John Fraim Twenty years ago, I was in Norway with my family and purchased a mythic god figure from Norwegian mythology. I can’t recall the name of this particular figure, but it has sat on the shelf of my office for all these years, always watching over me with mouth open in a somewhat astonished […]
January 9, 1776 Thomas Paine publishes “Common Sense” On January 9, 1776, writer Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting forth his arguments in favor of American independence. Although little used today, pamphlets were an important medium for the spread of ideas in the 16th through 19th centuries. Originally published anonymously, “Common Sense” advocated independence for […]
The story of a modern John Galt from Atlas Shrugged. He (she) is attempting to build an alternative source of news in an era of the fake news of mainstream media. Not just an alternative TV channel but rather an alternative to the government forces. This Hero/Heroine of the story is not involved with the steel […]
As this crazy year winds to a close, one of the most common images of it for most was the year masks went on. I have been wearing one for months now. But during this time, more than anything, it was the year that true “masks” came off. This is a big topic and I […]
“It’s not the people who vote that count, it’s the people who count the votes.” Joseph Stalin __________________________________________ Just as voting is political, so is vote counting. It will never be free of politics. Can there really be bi partisanship in the creation and use of a voting system, a system that doesn’t cast votes but […]
(Play above while reading below) Post presidential election by a week and the nation is heating up hotter than it was before the election. I didn’t think it could get any hotter. I spend the days trying not to watch the news all the time. One of the distractions from the news is the MEA […]
“It’s the Voting System stupid!” John Fraim Voting has become more sophisticated and hidden from scrutiny, thanks to modern technology and the increased ruthlessness of the two parties. In the modern world it is naive to believe each one of us has one equal vote in elections on all levels: city, state and national. It […]
2081 MFI (2008) Written & Directed by Chandler Tuttle (From a short story by Kurt Vonnegut) Review by John Fraim One of the greatest short films ever produced – perhaps the greatest – is Chandler Tuttle’s 2081. The film under the Motion Picture Institute (MPI) banner scripts out a short story of Kurt Vonnegut from his […]
Young filmmakers need to move away from all of their idealistic thinking and attach themselves to telling stories about new, innovative products that are used to create the film. It is more than product placement in a film. It is placement of a film within the environmental context or medium of a product. The is […]
A touching love story. Grandpa and grandmother run away from the nursing home and go all out! This beautiful little film was made in Russia for the Russian band MGZAVREBI. The entire film was shot on a smartphone using Filmic Pro software.
