3 Mar
Future In The Past
I'm always happy when a post of mine gets a bit of wider circulation, and my last one is one such. A trade blog in Hollywood has trolled and copied much of it, presumably because the Oscars have been and gone.
Then there is the (lone) comment from Sam who wants to see the sequel to Rambu: The Intruder. I'm not sure if this was the film which used loads of local expats as extras including a good friend of mine who got shot in the opening sequence.
I've never been in a Hollywood, Bollywood or any other 'wood movie, although I did turn down a part in The Killing Fields which was shot in Thailand. My reason for not appearing was simple: I didn't want a USA squaddie crewcut haircut, although the money would have been nice.
I have been on TV a few times, once in a demo, another time riding a bicycle which I felt was due compensation for leaving the five minute interview with me on the cutting room floor, and once following an arrest …. but enough of fantasy.
I did say in my post that there have reputedly been a few good Indonesian movies. The Jakarta Globe has kindly provided a list, some which give "Reel Satisfaction". Or maybe I should say "gave" satisfaction as none of them are, to my knowledge, currently playing in a bioskop near you. Three of the nine in the list were directed by Joko Anwar.
On HBO tonight I thoroughly enjoyed a filmic adaptation of a book, The Time Traveller's Wife. I note that Brad Pitt was an executive producer, which reminded me of his starring role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, another story of a man trapped in a timewarp. Until today, I hadn't known that this was a tale about a man who is born in his eighties and ages back to babyhood was adapted from a 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. So, that's two books that I now want to read on the basis that reading generally gives me greater pleasure.
But enough of literature and fine cinematic productions because the Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik has this week announced a government plan "to allocate a special budget to subsidize the production of films that “instill love to the nation, raise patriotism and national defense.” ,
The first release – currently on a two inch screen near you – was apparently shot through a hotel door spyhole and appears to feature Anis Matta the secretary general of the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and a deputy speaker in the House of Representatives (DPR), (although some say it is Fahri Hamzah, the deputy secretary-general of the PKS).
Whatever, or whoever, the plot thickens and the police are now investigating the matter because the video hasn't yet been rated by the Indonesian Board of Censors.
