The Star Treatment

As a person who enjoys everything about moves, I look into what the local film scene is like whenever I go to a different location. I went to a business trip to India recently and did some move home work. I saw a number of films. My favorite was Lagaan a great movie about a small village playing a cricket to avoid paying overbearing taxes.

Once I arrived and had some free time I worked out a day trip to go to Mumbai. I wanted to go to Film City but my guide worked out going to a different studio R.K Films & Studio. This studio is a piece of India cinema history. I had a small adventure I will never forget.

R.K Films & Studio was started in 1948 and has had several award winning films there. The main theme of the films coming from this Studio have been about examining and questioning the social structures and love that stretches across class and social structures. This spot was perfect and I really appreciate the history of the studio as well as its continued existence.

 My guide and the folks we went with all were going to see lots of sights and this one was the one I really wanted to see. I had no idea what to expect because I knew nothing of this studio before I went. It was just something I happened to ask for and they fit into the schedule for the day.

We get close and our driver has to ask for directions, and we drive right past it. Primarily if you did not know a studio was there you would never know it. It’s tucked in along the street and it’s very unassuming. 

We finally get on the right road going the right direction and we pull into the drive way. I have no Idea what to expect so when the gates open and we see an office and some parking spaces I begin to wonder what am I going to see here. I was getting one of those vibes of this is going to be like a road side history lesson about this studio in the hay day. Some places of old movie posters and some memorabilia.

I get out of the car and start walking up to the office and an old man looks at me and I look back and give a small bow and greet him with “Namaste” and I ask him where do we start? He waves his hand to behind the office. I dutifully swing around back, expecting to see a gift shop or a building storing its historical film artifacts.

I walk around and I see a row of trailers all lined up against the wall in the alley and I think to myself, wow this looks like where the starts stayed when they were filming. I wonder how much of this stuff is going to be like this, just as it was used when they filmed here.

I then turn and look at what looks like the opening to a sound studio. I take a few shots and then I walk over to the big doors. I stop and look at a sign stating Bang Bang Films in bright yellow. I start to get a feeling like something is not right here. I look into the studio and, Yep… it’s a working film studio. They are setting up for some shots and hat when it hits me, we should not be here.

I start walking back to the front and our driver is trying to get our attention because he has also realized we shouldn't be here. We jump back into our van and start heading out. I asked our diver why did the guard let us in. he said we looked like stars so he opened the gate.

As it turns out we got a little more of a view of the studio than most people do who are not actually working on a production.

I will always remember rolling up and getting ushered in, like we were somebodies.For the Record Bang Bang, you guys run a really nice production. The Security staff could you a bit of work. I hope we can work together in the future in a more official capacity.

ArcLight Doc Fest This Week

If you are looking for something interesting and informative to do while you are in Hollywood California give the ArcLight Doc Fest a look. It runs October 9th - 13th

Festival passes of ten or five tickets, as well as individual tickets can be purchased here 

Ten tickets are $100.

Five tickets are $50.

Individual are $16.00.

Some highlights are:

This years festival was curated by renowned documentary filmmaker and International Documentary Association president Marjan Safinia.  Most of the festivals 25 films are selections from major film festivals across the US and Canada including Sundance, Tribeca, Toronto Film Fest, SXSW, True-False, AFI Docs and Outfest. Many have been recognized with awards while screening at Sundance, Tribeca and Toronto film festivals, among others. 

The jury for the festival are:

Gretchen McCourt: Co-Chair of the ArcLight Doc Fest and EVP of ArcLight Cinemas

Jonathan Josell: Co-Chair of the ArcLight Doc Fest

Matt Holzman: KCRW radio personality

Greg Finton: Editor, Waiting For Superman,  The World According to Dick Cheney

Find all the information you need at the Achlight Hollywood Third Annual Documentary Film Festival web page. 

I am unable to attend but someone tell me what their favorite film was. 

Death by Misunderstanding

Ethan Saylor

I try and keep politics and things not related to movies out of my blog. This one is movie related so I felt I needed to do something more than just click on a link. I am posting this not to denigrate the police but to highlight a problem that gets overlooked. Ethan went to a movie and liked it so much he went back into the theater and sat down to see it again. Ethan died because of a misunderstanding. Ethan's Aid worker warned the Police that physical contact would exacerbate the situation.


I will let you read the letter I received I have a few more points to make at the end. Please feel free to add your name to the petition to make this issue something that people will pay attention to.

My big brother Ethan, who had Down syndrome, was killed by three police officers earlier this year. His crime? Not buying a $12 movie ticket. And now the police officers who killed my brother are getting off with no consequences.

On January 12, 2013, my brother Ethan went to the movies. When the movie was over, he returned to his seat to see it again. Three police officers told Ethan he had to leave, but Ethan didn't understand why. He got frustrated and afraid when the officers told him he was going to jail. His aide came into the theater and told the officers that they should not touch Ethan because it would only make him more upset. He needed time to process their request.
But the officers didn't listen. Witnesses say they threw Ethan to the ground and piled on top of him. Seconds later, Ethan couldn't breathe, and eventually died. The coroner ruled that his death was homicide by asphyxiation.

My family waited six months for the truth about what happened that night, but the officers' own department investigated and decided they deserve no punishment at all.
I started a petition on Change.org calling on the governor and attorney general of Maryland to launch a criminal investigation into the officers who killed my brother. Will you click here to sign?

Part of the problem is that police officers in Maryland aren't trained in how to deal with developmentally disabled people like my brother. I think training is an important next step in making sure that what happens to my brother never happens to anyone else. But I also want the officers who killed Ethan to be investigated for his death.

I am still in shock about what happened to my brother. I am shocked that when I go home, he isn't there. I am shocked that these police officers let a dispute over a stupid movie ticket escalate to a point where my brother died, rather than choosing a passive approach. I am shocked that the investigation was blatantly biased and the police department continues to claim the officers did nothing wrong... like my brother's life didn't matter.

I am sick of being shocked. I want to do something. I want my governor and attorney general to get justice for my brother, to find out what really happened and to implement training protocols so that no other family will ever have to experience the pain my family feels. We miss Ethan every day. He didn't deserve this. And no one else does, either.

Please sign my petition calling on Maryland's governor and attorney general to launch a criminal investigation into the officers who killed my brother.

Thank you,
Emma Saylor
Mount Airy, MD

When I was in high school my theater group did some work with mentally challenged kids and My mother worked as a house mother for adults who were working in the community and staying at a home that was giving them controlled independence. I have learned a lot in my experiences with this community and the one thing you can't assume is our level of understanding and communication is going to be received as you intend it.

This is a small situation that is made incredibly tragic by several escalating events.  The Movie theater manager who insisted his removal could have seen this was not a normal situation and perhaps let him stay. The care giver could have paid for another round and asked for rembersment from his parents. The police could have invited him out with promise of candy or a soda so they could talk. Many things lead to this tragedy that could have been avoided.

But we cant avoid is that all of us need to readjust our thinking when it comes to mental problems in this country.


 

Movies 101 - Tokyo Story

Tokyo Story – 136min - NR

Yasujirô Ozu’s vision in the movie takes a snapshot of Tokyo changing from one generation to another.  It takes place around one family comprising of grandparents and adult children and grand children. The Elderly Couple, Shukichi and Tomi Hirayama (Chishu Ryu and Chieko Higashiyama), travel to Tokyo to visit their adult children but they are caught up in their own lives to pay them much attention. The only one who shows them any kindness is their daughter in-law, Noriko (Setsuko Hara), who was widowed during the war.

While they are there the siblings chip in and pay for a trip to a resort so they can free up the room they are staying in for a meeting.  But the night life at the resort is too loud and disruptive so they come home early. Noriko again steps in to assist the family and invites them to stay with her.  During the long trip home Tomi falls ill and passes away. The family is now faced with going out to the country for the funeral. There the children exhibit different reactions to the death of their mother.  One is very quiet and passive and the other is practical and starts to stake claim to some of the belongings.

Noriko is the only one who shows compassion for father in-law, during this exchange Shukichi says that she is such a good person she should remarry as it would not dishonor the memory of their son.  She insists that she is a very selfish person but her actions have shown different.  She is given a watch that belonged to Tomi as a memento. The end of the movie shows her leaving on the train and on to a new future.

My Take Away:

This movie tells the story of how children grown up and become wrapped up in their own lives and at times leave the other members of their family out of their lives.  There is a scene where Shukichi stays out all night drinking. He and his drinking buddies lament the way their children have turned out.  They are all disappointed with their children’s lives and how they are all forgotten when they start focusing on making their own way in life. 

You can see the focus is different from the country life to the city life.  Elements in the story those shows how different life is lived in each setting, all of the children have moved away. 

This is an excellent example of show don’t tell.  We see how the children act we don’t need long explanations of what they are thinking. Their behavior speaks volumes.  Even Noriko is beautifully portrayed as someone who cares and who is deeply lonely at the loss of her husband, but hold true to his memory.  

This is a story that has a message that does not deliver it in a heavy handed fashion; it’s a sermon that is told in a parable, not thundering from a pulpit.