First Podcast on I View Films

I'm experiment with pod-casting in this post.
In my pod-cast I talk about film nostalgia, the magic of film and some of my film-related experiences. I also share some brief reviews. Enjoy!

Here's the link to it.

In my next post I hope to talk about a film I'm planning to view at the Seattle International Film Festival. You can visit the SIFF site to see what's showing.

BTW, last week I had a free pass to view Midnight in Paris, a new film by Woody Allen which I had hoped to review in this blog, but unfortunately the film was sold out when I arrived to redeem my free admission. Maybe if I had shown up earlier, I would have gotten in. On the other hand, I really want to focus my blog on non-Hollywood films so maybe it's just as well I didn't get to see it!

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Thanks for visiting and listening. Come back and visit again soon.

Reviews of: Year of the Dog, Temple Grandin

Year of the Dog is a touching film starring Molly Shannon as Peggy, an ordinary single woman who lives contentedly with her pet beagle, Pencil. Then one day her beloved pet suddenly dies and Peggy's life starts to change.

Peter Sarsgaard is great as Newt, a dog-loving vegan who becomes Peggy's love-interest. Sarsgaard spoke about his role in the video clip. Newt first offers Peggy a new dog and progressively he influences Peggy to make some major changes in her life.

Regina King is great as Peggy's co-worker and good friend Layla. Laura Dern is Peggy's sister-in-law. All of the characters in this film have their own larger-than-life quirks. I caught myself being reminded of people I've met or known.

Mike White who's a vegan, was both the writer and director for this film.
This film is entertaining, touching and thought-provoking. I even thought that it was inspiring to see how a woman who finds a new passion in her life, affects and inspires other people in her life.

In this post, I also want to discuss an amazing film titled Temple Grandin which is based on the inspiring biography of a woman who overcame the challenges of autism and went on to earn her Bachelor's degree, her Master's in Science and finally a Doctorate. Her unusual method of seeing the world enabled her to create more humane handling systems for cattle. She believes that animals should be treated as humanely as possible before they become meat. Claire Danes did a fantastic job of portraying Temple. Even Temple herself was quite impressed and said that she felt as if she saw herself in Claire's portrayal. Julia Ormond is great as a Temple's mother, a determined woman who despite the advice and opinion of professionals, was driven to help her autistic daughter find her way in the world.

Here's a link to a video that includes clips from the film, discussion from Claire Danes, the director Mick Jackson, Temple Grandin and others. You can also visit Temple Grandin's website.

These are two very different films, one is a fiction and the other is a biography of a real person, but they are related by the love, compassion and respect for animals.

SIFF in Seattle

Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF for short) is on. Of course, it's in Seattle, naturally!

For those who like to get printed copies of the schedule, one of these is included in the latest issue of The Stranger, which is a free weekly paper that serves the Seattle area. 

To the left is an image showing what the cover of the issue looks like. 

To the right is an image showing what the cover of the SIFF schedule included in the issue looks like. 

Barring that you could always do a search on the SIFF website . If you go to the View Details link you can browse films by program, genre, director, country and venue. I think it's kind of a cool feature, especially if you are interested in films by certain directors or from certain countries. Or maybe you only want to go to one or two venues. SIFF has a number of venues, including some on the Eastside too!

According to Amy Lillard, executive director of Washington Filmworks there are 11 regional films being shown at this year's SIFF. Washington Filmworks in a non-profit organization which offers some support and incentives for filmmakers in the state of Washington. There are a number of resources for anyone interested in film-related opportunities in Washington. These include information about incentives, networking opportunities, filmmakersworkshops and other info. People can even list their property as a possible film location. I encourage anyone interested to visit this website to check out all their resources.

Film Review: Glass

Glass: a portrait of Philip in twelve parts is a fascinating documentary about composer Philip Glass. Whether you love or hate his music, I think that you'll find this award-winning documentary very interesting.

This composer is quite the Renaissance man because he has such a wide variety of interests. He's a vegetarian and he practices Qi Gong He worked with Ravi Shankar before the Beatles did! He's also very good friends with artist Chuck Close who did a portrait of Philip Glass.

If you watch the DVD, there are  lots of extra features included that director Scott Hicks didn't include in his film. This director also made the award-winning film Shine which was based on the real life of concert pianist
David Helfgott.

In my opinion, Philip Glass has found himself a good niche as a composer by creating the music for many films, some of which have been nominated for and even won awards. To get a better idea of what kind of music Glass composes, it would be a good idea to watch some of these films.
Here are a few films he's composed music for:

• The Hours 
• Kundun
• Notes on a Scandal
• The Truman Show
• The Illusionist 
• The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara 
• The Thin Blue Line 
• Koyaanisqatsi

Music is a very important part of most films.  I believe that the wrong music can ruin a potentially good film and the right music can make a good film even better!

Until next post, enjoy viewing films! I'd love to hear comments or suggestions from any readers out there!

First thought, best thought. --attributed to Allen Ginsberg by Philip Glass