At the Fairlee drive in about an hour before watching Year One (horrible) and The Hangover (great), and 10 mins before getting a thunderburger and beer fries this past Sunday.

When Megan and I were first dating I would go to the Drive In where she worked and she would get me food.  It was great to be able to watch both movies with her.

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http://www.fangoria.com/home/indie-frights/3072-dances-with-werewolves-gets-in-step.html

From Fangoria:

“DANCES WITH WEREWOLVES is a working title, and the movie is a classic American romance which will be done mostly in the Lakota language,” [Actor Noah] Segan tells Fango. “Set against the pioneering days of the Wild West, the insecurity of Reconstruction after the Civil War and the tumultuous relationship between white settlers and Native Americans, we examine how encroaching civilization drives a tribe, as a last resort, to invoke lycanthropy to defend their land and way of life. When a young pioneer and a Native American princess fall in love, the impending battle between their two families could at least tear them apart, if not tear them to shreds. Think ROMEO & JULIET meets BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF meets RAVENOUS.”

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Rez Bomb is a love story/thriller about a Lakota girl, Harmony and a white guy, Scott who are very much in love but get into trouble with a brutal loan shark, Jaws. Jaws threatens Scott as he’s being released from six weeks in jail that if his now hefty debt including interest isn’t paid off by midnight its curtains.

Scott thinks he can pay it courtesy of a stash of pills he has hidden inside his guitar so heads to his home on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which he shares with Harmony. It is the poorest place in the USA and a world apart from the more affluent upbringing he had in Rapid City, South Dakota.

There he discovers both Harmony and the guitar are missing. So he goes searching for them both. We inter-cut his quest with Harmony’s previous six weeks as she flees Jaws. After taking a beating and discovering she’s pregnant she’s offered a place in protective housing allowing her to disappear from those chasing her. In the process she pawns all their valuables, including the guitar.

As Scott searches for her he is forced to confront his past and their families who oppose their relationship.

Check out the movie trailer here.

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http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/opinion/48770767.html

Gyasi Ross writing for Indian Country Today:

I come from a corny Skin family – we unapologetically love what we love. It can be anything; if we dig it, we are hopelessly uncool and shameless in our affection for it.

For example, we were big into “Hungry Hungry Hippos.” We had Hungry Hippo night on the weekends when we didn’t rent a video disc machine and some classic movies. Another example: My wonderful and stylish sisters loved to wear their blazer sleeves pushed up like Molly Ringwald in “Pretty in Pink.” Tacky. Terrible. True. Like I said, we love what we love.

Another thing that my family absolutely loves – unabashedly – is seeing other Skins on television or in the movies. The Skin actor/actress doesn’t even have to be a big part – bit roles are just as much sources of pride. Oh yeah, and cartoons work too! We were ecstatic to see the small, yet inspiring role of the Alaska Native lady with the really, really, really big breasts in “The Simpsons” movie. John Redcorn from King of the Hill and Apache Chief from the Superfriends? My heroes. My non-athletic mother, to this day, does three back flips whenever she sees Chief Bromden in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

Read the rest here

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‘You Are On Indian Land’ is a short 1969 Canadian documentary that focuses on Tribal Sovereignty, which has long been a source of contention between Natives and Federal Governments, by following a short lived protest by Canadian Mohawks.  This 36 minute film ultimately asks, Who really owns Indian land?

The film shows the confrontation between police and a 1969 demonstration by Mohawks of the St. Regis Reserve on the bridge between Canada and the United States near Cornwall, Ontario. By blocking traffic on the bridge, which is on the Reserve, the Indians drew public attention to their grievance that they were prohibited by Canadian authorities from duty-free passage of personal purchases across the border, a right they claim was established by the Jay Treaty of 1794.

via (National Film Board of Canada)

‘You Are On Indian Land’ is credited with being the first Canadian documentary to chronicle Native issues.

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Hot Docs : Q A Club Native

Gisèle Gordon: Your film, CLUB NATIVE, explores an issue so many Canadians can relate to – the repercussions of marrying outside of your community. It is a difficult topic, but what shines through is the courage, strength and hope of the women from the Kahnawake reserve whom you interview. Listening to them made me tear up with sorrow, but also with happiness. How did you establish such a deep intimacy with these women?

Tracey Deer: All of the women in the film are either dear friends or family so I suppose the intimacy conveyed was, in part, a result of those established relationships. I however am amazed to this day at the candor they shared with me and I feel honoured by the amount of trust they granted me. There is definitely no “secret method” I can credit. It definitely feels bigger than anything I can do.

GG: The women all share the conflict of wanting to keep their culture and Nation alive by marrying within their community, but we can’t choose who we fall in love with. The Mohawk women who live on the reserve with their non-Native husbands talk about how tough it is on their relationships, but the couples seem to be very close. What is their secret to rising above?

TD: I think the secret in both of these successful relationships lies in the patience, understanding and respect of their partners. It takes time to break away from ideas that have been drilled into you since birth. It’s a hard road to reconcile your heart with your head. Their partners stuck it out, waiting for the fog to clear. I think that is the very definition of what love is all about.

GG: Your film doesn’t shy away from the racism of Canada’s colonial past, but you navigate the political through the joyful story of your sister having a child with her non-Native partner. It brings a very personal perspective to the abstract policies of the past and present. Was your film inspired by your sister’s pregnancy, or was the timing a happy accident?

TD: Everyone in the film is either related to me or is a close friend so I’ve been aware of their struggles for some time. For me this has also always been a contentious issue as I was growing up. Once my own sister found herself in love and, consequentially, in total panic, I felt compelled to do something. Her story, and the birth of my niece, were the final pieces of inspiration I needed to make the film.

GG: This film seems to paint a picture of a strong, close-knit and powerful community, but it also asks some tough questions. How did you, and the incredible women in the film, find the courage to speak so openly?

I think we all share the same vision of wanting our community, and our people, to be happier and healthier than we are right now. It’s time to start talking about this. There are so many of our people hurting and too many of them are being pushed away. We all hope for change and making this film is our effort to contribute to the decolonization of our people.

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OLDER THAN AMERICA Trailer (via olderthanamerica)

A contemporary drama of suspense, Older Than America delves into the lasting impact of the cultural genocide that occurred at Indian boarding schools across the U.S. and Canada.

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http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080515/LOCAL18/805150516/1195/LOCAL18

Shooting is going to begin in Indianapolis on a Native horror movie called Mental Scars.  As one might not guess, the plot is going to revolve around an Indian who “methodically slays evil real estate developers trying to push him off his ancestral lands.”  

The film will also come with the standard spiritual guide and spend a lot of time on old Indian burial grounds.  

The movie stars Sonny Landham (Indian in “Predator” and “48 Hours”) as the spiritual guide and Richard Myles (no idea) as the killer Indian.

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