Left Behind: Eternal Forces

Even more disturbing than the America's Army recruiting videogame, Left Behind: Eternal Forces takes indoctrination to the next level- introducing kids to the memetic virus of fundamentalist religion one exciting infidel death at a time. A few years ago I would have found this utterly hilarious. Now it kind of raises the hair on the back of my neck.
From an article about the game at talk2action.org, found via boingboing:

This game immerses children in present-day New York City -- 500 square blocks, stretching from Wall Street to Chinatown, Greenwich Village, the United Nations headquarters, and Harlem. The game rewards children for how effectively they role play the killing of those who resist becoming a born again Christian. The game also offers players the opportunity to switch sides and fight for the army of the AntiChrist, releasing cloven-hoofed demons who feast on conservative Christians and their panicked proselytes (who taste a lot like Christian).

Is this paramilitary mission simulator for children anything other than prejudice and bigotry using religion as an organizing tool to get people in a violent frame of mind? The dialogue includes people saying, "Praise the Lord," as they blow infidels away.

DVD Talk > Reviews > Dazed & Confused: The Criterion Collection

Check out this totally glowing review of the Dazed Criterion box on DVDTalk.com.

Octopus Project and A Featherweight Burden, tonight at Emo's outside

I'll be running video again for the immortal Octopus Project tonight at Emo's Outside. Come dig it. Featherweight Burden is opening and will have a new disc available for sale.

.: ant portraits - a photoset on Flickr

.: ant portraits - a photoset on Flickr by JochenB

Austinist: Remember The Alamo! Original Alamo Drafthouse to Go Non-Profit

The idea of the greatest institution in Austin being even minutely threatened makes the veins in my neck pop out.
From The Austinist:

After ten years at 409 Colorado, the Alamo Downtown’s lease is almost up. Facing doubled rent and tripled property taxes, owners Tim and Karrie League have formed a non-profit organization called The Heroes of the Alamo Foundation in an effort to keep the nationally renowned theatre’s doors open.

You're all encouraged – nay, obligated by your love of spaghetti westerns, classic horror, music movies, indie documentaries and goofy sing-alongs – to help out by becoming an official patron of the theatre. Very soon (but apparently not yet), you’ll be able to sign on as a supporting member by visiting their site. There will be a wide range of member/donor packages, and all contributions will be tax deductible. Your greatest reward, however, will be the knowledge that you’ve helped keep one of Austin’s coolest cultural institutions alive.

Link

CinemaTech: Paramount Technorati: Adding blogger comments to movie Web sites

Paramount Pictures and Technorati announced a multi-picture deal today to add blogger comments to movie Web sites, beginning with the global warming documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth.'

Scott wonders aloud the same thought I had, will the studios filter negative comments? Especially for a movie like An Inconvenient Truth (one of the first films to incorporate blog comments) which covers a hot button issue that will assuredly generate a lot of trolls and attack posts.
Link

Fast Food Nation Trailer

YouTube - Something Blue

More Live Octo

Nice clip of Octopus Project playing truck at the Troubador. More here.

Dazed criterion edition arrives!

Dazed criterion edition arrives!, originally uploaded by weevil.

Mon 05/15/2006 17:36 05152006(003)

I got my advance copy of the Criterion Dazed DVD today... it's really something, a book full of goodies, Kahane's making of documentary, the original poster... They really did a great job. The transfer of the film looks and sounds terrific, and there's an alternate soundtrack-only track (kind of like the blow-up disc if I remember correctly). If you are a fan of the movie, this is finally the disc to get.

Link

Evan cagle at night of the living art, club deville

Evan cagle at night of the living art, club deville, originally uploaded by weevil.

Sat 05/13/2006 22:26 05132006(002)

The Puffy Chair - A Duplass Brothers Movie

Mark and Jay Duplass have put up a site for their new film The Puffy Chair. I missed the film on its festival tour, but I plan on catching it in theaters.
Here's the trailer.

Blogging lull

I haven't been posting as regularly or as substantively as I would like, mainly because I am spending upwards of 11 hours a day at work, which is leaving me stoop-backed, tired, and uninspired. I'm currently looking for new employment opportunities in the Austin area. My resume is here. I'm looking for a job with more flexible hours, with a location closer into town or the ability to work at home. Ideally this would be a job related to film or video production, game or interactive design, copy writing or graphic design.

Apologies to anyone who has sent me dvd's for review in the past few weeks, I promise to get to them soon.

In other news, The Criterion Collection has a myspace page(?!)

Nice shot of The Octopus Project playing at the Troubador in LA with my projection visuals going.
Photo by Billgazer

Austinist: Austinist Interview: The Devil and Daniel Johnston Director, Jeff Feuerzeig

Link

Grant McLennan R.I.P.

Grant McLennan, co-leader of the Australian band the Go-Betweens, died Saturday, May 6, in Brisbane at the age of 48. McLennan passed away in his sleep; the cause of death is not yet known.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston

I finally got to see The Devil and Daniel Johnston yesterday- Jeff Feuerzeig's excellent documentary about the Austin singer-songwriter, his struggles with manic depression, his prolific output of artwork, and his strange personal mythology- both his internal world of comic book characters and demonic forces and the dumbfounding way he stumbled into turning himself into a mythological character. I was amazed to hear a lifetime of dubious anecdotes I had absorbed about Daniel Johnston confirmed in the film- how he landed here during a brief stint as a carnival worker after running away from home; how through sheer persistence and a disarming sincerity he won people over to his music who might otherwise have found it unlistenable, making himself a cult celebrity while still working at McDonalds; how his breakdown into religious paranoia had him once intentionally crashing his fathers passenger plane and had Lee Renaldo and Thurston Moore desperately searching New York and New Jersey in an attempt to rescue him from himself.
Even if you are unfamiliar with, or not a fan of Daniel Johnston's work, this is a great, emotionally engaging film.

Octo at Coachella

JEEE-HEEKERS! The Woodring Monitor

From the hon. Mrs. Mary Woodring:

Jim Woodring has finally grabbed the ol' clue train and established a "blog", whereon you can see all sorts of images and information available nowhere else. The address of the "blog" is http://jimwoodring.blogspot.com/ It will be updated at least three times a week.

Link

Thanks Jeff!

Crispin Glover | The A.V. Club

Crispin Glover I/V at The A.V. Club:

I've divorced my want of trying to demonstrate my artistic expression through other people's films, which never was really that good an idea. It really makes more sense for me to be doing that with my own films.

Somebody should have explained that concept to me when I was 18, I might have made my own feature by now.

p i c t o p l a s m a - Characters in Motion

The Characters in Motion DVD is a compilation of over 90 films by 60 international studios, artists and designers, divided into 3 programmes: characters in narration, characters in rhythm and characters in motion.

Link

Happy May Day

Paul Giovanni & Magnet - Maypole Song From The Wicker Man

Wired News: Daniel Clowes Talks Confidential

Link