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Tuesday, May 31, 2005
farkleberries Links du Jour 95 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 




Thursday, May 26, 2005
farkleberries Links du Jour 94 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 




Au Revoir, Freespace 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 
It appears that Tim Sandefur is finally calling it a day for his fine blog, Freespace:
It’s time to pack up, at least for a while. Perhaps some day, for some big events, I might come back, but it’s time to turn out the lights, for several reasons.
...
My final message is to always love your freedom, and fight for it with all you can. It is the rarest, and most precious, possession on earth. Without freedom, no other joys are meaningful; no victory is worthy; no riches are wealth; no tomorrows make a future. The right to speak and think and believe and study and work and earn and keep and buy and sell and be what you are, as you want, on your own terms, as an individual worthy to make choices, are beyond any treasures that so-called benefactors might offer you in trade. Do not let people tell you that freedom means moral chaos or poverty. This is not true. Do not let people tell you that folks in other parts of the world don’t long for freedom. This is not true. Do not let people tell you that it is all too late, and that talk of freedom is all speculation divorced from the real world. It is not true. Do not let people tell you that the Constitution is outdated, and that our lives must be governed, governed, governed, as the price for living in society. This is not true. And do not let people tell you that maturity consists of giving up your idealism, or that responsibility means giving up on your freedom, or that wisdom consists of accepting illogical arguments. These things are not true. I’ll end with a passage from John Milton, the great Christian libertarian, who wrote what I’ve always thought was a gorgeous epitaph. He wrote it in the 1660s, when it looked like all hope for freedom was lost—England had restored the Stuart monarchy to the throne, and Milton’s dream of a free society seemed doomed. Of course, only a century later, it revived again, far stronger than ever before.
[W]ith all hazard I have ventured what I thought my duty to speak in season, and to forewarn my country in time; wherein I doubt not but there be many wise men in all places and degrees, but am sorry the effects of wisdom are so little seen among us.... What I have spoken, is the language of that which is not called amiss “The good old Cause:” if it seem strange to any, it will not seem more strange, I hope, than convincing to backsliders. Thus much I should perhaps have said, though I were sure I should have spoken only to trees and stones; and had none to cry to, but with the prophet, “O earth, earth, earth!” to tell the very soil itself, what her perverse inhabitants are deaf to. Nay, though what I have spoke should happen (which thou suffer not, who didst create mankind free! nor thou next, who didst redeem us from being servants of men!) to be the last words of our expiring liberty.
Tim: congratulations, and best wishes on all your future endeavors, writing and otherwise - your news and views at Freespace will be very much missed.




Wednesday, May 25, 2005
With Church Leaders Like This, Who Needs Newsweek? 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 
'Koran should be flushed' Sign from Danieltown Baptist Church, North CarolinaFrom the Charlotte Observer:
An N.C. Baptist official Tuesday said he worries that a sign outside a small church in Forest City could incite "negative actions" toward Christians around the world. "The Koran needs to be flushed!" states the sign outside Danieltown Baptist Church in the small town some 60 miles west of Charlotte.

The Rev. Creighton Lovelace put up the message on the changeable sign last Friday and will likely put up a new saying this Friday. In between, the 23-year-old Forest City native is answering critics and explaining to national media outlets why he chose to demean the Quran, the holy book for the world's second largest religion: Because, he said, they don't worship Christ as the son of God. "I don't hate Muslims," Lovelace told the Observer. "I don't hate Islamic people. I just hate the false doctrine."
...
Lovelace said he was stirred to put up the sign by the worldwide furor inspired by the Newsweek magazine report that U.S. military guards at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba flushed a copy of the Quran down a toilet to rile Afghan prisoners. At least 17 people died in rioting that erupted in several countries over the Newsweek report -- a report the magazine later retracted and apologized for. Just because the sign provokes anger, Lovelace said, is no reason not to say what you believe.

"If one church can't put up a sign and the whole nation be mad at them," he said, "something's wrong."
From Tuscaloosa News Dateline Alabama:
[Reverend] Lovelace said he knew before he put up the sign that some people would disagree with its message. "I expected some people would be offended, just as if someone put up a sign that said the Bible should be flushed," he said. "That would offend me as a Christian. This is America and we have the freedom of the press, so I have the right to put up this sign."
...
Lovelace said he does not believe he is being intolerant. "We are all told to be tolerant," he said. "You can be tolerant of other people, but that doesn't mean you have to accept anything that teaches against what is in the Bible."
Crusade, or showboating? I agree with Lovelace in the sense that this is the U.S., and we do - hold your breath, still - have First Amendment rights to free speech. Even if I don't agree with the message, I do believe he should have the right to say it. That said, after news stories like this no one should complain that it's all the Liberal Media™'s fault for stirring up anti-American sentiment 'round the globe. Sheesh.

[Above image from the Kansas City Channel.com]




An Idea for Safer CTA "L" Tracks 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 
CBS2 Chicago has a feature story about an "uncovered danger" - exposed high-voltage "third rails" on the city's "L" lines that someone suddenly discovered was a "hidden risk" to riders:
Diagram of a typical third rail, image courtesy http://www.trackoff.orgSix hundred volts of electricity killed a man outside of Wrigley Field. He had just been to a Cubs game when he came across an uncovered danger that has claimed many lives. CBS 2's Dave Savini investigates hazards found across the city and in some suburbs.

Our undercover cameras captured a view of chaos outside of Cubs games and White Sox games. People are packed and pushed to the edge on narrow, overcrowded CTA “L” platforms. Just a few feet away is something so lethal it could kill someone in an instant. CTA workers in charge of crowd control are nowhere in sight. They are at risk of falling on the most dangerous part of the tracks: the third rail. "It could be anybody, it could be anybody that trips or falls or stumbles," Diana Parker said.

Third rails charged with 600 volts of electricity power the “L” and have claimed many lives. Parker’s son was killed on the third rail, now she wants to know what's being done to protect riders. According to what we found in the last two months, it’s not much. We brought hidden cameras to the “L” stops closest to US Cellular and Wrigley fields. People were forced to the edge. No one stopped the drinking or drug use. One fan says he's so drunk he needs to sit down.
The thing is (in my opinion) third rails aren't so much a "hidden risk," as an ignored risk. (Although I have heard there are - or were - a few grade-level "L" stations with unmarked third rails.) Without trying to sound unsympathetic, there are numerous graphic warning signs posted throughout the CTA train system at each station about the hazards of the third rail, and a broad yellow or blue traction treaded edge borders the platform - again with explicit, bilingual posted cautions not to stand past the threshold, because of "DANGER OF DEATH OR SEVERE INJURY."

Unfortunately, people disregard these warnings all the time: I see riders standing over the treaded edge, leaning over the tracks to see if a train is approaching from the last station, heck, even dancing to their iPods at the very edge of the platforms. The "drinking [and] drug use" mentioned above certainly doesn't help matters, especially during super-crowded ball game times.

I'm not sure how the Chicago train system could be made substantially safer using the existing tracks besides a major technical redesign - or some type of low insulating shield that provides a barrier next to the third rail, although finding a configuration that worked reliably on inside and outside tracks without causing mechanical failures would be tricky and expensive.

I do have one idea. How about some type of L-shaped guard that could be mounted adjacent to the "hot" rail where it is exposed at stations, that left one side exposed for electrical contact with the train, which would reduce the risk of accidental electrocutions without having to redesign the whole track structure? If a rider fell from the platform, they would be much less likely to make contact with the third rail. The guard could be made from some strong nonconductive material (or at least be lined with a layer of durable insulation), and would have periodic drainage holes to allow rain and snowmelt to run off. What would need to change would be the orientation of the electrical contact "shoes" under the trains themselves.

I'm no engineer, of course, and there are probably many good reasons why something like this wouldn't work...hopefully co$t isn't the main one.

More: CTA historic livery (train designs) at Chicago-L.org
The Eshoo v. CTA case (1999)
Bretl's CTA Machine Shop Gallery
Live From the Third Rail (a commuter train blog)
Trackoff.org (UK) Rail Electricity Dangers [PDF]
Kibo's "Orange Cones: Introductory Rant"-
Orange cones don't denote anything in particular in and of themselves, and they're usually not deployed in ways that give you much of a hint why they're there -- usually they're just sitting in corners in small groups. (Often the closest I can come to figuring out their intent is "Hey! There's an orange cone on this traffic island!") Orange cones are like the paprika on food-service mashed potatoes: You get tasteless potatoes with orange dots. These "safety" cones are designed to be highly visible, but because of their ubiquity and meaninglessness, we've been ignoring them. And while we've been ignoring them they've been taking over the world. [keep reading; Kibo's Orange Cone Galleries 1-4 are hilarious]




Monday, May 23, 2005
farkleberries Links du Jour 93: The Even Better Than The Real Thing Edition 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 




Friday, May 20, 2005
farkleberries Links du Jour 92 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 
* Why? Let's just say that in a predominantly true Blue State like Illinois, Naperville is a little nugget of Red Statitude. It's about half an hour west of Chicago.




Thursday, May 19, 2005
Where Data Meets the Street: Chicagocrime.org 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 
May 2005 screenshot from www.chicagocrime.org

There's a lot of buzz in town about Chicagocrime.org, a new website that uses Chicago Police Citizen ICAM crime reporting stats and Google Maps data to generate a searchable real-time image of crimes reported in the city. It's a remarkable example of how creative folks - like Chicagocrime.org creator Adrian Holovaty - have found innovative, practical, and positive uses for the massive quantities of data being generated by public and private agencies every day. [via Gapers Block]

Using Chicagocrime.org, visitors can view Google Maps displaying reported crimes by location, date, classification, or selecting from any number of variables: you can search for all crimes on your street, or narrow down your search to, say, burglaries or assaults on your block during the past week. Click on the blue link that labels each crime report, and a new window pops up with a street-level map nad detailed information about the incident (no names, however; you'll have to get those from the police).

On the home page, you'll find a quick breakdown of crime stats, such high-crime dates, beats with the highest crime and lowest crime rates in the city, crimes by frequency and incident location - and, which hours of the day are most criminogenic in Chi-town (hint: it's not the middle of the night).

Geographic information system geeks, criminal justice majors (ahem), and plain ol' city residents will find the site fascinating and easy-to-use; just remember, if you feel a hint of urban paranoia coming on, remember that information like this should be in the hands of the common person, not just mouldering on police databases or file cabinets in the basement of City Hall.

By the way, notice anything slightly odd about the above crime map, displaying Chicago arrests for possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana? Namely, that virtually all arrests for this type of offense appear to be occurring in one specific area of town? It's not an error or glitch; in one of my CRMJ classes we learned of an enforcement "hot spot" along Division west of downtown that has a marijuana arrest rate at least 5-6 times as high as any other in the city.




Wednesday, May 18, 2005
farkleberries Links du Jour 91 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 




Tuesday, May 17, 2005
farkleberries Links du Jour 90: The Fowl Play Edition 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 




Monday, May 16, 2005
Evil Kids? 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 
'Evil Kids' by Lauren GardinerA bizarre and disturbing news story from Aptakisic Junior High in Buffalo Grove, IL, with many more questions that answers:
A junior high school student is in police custody, accused of stabbing a classmate right in front of other students. ... Buffalo Grove police say the [12 year old] girl brought a kitchen knife to the junior high school. The knife was in a box with a ribbon around it to make it appear it was a gift.

Shortly before French class at 7:30 a.m., the girl stabbed the boy in the back as he sat at a computer.

"The information that we have so far does indicate it was a premeditated act, that preparations did begin last night that resulted in the box containing the knife being brought to the school," Cmdr. Mike Soucy with the Buffalo Grove Police Department. Students at the school were shocked by the incident. "It sort of scares a lot of people that somebody would really do that because everybody is really friends in this school," Silver said.

Gordy Gurson knows both students. "I think they’re both really nice," the seventh-grader said. He said the young attacker stood out because she dressed in black and once colored her hair green. He said his friend was next to the victim. "Once he saw the knife in his back, he pulled it out right away," Gordy said.

Crisis counselors were called to the school Friday. "In the school there was like a lot of people who were scared during class. There were people saying they were afraid to go in the hallway. And a lot of people were just like not focused on their work," said one 12-year-old student. The victim was taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. He is listed in stable condition. His parents tell police that he will be OK. [more on CBS2.com Chicago]
As they say, "weird sh_t happens," but scattered occurrences like these add to the atmosphere of distrust and malaise in our nation's schools. Random acts of youth violence are what spurred what is sometimes called the "devil-child" media trend of the 1970's and 1980's [visible in the popularity of novels and films like Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, The Omen and Carrie, all the way up to what is often considered the last movie of that genre, Stephen King's The Children of the Corn] all reflecting the public's underlying fear of not-just-out-of-control-but-evil youngsters in the aftermath of shocking media-blockbuster crimes like the 1969 Manson Family murders. In reality, the individuals involved in the Tate-LoBianco killings were for all intents and purposes adults, but somehow the convicted were seen as emotional children in the thrall of Family "father" Charles Manson, and came to symbolize "evil youth" of all age groups.

Every era has had its notorious child crimes (e.g., the dreadful killing of UK toddler Jamie Bulger by a pair of 10-year boys - not to mention Columbine and its sequelae), but I think today's intensive media coverage gives the impression there's a lot more of it than there actually is. I'm not so sure today's kids really scarier than they were a generation or two ago, even though kids on both ends of the behavior spectrum get more "face time" than in the past.

However, one caveat: I think media coverage may not simply be a "magnifying glass," but an end in itself. One eerie thing about today's "kid crime" is that a lot of it, like the Columbine shootings, seemed tailor-made to generate the biggest media impression possible. In other words, the crimes aren't just a result of violent urges, but instead become acts of self-destructive self-expression. While underage criminals undoubtedly existed before television and the Internet, the public's rabid fascination with today's "devil children" guarantees a ready audience for these events as they occur - and unless they've had a complete break from reality, the kids perpetrating these crimes know it, too. [See an article called "Should Terrorism Be Reported in the News?" by Bruce Schneier, previously noted in farkleberries Links du Jour 88]

Like the spectre of terrorism, the real risk of "kid crime" has become distorted through the lens of popular media. Bruce Schneier writes,
Modern mass media, specifically movies and TV news, has degraded our sense of natural risk. We learn about risks, or we think we are learning, not by directly experiencing the world around us and by seeing what happens to others, but increasingly by getting our view of things through the distorted lens of the media. Our experience is distilled for us, and it’s a skewed sample that plays havoc with our perceptions. Kids try stunts they’ve seen performed by professional stuntmen on TV, never recognizing the precautions the pros take. The five o’clock news doesn’t truly reflect the world we live in -- only a very few small and special parts of it.

Slices of life with immediate visual impact get magnified; those with no visual component, or that can’t be immediately and viscerally comprehended, get downplayed. Rarities and anomalies, like terrorism, are endlessly discussed and debated, while common risks like heart disease, lung cancer, diabetes, and suicide are minimized.

The global reach of today’s news further exacerbates this problem. If a child is kidnapped in Salt Lake City during the summer, mothers all over the country suddenly worry about the risk to their children. If there are a few shark attacks in Florida -- and a graphic movie -- suddenly every swimmer is worried. (More people are killed every year by pigs than by sharks, which shows you how good we are at evaluating risk.) [read full article]
What's troubling is that these scattered highly visible incidents of child crime lead to a vicious cycle of generalized mistrust of the young, which in turn engenders more internal rage and alienation on the part of kids. Where do we break the cycle?

[Image above is a print called "Evil Kids" by artist Lauren Gardiner; you can check out the portfolio on Tight Sweater Press]




Saturday, May 14, 2005
farkleberries Links du Jour 89 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 




Friday, May 13, 2005
Friday Random Ten: The Friday the 13th Edition 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 
  1. Blonde Redhead - Misery is Butterfly
  2. Shpongle - My Head Feels Like A Frisbee
  3. Enon - White Rabbit
  4. Sufjan Stevens - Come On! Feel The Illinoise! Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition
  5. Serahtonic - Close Your Eyes To See
  6. Prodigy - Hot Ride
  7. Noreaga - Nuthin'
  8. Coil - Who By Fire
  9. Charlie Daniels Band - The South's Gonna Do It Again
  10. Alphaville - Forever Young
I'm a bit late on the PNG bandwagon, but the image above of Winamp's Impulse skin is the first image of that type I've used on the site. I think it looks very decent for its small filesize...let me know in the comments if any of you have browser issues with PNG's. If you do, let me whisper something in your ear...okay, just a bit closer...shhh..."Firefox." :)




Thursday, May 12, 2005
farkleberries Links du Jour 88 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 




Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Everyday Cruelties 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 
This morning, I took the #4 bus south to work through Bronzeville. A once-prosperous, primarily African American neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Bronzeville is known for its rich history; unfortunately, like many urban neighborhoods, it's fallen on rather hard times. If I'm not taking the Metra train, I typically get on the bus downtown at Michigan Avenue - and I'm usually the only white person on the #4 by the far-south portion of the trip. After a while, you can tell where a bus is going just by looking at its sideboard advertising.

Magnificent Mile buses have ads for Calvin Klein, Guess?, and Kenneth Cole. South Side rides have ads for "Ug Buys Ugly Houses!" or "Dawn Dish Detergent Even Handles Grandma's Really Blackened Catfish." Sometimes, the sooty bus-rears have public service announcements, like "Man, I'm So Glad I Got That Syphilis Test." Today, I noticed some unusual graffiti written neatly in yellow opaque marker on the blue fiberglass edge of my seat: YOU ARE A SLAVE!

There's a profound sadness to the neighborhoods just South of Bronzeville before Hyde Park, where at least three-fourth of the storefronts are closed or boarded up. Those that remain are primarily liquor stores, fast food joints, pawnshops and "instant loan" locations. There are also churches, schools, and small parks, all scattered symbols of hope and renewal amidst the urban disorganization.

A plywood construction barrier along the route is colorfully decorated in gold, green and orange with smiling, cartoonlike depictions of Chango and other orishas. Nearby, a Baptist church sign (that normally reads SEVEN DAYS WITHOUT PRAYER MAKES ONE WEAK) today perplexingly stated DON'T WAIT FOR SIX STRONG MEN TO TAKE YOU TO CHURCH. I didn't grasp the meaning until I got to work: pallbearers.

What's eerie about this part of Chicago is how few people seem to be around, even in the middle of a business day rush hour. In the middle of the most poverty-stricken part of my ride, I noticed an unusually cruel billboard towering over a dilapidated block around 47th and Cottage Grove. The ad showed a picture of a luxurious, faceted bottle of Chivas Regal reclining against a backdrop of crushed black velvet. Down on the sidewalk, a smattering of ghosts in dusty clothing shuffled along aimlessly; the kind of folks that probably can't afford a painkiller more palatable than an Olde English '40'.

The Chivas ad caption read: OH, STOP IT. ENVY IS SO UNATTRACTIVE.




Tuesday, May 10, 2005
farkleberries Links du Jour 87 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 




Monday, May 09, 2005
farkleberries Links du Jour 86 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 




Friday, May 06, 2005
farkleberries Links du Jour 85 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 




Thursday, May 05, 2005
(Re)name This Blog! 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 
Yes, dear readers...after nearly three years, I have come to the conclusion that the name "farkleberries" may no longer adequately represent the vision and purpose of this blog. Over time a few of you have asked me why I named it so in the first place; in truth, it was an accident.

Some of you may recall my quasi-blog from 2001-2002 called "Unzen Koans" before I opened the Blogger account, and "farkleberries"-dot-blogspot-dot-com was the first domain I chose that didn't return the message, "We're sorry, but that domain name is currently in use - please try again." After I chose the name "farkleberries" I found that Wikipedia blurb (on the sidebar) about "the farkleberry is the most astringent of the herbs in its immediate family and therefore of significant medicinal value," which seemed sufficiently eccentric for my purposes at the time.

It's served a purpose, but I feel like maybe it's time for a change. While I plan on keeping the farkleberries.blogspot.com domain for the time being, I'd to like to offer everyone a chance to suggest its new name...after all, you're the ones that come visit this little smoky joint every day, for which I'm very grateful! I can't offer much in the way of compensation at this point, but I will certainly give credit on this blog to the person (or blog/website, if you choose to remain anonymous) whose entry is chosen.

By the by, I noticed there is a new blog out there (established in April of this year) named "Farkleberryjuice," which is just...well...very different from my own blog. They're obviously not a spoof or satire, and I'm positive they don't even know this blog exists (note to new bloggers - please always Google a proposed name first), but I'm starting to get some confusing, conflicting Technorati cross-references from them. Not too good, that. I considered sending the author a blistering screed gentle note indicating there isn't enough room on the Internets for two farkleberry-themed blogs, but upon further consideration I've decided to make like Walrus Paul, and just let it be. "Farkleberry Juice" suits them just fine, and maybe it's time for me to molt the pupa.

Cheers, and thanks in advance for your thoughts -

Lenka

(P.S.) I've already considered "The Blog Formerly Known as Farkleberries."




Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Exorcist: Dominion - The Version We Should Have Seen 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink] 
Father Merrin and the Demon in Paul Schrader's Exorcist: Dominion [image coutresy Warner Brothers]On May 20th, Paul Schrader's "shelved" original prequel to the Exorcist film series will hit theaters, and from what I've read so far, this version of the film may be every bit as good as Renny Harlin's eleventh-hour reshoot was awful. I honestly never expected this version of the film to see any big screen time at all, despite the franchise's fan base clamoring, so news of its 110-screen limited release was a pleasant surprise.

The series' two previous 'sequels' (as well as the Harlin prequel) withered in the long shadow cast by the gory and psychologically complex 1974 Exorcist; unfortunately producers of the subsequent films seemed to recall only the original's grue and profanity, but precious little of its depth. Schrader - best known for dark, intelligent movies like Taxi Driver, The Mosquito Coast and The Last Temptation of Christ - seemed like the ideal director for the "serious" opener to the series, examining young Father Merrin's (Stellan Skarsgard) post-World War II crisis of faith, and his first encounters with demonic possession in Africa. Roger Ebert says:
A milestone in movie history. Same premise, same hero, same leading actor, two directors, two completely different visions. Not a "director's cut" but a different director and a different film.

Schrader's "Exorcist Prequel" is not a conventional horror film, but does something risky and daring: It takes evil seriously. There really are dark Satanic forces in the Schrader version, which takes a character forever scarred by the Holocaust and asks if he can ever again believe in the power of God. The movie is drenched in atmosphere and dread, boldly confronting the possibility that Satan is active in the world. Instead of cheap thrills, Schrader gives us a frightening vision of a good priest (Stellan Skarsgard) who fears goodness may not be enough.

After Schrader delivered this version, the studio apparently found it too complex and intelligent, although those of course were not the words they used, and not scary enough. Well, it seems scary to me. They commissioned a different version by Renny Harlin, unseen by me because it was not screened for the press (never a good sign). He replaced three of the four key actors, although not Skarsgard, and produced a work that clanged in at 11 percent on the Tomatometer.

Then the studio decided to release this original version. Schrader, whose screenplays for "Taxi Driver," "The Mosquito Coast" and "The Last Temptation of Christ" and directorial achievements like "Hardcore" and "The Comfort of Strangers" reveal a deep obsession with the war between good and evil, was the right director, and this is a film that works. Those who have seen the earlier version, may find the two films instructive as an illustration of the gulf between a personal vision and a multiplex product.
The LA Times reveals the - how shall we say, unusual - marketing strategy of "The Exorcist v4.2" (if truth be told, Harlin's should have been the real v4.2):
"Dominion" will be distributed by Warner Bros. and hits theaters the same weekend as the hotly anticipated "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" — a risky but strategic counter-programming plan.

The strategy also poses an unusual marketing dilemma for Morgan Creek. In marketing two versions of the same movie, is it better to emphasize the films' shared lineage? Or their differences? "Therein lies the problem," said Brian Robinson. "How do you make them so they're related but show their differences in a 30-second TV spot?"

Morgan Creek's marketing campaign for the movie is still being finalized, but tentative plans exist to use a blurb from Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert that pays tribute to the Schrader version while also distinguishing it from the Harlin version of the film.
Releasing a looking-glass version of a former box-office bomb the same weekend as Star Wars III:ROTS seems counterintuitive, but perhaps it's a move so bold it might actually work - people may have increased "cinemawareness" during this time period, and if E:D's word-of-mouth is positive, more moviegoers may hear about at theaters themselves. Innovative strategy, to say the least. Now, if I were a betting person choosing key callout phrases from the Ebert preview, I'd probably pick:
"A milestone in movie history...two directors, two completely different visions."
"does something risky and daring: It takes evil seriously."
"drenched in atmosphere and dread...a frightening vision..."
Boo!
Roger Ebert's preview of Paul Schrader's Exorcist: Dominion
Exorcist: Dominion preview on The Bloody News




farkleberries Links du Jour 84: The Steak is Cheaper Than The Fruit Edition 
 
by Lenka Reznicek [permalink]