north when it comes to exposure. Nevertheless, there is a huge potentiasl. The Film Circut, which is part of the Toronto Internati9nal Film Festival organization, places quite a few American independents in their more than 200 non-major urban market throughout the country. They even picked up the Burton sisters' MANNA FROM HEAVEN (in my opinion, a questionable offering). The brothers Haynes, Cam and Blair, who run The Film Circuit, seek American indies with the hopes that those who are developing circuiting analogues in the US wou;d bring more Canadian product to the States.

And there are two other small distributors. Ambrose Roche, of Decade Distribution, has handles Andrew Bujowski's FUNNY HA HA for sales in Canada, and, with his other hat is film programmer for North by Northeast, he is looking for music related film and video. The other is Colin Geddes, programmer of Midnight Madness for the Toronto Fest. Apart from running a matrial arts fest at the Royal Theatre, with the help of Boston-based Garo Nagagosian (sp), he also has a small distribution company, Substream Film. He does mostly service deals, but he also is effective in getting fims placed.

Part of my ability to deal with these people is that I've gotten to the point where almost 20% pf this year's BUFF will come from Canada. With almost 40% coming from Neww England, it makes thisgs rough for the rest of the world.

MILLION DOLLAR BABY = AGAIN

Now that MILLION DOLLAR BABY is in wide release, I suppose it will be difficult to keep the ending secret they way the critics so conscientiously did when it first came out. And, from friends whose aesthetic judgment I trust say that the film is even better on a second viewing, when they are freed from the moral jolt that came with the first viewing. Nevertheless, it was sad to see that The New York Times had an article by that great writer and political thinker Maureen Dowd, that did address the ending and its moral implications and gave away the surprise in a headline.

Perhaps because the film does raise those issues contributes to my support of the film. It also helps that I think it was done well. But what kind of man is Clint Eastwood. I assume he's as Republican, whatever that means these days. Part of his persona is the John Wayne go it alone brand of heroism, sort of the more repulsive parts of Ronald Reagon and B ush II . But Eastwood never had the swagger of Wayne. Even his DIRTY HARRY characters carried a sense of moral indignation (who couldn't have been repulsed by the Andy Robinson character in the first DIRTY HARRY?) That, both as character and as director, the moral view has gotten more complex, is certainly a sign of an evoltion, and a consistent one, in terms of vision. After all, his first film as director, PLAY MISTY FOR ME was a film noir, and UNFORGIVEN was too. It's an entire genre filled with moral ambiguity, not at all to be confused with the black and white world of the far right Republicans who dominate today''s political landscape.

The morality of MILLION DOLLAR BABY is disturbing, as is the morality of Mike Leigh's VERA DRAKE. That both films are being received as well as they are speaks well for the atmosphere of tolerance that doesn't seem to exist in Washington. To be sure, not everything in MILLION DOLLAR BABY is entirely worked out. Eastwood.s verbal sparring with the Catholic priest isn't entirely convincing. And there are some "willing suspension of disbelief" isues at the very end.

Nonetheless, for me it remains a powerful piece of work, a product of a seasoned and thoughtful professional, who, if he is a Republican, would be closer to John McCain than the current imposter in the White House. Eastwood has evolved from the more judgmentasl Harry to the more complex and tortured characters of UNFORGIVEN, MYSTIC RIVER and MILLION DOLLAR BABY. In so doing, he shows a deeper understanding not only of what it means to be Christian, but also of what it means to be human.

STATE OF THE BUFF - THE IMPORTANCE OF ANNA AND KEVIN

In some ways BUFF 2005, the 7th Annual Boston Underground Film Festival . is farther along than ever before. The programming is much farther along, with excellent films from Canada, a revival of the legendary THUNDERCRACK, and better quality submissions. And, the logistics are going to be better, partly because the Festival is to be held entirely in Davis Square.

These accomplishments are due to the work of co-Managing Directors, Anna Feder and Kevin Monahan. They contacted the various possible venues, solicited films on their own (their tastes are totally in synch with BUFF), have recruited and coordinated volunteers, and are argely responsibile for the long overdue concentration of BUFF in one gegraphic location - Davis Square They even had a screening night in their apartment last night (on SuperBowl Sunday no less). Veterans of three Northamdon Independent Film Festivals, the last of which they partially curated, they have moved to Boston, and, swimming upstream, are attempting to make BUFF 2005 a memorable event. Whatever success it has, the credit will largely belong to them.

Yet still, in a highly competitive market, sponsorships and advertising are lagging behind, and BUFF is only two months away. Anna and Kevin are prepared to address this,however, and that bodes well. After all, although BUFF often does show disturbing and occasionally deranged work, it is ultimately devoted to works that are the result of alternative vision in a way that no other film festival or program does in the Boston area.

So, I'm glad to have Kevin and Anna with me, following in the steps of earlier managers who demonstrated both skill and courage in helping to make BUFF the often important and memorable event it can be.

AFTER LIFE

For six years I have heard nothing but raves about Hirokazu Koreeda's AFTER LIFE, his drama about people who stop by a limbo-like waystation on their way from being newly dead to whatever lies beyond. It had the kind of word of mouth that made me go out of my way to see Wong Kar-wai's IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE in Montpelier VT. (That film, my favorite of the decade, is playing at the Harvard Film Archive the next three Tuesday's at 7 pm) I'm glad I only traveled that far for AFTER LIFE.

Not that it is not a remarkable film. The concept is intriguing: those who die must select one memory to take with them. During the week at the waystation, they are to choose a memory, which will be filmed and recorded. That will be the only memory of life they will have. There are all kinds of possibiities:
an 8-l/2 way of the difficulty of capturing reality through film, the reality of flawed or distorted memory, and, perhaps most important, the choosing of one memory to keep at the expense of remembering all the experience that may have made up the fabric of our existences. These themes are barely touched upon let alone explored.

And most of the characters are not that interesting, and many of their memories are banal.. And maybe that is part of the point, for those that administer and film them, are also newly (and not so newly) deads, who have created a sort of run down bereaucratic processing place in whast looks like an abandoned high school. In fact,at its best, it occasionally reminded me of the world of the protagonist of Akira Kurosawa's masterwork, IKIRU And, the style of the film may be fitting, for it is mainly a series of talking heads interviews. Maybe because everyone in the film is already dead, there is very little joy. Conceptually that may be great, but it's hard to sit through two hours of a movie on concept that,, no matter how wonderfully minimalist it may be, remains nly a concept Only in the case of a round faced old woman who sees the day cherry blossems fall from the sky does the film glimpse the joy of memory.

BEING JULIA

Piffle!

That's the word that came to mind while watching this Annette Bening vehcle BEING JULIA, about a middle=aged stage diva, for whom, we are constantly reminded, the theatre is life and her life is theatre -all hopelessly intermeshed.

The film is good enough Friday night entertainment for the middle-aged crowd (of which I sam one), but either as a serious (or comic) treatment of the relationship between life and art, it offers only cliches. Maybe because the plays she's in seem so dreadfuly banal. the lives of the characters seem so too.

As fr Annette B ening,s Oscar nominated performance - she certainly thrws hersef into in, as if she smells Oscar material. And, she, and the rest of the cast seem to be having a better time than they would in a Merchant-Ivory film. But just as her performance in AMERICAN BEAUTY was somewhat cartoonish, and somewhat out of step with the rest of the film, so too here, she does well with the revenge on stage scene, but seems inconsistent with the rest. Do we laugh or cry? Does she know the difference? Does it make a difference?

AMBROSE ROCHE - OUR MAN IN TORONTO

Ambrose Roche, a man many regard as my counterpart in Toronto, came to Bosoton earlier this week,

A true cinephile and fim scholar, he is also an aggressive networker, and is primarily reponsibe for the many valuable Canadian connections I have made, In fact, Ambrose is so generous with his times, he often hooks people up to their mutua advantage more than looking out for himself.,It seems thsat he knows everyone.

Even in Boston he did this. We got together with entertainment lawyer Joel Shames, whom I've known for years, but it was Ambrose that got me to get Gary Marino of MILLION CALORIE MARCH to set up a meeting with Joel. At least I was able to do something for Ambrose. I arranged for him to meet with Eron Lobel of Element Films, with the possibiity of Ambrose's being able to show a rough cut screening of the Mission of Burma documentary in the film portion of North by Northeast, Toronto's versin of South by Southwest, which Ambrose programs.

So, it was good to see Ambrose on my own turf. Not only is he a valuable resource, he is also a very good friend.

l00 DAYS and Rwanda

For the last two years I have bveen trying to get bookings for a powerful film about the Rwandan genocide called l00 DAYS. Although the subject is downbeat and the cast (acted by real Rwandans) has uneven ability in talent and in their speaking of English, it is nevertheless an extremely moving and often graphic account of that tragic atrocity. Make by documentarians, this narrative film has a feel of authenticity that would complement the quite different HOTEL RWANDA. Maybe the success of that movie will help draw attention to l00 DAYS.

Both films were made to help create a consciousness of an event that the rest of the world turned its back on. And both films are helpful in the healing process and the effort to rebuild Rwanda. In fact, Laura Bernieri and I have been asked to serve on the Board of Advisors for the newly formed Rwandan Film Center, where, among other projects, we hope to develop a BORN INTO BROTHELS-style project giving cameras to children with proceeds from further showings of 100 DAYS.

PONY TROUBLE IS GROWING

Warren Lynch's PONY TROUBLE, about a group of cultists who preserve the memory of My Little Pony (Name change required) from a script by Lynch and Gabe Boyer, is gaining attention. Not only have I received an email from a guy in Texas who has a My Little Pony collection with over 3,000 artifacts, and potential investors are talking about Lynch and co doing a series of projects that could form the basis for developing an underground cable network.

THE CLOSING OF COPLEY PLACE

Last weekend marked the closing of the ll-screen, 30-year old Copley Place Theatre. Never loved because of its physical condition, it will nevertheless be missed both by moviegoers and by abutters. And it will leaved Boston in a situation where it is once again underscreened.

Built in a shopping mall at a time when the construction credo was to build with the easiest conversion to retail space ahould anything go wrong. So, Barney's is moving in. With its small auditoriums, small screens, flat floor, and inadequate sound system, it was not a great place for movie buffs. Nevertheless, most press screenings took place there (how many reviews might have been altered in more favorable viewing conditions?), and in recent years it did provide a venue for specialty movies for the film savvy Back Bay and South End audiences, for whom this was their neighbrhood theatre . Going to the Coolidge or Kendall Square is more of a stretch, and the programming policies of the Fenway or Boston Common won't change.

Ocassionally, some film would open at Copley exclusively. Now such films wil not be seen in Boston. Or, people won't see the worthwhile films that often played there because of logistics. There is now no Bnearby screen for the much Oscar nominated RAY or FINDING NEVERAND.

And, what about the Boston Film Festival? That Festival, with problems enough without need for more, used to have the Copley as its primary home. Although in the last two years, some programs have gonne on at Boston Common, there is no way Loew's is going to give up significatly more screens for the Festival, at a time when the Fall releases are just beginning.

And, just around the corner, the Circle in Cleveland Circle is up for sale.