The Movie Leonardo DiCaprio Doesn't Want You To See

After reading about (and watching the 3 part documentary) that the NYPost.com published on August 12th, I finally watched the video of " Don's Plum"; The movie that Leonardo DiCaprio and Toby Maguire didn't want you to see back in 1995.

The story of Don's Plum is fascinating. I recommend reading the article and watching the documentary, I mentioned above before watching the movie in order to get all the background before watching the movie.

Don's Plum was a small budget, indie movie, made for ~ $100K between a group of friends that had the potential to make $Millions at box offices around the world. Instead, friendships were lost and careers ruined as a result of egos and misunderstandings.

"Chasing Ice" Documentary April 29th

Dear Friends of WATERSPIRIT,

Come and see Chasing Ice, an award winning documentary of the story of National Geographic photographer James Balog's mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of climate change. Using time-lapse cameras, his videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog deploys revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers. Chasing Ice depicts a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet. Enjoy the beauty of the photography and see the reality of the effects of climate change. Ice cream will be served!

April 29, 2014, 2:00 and 7:00 PM

Stella Maris Retreat Center, 981 Ocean Avenue, Elberon, NJ 07740.

Your Lives, Our Town – a video history series

Share your memories about the changes in our lives and local landscape.

Middletown Township celebrates its 350th anniversary in 2014, and a year-long celebration is planned to commemorate it. Sharing pride in our mutual heritage, the Middletown Democrats are taking part by interviewing residents throughout our community.

The series of short videos will feature the stories of your friends and neighbors with familiar local establishments in the backdrop. Recordings will be provided to the Township for airing on the Township’s free cable television stations for residents’ enjoyment.

Residents who have lived in Middletown 50 or more years are encouraged to participate in this project, which is nonpartisan in nature. If you would like to take part or know someone who would make a great interview subject, please send an email to middletowndems@gmail.com or call 732-939-4751.

Thank you for contributing time and history to this documentary series.

GasLand II Premires On HBO July 8th & 9th

In 2010, Gasland gave our country a wake-up call. For the first time, our fracked neighbors had a national audience. But three years later, our communities are still fighting for their health in the face of tremendous oil and gas industry influence over our elected officials. So what now?

After the overwhelming response to the release of Gasland, Josh Fox, writer and director of the film, wasted no time getting started on documenting the next chapter of the story. In Gasland Part II, Josh digs deeper into the impacts of fracking, not just on our air, water, climate and health, but on our democracy itself. In advance of the release, Josh has been touring the country, holding grassroots screenings in key areas affected by fracking. The response has been incredibly powerful.

HBO is premiering Gasland Part II on July 8 at 9 p.m. local time. This is the first chance to share this important film with everyone you know, so we can continue fighting back.

Thanks for taking action,

Katy Kiefer
Activist Network Coordinator
Food & Water Watch

See the inspirational documentary “Bidder 70” at the ShowRoom Cinema on Earth Day, 4/22

from the ShowRoom Cinema

Join us for a documentary that truly exemplifies hope. This Earth Day, April 22nd at 7pm, the ShowRoom Cinema is participating in a nationwide screening of Bidder 70.

Bidder 70 centers on an extraordinary, ingenious and effective act of civil disobedience demanding government and industry accountability. In 2008, University of Utah economics student Tim DeChristopher committed an act which would redefine patriotism in our time, igniting a spirit of civil disobedience in the name of climate justice.

You can watch the trailer for the film here: http://www.bidder70film.com/#!trailer/cxbx

"A film everyone needs to see, even if you think you’re well-informed about political issues, environmentalism, and global climate change."

-Ashland Independent Film Festival

After watching this stirring documentary, watch the live interview online with Tim DeChristopher, just one day after he's been released from federal prison.

Bidder 70- Documentary, 76 minutes. Appropriate for younger audiences. Tickets are available on our website here: http://theshowroomap.com/events/bidder-70/

Tickets are only $5 and can be purchased online or at the door. We encourage buying tickets in advance since seating is limited (66 seats), and the film will only be shown once.

The ShowRoom Cinema is located at 707 Cookman Avenue, Asbury Park, NJ 07712
Phone: 732-502-0472 | info@theshowroomap.com

"Occupy Oakland" Documentary

I was sent a link to this "Occupy Oakland" video, It is sympathetic to the Occupy Wall St. movement, gives a brief glimpse into the Oakland occupy movement and was produced rather well. It is interesting to watch and worth a look.



When is the last time you used your amendment rights? In this documentary, you will follow an immigrant in his exploration of the Occupy Wallstreet movement in his hometown of Oakland, where tear gas and warlike scenes as well as grassroots movements are satirized. How to Be American? Perhaps it's more than just living in this great country.
"Occupy Oakland"

Playing for Change: Peace Through Music

A friend of mine sent me a link to an organization called Playing for Change. He learned about Playing for Change from a segment he saw on Bill Moyers Journel and thought that they were worth checking out and supporting.

I did a quick google search to learn more about them and I found the following blog entry from Bill Moyers's website. The blog entry was written by the creator/director of Playing for Change:Peace Through Music, Mark Johnson.

Mark Johnson describes the mission and goals of Playing For Change much better than I can, please read it then check out the following video it is amazing:

PLAYING FOR CHANGE is a movement uniting people all over the world through music and inspiration. It all began about seven years ago as my producing partner, Whitney Kroenke Burditt, and I assembled a group of like-minded people with cameras and a mobile recording studio. We embarked on a journey across the globe in search of music and human connections.

We started the journey with the idea that with an open mind and positive intentions we can find ways of uniting people as the human race. Music has always been the universal language and we followed its path from city streets to Native Indian reservations, African villages and the Himalayan Mountains. I could never have imagined that we would discover a world with so much love, hope and inspiration. In a world with so much focus on our differences I am proud to have discovered that people everywhere believe in creating a better world together.

Throughout our travels we created songs around the world such as “Stand By Me” and “One Love.” These songs and videos offer musicians who have never met in person the ability to collaborate and unite through the power of music. We also interviewed all of the musicians and learned stories of how music has helped to persevere through struggles all over the world. These collections of songs and interviews serve as a reminder of the power of the human spirit as well as a means of further illustrating our global collective conscience. We live in a world with way too many starving children and way too many warring nations. As a human race we come together for birth, and we come together for death, what brings us together in between is up to us. Stop and listen to the universal language of music and bring that positive energy with you everywhere we go.

The vision of PLAYING FOR CHANGE extends far beyond just music and film. We have established the Playing For Change Foundation to build music and art schools for kids around the world. We have recently returned from Gugulethu, South Africa where we constructed the first Playing For Change Music School. We plan to build many more schools, each equipped with cameras and a recording studio so supporters all over the world can watch recitals and performances in the schools we are building together. We can use these schools as sources of inspiration and a means of breaking down negative stereotypes among people everywhere. In the words of one of the artists featured in PLAYING FOR CHANGE, Vusi Mahlasela, “The world is immigrating into a global village, the question is how much do you want to belong.” Learn more about PLAYING FOR CHANGE, and together we can accomplish much more than we ever can apart.

From the award-winning documentary, "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music", comes the first of many "songs around the world" being released independently. Featured is a cover of the Ben E. King classic by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it travelled the globe. This and other songs such as "One Love" will be released as digital downloads soon; followed by the film soundtrack and DVD early next year.

Donahue Documentary Takes On The War

by Richard Huff - New York Daily News

If he were a senior in college today, he probably wouldn't pay to see his film, "Body of War."

"Body of War" is a tough film that follows the story of U.S. Army soldier Tomas Young, whose spine was severed when he was shot after being in Iraq just five days.

The film was produced and directed by Ellen Spiro and Donahue. It hit festivals and theaters early this year, and will air tomorrow night(tonight) at 7 on the Sundance Channel.

"It's tough, it's hard-hitting and has a strong message," said Laura Michalchyshyn, general manager of Sundance. "We wanted to be able to tell a story that's real, honest and true and hasn't been manufactured."

Donahue met Young on a visit to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He also spoke to Young's mother during her bedside vigil for her son, who is paralyzed from the chest down.

"I couldn't get him out of my head," Donahue said. "The first thing you think is, why him and not me?"

The former TV host remained in contact with Young and his family, and the film emerged.

Donahue has been against the war in Iraq since the start, and lost his show at MSNBC in 2003 because of his nightly stance against the war and the Bush administration.

"Body of War" blends footage from the debate in Congress on the war with scenes from Thomas' struggle to adapt to life without the use of most of his body.

"This is the most sanitized war of my lifetime," Donahue said. "We do not see the pain. Less than 5% of us have sacrificed for this war. What you see in this film is the drama that's taking place in thousands of homes in this country occupied by young soldiers who have come home with hideous injuries."

The film, however, focuses on just one. Young's life involves pain, multiple health problems and trouble dealing with the sort of activities most people take for granted.

"The American people do not see this," Donahue said. "This war is over to them. Less than 10% of us identified the war as a the major reason we were voting."

Sundance's decision to air the documentary on Veterans' Day is not an accident.

"It's not just about Iraq, it's about how we've treated these veterans," Michalchyshyn said. "I don't think a lot of people have conceived of the Iraq war veterans the same way as World War I or World War II veterans."

In addition to Sundance, where "Body of War" will get multiple plays, the film is out on DVD. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam wrote two songs for it, and part of the proceeds of the DVD sales at Pearl Jam's Web site go to Young.

"Before the next President swaggers in front of the camera with a big lone-star belt buckle and says, 'Bring it on,'" Donahue said, "I want them to meet the honorably discharged Army Spc. Thomas Young."