Blogarithms
Doug Kaye's thoughts on web services, web hosting and managed services.
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Focus. Adapted from the rarely-read Arthur Miller novel of the same name, this is a first film by Neal Slavin, and it shows. It's about prejudice against Jews in Brooklyn in 1943. But talk about timing---the parallels to prejudice against Muslims, Afgahnis and Arabs in the post-9/11/01 U.S. are impossible to ignore.
The film stars William H. Macy (who was there to answer questions along with Slavin) and Laura Dern. Macy is always stiff, and it works when appropriate for the character (as in Fargo), but he missed the mark here. I've never liked Laura Dern. I always think of her role in Jurassic Park, and her performance in this movie was almost as good. The accent came and went, and I never managed to belive her for a moment.
As far as that "first film" stuff, I found the extreme camera angles and closeups to be without justification, and the sound (particularly the dramatically swelling music) bordering on the offensive. So, bad filmmaking, IMHO, but the rest of the audience seemed to tune in to the subject matter and story in spice of it. Thumbs down from me. Thumbs up from my wife.
I think almost everyone in the theatre liked it but me
Posted Thursday, October 11, 2001 11:21:28 PM 
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Big Bad Love. Mid way through this year's Mill Valley Film Festival, this picture didn't quite make it for me. Billed as "a poetic, compassionate drama of lovers and loners in rural Mississippi," it stars Debra Winger (better than usual, also the producer) and Arliss Howard (also the director, co-writer, and married to Winger, I think). Perhaps that kind of filmmaking inbreeding is to blame for the film's self indulgence. Yes, it's a poetic piece, and it almost makes it, but it's just too damn long, and I drew very tired of watching Howard's drunk staggering, scene after scene. Okay, that's an important part of his "loner" character, but we got it the first time. And the second, third, fourth, etc. Unusually (for me) my favorite parts were those with poetry-reading voiceover and impressionistic montage. But still thimbs down.
Posted Thursday, October 11, 2001 11:07:41 PM
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Low Beams.
Streaming media firm iBEAM said that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and said it has sold substatially all of its assets to Williams Communications for $25 million. The deal is subject to bankruptcy court approval.
iBEAM had received $30 million in financing from Williams earlier this year in exchange for a 49 percent stake in the company. Williams will merge the remnants of iBEAM with its Vyvx Broadband unit if the deal goes through. [Source: Dotcom Scoop]
Posted Thursday, October 11, 2001 2:55:08 PM
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