Pete Seeger in conversation with Tim Robbins

Pete Seeger's handbuilt log cabin serves as the backdrop for this intimate conversation between Pete and Academy Award Winning Actor and Director Tim Robbins.

On a warm beautiful day in Beacon, New York, July 6, 2006, The Pacifica Radio Archives arranged a meeting between Tim Robbins and legendary folk musician Pete Seeger.

This 4 DVD set captures their candid conversation

the World According to Monsanto...

On March 11 a new documentary was aired on French television (ARTE – French-German cultural tv channel) by French journalist and film maker Marie-Monique Robin, The World According to Monsanto - A documentary that you won’t see on American television. The gigantic biotech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years.

Open Your EYES...

Zeitgeist - Final Cut (2008)

...over on rfsMojofilter we've got a fairly unbalanced Reasoning on that ole devil religion in House of God, meanwhile back at the ranch, here's the story in full...

Wag the Dog (1997)

Wag the Dog is a 1997 film starring Robert De Niro, about a Washington spin doctor who distracts the electorate from a U.S. presidential sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood producer, played by Dustin Hoffman, to construct a fake war with Albania. The scheme enlists the musician Willie Nelson (who creates a theme song for the 'war'). Hoffman's character was based directly upon Robert Evans; Hoffman emulated Evans' work habits, mannerisms, quirks, clothing style, hairstyle, and his large square-framed eyeglasses; the real Evans is said to have joked, "I'm magnificent in this film."

Wag the Dog was produced and directed by Barry Levinson. Hilary Henkin and David Mamet co-wrote the screenplay. The film is based on the novel American Hero by Larry Beinhart. The book, however, differs greatly from the picture. In the book the president is specifically George Herbert Walker Bush (in the movie he is unnamed) and the fake war operation is explicitly Desert Storm.

The film explores serious themes, such as the manipulation of the mass media and public opinion by the government, with a comedic sensibility. The film drew attention at the time for similarities to the Clinton sex scandal, although the movie also makes reference to the Persian Gulf War as an example of war used as an electoral tactic. The film also brings together the worlds of politics and Hollywood and explores similarities between the two.

the ELEPHANT in the room...

...great new film over at nosmokewithoutfire here's some food for new year thought...