Is this the future of film?

I was checking the NYTimes homepage this morning when I saw this:
It’s a Healthy Marriage of Faith and Filmmaking
under the Movies section.

Although, Shut the hell up! is not the best response to this--I've been around nothing but potty mouths for the past couple of months--I was quite flabbergasted to see a headline in the Times that didn't indict faith as a source of criminal activity or moral hypocrisy. Could a new day be dawning? Perhaps, but I think the numbers are why anybody's bothered to take notice. A $5k film making 6.5 mil on opening weekend is certainly newsworthy.

Basically, middle America wants to see itself on film. Hollywood only knows L.A. and mostly the part that starts north of Santa Monica. New York does New York like nobody else can...and then there's the rest of the freaking country! We. Do. Exist.

That's the mystery of Tyler Perry and these Sherwood Baptist folks. That's also the mystery of the Napoleon Dynamite film.

Nothing Tyler's done is particularly fabulous. The stories have Christianish themes. The production values are low. None of his stuff is high concept and yet he makes bank every time. His little studio hasn't (yet) been in the red.

Then there's the Sherwood guys--a Baptist church rolling out a production every other year with volunteer actors and crew at more than a 1000% profitable return.

And the producer/directors of Napoleon Dynamite were a couple of Mormons--literally husband and wife--who wanted to make something everybody could watch. And they did. And everyone watched. And they made a lot of money.

It seems like a film's either got to be so big it's got a franchise attached or so small there's no way to lose money these days. After reading about Spielberg and Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) getting turned down by Universal, it looks like the industry's turned a corner. I'm glad to see there's room for--and more specifically--avenues for films that look and sound like life outside the major metros.

All my best writing is...

Typically the end of that statement would be "on my blog". That's been my excuse for not finishing any scripts.

At the moment, I'm doing a bit of writing and I haven't had the energy to blog. That said, I'm reposting an email I sent to friends here. Also, I'm trying to find time to watch my downloaded copy of Jab We Met so I should have something to talk about sometime soon...

God-fearing atheists

[title lifted from GetReligon; original Pew Forum study here]

This was the funniest thing I've heard all week! I mean, Geez, don't people have any loyalty anymore?!

21% of atheists believe in God. [ref]
55% of agnostics believe in God. [ref]

Grandly amusing. I was telling my coworker about this and he said, "They must have interviewed a bunch of people who's elevators don't go all the way upstairs." That's one way to put it. I imagine the interview went like this:

Interviewer: Do you believe in God?
21% of atheists: Yeah.
Interviewer: Great. Uh, do you go to a house of worship?
21% of atheists: No, I'm an atheist.
Interviewer: Okaaayyy....

You know something's trendy when the people doing it no longer know why. Equally silly is this factoid:

74% of Americans believe in heaven but only 59% believe in Hell. So where do serial killers go when they die? [ref]

The columnist wants answers and I do too! For real, people! For real!

And speaking of people going to hell, I'm sure this guy has reserved seating: Prosecutors said Chiman Rai had son's wife killed because she was black

This crazy guy is quite close to booking tickets: Hangman's noose, gun lead to arrest of LaVergne man (Yes, that is 15 minutes from where I live.)

I'm pretty sure this guy has a real estate office where he sells hell-plots to his parishioners but that's another post for a different day...a really long post...

East Coast talks West Coast...

“You’d want me to take the money? You’d want me to whore out. That’s what they wanted me to do,” he said. “You know how hard it is not to do the conservative thing out there?"

After reading the NYTimes piece on Mr. M. Night Shyamalan, which ended with above cheeky quote, I'm definitely going to give The Happening a try this weekend. I didn't really dig Signs or The Village very much so I skipped Lady in the Water.

Despite the fact that Night's vibe has an unpleasant "I AM FILM" ego as big as Kanye West's imaginary "God of Hip Hop" title, he's talented and Hollywood's end-all-be-all mentality makes me want to throw up--but not because I'm bulimic...because that would be giving in to the monster that is 'the industry'...

Big ups to a man who found a way to stay in Pennsylvania and still get it done.

Speaking of dating...

This made me laugh: (click to see larger)

[found on Melody's blog]

Also fyi, if I'm not blogging here, I might be blogging here. Don't want to mix my Korean and Hindi stuff too much. At least not until I hook up with the Bollywood club in Seoul. ;)

7,680 men: or Why I am still single...Pt. 2

The baggage mentioned in part 1 is in addition to the fact that I couldn't possibly marry a man who doesn't share my worldview, one based on Christian faith and a passion for intellectual inquiry. I've been wanting to calculate the numbers on this one and stumbling onto this page inspired me to finally do it.

2006 US census numbers indicate approximately 233,039,000 folks in the US of which slightly less than half are male--113,073,000. [ref] Of those, only 30,129,000 are between the ages of 25 and 39. Because I rob neither cradles nor graves, they are the only ones that matter.

It is estimated that 40% of Americans are Christians and of those, about 8% hold similar beliefs as my own. [ref] (I gave up my Christianity to follow Christ.) Accounting for beliefs leaves a solid 2,410,320 and we're only half way through. The general trend is that 51% of men 25-40 are married BUT Christians run about 10 percentage points higher on the marriage stats [ref] so actually, I'm looking at something like 61% married. I'm just under a million. (988,231 to be exact.)

[Side note: It is to my own detriment that I live in Tennessee, one of the most marryingest states in The Union [ref] a state where only 27.3% of men have never been married. Which is a generous calculation considering they included 15-, 16-, and 17-year-old jailbait.]

I know, I know. You're probably thinking, So what! That's still almost a million guys! True. I'll even leave in all the guys who are "separated"--cause you know, it was totally their ex's fault--and the 2-3% who are living closeted gay lives. I'm feeling generous.

All things being equal, of that infinitesimal sliver, 12.3% will be black. [ref] Of them, 8% will "marry out" and 2% of the others (who are probably Latino), 0.2% of Asians and 0.2% of the white boys will convert to the dark side. Net loss: 9,724. Net gain: 4,544. *Such is life.* That leaves me with just 11.77% of the previously selected men--a grand total of 116,372 fellas somewhere in the United States.

In addition to all this, I have the nerve, the gall even, to want to marry a guy who's smart. Ok, ok, and not fat.
And has straight teeth.
And doesn't smell.
(A girl's gotta dream!)
Assuming "smarts" are on a Gaussian distribution, I've just cut my chances by 90%. I said 90% people! *cue gasps of horror*

That's only 11,637 potentially compatible men spread across 50 states and 3,794,083 square miles [ref] ...and 1 in 3 is probably dating someone...make that 7,680 men. You do realize that's just one eligible bachelor for every 494 square miles? ...some of whom are very unattractive?!

I probably should be worried but I feel a bit liberated. I was beginning to think I should "try harder" but really, trying to root out 0.006792% of the male population is a task suitable only for His Infinite Majesty. Jesus take the wheel...

Still, the next person who asks, "Why aren't you dating anyone?" is getting a printed copy of this essay and a pop quiz.

Hollywood baby!

Sooooo, I haven't posted in a while because I'm working all kindsa hustles to get some stuff in gear in the next few months, one of which is spending some time in LaLa Land, otherwise known as, LA--Los Angeles, California.

I got accepted to the Act One summer writing program which is really cool. They only take about 24 writers or so each year. Not only does that make me feel special :) but more importantly, it means I'll have very good access to the instructors and over the course of four weeks of 8-hour days, really get a chance to know and build relationships with the other writers.

In other acts of random impetuousness, I sent some info to a recruiter for English teachers in Korea and they'll be sending my 411 to the Seoul Metro School System within the next two weeks. For a while, I worried not only about the safety of my little dog but whether or not my Bollywood habit would be wrenched from my grasp while staying on East Asian soil.

Fortunately, my fears have been laid to rest. Well, not about the dog thing but by the fact that Seoul has a 300-member Bollywood club led by a fellow calling himself Hangulo. Considering the strength of Korea's indigenous media industry, that's saying a lot. It makes me smile.

Almost as much as the thought of being at Santa Monica beach during summer. Almost.

[Up next, Abhimaan (1973) & Why I am still single.]

The City of God

Just the other day I finally watched the 2002 Academy Award nominated City of God. I knew the film was about street kids in Brazil, had good cinematography, and is supposedly a "must see film" but little else. I pondered the title, recognizing it as a reference to one of Augustine's treatises on the Christian faith.

Through watching the film, I discovered that the title was the name of the favela in which the story takes place, a neighborhood completely overridden with poverty, violence, and general lawlessness, a neighborhood described in the film as "living in hell."

Anytime I watch something like this, I am reconfronted by the existence of evil. In an academic sense, there is never any doubt in my mind that evil exists yet fortunately in my daily life, there are few occasions when I am acutely aware of it. Times when awareness is unavoidable, have confirmed my deep weariness with the relativistic thought that permeates public discourse in the West.

Watching City of God also reminded me of the great evil lurking beneath the seeming good of self-preservation. Those who seek for themselves by any means necessary are bound to lose their souls in the process despite the suggestion that if they're fit enough to survive, all is well.

During day two of my viewing, (it was too much for one sitting), I was reminded of something Jesus said:

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. [ref]

Theft-death-destruction is one of the clearest perpetual cycles of evil. The undercurrent of destruction in this film was really unsettling for me. Beyond "simple" murder, there was destruction of property, beating, maiming, rape and humiliation. The repetitively wanton killing reminded me of this:

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. [ref]

The thief Jesus is speaking of is the ultimate enemy of mankind--Satan, the master purveyor of evil. The grand narrative of creation and the Revelation of John both reference the great enmity between Satan and God's creation. Every life taken from the earth is one less reflection of God's image. It is ironic then that the "City of God" in this film is one where the image of God is ruthlessly and continually stamped out.

One can only wonder what the officials of Rio de Janeiro were thinking when they relocated their city slums and dubbed them "City of God." Perhaps they were hoping the name might procure blessings from the Psalms:

Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise,
in the city of our God, his holy mountain

It is beautiful in its loftiness,
the joy of the whole earth...

God is in her citadels;
he has shown himself to be her fortress...

As we have heard,
so have we seen
in the city of the LORD Almighty,
in the city of our God:
God makes her secure forever.
Selah [ref]

May it be so.

One more reason why...

...I *heart* Huckabee.

I know he's not running for President anymore and real Republicans don't tolerate unpretentious rooting for the common man (or eating popcorn-popper fried squirrel for that matter), but he seems like a nice fellow and this little TV moment proves he actually has some sense as well.

Speaking yesterday on MSNBC's Morning Joe program, Huckabee said that statements made by Senator Barack Obama’s former pastor were unacceptable but understandable...Huckabee, who grew up in the segregated South, added that if he had experienced the kind of discrimination African Americans have in American history, he would probably have become bitter. [via]

Here's the video if you care to watch.

On a lighter note...

Today is my birthday.
In an email, my coworker sent me a myspace type sparkly and this video.

*Oh my* :D

Oh my god, all these black people...

...are supporting Barack Obama. It. is. so. annoying. Why can't more of them support Hillary? Why are they like, so flaky about the Democratic process? Like, who does Obama think he is, Bill Clinton--the voice of America's youth or something? God, did you see him dancing on Ellen? I mean, it was like, such a popularity seeking moment. Ewww.

For the record, this is what every "black people are voting for Obama because he's black" comment sounds like to my ears. Regardless of the vocabulary used, it sounds like whining and it sounds bitter. AND it's sooooo tired.

I can understand how people who vote in every election get a little miffed whenever the presidential elections come around and previously unengaged citizens arise from their couches and traipse out to the polls. How dare they! They should leave voting to the experts, to those who follow political commentary more closely than psychics follow Nostradamus! Oh, the perils of pseudo-Democracy! The perils of allowing the people ("blacks") to vote! Surely when the 15th Amendment was ratified, the legislature couldn't have imagined this day--the day when black folks might get to vote for a presidential candidate just because he's brown. Ha! What a disgrace.

Seriously though. Help is available.

1. Realize that if you are a white American and spend the rest of your life with American citizenship, you will likely never have the opportunity to vote for a presidential candidate "just because they're white" UNLESS Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination. Then you can vote for John McCain. Let me know how it feels.
2. Repeat after me: "Part of the democratic process is FREEDOM. Freedom means people can vote for whomever they want--for whatever reason they want." Say it until you believe it.

If the recitation doesn't work, I would suggest you stop watching so much political commentary; especially on 24-hour news channels like CNN. Listen to music and take a walk in the park. You'll vote for the candidate you've chosen and millions of other Americans will do the same. End of story.

[FYI, this tirade post was inspired by a few tired comments on my last post.]

President Obama

I suppose it's only fitting that I say something about this presidential election. The candidates are putting on quite a show and in all honesty, who can blame them.

Thus far, the most intriguing is the way Barack and Hillary's camps are going at each other. Who wants a black converted muslim political newbie or a Republican cum Democrat with "experience" via marital relations?

The most amusing is the man who stands alone: Mike Huckabee. i *heart* Huckabee. Though, if I had to choose between weird last names, I'm gonna take an Obama over a Huckabee 6 days out of the week. On a positive note, Bill Clinton plays the sax but bass guitar...that's a rock star's instrument. I mean, it's like a Capitol Offense to think otherwise.

That being the case, while Huckabee sings his own songs, people are writing songs about Obama. *Oh, the devotion of the previously politically uninvolved!* Not since Eisenhower has such a catchy tune been penned in praise of a presidential candidate. (The one for JFK didn't quite have the same zing.)

For your listening pleasure, I've included them both here because if there's one thing I like, it's pop culture. As for politics, call me back for the fourth quarter so I can see who wins.

Eisenhower


Obama

Pertaining to nothing and everyone

Is this phenomenon wired into the female DNA?
Apparently, Chinese moms use the exact same phrases.
Any votes for South Asia?
;)

I probably shouldn't have...

...but I couldn't let this little guy go.

You know you're in for trouble when people say, "Can you take him now?" but I did it anyway. How could you say "No" to this precious little face even if he hasn't been properly socialized and in the past 6 hours:

• He FREAKED out at being closed in his travel crate
• Howled at not being let out of the car IMMEDIATELY after it stopped
• Got it on with one of the sofa cushions
• AND growled at me when I attempted to remove the cushion from his *clutches*

I haven't even gotten to feeding time yet. *sigh*

I'm sure after a few more tutorials from the Dog Whisperer (and a bag full of meat-substitute treats) he'll know who his mama is! *grrr*

The Best Movie Ever!

Last week during my volunteer stint at the ABFF I was able to sit in on a few films in between shifts and to be honest, most of them didn't keep my attention.

This movie, however, had me from "Dear Beth." ;)

PRESENTING: I'm Through With White Girls

Check out the trailer. And, if you know someone who works for a distribution company, call them NOW. I want my dvd ASAP!

[BTW, the title comes from this song by The Dirtbombs.]

I'm a closet Republican.

Dang. My sister just sent me a link to this quiz.


Apparently, my views on money pushed me from donkey to elephant.

For shame. For shame.

I always say, "When I get rich, I'm gonna vote Republican." I guess I'm about 1.5 million dollars ahead of myself...

Where in the world is t-hype?!?

I was here.

I'll be here.

I just bought one of these.

And two of these.

I know. I know. That doesn't really justify my absence but it at least offers some explanation as to why I'm too distracted to post these days...

I'm liberated!

Boy have I been absent from blogging!
I'd like to say I have some unusually interesting changes to share but not so. Instead of watching more 'phillums', I've gotten sidetracked by Chinese study, screenwriting/production, and actually reading...books...on paper. *gasp!*

Until this evening, nothing's been of enough interest for me to bother writing about.
This weekend, my church hosted a regional conference for Exodus International. Exodus is basically a clearinghouse of information for churches (and synagogues for that matter) who minister to people leaving a homosexual lifestyle.

This conference was my second Exodus event and I'm glad I was there. There's something so amazing about being surrounded by people who are chasing after what God has for them. Praise and worship is always super intense because for a lot of folks who come to the conferences, it's not only a 'safe place' but the first time they've realized wholeness in Christ doesn't equate with stereotypical gender norms. I love what one of the leaders said, "The opposite of homosexuality isn't heterosexuality---it's holiness." Word.

I met a guy at the annual conference I went to who was a post-operative MtF transsexual who worked as a stripper for a few years to save up for his surgeries. I met him a few months after he'd had his breasts removed so he wouldn't be called "ma'am" quite so often. On first sight, I thought, "That guy's really gay" but after having shared a meal with him and being priviledged to hear the circumstances of his life and his transformation process, I'm thoroughly convinced he's one of God's great showpieces. After spending all of his young adulthood living as a woman, (and a fairly cute one--I saw photos!), he decided to call it quits. His transformation was a long arduous process, still yet to be completed, but his hunger for God's truth despite the trappings of his physical body is an inspiration to me time and time again.

I was thinking about all of this driving home this evening when the song Liberator by my friend Jason Eskridge came up on my mp3 player. I couldn't help but think how absolutely perfect a theme song it is for some of the folks I've met through Exodus and what a theme song it's been for my life.



[*If you like the song, you can download it from Jason's MySpace for free. Just drop him a message and let him know I sent you! :)]
your hand of freedom
reached into my situation
breaking my binding chains
and granting me liberation

‘cause I once was bound to myself
the worst of penalties
I couldn’t escape from my sin
until you rescued me

you are my liberator
your love set me free
you are my emancipator
with your blood you bought me
now I am free
free

and I’m not going back
to that place again
where my mind and body
are enslaved to sin

through your life and your death
and your life again
you’ve taken this dead man
made me breathe again

you are my liberator
your love set me free
you are my emancipator
with your blood you bought me

you are my liberator
your love set me free
you are my emancipator
with your blood you bought me
now I am free

I’m set free
I’m set free

Oh snap!

I don't think any coincidental amalgamation has been this serendipitous since Pink Floyd & The Wizard of Oz!

Presenting Unk's Walk it Out courtesy of the great American theater choreographer Bob Fosse:
(At least fast forward 2/3 of the way through. I sware they're doing the Bankhead Bounce!)

[via]

You've been warned...

Korean dramas are Bollywood lite!--Similar story elements sans song and dance.

Not so long ago a reader suggested that I check out 풀하우스--Full House, a 2004 K-drama that featured K-pop star Bi. I warned myself to stay away, instinctively knowing that Bi was merely a "gateway drug" to all sorts of unimagined subtitled substances.

Enter Exhibit A, Kim Sung Su, aka the man on the left. Seriously, he looks good from every angle. How I love a man in a sharp suit--which was his entire wardrobe for the series. *sigh*

Furthermore, judging by this guy, the secret to cloning attractive men was discovered in a laboratory in Korea. (Yes, that's a different person.)