The Dark Knight

I learned my first lesson about over-hype when the first Batman came out. My friend Jon and I were beyond pumped to see it. We went the first weekend to a sold out theater. Too excited for words. When the movie over people STOOD UP and appaluded like crazy. Jon and I looked at each other and said "let's get the fuck out of here." Didn't really get into any of the other sequels that followe either. Joel Schumahcer's 2 versions were a fucking embarrassment.

Any-who, when I heard Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale were making Batman Begins I was intrigued. I'm a huge fan of Nolan's work. Memento. Nuff said. And I loved Batman Begins. Rooting the story in reality was the smartest thing they could do. Giving the movie an overall toughness and making Batman a bad motherfucker and a mean go-getter was an even smarter thing to do. Watching him train and learn to fight you knew right away that this guy was going to dismantle people quick. Two times. You believed it. Now compare that to Chris O'Donnell as Robin.

Please... That guy would get a black eye just watching a fight. In any case, there is a teaser up for The Dark Knight and it is just that- a teaser, but it's got me pysched. Listen for Heath Ledger as The Joker. Inspired casting if you ask me.

Here it is. It takes awhile to load so grab and beer while you wait. You deserve it.

Cloverfield aka 1-18-08 aka Monstrous?

Dig this.

3:10 to Yuma

This film is coming out in September. Originally it was supposed to come out in October, but it was just pushed to the beginning of September. Whether it was general buzz around the film, the studios belief in it or an unrelated decision, I don't know. I do know that I can't wait.

The director: James Mangold. His writing compliments his direction so well and in such a subtle way. He's responsible for Heavy, Copland, Identity and Walk the Line. Also, Kate & Leopold, which I've never seen. But the man's got talent. I hold Copland in the highest regard, but that's for another day.

3:10 to Yuma stars Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Ummmm- I'm in. Christina Bale is easily one of the most talented guys working. So is Russell Crowe. I've written about The Insider and his performance is a big part of what's so great about that movie. Bale never ceases to amaze me and he put every other Batman performance to shame. Take a look at The Machinist, American Pyscho and The Prestige. If you haven't seen Batman Begins, you should.

Here's the trailer for 3:10 to Yuma.

Cloverfield aka 1-18-08

***UPDATE***
This is from an article over at AICN. You can read the full article here. What the article says in a nutshell is that "Moriarity" one of the main men over AICN has broken all the 1-18-08 stuff since it started and here is the latest:

"The film starts with a rescue crew cleaning up after the entire incident, and one of them finds a camera. They rewind the tape, press play... and the playback is the movie that unfolds."

Pretty fucking cool.

JJAbrams, creator of Alias, Felicity, a little show called Lost and director of MI3 is producing a new movie and the premise is sealed tighter than a snare drum. The working title was Cloverfield, which has now become 1-18-08, the date it's going to be released. In the last few weeks things have been popping up about it, but no one knows much. Then the trailer dropped before Transformers and got the country buzzing about what the hell it was. The word is that it's a monster movie, but that might be the easy answer. Honestly I think it would be too bad if that's all it was after this early hype. One thing I like is that the early word was it was going to be shot POV style with a camcorder and from the looks of the trailer, that's the case.

Abrams recently sent an email to AICN. He explained that there were numerous websites out there involving the movie, but that the fans had only found one of them- www.1-18-08.com/ There's 3 pictures on the site now, there was 2 the other day. If you click on them you can move them around. What the hell it means I have no idea. There are a few more sites and whether they are diversions or not, again I don't know. I don't really much care either, Abrams did his job; He got me psyched about the film. Now I almost don't want to know anymore and go into the movie blind, but that won't happen. By sending emails and creating cryptic trailers and websites he's just creating more buzz. And that's the key folks. Remember The Blair Witch Project? Of course you do. When it premiered at Sundance the filmmakers had posted missing signs of the actors in the film all over town, and everyone thought the movie was real. So real that none of the audience members would walk home after the midnight screening because they were too scared. Everyone waited for the shuttle. Before the movie went into wide release they posted missing signs on college campuses all over the country. The buzz created around that movie was huge. I saw it opening weekend at the Angelica in NYC and at that point it still wasn't clear what was real and what wasn't.

JJ Abrams isn't selling his movie as real, but the buzz he's creating already is going to make this movie, whatever they decide to call it, huge.

Here's the trailer.

On a side note I think my buddy steve depino and I are operating on a strange wavelength. I wrote this up a few days ago and haven't had a chance to post it. He posted something very similiar on this blog also mentioning blair witch, etc...strange. maybe we're involved with Cloverfield aka 1-18-08

The Workshops

If you're thinking about going to school for film, video or photography this is where you should go.

I spent 2 &1/2 months here in the fall of 1999 and it was one of the best times in my life personally and creatively. A large part of the workshops charm is it's setting. Parked on small campus in Rockport, Maine, which is a small harborside town that practically shuts down in the winter because the snowfall is so great (this is actually the only reason I left) the workshops provided an environment where I was fully immersed in film/video/photography/writing, etc...and it inspired me beyond words. I had never been around so many like-minded peope before. The atmosphere was so relaxed, just like Maine is, and friendly, and everyone was into film and photography. I worked 12-16 hours a day for 4 weeks and then even longer hours when I was asked to stay on in the tech department for the remainder of the semester, but loved every second of it.

They offer week long advanced programs so if you're looking to delve more deeply into your craft and want to spend some relaxing time in Maine then definitely look into it. Besides they serve beer and wine every night at dinner and steak and lobster on fridays.

Superbad is Gonna be Supercool

Trust me on this one

Any fan of Arrested Development will recognize Michael Cera, and anyone who is a fan of, Undeclared, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up (and many more) will be down because it's from the same writers, producers and directors. Judd Apatow being driving force behind it all. The trailer is hilarious and early word is very positive.

Netflix

Anyone else use it? I've been using Netflix since 2001 and it's great. If you don't know the concept it's pretty straight forward. You sign up for one of the plans, I do the 3 at a time plan. This means I can have 3 movies out at a time for as long as I want. They won't ship anymore until I return one. In your account you set up a queue where you can add as many titles as you want and put them in the order you want to receive them. So once you return a movie they ship the next one in your queue. They ship and deliver very quickly, and all come in a self contained envelope so when your done you put the dvd back in and drop it in the mailbox. Nice and simple. Also they have TONS of stuff. I've always found what I wanted in their library.

I haven't tried Blockbuster's version of Netflix because I fucking hate Blockbuster.

I recently watched Smokin' Aces , DejaVu, and Black Snake Moan - easily the best. I've got The Last King of Scotland, Shooter and Night at the Museum sitting on my shelf now.

Michael Mann is the Man

I'm such of a fan of Michael Mann. He rules. Peri-fucking-od. I quote my friend after he saw The Insider "I bowed down to the screen." Perfectly put. He is a masterful director. The performances he gets from actors are incredible. Russell Crowe shouldn't have won an Oscar for Gladiator. He should've won for The Insider. Mann put De Niro and Pacino across from each for the first time in a scene. Go back and watch it. It's brilliant. There is always an intensity to his camerawork. It crackles. It's visceral. He uses handheld the way it should be used. He crosses the line in the middle of a take but when he cuts to the reverse angle it has crossed the line too. Everything is so well planned yet feels so organic and real. His use of music is inspiring, yet he understands when to drop the music and audio altogether. The last 15 minutes of The Last of the Mohicans and the bank robery/shootout in Heat are some of the best scenes ever put to film. I learn a lot from his films, and his dvd commentaries. Plus we share the same birthday. I don't know that I could pick a favorite, although it would probably be The Insider, which I think is his masterpiece. So far. Thoughts?

Cable Your Own Sundae

Cable should be modeled after make your own sundae.

Except instead of sprinkles, nuts, hot fudge, and a cherry on top it's Comedy Central, FX, MTV, and VH1. Or whatever your pleasure. That's the point.

I put this discussion in a script I wrote back in college but since I started this blog it seems like the perfect place to put all of my if-only-I-put-this-kind-of-attention-to-stuff-that-could-help-people or at the very least make-me-some-money-so-I-don't-have-to-commute-4-hours- to-&-from-work-everyday. Phew. Let's get going.

Raise your hand if you surf more channels than you tread on. Me too. So let's put aside the logistical problem of the networks, various cable and pay channels all agreeing on this and assume that they do. You start with your base- vanilla, chocolate, strawberry? ABC, NBC, CBS? How about all 3? Done. The sundae's going to cost a little more, but that should be obvious. The more you choose the more you pay. You'll save more in the long run because you can tell channels such as Fox News to fuck off. I certainly would. Imagine running down the list of channels, much like you would the list of toppings for a sundae. "I'll take this, this, this, and this. Thank you, goodnight." And really this could just be an alternative to paying for the big block of shitbag channels they give you- Comcast and friends don't have to do away with their current packages, just add this one to the options. As for the channels you already pay additional costs for, up their per channel price. If you want reeses peanut butter cups as your topping than those cost more- same goes for channels like HBO, Cinemax and Showtime. So now that you're fully aware that I'm psychotic let me know what you think. What would your lineup be?

HGTV, FX, A&E, Comedy Central, TNT, MTV, VH1, Discovery, HBO, Showtime, IFC and Bravo...I'd eat the shit out of that sundae.

I Love Me some John from Cincinnati

I'm going through major Soprano withdrawal. The last season was so strong it just made me want more. I loved the season finale. I think anyone who thought the show was going to end in a blood bath, killing everyone, hadn't been paying attnetion to the show all these years. This is the best breakdown I've seen thus far of the finale. Any-who, I've been watching old episodes on the train every morning in an effort to satiate my Soprano cravings, but on Sundays when 9pm rolls around I'm poised for John from Cincinnati. It's so weird and wonderful and funny and just different. The show is leading it's viewers down a cool path- I hope the payoff is as good as the setup. Ed O'Neil and Dayton Callie give 2 of the standout performances, in my opinion. Any one else watcihing? Love it/hate it? Could give a fuck?