Unfinished films
An article from the Guardian about films by the likes of Hithcock and Eisenstein that did not get made, either due to the evil studio bureaucracy or the director’s own hubris.

“Big” deal
The Tamil ripoff of the Hollywood movie “Big” has some women’s organizations in India up in arms. And not because they are defending the copyright of Penny Marshall’s film, but because all these sex scenes have been added to the film, where the boy in the man’s body is seduced and presumably taught about sex by his wife. The BBC reports:

The film’s director and lead actor, MJ Surya, says there is nothing in it against women or children.

He says the sex scenes are there because the story line requires them.

He has described his film as “fiction laced with sex and comedy”.

While MJ Surya indulges in his ultimate Oedipal dream (while hoping to make a buck no doubt), the maternal object of desire says no. I guess Psychoanalytic theories are not universally applicable.

I feel I need to clarify my position on the Big B, after Amit Chaudhary’s comment on the Om Puri knighthood. I am an unabashed fan! and those are some of my favorite films! Its interesting the Queen will tap Puri rather than the Big B, whose films are probably seen much more widely than anything Om Puri is in, and I mean by her subjects. Or that Roshan Seth is not the obvious choice, but then he plays intellectuals (Beautiful Laundrette) or leaders (Nehru in Gandhi), and speaks with a nice accent.

The BBC reports:

A controversial book about the “honour killing” of a Jordanian woman has been withdrawn by publishers in Australia after the author was accused of fabricating the story.

Norma Khouri’s Forbidden Love was a best-seller in Australia. It is a first-hand account of a Muslim woman’s death, murdered by her father over her relationship with a Christian.

But an Australian newspaper says it has uncovered dozens of inconsistencies. The author stands by her story.

The author sounds very sincere in an interview where she talks about how emotionally upsetting it was for her to write the book, and how she was shaking with fear for her life on the flight out from Jordan. It seems the Sydney Morning Herald conducted an 18 month investigation into the veracity of “Forbidden Love.”

It reminds me of a quote byAnn McClintock to the effect of how Europe has tried to civilize the Middle East by disrobing their women, and civilize the Africans by making them wear clothes. Looking at the cover of the book, with its mysterious veiled woman with her kohl darkened eyes, it certainly invites one to buy the book and open its covers to disrobe this mysterious Oriental creature who holds God knows what secrets of cruelty and passion. Norma may be a disturbed person or just a clever hoax, but what about those people who were more than willing to publish her, represent her and make money off the book. And what about all the people who get their fifteen dollars worth of satisfaction of not belonging to “such a barbaric culture.” And what of those women who actually have to deal with domestic violence, whether they live in Lahore or Columbus, Ohio. And finally, can the women from Ohio dream of having their books published with so much alacrity and end up on a best-seller list?

Om Puri is being knighted. The BBC reports it, so it must be true. Om Puri is being so honored for his work in Jewel in the Crown, City of Joy and such like quality projects.

I am really insulted on the behalf of the Big B, who has starred in such quality films as Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony, Don, Deewar etc. the British may have lost their empire, but they certainly have the classiness to reward the “good native.” The emperor may not have any clothes, but he certainly has a bunch of candy hanging on cheap ribbons.

Tahini and Tears and Eunuch Alley will be in the Paris Underground Film Festival! details coming soon.

Tahini and Tears will also be in the New York Musical Theater Festival. The Screening Series will run September 27 – 30 at the AMC Times Square (42nd St/8th Ave), right in the heart of the theatre district.

Finally a movie with somebody called Kumar that does not have a wedding in it, or has a spice or tea related item in its title. With all due respect to Monsoon Wedding and Masala, films that I like a great deal.

Along with Amardeep Singh, I am looking forward to seeing Harold and Kumar go to Whitecastle. It is interesting however, that there are no Asian names in the crew list, not in the important positions anyway.

The documentary “The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan,” is not only a mockumentary, but last month Sci-Fi Channel actually lied about Shyamalan trying to shut down the documentary by Nathanial Kahn (My Architect) and Callum Greene. According to Eugene Hernandez comments on Kahn’s “performance”:

Its a performance not far from Kahn’s own battle to learn more about the life and death of his enigmatic father, architect Louis Kahn, captured in the Oscar-nominated doc “My Architect”. Seeing him so effectively reprise his role as a passionate doc director in “Buried Secrets” tonight, I couldn’t help but wonder about the sincerity of his on-screen persona in “My Architect.”

In a time when we are used to Governments lying in order to go to war (and killing thousands of people as a consequence) and Jon Stewart’s fake news show having more credibility than “legitimate” news, this PR stunt of generating a fake controversy should perhaps not be too disturbing. But somehow it is. Manipulating the media seems to be de-rigueur, and even if its a cheesy pr stunt to generate buzz, it is disturbing.

Mockumentaries have a venerable history from “David Holzman’s Diary” to “This is Spinal Tap,” and if the sci-fi channel has caught up with film history, that may not be so bad. I think we are so used to thinking of personal docs as coming from some uber-sincere space, that we never question the artifice in that form, and Kahn maybe just a good filmmaker who uses that form very effectively, but does that make “My Architect” a less credible film?

Apologies to the non-US folks, and I normally don’t fundraise for
political parties, but I suppose this election year is something else,
and I have a personal connection with the Designs on the White House
folks, as I am married to one of the organizers!

Last of all these T-shirts are actually nice, so buy one, the proceeds
will go to the Kerry campaign, and you will be spreading the word.

“Designs on the White House” was a design contest to
create better campaign shirts for Kerry, judged by the likes of
Kenneth Cole, Al Franken, Moby, and Milton Glaser. From hundreds of
entries, ten winners have now been picked. (Unlike the
official Kerry campaign shirts, these are shirts you’d actually want
to wear!) You can see the winning designs at
http://www.DesignsOnTheWhiteHouse.com

If you’re supporting Kerry in the upcoming election, please consider
buying a shirt. You can either buy a
shirt directly from CafePress, here:
http://www.designsonthewhitehouse.org/shop.php

Or pre-order a silk-screened shirt here:
http://www.designsonthewhitehouse.org/preorder.php

The silk screened shirts are available on colored shirts, and if you
pre-order you’ll save 5 bucks. Either way, the net proceeds will go to
support the Kerry campaign. They have raised about $1000 so far, and I
think they can raise a lot more.

Thanks, and I hope you’ll not only buy some shirts but also help
spread the word.