I saw 3 movies yesterday I've been wanting to see for awhile. Alpha Dog, Dreamgirls and Bobby. I liked all of them, but Alpha Dog stood out. Dreamgirls looks great, sounds great and the performances are all fantastic, but I have a hard time with musicals sometimes. When characters break into song and act out their scene in song, it usually loses me. That being said, I liked the film alot but I didn't feel it was even close to being a Best Picture contender for the oscars. Bobby was also good with strong performances and more importantly had a lot of good things to say which all pertain to what's going on in the world right now. It takesd place on the day Bobby Kennedy was assasinated and follows several characters and how they are affected. Alpha Dog was the best of the bunch. It's based on a true story about a gang who kidnaps the 15 year old brother of an addict who owes them money. More than that it's about a group of young kids whose wanna-be tough guy image pushes them in a direction they can't handle. The film was delayed for 2 years because the trial was still ongoing and the defense team felt the film portrayed their client in an unflattering light. It's written and directed by NickCassavetes son of John and featues lots of good performances from talented actors. EmileHirsch is very good as always. AntonYelchin, ShawnHatosy and JustinTimberlake were also good. BenFoster gave one of the best performances in the film as the drug addict who's debt to a dealer causes the kidnapping. There's a slight documentary approach and a conservative use of of split screen which all tie in nicely at the end. Well worth checking out.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
First of (hopefully) many...
So this is my first post and since I have no idea what to start off with- ideally something witty and entertaining, but that's unlikely- so I'll just talk production and movies. I started this for that reason. To create a nice network of filmmakers and film fans to talk movies and making movies. Currently I'm polishing a 21 page script for a september shoot. It's called 'Okay Great' and it's centered around 20 something Sean Chase who is having an bad/strange day, which may or may not be motivated by something threatening. vague, I know, but I'd rather show than explain. We are hoping to shoot with the Red camera, which my friend/DP, Adrian bought. The delivery schedule is being postponed (bout halfway down), however and I'm too anxious to wait any longer. So with fingers crossed, we'll be shooting in september on the Red camera.
Other than that I'm currently working on a mini-doc promoting a photographer friend of mine Steve. We did 2 days of shooting and today I'll start editing.
