Independent Film Channel

"New World Order," which premieres today on the Independent Film Channel, is a film about people battling with phantoms. They are volunteers in an "information war" who see as clearly, as John saw his four Apocalyptic horsemen and seven trumpeting angels, that 9/11 was an "inside job," that the military-industrial complex killed Kennedy, and that an international "power elite" is plotting to enslave us all, excepting for those it will kill outright.

Those seeking a quick primer on Film Independent's Spirit Awards need only YouTube Mickey Rourke's acceptance speech at last year's ceremony. The "Wrestler" star began his address -- which clocked in at an Oscar-unfriendly six minutes -- by imploring the room to hire Eric Roberts, then nearly broke into tears over the death of his dog and, in what may or may not have been a joke, threatened to beat up host Rainn Wilson over an impersonation....

The Independent Film Channel will hold a free preview screening of its original cable TV documentary "In Bad Taste: The John Waters Story" on Jan. 21 at the Laemmle Sunset 5 Theater in Hollywood. The film features never-before-seen footage of the making of Waters' earliest films and chronicles his rise to prominence in the film world. The 10 p.m.

Designs all seem to flow together I loved the design of the tower in Chicago ["Riding a New Wave," Jan. 17] and the similar design of the dress worn by Michelle Obama [on the cover of the Image section the same day]. I found them an interesting likeness -- flowing and fluid. Marni Washington Santa Monica The reality of British TV Great article on British TV. ["British TV: From Good to Pointedly Average," by Mary McNamara, Jan. 17]. I am indeed a fan of British telly.

The parent company of Independent Film Channel has agreed to acquire a 5% stake in online entertainment site Ifilm.com as part of a partnership in which the two companies will also develop a television show about independent filmmakers. An Ifilm spokeswoman declined to say whether Rainbow Media Holdings, a New York-based company that owns Independent Film Channel, will pay any cash for its equity stake in the Los Angeles-based Web site.

The Spirit Awards, which in recent years have used the Santa Monica beach to hand out honors for the best independent films of the year, are moving downtown. Film Independent said Thursday that next year's presentation will take place March 5 in a tent at the L.A. Live complex in downtown Los Angeles. The move is being made in recognition of the event's 25th anniversary and to facilitate a live nighttime telecast on the Independent Film Channel.

"The Typewriter, the Rifle and the Movie Camera," Adam Simon's affectionate and illuminating portrait of feisty maverick filmmaker Samuel Fuller, airs tonight at 5 and 8 on the Independent Film Channel as an introduction to a series of eight Fuller films. When the 55-minute documentary's executive producer, Tim Robbins, remarks that Fuller made 23 films of "uncompromising power and integrity" between 1948 and 1989, he's on target.

Robert Redford and Showtime Networks said Tuesday they are joining forces to create a pay-TV channel featuring independent films--despite the fact that another such cable channel was launched last Sept. 1 with the support of such filmmakers as Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman and Spike Lee. The new outlet, the Sundance Film Channel, will showcase independent features, foreign films and other movies. It will launch in the fall, with "previewing" on Showtime and the Movie Channel.

The television offerings are unapologetically political, and they are airing on the eve of the most hotly contested presidential election in recent memory. Yet in a political season in which charges of partisan manipulation by the media have been commonplace, a glut of left-leaning preelection programs such as "Fahrenheit 9/11: A Movement in Time" has caused nowhere near the uproar sparked by the Sinclair Broadcast Group's plan to air a film attacking Sen. John F. Kerry.

Ford Takes the Pudding: In a parody of his role as archeologist-adventurer Indiana Jones, actor Harrison Ford donned a wig of rubber snakes and a red-feathered, tasseled bra on Tuesday as he was honored as Man of the Year at Harvard University's annual Hasty Puddings Theatricals ceremony. But the 53-year-old actor demurred when asked to translate some snarls and growls from his furry "Star Wars" co-pilot Chewbacca, saying he'd "forgotten" the Wookie language.

The Spirit Awards, which in recent years have used the Santa Monica beach to hand out honors for the best independent films of the year, are moving downtown. Film Independent said Thursday that next year's presentation will take place March 5 in a tent at the L.A. Live complex in downtown Los Angeles. The move is being made in recognition of the event's 25th anniversary and to facilitate a live nighttime telecast on the Independent Film Channel.

"New World Order," which premieres today on the Independent Film Channel, is a film about people battling with phantoms. They are volunteers in an "information war" who see as clearly, as John saw his four Apocalyptic horsemen and seven trumpeting angels, that 9/11 was an "inside job," that the military-industrial complex killed Kennedy, and that an international "power elite" is plotting to enslave us all, excepting for those it will kill outright.

Swedish filmmaker Jan Troell is a remarkable visualist. His latest, "Everlasting Moments," came out this spring, and like most foreign films, was briefly in a handful of local theaters. This film was meant for the big screen with its audience immersed in darkness, where the images, so beautifully framed, come to life in the darkness. Here's how I saw it: at home watching on a 35-inch Sony at 8:30 on a foggy Saturday morning that soon turned sun-soaked, reflecting off the screen.

There are, according to the Independent Film Channel's mostly new documentary tetralogy, "Indie Sex," people having sex in the movies, and some of them are not even pretending! (Most of them are pretending, though.) (But some of them aren't.) (I'm not talking about pornography. All those people are really having sex. Or it wouldn't be porn, would it?

Taking a few steps past "Henry's Film Corner" and "Film School" into original productions, the Independent Film Channel has bundled three comedy series -- a cartoon, a mockumentary and a puppet show, all related, naturally, to the movies -- into an hourlong omnibus, premiering tonight. The package has a kind of can't-be-bothered-to-go-out-on-Friday-night appeal; all of the series are amusing, and none is remarkable. One might call them lackadaisically funny.

Suppose you run a cable channel dedicated to showing art house films. You wake up one day and realize that the independent film industry isn't making that many truly independent films anymore. You notice your audience is as fervent about video as it is about film. You sense viewers are no longer satisfied with you selecting the film lineup; they want to do it themselves. If you're the Independent Film Channel, you've clearly got some identity issues.

"We get people to scream. We get people to cry. Why can't we get them to have an orgasm?" That's easily the most provocative question put forth in "Indie Sex: Taboos," a modestly interesting documentary that can be seen tonight at 10 on cable's Independent Film Channel.

Taking a few steps past "Henry's Film Corner" and "Film School" into original productions, the Independent Film Channel has bundled three comedy series -- a cartoon, a mockumentary and a puppet show, all related, naturally, to the movies -- into an hourlong omnibus, premiering tonight. The package has a kind of can't-be-bothered-to-go-out-on-Friday-night appeal; all of the series are amusing, and none is remarkable. One might call them lackadaisically funny.

The television offerings are unapologetically political, and they are airing on the eve of the most hotly contested presidential election in recent memory. Yet in a political season in which charges of partisan manipulation by the media have been commonplace, a glut of left-leaning preelection programs such as "Fahrenheit 9/11: A Movement in Time" has caused nowhere near the uproar sparked by the Sinclair Broadcast Group's plan to air a film attacking Sen. John F. Kerry.

"You don't know you're living in a golden age when you're in it," declares filmmaker Alexander Payne in the documentary "Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession."