In 2010, I did an interview with former UA Professor Jarita Holbrook about her work in astronomy and anthropology, but specifically her documentary, Hubble's Diverse Universe, about nine African-American and Hispanic astrophysicists and their work. "The first 15 minutes ... you see a normal science show, but in different colors—all (the scientists are) Hispanic and African-Americans, male and female. The next section is on diversity and what it's like in their fields. Then they talk about mentoring and outreach, and emphasize the importance of mentoring in astronomy," Holbrook told us.

Holbrook is back to work on a new documentary with similar themes — Black Sun. Go to her Kickstarter campaign page for more information and to consider supporting her work.

About Black Sun

“Black Sun,” a feature-length documentary, chronicles two celestial events: the May 20, 2012 annular solar eclipse and the November 14, 2012 total solar eclipse. The movie follows two astrophysicists who study the solar atmosphere during eclipses:

Dr. Alphonse Sterling of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center stationed in Japan (a man who had early success in the US, but left his home country to further cultivate his wide-ranging interests).

Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi of the Physics & Space Sciences department at the Florida Institute of Technology (a scientist who beat all of the odds: poverty, homelessness, single-parent, poor early education, etc., to get to where he is today).

“Black Sun” explores how and why the two men became scientists, their opposing paths and personalities, their struggles as minorities in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) field, and their noteworthy accomplishments today. We begin in Tokyo following Dr. Sterling as he observes the annular eclipse in preparation for when he travels to Cairns, Australia, to observe the total solar eclipse in November.

You'll have to hurry because the deadline is tomorrow afternoon and you'd have to publicly declare your love for objectivism, but if you'd like a free trip to Los Angeles next week and a chance to be in a (likely, if the last one is any guide) poorly reviewed movie, head to your social media engine of choice!

Atlas Shrugged Part 2 is looking for an extra....

So, what do you need to do to get on set? You need to get busy...

1. Follow us on Twitter and retweet any of our tweets.
2. Like us on facebook and share any of our posts.

The more you tweet and share, the more chance you have to be cast so, tweet and share early and often.

We’ll be selecting an extra this Friday afternoon and flying the selectee and a guest to LA this coming Monday, May 14th - all expenses paid. Or, most expenses anyway - flight and hotel for two nights.

As the temperature rises across southern Arizona this summer, so will the number of migrant deaths reported to the Office of the Pima County Medical Examiner.

In 2011, the Pima County OME recovered 184 deceased migrants from the Sonoran Desert. Of that number, 67 were identified and the remains were repatriated back to their families.

The crew at Line House Productions and I have had the privilege to spend the past year following OME investigators as they attempt to identify a migrant decedent, named ML11-1215, who was found in the Sonoran Desert on June 26, 2011.

In January 2012, we thought we could wrap up production and begin editing the documentary after the case had gone cold for four months. By late March, Dave Thompson, lead investigator on the case, called to say the OME would be releasing the body to the Pima County Fiduciary for burial in the indigent cemetery near Oracle Rd.

Two days later we received another phone call from Thompson.

“Austin…you’re not going to believe this but we think we’ve actually found the family for the ML11-1215 case I had called you about the other day…”

Now, we’re back in production, filming and editing simultaneously as this story continues to develop.

Today, May 3, is significant for us at Line House Productions.

One year ago, we received $2,581 from 77 backers after running a successful Kickstarter.com campaign. I wanted to add an extra 30-minutes of footage to a student-produced documentary about issues concerning the Arizona-Sonora border I‘d directed while attending the University of Arizona School of Journalism.

Following the Pima County OME was supposed to be a short segment of new footage for the student film, but after the first day with OME investigators, we knew there was a bigger story here. It wasn’t long before this segment became the focus of the documentary we’re getting ready to release.

To commemorate the agreement made with those 77 people who gave us the seed money to begin this adventure, we are releasing a 12-minute preview of our documentary, Dead in the Desert, to you, the public.

We hope you will share this preview with your friends, co-workers, classmates, family…anybody. Please help us shine a spotlight on these deaths that occur in the Sonoran Desert as summer heat rapidly approaches.

Due to graphic content, viewer discretion is advised.

Like or Friend us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/deadinthedesert and to learn more about the documentary, visit our website: www.deadinthedesertmovie.com

No big deal. It's just the trailer for Quill: The Life of a Guide Dog, the story of a yellow Lab that brings joy to the life of a cranky Japanese man. I'm not crying. It's just really dusty in my office.

Catch the "Coppola Restoration" of The Godfather Part 2 tonight at 7 p.m. at El Con 20 (3601 E. Broadway Blvd.) and Park Place 20 (5870 E. Broadway Blvd.). Here's more information from a press release:

Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK), a leading motion picture exhibitor, is following up the successful presentation of the Francis Ford Coppola’s restored version of his Academy Award®-winning “The Godfather,” with an exclusive, one-night only XD presentation of “The Godfather Part 2” on Thursday, April 19, 2012. The “Coppola Restoration” of the film, presented by Paramount Pictures, was meticulously restored using 5.1 digital surround sound and re-mastered using state-of-the-art technology, all under the watchful eyes of director Francis Ford Coppola, archivist Robert Harris and cinematographer Gordon Willis.

The brilliant companion piece to “The Godfather” continues the saga of two generations of successive power within the Corleone Family from a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola based on Mario Puzo’s novel. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, “The Godfather Part 2” tells two important stories: the roots and rise of a young Don Vito, played with uncanny ability by Robert De Niro, and the ascension of Michael (Al Pacino) as the new Don. Reassembling many of the talents who made “The Godfather”, Coppola produced a movie of staggering magnitude and vision, and undeniably the best sequel ever made. Robert De Niro won an Oscar, and the film received six Academy Awards ®, including Best Picture in 1974. The film has been rated R by the MPAA.

The Coppola Restoration of “The Godfather Part 2” 40th Anniversary Edition as a project began in 2006 between Paramount Pictures and the director. Archivist Robert Harris joined the project, followed by the original cinematographer of the film Gordon Willis, to complete the team who worked arduously on the film for over a year going through the original prints, re-release prints, and negatives, shot by shot, foot by foot, frame by frame and even sprocket hole by sprocket hole.

Yesterday, the Pitbull song (sigh) from the soundtrack of Men in Black 3 (double sigh) came on the radio and I said to my wife, "Did anyone ask for this movie to exist...was anyone actively wondering what magical events were left unseen after the second movie?"

I take it back MiB3. Compared to Triplets, a proposed sequel to 1988's Twins, your cinematic cashgrab might as well be The Seventh Seal:

One of these things is not like the other. Actually, none of these things are like any of the other…and that’s what made the premise of Ivan Reitman’s 1988 film Twins work. But how do you further capitalize on the hilarious assumption that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito are twin brothers? Add in Eddie Murphy as a long-lost sibling and call it Triplets. DeVito talked about the possibility of a sequel in an recent interview with Steve. Currently, there is no director attached, but Reitman will produce the project via his Montecito Picture Co. The sequel is in the process of recruiting writers as no substantial creative talks have occurred yet.

[Collider]

Safety Not Guaranteed is based on a semi-famous classified ad from a Copenhagen newspaper, which doesn't exactly seem like the richest source material, but at least based on this first trailer, it reminds me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in its weirdness, low-key humor and tenderness and I loved Eternal Sunshine..., so I'm in. Plus a cast that includes actors from Parks & Recreation and The League is exactly the sort of thing I'm interested in.

Safety Not Guaranteed is scheduled to come out in theaters on June 8th somewhere; hopefully arriving in Tucson at or around that date as well.

Local film company Authentic Productions presents their best 2001 short films tonight at 9 p.m. at the Crossroads 6 Grand Cinemas, 4811 E. Grant Road. $7.

Film descriptions from a press release:

“Lionhearted” tells the story of a young boy and his journey to becoming a young man following a nuclear attack on his hometown. Directed and written by Tim Marin.

“The Elevator,” is a comedy of a young man who keeps bumping into a beautiful woman in an elevator and tries to muster the courage to talk to her, directed and written by Zacharia Lorenz.

The "Is Blake A Douche?" a mockumentary/comedy that was written and directed by Daniel Geffre, who also stars in the short. The mockumentary follows a journalist who goes around town interviewing friends and family members of a man by the name of Blake Bradford, to find out if he’s a douche.

The main feature of the night is “S.O.L.” directed and co-written by Yuri Machado. “S.O.L.” is a comedy about the relationships between four male friends and the way they interact with the opposite sex, starring Nathan O. Miller and Fernando Aguilar.

Following each film there will be a Q and A for each filmmaker and the cast and crew involved. There will also be a raffle for a signed DVD and poster of “S.O.L.” For ages 16 and up, due to language, drug use and sexual content featured in some of the films.

Colin Boyd's review of the new Will Ferrell movie Casa de Mi Padre in this week's issue (on stands tomorrow, online later today) ruminates on the theory that Ferrell does his best work when he's working in the "doesn't give a shit" zone. I'm not exactly sure whether his interview with Jimmy Kimmel last night conducted entirely in some form of the Spanish language qualifies, but it's certainly something.

The second and third parts are below the cut.