Tastemaker

Congratulations to everyone who worked on "Year of the Fish" for inclusion in the Sundance Spectrum series!

Congratulations Gregg Araki, whose "stoner-epic, screwball-comedy "Smiley Face"" will be in the Midnite Series. Last year, festival-goers got to see his disturbing, poingant feature "Mysterious Skin." -HCS

In The Guardian:
A parade of prostitutes and their clients aimed at naming and shaming sex workers in southern China has sparked a backlash by an unusual coalition of lawyers, academics and the All-China Women's Federation.
As part of a two-month crackdown on vice in the booming city of Shenzhen, public security officers handcuffed about 100 women and some of their male customers, dressed them in bright yellow prison tunics and hauled them through the streets.

The parade, which took place on November 29, attracted large crowds of curious onlookers.
Although the women tried to cover their faces with surgical masks, it was not enough to hide their identities because police revealed their names, hometowns and dates of birth while publicly sentencing them all to 15 days in prison.

In a sign of the increased consciousness of individual versus social rights, police were criticised for going too far.

"I think the parade is a violation of human rights," said Ai Xiaoming, a professor at Guangdong's Sun Yat-Set University. "The public humiliation may frighten people, but it is not a good way for resolving problems. And it is not fair - why are only sex criminals paraded in public? What about people guilty of graft and corruption?"

The All-China Women's Federation has filed a formal protest with the ministry of public security, saying the parade was "old-fashioned, damaging to social harmony" and "an insult to all the women in China".

There was a surge of critical comment on internet bulletin boards about the ethical problems of the punishment. Legal questions were also raised by Yao Jianguo of the Shanghai Promise Law Firm, who has written a letter of complaint to the National People's Congress in which he accused the police of acting illegally and violating human dignity.

The resurgence of the "skin-and-flesh" trade has become increasingly visible since the start of China's free market economic reforms in the late 1970s.

Among the most notorious centres are Shenzhen and Zhuhai - the biggest mainland cities near wealthy Hong Kong - where there are streets full of pink-lit karaoke centres and massage parlours.

Previous attempts to tackle the industry have had mixed results. Three years ago, the organisers of an orgy by more than 200 Japanese sex tourists and local prostitutes were sentenced to life imprisonment. Earlier this year, thousands of armed police were deployed in Shenzhen to quash a protest by more than 3,000 prostitutes and karaoke hostesses who were left without jobs after the closure of massage parlours and discos.

· Jonathan Watts in Beijing with additional reporting by Huang Lisha

From Hollywood Reporter

Hair High
5 Dec 2006 10:12am EST - By Frank Scheck
NEW YORK -- Animator Bill Plympton's unique brand of anarchic, gross-out humor is very much on display in his feature-length spoof of high school romances and gothic horror tales. The tale of a perfect teen couple -- a head cheerleader (Sarah Silverman) and star quarterback (Dermot Mulroney) -- whose romance becomes unglued thanks to the arrival of a geeky new student (Eric Gilliland) who comes between them, "Hair High" plays like a demented, animated cross between "Grease" and "Carrie".

Plympton's distinctive, hand-drawn style can be a little tough to take at feature length, and this film, like his previous full-length efforts, again demonstrates that narrative is not his strong suit.

But there's no denying the hilarity of the sight gags on display, from a sexually rampaging chicken mascot at a high school football game to a biology teacher literally throwing his guts up to an army of decomposing bodies rising from their watery graves.

As usual, Plympton's animation is definitely not for the kids, with a preponderance here of ribald and vulgar visuals that are not for the squeamish.

This effort features, for the first time in Plympton's oeuvre, a plethora of name performers providing the voices. Besides the aforementioned, other notables lending their aural talents include Keith and David Carradine, Martha Plimpton, Craig Bierko, Justin Long, Matt Groening and Ed Begley Jr.

- Congratulations Bill! - HCS

Ummm, didn't I mention there are cool things to do in Williamsburg this week? Hell yeah. Southside Lounge now boasts a teeny STAGE for live music, and on Tuesday Nite you can enjoy Erin & Her Cello (8pm) and Daniel Zaitchik (10pm) for FREE.

Southside Lounge
41 Broadway (between Wythe and Kent)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
(718) 387-3182

If you're not a Southside friend yet, add us!

Hey All,

So last week I mentioned a FREE performance tonite of the newset work by theatre-genius Dan Fishback, and today Gawker gave him a HEADLINE!!! So the secret is out - go, dear friends, go to Galapagos tonite:

As it appears in Gawker:

To Do: Barbara Bush Loves The Gays

In "Waiting for Barbara," the first daughter debates whether or not her stable of gays will "destroy each other in a frenzy of queer vitriol and repressed Ivy League rage or do lots of coke, make out, and forget what happened the next morning." Go because playwright Dan Fishback worked so hard during last night's rehearsal, he broke his glasses in his costar's crotch.

- And that's a true story - HCS

Thursday, South Africa officially became the 5th country in the world to legalize gay marriage. Let's hope this starts a trend. -HCS

New questions on the US Citizenship Test:

Why does the United States have three branches of government?
Name two rights that are only for US citizens
Name two cabinet-level positions
Name one important idea found in the Declaration of Independence
What does the Constitution do?

info from BBC World News

This list just left me doing my own rabid musings on what DOES the Constitution do? I'm personally of the belief that people and culture (and their needs) grow and change over time, and that the beliefs we hold dear also grow and change. I'm a believer in throwing off the bonds of tyranny, but does that mean we have to take the Old set of rules made by people who may or may not have actually held beliefs similar to our present-day beliefs, and kowtow to the Old forever? Puritans had no voice or land in England, they were disenfranchised by Charles I before cutting off his head, disenfranchised by Charles II during the restoration, they came here and created their own religious communities which were not so tolerant of dissidence. Whigs had no land, they came to America and grabbed land. James Stuart Duke of York needed money, he created the West India Company to import slaves, and Virginia ate them up. Don't you think it's time to base our current government on our current ideals??? My beliefs run concurrent with the thinking of many of the Royal Society members (some of whom were indeed Founders of this nation) - push the envelope, find out what things are made of, question the world as it exists, imagine the world as it could be. -HCS

Congratulations to Choking Man and averyone at GhostRobot for winning the Gotham Award for Best Film Never Seen In a Theatre Near You. Granted, a bit of a sting comes with this award, but it's still a mark of being recognized for excellent work by the industry! -HCS

Short summary of Choking Man on IMDB - The social anxiety of a morbidly shy Ecuadorian dishwasher working in a Queens diner provides the psychological engine that powers this blend of drama and magical realism.