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Between the Folds
Japanese school children have folded boxy paper cranes and animals
for centuries. Akira Yoshizawa (1911-2005), considered the father of
modern origami, opened up a whole new world, bringing gestural
qualities and emotion to his creations.
November 16, 2009
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New Orleans Middle East Film Festival
The New Orleans Middle East Film Festival screens a wide range of
feature and short films and documentaries on subjects such as Afghan
bodybuilders (Afghan Muscles), Palestinian rap
(Slingshot Hip Hop), architecture (Learning From
Light: The Vision of I.M. Pei), the lives of Middle Eastern
immigrants abroad after 9/11 (Amreeka) and political
topics about Palestine and the occupied territories, such as Tagreed
Saadeh's Cast Lead (pictured). The festival features 72
films from countries including Egypt, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Turkey,
Qatar, Lebanon and others.
November 9, 2009
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Vampire Film Fest
The Vampire Film Festival has resurrected itself in New Orleans. Two
previous events were held in Los Angeles, but organizers decided the
Big Easy is the rightful home for the slate of events, which include an
international array of short and feature films, a vampire ballet, a
costume ball (at Ye Olde Original Dungeon at 10:30 p.m.
October 19, 2009
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Easier With Practice
First time feature film writer/director Kyle Patrick Alvarez's
Easier With Practice is equal parts dirty joke and slacker love
story.
October 5, 2009
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Crude
Only a filmmaker could look at the David and Goliath story and
decide a bigger Goliath would make the story more dramatic. That begins
to get at the scope of the conflict in Crude by Ben
Berlinger (Metallica: Some Kind of Monster).
September 21, 2009
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Handmade Nation
When the revolution comes, the capitalists probably won't have their
backs to the wall at needlepoint, but the many do-it-yourself toilers
in the craft movement exude a similar rebellious spirit as they combine
business savvy and art skills to confront the generic offerings of
Target and Walmart. There is a strong tradition of folk craft in the
United States, and these young entrepreneurs are renewing it with
punk-rock spirit and shedding the image of knitting, sewing and
quilting as precious domestic pastimes distinct from popular culture.
September 14, 2009
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D Tour
Drummer Pat Spurgeon's rock 'n' roll odyssey has been an odd mix of
no-surrender chutzpah and rigorous medical vigil.
September 14, 2009
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In The Loop
Fans of either the British or American version of The Office
will appreciate the petty politics and preening endemic to the
corridors of power at 10 Downing Street in London (the Prime Minister's
address) and the State Department in Washington D.C. in Armando
Iannucci's In The Loop. The viciously sharp-tongued and
fast-clipped political comedy sends up the bumbling ways in which the
big picture is cast aside as individuals scramble for even the
slightest increase in power or prestige.
September 8, 2009
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Departures
Being Japanese means always having to say you're sorry, from
outright apologies to subtly disguised greetings. Not all of them are
subtitled as such in Departures, which gobbled up
Japanese Academy Awards including best picture, director, screenplay,
actor and others and won the Oscar for 2009 Best Foreign Language Film.
August 24, 2009
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