Hop Litzwire in his home studio talking about his work as a musician and filmmaker. Photo by Spencer Jansen.
If you picked up last week’s issue, you may have seen that I had a chance to sit down with musician and filmmaker Hop Litzwire, a super nice guy who welcomed me into his awesome home office/studio to chat about his life and times. Those discussions included talk of his documentary Silent Storytellers, which is about the importance of preserving cemeteries. From the footage I saw, it looks absolutely beautiful. I plan to see the whole thing this weekend at the public premier:
What: Silent Storytellers
When: 6 p.m. Friday, March 5
Where: Clinton School of Public Service
Admission: Free*
*Reserve a seat by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or calling 501.683.5239
If you can’t make it Friday, tune into AETN for the broadcast premier at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 11. Here’s an AETN interview Litzwire about the doc:
Just a quick heads up today about an interesting (free) event going on next week: AETN, along with Hendrix College, is hosting a showing of Young@Heart at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, at the Murphy Building on the Hendrix campus in Conway (corner of Washington Avenue and Winfield Street).
I remember seeing the trailer for this film some time ago, but I never caught it. It’s a documentary about the group, Young@Heart, which is a collection of senior citizen singers with an average age of 80 who sing popular rock songs from the Rolling Stones to Coldplay. The film, shot by Stephen Walker, follows the group over seven weeks in 2006 as they prepare for an “Alive and Well” concert in their hometown of Northampton, Mass.
As one coworker put it, how can you not want to see your grandmother singing “I Wanna Be Sedated”?
Also, there’s a giveaway for the DVD of the movie and free refreshments. Following the screening, a community discussion will be held with panelists from the Arkansas Department of Health Services Division of Aging and Adult Services and other senior services organizations. More details on the Hendrix website.
If you’ve picked up Sync this week, you’ve seen I had a chance to chat with Jason Gammel, a kickballer who, along with friend Kenny Reynolds, just finished a documentary called “See ya Sunday” about the Little Rock Kickball Association and his team’s first season as a part of it.
(The film premiers this weekend at Market Street Cinema; see the article or the LRKA website for details on show times.)
Toward the end of that conversation, I asked if I could check out the movie early for this blog, and while Gammel didn’t have a DVD screener handy, he did invite me to his North Little Rock studio to watch the final cut of the film on his computer, an offer I gladly accepted. I figured it would be like watching one of those special edition DVDs with directors’ commentary, only in this case they’d actually be in the room.
Well, it didn’t turn out quite like that. In fact, nobody said a word until after the film was over. But it was a great time nonetheless, and I count myself privileged to be the first person other than the filmmakers to see the finished work.
And about that work: If you’re one to think of documentaries as super serious endeavors that have to either deal with topics of the utmost stuffiness or be narrated by a man whose voice put you to sleep back in high school history class, well then think again.
This film is funny.
Sometimes the comedy is simply in enjoying the outrageous images on screen: a remote controlled car delivering drinks to players on the field or a player dressed as Jesus (with jersey on over his robe).
Other times, it’s thanks to the directors’ clever mix of interview and image, as when you hear a person saying a newcomer who knows nothing about LRKA could get the wrong impression as you see a man lifting up his shirt to bare a hairy chest and rub his nipples.
Then there’s footage of Gammel, himself, completely whiffing on a ball he’s promised to kick the you-know-what out of instead of bunt. That one almost got cut, he tells me afterward.
It’s not the only footage of Gammel in the movie, though, as he is a frequent interview subject throughout. Indeed, he told me after watching that there’s more of him in it than he realized. While that could come across to some as self indulgent, it seems to me to be more out of necessity. Half the focus of the film is about how his team, the Atomic Catsicles, joined the league, and telling that story without him being a part of it seems a tall order.
That story leads to a little confusion, though, because while most of the film follows their path through the spring 2007 season chronologically, some of the interviews, which were conducted after the season was over, reference the success the team has had “before” they actually have it.
Still, “See ya Sunday” is enough to keep a smile on your face for the better part of 60 minutes, even if it’s not all laughs. The founding of the league in particular is a story more poignant than playful.
For those who don’t know about that story or how the league operates or the good work it does, the film should prove informative. For those who do but aren’t part of the LRKA (like me), it’s still amusing. And for kickballers, well, it should go without saying that the film is a must see.
No, I’m not talking about the phrase we‘ve all heard a lot recently: “Have you seen Twilight yet?”
True, the film did rake in another $42.5 million this weekend, bringing the total domestic take up over $200 million in just two weeks. But the more telling trend over the Thanksgiving weekend was that while New Moon was down about $100 million from last week’s impressive debut, right behind it — again — was The Blind Side at $40.1 million, which is actually more than it brought in its opening weekend ($34.5 million).
Maybe people were just cracked out on that chemical in turkey that makes you sleepy and purchased the wrong ticket, but the more likely explanation seems to be that The Blind Side is actually a pretty good movie and people who are going to see it are telling their friends to do the same — as well as going back themselves.
"Walking around in daylight?! Really?"
In other news, tomorrow is DVD release day and the big name on the list (at least, for me) is Terminator Salvation. With The Sarah Conner Chronicles TV series not coming back this fall, I’ve been waiting for this fix for some time. I watched the original Terminator on Netflix over the weekend just to pump myself up.
If you look closely you can see tears for the state of this franchise.
Also out on video this week is a project I’m interested in, a film called Paper Heart. It’s about a girl who is making a documentary about how she will never fall in love and then does just that during the course of shooting. But it’s not really a documentary. It’s billed as “combining elements of documentary and traditional storytelling, reality and fantasy.” As a journalist, I’m not sure what to think about this crossing of the lines between real reporting and fictional storytelling. But to the filmmakers’ credit, they’re upfront and honest about it, and I have to confess it sounds intriguing. Starring(?) Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera, directed by Nicholas Jasenovec.
The trailer can be found here but since embedding is disabled, I offer this tangentially related instructional video instead.
For those interested in documentaries, arguing or both, the Faulkner County Library in Conway is hosting a showing and discussion of the award-winning and controversial film For the Bible Tells Me So, which tackles the topic of reconciling homosexuality and Christian scripture. The film will be shown at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3.
The full announcement from the library (i.e., I am not the author of the opinions expressed herein):
The Faulkner County Library is proud to announce a Doc and Talk Movie night and discussion concerning the consequences of homophobia. The documentary to be screened is For the Bible Tells Me So. The screening of the film will be followed by a community discussion and presentation by Mary Lou Wallner of T.E.A.C.H. ministries. This movie night and presentation will take place on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 6:30 p.m. The film will start at 6:30 p.m. followed by the discussion. The community is welcome to participate in the discussion following the movie. There will be free popcorn and drinks! Help the library reduce and reuse by bringing your own bowl for popcorn!
The documentary For the Bible Tells Me So asks, “Does God really condemn loving homosexual relationships? Is the chasm separating Christianity from gays and lesbians too wide to cross? Is the Bible an excuse to hate?”
These questions and more are answered in this award-winning documentary, which brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture – and reveals that religious anti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a misinterpretation of the Bible.
Through the experiences of five very normal, Christian, American families – including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson – we discover how people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child or family member. Offering healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual orientation, this landmark film “boldly takes on a loaded topic and examines it both intellectually and emotionally; the result may well leave you blinking away a few tears.” (Seattle Times). Honors for the documentary include a nomination for a grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 and the audience award for best documentary at the Seattle Film Festival.
Mary Lou Wallner (also featured in the film) of T.E.A.C.H. ministries will host the community discussion. Mary Lou Wallner lost her lesbian Christian daughter to suicide in February of 1997. Being raised in a fundamentalist, legalistic church environment, Mary Lou was taught the untruth that homosexuality is a sin. Her journey from “tragedy to transformation” is nothing short of amazing. She and her husband, Bob, are strong allies for Gays, Lesbians, Bisexual and Transgender people. They have a sincere desire to see the church accept and welcome GLBT people just the way God made them. The mission of T.E.A.C.H. ministries is To Educate About the Consequences of Homophobia through public speaking, brochures, workshops, videos, books, and any and all other appropriate means.
For more information on this event contact the Faulkner County Library at 501-327-7482. Refreshment donations are always needed for special events (2-liters of soda especially!) The event is free and open to the public.
Hot Springs filmmaker Josh Baxter's documentary Injury Slight ... Please Advise will screen next week at the Little Rock Film Festival.
Let me pitch you an idea for a movie.
A World War II pilot gets shot down over the jungles of New Guinea, survives the crash landing, hacks his way through the dense jungle for the next month, during which time he’s taken in by natives who ultimately intend to kill him (and maybe eat him), so he shoots his way out of the village in a desperate escape attempt and disappears into the jungle, eventually wandering into an Australian military outpost. He’s then flown back to his base, except that plane crashes, too. He survives that crash landing in the jungle as well and hikes back to the outpost, where eventually he’s flown back to his base for real.
Taken as a simple pitch, it either sounds far-fetched or brilliant.
The coolest part is, it’s a true story. And it’s already been made into a documentary feature that will screen at the Little Rock Film Festival. The film, Injury Slight … Please Advise, is a several-year culmination of work by director Josh Baxter, an Arkansan who lives in Hot Springs.
Home-grown documentary just a taste of Arkansas’ film potential
Monday, May 4th, 2009Hot Springs filmmaker Josh Baxter's documentary Injury Slight ... Please Advise will screen next week at the Little Rock Film Festival.
Let me pitch you an idea for a movie.
A World War II pilot gets shot down over the jungles of New Guinea, survives the crash landing, hacks his way through the dense jungle for the next month, during which time he’s taken in by natives who ultimately intend to kill him (and maybe eat him), so he shoots his way out of the village in a desperate escape attempt and disappears into the jungle, eventually wandering into an Australian military outpost. He’s then flown back to his base, except that plane crashes, too. He survives that crash landing in the jungle as well and hikes back to the outpost, where eventually he’s flown back to his base for real.
Taken as a simple pitch, it either sounds far-fetched or brilliant.
The coolest part is, it’s a true story. And it’s already been made into a documentary feature that will screen at the Little Rock Film Festival. The film, Injury Slight … Please Advise, is a several-year culmination of work by director Josh Baxter, an Arkansan who lives in Hot Springs.
(more…)
Tags: Baxter, documentary, film, WWII
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