Dragon*Con Independent Films
Monday, September 01, 2008
Here are the films (all shorts) I saw at Dragon*Con and how I would rate them from best to worst.
Paint Shaker
Leave You In Me
Safe House
A Break in the Monotony
Creepers
By Appointment Only
Verboten
Cannibal Lovers
And I brought a copy of Vegan Cannibals' Findings home that I hope to enjoy soon.
I really enjoyed the zombie/cannibal/ghoul discussion with the panelists too. I'd never heard about Cannibal Holocaust before. I agree, it's no longer art when it isn't fiction and becomes reality.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 7:01:00 PM CDT
But Cannibal Holocaust ISN'T reality is it? I thought it was fiction that just upset a lot of people because it seemed real.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 7:17:00 PM CDT
The killed animals were real.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 10:22:00 PM CDT
Yeah, but that was back in the day. Any movie you saw before 1980 had animal abuse. It's too bad, but at least there are laws now. I'd still want to see the movie if was were a good one done before those laws. I can already hear the possible arguments against it, but I think I'd stick with that position. But go ahead and talk me out of it.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 10:17:00 PM CDT
Evo: I never made an argument that the film should be censored. I made the argument that we can draw a line at making art between portraying reality with fiction and portraying reality.. with reality. When it comes to portraying violence or harm it's ethical to film it in a way that doesn't cause violence or harm to creatures that can experience that violence and harm, whether or not laws exist to protect those creatures or not.
My personal belief is that I wouldn't want to support this film in any way, even if it was made back in the days before 1980. Even if it ended up being my favorite movie of all time (or I found out my favorite movie killed an elephant in the filming purposely or through negligence) then I would not support it.
The other thing you have to look at is whether or not the real violence is necessary. Wouldn't it have been possible to make the same movie without using real animals? They were able to fake the human violence convincingly, so why not do the same with animals?