Library Screening: Women of Islam

Women of Islam screens for free May 4 at the San Diego Central Library. (Farheen Umar)

The San Diego Public Library will present Women of Islam: Veiling and Seclusion as part of its ongoing One Book, One San Diego reading campaign for the book Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Last month the Library screened Majid Majidi's Children of Heaven. For Women of Islam, Ghada Osman, Ph.D. will facilitate a discussion after the screening, which begins at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 4 in the auditorium of the Central Library, located at 820 E Street in dowtown San Diego. This event is free to the public. WOmen of Islam was made by Farheen Umar and was screened on KPBS-TV back in 2004. At that time I had a chance to interview the San Diego filmmaker. Umar is currently working for CNBC Pakistan.

Body of War

Two American heroes: Senator Robert Byrd and Iraqi war vet Tomas Young in Body of War (Film Sales Co.)

As Bush's approval ratings continue to slide, more films seem to be coming out taking jabs at him and his administration. Even the comedies Zombie Strippers and Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay take swipes at Dubya. On a more serious note, the recent drama Stop-Loss and the documentary Fighting for Life asked audiences to consider what young soldiers are sacrificing so that we can continue the war in Iraq. Adding to the voices of protest is the new documentary Body of War (opening April 25 at Landmark's Ken Cinema), made by veteran TV talk show host Phil Donahue and documentarian Ellen Spiro (who will make a special appearance and answer questions on Saturday April 26 at the Ken's 7:15 show). Listen to our discussion about the film and an interview with Phil Donahue from this week's Film Club of the Air.

I Know I’m Not Alone

Filmmaker and musician Michael Franti (Stay Human Films)

Once again San Diego filmgoers have the opportunity to see good documentary work for free. This time the film is Micahel Franti's I Know I'm Not Alone screening Tuesday April 22 at 7:00 pm at Lestats Coffeehouse (3343 Adam Avenue in Normal Heights). Michael Franti is a well known musician (with bands such as Spearhead and Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy) and human rights activist. In 2004 he decided that he wanted to do more than sing anti-war songs in sunny Califormia. He wanted to go to Baghdad and sing for U.S. troops and Iraqi citizens. He also decided that he wanted to learn more about Israel and Palestine, so he included those countries on his itinerary as well. Then he decided to document the whole experience in the film I Know I'm Not Alone. Among the glowing praise his film has received is this comment from the late filmmaker Anthony Minghella: "Watch this film then insist that Michael Franti becomes president of the United States." Sounds like it's worth checking out.

Stop-Loss

Channing Tatum, Abbie Cornish and Ryan Phillippe in Stop-Loss (Paramount)

Kimberly Peirce garnered praise and attention for her feature film debut Boys Don't Cry, directing Hilary Swank to a Best Actress Oscar. But it's been almost ten years since that film. The delay in delivering a sophomore feature seems to lie in the fact that her second project went through a few transformations on the way to the big screen. Peirce became interested in telling a story about people who sign up for military service in a time of war. Initially her interest was in making a documentary but what she has finally made is the narrative film Stop-Loss (opening March 28 throughout San Diego). Peirce says she wanted to make a film exploring the questions: "Why are they signing up, what’s their experience in combat and what’s it like coming home?" And the documentary footage she gathered will now become bonus material when the film comes out on DVD.

Fighting for Life

Terry Sanders' Fighting for Life (Truly Indy)

This week two very different films deal with the Iraq War. Kimberly Peirce will serve up a Hollywood feature called Stop-Loss, and at the other end of the financial spectrum is Terry Sander's documentary Fighting for Life (opening March 28 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas). Sanders won a 1955 Oscar for a short film he made with his brother Denis and a 1995 Oscar for producing the documentary Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision for his wife and fellow documentary filmmaker Frieda Lee Mock. [CORRECTION: I mistakenly said Sanders would be at the Ken Cinema on Friday to present his film and take questions from the audience, he will be at the Hillcrest Cinemas. The breakdancers will be at the Ken Cinema for Planet B-Boy. Sorry about the confusion.]

Taxi to the Dark Side

Alex Gibney's documentary Taxi to the Dark Side (THINKFilm)

You have to wait until the very end of Taxi to the Dark Side (opening February 8 for one week only at Landmark's Ken Cinema) to discover a very personal reason why Alex Gibney was so driven to make this documentary exploration of how far the Bush Administration has been willing to go in its prosecution of the “War on Terror.” Gibney’s father Frank was a journalist, author, and a former Naval interrogator in World War II. Just weeks before Frank Gibney died, he asked his son to videotape him so he could comment on the subject of American soldiers accused of torturing prisoners in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo and elsewhere.  Frank Gibney’s anger was directed at the top officials in the Bush Administration, starting with George W. and including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Alberto Gonzales (who rationalized the new policy of “coercive interrogation techniques” as the only way to combat the threat posed by terrorist enemies so evil that they could turn commercial airliners into suicide planes). The outrage Frank Gibney expresses fuels his son’s documentary.

Three Kings

Ice Cube, George Clooney, and Mark Wahlberg in Three Kings

Three Kings (opening October 8) is an offbeat action adventure set in March of 1991 just as the United States was officially wrapping up Desert Storm in Iraq.

Three Kings gets off to a brilliant start. Shot in grainy, sun bleached sand tones, the first third of the movie darts around with frenetic energy and flippant humor. Writer-director David O. Russell introduces us to his quartet of main characters: Archie Gates (George Clooney), a career soldier with a penchant for insubordination; Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg), an idealistic new father who just wants to get back home; Chief Elgin (Ice Cube), a baggage handler from the Detroit Airport who puts his faith in God; and Conrad Vig (Spike Jones), a geeky redneck who desperately wants a war adventure that will lift him out of mediocrity back home. The four are brought together by a map that Troy finds wedged in the posterior of an Iraqi prisoner. The map supposedly reveals the location of Sadaam's stash of Kuwaiti gold boullion and the four men feel that it's theirs for the taking. But what starts as a mercenary mission turns into a humanitarian one as the soldiers come face to face with the Iraqi people and the complexity of their situation.

The film has a sharp satiric sting in the early scenes and Russell teases us with what could be a Catch 22 or M*A*S*H for the nineties--the kind of film that can point out the absurdities of war, politics and the military. But when the characters and the film discover their political consciousness, the film looses its pace, zing and edge. All of Russell's social and political observations are commendable but its a shame that he sacrificed the films innovative style and savage irony to become a politically correct commentary.

Despite these failings, Three Kings remains an entertaining and compelling film.