207 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(11/03/11 12:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Don’t think I forgot about you, November and December. Just because you don’t have two Oscar-bait movies starring Ryan Gosling like September and October doesn’t mean I’m not excited for all the pedigree films you have to offer.November 9“J. Edgar”Leo working with Clint in the political biopic of J. Edgar Hoover is enough of a sale for me, but “J. Edgar” is also penned by the Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (“Milk”) and co-stars Armie Hammer, the break-out star from “The Social Network” who was so memorable as both of the Winklevoss twins.November 23“Hugo”Wait, Martin Scorsese is doing a kids’ movie? It doesn’t quite fit for the greatest living director, but I don’t really mind. This could be the movie that saves 3-D, for better or worse.“A Dangerous Method”There might be a small group of people who wish David Cronenberg would go back to making horror movies, but his increasingly off-type movies, such as “A History of Violence” and “Eastern Promises,” make me ecstatic for his most off-type film yet. Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen, possibly two of the best actors working today, square off in a psychological thriller as Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, respectively. “My Week with Marilyn”Michelle Williams is such a gifted actress, and the Academy is buzzing about her impeccable transformation into Marilyn Monroe by former TV movie director Simon Curtis. Williams looks effervescent as Monroe, which distracts a lot of people from the fact that it also features Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh, Dominic Cooper and Judi Dench. “The Artist”Sorry, the film nerd inside me is about to faint. French director Michel Hazanavicius is making the silent film “The Artist,” which takes pages from the plot of “Singin’ in the Rain” and promises to be an artistic critical darling.December 9“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”This Cold War spy thriller is the English debut of Tomas Alfredson, the director of the Swedish vampire smash hit “Let the Right One In.” The film looks absolutely chilling and bleak despite a booming British cast that includes Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Tom Hardy and Mark Strong.December 16“Young Adult”I kind of love Jason Reitman, and I kind of love Diablo Cody and “Juno.” I also kind of love Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt, so I’m already hugging myself because of “Young Adult,” a comedy about an immature prom-queen-turned-struggling-adult.“The Iron Lady”Meryl Streep is Margaret Thatcher. Streep is setting herself up for her kagillionth Oscar nod (actually, it would be 17). The film is, however, directed by Phyllida Lloyd of the wretched “Mamma Mia.” Here’s to hoping we don’t find out what it’s like to see Margaret Thatcher dancing in water fins. “Carnage”Anyone interested in theater and Broadway should be buzzing about this film. Roman Polanski is directing “Carnage,” a film based on the multiple-Tony-winning play “God of Carnage,” and his cast is impressive. John C. Reilly, Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz team up in the shouting-match dramedy. December 21“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”Combine the look and pacing of last year’s best movie, “The Social Network,” with the intensity of last year’s best foreign film, “The Girl with the Dragon Tatto,” add a Trent Reznor score and you have my most anticipated movie of 2011. Promised to be the feel-bad movie of Christmas, David Fincher’s direction of Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Stellan Skarsgård, Christopher Plummer and Robin Wright can’t fail.December 25“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”Based on a novel by “Everything is Illuminated” author Jonathan Safran Foer, a boy genius searches for the lock opened by a key left by his father, who died on 9/11. The family is made up of “Teen Jeopardy” champ Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. It’s written by Eric Roth of “Benjamin Button” and “Forrest Gump” and directed by Stephen Daldry of “The Reader” and “The Hours.” Is this movie, just bursting with crowd-pleasing schlock, not the king of Oscar bait? “War Horse”After a year of polarizing, serious and even depressing films, the world needs a “real” movie by the world’s biggest director tackling a sprawling war epic. Spielberg’s “War Horse” is “Saving Private Ryan” on Broadway, and it’s going to be huge.Movies that do not exist in my mind, despite what some may say:“Jack and Jill” — 11/11“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1” — 11/18“Happy Feet Two” — 11/18“The Muppets” — 11/26“New Year’s Eve” — 12/9“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” — 12/16“Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked” — 12/16“A Very Harold and Kumar 3-D Christmas” — 11/4
(10/31/11 1:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>You can practically hear the screeching violins now. Today at 7 p.m., the IU Cinema is honoring Halloween with a special screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 horror classic “Psycho.” The screening might be sold out, but anyone interested is still invited to wait for standby seating.For those privileged to attend, there are a few things to know about the film, and who better to tell them than Hitchcock himself? The IDS collected quotes from Hitchcock about the film, and further explained them.1. “It is required that you see ‘Psycho’ from the very beginning!” “Psycho” broke ground in the way American audiences went to the movies. For decades, patrons would come into a movie at their leisure and remain through the next screening until they had seen the entire film. Hitchcock feared audiences would feel cheated if they came late, expected to see star Janet Leigh and never did because she had already been killed in the now-famous shower scene. “The manager of this theater has been instructed at the risk of his life not to admit to the theater any persons after the picture started. Any spurious attempts to enter by side doors, fire escapes or ventilating shafts will be met by force,” promotional posters read as a way to build tension for “Psycho’s” now-widely known twists. 2. “It wasn’t a message that stirred the audiences, nor was it a great performance. They were aroused by pure film.”Only one year before “Psycho” was released, Hitchcock’s “North By Northwest” was made for an estimated $4 million. “Psycho” was shot in black and white for roughly $800,000.To make a movie that was purely cinematic, one free of gory special effects or elaborate chases like in “North By Northwest.” Rather, “Psycho” was filmed with the small crew on his TV show “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” Their goal was to deliberately make it resemble a cheap exploitation film, yet the stark lighting and cinematography is powerfully chilling.3. “You might say I was playing them — like an organ.”Hitchcock used “Psycho” as a way to direct and manipulate his viewers in ways few films had before, but it is not an organ that strikes the spine-shivering chord. Named the fourth best film score of all time by the American Film Institute, Bernard Hermann’s score immortalized the shower scene that Hitchcock initially intended to be silent, and even indirectly inspired the orchestral backing to The Beatles “Eleanor Rigby.” Sources: Alfred Hitchcock, NBC Universal
(10/27/11 4:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>There once was a boy who loved Batman.The boy came to IU, got three degrees and loved both Bloomington and Batman so much he started the first-ever academic class on comic book folklore. But the boy didn’t stop there. He took his love of comic books seriously and helped make the first dark and serious Batman movies. He had such a good time, changed so much and made such an impression on the world of popular culture that he then wrote an autobiography called “The Boy Who Loved Batman” and came back to IU to share his story.Michael Uslan’s story might sound ripped from the panels of a much happierDC comic, but his story is still being written with his appearance at 3 p.m. today at the IU Cinema to kick off the academic film symposium “The Comic Book Rises: From Underdogs to Blockbusters.”Uslan has come to share his rags-to-riches story of taking his love of Batman and finding a way to make it in Hollywood as the producer of all the Batman movies, starting with Tim Burton’s 1989 production of “Batman” and up to “The Dark Knight,” which is showing in a sold-out screening at 7 p.m. today at the IU Cinema.“After ‘The Dark Knight’ opened, my wife, Nancy, sat me down and said, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’” Uslan said. “At this stage in my career, I decided I want to do more than just entertain people for two hours. I have a story to tell: You can in this world — make your dreams come true.”Uslan has spoken at 60 universities about his success story since.But because Uslan says IU gave him his first shot on the road to the movies, he said he feels it is critical IU students know they have the same opportunity.“It’s important for me to come back and share this with IU students and make them realize their journey is right there in front of them,” Uslan said. “There’s no reason they can’t do it themselves, whatever their passions are in life.”Uslan’s appearance, the screening of his film and the showings of all the other comic book-based films this weekend are designed to provide an academic insight into comic books as an art form and a significant form of American folklore.Sahar Pastel-Daneshgar, a senior and the undergraduate IU Cinema representative who initiated this series, explained how the lectures, cartoons and graduate research papers centered around the films are all designed to legitimize comics with films.“If you asked people 30 years ago what they were studying, and they said film, a lot of people would have scoffed and not taken them seriously,” Pastel-Daneshgar said. “That’s the game that’s happened with comic books now. They’re actually being recognized as texts, but they’re also profitable.”This mindset stems directly from Uslan’s influence at IU in starting the first University class studying comic books. Uslan said he feels his efforts have made a permanent impact.“When I started teaching the course, the public was always looking down their nose at comic books — that they were some cheap and lurid entertainment for kids, nothing more and nothing less,” Uslan said. “I was out there trying to prove that comic books are a legitimate American art form as indigenous to this country as jazz. They are our American folklore. Our years of working in the trenches of trying to overcome this stigma in the minds of the general public have succeeded.” IU Cinema director Jon Vickers said he hopes this series of popular films encourages new audiences to explore the wealth of resources the IU Cinema has to offer. “We hope that their first visit to the IU Cinema is fantastic, leaving them with a feel for what the cinema can do,” Vickers said. “Maybe, if we’re lucky, they will pick up a Fall Program Book and find a reason to come back. If we’ve done our jobs well, they will.”
(10/19/11 11:15pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The last and biggest hurdle to overcome in becoming a real lover of cinema is learning to appreciate silent films. Stick enough violence or action in a movie and you can get anyone reading subtitles. Show them “Singin’ in the Rain,” and they’ll be able to watch any musical ever made. Watch a movie timeless enough and you’ll forget that it’s in black and white. But silent films are different. They’re a hard sell for a number of reasons, and there are a few myths and cultural problems to address before we notice a change. Myth #1: Sound Movies are BetterThe biggest misconception about film is that it was once seen as nothing more than a novelty, and only later did it become an art. Anyone who believes that transition happened between silents to talkies is wrong. Of course, sound and dialogue are good things. Movies would not be the same if we had been denied the clever dialogue of modern wordsmiths like the Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, Aaron Sorkin and more. Rather, silent films hardly tell stories the same way as talkies, even to the point that storytelling had to be reinvented along with the introduction of sound. But this form of silent storytelling was not primitive or inferior. The best directors of the silent screen were gifted at telling a story through purely visual means, minimizing intertitles and composing moods through facial cues and striking shot placement. Consider the chilling images of “The Passion of Joan of Arc,” the cinematic ballet of any of Charlie Chaplin’s slapstick, the mesmerizing first-ever montage of “The Battleship Potemkin” or the simple love story behind “Sunrise.” I can’t think of more elegant, poetic or easier ways of telling any of those stories, and I certainly can’t imagine how words would help. Myth #2: All silent films are dated and oldMore so than black and white to color or any other technological advancement of film, the silent era is called an “era” because it can be easily bookended from the birth of cinema to 1927 when “The Jazz Singer” virtually wiped out silents. This signals to everyone that silent films are old, old, old. Lots of people dislike things that are old, and there are some who believe film critics like things simply because they are old. But not all silent films are completely unrelatable. There’s a universal quality to Chaplin or Buster Keaton’s slapstick. The setting may be a relic, but the ideas are as poignant as ever. On a side note, not all silent films are as racist as “The Birth of a Nation.” Even the first half of “The Birth of a Nation” is not as racist as the rest. I’m more alienated by horrid ’80s or ’90s fashion, hair styles, expressions and early computer-generated special effects. You can do a lot worse throughout film history than the silent era. Myth #3: Silent stars were corny actorsToday’s audiences watch silent movies ironically. They view the time as quaint and full of wide-eyed over-actors. It’s true they weren’t exactly minimalist method actors, but people who apply such a broad, blanket statement to all silent stars are simply naïve. Keaton is a great example of a performer who has arguably survived the ages better than his rival Chaplin, whose double takes have since become cartoonish. Keaton had the perfect stone face for getting a laugh when a house collapses on him. Even dramatic actors like George O’Brien in “Sunrise” or Rudolph Valentino, possibly the first ever sex symbol, feel very modern with their messy features and cold, glowering stares. Some actors even had better luck pushing their way into talkies than did many of their colleagues. Joan Crawford and Mickey Rooney both got their starts in silents, and let’s not forget Lillian Gish’s role in “The Night of the Hunter.” Why people don’t know silent moviesAnita Page died in 2008. As the star of 1928’s “Our Dancing Daughters,” she was considered the last living silent film actor. There is simply no one left who participated in or remembers that era. A person born in 1927 when the genre hit its zenith and took a fatal nosedive would be 84 today. Now, numerous generations have grown up without any awareness of silent film, and barely a soul would think of recommending one for a movie night at home. This is assuming that watching a silent film at home would be easy. Many silent classics are bundled in strange box sets and do not have proper DVD distribution. A handful of the titles streaming on Netflix, such as D.W. Griffith’s three-hour-plus “Intolerance,” include no background soundtrack at all, which not even a silent film should be without. Options are limited to places like the IU Cinema, which just showed “Sunrise” with a piano accompanist on Sunday. This is the real way to watch a silent film, and a good place to start, but these opportunities are few and far between.Silent films come backMy hope for silent films seeing a revival rests with “The Artist.” Yes, a French filmmaker has gone all-out in making a black and white, silent motion picture. It was a critical darling at Cannes and is now making a lot of Oscar buzz. The story is a loose adaptation of the end of the silent era as depicted in “Singin’ in the Rain,” and American audiences should recognize the likes of John Goodman and James Cromwell. The Weinstein Brothers have purchased the film in hopes that it will sweep awards season and be a box office success. What “The Artist” spells for me is amateur filmmakers on YouTube and elsewhere trying their hand at silent filmmaking. I’ve always found a tendency to go on a silent film bender after watching just one, and I expect others may do the same. But if not these obvious changes, we may see more modern filmmakers attempting to tell stories the way silents once did. Films that favor visuals over dialogue, such as “The Tree of Life” or “The American,” have been polarizing experiences for larger audiences, but many people love and cherish the silent montage in “Up” or whole chapters of “Wall-E.” Silent films are not dead and gone. They’re not old, outdated, silly, inferior or unentertaining. Just because they’re silent doesn’t mean they should go unheard.
(10/19/11 10:23pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“The Thing”’s idea of cabin fever is a lot of people standing around and pointing flamethrowers at one another. This prequel to John Carpenter’s overrated horror favorite lacks even the paranoid tension or ominous silence of the 1982 version. Rather, the new “Thing” is just another bloody, frenetic monster movie that begins when an alien leaps out of a block of ice in an Antarctic science base. The American and Norwegian researchers’ fears are generated not by conflicts of identity, but simply by what’s around the next corner. Although created entirely with CGI rather than innovative makeup special effects, “The Thing” is as gratuitous as its source material in terms of bizarre monsters and deaths. And although Shakespeare didn’t exactly write Carpenter’s film, “The Thing”’s screenplay is painfully dumb and obvious, parroting the most basic of dramatic conflicts. It refuses to copy Carpenter’s memorable blood-testing scene, and instead finds its leading lady shouting at her companions to open their mouths. It’s the sort of thing you hear when an already silly film gets worse.
(10/17/11 12:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The amateur films of Home Movie Day go beyond the personal history contained within that moment.People at the IU Cinema for the international Home Movie Day celebration Sunday became engaged and immersed in the history of old film reels dug out from closets.This is the ninth year Home Movie Day has been celebrated nationwide, and this year marks the fourth at IU.As one elderly woman showed footage from the 1940s of her and her twin sister as babies, the audience members voiced their curiosity with questions, smiles and chuckles.“How long did your parents keep dressing you identically?” one person asked as a Christmas morning memory played on the big screen.“Seventeen,” the woman said with a laugh.David Derkacy, who showed a film shot at a Little 500 race and an Indianapolis drag race from the late 1960s, said he connected strongly with the images of the twin baby girls.“The one woman’s home movie, you can almost say, ‘Well, that’s us as little kids.’ We can all identify as little kids,” Derkacy said. “These people dig deep in their closets to bring out where all these histories are.”Some, such as Amanda Fleming, were even faced with tearful memories at the sight of loved ones past. “It took my breath away really more than anything,” Fleming said. “My grandmother’s been dead for 10 years. She was a very special person to me. So to see her brothers and sisters on the edited family reunion in 1965 — there’s just no words.”Derkacy said she feels Home Movie Day is a good opportunity to share those memories with others.“You always remember when you were there and what you were doing,” Derkacy said. “It’s very nice to share this in a group situation.”IU Home Movie Day Coordinator James Paasche said the day was a success.“It was really cool to figure out how much Indiana cares about its own history,” Paasche said. “To see that on the screen is an amazing thing to be able to do, and I was really happy we were able to do that on the big screen.”For Fleming, the IU Cinema and Home Movie Day proved to be the perfect place to share these memories.“It’s just such a great place to have people bring together memories, whether they are their own or someone that was close to them,” Fleming said. “It’s just a really special day.”
(10/16/11 6:13pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>There’s a film of a Jewish family having a party in their home. A father performs a classic trick by sticking his hand out of his pants and poking his finger out of his zipper.Then there’s a cut, and the next moment, a woman is in blackface, and the same father is doing an impression of Hitler. This is what Home Movie Day celebrates. Home Movie Day, which is every Oct. 15, is a national event in its ninth year. This is its fourth year at IU. At 3 p.m. Saturday in the IU Cinema, it will serve as an opportunity for local residents to view and share their treasured or unknown home movies on the big screen. “You have people from the community bring in their films, and there’s this great element of surprise to it because a lot of the time people don’t know what they have, or they haven’t screened it in years,” coordinator James Paasche said. “They’ll say, ‘This is a film my dad shot in ’52. I have no idea what this is,’ and they’ll bring it in and we’ll show it. There are a lot of unexpected things that happen.”Paasche said this year is special because mixed in with Bloomington home movies are short clips found in the IU Archives. He has found clips of Dr. Alfred Kinsey grilling at a home barbecue and Elvis Presley performing in Fort Wayne.Anyone who is interested can bring their clips on either 8mm, 16mm, Super 8, VHS or DVD, and they will be screened. For Paasche, there is a lot of local and personal history to be found in these amateur home movies, and he knows broadcasting yourself did not begin with YouTube. “The idea of sharing their personal lives through film — that’s been going on for a long time, and that’s what this day celebrates,” Paasche said.
(10/14/11 12:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Ethan Uslan lives in the 1920s. He loves performing ragtime and ’20s classical staples, and his favorite movies are all silent.“I’m in the wrong time,” Uslan said.But that’s why Uslan’s work as a silent film accompanist is about transporting us back to that era he inhabits. Uslan will perform a live accompaniment to the 1927 film “Sunrise” on Saturday at the IU Cinema. He said he hopes the screening and his individual musical style will serve as insight into movie-going in the ’20s.“Back in the 1920s, your average professional piano player would be familiar with popular songs of the era and popular classical pieces,” Uslan said. “I try to recreate what the experience might have been like back in the day.”Uslan’s musical background starts here in Bloomington. He graduated from the IU Jacobs School of Music in 2001 as a classical piano major, but he was drawn to the toe-tapping, hooky melodies of jazz and ragtime. “I found that I liked it more, and people liked listening to it,” Uslan said. “The more I played it, I got addicted, and the next thing I knew, I was really delving into that repertoire and becoming obsessed with it.”Improvisational comedy with IU’s Full Frontal Comedy was one of the things Uslan said prepared him to perform alongside a silent film. As a student, Uslan accompanied the comedy troupe in musical games.“That was just great practice for improvising, to think of something that would fit the scene right on the spot,” he said. Now Uslan uses that background to fully embody the mood of “Sunrise,” a romantic epic Uslan said he feels is encompassing in its emotions and tones. He said he draws from his entire musical repertoire to capture the film’s power and essence.“What I love about ‘Sunrise’ is you’ve got everything in that film,” Uslan said. “I’m drawing upon all of my musical training. I’m doing a little improvising, I’m playing some classical, I’m playing some jazz. It’s almost like a final exam for me. A lot of movies don’t have that variety of emotion. This movie has so much in it. It’s so juicy.” This occasion is a historical and educational part of the City Lights film series, said City Lights co-coordinator James Paasche.“Having that live musical accompanist is an educational thing, as well,” Paasche said. “It reminds everyone that cinema used to be more than just plucking down in front of your home theater.”But the real draw of the evening is the act of experiencing a film with music in a live setting. IU Cinema Director Jon Vickers spoke to how an accompanist makes a silent film screening so exciting.“There could be an accidental mistake that could be wonderful,” Vickers said. “You’re there in the moment of that happening and being created at the same time.”Uslan said he feels a special connection with live performances.“A lot of people don’t even hear live music anymore,” Uslan said. “I think it’s a much richer experience because you’ve got live music and in this case just a classic film that is still very powerful.”And translating that power is no easy task for any accompanist. “They’re trying to replicate a mood with the music that’s being portrayed in the film, but they’re also trying to remain one step ahead of the film,” Vickers said. “They’re trying to make sure they’re not doing something that’s distracting to the storyline.”But Uslan is doing more than plucking at a keyboard. Vickers said he feels Uslan’s work, and the work of all silent film accompanists, allows us to grow in ways no other movies can.“It’s important to allow accompanists to introduce audiences to old texts,” Vickers said. “Anything that can have the opportunity to expand an audience to an old text — as long as it doesn’t completely take away from the feeling of the film — I think that’s a good thing.”
(10/13/11 12:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Why can’t the Democrats just flat out say how crazy they think all the Republicans are? What is the point of being both rational and polite when it doesn’t make for good drama and certainly doesn’t make for good politics?“The Ides of March” is a very deliberate, direct film with domineering characters that say what they mean and don’t pull their punches. They don’t have any real wit, charm or depth, but by God, they get the job done.George Clooney’s political thriller follows the events of the Democratic primary and the actions of intelligent, confident and ego-driven campaign advisers that will do anything to win. The best, brightest and youngest player is Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling), who is lobbying for Governor Mike Morris (Clooney) for the presidential seat. Stephen is approached by Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) of the opposing campaign to join their White House drive. But this complicates things for Morris’s chances and for Stephen’s boss Paul (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who values loyalty above all else.This is the kind of tight, simple storytelling that makes for the best and most engaging political thrillers. The screenplay by Clooney and Grant Heslov includes no undertones in the dialogue and no subtleties in character development. It’s a script that isn’t a parable for anything but bluntly says we should cut the crap in our government.“The Ides of March,” however, is fairly one-dimensional. Because it’s a game of social politics and because of the way people act during election season, the film contrives some predictable controversies that fit together snuggly, if all too conveniently.What we’re left with is the tense back-and-forth between a strong, Oscar worthy cast. Gosling is today’s It-guy, and he carries his familiar typecast with a sure head and effortless confidence. Giamatti plays a wonderfully conniving prick, and he’s ruthless and ferocious in his few choice scenes with Gosling. Hoffman is a pro at being passionate and paranoid, and his character shows a lot of wisdom and command on screen. Clooney, too, loses himself inside his assumed presidential power. He gives speeches and threats the way a politician should. “The Ides of March” is a movie with big performances, economical editing and strong cinematography. It lacks the complexity and emotional punch of movies like the original “Manchurian Candidate,” but hey, so does our crop of presidential candidates.
(10/06/11 1:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When I said in my last column we should experience pain to show we really love something or someone, I didn’t mean we should all go and feel miserable. What I learned from watching “Shoah” is that sadness can offer a new perspective on life. What I learned from watching “50/50” and “Moneyball” is that being cynical can do the same thing. First, I realize the irony of writing about cynicism under my pun column name ‘Cine’cism. The goal of my column has always been to provide a new perspective on film, and that’s what I feel cynicism can do for a person. But it’s typically an emotion that’s frowned upon by some older generations. Each of the two recent films I mentioned puts a cynical spin on a typical genre movie. “Moneyball” removes the sentimentality of the game of baseball and still finds a way to make a rousing sports movie. “50/50” skillfully saps out the melodrama of a movie about cancer and becomes a clever, funny and heartwarming dark comedy. These types of movies should become a growing trend in American film. They paint characters with a broadened, modern scope of how life works. Brad Pitt’s Billy Beane or Seth Rogen’s Kyle are likeable and smart, not bitter and pessimistic. They understand that just hoping for the best isn’t going to replace Johnny Damon and bring the Oakland A’s a winning season, nor will it make a best friend’s cancer any less painful or keep him from dying. They’re cynical, practical and observant because it’s the smartest thing to do.And in terms of filmmaking, a darker, self-aware script can liven it by radicalizing a genre. Aaron Sorkin’s dialogue in “Moneyball” gave it a cold-hearted wit and punch, and Will Reiser’s semi-autobiography in “50/50” gave it comedy, attitude and lovely charm.I’m not as cynical as I used to be, but I’d like to think that if I criticize and remain practical about the way things are, I learn to understand it better without lying to myself.I could lament the state of Hollywood movies, the useless 3-D fad or the ridiculous antics of the Oscars, but where does that get us?I crack jokes and speak what’s on my mind, and I become a person who doesn’t shudder at the thought of discussing why “Thor” is more painful than a Viking hammer to the forehead. It’s healthy argument about controversial topics and bad situations that keeps me aware of both sides of an issue, even if it ultimately only gives me more reasons why I’m right.
(10/06/11 1:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>James Naremore said he was forever changed when he saw Pedro Costa’s 2006 film “Colossal Youth.”“Every now and then a filmmaker comes along who not only makes really impressive movies but makes you rethink what movies are or can be,” said Naremore, emeritus professor in IU’s Department of Communication and Culture. “I think he’s arguably the most important filmmaker alive.”Yet Costa and his films are relatively unknown in America. The IU Cinema has an opportunity to change this situation with a rare United States retrospective of Costa’s films and an appearance by the filmmaker himself. This opportunity begins today with his film “The Artful Tableau of Everyday Life.”Costa’s influence as a filmmaker began when he traveled to the islands of Cape Verde off the coast of Africa. Since then, Naremore and IU Cinema Director Jon Vickers agreed that Costa’s films have focused more on depicting this lifestyle.“Ninety-nine percent of what we see in cinema isn’t what he considers cinema,” Vickers said. Film critic Jonathon Sturgeon said beyond conventional storytelling, Costa’s films have radicalized the documentary style. “Costa closes the door for the viewer to be able to tell whether it’s a documentary or a narrative fictional film,” Sturgeon said. “He makes the distinction between those two things matter less.”But for Costa, there’s a dignity to depicting everyday life with a real sense of beauty, Naremore said. He said all of Costa’s films reflect that.“They have a painterly beauty and stillness,” he said. “Some people might say he’s aestheticizing or prettifying poverty, but he’s not doing that at all. He’s become very intimately involved in the lives of these people, and he’s giving them a certain kind of beauty and integrity that their lives do have.”Costa’s films may pose a challenge for general audiences, but Sturgeon said he feels there is merit to be seen in his work.“Costa’s cinema is thought of as very slow, but it is actually very observant and very beautiful,” Sturgeon said.Vickers said he encourages anyone interested to take part in this world cinema treat.“Come out to his more narrative films first, get a taste of his filmmaking style, even though it will migrate into something more challenging, and if you like what you see, go deeper,” Vickers said. “This is an honor to host him in this facility. He’s sought after, and we feel very fortunate that we can bring him here.”
(10/05/11 9:38pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“50/50” proves that being cynical and realistic in a bad situation doesn’t need to make you feel miserable.Will Reiser’s screenplay is based on his true story of how he was diagnosed with cancer and learned to live through it.Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has a 50/50 shot of survival from a rare form of the disease, and he learns that the healthiest people are the ones who avoid melodrama and address their problems head-on.Seth Rogen’s Kyle provides Adam with the “knock yourself out of it and get laid” mentality that governs a lot of male friendships, demonstrating a less-depressing way of coping with cancer.Rogen’s likeable performance makes for a witty, hilarious, memorable and well-rounded character in a deliciously quotable dark comedy. He’s as strong and funny as he’s ever been.And thanks to charming work by Anna Kendrick and Anjelica Huston, “50/50” displays the sort of intelligence and grace that makes you forget about feeling bad.
(09/29/11 3:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>1. “Raging Bull” (1980)Jake LaMotta would take a beating in the boxing ring to combat his devastating inner turmoil of jealousy, anxiety and an unbridled craving for abuse and conflict. Martin Scorsese’s “Raging Bull” is the most elegant, visceral, brutal and stylish sports movie ever made, and it’s all to depict the tragic beauty of a self-beaten soul.2. “Hoosiers” (1986)Although no one is sure what a Hoosier is, this movie embodies everything good about our state. From Gene Hackman speeches to last-second shots, “Hoosiers” will forever be a favorite son to those of us that call Indiana home.3. “Field of Dreams” (1989)The tagline should actually be “If you watch it, tears will come.” Perhaps the greatest baseball movie ever made, “Field of Dreams” will leave you thinking about much more than just a game.4. “Rocky” (1976)In many ways the forerunner to the modern sports underdog film, the timeless story of a low-level Philadelphia boxer who gets a shot at the championship remains powerful and heartwarming, thanks to Sylvester Stallone’s all-in portrayal of a simple man trying to seize the opportunity of a lifetime.5. “Remember the Titans” (2000)Denzel Washington plays the perfect tough-love coach in this heartwarming story of integration and a high school football team in Virginia in 1971.6. “Million Dollar Baby” (2004)The simple message of being able to find a champion in anyone with real heart speaks to how a film can overcome, with grace and tenderness, even the worst melodrama. Clint Eastwood’s marvelously acted boxing movie “Million Dollar Baby” does just that and becomes a lovely and touching masterpiece.7. “Breaking Away” (1979)Putting “Breaking Away” on a list of top sports movies to Bloomington viewers could be considered pandering, but even without the local connection, it’s one of the top cycling movies out there. Complete with us versus them rivalries, a stunning last-minute comeback and even Dennis Quaid in jorts, it should not be ignored by sports fans.8. “The Wrestler” (2008)Randy “The Ram” Robinson puts himself through so much abuse in the wrestling ring, but outside it is where he feels most hurt. Darren Aronofsky’s gritty, yet tender drama “The Wrestler” finds both pain and love through the violence of the sport, and Mickey Rourke’s tortured performance is utterly heartwarming. 9. “Chariots of Fire” (1981)Running on the beach to the operatic, electronic score by Vangelis is now a cliche, but it fits this British period piece’s victorious feel. “Chariots of Fire” is the best, if one of the few, movies about running ever made, and there’s something riveting about a sprint through the Cambridge courtyard.10. “Space Jam” (1996)How could a movie with Michael Jordan, Wayne Knight, Bill Murray and the Looney Tunes not be a rollicking good time? Tailor-made to be nostalgic for all generations, “Space Jam” is a goofy, quintessential ’90s retelling of Jordan’s return from retirement.11. “Moneyball” (2011)This Brad Pitt-starring film from “Capote” director Bennett Miller is only a baseball movie inasmuch as “The Social Network” is a Facebook movie. The story of Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane’s unorthodox approach to scouting players is an essential look inside a brilliant, iconoclastic mind.12. “Caddyshack” (1980)Basically an excuse to put Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield on screen together that happens to be set at a golf course, “Caddyshack” mercilessly roasts country-club culture through a combination of one-liners, gopher puppets and general ridiculousness.13. “Rudy” (1993)How can you not root for the little guy who once proclaimed, “Goonies never say die”? As far as unlikely hero stories go, “Rudy” is as good as it gets. Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!14. “The Pride of the Yankees” (1942)This film about the life and career of Lou Gehrig could be the very definition of the word “melodrama.” That’s no strike against it, though. Gary Cooper’s poignant depiction of a common man who rose to the highest level of America’s pastime only to have it stripped away early by a terminal illness is heart-wrenching and brilliant, and his recreation of Gehrig’s “luckiest man on the face of the earth” speech is one of the finest monologues in classic cinema.15. “Hoop Dreams” (1994)When Steve James began gathering footage of Chicago high school basketball stars William Gates and Arthur Agee for a half-hour PBS special, he had no idea it would result in a 171-minute documentary. It’s a good thing it did — the film was hailed by Roger Ebert as “the great American documentary” and has been accepted into the National Film Registry.16. “Slap Shot” (1977)Paul Newman is the most lovable actor-turned-salad-dressing-peddler of all time, so it’s no wonder his turn as a rough-and-tumble player-coach for a minor league hockey team in this classic comedy is as endearing as it is enduring.17. “Friday Night Lights” (2004)More so than the TV show it spawned, this adaptation of H.G. Bissinger’s classic book offers the most genuine depiction of Texas high school football seen on film as it chronicles the 1988 Odessa Permian Panthers and the undersized underdog team’s struggles to raise the spirits of their downtrodden, football-obsessed town.18. “A League of Their Own” (1992)Madonna, the ultimate girl power symbol, takes on the world of professional baseball in this classic American tale of the struggle for the first female league.19. “Cinderella Man” (2005)This is the story of Great Depression-era boxer James J. Braddock and how the supposedly washed-up fighter lifted America’s spirits with his surprise run to the heavyweight title. Russell Crowe is solid as Braddock but outshined by Paul Giamatti’s timeless performance as Joe Gould, the boxer’s manager.20. “The Sandlot” (1993)This all-time favorite epitomized the tradition of backyard baseball. “You’re killin’ me, Smalls” will forever be ingrained in our daily lexicon, and we will always “fear The Beast.”
(09/21/11 10:24pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I didn’t get much sleep that night. I was a bit hungover, my neck was hurting and I was quite busy. Keeping all that in mind, I don’t think any level of readiness would have prepared me for what I endured Sunday at the IU Cinema. “Shoah,” the harrowing and mostly subtitled Holocaust documentary approaching 10 hours in length, proved to be the roughest, most demanding cinematic marathon of my life. And yet, I’m more than glad to have experienced it. “Shoah” is no doubt a masterpiece, but where most people would feel as though they were sitting (or napping) through hell, even the most torturous movies provide for me a sort of solace many don’t know. The film by French-born director Claude Lanzmann asks tough questions, paints horrid visuals through testimonials alone and educates to an unspeakable degree. While Lanzmann’s main goal is to document everything that surrounds the Holocaust and to keep fighting and speaking until the last surviving Jew is standing, ultimately “Shoah” is a film that offers an unexpected scope and perspective on something we’re all very familiar with. That theme encapsulates how I feel about movies, especially those like “Shoah” that only a real cinephile can appreciate. They’re movies: art, yes, but entertainment first. For some, if not most people, that’s enough. But I love and hate movies enough to demand more from them. What I crave is to immerse myself in the picture, to get away from my problems, even if that means embracing someone else’s. And it’s not even just escaping to a fantasy as all people do with entertainment. There comes a point when the ideas of the movie meld with my own, and all the film’s beauty, ugliness and artfulness attain real world significance. When I do intellectually engage with a movie on that level, I achieve a state of reverie. I leave the theater speechless and yet simultaneously buzzing with thoughts. As an example, I came out of the excellent “Drive” this weekend feeling alive. Here is yet another film that, with its gritty noir setting and stylish hyper violence, is not precisely light entertainment. I jumped in my car and wanted to gun my stick shift rapidly down Highway 37, but I instead returned to my empty apartment, found no one to discuss the film with and felt immediately depressed. The mundane problems of my work, school, social and romantic lives all returned instantly. I had sadly been feeling this way all weekend, and after finally pulling myself away to the movies for once, it occurred to me I barely had time to transpose those buzzing thoughts and criticisms of “Drive” into a review. What I realized sitting squeamish through both “Drive” and “Shoah” was a sensation not completely uncommon from the ones at the end of a good workout, a moving song or even having sex with someone you love. It was the feeling of embracing, engaging and braving the unknown, achieving even just a quick moment outside of time and space and carrying the weight of something difficult and painful with near levity. Why does an athlete push his or her body to its limits in the pool, on a bike or on a run? Why does a music fan spin an album that doesn’t make him or her want to dance but scream out or send a shiver down his or her spine? Why does a person in love suffer through cheating, separation or worse? It’s not just adrenaline, and it’s not just escapism. We need to feel and know pain other than our own, and not the kind that comes from inactivity. Maybe it’s crazy to want to feel hurt, but I think to truly love anything or anyone, you have to be just a little crazy.
(09/21/11 9:58pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Acoustic instrumentalist Nawal comes from probably one of the most remote places of any artist at the Lotus World Music & Arts Festival. The singer hails from the Comoros Islands, located northwest of Madagascar, off the coast of Africa. Yet her soothing and eclectic musical style will feel right at home in Bloomington. Nawal describes her music as a spiritual call for peace. She said her goal was to broaden the musical space in her songs, this time through a solo album, “Embrace the Spirit,” rather than with a backing band on her acclaimed 2007 album, “Aman.” “I want to touch hearts,” Nawal said. “I want to go inside again and again and again until we find out what happens inside there.” Her music resembles traditional folk music from the Comoran region, but the style is inspired from a wide variety of cultures including African, Arabic and a hint of the Western world. “When I compose, all the music just gets in my heart,” Nawal said, explaining that her influences are so mixed, it’s impossible to pinpoint one exact style.She joked that although you don’t hear any of these influences directly in her music, she had been introduced to the music of Bob Dylan, The Doors, Pink Floyd and various American pop music artists at a young age.“There are lots of influences in your head, but we really just do things the way we feel them,” Nawal said. Everything communicated in “Embrace the Spirit,” including ideas about politics and women, is relevant to what is happening now, Nawal said. “We are in a period of transformation,” Nawal said. “People say this is the end of a war, but I believe there is a new war coming. This album is my participation to open hearts and contribute to this transformation.”
(09/21/11 9:48pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Samurai don’t wear robes or carry swords anymore, but they still exist. They wear driving gloves and carry hammers to nail bullets into thugs’ foreheads. “Drive”’s nameless antihero possesses the same focus, patience and loyalty of his feudal Japanese ancestors. Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn shares the same pacing and cinematic flourish as his Asian, French and Italian counterparts. Ryan Gosling is brilliant as the intensely cool and collected stunt driver on the run from mobsters (Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman). His struggle is to break out of his role as an inhuman, emotionless criminal who has nothing but skill behind the wheel. When he meets Irene (Carey Mulligan) early in the film, he comes close to developing a personality. But then the film revs from stark tension to ultraviolence faster than you can shift gears from fourth to fifth. “Drive” is steeped in enough bloody elegance, cinematic minimalism and 1980s electronica to be memorable as one of the strongest and most visceral films of 2011.
(09/21/11 9:46pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“Blow Up” is an appropriate title for Bomba Estéreo’s most recent full-length album because the band’s sound is an explosion of hip-hop, looped electronica and Latin influence. The Colombian party rockers will end their three-year world tour at the Lotus World Music & Arts Festival, and they said they hope their music spreads their South American culture stateside. Guitarist Julian Salazar said Bomba Estéreo’s music is inspired by the wide variety of global styles they’ve heard throughout their lives. To him, their sound mixes the best of rock, electronica and Colombian folk music, such as cumbia.“For all the people that come to our concerts and buy our album, we let them know that we in Colombia have our own style, and we do it our way,” Salazar said. Anyone going to the show can expect a dance-happy setting anchored by band leader and multi-instrumentalist Simón Mejía and the nasal rap vocals of Liliana Saumet. Salazar says Saumet’s goal in her songwriting about love and relationships is to always be truthful. But her lyrics are never intended to get in the way of the upbeat anthems.“We want to be more electronic while still trying to maintain the spirit of the Colombian and Latin rhythms,” Salazar said.But Indiana is a long way from Colombia, and although the band members have few to no expectations of what a show in the Midwest will be like, they said they’re still looking forward to performing.“Every show we do, we try to deliver, and when we know we’re in a different place, we want to do very well,” Salazar said.
(09/16/11 2:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It is a grueling documentary about the Holocaust. It includes no footage from the time of the war. It is more than nine hours long. It is “Shoah,” and at 11:00 a.m. Sunday it will be shown in the IU Cinema, which may be the last chance to see it.IU Cinema Director Jon Vickers seized the opportunity to stage a cinematic event with French director Claude Lanzmann’s 1985 film. A print was re-released for its 25th anniversary last year.Despite its troubling subject matter and length, Vickers hopes students and community members alike make an effort to see “Shoah.”“It is a nine-hour documentary on the Holocaust. It’s a tough sell,” Vickers said. “This is probably your one chance to ever see this in a public setting. If you are interested in film or filmmaking, and you want to see a serious piece of documentary film, this is something you should see.”Alvin H. Rosenfeld, an IU Professor of Jewish Studies teaching a course about Hitler and Anne Frank, spoke to the film’s overwhelming might.“It is among the most powerful films ever made on the Holocaust,” Rosenfeld said. “It grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go.”He agrees with Vickers that “Shoah” is an experience worth enduring, as it serves as a heart-wrenching historical document for the Jewish community.“The trauma of those years has not been diminished in the case of numbers of these people,” Rosenfeld said. “It’s probably as up-close and cinematically truthful as films about the Holocaust can get. It’s unsparing in its depiction of those crimes. It doesn’t have one second of sentimentalizing or romanticizing. There’s nothing commercializing about the film. It just goes right to the heart of the catastrophe.”The film is being shown as part of the ongoing Themester series, “Making War, Making Peace,” within the College of Arts and Sciences. English and theater and drama Professor Steve Watt said he is pleased to have the film associated with classes about the war and Holocaust.“It is an initiative for which we have lots of wonderful partners across campus,” Watt said. “We have a lot of great partners both within the University and within the community.”But Rosenfeld said he feels “Shoah” can serve more than just academic purposes.“We know a great deal about the Holocaust in terms of what happened, where it happened, who caused it, who the victims were and how they were victimized,” Rosenfeld said. “To this day, though, we’re still asking major questions as to why. This film will raise those questions in you, and it may just help the students get some answers.”
(09/15/11 12:46pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“Comedy? If you wanna ask my honest opinion, comedy is headed straight
into the shitter. This whole Internet thing is a fad, and you can quote
me on that!” Comedian James Adomian is joking, but he’s about to launch into a rant as though he were broadcasting across the Internet.
“As soon as the government finally pulls the plug on the Internet and
the economy tanks, we’re going to be left barking on street corners like
old-timey guys,” Adomian mused. “You wanna know the future of comedy?
It’s in Russian and Chinese. I’m a huge fan of the Russian comedy scene.
And my advice to upcoming comics: Learn fuckin’ Mandarin.” As a comic, Adomian has found that the freedom of the
Internet has broadened not only what he’s capable of saying or doing,
but also the audience that will faithfully follow him. It’s made for a thriving, personal, intimate and increasingly bizarre comedy scene that would not
have survived when Jerry Seinfeld was making observations on Johnny
Carson. “You get to do your own thing when you’re on the Internet.
There are no restrictions. You can say something offensive on the
Internet and get the right people to find it,” Adomian said. “I’m able
to have people see me without seeing me.”
The beauty of the Internet’s place in comedy today is that anyone can
get to know a comedian online, said IU Communication and Culture
graduate student James Paasche. “Now the Internet has broken down
barriers that you can become friends with comedians,” Paasche said. “We
have so many chances to engage with these people. Now, with websites and
Twitter, you have so much access, and it’s engendered this attitude that ‘I need to be on at all times.’” One of the largest mediums comedians have found to reach a wide audience and identify with them personally is podcasting. “Podcasts came along, and suddenly we’re all podcasters,” Adomian said.
Jared Thompson, owner of Bloomington’s the Comedy Attic, said he knows
this to be true of nearly every successful comedian today. “We have no choice but to stay up on what’s happening in the podcast world,” Thompson said.
Thompson explained that some people came to see Adomian perform at the
Comedy Attic based solely on hearing his appearances on the popular
Comedy Bang Bang podcast. This has proved to be a great influence in
Adomian’s routine. “I’ve learned how to do comedy as much through the
Internet as I have through live performances,” Adomian said. “There is
an audience, even if they’re not right here. People get to see and hear
stuff they wouldn’t have seen or heard if they only got to see a TV
set.”
Paasche said he thinks podcasts and the Internet have created identities for comics that draw audiences like never before. “Now that they can do these acts that aren’t based around
a set of jokes and they can interact with people who know their back
stories, know their histories, they probably like them more as people
than as comedians,” Paasche said. “It’s not just a shtick. It’s me
sitting down and bullshitting with you, and you feel like you’re getting
drunk with a buddy. But it’s not. It’s a professional.”
Paasche is describing the certain “it” factor Thompson said he searches for when hiring talent. “They
either have it or they don’t,” Thompson said. “Sometimes it’s like a
relationship. It just depends on how compatible you are. There’s an ‘it’
about people we try to bring here.”
But with podcasts and Twitter becoming a standard for comedians,
Thompson argued the industry has become that much more competitive. It’s
crucial that comics find ways to stand out however they can. “For
me to book you, you have to be eager to get new credits. You have to be
involved in something other than stand-up comedy,” Thompson said. “Are
you doing something different from what everyone else is doing? They’re
consistently trying to be more famous.”
What this has fostered is consistently odd approaches to get a laugh, and this is now the rule rather than the exception. “Alternative
comedy is certainly not alternative anymore. There’s a thriving scene
outside of the established clubs from the ’80s,” Adomian said.
Starting with Will Ferrell early in the 2000s, Thompson said there was a
dominant thought that “Being bizarre was just considered funny.” “It
started a trend of people in their 20s who are just looking to laugh at
something that isn’t obvious,” Thompson said. “We are looking at the
first time that the acceptable comedians that people are drawn from are
weird.”
Some of the comedians generating the most buzz today are consciously
aware of this departure from being traditional and a need to establish a
niche. “When you’re dealing with comedians like Hannibal Burress and Marc Maron, who are on the cutting edge of comedy right now, they’re not
necessarily going to connect with a general audience,” Thompson said.
“They’re going to touch on things that someone who just wants to see
stand-up comedy isn’t prepared for, some things that are on the cutting
edge of comedy.”
So where does this leave comedy? Will stand-up forever be selective, odd and personal? Thompson doesn’t think so. “Somebody
will come along and go back to being a straight comic, and that’ll be
considered throwback,” Thompson said. “It’s going to be an evolving
world yes, but I guarantee you in five years you’ll see someone that
gets up there and just tells jokes, and they’ll be like, ‘Wow, this is
like seeing Seinfeld in the early ’80s.’”
But Thompson is the first to admit being different isn’t a bad thing. “In having to be different from someone, that’s only going to broaden what’s considered funny.” Maybe comedy isn’t headed straight for the shitter after all.
(09/15/11 3:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Angus Aynsley spent nearly three years in the largest landfill on the planet. Now he’s staying at Collins Living-Learning Center.IU alumnus Aynsley is the Oscar-nominated producer behind the 2010 documentary “Waste Land” and is scheduled to speak at 3 p.m. Friday at the IU Cinema, prior to a screening of his film at 6:30 p.m. This appearance is one small step in the ongoing journey of the story behind the movie. “Waste Land” profiles artist Vik Muniz, who traveled to the world’s largest landfill in Rio de Janeiro, only to find a thriving, happy and environmentally crucial community of garbage pickers. The piece began as a short film, but Aynsley said he had no idea what to expect. As soon as he and his crew arrived at the landfill, everything changed. “Once seeing the garbage dump — which was so visually powerful — we saw this amazing backdrop for a film,” Aynsley said. “In the first months of filming ... we didn’t know what it was going to be.”The real shift in the film’s focus came from the warm humanity Aynsley, Muniz and director Lucy Walker saw in the scavengers, or in Portuguese, the catadores, who made their living in the landfill.“We had no idea the scavengers were going to be the people they turned out being,” Aynsley said. “We arrived with the same prejudice as others, thinking that these people were going to be drug addicts and real down and out. We had no idea they were going to be so incredible, so heartwarming, so erudite and so human.”Aynsley’s achievement was his persistence to tell the story amidst changing directors and monetary issues. “There was just no stopping. This was something. This was beautiful,” Aynsley said. “As a producer, it was just about holding on to that and keeping guard and keeping the cameras running so we could watch this story transpire in front of us.”Making “Waste Land” jostled Aynsley’s perspective of life, and he said he feels the process had a similar effect on those from the garbage dump.“As a filmmaker, it’s a very, very powerful experience having day-to-day contact with these people,” Aynsley said. “Suddenly working at something completely different and viewing their lives differently — I think that, in a way, is a bigger trip. You think about life, you think about what you’re doing and where you’re at. Some people go to a spa — they went to Vik.”But after such a long and ongoing journey, one that will take Aynsley back to Brazil for another two weeks, Aynsley said he is happy to return to his alma mater. “When you’re my age, it’s a pretty crazy experience,” Aynsley said of staying in Collins LLC, his former dorm. “IU was a really key point in me becoming who I am and ending up where I’m at. IU is a really special place for me.”IU Cinema director Jon Vickers said the campus is happy to have him.“This was a good opportunity to bring an alum back to campus,” Vickers said. “I think it’s just important to honor IU alum when we can.” Vickers explained that Aynsley’s lecture will take the form of an informal discussion on his expertise as a producer and the process behind making a film.Aynsley offered a small taste of all he has to offer aspiring documentarians.“Find a story, pick up a camera and go,” Aynsley said. “You’re going to work your butt off, you’re going to sacrifice a lot and you’re going to have a really crazy journey. It’s not going to be easy, but you can get there. You can make a film. There’s no excuse.”