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Sigourney Weaver narrates Google Earth tour of Belo Monte dam impact

Article: Sigourney Weaver narrates Google Earth tour of Belo Monte dam impact

Posted August 30th, 2010, 1:08 PM by


In April, I took note of James Cameron’s efforts to stop the building of the Belo Monte dam on Brazil’s Xingu River. Actress Sigourney Weaver (a co-star in Cameron’s AVATAR) joined Cameron on one of his trips to Brazil, and has now collaborated with Amazon Watch, Movimento Xingu Vivo Para Sempre (Xingu River Forever Alive Movement), and International Rivers to produce a 10-minute video (above) showing the probably impact of the dam project on indigenous people in the region, biodiversity, health, and even climate change (which were outlined in the previous post).

Faces behind the avatars

Article: Faces behind the avatars

Posted April 13th, 2010, 10:04 AM by

Photographer Robbie Cooper’s project “Alter Ego” is a fascinating series in which he spent three years traveling around the world to snap portraits of people who participate in virtual world games or MMORPG such as City of Heroes, EVE, Second Life, and World of Warcraft. He then juxtaposes their photos with an image of their…

The Cinemagicians: Kentridge and Melies

Article: The Cinemagicians: Kentridge and Melies

Posted March 17th, 2010, 5:03 PM by

I caught up with the shows at the MOMA last weekend, including the William Kentridge exhibit. A show that grapples with heavy subjects like apartheid and colonialism, Kentridge’s animated charcoal drawings get smudged, erased, and redrawn to tell stories about characters that are often heavy, egotistical and morally adrift. Kentridge said, “I am interested in a political art, that is to say an art of ambiguity, contradiction, uncompleted gestures and uncertain endings. An art in which optimism is kept in check and nihilism at bay.” My favorite part of the exhibit however was where the weighty politics of the stories disappeared and Kentridge does seem to let loose with a cinematic fun that is both surprising and welcome…

Honest Oscar movie titles

Article: Honest Oscar movie titles

Posted March 09th, 2010, 4:03 PM by

Now that the self-love fest known as The Academy Awards is over many are rushing to Amazon, Netflix, and the local cinema to see the movies honored. I tried to see as many nominees as possible prior to the show, but I still have a few on my list to check out. But I might not have to go through all that work. These posters, and the rest of the collection seen here, definitely show truth in advertising. They made me laugh a little. Why can’t more movie poster get to the point?

The Six Worst Moments From Last Night’s Oscars

Article: The Six Worst Moments From Last Night’s Oscars

Posted March 08th, 2010, 10:03 AM by

1) Starting the show with the 10 lead acting nominees having to take the stage and smile for the cameras. Doesn’t the rest of the evening torture them enough?

2) The clips for the 10, count ‘em 10, Best Picture nominees. Add them up and they were longer than some of the films themselves! Besides, way back in 1939, the 10 nominees were instant classics like Gone With The Wind, Stagecoach, and The Wizard of Oz. But this year? The Blind Side and District 9! Let’s go back to just five. No, make it three!

3) The way the cameras kept zooming in on the front runners right after they lost. When THE HURT LOCKER won Best Original Screenplay, they closed in on a shaken Quentin Tarantino. After PRECIOUS bagged Best Adapted Screenplay, they cut to a sweaty Jason Reitman. Even when AVATAR lost some sound award, they cut to Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington. This practice totally appealed to the sadist in me, but for the sake of others with some heart, let’s only watch people squirm before they lose from now on.

Avatar or Pocahontas?

Article: Avatar or Pocahontas?

Posted January 13th, 2010, 4:01 PM by

While I’ve seen the below image passed around the Internet for few weeks now I’d be remiss not to post to SUNfiltered. As James Cameron’s Avatar continues to dominate box office records on its way to possibly unseat Titanic as the biggest grossing film in world history, this little note may connect the dots if…

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