Let's All Go to the Lobby!

Just watched the documentary "Taxi to the Dark Side." There is a good reason this doc won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. It's stirring, compelling, and gets down to the truth of illegal wartime prisons and the activities that go on within them. I remember a couple years ago hearing about Eastern European gulags being used by the US as terrorist holding cells. Then all the news hit about torture and tactics used that are immoral and illegal. That crafty old Bush even had the foresight to create provisions in interrogation legislation that would excuse him and any of his higher up cronies from being charged with any wrongdoing. The flakes on the frontline, however, had to bear the brunt of the backlash. Hopefully this film gets a lot more attention, especially now that it's an Academy Award winner. Maybe it'll get the right folks to step up and go after the real terrorist.

In other news, lots of production work is going down. Meatloaf Productions capped the first weekend of a two weekend shoot by capitalizing on the beautiful weather we had on Sunday. Adam, our Russian bookie, had to wear sunscreen the sun was beating down so hard! One more weekend to go then lots of fun post-production work awaits! Jacob Massa, current Lindenwood student and Cinema St. Louis intern, is adapting a Woody Allen play, the Whore of Mensa, as a short film. I've been asked to play two roles, as well as help out on crew if I am available. After shooting in the morning with Meatloaf Productions, I zipped out to St. Charles to play Word Babcock. Hopefully we can regroup after the crazy weather and finish it up. Time, and this blog, will tell.

Lastly, I listened to Jazz Unlimited for a couple hours on Sunday night and again for the short time that I was at work this morning. I'm digging pretty hard on Gerald Wilson. His piece "Lomelin" is great inspiration for a film noir detective story. It brings to mind stories like "Where the Sidewalk Ends," "The Third Man," "The Naked City," and "Touch of Evil." I've been kicking around a noirish story for a while in the old noggin. Maybe it's time I finally start putting some stuff down, and "Lomelin" is a great way to get myself in the mood.