Sita Sings the Blues is a film that went through a lot, before it finally saw a way to reach an audience. The film has made quite a buzz when it first started appearing in various festivals quite some time ago. Unfortunately, out of nowhere, legal troubles concerning the film’s soundtrack emerged and stopped it from obtaining proper distribution.

The film itself is quite unique. Sita is an animated feature that re-tells a well-known Hindi fable, the Ramayana. The twist? The film’s narrative is accompanied by the 1920’s jazzy vocal stylings of Annette Hanshaw. Jazz and a Hindi folklore story make an interesting and fresh combination. The film’s soundtrack, what made Sita so different and gave the film a lot of buzz, is also what delayed it from being seen by an excited audience.

Filmmaker, Nina Paley, was shocked to find that Annette Hanshaw’s recordings which were supposedly became part of the public domain, was protected by copyright. The last time I heard about the movie, Paley was attempting to gather funds to pay for royalty so she could properly distribute her passion project.

Recently, I checked back on the status of the film and I was pleasantly surprised. Paley has decided to distribute the film for free! Any form of payment that she might receive because of the film, are counted as donation. She also sells pretty merchandise for the film too!

So everything works out. Check the movie out, as it comes in various formats.

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Ok, so the title may be kind of hoakey. But this is a really good documentary, giving us a look at the culture behind the music. What it was, what it has become, and why Hip Hop has gotten to the state that we know it know.

Check it out.

A lot of compliments have been thrown around for Tom Ford’s directorial debut, A Single Man. But personally, I’m not sure that I’m convinced.

Based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood, A Single Man tells the bittersweet story of George (Colin Firth), a gay English professor who is dealing with a recent death of his lover. The film takes place basically within one day, with flashbacks to days before George was told of the tragic accident.

The film does a good job setting a tone. Within the first ten minutes of the film, it is quite clear where the film is heading. For a debut, Ford has done a really good job establishing a clear, focused aesthetic and mood that supports the melancholic, romantic tone of the film. This seems rather appropriate, since he’s a designer and all.

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Belated Happy Holidays all, it’s been a while. Here’s an amazing little short film to warm you up on a cold winter night.

Unless you’re in the tropics. Cause, you know. It’s nice and warm here.

Lack of sunlight during winter can cause depression, more colds, possibly even raise your risk of cancer, increase susceptibility to heart attack, diabetes and other disorders. The sun’s rays are vital for the body to make vitamin D so it’s important to walk outside in the sunlight for at least 30 minutes a day.

This weekend, actress Brittany Murphy was found dead in her West Hollywood home.

Early autopsy reports state that she passed away from natural causes–that she possibly had a weak heart due to a past eating disorder. Toxicology reports can take up to 2 months so official cause of death might not be determined for some time.

I found out about Brittany Murphy via text message as I was sitting in Cinco de Mayo restaurant in my Brooklyn nabe with my husband and our former neighbor. We hadn’t gone out all day because of icy temperatures and snow, and as a result I am now battling an annoying cold. (see the connection people, get off your ass and go outside!). Anyway, after receiving the news I was startled by the fact that Murphy was only 32–older than me but basically my age. For whatever reason, probably because she’s been a working actress for so long, I thought that she was at least 35.

If you google her name and scroll past the numerous obituaries, you’ll find links to awfulplasticsurgery.com or other sites advertising pics of Murphy’s “trout pout” or bad boob job. Despite being so young, she was already washed up. Possibly under a negative influence that ultimately destroyed her.

Back in November, Perez Hilton reported that Murphy “was fired from an upcoming film that was shooting in Puerto Rico. Apparently, “the wacktress,” writes Hilton, “has a habit of being difficult on set and everyone’s tired of her shit.” Strangely, her husband Simon Monjack was in the mix, getting into fights with locals and appearing incoherent at an airport.

Her subsequent death less than a month later, will definitely stir up enough entertainment news articles that will eclipse Tiger Woods this holiday season and into the new year.

Until then, this is for you Ms. Murphy.

When you think of writer/director Wes Craven, chances are you think of 1984’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” I am, however, willing to bet you’ve never heard of 1986’s “Deadly Friend” starring Matthew Laborteaux (who?), Kristy Swanson (Buffy from the movie “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) and Anne Ramsey (Momma from “Throw Momma from the Train”). Don’t feel bad, be glad you haven’t.

The basis of the movie is as follows: teenage kid, mom, and yellow robot named BB move to a new town, kid is super smart and is a brain surgeon/professor at the local polytechnic college, kid makes friends/makes out with girl next door whose dad beats her, robot becomes violent due to “brain” glitch and teenager shuts down robot, girl gets thrown down a flight of stairs making her a vegetable, dad OKs her separation from life support, teenage kid decides to steal already dead girl out of love and experiment and puts robot BB’s computer chip “brain” into her brain, girl becomes lobster-claw robot killer and bodyguard of teenager and eventually dies from gunshot and comes back from the dead to kill her maker…Amazing, right?

Actually, the most amazing thing about this movie is how ridiculous it is. First of all, robot BB talks like a possessed retarded gremlin with Tourette’s—or the devil if he were drowning—whose only utterances are the repetition of his name or a load of nonsense which could be considered his own language. Troll Anne Ramsey is the crazy old lady with a shotgun who won’t give back their basketball, the score and gore (rhyme) are fucking epic, and Matthew Laborteaux has very hairy arms. But by far, the greatest thing about “Deadly Friend” is this badass scene.

In case you want to, you can watch all of the movie on YouTube.

Writing about ANTICHRIST is almost as intimidating as the anticipation of seeing the film. Lars von Trier’s latest, that I caught at the New York Film Festival, definitely has made a lot of people talk. People vomited, walked out, passed out and loved this film. It is clear that ANTICHRIST is a film that you just can’t keep quiet about.

Shot by a long-time collaborator, Anthony Dod Mantle (he also lit SLUMDOG MILLIONARE), ANTICHRIST looks wonderful. I was plenty surprised, pleasantly I may add, when I learned that most of the film was shot in HD on the RED camera. The over-saturated, at times romantic and dreamy atmosphere that Dod Mantle created for the film works well with the nightmarish quality of the narrative.
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