Plot: Deep in the San Fernando Valley, amidst rows of dilapidated warehouses, was rock n’ roll’s best kept secret: Sound City. America’s greatest unsung recording studio housed a one-of-a-kind console, and as its legend grew, seminal bands and artists such as Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Rick Springfield, Tom Petty, Metallica and Nirvana all came out to put magic to tape. Directed by Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and featuring interviews and performances from the iconic musicians who recorded some of rock’s greatest albums at the studio, Sound City doesn’t just tell the story of this real-life rock ‘n’ roll shrine, it celebrates the human element of music as Grohl gathers some of rock’s biggest artists to collaborate on a new album. Using Sound City’s legendary analog console, together these artists continue to create musical miracles in a digital world.

Michell Hdz

Published on 28 Dec 2012

• Long Live the Legion! (jabwriter.com)
• Anonymous # OpOK # Tornado destruction Oklahoma on 5/20/2013. (panoffolin.wordpress.com)
• Civil Disobedience Leads to Arrests at NC General Assembly | NC NAACP . . . The cabal is trying to roll back time . . . oh, my! ~J (jhaines6.wordpress.com)
• Molly Wood, CNET: Anonymous goes nuclear; everybody loses? (nextlevelofnews.com)
• Anonymous #OpGTMO (panoffolin.wordpress.com)
• A ‘Nonviolent Army of Love’ Rises in North Carolina to Face Down Rightwing’s Assault on Progress (jhaines6.wordpress.com)
• Who Are the Anonymous? (s3s3n.wordpress.com)
• Anonymous – A Better World is Possible – #OpAwakeTheMasses (panoffolin.wordpress.com)
• Anonymous hacker group’s web attacks and their view of how the world should operate (gulfnews.com)
• Anonymous announce plans to attack US banks, institutions! (chasvoice.blogspot.com)

click above to go to archive. an amazing resource. the site archive.org that hosts it is also an amazing resource. enjoy.

Description from site:

The Naropa University Archive Project is preserving and providing access to over 5000 hours of recordings made at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. The library was developed under the auspices of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics (the university’s Department of Writing and Poetics) founded in 1974 by poets Anne Waldman and Allen Ginsberg. It contains readings, lectures, performances, seminars, panels and workshops conducted at Naropa by many of the leading figures of the U.S.literary avant-garde.

The collection represents several generations of artists who have contributed to aesthetic and cultural change in the postmodern era. The Naropa University Archive Project seeks to enhance appreciation and understanding of post-World War II American literature and its role in social change, cultural criticism, and the literary arts through widespread dissemination of the actual voices of the poets and writers of this period. Current interest in Oriental religions, environmentalism, political activism, ethnic studies, and women’s consciousness is directly indebted to the work of these New American Poets, writers and musicians.

Funding for this project was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Save America’s Treasures, the GRAMMY Foundation, the Internet Archive, the Collaborative Digitization Program, and private donors. If this collection is important to you please help us preserve it with your donations.

For more information visit our web site at http://www.naropaarchive.org or email us at archive@naropa.edu.
See a Tag Cloud for the this collection.

The worst part is that this toxic chemical is intentionally being poured into the city of Port Angeles public water system.

What is this toxin in our water?  It is actually a combination of two chemicals, Hexafluorosilicic Acid and Sodium Silicofluoride neither of which has been proved to be safe or effective for human consumption on any scale. And together they are conveniently labeled ‘fluoride’.
 
Why is it being added to our water? We are told it is added for our benefit.  That it prevents tooth decay but there is no evidence to back this claim.  In fact 98% of European countries do not fluoridate their water and they do not have higher incidents of tooth decay.
 
The real reason is because it provides a convenient and lucrative alternative to otherwise treating these chemicals as the hazardous byproducts that they are and disposing of them according to strict EPA regulations.
 
Where does fluoride come from?  During the production of phosphoric acid from phosphate rock, fluoride chemicals are removed in the form of Hexafluorosilicic Acid and Sodium Silicofluoride .  These chemicals used to be released as gasses into the air until it was discovered they were killing the surrounding vegetation and animals.  So the mining industry installed scrubbers on the factories to remove these gasses before they were released into the atmosphere.  They discovered they could sell these toxic chemicals to public water works and make a profit under the guise of ‘public health’ because of a vague study done on naturally occurring ‘calcium fluoride’ that may have had a connection with reduced cavities.
 
But the fluoride that is being put in our water is not naturally occurring and recent studies are showing that it causes more harm than good.
 
Proponents of fluoride will tell you that it is an essential nutrient.  An essential nutrient being a substance required by the body that must be obtained from the diet.  Much like the addition of iodine to salt or vitamin d in milk.  But the National Academy of Sciences has repeatedly determined that fluoride is not a nutrient.
 
Fluoride as defined by the EPA is a drug used to prevent tooth decay.  And a drug that has not been tested for safety.
 
And Fluoride does not just affect our teeth but also accumulates and affects all the tissues in the body.
 
New studies are showing that fluoride is an endocrine disrupter, that it may lead to decreased bone density and 24 studies have shown that fluoride reduces children’s IQ.
 
One of our basic human rights is the right to consent to what medications we take and yet fluoridation of our public water supply denies us this basic right.
 
Fluoridation is nonconsensual mass medication of a toxic hazardous byproduct labeled as a drug that has never been proven to be safe or effective.
 
Fluoride is intentionally posing the water of our city.
 
And it is not just people affected by fluoride.  Public water runs off into our streams, rivers and into the ocean affecting all life all along the way.

Do your own research, speak up and help stop the Fluoridation of Port Angeles’ public water…

It will affect up to 95% of the UK adult population yet hardly any one is aware of it.

This new law is called the “Pay for Sex” policy, where the government aim to tax every person over the age of consent for each and every time they have sex.

Still don’t believe me? Well a recent interview with Keith Nelson, policy advisor for this new bill has stated, “The government are in preliminary discussions regarding a ‘Pay for Sex’ policy. Once the House of Lords and the House of Commons have agreed on the content of the bill, it will then be presented to the Queen which is known as Royal Ascent.”

Is it just me or is this totally shocking??!!

In another interview David Powell, the senior policy advisor of this new legislation added, “Sex is a global money making industry. Paying for sex [wil be] fair, practical and affordable for everyone. It is going to happen. We’re working on it and we’re getting closer to that goal.”

Okay, okay before you spontaneously combust, you got me! This isn’t a real government policy. Well not yet anyway. It’s the release of a new feature length documentary film entitled, “Love Freely, but Pay for Sex“.

The feature follows a bunch of rogue independent film-makers, with no prior media production experience. The film crew include a handful of very opinionated and persuasive budding TV journalists who travel across London in pursuit of the general public, media personalities and various members of authority to glean their views of a new impending Government led ‘Pay for Sex’ policy which will soon affect the whole of Great Britain and the EU.

The film is comprised of both talking head interviews and character driven dramatisations and are the result of the production group’s recorded work on the subject so far. Their overall collective aim in making and showcasing this film is not only to create awareness among those who may be oblivious but also to stimulate further dialogue among those who are not.

I have a feeling this debate on the new ‘Love freely, but PAY for SEX’ film has only just begun.

Imagine a world whereby society can love whomever they wish – without cost – but should they have sexual relations they must pay taxes for the privilege. Or perhaps not, in some cases. Be it a one night stand or long term partner you gotta pay yo’ taxes or you gon’ go to jail, boy!

So now you’re thinking “How on earth can the government tax me every time I have sex? That’s impossible to monitor!”. Perhaps you’re right. For now. I mean, before televisions became commonplace in the 1950′s who would have expected a future where our government would be able to tax us for watching it? Did you know a TV license fee also  includes the use of other devices such as a computer, mobile phone, games console, digital box or DVD/VHS recorders?  And worse still, even if we were to secretly indulge within the confines of our own homes “they” have now developed technologies which can literally see through walls by sinisterly knowing that we are watching the box.

Not paying your taxes is a criminal offence which could result in hefty fines or even a prison sentence. The ‘Pay for Sex’ policy would be no different should it become enforced in real life.

Listen, I’m so into conspiracy theories and the like, it wouldn’t surprise me if the development of such a policy were true. Stranger things have happened! Hey, who would have thought in our own life times that we’d be taxed for throwing out our rubbish! What’s next? We are surely becoming a “Big Brother” state who are consistently being watched or observed. Be it through old government records since our births or via the hundreds of social media portals widely available on the internet. And don’t get me started on the illuminati – who are probably reading this right now and putting a big black mark against my name.

However “Love Freely, but Pay For Sex” is a mockumentary of what could happen should such a policy be enforced, so I’m choosing to consider the sheer insanity of such an idea rather than offer some deep political thesis.

Who better to get my juices flowing (ahem!) then my girlfriends – Virginia and “H”. So I decided I’d share the link to the film for their viewing pleasure. Uh oh. After recovering from the initial mild porn scene – which I’ll get into later –  once she’d wiped the corners of her mouth, Virginia was pissed! Firstly she thought the sex scene at the start was “very captivating – despite the angle” however she didn’t like the fact this potential policy and/or the filmakers would “devalue” or put a price on something which should be invaluable.

Fair point. But like I said, I’m looking at the sheer comedy of it all. So I asked Vee if she would pay for sex if she were dating a guy but didn’t know what he was “packing”? I mean, it could be a disastrous waste of cash, right?

She told me a story of a really hot guy she was dating for a while. He was hot. Like super hot. And the time finally came for them to do the wild thing. HOWEVER, once getting down to brass tracks, the guy had… let’s just say… an extremely, minuscule, teeny weeny “problem”. In the words of internet sensation, Sweet Brown, Vee cried “ain’t nobody got time for that!“. Suddenly she conveniently remembered she was a Christian and shouldn’t lose her salvation in this way. Needless to say she made a swift exit – and took her bible with her! But after hearing of this ‘Pay for Sex’ policy her main concern was what if she had to pay a big tax for such a tiny portion? Could she write to the authorities and claim her money back?!

“H” on the other hand is, let’s just say, a lot more liberal. She’ll pretty much pay over the odds for anything if it’s real goooood. Her only concern was if her husband decided to divorce her, could he claim a rebate for 10 years worth of her sex, plus extra tax on top? And if she died with an outstanding balance of ‘Pay for Sex’ tax bills, would her children be left to pay for all her years of sexual pleasure at the local swingers club? Now that’s just creepy.

To strike balance I asked the opinion of my boy-mate, Roddy, who has the perfect name for this type of thing. Roddy by name, Roddy by nature. Since the doom and gloom of the credit crunch Roddy has been having problems getting a job and so is claiming every type of benefit possible.  Not the most romantic of men, he spends his days and nights “booty calling” hot chicks. After watching “Love Freely, but Pay for Sex” Roddy, completely fooled, called me with great concern on how this would effect his welfare. Would there be some form of “Pay for Sex” benefit which he could claim, alongside his Jobseekers Allowance and Council Tax? How could he afford to sow his royal oats when he can barely afford a loaf of bread?

Moreover, the saying goes ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’ and what if Roddy slept with a woman who totally “switched” on him? It could be like his recent “baby mama drama” all over again when she reported him to social services for evading child maintenance. He’s already pissed they’re taking £3.25 from his JSA each week, so could you imagine if one of Roddy’s ‘booty calls’ reported him for having loads and loads and loads of sex with her which he hadn’t paid for?! Then what? A jail sentence? How appalling if he went inside and his fellow inmates asked “what you in for, mate?”, to which his only response could be “I’m here cos’ of unpaid p@$%y”. Ouch.

Written, directed and produced by award-winning spoken word artist and actor, Phoenix James, “Love Freely, but Pay For Sex” has certainly raised some important questions and has controversially got people talking. Some taking the subject matter quite seriously, whilst others not so much.

The opening sex scene sequence alone is a real jaw-dropper! The makers behind it obviously wanted major impact and they totally succeeded in my opinion. Watching two people having hardcore sex in such a frank, voyeuristic way not only left me questioning my own sexual preferences, but feeling the need of a really good scrub in the shower.

Whatever you think of the absurdity which is the ‘PAY for SEX’ policy, you’ll be hard pushed not to have an opinion. I’d love to hear your thoughts as always. Leave a comment in the text box below or tweet me.

For more updates, interesting facts and photo galleries check out the Pay For Sex Policy website.

#payforsexpolicy 

Trailer

Full Documentary

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In February 2009, two young women, Lauren Parsekian and Molly Thompson joined forces having both been affected by female bullying throughout their youth and decided to create change by giving females a platform to speak out about this universal experience. What began as an idea for a documentary about girl-against-girl bullying, ultimately became Kind Campaign, an internationally recognized movement, documentary, and school assembly program based on the powerful belief in KINDness that brings awareness and healing to the negative and lasting effects of girl-against-girl “crime.”

Lauren grew up in Laguna Niguel, Orange County, and currently resides in Los Angeles. The way girls treat each other has had a lot of significance in Lauren’s life. Finding a way to stop girl bullying in schools across America has been an important Issue for as long as she can remember. All of the careers she has considered have been with one common goal in mind: to foster awareness of the emotional, verbal, and physical abuse within female relationships. Lauren was one of the “popular girls” in middle school. But after the clique turned against her, school became a source of stress, depression, and even frequent thoughts of suicide. Through high school and college, Lauren witnessed the same kind of “mean girl” behavior around her. As a film student at Pepperdine, Lauren realized the enormous good documentaries can do and decided to apply her passion for film to this issue and make a documentary about the way girls treat each other and the way it affects us.  Lauren is scheduled to marry actor Aaron Paul (“Breaking Bad”) in May, 2013.

 Molly grew up In Dallas, Texas before moving to California to attend Pepperdine University to study acting and film/television production. Molly’s negative experience with girl bullying occurred in high school. Ostracized by a group of girls, she feared answering the phone, going to school, and felt a terrible loneliness. A small core of loyal friends stuck by her, and the year ended on a note of healing and forgiveness. Molly has always had a passion for helping others and for the way film affects people and can inspire them to action, so when Lauren approached her to collaborate on a documentary about middle school bullying between girls, Molly agreed. While working together on Finding Kind, Lauren and Molly saw how open women and girls were about sharing their experiences. They realized that this is an issue that affects females of all ages, and they were inspired to launch a movement to spread the word of kindness. Kind Campaign is the result of that moment of inspiration. Molly is thrilled to shed light on this serious issue and unite women and girls together under an umbrella of kindness. She considers herself very lucky to be working with such a close friend on a project she loves, evidence of the power of female friendship.

WATCH EXCLUSIVELY ON INDIEFLIX.COM

• Premiering May 10-24th on indieflix.com, XBox, and Roku — $6.99 (free with IndieFlix subscription)

• First time ever audiences can view the film outside of a screening

HOST A SCREENING THROUGH INDIEFLIX

• Year-round educational and community screenings.  For information: http://bit.ly/14fcrwI

• Kind Campaign Curriculum available for year-round use in schools and communities

• Finding Kind has toured around the US and Canada in over 350 schools and communities

• Learn more about screenings with our screening packet: https://docs.google.com/a/indieflix.com/file/d/0B-S6G81Via-vUW9TR3pSbHZCLWM/edit?usp=sharing

Interestingly, to avoid royalty fees for using Wagner’s music, they instead commissioned Italian-born, German-based composer Giuseppe Becce to create the original, Wagnerian-ish score.  As if that wasn’t enough, Becce even played the title role!  Such an auspicious omen for an aspiring composer, literally stepping into the role of a great predecessor, but doesn’t seem to have rubbed off too much onto Becce.

No previous knowledge of Rodriguez or anything else in the film is required at all, and even without it the emotion comes through. It’s hard not to fall in love with Sixto Rodriguez, the musician as well the mystical humanitarian. The interviewees from Detroit were an obvious highlight, often causing the entire theatre to laugh out loud, especially when it came to the construction workers that Rodriguez has worked with his whole life. Gruff, honest, men, with a good sense of humor and real sense of honesty and humanity, not like the over-educated, emotionless, boffins most documentaries turn to for interviews. Even the men who decided to start the search for Rodriguez are passionate music-lovers, one of whom owns a record store, and the excitement they convey is heavily infectious. By the time Rodriguez got to South Africa to play his first real concert I was choked up at the thought of him finally getting his recognition and getting on stage.

This is one of the few music documentaries where an artist lives up to, and I would argue, exceeds, his cult of personality. He’s no vain, shallow, artist, he’s a humble guitarist who doesn’t feed on fame, despite deserving it. If your ever feeling like the music industry is a sham, or there’s no such thing as selflessness in this world, watch this film. This is the guitarist we all wish we could know, be, and love. If only all of my 60′s guitar heroes could be as down-to-earth as this guy…

Baby Grayson (the sweetest little guy) get’s baptized!

THE MANOR
The Special Presentations begin, appropriately enough, with Hot Docs’ opening night film, director Shawney Cohen’s exploration of his family’s dynamics and dysfunctions (pictured). Working with co-director Mike Gallay, Cohen introduces the viewer to his dangerously overweight father, equally alarmingly underweight mother, player brother, and, most importantly, their family business – the titular strip club/motel, and some of its employees. No doubt because of Cohen’s personal connection, the film has an effortless, fly-on-the-wall immediacy and intimacy, where it makes perfect sense that a completely nude dancer would walk into the frame to ask Shawney’s dad a question about her next shift. But far from the broad, titillating farce such a set up might suggest, the film is surprisingly complex, focused less on T&A and more on the impact of their unconventional trade on each family member, manifested in the weight issues for the parents, an embrace of a lothario lifestyle for his brother, and a resigned passivity, even inertia, for Shawney himself. It’s a very strong portrait, with characters and conflicts indelible enough that at times it even feels like it could support a continuing episodic series.

HIGH FIVE: A SUBURBAN ADOPTION SAGA
Another intriguing portrait of a family comes from Julia Ivanova, who follows the efforts of childless couple Cathy and Martin Ward to adopt five Ukrainian siblings into their suburban Canadian home, over the course of several years. While initial efforts to adopt the younger children prove relatively easy, changes to Ukraine’s international adoption policies result in difficult, protracted delays that put stress on the slowly forming new family. Even when the red tape is finally cleared, the Wards must contend with the economic reality of providing for their new children, as well as interpersonal conflicts as the eldest daughter, Yuliya, struggles to find a place after years of serving as a de facto mother to her younger siblings. The frayed and ultimately fractured relationship between Cathy and Yuliya is both fascinating and heart-wrenching to watch unfold. Though she occasionally interjects, asking the children questions in Russian, Ivanova generally shows great restraint in this mostly observational film which doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges of crosscultural adoption.

RENT A FAMILY INC
Family is also at the core of Kaspar Astrup Schröder’s film about a Japanese family man’s most unusual business enterprise, dubbed I Want To Cheer You Up Ltd. For a fee, Ryuichi Ichinokawa poses as a client’s father, husband, or employer – and can call on others to fill other needed roles – usually to help his clients save face – of extreme importance in Japan’s strictly regimented, approval-seeking culture. The opening scene, however, shows a different, and very revealing, application of Ryuichi’s business – he plays a client’s new husband, who humbles himself to her ex-husband, mentioning that his salary is not as high, so that the ex will help with child support. While affected for the job, this self-effacement speaks to Ryuichi’s own family life – scenes at home show him to be completely disrespected by his children and wife, who has kicked him out of the bedroom. He works multiple jobs to provide for them, and keeps his company a secret out of fear of further rejection. Without overtly psychologizing his subject, Schöder clearly conveys the underlying connections between Ryuichi’s unsatisfying personal life and the make-believe family roles he’s able to step in and out of as a sort of coping mechanism, solving problems along the way.

REMOTE AREA MEDICAL
Some of the subjects of Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman’s film have problems that go far beyond saving face – they are without basic medical care and so desperate for assistance that they spend days waiting for a limited number of slots to see the volunteer doctors of Stan Brock’s free pop-up clinic in Bristol TN. Set up in a NASCAR stadium over a weekend, the service – originally providing assistance to the developing world, but now primarily focused on the overwhelming demand in the US – provides medical, dental, and eye care to those in most need. Appropriately taking a survey approach to provide a kaleidoscopic view of uninsured America, and focusing on the patients moreso than the volunteer doctors and nurses, Reichert and Zaman’s observational film demonstrates the impact a pair of glasses or some relatively simple dental work can have on self-esteem, speaking to the sorry state of the healthcare system that necessitates such economically-motivated triage.

CAUCUS
If Reichert and Zaman’s film spotlights the masses, director AJ Schnack’s world premiere hones in on their would-be leaders – the Republican contenders for the White House in 2012. The setting is Iowa, the first major proving ground in the 2012 presidential campaign, with the major contenders for the nomination forming a veritable circus sideshow for Schnack’s direct cinema approach. Following the ups and downs of the polls, the film trails Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, and, to a lesser extent, Rick Perry, as they shake hands, kiss babies, give stump speeches, and try to win over the hearts and minds of a divided and dysfunctional Republican party. While the outcome is no surprise to anyone who paid any attention to the race while it was happening, that’s not the point of Schnack’s well-constructed film. The fascination comes in the unexpected and rare moments of candor he captures, from Marcus Bachmann’s bizarre thumbwrestling fetish and untoward excitement over baked goods to Santorum’s vexed, almost paranoid interview about being ignored by the media. What’s perhaps not as surprising, but which speaks volumes, is how the candidates, for the most part, are always on – rarely seeming genuine and always looking for that opportunity to get that vote.

A WHOLE LOTT MORE
Shifting over to the World Showcase section, Victor Buhler’s film, which had its world premiere at Hot Docs, took third place in the audience award vote. Its title refers to Lott Industries, a Toledo OH based company that employed the developmentally disabled in manufacturing jobs for decades. However, when the US auto industry tanks – Lott’s biggest client – the company is forced to assess its sustainability and its mission. Buhler follows Lott’s president, Joan Browne, as she faces bureaucratic pushback on the changes she hopes to make to save the company; the experiences of job-seeking Kevin, demonstrating the employment challenges faced by developmentally disabled people; and Lott employees Wanda and TJ, who depend on their jobs not only for income and independence but as a way to show their abilities and worth to the larger society that tends to dismiss them out of hand. The heart of the film rests in the characters of Joan and especially Wanda – both immensely likeable and relatable figures who are intimately connected to Lott’s fate. Much less successful are the other two subjects, particularly Kevin, who has a tangential relationship to Lott that often makes his sequences feel like they belong in another film.

SECOND CLASS
Marta Dauliūtė and Elisabeth Marjanović Cronvall have no such problem with their subjects – their film focuses on just two young Lithuanian migrant workers and themselves. Meeting Edvardus and Arturas on a ferry headed to Sweden, Marta and Elisabeth push them to be the subjects of their project. Wary of exposing themselves on camera, reinforcing prejudices against migrant workers, the young men nevertheless begin to open up – partly a product of sexual chemistry, partly a desire to matter. Despite being part of their own film, the filmmakers manage to avoid self-indulgence, wisely keeping Arturas and Edvardus central as they slowly open up, revealing their insecurities and dreams. At the same time, Marta and Elisabeth’s efforts offer a telling study of the documentarian/subject relationship, and the negotiations that it necessitates, perhaps most explicitly in the film’s excellent closing scene.

TRUCKER AND THE FOX
Arash Lahooti’s film also explores the rapport between a filmmaker and his subjects, but in this case those subjects are of the four-legged variety. Iranian truck driver Mahmood Kiyani Falavarjani has won awards for his short films starring animals, but faces a devastating setback when his leading lady, his pet fox, is killed. Distraught, he’s institutionalized and diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but beyond various forms of therapy, Mahmood knows that he can only heal if he makes another film. He’s got a story worked out – a donkey romance – but he needs a new fox, and sets out to trap and domesticate his new star. As might be expected, Lahooti’s film is unusual and at times entertaining – a portrait of an artist, his affliction, and his potentially healing and hurtful obsession.

LUCKY
The titular subject of Laura Checkoway’s film is also seeking healing in her own way. New Yorker Lucky Torres hides a lifetime of abuse and abandonment behind an angry, tattooed exterior. Growing up in foster care after their mother left them, Lucky and her sister Fantasy have struggled with stability all their lives. While Fantasy has settled down since having children, motherhood has not straightened Lucky out. She’s still usually homeless, jumps from girlfriend to girlfriend, and finds it difficult to find work, though she dreams of success as a model. She’s a compelling figure, if not always a likeable one – the audience feels frustration in the choices Lucky makes, but Checkoway’s film also engenders empathy and understanding for her struggles.

THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF DORIS PAYNE
Also featuring an indelibly unique protagonist is Matthew Pond and Kirk Marcolina’s entertaining portrait of an octogenarian jewel thief. Over six decades, the charming Doris Payne has made away with close to $2 million of jewels, hitting high end stores all over the world, from Monte Carlo to Costa Mesa CA. Interviews with Payne – facing theft charges during the course of the film – and her best friend Jean – who shows more concern about Doris’ legal troubles than the subject herself – reveal the story of how a poor African American woman rebelled against the limited opportunities in a still racially divided America to become one of the world’s most infamous jewel thieves. These one-on-ones are the most effective tool Pond and Marcolina have in capturing Payne’s vitality, humor, and charisma – even if audiences know they’re probably being conned, they can’t help but find her endearing. Less successful are the re-enactments, which too often impart a cheesy TV feel to the proceedings, but thankfully they don’t radically undermine the film’s overall charm.

FELIX AUSTRIA!
Unfortunately, while charm is ostensibly what Christine Beebe is going for in her portrait of an effete would-be artistocrat, the actual result is annoyance. Focused on a self-obsessed, self-described aesthete prone to expensive tastes and fantasies – so much so that he changes his name from Brian to the pretentious Felix – the film follows him in his quest to meet with the last surviving Habsurg after he is bequeathed sixty years of correspondence between the latter and a man named Herbert Hinkel. At the same time, Felix worries he will develop the same degenerative disease afflicting his father – the apparent motivation for his journey. Aside from the latter, the rest is all too precious, with Felix growing increasingly more irritating the longer he’s on camera. Demonstrating not a whit of self-awareness of how absolutely ridiculous he is, Felix makes for an incredibly unsympathetic and tiresome subject, yet Beebe allows him to dominate while only briefly touching upon potentially more intriguing subjects like Hinkel and Otto von Habsburg.

THE DEVIL’S LAIR
Riaan Hendricks’ main subject, Braaim, suggests much richer character terrain. He’s a leader of the Nice Time Kids, a powerful gang in South Africa’s Cape Town flats, and the master of the drug trade in the area. Facing a potential turf war from rival gangs the Americans and the Boy Scouts, Braaim’s world is a dangerous one – but his wife, Gadija, knew that going in, as she tells Hendricks’ camera more than once. Still, beyond worrying about Braaim making it home in one piece, she’s also increasingly concerned about their children – so much so that she’s actively considering divorce. Hers seems like the only voice of relative reason in Hendricks’ film, which features scenes of disturbing violence, the presence of both firearms and drugs in front of children, and plans to use a school as a cover for an assassination attempt. Hendricks captures a rawness and surprising, stark access to a life decidedly on the fringe – one that almost never willingly allows this much public exposure. At the same time, there’s a banality to Braaim’s activities that is more offputting than inspiring of outrage, and suggests that no matter what he might tell Gadija, he’s never going to change. This blaséness imparts an overall lack of dynamism that works against the film as a whole, suggesting that there may not really be enough here to sustain its feature length.

shouts to the fam PF Cuttin!

While we were always very confident in our project, and in you; that doesn’t mean that there weren’t some moments of doubt. But your love and support helped us to push even harder during those anxious moments. We are truly inspired and humbled by your generosity!  In the end, 179 amazing backers helped us raise $11,061 and are directly helping to send our youth filmmakers on the road this summer!

And now, we’ll start booking some rooms! If you would like to host a screening in your club, organization or community center, LET US KNOW by filling out the form below!!

Crossfire Hurricane isn’t the first Rolling Stones documentary, of course. There’s been more than a few, from the recently-released documentary of their 1965 tour Charlie Is My Darling through the perennial favorite, 1972′s C***sucker Blues, and Martin Scorsese’s Shine A Light just from just five years ago. Though Morgen is a life-long Stones fan, he says that even he wondered if a new Stones film was necessary.

“At first I was a bit ambivalent, because there have been a dozen Rolling Stones documentaries,” Morgen told Radio.com. “And it sort of reeked of ‘Best Buy Presents: The Rolling Stones’ 50th Anniversary.’ Which I didn’t have any interest in. To the first point, I realized there was only one documentary that sort of traced the evolution of their story, (the 1993 film) 25×5: The Continuing Adventures Of The Rolling Stones, which has been out of print for years. That film was a completely different style from what I did… without saying anything bad about it.”

As for his vision, Morgen explained: “I don’t think that music documentaries should be history lessons. My goal is to make the film the embodiment of the subject matter.”

And Crossfire Hurricane does that. It uses lots of footage shot for C***sucker Blues, but is leagues more coherent than that film. And from the beginning of Crossfire Hurricane, it’s clear that this isn’t a Stones film that doubles as a promotional vehicle for their new album or tour. There’s an early scene where Mick strips naked backstage, and another where he clearly sniffs a powdery substance off of a knife blade. Jagger isn’t known for narcotic use as Richards, Wood and the band’s late guitarist Brian Jones, so it’s kind of a surprising moment.

Morgen says that he and Jagger discussed the latter scene quite a bit.

“One of the things I told him was that it was important that we had to create a covenant with the audience from the beginning; so they would know they were going to see a side of the Stones that they hadn’t seen before,” Morgen explained. “If you establish that up front, hopefully there will be a lot of good will to carry you through the rest of the film. That shot, which has been getting a lot of attention, wasn’t there just for exploitative purposes, it served a larger purpose in announcing the type of film we would be making.”

Another aspect of the film that has the been the subject of some discussion, is that the eighty hours of interviews that Morgen did with the band members propels the film. Yet, there’s no footage of those interviews in the final cut. You never see the current-day Stones until the credits roll (when footage from Shine A Light is shown). Morgen says that he recorded all of the interviews but didn’t actually film them. By keeping the interviews to himself, the interviewee and a microphone, there was a level of intimacy that couldn’t be reached with a film crew hovering around. Indeed, longtime Stones fans will be hard-pressed to find interviews where Jagger and Richards address such personal topics as their reactions to the disastrous Altamont concert or the death of Brian Jones.

At two hours, there’s only so much history that fit into the film, which ends in the early ’80s with the Tattoo You tour. There is an argument to be made, though, that the documentary could have extended at least through the end of the decade, with the group’s reunion and triumphant stadium tour. Morgen agrees.

“In the perfect narrative, we would have taken it to [1989 album] Steel Wheels. The problem was, getting from Tattoo You to Steel Wheels involves ‘World War III,’” he said, referring to the mid-’80s spat between Jagger and Richards. “And that would have taken the film in a whole different direction at a late point in the film. Towards the end, the film already starts jumping years rather dramatically. The reason I think Steel Wheels would have been a nice place to land is that the band were all sober at that point, and Mick was finally able to realize this vision of being able to put on this incredible show. That’s where he really wanted me to get to.”

However, Morgen points out that as the film’s director, he had the final call.

“In my narrative, which is about how the band goes from being outcasts to respectable, they’d arrived at that point in 1981,” he said.

So, not only does the film skip three decades of Stones history, it also gives very little screen time to Ron Wood.

“We talked about that as we started getting to the end of production,” Morgen said. “Maybe we should call this ‘Part 1.’  There was a lot of discussion of ‘Part 2.’ Now that it’s all said and done, I really do feel  that they need to do a ‘Part 2′ to give Ronnie his due.  Ronnie wants parts two, three and four! It needs to be done.”

However, he says that he won’t likely be the man to helm a sequel, though he hopes that the band produces it. Morgen’s next project is a documentary on the late Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain, which has been in the works for years. But he also may not be up for the challenge: “I feel the second part would be much more challenging in terms of locking down the narrative.”

– Brian Ives, Radio.com