"The Last Mimzy" with producer Michael Phillips (3/21/07)

TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW CLICK HERE

Producer Michael Phillips: “I think it’s got a chance of being a film that endures. The barometer for me is originality; as a producer that’s what I really look for. I believe that if you find an original, imaginative idea, and you’re able to present it well, the audience will respond.”

Director Robert Shaye: “While I don’t believe in “message films”, there is a fundamental idea intended in The Last Mimzy. If we stop and look around us today, with fresh eyes, there is much to be concerned about. Not only in politics, but sociology. We carry electronic devices all the time, distracted constantly by them. Kids are consumed by gaming machines, television, and internet. TVs are on in many homes many hours a day, even with the sound off. Video screens are everywhere. The news is mostly about death. Electronic ringing and mechanical clanging disturb our lives, inside and outside. With ear buds, and electronics crying for our constant attention, we are becoming isolated slowly, but surely, from one another. With that isolation, in time, we may not need the trait of innocence. And then, I believe mankind could be in big trouble.”

Screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin sums up his approach to the screenplay: “This was a movie that I wanted to be about the exploration and discovery of a purity in the human spirit that is something people can look at and touch and watch as it moves through time and space. It is something that is worth preserving. I thought this movie would be a wonderful vehicle for a metaphysical, spiritual, and fable-like mythic story. It has all those possibilities in it. It’s such a simple tale but it goes deep. I only want to write movies that have some reason for being in our culture - most of the stories out there just take your mind away for two hours and give nothing back. I don’t want to tell those stories. I want a movie where you get something that lingers, that embeds itself inside you and changes you a little bit. I think The Last Mimzy is that story.”

The children keep their powerful secret hidden at first…

The marvelous ‘toy’ that brings out the boy’s natural genius

Director Bob Shaye and Producer Michael Phillips on location

Mentioned during the interview is the 1951 classic science-fiction film, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" which was a significant film in Michael Phillips' life and the first film about an alien who is portrayed as a benevolent visitor. One of my all time favorites also. If you have never seen it, it is well worth watching and still timely. Its remake is being released in December 2008 in theaters.

DEFINING "VISIONARY ENTERTAINMENT"
by Randall Libero

“Visionary Entertainment” is a term I created to indicate what I feel is a major shift in motion pictures in our modern day. Movies have evolved technologically, beginning with silents, then sound films, TV, stereo sound, computerized special effects, and now the Internet and streaming video.

Yet, in their historical evolution, movies have changed in many ways. First, in the specific themes they explored: the personal, social, and spiritual; secondly, in the ways stories were told cinematically (the visual language of film); third, advances in the technology of the medium; and fourth, in the ways they are viewed and 'consumed' by audiences. Now, films are being made, seen, and shown through digital age means of production and distribution, as in streaming video on the Internet. So the convergence of storytelling, the human spirit, technological developments, art, and new methods of distribution is what I call today's new era of “Visionary Entertainment”.

The term Visionary Entertainment does not describe a new film “genre” (like ‘spiritual cinema’), but does affirm that a new trend is emerging in films (in a larger sense) which seeks to instill positive change in the viewer. Whether the message is inspirational, motivational, or simply asking us to engage our critical thinking about events in our world or our lives; it is an inclusive term that incorporates sociological and even political themes and issues addressed by independent and documentary filmmakers for many decades that still have relevance to our lives today.

It is easily apparent for anyone who takes a good long look at movies and their impact on culture today, that no one can accurately predict what will happen in regards to the future of the motion picture medium. That will be up to the young filmmakers of our present day to decide.

THE SPIRIT OF FILM: MOVIES ARE CHANGING THE WAY WE THINK, LIVE...AND DREAM

By Randall Libero

How many movies are floating around in your head? Dozens? Hundreds? Do you realize all this time they have been affecting your thinking, your opinions, your view of yourself and your fellow human beings, the world we all live in, and even our collective future?

The power of the movies is all-pervasive in our lives. Decades ago, we had access to movies only on the silver screen and TV. Now with the explosion of digital devices, Internet distribution, and streaming video they have become much more than a leisure time activity. Think about how much of your week or month is spent focused on what movies are out in theaters or on DVD, and how much time you spend focused on movies and movie products.

For more than a century, the motion picture has effected social change by introducing socially relevant ideas into mass consciousness. Many authors, journalists, and critics have acknowledged this aspect of movies, and even spoke of their nature as a primary mythical force concealed as an art form that has the power to shape societal trends and fashion.

Films that reflected social and cultural trends and society’s underpinnings were first made by great filmmakers like Stanley Kramer, Frank Capra, John Cassavetes, Stanley Kubrick, Elia Kazan, John Ford, and William Wellman, who all paved the way for a new trend to emerge in modern movies. Over the past decades, there has been resurgence in modern movies that are set apart from the standard Hollywood fare by having a strong social conscience, a search for values and meaning, and a willingness to take risks.

There is a new wave of interest in more meaningful and even spiritually relevant entertainment that has been steadily increasing in recent years. Audiences are seeking it—even though “it” is not always easy to define. These are innovative and sometimes provocative films that go beyond the medium to inspire personal and social change and even spiritual transformation. These movies give us a sense of our true potential and fundamental divine nature.

Indigenous cultures tell us that everything has a spirit. I feel films have a spiritual nature in the way they communicate to us, and this ‘spirit of film’ is the movies’ magical power to transform our lives. It is the illusion of motion (flickering light images) that imparts to the spirit in the film viewing experience its unique ability to move audiences – to excite and arouse their emotions and to transport them beyond their time and place, making the people, places, and events depicted all seem real.

Motion pictures use an extremely complex set of symbols and images through the art form, that over time, have allowed audiences to become more sophisticated at interpreting a sort of visual storytelling ‘shorthand’. Combine this with the understanding that while watching a movie you are actually in an altered state of consciousness. Like deep meditation or shamanic journeying, you are in a state of hyper-reality where deeper understanding and greater awakening may occur. The motion picture has allowed our modern global society to become much more familiar with moving into states of expanded awareness, and to have that experience in a shared environment where the effects of transformational energy grow exponentially. Much of the moviegoing experience is what each of us brings to the film personally (as well as the film artists' intent) and that frame of reference colors our interpretation of the film's literal story and its image-story.

I also feel that messages from higher realms are being transmitted to the mass culture through movies. There are now a growing number of film artists who are intentionally weaving spiritual principles into their film stories. Movies that touch upon or are built around mystical and spiritual teachings that would not have seen the light of day ten years ago are now in demand. More and more, these movies are breaking into the mainstream and inspiring discussion in ways they never have before. Even mega-movies such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Star Wars and Harry Potter series are laced with mystical teachings.

Films have always reflected trends in mass culture, but now they are even reflecting shifts in our inner conscious awareness. Take into account films like The Last Mimzy, The Fountain, What the ‘Bleep’ Do We Know?!, The Secret, Conversations with God, and Peaceful Warrior. Let us not forget that sometimes awakening comes from looking at the more frank reality of our world through films like The 11th Hour, Fast Food Nation, Sicko, and Syriana.

I hope after reading this you are now more aware of how the simple act of spending your leisure time viewing a movie is having a profound affect on your consciousness. If you want to continue to spend your hard-earned dollars watching films that make you feel like you need to take a bath after watching all the violence, be my guest. Or you can join the growing number of people beginning to seek films that empower their spiritual focus in everyday life. Movies have been used effectively for purposes of propaganda and to sell products since their origin. Imagine that same power focused on inspiring us to reach for our highest potentials.

The talk radio program "Spirit of Film: Conversations" can be found online at http://www.7thwavenetwork.com/