Links for the Day (July 9th, 2008)

1. A reminder that today marks the start of The Self-Involvement Blog-a-thon, called by Culture Snob. Entries will be gathered at the link above.

["It was a summer in the early 1980s. We were on a family vacation. Perhaps to Disney World. It seemed that at every stop on our journey, Under the Rainbow was in a constant loop on HBO on our hotel television. We must have seen parts of it a dozen times. Memory is a fickle thing, but I remember that the PG-rated farce had one bare breast that pops out when the little people are running through a communal dressing room, or somesuch. I mention this because I can, as we have arrived at the Self-Involvement Blog-a-thon, running Wednesday, July 9, through Sunday, July 13. This is the official Culture Snob birthday party, with this little site celebrating its fifth birthday on July 10. So give me a present: Write something for my blog-a-thon! ... Most film writing is movies filtered through the self; I want the self filtered through movies."]

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2. "Iraq presses US on timeline for troop pullout": From The Associated Press. (Above: Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie.) And Breaking News of the moment: "Deadly U.S. consulate gun battle 'terrorism'"

["The Iraqi timeline proposal made public Tuesday appears to set an outer limit, requiring U.S. forces to fully withdraw five years after the Iraqis take the lead on security nationwide — though that precondition could itself take years. "Our stance in the negotiations under way with the American side will be strong," said Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, a day after the country's prime minister first publicly said he expects some type of timeline. "We will not accept any memorandum of understanding that doesn't have specific dates to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq," al-Rubaie told reporters. President Bush has said he opposes a timeline. The White House said Monday it did not believe Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was proposing a rigid timeline for U.S. troop withdrawals. In Washington, the State Department declined to comment specifically on al-Rubaie's remarks, saying it would not negotiate the agreement in public. But it reiterated that the United States fully intends to withdraw troops from Iraq when conditions are appropriate to do so. "We want to withdraw. We will withdraw. However, that decision will be conditions-based," said Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman. "We're looking at conditions, not calendars here.""]

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3. "Ballast Steadies Course Alone": Anthony Kaufman talks with writer/director Lance Hammer on his decision to self-distribute the Sundance prize-winning film.

["Lance Hammer is going solo, of sorts, with his 2008 Sundance stunner "Ballast." The producer-director-writer, whose powerful debut wowed critics at January's prestigious Park City festival and won prizes for best director and cinematography, pulled out of a distribution deal with IFC Films in order to retain rights to the movie himself. Now the film's production entity, Alluvial Film Company, along with Steven Raphael's Required Viewing, will release "Ballast" at New York's Film Forum on October 1, followed by a national rollout. "IFC is a really good company," Hammer told indieWIRE last week. "The problem is the larger issue that's plaguing every filmmaker right now: The distributors don't really offer any money. That's not that big of a deal if they would allow you to have control of your project, but they don't." If the current art-house climate isn't challenging enough, Hammer's decision highlights the harsh reality for indie filmmakers: distribution advances, or "minimum guarantees," barely ever recoup a film's budget. Hammer says conventional distribution advances for a small film like "Ballast" range between $25,000-$50,000. "If you made a $50,000 project, that makes sense," Hammer said. "If you happen to spend more money than that, it becomes difficult to justify giving up creative control.""]

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4. "Gunnin' for Trouble": Lauren Wissot reviews Full Battle Rattle. More from Andrew O'Hehir at Salon. Vadim Rizov's take will published on The House later this morning.

["While the intricate, behind-the-scenes mechanics of orchestrating such an elaborate production – soldiers and civilians carry “cards” that alert the medics to their injuries (and how long the docs have to evacuate them before they die), the artificial limbs with wounds are based on real photos from the battlefield – is worthy of Ridley Scott, the reality outside the game is even more extraordinary."]

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5. "3 artists get creative aboard ‘vomit comet’": Painting in zero gravity, where cats become mice.

["Even the black cat got queasy. Three British artists tried Tuesday to make art in zero gravity — one used the cat and a mouse for a performance piece — aboard an aircraft used to train cosmonauts, but only one completed his work. The other two artists felt ill. The plane made 10 parabola-shaped flights before landing at Moscow's Star City cosmonaut training center."]

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Quote of the Day: Octave Mirbeau, The Torture Garden

"The more infamous a man is, the more we are inclined to endow him with intellectual force and moral courage."

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Image of the Day (click to enlarge): Tea and Sympathy, then and now.



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Clip of the Day: Ninja Kitties! Awwww!

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"Links for the Day": Each morning, the House editors post a series of weblinks that we think will spark discussion. Comments encouraged. Suggestions for links are also welcome. Please send to keithuhlich@gmail.com.