edited by Jonathan Doyle

Mafioso (The Criterion Collection, 3.18.2008) Nino Badalamenti is a supervisor in a car manufacturing plant who hasn't taken a vacation in over two years. On his way out the door to visit his beloved childhood hometown of Sicily -- with his blonde wife and daughters -- Nino is handed a package by his boss and asked to deliver it to a powerful and influential Sicilian gangster named Don Vincenzo. Once in Sicily, Nino has a hoot seeing friends and family, but his wife has trouble fitting in and is unfairly dismissed as a snob by Nino's family. Even more worrisome, Nino finds himself entangled in an intricate web of secret mafioso dealings and is eventually sent on an unexpectedly... elaborate errand. (continued)

Upcoming

July 2

Hancock

July 3

The Whackness

July 4

Diminished Capacity

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson

Holding Trevor

Kabluey

We are Together

July 9

Full Battle Rattle

July 11

A Man Named Pearl

August

Eight Miles High

Garden Party

Harold

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Meet Dave

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

The Stone Angel

July 18

A Very British Gangster

Before I Forget

The Dark Knight

The Doorman

Felon

Lou Reed's Berlin

Transsiberian

July 22

Two Tickets to Paradise

July 23

Boy A

Anal horse sex

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I don't want to sound crude or lowball, but how can one review the just-announced films for the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and not at least remark that one of them is a feature-length documentary named Zoo, about a Seattle man who died in the summer of '05 as a result of having anal sex with a horse? This is why the Islamic fundamentalists hate us so -- because there's no end to our interest in Godless perversity.

That aside, the Sundance team has revealed the films that will make up the Dramatic Competition, the Documentary Competition, the World Cinema Competion and the World Cinema Documentary Compeitition. Here are two stories about it -- one from IndieWIRE and Variety. The at festival will run from 1.18 to 1.28, and I still haven't locked a place down. There's a decent-sounding place that I could rent that'll be pretty reasonable if I can find the right person to share with. Interested parties?

I'll get into the particular aromas down the road. Nothing looks terribly arousing, but then nothing ever does when you first read these generic announcement stories.

Clarifying the meltdown<< previous | next >>Where's Peter?

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 29, 2006 at 01:15 PM

comment #1

Dixon Steele says ...

I hope Adrienne Shelley's WAITRESS makes it into one of the non-competing categories.

Posted by Dixon Steele at November 29, 2006 01:53 PM

comment #2

jeffmcm says ...

You're joking about 'why the fundamentalists hate us' right? Because who knows, the movie might be good. Anyway the guy did end up dead so there's some puetic justice as well (and I assume the horse was just fine).

Posted by jeffmcm at November 29, 2006 01:59 PM

comment #3

msthollyung says ...

mc, the only poetry is that it's "a humanizing account of the notorious case of an apparently normal Seattle man who died during a sexual encounter with a horse." Some Islamic fundamentalists may actually like this movie, but why make room for it at Sundance? There best be a REALLY good reason.

Posted by msthollyung at November 29, 2006 02:13 PM

comment #4

jeffmcm says ...

You don't think it's poetic that he died with a smile on his face and a massive rupture in his lower abdomen? Whatever, Keats.

Posted by jeffmcm at November 29, 2006 02:20 PM

comment #5

anti-sardine says ...

The horse involved, interviewed later in the day, described him as a gentle, caring lover who never forgot to bring an apple or a sugar cube with him.
"He really was a sweet guy," said the unamed horse, "I never had the heart to tell him that I rarely, if ever, felt a thing."
As a tribute to their fallen comrade, the livestock at the farm will hold a moment of silence at 6am, followed by the fending off of all human advances for the rest of the morning.

Posted by anti-sardine at November 29, 2006 02:35 PM

comment #6

The Winchester says ...

I'm sure that Islamic Fundamentalists aren't really wetting their pants with anticipation over the announcement of the Sundance '07 in order to plan their next strike.

That being said, I'm willing to bet at least ONE has had (or at least has thought about) anal sex with a horse.

Perversity knows no borders, Jeff. Look at German Scheisse films.

Posted by The Winchester at November 29, 2006 02:43 PM

comment #7

Monument says ...

I don't know if he's a Islamic fundamentalist or not, but the U.S. military got some infrared footage of a guy in Iraq having sex with a donkey.

http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2006/11/27/iraq-youtube-battle-footage/

Posted by Monument at November 29, 2006 03:01 PM

comment #8

nemo says ...

Why do you think the President likes to spend so much time down at his Crawford ranch?

But they do say he's afraid of horses. Wonder why he's so afraid of horses?

Posted by nemo at November 29, 2006 06:15 PM

comment #9

Tram says ...

I thought the Seattle man fucking a horse story was very interesting. Had Kenneth Pinyan's anal intercourse with the horse not been fatal, anyone in the state of Washington can fuck a horse "humanely" (that is, just as long as the horse wasn't harmed in any way).

I remember reading Charles Mudede's feature story for The Stranger and thinking how great it would be as a documentary: the underground Internet bestiality group that Pinyan was involved in, the sex tapes, how Pinyan and his buddies trespassed other people's barns, the nickname they had for that horse ("Big Dick"), Pinyan's under-the-radar-profile (Boeing engineer) - that's interesting shit right there.

Can't wait for the Sundance doc.

Posted by Tram at November 29, 2006 06:23 PM

comment #10

Mgmax says ...

Funny you should mention Islam and bestiality. A couple of months back NPR reported on imams demanding that goats be diapered-- otherwise they're just too sexy for their shepherds. I kid you not:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5622900

Posted by Mgmax at November 29, 2006 08:08 PM

comment #11

Dixon Steele says ...

Not to, uh, beat a dead horse, but the REALLY crazy thing here is that the horse was screwing the guy, not the other way around, and that's what killed him.

Won't be surprised if Fox turns this into a special now...

Posted by Dixon Steele at November 29, 2006 08:54 PM

comment #12

Michael says ...

Have these people been arrested for raping that horse? Rape is still against the law in Washington state, right? Unless the horse gave his consent, what they did was a heinous crime. I'm glad the horse meted out an appropriate punishment.

It's another example of why I'm a big believer in the 'asking for trouble' school of justice.

Posted by Michael at November 30, 2006 07:39 AM

comment #13

Tram says ...

"Not to, uh, beat a dead horse, but the REALLY crazy thing here is that the horse was screwing the guy, not the other way around, and that's what killed him."

Yeah, that was crazy. Until then, I didn't realize that a horse can fuck a man, in spite of the fact that the man had initiated it.

"Have these people been arrested for raping that horse? Rape is still against the law in Washington state, right?"

No. James Michael Tait, one of Pinyan's fucking horse buddies, was charged with trespassing. While there are rape laws in WA state, there are no laws - until that point - regarding horse rape (just human rape).

Posted by Tram at November 30, 2006 03:17 PM

comment #14

Dixon Steele says ...

Just confirmed: Shelley's film WAITRESS will be at Sundance

RIP Adrienne...

Posted by Dixon Steele at November 30, 2006 04:27 PM

comment #15

corey3rd says ...

JWW

Seeing how Godfrey Cheshire's "Moving Midway" was beaten out of Sundance by a guy getting sodomized by a horse, I'm elated. Nothing better than letting a genius filmmaker know that he was waxed by a guy who got boffed to death by a horse.

Posted by corey3rd at December 1, 2006 09:27 AM

comment #16