Just a quick note to let you know what’s happening on the red40 homfront. We are currently getting the cast and crew from Dumping Jenny together to record a commentary track later this month. Almost everyone involved is going to be able to make it out for the recording, so I’m pretty excited. Because I’ll be making DVDs this summer of Dumping Jenny and Rock Paper Scissors, we’ll be able to make them available to the public in a proper format, with all the goodies everyone expects.

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There’s a lot of talk right now about United 93, the new movie account of that plane during the September 11th hijacking. Then there’s the new Oliver Stone film, World Trade Center, also coming out around the same time. I read an interesting article in the Philadelphia Inquirer that asks the same thing many other columnists have been asking — is it too soon for a film about that landmark event?

Is the American public still so deeply scarred and shattered by the events of 9/11? Yes, bone fragments are still being found at Ground Zero. Yet it has been almost 5 years. Are we still so afraid? Is the threat of terrorism still on the forefront of our minds that we are still living in constant fear in the shadow of the twin towers? Are we too sensitive as a nation?

I think (hope!) the answer to those questions is no. I think the real problem with United 93 lies in two things. First, this movie, although fictionalized, is based on real, specific people, and their families are still mourning. There’s a general sensitivity toward the families involved, because it’s their newly-deceased relatives that are up there on the screen. We wonder how they will be portrayed in the Hollywood glamour. 

The second problem is that it has to do with us. Countless films dealing with crisis in Somalia, etc, came fast on the heels of those events without even a thought. I suspect that, if this were an action movie about the invasion of
Afghanistan and the ousting of the Taliban, voices would not raise in
protest. It’s easier to swallow a crisis/war film when we are not the victims. Come to think of it, maybe we are a little too sensitive after all.

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Only three short days before the Weekend Warlords documentary is released to the public! Dakota and I will be arriving at the Gates of Summer event on Saturday morning with signed, first-edition DVDs for all the participants.

The rest of you can get yours by mail. The Red40 Entertainment Online Superstore is open for business. There may be only one item on the shelf right now, but at least it’s a new release. Follow the new STORE link on the navigation bar above, or click here if you’re too lazy to move your mouse a few inches.

Here’s another clip you can watch while you’re waiting in line at the checkout counter:

High-res Quicktime version

Slightly lower-res MPEG version

In this clip, participants talk about the event and why they are attracted to Dagorhir while they set up camp on the first day of the three-day event.

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