It’s funny how life cycles, isn’t it? One day Bush, the next Obama. One day love and sunshine, the next rain and sorrow. Money, no money. I’ve very much been in a period of waning on my blog, but the doc days are heating up and so too must my little project here, or be I doomed back too obscurity!!

Through several channels has The Way We Get By by Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly come to me. If you click to their website, you can see they are consummate internet marketers. I have to say that is about as technologically advanced as a film website can be these days – especially after all, they just premiered at SXSW where they won an Special Jury Award. They clearly have their ducks in a row, as the other channel that the film came through on was the P.O.V. press release as it will be on late in the upcoming season.

A prize at SXSW and a slot on P.O.V. plus their outstanding website are about as good of a pedigree for a documentary as you get these days. A lot of people believe in this film. The filmmakers shared a screener with me so of course, I watched it. It would take a hard heart indeed to not be taken in by the folks who are the focus of this film.

Lots of very cool screenings to announce. Days are getting shorter and temps are dropping, so it’s time to catch up on the great stuff that is coming to a screen near you.

- a/k/a Tommy Chong is now on Showtime, preeming tonight. Not just for stoners, Chong underwent an ordeal that should make everyone’s skin crawl. Unopposed US attorneys can make the life of an ordinary citizen hell. This doc by Josh Gilbert is compelling and has had a tough road getting to you, so be sure to check it out.

- If you are in NYC, the Margaret Mead Film Festival is this weekend. Don’t miss Jesse Epstein’s The Guarantee and Throw Down Your Heart by Sascha Paladino.

- Ellen Kuras and Thavi Phrasavath’s The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) starts at the IFC Center in NYC on November 21. As you all know, it’s important to hit the theater early to keep it in the theater for word-of-mouth to build. I first saw this film at Sundance, and watched it again at Sheffield last week. It’s beautiful and well worth the price of admission.

- Arthur Dong’s superb Hollywood Chinese is now out on DVD. This film is a must for movie buffs, but it features many well-known Chinese-American actors and clips from many of your favorites so it can be enjoyed by all.

And in case you didn’t follow my instructions to follow Byron Hurt’s lead-up to his short film release, Barack & Curtis, the time has come and the film is now available… right here. Enjoy!

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My wonderful friend Hugo Perez is having a preview screening of his doc Neither Memory Nor Magic coming up at the Bowery Poetry Club. Here is his synopsis:

When the Hungarian poet Miklos Radnoti was executed and buried in a mass grave in 1944 after a two-month death march, he did not know whether his poems would survive. Eighteen months later, when his body was exhumed, a notebook was found in his coat pocket that contained his final poems. Neither Memory Nor Magic tells the story of a man who believed in the life of his poems even when he knew that he himself would not survive.

I don’t know much about obscure Hungarian poets and like many, I feel that Holocaust stories have been well-told, but Hugo has done a really lovely job, from what I saw in rough cuts, of elevating this story beyond its elements to dig down into the human experience. If you’ve loved and lost, if you’ve had a passion for your work or have simply experienced the tragedy of losing a loved one, there is something in this movie for you. It’s elegant and moving. Bring a tissue. Check it out on September 28 @ the Bowery Poetry Club. Tickets here.