I remember seeing this as a kid and being blown away by her...They don't make 'em like they used to. Sigh...

Though a few weeks have passed since the release of 300, the brouhaha over the film's various historical inaccuracies and not so peachy depiction of Persians has hit a fever pitch as reported by the BBC:

The film has stirred controversy among Iranians across the world, but it is the expatriate community in North America that have been the loudest voice opposing an "assault on its culture and tradition".

Personally, as an Iranian who admittedly doesn't feel a lot of cultural identification, I do see their point - you don't want to kick someone while they're down... It's not like Iranians have been getting a free ride as far as good press or positive depiction goes for the past 20 years.

That said, the movie's based on Frank Miller comic for Christ's sake! It's a complete roller coaster ride of fabrication and erroneousness all around... Does anyone actually believe that the Spartans were walking around with chiseled pecs and six pack abs, speaking in quasi Scottish accents?

With all the campaign talk for '08, the question still remains, whether Al Gore will actually make another bid.

This recent Rolling Stone article puts up a good arugument as to why he should and how he could do it.

Today's NY Times article reports about how the simple act of holding hands has changed meaning and become somewhat passe:

“I see more people on their cellphone than holding hands,” he said, adding, “To some extent we are trading real face-to-face relationships, where there’s touch and body language, for electronic ones.”

Wow... It reminded me of two things, when I first moved to NY and I was walking down the street with my beloved, holding her hand and then I noticed, nobody (and i mean nobody) was doing that, which just seemed odd. The other is years ago, my friend Tony telling me how all he wanted to do was to walk down the street, holding his boyfriend's hand, without ever feeling the need or the fear to look over his shoulder.

So the next time you're walking with someone you like (or even better, love), reach down and hold their hand. In these time, that's a daring act...

First there is the sad, sad news that one of my most fave bands Sleater-Kinney is calling it quits (or going on "hiatus", which is the equivelant of saying an actor was hospitalized for "exhaustion", but I digress).

Since we must Rock on, I'm happy to announce that one of my other fave musicians Paul Schneider is putting out a new record, Forever Debts and is kicking things off with a show at Magnetic Field in Brooklyn on Thursday night (Ian Love will be opening). I can't say enough good things about the album and feel especially lucky that Paul allowed us to use one of his tunes in our short Thirsty.

Paul's first album Escape Velocity was called "a solid indie rock record, announcing the arrival of a songwriter to look out for" by taste makers at Pitchfork Media.

So, if you're a fan of quality music I highly recommend checking Paul and his new record out... Or hopefully you'll come and see him live.

Yes, again it feels like a billion years since I last wrote... Amanda and I have been in LA for the past week, chilling, which has been great.

And totally by coincedence we got to be here for the world premiere of Amanda's friend Rachel Libert's fantastic doc Beyond Conviction at the LA Film Festival. Besides directing Rachel is a top notch DP and it was great to see the film screen Friday night to a near full house at the Landmark in Westwood. Plus it got a standing ovation! Especially nice since Rachel has been working on the film for over 6 years... Obviously the hard work has paid off and I think that the audience and the jury will recognize that, and award her one, if not two of the top prizes (fingers crossed). Plus I spotted Appollo Creed/Action Jackson himself, Carl Weathers, in the audience! I was going to say something awesomely stupid to him, but (thankfully) chickened out.

Since we weren't here for work, we really didn't catch much else... But it was just great to drive around and see friends we hadn't seen in a while.

Ska/Rocksteady god Desmond Dekker passed away yesterday.

It's pretty incredible reading all the obituaries across the web and only a few mention that for all intents and purposes Desmond Dekker introduced Ska to the world (For those who don't know who he is, check out the closing song in Drugstore Cowboy).

As someone who is a big fan of ska music I'm perpetually bummed when ska and rocksteady are overshadowed by or lumped together with raggae, a sound and scene that I've never been much of a fan of... Maybe it's because of my college years where I witnessed many a drunk jock fratboy at UC Berkeley puffing on a spliff while butchering a Marley song.

But I digress... No one can say that Dekker wasn't a pioneer, sadly one that never really got his due.

Sure, there was some festival with fancy-ass movie stars in town, but the real action last Saturday night was the sold out opening night of the Gotham Girls Roller Derby at LI University in Brooklyn.

The match was a sweaty, fun filled affair with the Manhattan Mayhems playing newbie team the Bronx Gridlock. Manhattan showed the Bronx girls how it’s done with a down to the wire win, which had Amanda and I screaming our heads off (I lost my voice towards the end).

This season almost didn’t come to be as the league recently lost their decade long home when the Skate Key Rink in the boogie down Bronx closed its doors. Luckily they’ve found a temporary home for the first 2 games of the season and are searching for a permanent home as we speak.

Next bout is June 2nd with the Brooklyn Bombshells facing off The Queens of Pain. You’ve been warned.

(Promise to take some pix next time)

As a rule, I'm not a big fan of the stupid "wack 'em" online games. I'm also not a big fan of 80's cheese bands like Hall and Oates.

BUT, put the two together, and you got yourself a party!

Check out this awesome timewaster on Flipped Lid (click on wack-an-oates)... And the even more awesome thing, wack that Jessie's Girl wantin' Rick Springfield for extra points!

On an aside - what is up with Oates and the need to flash his chest hair? (see picture).

Just want to put a plug in for my friend and fellow writer Nicole Perlman who was one of three winners selected for the Tribeca FF/Sloan develpment grant for her script Challenger. There will be a showcase scene reading during Tribeca on May 5th at 11 A.M. at the Tribeca Grand Hotel screening room. Tickets are available for purchse.

Nicole is an uber-talented writer...And it's always nice to see great things happen to good, deserving people.

Rock on Nicole!

Pirates, Nijas, ATF agents... What more can you ask for really?

"Other Music", a brilliant short making fun of indie record shop employees - Other Music, Kim's Underground, and of course the king of them all Mod Lang in Berkeley...

Actually, I've never had a bad experience at most of the stores mentioned (well, except for Kim's, since the jackass quotient there is pretty high).

Hopefully it'll make the music hipsters out there chuckle. Thanks Randy for bringing to my attention.

I've been a Netflix convert for a few years now... I loved it, couldn't complain one bit.

But last week an AP article appeared in national newspapers discussing the finalization of a class action suit brought against DVD rental goliath Netflix... Turns out that Netflix has been indulging in quite a bit of customer "throtteling" for a while:

Four months after the suit was filed, Netflix changed its terms of use to acknowledge it sometimes delays shipments to frequent renters so it can give priority to customers who keep their movies longer. The practice, derided as "throttling" by its critics, helps Netflix boost its profits.

If you're a total geek like me, feel free to check out Find Law's well written piece on the ins and outs of throttling and big business in America... Long and short of it is it's totally legal. Thank you sir, may I have another.

All of this goes to explain why I haven't been able to rent 40 Year Old Virgin, Junebug and Flightplan since their release.

Yes, late as usual, but here are my thoughts finally put together.

This year’s mix of films seemed a lot more uneven than the years before… where as out of the 10-15 movies that we usually see, the majority would be very strong, a few really amazing and one or two merely shrug-worthy, this year most films fell somewhere in the shrug to not good at all category.

I’d like to think that it was the luck of the draw… Certainly 12 films are not a reflection of an entire festival; but this is supposed to be about my experience, right? So I can confidently say that in my humble opinion, I didn’t think the slate was that strong this year.

That said, here are a few films worth mentioning:

Guide to Recognizing Your Saints: If there was buzz to be had on a film, this film had it… I think pretty much every single screening even way into the festival was sold out. The story is nothing original; our friend Paul called it “Mean Streets set in Queens” which pretty much sums it up. But the performances, especially by Shia LaBeouf, took this film from okay to really good. Definitely worth watching once it comes your way.

Right At Your Door: I have to preface this by saying that as a rule I don’t like horror or apocalyptic thrillers (The Day After, etc.)… But this film got to me. The idea of taking a huge event (dirty bombs going off in LA) and personalizing it by experiencing it thru the eyes of a young husband and wife, separated because the after effects, was a brilliant idea. A shrewd move both dramatically and budgetary. The film walked away with the Cinematography Award, and the kinetic energy of the first 15 minutes of the film make you understand why. I did think the ending was a bit weak… but I still enjoyed the ride. Also worth noting: Amazing performances by Rory Cochrane and Mary McCormack.

Sherrybaby: We saw this because Bridget Barkan, our actress from Thirsty was in it. A tough one to watch by any standards… But well done. Everyone and their mother was raving about Maggie Gyllenhaal’s performance, which was absolutely well deserved. But I personally was floored by Bridget’s amazingly understated performance. The girl deserves to get more work… Rock on Bridget!

A few others worth mentioning, but not getting in to: Forgiven; Thank you for Smoking and Everyone Stares: The Police.

As for the ones that bit it, I can’t really bring myself to diss another filmmaker’s work publicly. Knowing what it takes to make a film (and on top of it, get it into Sundance), I can’t in all good conscience rip it to shreds... Feel free to call me a coward...

One more entry coming - with photos!

Happy MLK day to all... At times it still feels we are miles away from "I have a dream". When an army, made up mainly of minorities, is coming back in body bags. With a government who lets the poor (and mainly black) hurricane victims starve and die in the streets, while commending its own ineptitude. With a judge about to be confirmed to the highest court in the land, who is a documented racist, advocating keeping women and minorities out of Princeton.

But I guess Dr. King was faced with much more and way worse when he dared to dream. Here's hoping we can all rise to that challenge.

And while at it, I'd like to plug my smarty pants pal Rebecca's new book Uncle Tom or New Negro? which came out just this month... It's available on Amazon and it's money well spent!

Looking for work? Well look no further than than Cronyjobs.com -- Government jobs for the taking and no experience necessary.

It's like Monster.com without the BS of resumes and qualification...

Oh and don't miss the pull down menus and checkboxes on the side.

Thanks to my friend Gerry for bringing this most valued resource to my attention.

Yes, we all know MTV sucks.

MTV 2 used to be good, but is beginning to stench (Subterranean at 4am on Sundays being it's only saving grace). VH1? Don't get me started. Fuse is okay, but watching it makes me feel my age and VH1 Classics, though thoroughly enjoyable, really makes me feel my age.

So as I wonder through the desert searching for new, good, interesting music videos I came across Antville - a blog dedicated solely to music videos... Who would've thunk?

And even better, you can post your own video -- So no jackass programmers telling you the artist hasn't sold enough records to be deemed worthy of airplay.

Yeah, I was going to have a real entry as my first blog and wait until we changed the picture on this blog (hint, I'm not the blond) -- But I couldn't resist this. I stumbled across this amazingly detailed Kids in the Hall fansite. For those not in the know (which I'm sure are very few), this gem of a skit show has inspired many others, from Chapelle's Show to The State and so on. I always felt they never got their due... The site has everything a fan would dig - including transcripts (!). Here's a blurb from a fave skit:

Finally posting some various pics from my recent Sundance trip... before it all becomes a foggy memory.

A nice sunny day in Park City on our quiet street

Waiting for the screening to start at the Eccles

Ian looking mighty stoic

My friend Mindy laughing the night away.

Eugene and Jimmy looking cute at the Queer Brunch

I returned this week from a very fun and fruitful trip to Park City� Bo and I watched a bunch of movies, went to a bunch of parties, saw some friends and met some great new people. All in all a great trip.

I felt like the slate this year was a bit more uneven (especially compared to last year), but I definitely saw some gems, specifically BRICK, a really brilliant and confidant first film, with an awesome performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (total hottie!) I also loved Alice Wu�s SAVING FACE and the Brit gangster flick LAYER CAKE (both of which already have distribution) � so see them when they come out! I heard HUSTLE AND FLOW was amazing, but didn�t have a chance to catch it.

As far the parties go, I always love the Queer Brunch, a nice gathering of folks, decent food and of course, good conversation, minus the ever present loud (mostly bad) music that accompanies a lot of the parties in Park City. Also the Palm Pictures party was fun � mostly because almost all my friends were there, including our hard working pal Maud who was editing the Sundance Daily and didn�t get out until that night.

Also, I�d like to thank our friend Paul for being such great company and helping us out with movie tix. And Stefani for dropping all her TV knowledge on us and being such a good friend.

Oh, and could someone tell Glenn Close to stop following me?!

Pictures to follow...

August was a great month! Not only did we finish our short, Ping Pong Love, start pre-pro on another short, but we also landed a few investments for our feature, Diamond Days. But that�s not what made August so great, what made it golden was that my Call-A-Head catalog arrived!

For the past 3 years I have been receiving catalogs from Call-A-Head and each year it just gets better. Call-A-Head, for those not in the know, is a port-a-potty rental company. However, Call-A-Head really takes it to another level. First is their motto: �We�re #1 at picking up #2�. Can you get any better than that?! Second is their multiple four color flyers that outline some of their more popular models, there is the classy �VIP Toilet� to the more economical, �Restroom Shanty�, you can�t go wrong with Call-A-Head. This year they supplied the US Navy with units for their Airplane Freighters � there�s a picture with a caption the reads, �it has become our proudest moment�� No doubt!

But the absolute best thing about the Call-A-Head catalog is that each year they include a VIP card. What, you may ask, is the Call-A-Head VIP card? Well, (and please don�t get jealous) the Call-A-Head VIP card entitles me AND A GUEST to complimentary usage of ANY Call-A-Head portable toilet. That means if I�m on the BQE, stuck in traffic and have to pee, I can just pull over at any of the many construction sites, flash my VIP status and I�m in! Sure, Robert Evans gets to live in a posh house and fly in private jets, but does he get to go to the front of the port-a-potty line at Coney Island?! I think not.

I�ve been remiss in posting. I can�t believe the consistency so many of my fellow bloggers have with postings. It�s making me look bad so please SLOW DOWN! But seriously, aside from trying to finish one short, prepping two other shorts that were shot last week in Florida, going to a wedding in SF and casting a feature and developing another short, I really have no excuse for being so lax in my postings. So please forgive.

Now that my head is above water and I am in post with �Donut Heaven� and �Lucky� (the shorts we shot in Florida) and doing the final mix on �Ping Pong Love� (my partner, Bo Mehrad�s most recent short), I can take a breath and type a little shout out to my peeps.

Hey PEEPS! First, a thanks to IndieWire/Kodak/SilverDocs for their mid-summer shindig last night - lots of fun & good snacks. Also good luck to my friends Caitlin, Kerry & Ian. who are shooting a short this weekend... Have fun guys! Finally, thanks to Derek & Ken for the BBQ.

Finally, I bought a PS2 about a year ago for my husband and have never touched it myself until my lovely SF friend, Jamie lent me Rachet & Clank which I now can�t stop playing. So if I don�t make an entry for another two weeks � you�ll know why.

I�d like to plug a lovely two week workshop I�ll be teaching at DVTC (Downtown Community Television Center) in NYC. The workshop will revolve around distribution and promotion of indie work. Below is a brief description from the DCTV site:

�Introduction to Distribution & Promotion: So you�ve finally finished your cinematic masterpiece - now what? This class will explore the various ways independent filmmakers have managed to get their work seen by others. Strategies for self-promotion will be discussed, as well tips for getting the attention of the conventional distribution outlets�

To Sign up call: (212) 966-4510 x231 Monday - Friday, 10AM - 6 PM

I want to give a plug for AIVF�s Filmmaker�s Journey: Sustaining Your Vision workshops that are being help from 12-6 PM tomorrow and next Saturday (June 5 & 12). Yours truly is moderating them both. This will be my third year doing this workshop (formerly known as Master Class) and it�s a blast. (I�m not getting paid for this � I just think it�s a great program.) It�s much more intensive than the usual panel discussions in that we really delve in to a specific film and its process. The closest thing I�ve experienced to it was a case study on distribution of �The Good Girl� that I attended at the Sundance�s Producer�s Conference a few years back, but that costs SO much more to attend (since you have to factor in airfare, and accommodations). And you have to apply and get accepted to go. The Filmmaker�s Journey, if you live in NYC is right in your backyard, there�s no application fee and besides, its going to rain tomorrow.

Here�s what AIVF describes it: �Filmmaker�s Journey is a day-long intensive workshop with a newly celebrated narrative filmmaker whose production process best demonstrates how to make a good film and get it seen while staying independent. The workshop starts with a screening of the filmmaker's most recent work, followed by a intimate conversation with the filmmaker.�

The first workshop, this Saturday, will be about the self-distribution and marketing of �Robot Stories�, directed by Greg Pak (also a blogger!) Greg will be there along with his co-producer Karin Chien. Next Saturday, June 12th will be about �Brother to Brother�, directed by Rodney Evens. Rodney will be there to talk about his writing process, and financing through grants and awards.

Both should be super interesting and educational. Shall we call it edutainment? No. Edutainment with a Twist � since there will be free cocktails afterward.

For registration go to this site: http://www.aivf.org/store/...

I don't know if anyone out there is familiar with the work of Fred Armisen, but he's incredibly popular in my house. Most may know him from his work on "Saturday Night Live", where he's relegated to the occasional bit part. But take my word for it... The man is hilarious. Previously he did a series of shorts for HBO (entitled Fred) which involved him accosting various people in public situations - comedy at it's best!

On an interesting side note, Fred is a former drummer for the hardcore band Trenchmouth. He started doing his videotaped comedy bits as a lark one year when he and his band were playing the SXSW music fest. Who said punk rockers weren't funny?

Check him out in The Onion talking about "what is funny"

I�m on this courtesy kick lately. Right now, my biggest pet peeve is the jackasses that push onto the train before you or some woman with a baby carriage get a chance to get off. I want a cattle prod so I can poke them and make them yelp - I'm evil, I know. That�s why, when someone is extra nice, I�m impressed for days. I think courteous people should be given crowns and badges to be worn around for a week so everyone will know �that guy was SUPER nice.� So this week, my vote for the SUPER Nice Person Award goes to my new friend Paul that I met at the Tribeca screening of Cavedweller. Paul not only said hello and complimented my new Kiss-Style Red Platforms shoes when he and his friend came to sit next to my husband and I, but he also offered to share his concessions with us. I LOVE that! As for the film, the verdict is still out. I read the book, which is pretty long and spans several years, so I was expecting to be really disappointed in the film. Luckily they only took a small portion of the beginning to portray - which worked. However, it made the name a little confusing since the meaning behind Cavedweller really isn�t illustrated until the end of the novel.

Hello!

When James asked me if I wanted to have a Blog page on indieWIRE, I jumped at the idea. It sounded fun and interesting and I was really honored that he thought of me. Thanks, James! Then when Brian Clark hooked me up and set up my page (Thanks Brian!) it became time to start writing. Now that it is time for my first Blog entry, I am having performance anxiety. Which is weird for me. Anyone who knows me knows I have no trouble talking and expressing my point of view. But the thought of my impulsive thoughts and rants floating out all willy-nilly able to be twisted and misconstrued is a bit intimidating.

As mentioned, I�m a producer; I won�t go into my bio, because you can look it up on the site. What I also do is run a series of workshops for NYC producers call PAN (Producer�s Action Network). I currently have 2 workshops coming up � one starts this Wednesday night, it runs for 3 Wednesdays in a row and covers budgeting, the other is in June and is about putting together a plan. If you are interested in hearing more, please post me with your email address. OK, shameless plug is over.

In the next few days I plan on talking about my Menace to Society List, trials of fundraising for a feature, and running my own business.

Please stay tuned!