A few recent items that caught my eye in as I was procrastinating, um, I mean, doing some research...

George Carlin and "The Aristocrats": A Best Movie By Farr?

Over at The Huffington Post, writer/editor/lecturer John Farr weighs in on whether The Aristocrats should be put on his list of top films. Inspired by the new PBS series Make ‘Em Laugh, which he calls “a new program that reminds us all what smart, engaging television is like,” Farr  muses on the topic of “acceptable” humor, one of the themes explored in the series.

This brings me to "The Aristocrats" (2005), a documentary that lets us in on one of the most unique and (up to this point) untold jokes in history, one that only comedians know and reserve for themselves. Why? Because its humor lies not in the punchline, but in the body of the joke, and involves improvisation that busts through any and every taboo, including public defecation, bestiality and incest. Thus, it quickly arrives at that previously mentioned juncture where for many, humor stops and smut begins.

You can weigh in on whether or not he should add it to his www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com in the comments section of the article, which can be found here.


Waltz With Bashir Graphic Memoir Excerpts

The Huffington Post (I can get lost there for days and days. Please tell me I’m not the only one) also led me to Tom Engelhardt’s posts of exclusive excerpts from the graphic memoir that was developed in tandem with the Oscar-nominated Waltz With Bashir.

There are two sections of excerpts on TomDispatch.com:
Click here for Part I.
Click here for Part II.

Los Angeles Times Feature on Hannah Senesh Doc

I love it when big papers give over some of their ever-decreasing space to coverage of documentary films. While I realize that statement kind of makes docs sound like a charity case, so often that's how we feel when fighting for coverage. So I was thrilled when the Los Angeles Times Calendar section featured a piece on Roberta Grossman’s film Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh in The Indie Eye column this past weekend.

For those unfamiliar with the World War II heroine, Senesh immigrated to Israel in 1939, but came back to Europe in 1944 as part of a group that trained with the British Army. Her hope was to find and liberate her mother, but she was captured, tortured and executed by firing squad by the Nazis at the age of 23. Before she was killed, she and her mother were briefly reunited during their mutual imprisonment.

Susan King’s article talks about the development of the film, Grossman's approach toward the sensitive material and how the director eventually won over the Senesh family so that she could make the film.

The Senesh family has long been protective of Hannah's image and in the past had turned down requests for documentaries. Grossman says she spent a year on phone and e-mail negotiations with Hannah's two nephews in Israel, and they turned her down.

"I put my head down on my desk for a couple of months," Grossman says. "Then someone suggested that I go there."

Read the full article here.

The film is currently playing in NYC right now and opens in LA on Friday, February 6, 2009. A list of additional cities and playdates can be found on the official film site: www.blessedisthematch.com.

Clip from Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh