Dec2: "Brokeback Mountain"

Our last screening of "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" saw about 30 people turn up for the movie. We got the chance to hear the documentary's director express his own criticism towards the movie rating system of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and also got a first hand look on how the system works.

Also interesting was the fact that the people in the MPAA who review and rate movies are not known to the public. The director... Kirby Dick... actually had to hire a private investigator to find out who they were... with some surprises.

After the documentary, we had a discussion about film censorship in Malaysia, and a comparison with other countries such as Germany, France, and Australia.

================================

This Sunday, on December2, we will be showing "Brokeback Mountain", Ang Lee's famous (or infamous) film that won many awards in film festivals; such as the Oscar for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and the Best Director at the BAFTAs... among all others. The movie is based on a story by writer Annie Proulx.

I'm sure you all know what the story's about... considering the controversy and publicity surrounding Ang Lee's movie. Set in a time period in the 1960s to the 1980s, two American cowboys (Jake Gyllenhaal from "Donnie Darko" & Heath Ledger) are hired as sheepherders in Wyoming. Both men develop a romantic relationship between themselves. They both part ways, move to different ends of the vast United States, and get married (to women).

The two cowboys meet a few years later and continue with their secret lives, while at the same time, living the life of married men with families on the outside.


Time: 7PM, Sunday, Dec 2.

Admission: FREE

Nov18: New Movie - "This Film Is Not Yet Rated"

Yes, thats the title.

In this documentary, Kirby Dick explores the inner workings of the ratings board of the Motion Picture Association of America. While movies are not banned, an improper rating from the MPAA may cause distributors or cinema operators not to screen the film, for fear of losing revenue. For example, a children's or family movie slapped with a PG-13 rating might cause its target audience (families with young children) not to view the movie due to the rating.

Some interesting topics we can later discuss is the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia, and movie ratings for appropriate ages in Malaysia...


Time: 7PM, Nov 18 (Sunday)

Admission: FREE

November4: Fahrenheit 451

On October 21st, we screened the documentary "Sicko" to an audience of around 23 people. Michael Moore shows the inadequacies of the US health system and its effects upon those from the lower-income groups, as well as those who had run-in's with the bureaucratic and profit-oriented medical insurance companies. He contrasts this with the healthcare systems of Canada, France, Britain, and Cuba.

We had several French citizens who were in the audience, who could present their opinion after the show. They did agree that some of the characteristics of France's healthcare system in the documentary were true. But they also felt that Moore painted a very rosy picture of the system, giving the impression that its faultless. Other audience members also gave their opinions/experiences/complaints of the healthcare systems of the countries they had lived in; notably Australia, Germany, the US, and yes... the Malaysian healthcare system too.

=========================

This upcoming Sunday (Nov4), we'll be screening "Fahrenheit 451". Another dystopian movie, the film presents a future where anti-intellectualism is the order of the day, dissent is outlawed, and all printed material are marked for destruction. Our protagonist, Guy Montag, works for the government as a fireman. His job description? Find books... burn books.

At first all is well for Montag until he has a confrontation with a woman named Clarisse, which starts to jolt him from his worldview. Just like the protagonist in "Equilibrium", he begins questioning the regime and its policies that he works for...




Location: 4th Floor, 60 Weld Quay (see sidebar for map)

Time: 7PM, 4 November (Sunday)

Admission: FREE

New Movie: Michael Moore's "Sicko"

This Sunday's (Oct20) movie will be "Sicko", a Michael Moore film about the state of healthcare in the United States. From Moore's point of view, he details how the expensive costs of medicine, insurance, and healthcare is affecting lower-income US citizens, with many struggling to obtain the funds to get treatment.

Location: 60 Weld Quay, 4th floor

Time is 7PM.

Admission is FREE.

Review of past month's activities of the Penang Film Club

A quick recap of our activities in the past month or so…

Aug26: Screened Soylent Green (1973). Starring Charlton Heston (Ben Hur, Planet Of The Apes) as Robert Thom, a police detective working in an overpopulated New York City in an overpopulated Earth. Due to diminishing resources, the citizens are fed synthetic foods such as Soylent Red, Soylent Grey, …and the new Soylent Green. Heston discovers the true ingredients of this new product… giving a whole new meaning to the term “you are what you eat”.

Sep9: Brick (2005). Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Brendan, a high-school kid who infiltrates a drug gang to destroy it, and find out who murdered his ex-girlfriend. Influenced heavily by hardboiled film noir in terms of plot and dialogue, the film was found by many in the audience to be too slow, too confusing, and perhaps too pretentious. At the end, the audience of around 15 had diminished to just 4 people…

Sep21-23: Freedom Film Fest. On the last day, we screened the documentary we had made about the Penang Clan Jetties. Reception from the audience was very positive.

Oct7: Equilibrium (2002). Last Sunday, we screened to an audience of 12 people. This movie was about a civilization that had successfully eradicated hatred and war. The catch: the population has had their emotions and feelings suppressed with mandatory administration of a drug. Failure to take the medication to become an emotionless, harmless zombie could lead to arrest and execution. Christian Bale stars as a government agent tasked with enforcing the Government’s law and eradicating rebels who have refused the medication. Very close similarities could be found with movies like “The Matrix”, “V For Vendetta”, and George Orwell’s book “1984”.


Upcoming Schedules:

Last Sunday, we also discussed our schedule for the next two months. Below are the dates for future screenings:

October 21: “Sicko” (2007)

November 4: “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” (2006)

November 18: “Fahrenheit 451” (1966)

December 2 : “Brokeback Mountain” (2005)

Freedom Film Fest coming to Penang Sept 21st-23rd

Freedom Film Fest 2007 -in its 4th year, is returning to Penang with 32 films to show over 2 and a half day and night, starting from evening of Sept 21st(Friday), at Actors Studio, Green Hall.In view of the feast for the film lovers Penang Film Club will skip the next screening on Sept 23rd -so our next screening (`Equilibrium') will be on Oct 14th(Sunday) 7.00pm, at D' Space. We will be distributing leaflets of the Penang Film Club to attract more members to the club-so any members who are keen to join in please contact Ong 013-5900339.

As to the titles to be shown and synopsis of the FFF screenings you can actually obtain a copy of the glossy full colour program sheet from us. Just call the same number above.

Some previews of the FFF: of the 32 films there are 3 films which are the creations from 3 winners of the Justin Louis Award from KOMAS. Each winner won Rm5000.00 to make their film based on their winning film idea. The 3 films are : `Forgotten' by Ong BK, on the endangered clan jetties at Weld Quay; `10 years before Merdeka' by Fahmi Reza, on the forgotten Merdeka fighters, and `She is my son' by Indriani Kopal, about a transgendered Malaysian. All 3 films are about 30min in length.

Among the 32 films is also another Penang made film `Old but not dead' by Bus Users Group(12min).

You are welcome to come with all your friends to support the Penang films and all other human rights based films which you don't get to see in the Tvs and cinemas. For details see here.

UPDATE: 8am Breakfast Show at NTV7 this Friday Sept 14th, will feature a joint interview of the 3 winners of the FFF film awards. The winners had previously been featured by the 8TV's mid-night program `Quikie' over 3 weeks. The Sunday Star had also featured the 3 films and film makers over the last 3 weekends. Look them up if you are interested.

Ong BK

August 26; New Movie: "Michael Collins"

Note: Because of some technical problems, we had to screen Soylent Green instead. Our apologies! We will be showing Michael Collins on Sep 9 instead.

2 weeks ago, we screened "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" to an audience of around 11 people. This movie was about the War of Independence in Ireland, and the men who continued their insurgency (this time against their fellow countrymen) after the founding of the Irish Free State which they felt was a puppet state to the former British rulers.




This movie will detail the story of Michael Collins, one of the key members of the Irish Republican Army who fought the British, and later accepted their offer for the establishment of the Irish Free State.

However, this was opposed by some who felt they should not settle for what theyfelt was incomplete independence from the United Kingdom, as Britain would still have a large say in Ireland. They believed the armed struggle must continue until full Irish independence was acheived. From this disagreement, comes a civil war of Irish Republican Army militants against the Irish Free State's troops. This time, Michael Collins (now a Commander of the Free State Army) will have to battle his former comrades.



Date: This Sunday, August 26.

Time: 7 PM

Place: 60 Weld Quay, 4th floor