I think we all need at least one really nice positive thing about the entertainment
business every single day of the year, including weekends. Sometimes it
may be something simple, like a video that showcases something fun and
sometimes it may be a movie poster that embraces the aesthetic we all
want Hollywood to aspire to. Sometimes it may be a long-winded diatribe.
Sometimes it’ll be from the staff and extended family of CHUD.com.
Maybe even you readers can get in on it. So, take this to the bank.
Every day, you will get a little bit of positivity from one column a day
here. Take it with you. Maybe it’ll help you through a bad day or give
folks some fun things to hunt down in their busy celluloid digesting
day.

9.15.10
By Elisabeth Rappe  Author Page  Twitter Page Facebook Page

What I’m Thankful For

It feels a bit cheesy to be thankful for something you’ve yet to see — and given my location and its selection of independent cinemas, I may never actually get to see it.  But I can be grateful a certain film exists.

And today, that film is Werner Herzog’s 3D documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Dreams is currently playing at the TIFF, and I imagine many CHUD readers have already devoured the reviews as they trickle across our wide movie net.  The consensus seems to be “it blew my mind” which is what you want to hear about any film, but especially about a 3D documentary of cave paintings.

Now, I’m not really a fan of 3D.  Avatar didn’t convince me of the medium, because apparently I’m a Luddite.  I guess I’m a really big dork because I’m far more intrigued and excited by its possibilities for documentaries over fictional storytelling.  Give me the Chauvet Cave over Pandora any day of the week. Dreams thrills me, and strikes me as a real and truly tangible experience.

You and I will never, ever get to see the Chauvet chambers except in Herzog’s documentary. There are many places in the world of a similar inaccessibility for reasons historical and geographical. For a lot of us, it’s financial more than anything else.  The possibilities of nonfiction 3D are endless, and I’m fervently hoping a number of filmmakers decide to rip off Herzog and film lush documentaries of Kuala Lumpur, Aztec ruins, and Pompeii.

I can’t wait to see Dreams. A new Herzog film is always something to look forward to — especially in the age of the increasingly corny and commercial — but I’ve never been as excited as I am for this one. 

Now, let it just get a wide enough release that I can see it in proper 3D ….