Mooncakes #1

(Alhambra, CA, Sept 15, 2007)

The first time I saw Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool was on a film print earlier this year at the PFA. A great song called "Merry-Go-Round" was used during the roller derby sequence. Today I watched the film on laserdisc and was anticipating the roller derby sequence, but the Harlem Globetrotter's theme song was used instead of "Merry-Go-Round." I was stunned and confused. I thought, maybe, I was remembering wrong until I discovered this on imdb:

When the film was released on video, Paramount was sued by the copyright holders of the song "Merry-Go-Round". Under their 1969 agreement, Paramount had rights to the song for showing the film in theatres and on television. Paramount argued that video release was the same as television broadcast. The courts ruled that the copyright holder in 1969 could not have considered videocassettes to be like television broadcast, as home videocassettes were not invented.

In an age of director's cuts on DVD, this is a film where the director's version is only available on film. Since the film print of this picture is so rarely screened, audiences will only be familiar with the alternate version on home video. Technology and copyright laws are brutally unsentimental.

The shoot with Rob at Black Point was great. We were filming, from what I understood, the final sequence to Used. The scene was a flashback about a cowboy in his youth who used to ride out on his horse to open and lock gates on a ranch. The crew consisted of Rob, Chikara, and myself. For the first time, I think I worked very well with them. We started at 6am and wrapped at 10am. What we shot will screen at the Mill Valley Film Festival early next month with other films of Rob's.

Ask the Dust is finished. Amazing. Each chapter blooms into it's own perfectly written vignette.