Arts Express: Koch Brothers Exposed

**The Koch Brothers Exposed: A conversation with eminent activist filmmaker Robert Greenwald about his investigative documentary addressing the enigma: Who exactly are the reactionary billionaire brothers, where did they come from, what do they have to gain and what can be done to stop them. And, what is the Koch connection to the Tea Party, climate change, the Keystone pipeline, the John Birch Society, Stalin, think tanks, front groups and buying democracy. Also, new strategies for raising mass consciousness through movies. And finally, does all this make Robert Greenwald a Koch-head?


LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE
 

**Occupy Nation: The Roots, The Spirit And The Promise Of Occupy Wall Street. Gitlin gets it. Veteran social historian and movement chronicler Todd Gitlin phones in to Arts Express to talk about his latest book tracing the trailblazing movement, from its origins to its unconventional potential as a force for social change. And sheds light on the challenges of making the political personal, what constitutes hope, and exiting inertia. As he probes OWS growing pains, rituals, obsessions, inner tensions and commitment to economic justice. And how when he first felt the intensity and scale of the movement, he knew it was for real.

**Best Of The Net Hotspot: Mama Hope. Taking a look at African men and Hollywood stereotypes.

Stay tuned for continuing features of Arts Express: Expression In The Arts. Airing On WBAI Radio's Pacifica Network and Affiliate Stations. And if you'd like to Express yourself too, you can write to: ArtsExpressradio@gmail.com

High Noon And The West Coast Docks

By Daniel Borgström

'...I stood there, thinking at the time how much this resembled a scene from High Noon, and was moved to see a substantial show of hands. Five weeks after the attack, on May 12, 2003, several hundred people marched back into the Port of Oakland and set up a picket line at the terminal where people had been attacked and injured. Thus the First Amendment rights of the community were reaffirmed; it was an amazing experience, an amazing day to be alive...'

CONTINUE TO READ  DISSIDENT VOICE ARTICLE HERE

Courtesy of Noah Zweig

**The Year In Movies 2011: The James Agee Cinema Circle On Arts Express Radio

**The Year In Movies 2011: The James Agee Cinema Circle Political Perspective. It's no accident that all the film groups voting yearly for awards seem to come up with the same monotonous results. The dirty little secret of Hollywood is that awards are as calculated and predetermined as any lobbyist peddling influences in Congress. And here to disclose this reality and more from the unique perspective of the JACC Critics Chapter, is Arts Express Radio mystery guest, The Unrepentant Marxist.

LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE
 
**Music From The Barricades: The Arts Express Best Of The Net Hotspot pick from the Occupy Movement for this week. Plus, Best People's Soundtrack of 2011.

Stay tuned for continuing features of Arts Express: Expression In The Arts. Airing On WBAI Radio's Pacifica Network and Affiliate Stations, including WPRR: Public Reality Radio. And if you'd like to Express yourself too, you can write to: ArtsExpressradio@gmail.com

***THE ANTI-OSCARS***: THE BEST POLITICAL FILMS OF 2011

IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT


THE TRUMBO: The Award For BEST PROGRESSIVE DRAMATIC FEATURES is named after Oscar-winning screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, a member of the Hollywood Ten, who was imprisoned for his beliefs and refusing to inform. Trumbo helped break the Blacklist when he received screen credit for "Spartacus" and "Exodus" in 1960.

3 BACKYARDS

ALBERT NOBBS

THE CONSPIRATOR

DRIVE

50/50

THE LINCOLN LAWYER

MEET MONICA VELOUR

THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED

PUNCTURE

REPO CHICK

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

THE WHISTLEBLOWER

THE GARFIELD: The Award for BEST ACTORS is named after John Garfield, who rose from the proletarian theatre to star in progressive pictures such as "Gentleman's Agreement" and "Force of Evil," only to run afoul of the Hollywood Blacklist.

GEORGE CLOONEY: THE DESCENDANTS

JOSEPH GORDON LEVITT: 50/50

LOU TAYLOR PUCCI: THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED

KAREN MORLEY AWARD: For BEST ACTRESSES. Named for Karen Morley, who was driven out of Hollywood in the 1930s for her leftist views, but who maintained her militant political activism for the rest of her life, running for Lieutenant Governor on the American Labor Party ticket in 1954. She passed away in 2003, unrepentant to the end, at the age of 93.

GLENN CLOSE: ALBERT NOBBS

DANAI GURIRA: 3 BACKYARDS
MARGARITA LEVIEVA: THE LINCOLN LAWYER

JANET MCTEER: ALBERT NOBBS

KATIE O'GRADY: RID OF ME

ROBIN WRIGHT: THE CONSPIRATOR

THE RENOIR: The Award for BEST ANTI-WAR FILMS is named after the great French filmmaker Jean Renoir, who directed the 1937 anti-militarism masterpiece, "Grand Illusion."

CATERPILLAR

THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED

THE GILLO: The Award for BEST PROGRESSIVE FOREIGN FILMS is named after the Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo, who lensed the 1960s classics "The Battle of Algiers" and "Burn!"

THE OLD SCHOOL OF CAPITALISM

THE IRON CROWS

LE HAVRE

POETRY

THE TIME THAT REMAINS

WHEN WE LEAVE

ZERO BRIDGE

THE DZIGA: The Award for BEST PROGRESSIVE DOCUMENTARIES is named after the Soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov, who directed 1920s nonfiction films such as the "Kino Pravda" ("Film Truth") series and "The Man With the Movie Camera."

THE BIG FIX

THE BIG UNEASY

THE BILL HICKS STORY

DAMN!

THE LAST MOUNTAIN
PLASTIC PLANET

THE PRICE OF SEX

PROJECT NIM

RED SHIRLEY

SEMPER FI: ALWAYS FAITHFUL

UNDER THE BOARDWALK

WOMEN ART REVOLUTION

YOU BETCHA

THE BOUND FOR GLORY AWARD: The Award for BEST ANTI-CAPITALIST FILMS is named after the 1976 Hal Ashby directed biopic about Woody Guthrie, played by the late David Carradine.

BATTLE FOR BROOKLYN

THE BIG FIX

THE BIG UNEASY

CHASING MADOFF

CRIME AFTER CRIME

FARMAGEDDON

THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD

IF A TREE FALLS

THE LAST MOUNTAIN
MOTHERLAND

THE MAN NOBODY KNEW

MARGIN CALL

THE OLD SCHOOL OF CAPITALISM

THE PRICE OF SEX

PROGRAMMING THE NATION

PUNCTURE

REPO CHICK

LA PASSIONARA AWARD: For the most positive female images in a movie, and in light of the historically demeaning portrayal of women in movies.

ALBERT NOBBS

CRIME AFTER CRIME
THE HEDGEHOG
THE HELP

MEEK'S CUTOFF

MOZART'S SISTER

RED SHIRLEY

RID OF ME

SHEHERAZADE: TELL ME A STORY

SNOWFLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN
WHEN WE LEAVE

THE WHISTLEBLOWER

ZERO BRIDGE

OUR DAILY BREAD AWARD: For the most positive and inspiring working class images in movies this year.

3 BACKYARDS
ALBERT NOBBS

THE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

ILLEGAL

THE INHERITORS

THE LAST MOUNTAIN

PIECE OF THE PIE

RED SHIRLEY

THE ROBESON AWARD: Named after courageous performing legend, Paul Robeson. The award is for the movies that best express the people of color experience, in light of their historically demeaning portrayals in films.

3 BACKYARDS

THE HELP

PARIAH

THE TOMAS GUTIERREZ ALEA AWARD: Named after the late legendary Cuban filmmaker. For best depicting mass popular uprising or revolutionary transformation in movies

AMIGO
EVEN THE RAIN

IF A TREE FALLS

PIECE OF THE PIE

THE OLD SCHOOL OF CAPITALISM

THE SERGEI: The Award for Best Progressive LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT OR ACTIVISM is named after the Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein, who created Russian revolutionary classics such as 1925's "Potemkin" and 1927's "10 Days That Shook the World."

DARYL HANNAH

THE LAWSON: The Award for BEST ANTI-FASCIST FILMS this year, is named after screenwriter John Howard Lawson, one of the Hollywood Ten, who wrote Hollywood's first feature about the Spanish Civil War, 1938's "Blockade," with Henry Fonda, and anti-Nazi movies such as 1943's "Sahara," starring Humphrey Bogart.

CATERPILLAR

THE DEBT

SARAH'S KEY

THE MODERN TIMES: The Award for Best Progressive Film SATIRES is named after Charlie Chaplin, who made 1936's "Modern Times" and 1940's "The Great Dictator."

PIECE OF THE PIE

REPO CHICK

THE ORSON: The Award for BEST OVERLOOKED OR THEATRICALLY UNRELEASED [seen at festivals, or on TV or DVD only] Progressive Films is named after actor/director Orson Welles. After he directed the masterpiece "Citizen Kane" Welles had difficulty getting most of his other movies made.
BACK OF THE BUS
THE CLIENT LIST

RED SQUAD
TRIANGLE FIRE [JAMILA WIGNOT]

THE PASOLINI: The Award for Best PRO-GAY Films is named after Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, who directed 1964's "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" and "The Decameron" and "The Canterbury Tales" in the 1970s.

PARIAH
TOAST

COURAGE IN FILMAKING::
THE OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT


ELIA KAZAN HALL OF SHAME 2011: Citations for the worst anti-workingclass and right wing movies of the year is named after director Elia Kazan, who was Hollywood’s 'King Rat.' Kazan not only informed on accused radicals to the House Un-American Activities Committee, he took out a New York Times ad justifying his self-serving treachery.

*The Elia Kazan Hall Of Shame represents the 'don't tell me to shut up' sidebar contribution of individual members, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the entire Circle. Also, members may be objecting to particular characters in a film, and not the entire movie.

Atlas Shrugged: A Tea Party directed and funded production taunting the status quo with a Greed Is Fabulous mantra - and laced with topsy turvy Marxism extolling robber barons in mass rebellion.

Hollywood's Odious Icons of 2011: J. Edgar and The Iron Lady's faux feminist, Margaret Thatcher.

Melancholia: One Percent self-indulgent navel-gazing.

Page One: Disingenuous infomercial disguised as doc spins the NY Times.

Potiche: Anti-labor Sarkozy era cynical revisionism, in which French capitalist trophy wife Catherine Deneuve takes over as head of the union of her spouse's company.

There Be Dragons: Opus Dei funds and restages the Spanish Civil War, with Franco's fascists in league with the Catholic Church as the good guys this time around.

Snuff Movie Bad Taste Award: Hilary and company in dazzled spectator mode, assembled for a bizarre photo op at the premiere of the Osama Bin Laden Navy Seals action thriller. Popcorn and Jawbreakers, anyone?

Pariah Vs. Precious: Authentic Tale Vs. Poverty Porn

Courtesy of Noah Zwieg




'...A movie about a Black teenage girl struggling with her identity, who suffers verbal abuse from her mother and struggles to fit in with her peers, is currently getting a strong Oscar buzz. No, the movie is not “Precious 2” it is “Pariah,” the story of a teenage lesbian coming to grips with her identity. Fortunately, “Pariah” differs with “Precious” in several key ways, making this offering a markedly better standout.'


READ NEWSONE FOR BLACK AMERICA ARTICLE HERE

Atlas Shrugged: Who Is Dagney Taggart, And Why Does She Hate The Workingclass?

...Atlas Shrugged taunts the status quo with a combo Greed Is Fabulous mantra, laced with topsy turvy Marxism extolling robber barons in mass rebellion. And with a right wing feminazi head honcho presiding over a railroad empire, who nevertheless dresses like she just exited modeling school. But in the end, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged seems to be serving up nothing more than lots of hokey capitalist wishful thinking, disclaimer free zone super-wealthy diatribes, and pretentious political yakety yak...

READ ATLAS SHRUGGED MOVIE REVIEW HERE


...The rich man’s “strike” portrayed in the film would be a blessing for working people today. If, like the “great men” in the film, today’s rich of the world walked away from their banks, factories, mines and oil wells, for whatever reason, this would be no problem for the working class. We pump the oil, work the cash registers, do the hours in the plants, cook the food, invent things, create works of art, design computer programs, build buildings and do all else that produces society’s wealth.

We could easily own and operate society without the leeches at the top because they contribute nothing, merely owning what is collectively produced. Our message to all billionaires who would rally behind Rand’s fictional John Galt and give up their supposed greatness in protest is, “Good riddance!”

We simply don’t need the rich...

CONTINUE TO READ REVIEW HERE

MOVIES TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2011

JANUARY-APRIL 2011

JANUARY


The Time That Remains
Plastic Planet
Repo Chick
A Useful Life
Johnny Mad Dog*
When We Leave


FEBRUARY



Even The Rain*
Zero Bridge: Louis Proyect Commentary
Unknown
Red Shirley
Back Of The Bus
Triangle Fire


MARCH




The Lincoln Lawyer
3 Backyards*
The Music Never Stopped
Illegal
Six, Seven, Eight
Paul
Miral
Service Entrance
Mozart's Sister
The Human Resources Manager


APRIL



THE CONSPIRATOR
MEEK'S CUTOFF*
AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY
ARMADILLO
THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD
SUPER
THE BANG BANG CLUB
ATLAS SHRUGGED

***THE ANTI-OSCARS***: THE BEST POLITICAL FILMS OF 2010

THE TRUMBO: The Award for BEST PROGRESSIVE PICTURES is named after Oscar-winning screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, a member of the Hollywood Ten, who was imprisoned for his beliefs and refusing to inform. Trumbo helped break the Blacklist when he received screen credit for "Spartacus" and "Exodus" in 1960.
CASINO JACK
CONVICTION
JONAH HEX
MACHETE
PRINCE OF BROADWAY
PRINCESS KAIULANI
THE COMPANY MEN
THE PERFECT GAME
THE TROTSKY
WOMEN WITHOUT MEN

THE GARFIELD: The Award for BEST ACTORS is named after John Garfield, who rose from the proletarian theatre to star in progressive pictures such as "Gentleman's Agreement" and "Force of Evil," only to run afoul of the Hollywood Blacklist.

PRINCE ADU: PRINCE OF BROADWAY
JAY BARUCHEL: THE TROTSKY
TOMMY LEWIS: RED HILL
ANTHONY MACKIE: NIGHT CATCHES US
KEVIN SPACEY: CASINO JACK
DANNY TREJO: MACHETE

KAREN MORLEY AWARD: For BEST ACTRESSES. Named for Karen Morley, who was driven out of Hollywood in the 1930s for her leftist views, but who maintained her militant political activism for the rest of her life, running for Lieutenant Governor on the American Labor Party ticket in 1954. She passed away in 2003, unrepentant to the end, at the age of 93.
JESSICA ALBA, MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ: MACHETE
SALLY HAWKINS: MADE IN DAGENHAM
Q'ORIANKA KILCHER: PRINCESS KAIULANI
NOOMI RAPACE: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
HILARY SWANK: CONVICTION
SHABNAM TALOUI: WOMEN WITHOUT MEN
YAHIMA TORRES: BLACK VENUS

THE RENOIR: The Award for BEST ANTI-WAR FILMS is named after the great French filmmaker Jean Renoir, who directed the 1937 anti-militarism masterpiece, "Grand Illusion."

AMERICAN RADICAL: THE TRIALS OF NORMAN FINKELSTEIN

DRY LAND
GREEN ZONE
JONAH HEX
RACHEL
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS

THE GILLO: The Award for BEST PROGRESSIVE FOREIGN FILMS is named after the Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo, who lensed the 1960s classics "The Battle of Algiers" and "Burn!"

ALTIPLANO
BUDRUS
VIDEOCRACY
WOMEN WITHOUT MEN

THE DZIGA: The Award for BEST PROGRESSIVE DOCUMENTARIES is named after the Soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov, who directed 1920s nonfiction films such as the "Kino Pravda" ("Film Truth") series and "The Man With the Movie Camera."
CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY
GASLAND
LAST TRAIN HOME
NESHOBA
SOUTH OF THE BORDER
THE OATH
THE TILLMAN STORY
WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE

THE BOUND FOR GLORY AWARD: The Award for BEST ANTI-CAPITALIST FILMS is named after the 1976 Hal Ashby directed biopic about Woody Guthrie, played by the late David Carradine.
ALL GOOD THINGS
DAYBREAKERS
EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES
FLOORED
INSIDE JOB
REPO MEN
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
THE JONESES
WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS

LA PASSIONARA AWARD: For the most positive female images in a movie, and in light of the historically demeaning portrayal of women in movies.

AGORA
CHILDREN OF INVENTION
CONVICTION
FAIR GAME
LOVELY, STILL
MODERN LOVE IS AUTOMATIC
PRINCESS KAIULANI
QUEST FOR HONOR
SALT OF THIS SEA
WOMAN REBEL

OUR DAILY BREAD AWARD: For the most positive and inspiring working class images in movies this year.

BIUTIFUL
HOLY ROLLERS
MADE IN DAGENHAM
PRINCE OF BROADWAY
SAVING GRACE
THE COMPANY MEN
THE PERFECT GAME
WASTELAND

THE ROBESON AWARD: Named after courageous performing legend, Paul Robeson. The award is for the movies that best express the people of color experience, in light of their historically demeaning portrayals in films.

BLACK VENUS
FOR COLORED GIRLS
NIGHT CATCHES US

THE TOMAS GUTIERREZ ALEA AWARD: Named after the late legendary Cuban filmmaker. For best depicting mass popular uprising or revolutionary transformation in movies

MACHETE
OUTSIDE THE LAW
RED HILL

THE SERGEI: The Award for Best Progressive LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT is named after the Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein, who created Russian revolutionary classics such as 1925's "Potemkin" and 1927's "10 Days That Shook the World."

LENA HORNE [posthumous]: [6/30/17- 5/9/10] As an anti-racist activist, she refused to appear before racially segregated US Army audiences in WW2 Italy. Horne was also branded a 'communist sympathizer' because of her association with Paul Robeson and her progressive political beliefs, which led her to be blacklisted in the 1950s. Lena Horne passed away on Mothers Day at the age of 92.

THE LAWSON: The Award for BEST ANTI-FASCIST FILMS this year, is named after screenwriter John Howard Lawson, one of the Hollywood Ten, who wrote Hollywood's first feature about the Spanish Civil War, 1938's "Blockade," with Henry Fonda, and anti-Nazi movies such as 1943's "Sahara," starring Humphrey Bogart.

A FILM UNFINISHED
ARMY OF CRIME
VINCERE

THE MODERN TIMES: The Award for Best Progressive Film SATIRES is named after Charlie Chaplin, who made 1936's "Modern Times" and 1940's "The Great Dictator."

DOUBLE TAKE

OSS 117, LOST IN RIO
PUNCHING THE CLOWN
RARE EXPORTS
THE TROTSKY

THE ORSON: The Award for BEST OVERLOOKED OR THEATRICALLY UNRELEASED [seen at festivals, or on TV or DVD only] Progressive Films is named after actor/director Orson Welles. After he directed the masterpiece "Citizen Kane" Welles had difficulty getting most of his other movies made.

EXTERMINATORS
IF GOD IS WILLING AND THE CREEK DON'T RISE
PLUNDER: THE CRIME OF OUR TIME

THE PASOLINI: The Award for Best PRO-GAY Films is named after Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, who directed 1964's "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" and "The Decameron" and "The Canterbury Tales" in the 1970s.

HOWL
I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

BEST MOVIE LINE: 'We Will Kill The American Disease.' - The Expendables

COURAGE IN FILM CRITICISM: Armond White: For publicly standing up to the studios and prevailing, regarding refusal to admit him to press screenings of Greenberg because of previous negative reviews of director Noah Baumbach's films.

ELIA KAZAN HALL OF SHAME 2010: Citations for the worst anti-workingclass and right wing movies of the year is named after director Elia Kazan, who was Hollywood’s 'King Rat.' Kazan not only informed on accused radicals to the House Un-American Activities Committee, he took out a New York Times ad justifying his self-serving treachery.

*The Elia Kazan Hall Of Shame represents the 'don't tell me to shut up' sidebar contribution of individual members, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the entire Circle. Also, members may be objecting to particular characters in a film, and not the entire movie.

GENERATION ZERO
HARRY BROWN
THE EXPENDABLES
THE FIGHTER
THE GHOST WRITER
TRUE GRIT
WINTER'S BONE: [THE MASSES ARE MORONS. AKA POVERTY PORN]: In other words, do actors really have to look so dumb and stumble over their words or behave primitively in the extreme, when impersonating proletarians in movies?]

JACC Best Of The Net Hotspot: Courage In Street Theater

UK UNCUT: Half A Million Strong Mass Occupation of Top Secret Targets, 3/26/11






Visit UK Uncut

Visit US Uncut

Resistance Films

Johnny Depp: Tonto Si, Pancho Villa No?

Johnny Depp has been approached to play the legendary Mexican hero Pancho Villa but the RANGO star has second thoughts on playing the famous revolutionary.

Online sites reported that Serbian director Emir Kusturica is helming a movie on the Mexican Robin Hood with Johnny Depp taking on the role and Salma Hayek co-starring. However, during a press conference for his animated film RANGO on Saturday, Johnny Depp revealed the project "is up in the air," for him as he is facing a "dilemma" in playing one of the "great heroes of Mexico". While he admires his friend and filmmaker Kusturica, he feels he is not the right choice to play the leader of the 1910 Mexican revolution. "I feel like it should be played by a Mexican not some mug from Kentucky. I feel very strongly about that."

CONTINUE READING CINEMOVIE ARTICLE HERE


On The Other Hand....

Johnny Depp rides Into The Unknown As Tonto In Remake Of The Lone Ranger

...There is also potential controversy in the role of Tonto itself. The original character, with his pidgin English, has long been seen by many Native Americans as an insult. Later versions of the character – in comic strips and the 1981 film Legend of the Lone Ranger – gave Tonto more depth, making him an equal partner of the Lone Ranger. However, it still might irritate some that Tonto will be played by a white actor, mirroring the controversial practice of many early films that put Native Americans characters on screen but did not use Native American actors to play them....

CONTINUE TO READ ARTICLE HERE

Noah Zweig
JACC News Desk


"It is a sad and beautiful world." -Roberto Benigni
"Yeah, it's a sad and beautiful world, buddy." Tom Waits, Down By Law (Jarmusch,1986)

Noah is working on a dissertation tentatively entitled The Cultural and Media Politics of the Bolivarian Revolution. The project analyzes state-backed film and TV productions in Venezuela under the government of Hugo Chávez. He has an essay, "Foregrounding Public Cinema and Rural Audiences: the USDA Motion Picture Service as Cinematic Modernism, 1908-1938," in the forthcoming (fall 2009) issue of The Journal of Popular Film and Television. His interests include Latin American national cinemas, critical globalization studies, and critical cultural policy studies. Noah received a BA in Literature from UC Santa Cruz and an MA in Moving Image Archive Studies from UCLA. In addition to academic work, he has served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member in East Los Angeles.