The sin here is not so much the left-wing politics as it is the potentially heavy-handed storytelling. What sounds like a fascinating concept – a fascinating device to explore the human condition — is seemingly going to be intruded upon by a stupidly divisive enviro-message.

Via Reuters:

“We all know we’re going to die every moment of every day,” [director Abel Ferrara] told reporters after a press screening of the movie in Venice. “What you do in the meantime is what life is all about.”

News footage, including a real interview by environmental campaigner and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, makes clear that the cause of Earth’s demise is man-made.

“This film is about man’s destruction of the Earth,” Ferrara said.

“It’s on us. It’s our responsibility. We did it. This isn’t an accident, or an act of God as they say in the insurance claim. This is an act of man.

“That’s a nightmare. That’s part of the anguish. There’s a lot more further advanced civilizations than ours that have bit the dust … it’s not like: ‘Oh my God, this could never happen’.” …

Asked whether Gore was officially attached to the film, the director said he had “reached out” to the former U.S. vice president and that he was “definitely pro,” although he had not seen it.

Ferrara is responsible for two of my favorite films of the ’90s: “Bad Lieutenant” and “King of New York.” Twenty years later, both still resonate thanks to two amazing central performances that bring to life complicated characters living in Ferrara’s thematically-driven world. Because of the explicit subject matter, these aren’t films I would recommend to everyone, but if you want to learn how to deliver a compelling character study to the screen, you won’t find better examples. The key to their success, however, is the word “theme.” There’s no agenda at work, nothing preachy, no divisive message. Of all directors, you would think Ferrara would know better.

When you create a fantasy world where Al Gore’s nonsense, lies and hypocrisy are proven correct, how does that add to your story?  

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Filmmaker George Romero has had exactly one good idea in his life: the original, 1968 zombie film Night of the Living Dead. Since then, he has been coasting on a reputation as a maker of smarter than average horror films. Although he has made some good movies since Night of the Living Dead, few of his films have above par for the horror genre, and the average quality of horror films in the decades since his breakthrough movie is a very low bar to surpass. 

In particular, Romero has revisited the zombie film in quite a few movies over the years, usually providing the press with some serious intellectual/social/political commentary his latest film is supposed to make. So it is once again with his new film, the Venice Film Festival entry Survival of the Dead. Reuters reports that Romero, age 69, said his new film deals with questions about when it’s right to go to war:  (more…)

A quote from Oliver Stone’s soccer body, Hugo Chavez:

“The question is not whether the Israelis want to exterminate the Palestinians. They’re doing it openly,” Chavez said in an interview with Le Figaro[.] …

“What was it if not genocide? … The Israelis were looking for an excuse to exterminate the Palestinians,” Chavez said, adding that sanctions should have been slapped on Israel.

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As tens of thousands took to the streets of Venezuela to protest the Chavez government’s growing authoritarianism, as the Chavez government announced the closing of over two dozen radio stations “biased” against the government, why is it not surprising that the international film community greeted the thug with what the AP describes as a “movie star reception?”

Yes, it looks as though unless Ahmadinejad, the ghost of Joseph Stalin or the surviving members of the Weather Underground show up to steal his thunder, Hugo Chavez (whose Indian name is “He Who Rides Little Girl Bike“) is the toast of the 2009 Venice Film Festival.

The hoopla surrounds Oliver Stone’s latest documentary “South of the Border,” which the the L.A. Times describes as a “counterpoint to the prevailing U.S. image of Chávez … as a bellicose dictator-cum-comic opera figure.”

I’m still unclear how one is supposed to represent a bellicose dictator-cum-comic opera figure as something other than a bellicose dictator-cum-comic opera figure, but rest assure Oliver — Can I play soccer with Uncle Hugo?– Stone gave it the old college try; the same Oliver Stone who portrayed the Abraham Lincoln of the Middle East and his Vice President as warped and sinister. (more…)

Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story” premieres at the Venice Film Festival today. Reuters has most of the details, the usual-usual from the 55-year old mega-millionaire. But buried below the usual-usual is the real story — a point of agreement with we right-wingers:

Amid the gloom, Moore detects the beginnings of a popular movement against unbridled capitalism, and believes President Barack Obama’s rise to power may bolster it.

Well, let’s hope Ted Kennedy’s enjoying his day on the slopes because Mr. Moore and I just found some common ground.

Here are the other bullet points. To save you time, the following words are not used together in describing the film: ”personal” and “responsibility” — “taxes” and “too high” — “Michael Moore” and “gave all his wealth to the federal government.”    (more…)