Juneau Film

Another Valentine's Day... and the same old thing just won't do? Not even CHOCOLATE???

For a completely different adventure, head to Goldtown Nickelodeon for the mysterious and very independent film, "Karma Rider: We Together with Ralph." 'Ralph', whom some might recognize as the Juneau local who also supplies the ride with your lifetime season pass to bliss, is a partner of the production company, Groovyfilms. Groovy filmmaker John Hartman tells us, "No-budget filmmakers are often required to forge elements of originality from the rawest of material and the meagerest of circumstances. We are forced to remain open-minded and this, I venture, is where the magic springs from. I figure we’re lucky to be here."

Sounds like love? Come check it out....

'Ralph' wants everyone to know that the unrated film is free, groovy, and showing Tuesday, February 14th at 6 and 9 p.m. For more information about 'Karma Rider' and other Groovyfilms endeavors (some of which feature scenes and sounds of Southeast Alaska), check out the Groovyfilms website. To reserve seats in advance, email captainplanko@gmail.com.

"There is only one way to deal with karma in the dream world....Take the Ride!" Or so says Ralph. I think chocolate is right up there. It helps us to remain open-minded, is certainly where the magic springs from, and one more reason we are lucky to be here. Especially on Valentine's Day, it sure can't hurt to bring some along to see 'Karma Rider.'

10 year olds make wonderful subjects for documentarys. They are the elders of the pre-teen world yet many still retain their blurt-out-all_your-thoughts innocence. "Mad Hot Ballroom," captures the thoughts and emotions of these young, beautiful ones in detail. We get to watch them respond and react to this strange new world of ballroom dancing, facing new complex concepts like competition, winning and losing, boys and girls. They face them as they and/or some of their friends begin to show interest in developing more mature relationships with the opposite sex. A challenging mix to get through gracefully.

As children often do, these kids ended up teaching me as much about myself and humanity as about themselves. And they taught me to be proud.

This is a good movie to take:

• Your teenage son or daughter
• Your mom or dad (especially if you are a teenage son or daughter)
• Your Congress-person.
  
• People dissalllusioned with the "human condition".

Stephen Chow's 'Kung Fu Hustle,' that is...

It made us laugh: it might have made us cry if we were not still laughing so hard. It was ridiculously violent and dripping with pathos. It was hokey, disgusting, hallucinatory, thoughtful, and charming. Its flesh of dynamic martial arts choreography hung on a skeleton of historical stereotype, full-blooded with high-tech special effects, sweating a hint of deeper meaning, topped with a wig of ever-twisting, kinky going every which way plot that kept wildly curling.

This was a really fun movie, not to be missed whether or not you saw 'Shaolin Soccer,' Chow's prior film itself quickly cult classified.

I kept remembering the Tai Chi master my friend studied under in college, an ancient Chinese man whose immense flow of chi could reputedly move things (including people) with no actual physical contact and no uncertain force against theoretically immovable objects. My friend never actually saw it happen even though he dropped alot of acid, and neither did I, until last night. I don't remember the school of Tai Chi, but it hardly seems to matter. The movie's about Kung Fu, of course, and there are countless kinds represented from which to choose. If you are interested in plot, cast, and other trivialities check out one of the abundant reviews of this film. Otherwise, take a trip to Pig Sty Alley, select the resident or supernatural force most appealing to you, buckle your seatbelt, and prepare to laugh your head off (not represented by any particular school of martial art but maybe it should be?).

Look for showtimes...

The Sea Inside - Goldtown Nickelodeon Theatre - April 22 - 28

"Far from being a standard-issue tearjerker...the picture rises above its generic roots to emerge as a powerful human drama."
-- Frank Swietek, ONE GUY'S OPINION

"The combination of a deeply troubling issue, a powerful screenplay, deft direction and a bravura lead performance make this a memorable and moving film."
-- Brian Webster, APOLLO GUIDE

"The journey to death can be tremendously life-affirming."
-- Phil Villarreal, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

"Had its beautiful moments but also had its soap opera moments."
-- Dennis Schwartz, OZUS' WORLD MOVIE REVIEWS

On Wednesday, April 20th, KTOO will host a screening of Sacred Planet, a film produced with Walt Disney productions with Robert Redford, and featuring the work of local KTOO-FM volunteer Cy Peck, Jr.

Sacred Planet is a journey away from the hectic world we live in. Through stunning cinematography, the film transports you to some of the most fascinating, exotic, and remote sites on Earth, giving you new insights into our planet's diverse landscapes, peoples, and animals. This mesmerizing, fascinating tour of faraway places and majestic creatures is an awe-inspiring wonder.

Cy Peck Jr. became involved in the project initially as a location consultant, but got more involved as the film developed, eventually serving as a writer and narrator for the film. He was also involved in the IMAX-production, EXTREME, about sports around the world.

"It looks easy, but it's a tough job with long hours," said Peck.

"The whole theme of Sacred Planet is choice'," continued Peck. "You can either pass by the bubble gum wrapper or pick it up."

Sacred Planet will be screened at KTOO on Wednesday, April 20 in the downstairs TV studio at 7 p.m. There is no admission charge.

Look here for more details about 'Sacred Planet.'
Check here for reviews.
© Copyright 2005, CCBI

To this movie, I say “yes, yes, yes yes yes.” The question might be, what’s the question?

Here in Juneau, we lately had ‘Hedwig.’ Was it about sex? Sometimes. Orientation? Sure. Love, yes ultimately love too. To me, the best and most joyfully appealing aspect of ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ was its call to be the best person possible, whoever that person is. Here, in Juneau, wherever we’ve been. Next week we’ll have a trip down the Carnal Canal with KitchYumyum Delectable Burlesque. Will it be about sex? Probably so. Orientation? Undoubtedly. Love, yes ultimately love too. It’s call, apparently, to become a person I do not yet even know I am, is irresistible.

Now I sit listening to the timeless voice of Amalia Rodriguez and the fateful stories she tells of love and longing just add to perspective. I saw this weekend’s Goldtown Nickelodeon film, ‘Kinsey’, earlier this evening. My company was perfect in a perfectly magical and longtime friend with whom it is habit to be naked, hot and sweaty. We’ve done wonderful things to one another’s bodies. We neither of us have a thing to hide, nor even much to wonder. (Sex? Nobody’s business. Orientation? Who’s to say? Love? Absolutely!) We both enjoyed this film, which runs through Sunday, March 20, and is rated 'R'. Showtimes are Friday, March 18 - 7 & 9:15 pm; Saturday, March 19 - 7 & 9:15 pm; and Sunday, March 20 - 4 & 7 pm.

This movie can easily ruffle some sensibilties, although to say it is not for the prudish seems to entirely miss the point. It might be especially for them! (Am I one? I did not think so this afternoon, but now I am not so sure...) It does not hesitate to point out a hero’s tragic flaws nor catalogue his demise, which seems like an honest attempt at honesty. It offers many solid elements of filmmaking, from effective cinematography to fine performances by a host of stars to excellent yet unobtrusive musical scoring. No complaints there. I might wish for a better memory for pithy quotes so that I could share some here, because it has alot of those too.

Its subject matter, the life and work of Alfred Kinsey, reaches from the most intimately personal to the most broadly political human relationships, and even tosses a few fun animal shots onto the span. Watching it, I was not taken quite as far back as the McCarthy era because my lifespan does not reach that long, but found the opportunity to reach back in memory at least as far as my very first sexual experience. Was it eyeing my parents’ copy of “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male” high up on a shelf with curiosity? Was it the forbidden excitement of climbing up to reach it, opening it up, looking at the pictures and graphs and reading Dr. Kinsey’s work when I was so young that not even my parents knew that I knew how to read? Maybe so. I’ve long been one to find pleasure in a good secret, keeping it, revealing it, how when to whom and why.

Dr. Kinsey’s students and subjects had secrets, lots of them. They kept them for the sake of fitting in, when fitting in was both fashionable and obligatory. They revealed the most intimate secrets of themselves to this man because they, like him, needed to know who they really were, where they fit as humans in the most basic sense, and how people could become who they did not even know they could be, the best people possible. Is it about sex? Yes. Orientation? Yes. Love? Yes, ultimately, love, yes yes yes. Here, now, in Juneau, this film seems to fit right in.

Filmmaker and artist Julie Perini sent JuneauMusic.com news from Buffalo, NY of her latest production, “Place Settings.” Juneauites have been lucky to share Julie’s company for the last couple summers, and view some of her flicks, and, well, some of her... For example there was the one on Tony Tengs and his licks, a short film called "Are You Not My Ice Cream Cone?"
which screened at JUMP and at the Panhandle Film Festival. That was a cool, cool film on a hot, hot night if memory serves correctly. She also screened a short film "Old Things" at JUMP. The highlight of her Juneau experiences, though? Although sharing a dorm room with yours truly might have come in close second on account of my good whiskey, Julie says, “the highlight of it all was probably when I got a fifty cent piece stuck in my underwear at the Boardwalk Boogie in 2003...As always, I wish I were there!”

About “Place Settings,” which took place on February 26, she writes:

“Hey AK buddies,

Here are a few photos from the latest Julie Perini production. It was this collaborative event called "Place Settings." Basically, we had this old warehouse basement to work in, and I got six other artists on board to put on a metaphoric dinner party. We each had a "course." There was a long dinner table in the basement with room for 40 people and other people sat on the sides. There was a projection at each end. We each did our own video/performance that addressed an idea about eating/consumption and/or the space, which was sort of creepy but was over 100 years old, it used to be a factory. It was even used by the Department of War
to make gas engines.

I did a project called "Sandwiche Mecanique" where I gave everyone a paper bag and inside the bag were instructions and 20 of one ingredient. They then made two long sandwich assembly lines. 20 cukes, 20 tomatoes, that sort of thing. It worked and was really fun. Not sure how they tasted.

Just wanted to share. Someday I will do something like this in that abandoned mine building over on Douglas that is on that trail...forget the name...but I keep a photo of it on my wall!

Miss you.”

Ms. Perini did not realize she was kicking off National Eating Disorders Week with that one, either. Most peculiar. So what motivated her to put on an event like this?

“The beauty and history of the space, the desire to bring people together, the risk involved - would people come? Would this work? Was this too weird? A lot of my work is live, process-based and necessitates active participation. Right now, I am very interested in enacting historical moments and situations/conditions, especially in interpretive ways. So the ‘Sandwiche Mecanique’ I did as my component of this multi-vocal project fits in with that.”

If Julie produces an event in one of those Douglas mine buildings, she might want to gather local artists and musicians together for something collective. She’d like to channel the sense of adventure, the years of labor, and the human energy that formerly existed within those walls.

Julie says she has never before met such a high concentration of people who are simultaneously hilarious, brilliant, warm AND physically fit as she found here in Juneau. She loves our can-do attitudes, the environment, and the hot tubs. We’ll keep an eye out for a web page up in the next month or so, and a project that will launch in June at <www.helpjuliebuildalittleship.com>. And please, email her at julieperini@yahoo.com, especially if you have word on any work or a place to live here in Juneau starting around a year from now, or even just for the summer.

Come back, Julie... we miss you too!