face first films

Well here's a project that went straight to "Must See Now" for me

2009-04-21T09:48:00.006-04:00

Last night I was watching 24/7 (fantastic show, by the way) and Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale were watching Manny Pacquiao train and it made me wonder if they were researching roles- especially Bale. Then today I read this.

The fact that David Russell is involved adds a huge excitement/what-the-fuck/SWEET! aspect to it. I'm a huge fan of Bale's and have been for awhile, long before Batman and his work is nothing less than astounding. I'm also a big fan of Wahlberg's. He's a great actor who is capable of much more than he sometimes gets credit for as evidence in Boogie Nights, Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees and The Departed. David Russell makes fascinating films with a completely original spirit and tone. What he would bring to a movie like this intrigues me. Let the David Russell/Christian Bale flipout jokes commence, but regardless this movie could be something special and amazing.

As Good A Time As Any...

2009-03-25T16:26:00.003-04:00

Clearly it's been awhile. Why do that have to date these goddamn things?! Anyway, Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are? FINALLY has a proper trailer. I'm interested in anything Spike Jonze's does and that fact that Dave Eggers (who happened to write one of my favorites books of all time) wrote it just fires me up even more.

I love this trailer. Love it. There's really nothing like letting image play to music, pulling you in, soaking up the vibe of what you're dying to watch for 2 hours (or thereabouts). Too many trailers give too much away and I hate that shit. This trailer is perfect. Somehow my anticipation is higher than it was 5 minutes ago.

The 44th is really the 1st in my mind

2008-11-05T13:58:00.006-05:00

For the first time in my life I voted for someone who I actually liked. Someone whose hand I would honored to shake. Someone who I am happy represents our country, and my own beliefs. Usually I'm settling- voting for the "lesser of two evils"- but not this time. This time felt really good.

I do find it surprising that in a time when we elected, for the first time ever, a black man to be the President of the United States, there is still intolerance. The same state which sealed Obama's victory voted to ban same sex marriage. I kept seeing "Vote NO for Prop 8" but I never thought it would pass. Well it did and now same sex marriage is banned in California. Can someone please explain this to me?

One more thing...
This song was written in response to Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind." When Sam Cooke first heard the song he was taken aback at how well a white man wrote a song about the black experience. While Dylan claims that's not what he was writing about, Sam Cooke penned this classic regardless and the power resonates more today than ever.
"A Change is Gonna Come"

For Your Listening Pleasure...

2008-10-24T09:48:00.002-04:00

Angel from Montgomery...such a powerful...beautiful...haunting and lonely piece of music sung perfectly by Bonnie Raitt and the songwriter John Prine.

Let the Right One in

2008-10-17T10:16:00.002-04:00

Just in time for Halloween comes one of the creepier trailers I've seen in awhile.
I found it on Ain't it Cool, but it was originally posted on Rotten Tomatoes.

Otis covers The Hardest Working Man in Show Biz

2008-10-08T15:28:00.003-04:00

The Man covers The Man. Who could ask for anything more? Thanks for this one Kindy.

Shine A Light

2008-10-01T09:08:00.008-04:00

Martin Scorsese is a die-hard music fan. He has always infused his movies with rock music, fueling his scenes with energy and vigor. It wasn’t much of a surprise when he made his first concert documentary, The Last Waltz, that it was not only an exercise in style but had some of the greatest musicians onstage throughout. Well I’m a die-hard Scorsese fan. I literally have watched Goodfellas, rewound it (when DVD’s didn’t exist) and watched it again. I’m also a die-hard Stones fan so when I heard about Shine A Light I was beside myself.

Unlike The Last Waltz, Shine A Light doesn’t have a lot of doc scenes throughout- it has a few, but it’s all archival footage. There isn’t a single interview conducted by Scorsese. Mainly it is all about the music. As far as documentary footage goes, there is a wonderfully edited opening section of the film involving the back and forth the Stones and Scorsese went through to get the staging right and then in true Scorsese fashion there is a great line of dialogue and then a smash cut into the opening number. There’s only about 5-7 minutes of archival after this so if you were looking for a straightaway doc, don’t bother- but if you want a musical doc, you’ve got it. I for one was enraptured.

The camera work is top notch. Scorsese famously wrote shot lists on music cue sheets for The Last Waltz so he knew which camera would do what, and what lighting cue would hit on a certain section of a certain song. Yes, he did. Here doesn’t seem to be much different. His cameras are all over the place and he captures beautiful moments. Of note…he hired the top cinematographers in the business to shoot the concert, again, much like he did in The Last Waltz.

There are 3 musical guests that join them onstage and all are excellent with one notable, expected standout and that would be Buddy Guy. If you’ve ever seen Buddy Guy in concert or even just heard him you know what a presence he is. The man is 72 years old, not much older than The Stones, but he wiped the floor with them. He sings, with Mick, Champagne & Reefer, and it is beyond words. Watch for a tight shot on him that just holds on his face during the performance, I was trying to find it use it in this post but can’t seem to. It got to me and made me wonder where his head was at that point.

Jack White comes out to sing and play with the boys on Loving Cup- my personal Stones favorite. Since I have a keen love for this song I was fully prepared to have Mr. White hunted down and killed if he fucked it up in anyway. Not only does he kill, he has some moments that have made me listen to his version of the song again and again. He also has clear knowledge and respect for a version of the song found on the box set The First Decade. More than commendable, I have a new respect for him.

Christina Aguilera comes out to duet with Mick on Live with Me. It becomes clear quite quickly that while Mick probably has a huge appreciation for her singing talents, he also has a huge appreciation for some her other assets. Some have called it creepy and weird watching him dance with her, but I just laughed because if anyone is surprised to discover that Mick is still a complete horndog I don’t know what to tell them. Also, this is man who’s has gotten women that much younger than him so he probably thinks he might have a chance. In either case, she was terrific also.
Too some, his voice may be an acquired taste, but I loved Keith’s tracks in the film. He sings You’ve Got the Silver, another one of my favorites and Connection, which was one of my highlights.

Until another Stones song makes it into one of his films, this could be the only true Scorsese/Stones collaboration in this life. I know I’ll cherish it.

2 Months to the day...almost

2008-09-29T11:50:00.008-04:00

Been awhile...I completely slack (clearly) when I have a lot going on, and to be honest I really haven't seen many movies this summer. Aside from being uninterested in most, I also haven't had much time. I did see Charlie Bartlett and Vantage Point on On Demand and both were entertaining, but nothing. More importantly, I saw The Stones/Scorsese concert doc Shine A Light, which I'm going to write a review of. The short review is: Amazing.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has a new trailer. I've been anticipating this movie since I read about it years ago and with each new trailer it looks more and more amazing. David Fincher has an uncanny ability to infuse pizazz and camera flair into emotional stories and is only improving with age. Anyway, check out the trailer and see for yourself.

TV-wise, the new season of Entourage started a few weeks ago, which I've been enjoying and I started watching the new show True Blood, which I also like. It's entertaining, slightly campy, violent, very sexual and very well written and acted. Give it a look see.

The new season of Dexter started last night and I can't emphasize enough how great it is. Both of the previous seasons are available on DVD- rent them or buy them because it's easily the best show on TV, although as someone pointed out to me that I don't watch Mad Men and that could be a close runner up if not better. Either way, Dexter is excellent.

I'm still working on an original score for Okay Great, but I'm seriously considering dropping it online with the temp music and just updating it when I have the score. Could be soon so keep an eye out.

For Your Listening Pleasure...

2008-07-30T09:05:00.003-04:00

The Rolling Stones are known for their classic pumped up bluesy rock n roll. I don't think alot of people have heard this grinder - Memo from Turner - from the Performance soundtrack and they should cause it's nasty. Ry Cooder is ripping up the slide on this track.

For a similiar vibe check out Jammin' with Edward although Memo from Turner isn't on it. The album was tossed together one day while for an a fellow band member to show up- possibly sleeping off a hangover. Keith? Maybe? Sorry I can't find a link to a tune from the album.

W

2008-07-28T11:55:00.004-04:00

A teaser trailer for Oliver Stone's W has been leaked. I'm really interested in this film for many reasons. Stone is an compelling filmmaker even when he's heavy handed and he's great when he attacks a subject he's passionate about and he's definitely passionate about his hatred for Bush. So am I. He also is making this film at a break neck pace and I think that just drives filmmakers even more. Spielberg made Munich top to bottom in 6 months and it's a masterpeiece. Stone is on an even tighter schedule. I believe he started shooting in April and the film will be released before the election. Hope this one turns out as good as the teaser looks.

***EDIT***
Sorry it's already been pulled. This is the problem with illegally "leaked" material. I'll post again when it finds it way back online.

W. Teaser Trailer
by iliketolookatmyranch

The Savages

2008-07-28T09:44:00.003-04:00

I watched Philip Seymour Hoffman knock another one out of the park last night. In a performance he won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor for, Hoffman plays the son of an abusive father who now has dementia and needs home care. Laura Linney plays his sister, complimenting Hoffman's performance with a note perfect one herself. Dig the scene when she's looking for a red pillow. Another great scene is when the two of them are in a hallway and Hoffman is an awkward position.

The Savages is at times funny and sad, but very observant and challenging. I enjoyed it very much for the writing and directing by Tamara Jenkins and especially the performances. Laura Linney, like Hoffman is always top notch but Hoffman has had a helluva year. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Charlie Wilson's War and The Savages. Most actors hardly give 3 performances as good as those in their careers, nevermind in one year.

For Your Listening Pleasure...

2008-07-28T09:39:00.002-04:00

This is such a good tune...chill, feel good...love it. If you've seen 25th Hour you may recognize it from there. It's called Bra by Cymande. Enjoy!

For Your Listening Pleasure...

2008-07-25T10:02:00.002-04:00

I'm a new fan of Afro Celt Sound System but they're addictive because they kick ass!

"I'm just ahead of the curve"

2008-07-24T09:09:00.005-04:00

In retrospect, 1989 was a pivotal year in my movie-going experience. I saw 3 movies that year that changed my outlook on film. Do the Right Thing completely opened my eyes to everything from tone to choice of music, color and camera movement and angles. sex, lies and videotape was a movie completely different from anything I had seen up to that point and it proved to me you could make a movie without action and mostly dialogue, which was basically all I was writing at that point. I also saw Batman.

Batman was being hyped beyond belief. It was everywhere and I was fired up! I saw it with my friend Jon on opening weekend in a packed theater. When the movie ended, everyone in the theater jumped to their feet and applauded. My friend Jon and I looked at each other and said “let’s get the fuck out of here.” Batman was the first major movie disappointment in my life. You see I wanted so much more out of Batman. I had watched the series on TV as a kid and I loved it. What the fuck happened?! While Nicholson was fun (when isn’t he?) it was a cakewalk for him and he didn’t take any risks. I realize a lot of people liked that movie and my elder cousins thought I was too young and stupid to get it. Fuck you guys- the movie still sucks!

Well, when Batman Begins was announced I had renewed fire, thanks to the choice of Christopher Nolan as director and Christian Bale as Batman. Then came Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Cillian Murphy. Nice cast and Nolan can do no wrong. Batman Begins was incredible- ballsy, smart, action packed, faithful and yet rooted in the real world, not some fucking cartoon land where everything can be written off to fantasy and “comic books” never having to make some real dramatic choices. This Batman wisely took its time building character and motivation and story. I’ve watched it several times since on HBO and DVD and it holds up well.

I saw The Dark Knight last night and was completely blown away. At 2 ½ hours, one might think the film is too long. It isn’t, it’s perfect. I feel bad for Sam Raimi because he tried to do in Spiderman 3 what Nolan has done here. Spiderman 3 bite off more than it could chew and soured the trilogy. The Dark Knight bit off a lot and chewed it right up. There is significant character development with some new faces and the film wisely takes its time building to the conclusion on that character and story development. I stayed away from previews and press so I’m not going to talk about plot, I’d rather have you discover that for yourself.

The Dark Knight is a character study. A dark (get it- hahaha) character study. Essentially everyone in the film has moral decisions to make or is deeply troubled- to say the least in the Joker’s case. Nolan and his brother Jonathan, who co-wrote The Prestige and the short story Memento is based on, wrote the script, which is chock full of big action set pieces. There are bursts of action all throughout the film and big gasp inducing moments- one in particular, you’ll know it when you see it. And the setup for the next Batman is brilliant.

Okay so Heath Ledger…um, how do I put this…? Heath Ledger is incredible and you miss him when he’s not onscreen. His work is so rock solid he makes the other highly talented actors around him appear to be lazy. He also had the most fun role, but still. Ledger has always made impressions in film. He’s just one of those actors. I realize Brokeback Mountain has been reduced to late night talk show one liners and further proof of the country’s homophobia, but if you go back and watch that film, his performance there is amazing. Now back it up to The Dark Knight and look at the difference. In both films he uses everything a good actor should. He has a posture and walk to go along with the voice, the laugh and the small mannerisms he displays with his mouth and the constant liplicking. His commitment is undeniable. I can’t wait to see the movie again just to watch his performance. I must mention that it made me sad to watch him in this film, but you know why.

Drunk in A Park on A Saturday

2008-07-23T09:33:00.001-04:00

Pottyboy strikes again.

Drunk In A Park On A Saturday from Pottyboy on Vimeo.

"Do you drink?" "Oh God yeah."

2008-07-22T09:32:00.006-04:00

I was gone for the past week and a half for work, but I managed to sneak a few from netflix. First I saw Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, an excellent piece of work from one of the greats, Sidney Lumet. The always spot on Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke play brothers who plot what they think will be the perfect crime. They are wrong, of course. Definitely check out this very well made film and don't let anyone tell you about it so you're nice and surprised.

I also saw Jumper, which should have been a big ballsy action flick, instead it just felt like a slight, paint by the numbers- holy-shit-did-they-cut-alot-of-stuff-out- standard popcorn movie. That being said, it flew by, had some fun action, good effects, and was fine for a brain dead sunday afternoon.

Finally, I saw Charlie Wilson's War which I liked quite a bit. The two out of three ain't bad, can't miss cast consisted of Tom Hanks, Phillip Seymour Hoffman (in another stellar performance) and Julia Roberts. Mike Nichols directed from a Aaron Sorkin script. The film is based on a true story and you don't know whether to laugh or cry at the outcome, but it seems pretty fitting for our government. I'm going to take this film as an opportunity to rail a bit. I think Julia Roberts sucks. I just wish she'd continue to be a stay at home mom and not act anymore. Actually to call her an actor is an insult to actors. She sucks, and yet she always comes across as so pleased with her performance as she's performing it. I have news for her- she shouldn't be pleased because she isn't good, and it's all the more apparent when she's acting opposite Hoffman and Hanks. Would've been nice if they got Cate Blanchett, or Kate Winslet, or the numerous other ubertalented actors out there besides her. But enough about her, Charlie Wilson's War is very good.

Blindness

2008-07-08T10:42:00.006-04:00

This looks very cool. It has tone to spare- creepy tone. This is the latest film from Fernando Meirelles, who directed City of God, and The Constant Gardener, two fantastic films. If haven't seen them, put them high atop your list- they're worth it. Meanwhile check out the trailer for Blindness. It's slated to open September 26th.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/blindness/large.html

Also worth noting...I find Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore to be two of the better and more interesting actors working today, and the rest of the cast ain't too shabby either.

For Your Listening Pleasure...Boogie on Reggae Woman

2008-06-27T09:50:00.003-04:00

The first time I heard this song I think I listened to it about 50 times in a row. I'm not kidding either. This was before iPods, and the like, so I was laying on my bed listening to it on my walkman- just rewinding it over and over again. It's a fan-funk-fucking-tastic, groovy tune. Enjoy!

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY HARD-BOILED EGGS?????!!!!!"

2008-06-26T09:00:00.002-04:00

This is the best news I've heard in awhile. This has already been confirmed, but to continue to hear more and more about it just makes me smile. As reported in the NY Post this morning...
'ARRESTED' MOVIE IN 'DEVELOPMENT'
By MICHAEL STARR

June 25, 2008

A big-screen version of cult favorite "Arrested Development" is on the fast track.

Jason Bateman, who starred as Michael Bluth in the Fox sitcom, says an "Arrested" movie is being planned for next year.

"When it was on TV, if you missed one word, the whole third act could be blown for you," Bateman told the London Times.

"And TV is a different experience," he said. "You come home and you've got to finish a call so you miss the first ten minutes or you get snacky and you go to the fridge and you miss another two minutes.

"So it's a different experience to film."

"Arrested Development," which aired on Fox from 2003-2006, revolved around the quirky Bluth family and was narrated by Ron Howard (who co-produced the series).

It was never a ratings hit, but was a critical darling and developed a cult following.

The show also starred Portia de Rossi, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter, Will Arnett and Michael Cera ("Juno").

If the movie comes to fruition, it would be the latest in a long line of hit-or-miss big-screen versions of TV shows, including the just-released "Get Smart," a box-office smash with Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway in the roles originated by Don Adams and Barbara Feldon in the classic '60s series.

Other TV shows, including "The Wild Wild West," "The Mod Squad" and "Miami Vice," had a rocky transition to the big screen.

This is one of my all-time favorite shows. For a gauge my others are The Simpsons (though in the past 6 or 7 years it's been fairly lackluster considering what it used to be), The Sopranos, Seinfeld and quite possibly Dexter. If you have never seen this show, I can't stress to you enough how brilliant it is. Yes I know brilliant gets thrown around alot but this show deserves the title. There are only 3 seasons so go out and buy the DVDs. There are clever jokes twisted into other clever jokes which revolve around clever plotlines. The characters are about as sharply drawn as you can get. Ron Howard executive produces the show and he also narrates. Guess what? He's fucking perfect! The lore has it that he read a temp track for the pilot and everyone loved it. The rest is history. At least it is to the 53 people who actually watched the show. What other show on TV has roofies, the blue man group, christians, magicians, pot smoking, incest, afternoon delight, and the aforementioned hard-boiled eggs? If that doesn't sell you then check out the cast.By the way this show also wisely put Jason Bateman back on TV and cast Michael Cera before Superbad and Juno came out. Plus they hired David Cross.

"Then why don't you marry an ice cream sandwich?"

Dope

2008-06-24T10:55:00.001-04:00

Apparently you don't have to be smart ot be a police officer. My friend sent me this and if you haven't seen it, you need to. The video speaks for itself.

George Carlin - Rest in Peace, motherfucker

2008-06-23T08:24:00.003-04:00

Here was a man who fought for freedom of speech with his famed 7 Dirty Words. He always marched to the beat of his own drum and if you didn't like it, well...you could fuck yourself. His uncanny ability to pull the bullshit out of situations is unparalleled. I saw him live in Las Vegas about 10 years ago and he made fun of men who wore cowboy hats and had earrings. He was brutal and that kind of shyte is right up my alley. I watched 2 couples walk out, one of which the man was yelling "You've changed!" Um, no sir, you have just grown into the very thing Carlin has always made fun of. He was wearing a cowboy hat. I couldn't tell if he had an earring on or not. I've posted the first 20 minutes of his last televised standup special. It's extremelu appropriate. He has a scathing section about what people say to you when someone dies. It's the kind of rant that'll have you pissing in your pants laughing, and your fist in the air for how right on the nose he is. Unless, that is, you think he's "changed."

The section I mentioned is at 9:45 and the next clip picks up right where the first leaves off. But if you've got the time, the whole thing is genius.

For Your Listening Pleasure...Feels So Good

2008-06-20T06:50:00.003-04:00

This song puts me in a good mood the moment I start listening to it. The title says it all. Chuck Mangione is the man-gione. I couldn't find the long version with the melancholy lead up and extended end so this will have to do. I really want to use this song in a film one day...

For Your Listening Pleasure...

2008-06-19T06:48:00.003-04:00

I think I'm going to try and do this on a regular basis. And by "this" I mean post a song for you to enjoy, a song that I enjoy. This song is enjoyable in general, and it's a favorite of mine to listen to when I get off the train and walk within a mass of people to the "Shuttle Bus Area." The best is when you're listening to a song like this and you get a few "runners" aka people who run to their shuttle so they don't miss it. These are usually people who haven't run in probably 20 years. It's quite a show. Any-who, here's Herb Alpert's title track to Casino Royale- the original one that is. Although it would've been really funny to watch Daniel Craig kick ass to this song.

Burn After Reading

2008-06-18T16:00:00.002-04:00

The Coen Brothers rule! They do so many things so well, but I really love when they do comedy. I especially love when they do comedy with fairly stupid people in it, which is often. And if not stupid then crazy. Or both. Well their new film, Burn After Reading has quite a cast. It's also the first time they're not using their mainstay, and one of my personal favs, DP, Roger Deakins. Apparently he was busy, but they hired Emmanual Lubezki so they aren't exactly suffering. The film is about an ousted CIA agent whose memoir falls into the hands of two dimwitted gym employees and they are determined to exploit him. I love when Brad Pitt plays dumb or incompetent and seems to be in full stride here. This is a Red Band Trailer so put the kids in the other room, just in case.
Burn After Reading - Red Band Trailer

Stevie Wonder Burns Down Sesame Street

2008-06-17T07:08:00.004-04:00

I stole that line from my buddy Cal who sent me this link. Not only is it funny to imagine, but it's true- not literally of course but musically. This is the fucking badass jammy jam, but what do you expect from The Man himself. Make sure you watch the whole video.

She Must Be Heigl

2008-06-16T07:02:00.000-04:00

This has been bothering me since I heard about it last week. This chick needs to check herself in a big way. The following is an open letter from a writer at New York Magazine and it nails the whole situation right on the head.

Dear Katherine (Kate? Katie?),
So you’ve acted out once again (no pun intended!). You’ve withdrawn your name from Emmy eligibility, because, in your words, ''I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination.'' And now you’ve started a fight with the writers of Grey’s Anatomy. Their feelings are hurt, Katie: "It's an ungrateful slap in the face," one show insider told EW. You actually won the Emmy for supporting actress last year, which was really so lovely for you. So why, this year, are you so sure your material doesn’t even warrant a nomination? Let’s think.

Okay, Heigl, we agree that Izzie’s story lines have become increasingly marginal and unbelievable. Lately, everyone on the show seems to think that Izzie’s completely irritating. So do we! We actually groan aloud when your perky face appears onscreen! There’s a theory we have about this, Katherine, so listen closely. Have you ever thought that maybe the writers are incorporating your own personality into that of your character? Because we read a lot of women’s magazine and gossip sites, and we think we kind of know you at this point. And guess what? You’re totally annoying and self-righteous, just like Izzie!

Of course, we, too, were offended by Isaiah Washington. He called your on- and-off-screen best friend, T.R. Knight, a faggot, and that’s just uncalled for. You established yourself as Knight’s defender and kept speaking to the press about how Washington should be fired. So we guess that’s nice of you and all, but you really should have let your friend fight his own battle. You ended up looking pretty darn priggish.

And then (and then!) you called your own hit movie, Knocked Up, “a little sexist.” You have a right to your opinion, and we might even agree with you. But you were Apatow’s first choice for that movie, you did it, you made lots of money, and it made you a certified movie star. What possessed you to bash it? Do you think you’re above the work that you do? It was a comedy, and you profited tremendously. You’re no Streep, honey, and even she does Abba with a smile.

Now we’re going to throw you a bone: We think you’re a talented comedic actress. That’s right, your timing is much better than most, and you have a goofy onscreen persona that combines nicely with your California-girl looks. Plus, My Father the Hero was one of our favorite movies growing up, so we’ll always have a soft spot for you, Heig-y. Though last week, in a dark moment, we watched 27 Dresses on demand. Now that was a case of writers messing up your material.

So please take our advice. Grey’s Anatomy is a soap opera. Get off your high horse, missy. You talk all about the integrity of the Academy? Ha! You know they’re giving an Emmy to a reality-TV show host this year, right? Stop pissing off your writers and directors and castmates. We want to like you, Katherine, really. Please stop making it so hard to do so.

Warmest regards,
Emma Rosenblum

I agree with most of it. I think Isiah Washington deserved any bullshit he got but she's so fucking self-righteous that it came off as self-serving - "look at me" than genuine. I didn't like her much before she started spouting off against the very people and projects that have made her a star. I don't think she's talented at all and thought she was by far the weakest part of Knocked Up. I've never seen Grey's Anatomy and could give a shit less about it. McDreamy, McSteamy, McPissoff- boring, pretentious, overly dramatic, cutting a supposedly meaningful montage to today's latest pop-song one hit wonder and roll credits- WHO THE FUCK CARES? I'm getting off topic though...

It wasn't necessary for her to say what she said. She could've not responded. She could've put the blame on herself. I'm sure she has the attitude of "I tell it like it is!" or "I'm just being honest." Fine. Fair enough. See how many people want to work with you if you throw everyone under the bus who's worked with you in the past. I believe they call that biting the hand that feeds you.

Word is she wants to be a movie star. 27 Dresses was pretty successful- I didn't see it and I didn't need to, I've already seen My Best Friend's Wedding and the countless others with the same plot. Lots of actors want a movie career, but she should keep one person in mind; David Caruso. I don't think he even trashed the writers of NYPD Blue, but he had a good 1st season and fancied himself a movie star. Know what happened? He left the show, which continued on for about another 12 seasons, and starred in a movie called Kiss of Death and it fucking died at the box office. He struggled in "no-one-gives-a-shit-about-you-land" for several years until he landed a piggyback hit- CSI: Miami. Well he sucks on that show. He sucks bad. Has he learned his lesson? No. By all accounts, (I've read a bunch, and heard second hand from people who've guest starred and worked on the show) he's a total pain in the ass on the show to everyone around him. Katherine Heigl should put her fucking head down and keep working.

Hey Vimeo!

2008-06-16T06:28:00.000-04:00

Gracias to Pottyboy for pointing me in the direction of this site. It's free to sign up, and they allocate you 500mb a week of upload content. Their compressions and are very good and you can also upload and view in HD! Very sweet! Maybe this is where Okay Great will make it debut...it's 20 minutes long and most sites only 10...I'll have to see what Vimeo allows. You don't have to be a filmmaker or wannabe You Tube dipshit to post stuff. If you have kids and want to post videos of them for friends and family who live in other parts of the country, use sites like Vimeo, Meta Cafe and Revver for quality alone. You Tube is good for getting lots of random views, but the quality is shit.

The Truthiness of Steve Depino

The Truthiness of Steve Depino from Jeff Reilly on Vimeo.

Edit This

Edit This from Jeff Reilly on Vimeo.

See Real Women: Really See Women

See Real Women: Really See Women from Jeff Reilly on Vimeo.

My Favorite Holiday

My Favorite Holiday from Jeff Reilly on Vimeo.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2008-06-14T07:54:00.003-04:00

I've been tracking this film for awhile and my excitement is only heightening. It's a love story, but not your typical love story. The man, Benjamin Button (obviously), played by Brad Pitt is aging backwards. Yes, that is the premise. I don't know much more only because I don't want to spoil too much. To make the film that much more intriguing, it's directed by David Fincher, written by Eric Roth and Cate Blanchett co-stars. Oh and it's based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Any for anyone who cares, it's being shot digitally- just like Fincher's last- Zodiac.

Dewey Cox Rocks

2008-06-12T06:39:00.000-04:00

I've watched Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story twice now and I almost pissed my pants on several occasions and any poorly timed sips from my soda could've resulted in spitting it all over the place. Writer/Director Jake Kasdan and Co-writer Judd Apatow make a very smart choice in the tone of the film. The action is played deadpan, but it's funny as hell. Molded after such biopics as Ray, Walk the Line, The Doors and even Don't Look Back(instant street cred), Kasdan and Apatow also take little bits and pieces from real life rock star and incorporate it into the script. The fun is trying to spot them all- good luck there's a ton. They also made the right choice in casting John C Reilly, though I biased because I've been a fan of his for a long time (and his last name is pretty fucking cool too!). Jenna Fischer is terrific as well and there is a great supporting cast behind them and one of the coolest, and out of left field cameos I've ever seen- and the performance is funny as shit. See if you can spot it- it's not obvious. The cinematography is outstanding, which was another inspired choice on the filmmakers part because most comedies don't go out of their way to create Academy Award winning photography. Definitely check this out.
***Note- Make sure you watch through the credits.

Okay Great

2008-06-06T14:36:00.004-04:00

I've been fine tuning Okay Great and screening for friends and crew members looking for some feedback. I'm essentially done. I'm really pleased with the film but now comes the tough part- finding a composer to score the film. The music I used in the film is pretty out there, it certainly isn't your typical score and trying to replicate the tone is going to be difficult. A really talented audio mixer named Mike Ryan is going to mix the film for me for basically nothing and he is also putting his feelers out for a composer. I have a few other friends sending emails to people they know, so if any of my 1 or 2 readers knows someone who is a musician or music composer and is interested in taking on a challenging piece of work for little to no money (sounds appealing, right?) please send them my way or give me a shout with their info. Muchos Gracias!

Copper Mason

2008-06-04T09:15:00.003-04:00

My friend Jamin Bricker co-wrote and directed this short film. It's actually the beginning of a webisode series which he shot the first 3 episodes of over a weekend in May. Erin Rosa produced the film and she was my co-producer on Okay Great. It's whacky and fun- check it out.

From Crackle: Cooper Mason - Internet Retail Extroardinare

Coat Hangers for Strait Jackets

2008-04-26T08:22:00.006-04:00

The title doesn't mean anything, I just like it. I suggested it as the name for our production company at work, but we didn't end up changing the name, so it's a title waiting for a home. Since I'm going to post a bunch of random shit, I figured I'd throw it out there. Maybe it's the title for a short film...

So it's been 2 years, almost to the day, that I finished Edit This, so I thought I'd post it.

Edit This from Jeff Reilly on Vimeo.

Can't believe it's been 2 years and I still enjoy it, which I guess is a good sign.

Also, after 7 long months, I have completely a pretty-close-to-finished cut of Okay Great. Between work, wedding planning, and life in general, I wasn't always able to sit down and grind it out, but as friend told me recently, it'll happen when it's ready. There's still some work to be done in the editing room, then get someone to score the film with original music and then do the final audio mix. My goal is to be ready by august to submit to Sundance and then wait for the rejection letter.

A few weeks ago, my fiancée and I went on our official engagement shoot, although we've been engaged for 2 1/2 years. Regardless, we are lucky enough to have Steve Depino and Carla Ten Eyck shooting our wedding and they both teamed up for the engagement shoot as well. We had a great day! Lost of fantastic pictures, (no surprise if you've seen any of their work) laughs, beers, and dinner to top off the night. I'll never be able to thank either of you enough, but know how much we appreciate your work and personalities and that we count ourselves as very lucky to have you be a part of our wedding day. If the pictures from the big day are half as amazing as the engagement pictures then we're in for an enormous treat. If you want to see our photos, go here for steve's and here for carla's.

I've been too busy to get out to the movies and the ones I have seen haven't left an impression on me. I watched There Will Be Blood again, which is on DVD and if you haven't seen that yet, you need to. Yeah that's right, you NEED to.

"Forty-nine Per-fucking-cent!"

2008-03-30T16:40:00.004-04:00

Carla Ten Eyck sent me this after seeing it on Robert Norman's blog. She thought I'd rate high. She was right. And yes I am proud of myself. Apparently, my rating is 449% MORE than other websites who participated.

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A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

2008-02-29T14:33:00.002-05:00

I love reading memoirs. I’m fascinated with reading true stories about real people, and I don’t mean it in a history buff kind of way. Some examples…A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (an ironic title but right on the money), A Million Little Pieces, My Friend Leonard, Private Parts, Jarhead, Goat, Running with Scissors (actually everything by Augusten Burrows, and the same goes for David Sedaris), Superstud and Kick Me…I’m sure you get the point, but if you’re a reader, write these titles down! I may be adding one to this list by next week, except in this case, I saw the movie before I read the book. It’s called A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and it knocked me for a loop.

The film is based on the memoir of the same title by Dito Montiel, who also wrote the script and directed the film. It is a coming of age story about a young man growing up Queens who desperately wants to get out. While plotting his escape, there are many things going on his life that propel him to want to leave but could also keep him from going anywhere.

The film has a raw intensity and energy that you find in personal works, especially first time filmmakers. There isn’t a whole hell of a lot that is conventional about this film. It’s shot with a handheld documentary style that brings real authenticity to the film and the cutting style is all over the place- and I mean that as a compliment - there are jump cuts, repeat cuts, flash forwards, fragments of scenes are teased and filled out seconds or minutes later. Where most filmmakers would hold a dramatic scene to elevate the drama, here they cut away and everything hasn’t been explained in the scene yet, but it will be. In case I’m not explaining myself well enough, Gene Siskel used to say ‘it isn’t what a film is about that matters, it’s how it’s about it’ and that theory applies here. The way this film is told supports the film exactly the way it should. The film is told in flashback, but it doesn’t feel that way. It starts at, what I assume is, a book reading and the cutting style starts to shine through right away. The next thing you know we’re back in Queens in 1986.

There have been a lot of coming of age stories set in NYC and the surrounding boroughs, especially those where the main character wants out. This film stood out to me because of the material. The script is well written. The dialogue is natural and feels authentic but that only goes as far as the actors take it. Well, the acting couldn’t be better. Shia LaBeouf, who has continually impressed me, delivers a truly great, involving, three dimensional performance as Dito. Like Johnny Depp, he is an actor whose eyes tell you everything and never have I seen him in a film where it benefits him more than here. Chazz Palminteri and Dianne Wiest play Dito’s parents and are, as always, wonderful. Robert Downey Jr plays the adult Dito and again, when has he turned in a bad performance. There’s no exception here. He is such a natural actor that he makes it look easy, which if you’ve ever acted- it’s anything but easy. There was a big surprise here only because I didn’t know too much about him, but Channing Tatum is phenomenal. He reminded me of Mark Wahlberg when I saw The Basketball Diaries. He has an undeniable intensity and when he’s onscreen, it’s tough to take your eyes off him. The only film I had seen him in was Step Up, which I watched with my fiancé on HBO. Not normally my cup of tea, to say the least, and I don’t remember much from the movie, but I do remember thinking he and the female lead had decent chops. He shows what he can do here and apparently some filmmakers have taken notice. Oliver Stone cast him in Pinkville, and Michael Mann just cast him as Pretty Boy Floyd in Public Enemies. He also has a role in Kimberly Pierce’s new movie, Stop/Loss and he’s playing Duke in GI Joe. Keep you eye on this kid because if he keeps at this rate he’s going to be a big, big star.

Okay, so I’m going to Amazon to buy this memoir and you should go rent the movie.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

2008-02-29T09:35:00.000-05:00

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is not the film you are probably expecting it to be. Automatically you’d assume that it’s a shoot ‘em up western. It isn’t. It’s a deeply hypnotic, lyrical and poetic, both visually and literally, film which I fell deeply into. It is also a western with some shoot ‘em up and much like There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men, this film is a slow boil, brimming with intensity.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert tells story of the last 7 months of Jesse James’ (Brad Pitt) life. Quickly we get the idea that the hangers on in the James Gang are all starfuckers with their gaze set directly on the elusive, charismatic and mysterious Jesse James, but none more than Robert Ford (Casey Affleck). Not yet 20, Robert Ford worships his childhood hero with the same wide-eyed wonder he did 10 years earlier, though he acts like he doesn’t. It’s a crush essentially, and he doesn’t hide it well.

The film follows the members of the James Gang as they chunk off into groups and separate following a train robbery. Most are related to each other in one way or another and never stray too far for too long, usually ending up back at the Ford household. And it is there where Jesse James seals his fate with the socially awkward Ford.

The film doesn’t just focus on James and Ford, we get to know all of the members of the gang, and love them or hate them, they are richly drawn and beautifully brought to life by an incredible cast. There are little performance gems all over this film. Sam Rockwell, Paul Schneider, Garret Dillahunt, Jeremy Renner, Sam Shepard, Gretchen Mol, and Mary-Louise Parker deliver terrific performances which can’t be fully appreciated until they are seen. Ted Levine (Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs) and Zooey Deschanel show up for a brief period of time and leave a deep impression. This is a great cast. Before I saw the film and read the cast list I was excited- Bravo to the casting director, the director or whomever came up with the idea of casting these actors. There are people whom you may not recognize but have been doing terrific work on TV and in smaller, meaning less widely seen, films.

Brad Pitt is someone whose work I’ve admired for a long time. I noticed him in Thelma and Louise just like the rest of the world, but I felt the part to be a little showy and frankly, kind of obvious. Kalifornia is what really brought him to my attention and if you haven’t seen the film, seek it out. For those of you who have seen it, you’ll appreciate something Pitt does in the film that is a direct nod to Kalifornia. It would be easy to forget that he’s such a great actor seeing as how his personal life has become tabloid fodder and lame late night talk show jokes about how many kids he has. He has a varied and high reaching line of movies trailing behind him…12 Monkeys, Interview with a Vampire, True Romance (best stoner ever), Legends of the Fall, Fight Club, Snatch, Ocean’s Eleven, Babel…you get the idea- The man is not afraid to take chances. His performance here is beautifully nuanced- at times big and powerful and at others small and equally, if not more, powerful. He won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival and I can see why.

Casey Affleck had a great year. He was very good in Gone Baby Gone and he is even better in this- not that it’s fair to compare (poet didn’t know it) but from frame one to the end frame he is nothing less than totally convincing. He broke my heart. Sad and awkward, angry and introverted, proud and ashamed- he covers it all and he covers it all very well. I’m starting to reconsider my belief that Javier Bardem gave the best supporting actor performance of the year.

This film is also very well directed by Andrew Dominik, who has only one other credit under his belt, the terrific Chopper starring a then unknown Eric Bana (Hulk, Troy, Munich). The film is deliberately paced and mannered. Shots hold for longer than we’re used to, cutaways are used to show the mood of the characters and set the tone and mood for the film as a whole. Portions of the film are punctuated by voice-over passages done in a very even almost stoic voice as if they were being read directly from the book. These scenes are shot in the same fashion and have the same musical score. It’s an interesting technique that some might not like but that I loved.

Now onto the cinematography; Good God is it amazing. Roger Deakins is my favorite DP and while I was over the moon that Robert Elswit picked the Oscar for his work in There Will Be Blood, I think the award belongs to Deakins. There isn’t a single shot in the film that isn’t beautiful. Most of it is downright breathtaking. For a man who consistently does incredible work, he truly out does himself here. The film is painterly and eye-poppingly majestic. I’d be curious to know how much of the film was shot with natural light. Some of it looks as though it’s lit only with candles. I was mesmerized. This is a wonderful film, but something significant would be missing without Roger Deakin’s photography. Bravo, sir!

I saw this film in the ideal conditions and you should do likewise should you choose to seek it out. Lights completely out, volume cranked. I wish I saw it in the theater but alas I didn’t. This came and went from theaters faster than Daddy Day Camp and that’s fucking sad if you ask me. I’ve read, I believe on Ain’t it Cool but I can’t be sure, that the studio didn’t like or believe in the film and so they “dumped” it. This means they released it in a very small amount of theaters, did no promotion for it and essentially cut their losses and didn’t give a shit about it. What a shame…and keep in mind this film is not for everyone but neither is Daddy Day Camp or the innumerable other total piece of shit, waste of time and money films released every week. There is exceptional work from cast and crew alike in this film and it’s too bad more people haven’t seen it.

Cloverfield

2008-02-12T20:01:00.000-05:00

It's pretty tough- check that- it's practically impossible to live up to hype. I had my first run-in with hype when Batman (Tim Burton's version) came out in 1989. Severe disappointment didn't even cover it. My buddy Jon and I anxiously awaited it's arrival and when it came we were there- super long line wait 'n all. When the movie was over and the lights came up everyone was on their feet applauding. We were on our feet too saying "Let's get the fuck out of here!" Thank God for Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins- faaaaaaaaaaar better. Any-who, with the marketing and mystery surrounding Cloverfield the hype was nearing epic proportions and I started to worry because I didn't want Batman-like disappointment again. Due to a busy schedule I wasn't able to see Cloverfield until the other day and I was not disappointed. Quite the opposite in fact.

I was extremely anxious for the first 15 minutes because I knew what was coming and I just wanted it to happen. But the film is getting you to know the characters and their situation a bit before, well...you know. Rob is moving to Japan and his friends are throwing him a going away party. His brother Jason and his girlfriend are the main hosts and Jason passes off "camera testimonials" to Hud. Hud spots Marlena, who isn't really supposed to be there and falls in love or lust or whatever, with her almost immediately. The biggest problem, however is that Rob has recently slept with Beth, a longtime friend, first time lover. She shows up to the party with some fucking tool because Rob didn't know how to talk to her after they had sex. It's alot right? And, really, it happens in a short amount of time, but that's what was great about it. It's also what's realistic about it. I hung with a fairly large group of close friends throughout college and that's how it happens; word travels fast and everyone knows everyone elses business in 2.2 seconds. There is a very real feel brought to this movie, not just from the handheld handicam camera work, but from the writing and acting.

Although I was getting into the story, I was also very anxious through the first scenes of the film because I knew what was in the mail, so to speak. When it happens, I had stopped being anxious and was really getting into the scene at hand and then- WHAM- it hits. From there the fucking wheels come off. This is an intense movie. And tense. I was tense throughout. My fiance almost chewed her fingers off her hand after she took care of the nails. There are moments where the action settles down a bit but the intensity stays.

The idea of first person camera work intrigued me and was largely the reason I was attracted to this film. Execution is another story- things can get screwed up easily, but not here. Here it works. Very well. The action and the reality of the situation are palpable because of the camerawork. The constant movement of the frame- panning, adjusting, twisting and tilting...it feels real. You are never taken out of the moment with a cutaway. And there's no editing to speak of. I mean there is but it's just the camera being turned off and on so sentences and scenes get cut and then WHAM you're back into a new one. There are no cutaways or reaction shots. There also is no music telling you how to feel in each scene and believe me you don't miss it. The reality of it all weighed on me and in large part it was due to the technical work, but the acting was a huge part of it as well.

The cast is made up of, not unknowns, but not well knowns- if you known what I mean. You'll recognize or vaguely recognize most of them, or maybe not at all if you don't watch a lot of TV. Everyone was very natural and in a movie like this where it's shot, essentially, raw documentary style how do you act natural in the middle of a very unnatural situation. Natural in this situation would be an orgy of shock, confusion, shit-your-pants-fear, I mean someone might have a breakdown and someone else might take charge. Even though there is a script, it feels like there isn't by the interactions between the characters. Hud, played by TJ Miller, is the man behind the camera and he is constantly making comments and observations. His performance is paramount to the film coming off and he plays it very well. I also liked, Michael Stahl-David, who played Rob, and Lizzy Caplan, who played Marlena. Jessica Lucas plays Lilly, and she's currently on CSI. She has the potential to be a big star. As an aspiring writer/producer/director I get really excited for people that break into the big time and it was exciting for me to see all these young actors kicking ass in a Major Motion Picture, produced by a Major Hollywood director/writer/producer, which, conveniently brings me to my next point

JJ Abrams is the producer, NOT, the director, which isn't to say that he didn't have alot of input- I'm sure he did, but at the end of the day, he's the producer. I can pretty much guarantee you he wasn't in the edit room, day in and day out, like the director, Matt Reeves probably was. People get this confused alot and as a result sometimes the director or writer doesn't get the credit he or she deserves. This film is a mammoth undertaking and one false move could fuck the whole thing up. Matt Reeves did an amazing job and I applaud him. He's a writer/director who co-created Felicity and directed The Pallbearer, both very credible pieces of work, but an out of control, train off the tracks monster movie they were not. I can't wait to see what this guy has up his sleeve next. By the way, I'm taking nothing away from JJ Abrams. I'm sure he had alot of input and the man is clearly talented- he delivered the best Mission Impossible movie by far- but people think it's his movie and it's isn't. Not entirely at least.

I want to address something I've read in some reviews, not all, but some. People have complained that no one in their right mind would have continued filming through all the chaos. I disagree. Completely. First of all you can't definitely say what any one person would do in this situation because you don't definitely know, but that's beside the point. I know someone who would continue filming as he was trying to run for his life. He would have actually been going out of his way to get cool shots. His name is Pottyboy. Got to his site and you'll see what I mean. But even that doesn't give the slightest idea of how much has shot in his life. This is also besides the point. Making a case for the movie being unbelievable because you don't feel someone would continue filming is a stupid point to make. There wouldn't be a movie in the first place if the person didn't film it, so you shouldn't be in the theater if you don't like the concept. By taking a "realistic" or "documentary" approach the film opens itself up to such criticisms, but I feel they are unfounded and moot. When you go see Transformers you don't say "How did they get a guy in the middle of the highway to film them fighting?" Why? Because it's a movie, entertaining you, hopefully, so you know it's not real. Well Cloverfield is presented as "found footage" therefore we should buy into the fact, even though we know it's not real that someone did continue filming whilst running for their life and enjoy what we see, much like we'll buy into Transformers. This is why we go to the movies, folks, so we can be entertained. Hopefully I've made myself clear on this because it baffles me that someone would use that as an argument.

Either way, Cloverfield is an amazing film and I can't wait to see it again. An extraordinarily effective and groundbreaking approach to a monster movie that lived up it's brilliant marketing plan. Good luck to anyone who tries to top it. They'll need it.

There Will Be Blood

2008-01-21T13:56:00.000-05:00

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of my favorite filmmakers and I’ve loved to pieces every film he’s made. I believe it was 2 or 3 years ago I read he was making a new film called There Will Be Blood. Super heightened anticipation doesn’t even come close to describing my desire to see this film and I finally got to see it on Sunday. I was hypnotized throughout the film. Everything about the film- the writing, directing, acting, cinematography, editing, etc…- sucks you in, casts you under its spell and leads to a dazzling finish that knocked me on my ass. Actually I was already on my ass but when the film ended, I sat in my chair not moving.

As more time passes from when I saw the film, it’s sinking in deeper and deeper. There are shots and lines of dialogue I can’t get out my head. Images in the film, so powerful, are burned into my brain and pop up like my own private slideshow. Anderson’s movies always have this effect on me. The amount of times I’ve watched Boogie Nights and Magnolia would appall people of better sense than mine, but I can’t help myself. There Will Be Blood is no different. I want to go back to the theater and watch it over and over and over again.

This film tells the story of Daniel Plainview and his quest to succeed, to dominate all people and things, no matter what. He doesn’t let anything get in his way. Anything at all. He's "an oil man" and he has "a competition in him." His drive is so strong he doesn't want to see anyone other than him succeed. He’s a self-made man who built himself from the ground up and Daniel Day-Lewis plays him to perfection. I think everyone knows that Daniel Day- Lewis doesn’t give bad performances. Ever. I think this is his best performance and knowing what we know about him, that’s no small feat. Much has been made, with good reason, about his performance in the film but I’m surprised more people haven’t made mention of Paul Dano’s performance, an actor who’s work I’ve been enjoying a lot lately and I was beyond excited when I found out he was cast in the film. He plays Eli Sunday, a supposed "prophet," but really he's more interested in profit. This is a film about greed, but it is also a film about God and without Dano's extremely strong performance as the preacher, the film would be broken. You may have seen Dano in Taking Lives, The Girl Next Door or The Ballad of Jack & Rose (also starring Daniel Day-Lewis) but I’m sure you remember him as the self-imposed mute from Little Miss Sunshine. He does incredible work in There Will Be Blood. Look for him as the lead in Spike Jonze’s version of Where the Wild Things Are. Dillon Freasier plays H.W. Plainview, Daniel's adopted son. He is an absolute revelation. His performance is so important to the movie and although his imdb page lists no previous film credits, his work is that of a seasoned actor.

Paul Thomas Anderson has created a film so simple, yet so complicated. I've heard and read that this is a departure for him. I disagree. You still feel his imprint in the writing, camera work (though with less kinetic dolly moves) and cutting style-not mention it is a sprawling epic, much like Boogie Nights and Magnolia (Magnolia takes place in one day but it feels like a lifetime). There is a rhythm to his writing and the beats he uses draw you into his scenes and ultimately his entire film. He isn’t afraid to hold shots. For awhile. (I’d love to know how many cuts are in this film, by the way.) Though the film is just over 2 ½ hours, there is no fat on it- not unnecessary bullshit. I must say when the early word about the film starting emerging and people were throwing around comparisons to Citizen Kane, Giant and other works of exceptionally high caliber, I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t surprised by the fact that he had made a quote-unquote masterpiece. I just nodded ‘Yeah, of course. He’s the fucking man.’ I’ve wanted his films to sweep the Academy Awards but they never do. If There Will Be Blood doesn’t, I might throw my fucking TV out the window.

Robert Elswit is a terrific cinematographer who’s been doing particularly good work lately (Good Night and Good Luck, and Syriana to name a few). This is 4th film with Anderson and his work is nothing less than breathtaking. He created beautiful, lasting, epic images which, as I’ve mentioned, I can’t get out of my head. Not only is the film shot well, it is also edited very well. Dylan Tichenor, an extremely talented editor, who has also worked with Anderson on his last 4 films, does wonderful work once again. The Production Design by Jack Fisk is truly awesome. I would hope to see all of these names on Oscar ballots in a few weeks.

The score is by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead fame. It’s easily one of the best scores I’ve ever heard. I dropped a few tracks on this blog a last month, but heard with images in it’s entirety give rise to the emotions going on in the film, but on the surface and under it. At times subtle and at times not, the score, much like every other aspect of the film, is perfect.

Much has been made of the nearly wordless opening, which lasts, I think, 10 minutes or so. Either people didn’t mention or I didn’t read that there are quite a few nearly wordless sections of the film that are fantastic and exciting. This film is a slow burn and it takes it’s time- necessary time- getting to where it needs to go. But from the first frame you can feel the intensity of it, simmering- waiting to boil, crouched in a dark alley, around a corner, fist clenched, ready to pounce. That intensity never settles. That intensity has been slow cooking in me since I saw it yesterday. I can’t get this film out of head.

Dexter

2008-01-19T08:35:00.000-05:00

Pottyboy has been raving about this show, in fact it's his favorite all-time show, and he burned a DVD of the first 2 seasons for me. My fiancée and I stayed up until 4am last saturday watching the first season. Yeah it's that good. Dexter is a forenics expert, specifically a interested in blood spatter patterns, who moonlights as a serial killer. But he kills other "killers" or people he deems bad. He even collects evidence and has a procedure based on years of training from his foster father. Just-"this much"-ever-so-slightly over the top it's barely noticable, Dexter is American Psycho meets CSI (not the shitty NYC or Miami editons, even though Dexter takes place in Miami). But even that doesn't describe it entirely. I'm sure I've said it before, but tone is HUGE, and the tone in this show is balanced so delicately and so well you don't even realize it until you reflect. At times, hilarious, moving, scary and violent this show blends just about every genre into a big bowl. Speaking of reflecting, as the episodes go on, right up and into the finale you realize you've seen a truly well thought out and brilliantly conceived idea that spans 13 episodes. Michael C Hall plays Dexter to perfection and without his performance the show doesn't work. The show just finished it's second season on Showtime, so in the meantime, and the midst of the writers strike, when there's very little to watch on TV, rent the first season of Dexter.

Cloverfield Party

2008-01-07T22:10:00.000-05:00

This could be cool. Sadly I'll be knee deep in work. Who's going to go so I can live vicariously.

Roundup

2008-01-05T09:32:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a nice holiday and a Happy New Year. I’ve seen a bunch of good movies lately and they are all worth mentioning. Here we go-

Juno
In fell in love with this movie early on, and when it was over, I wanted it rewound so I could watch it again. Juno is a 16 year old girl who discovers she’s pregnant and decides to give the baby up for adoption to whom she thinks are the ideal parents. The result is touching and hilarious. This is the debut from screenwriter Diablo Cody and I can’t wait to see what she has coming down the pipeline. It’s also the second film, after Thank you for Smoking by Jason Reitman who has a good eye for comedy and casting. Which leads me to Ellen Page, who plays Juno. Her performance is note perfect, in a delicately balanced film, and award worthy. She’s perfect. Her supporting cast isn’t too shabby either. You can’t beat charm and humor. Check it out.

The Bourne Ultimatum
The best of the bunch. It’s fast and furious but more importantly we see a different Jason Bourne than before and it made the film that much better than it’s predecessors. Matt Damon is such an interesting choice for the character and he’s done it so well. He kinda makes it look easy. There are a few action set pieces here that made me sit up in my chair (couch, whatever). I’ve seen this film on a few 10 top ten of the year lists and I can see why. There is a fight scene in this movie which ranks right up there with the very best and joining it is a fight scene from Eastern Promises (see below).

The Kingdom
I’m surprised this wasn’t a bigger hit. Then again I’m not. People don’t go to the movies to escape something very real to us. An oil company community in Saudi Arabia is attacked at an afternoon picnic/softball game. An FBI crew goes in to investigate. The director, Peter Berg, described the movie by saying the “first two-thirds of the film are like cocking a giant bow with a big arrow and the last third we let it go.” True and true. The movie is taut and intense- it’s a slow burn, but the last 20 minutes are batshit. Oddly enough I saw this movie about two hours after I saw Juno and Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner are in both films, together (literally in Juno, they’re married).

Eastern Promises
I have read that this film plays like an Opera. I’ve never seen an opera but if they play like this, I’m down. Viggo Mortensen is a bad motherfucker in this movie, plain and simple. He plays the “driver” for the Russian Mob, but he’s so much more than that. This film unfolds beautifully and I had avoided trailers, reviews and the like so I went in fairly blind and I’m glad I did. Try to do the same. David Cronenberg directed this and much like A History of Violence, (a film I greatly admired) Eastern Promises is told swiftly and cleanly, meaning it doesn’t muddle down in unnecessary shit. Very admirable, especially for a movie I’d find tempting to tell in a much longer running time.

Shoot ‘Em Up
Fucking crazy. I read somewhere that within the first five minutes of this film, you’ll know whether or not you’re going to like it and I agree. I loved it. This movie is pure fun and adrenaline. The story and the action move fast and some scenes get more outlandish than the next. I mean outlandish in a good way because the action is inventive and well thought it. Clever too. Shoot ‘Em Up would be a fun on a triple bill with Run Lola Run, and Running Scared (Paul Walker -who can really act when he wants to, not Billy Crystal) – a compliment to all of those films by the way. Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti are not usually a disappointment when it comes to performance. This movie is no exception. I mention Giamatti of note- I loved all his work here.

Bug
If you liked fucked up movies and I mean fucked up, watch Bug. It’s from William Friedkin, who directed The Exorcist. Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon play two lonely people who connect and find comfort in one another. Harry Connick, Jr. who alwasy plays "creepy" well, plays Judd’s “ex” who has just been released from prison. This film hits you in back of the head without warning. I wouldn’t call it a horror movie, but it creeped me out in a big way.

Cloverfield Online

2007-12-14T07:02:00.001-05:00

Ain't it Cool has five minutes of Cloverfield online right now. I started watching it but I'm going to try and be patient for 1.18.08

It's Christmas Time!

2007-12-12T20:56:00.000-05:00

My good friend, Mike Timm, made this short a few years ago for christmas. I didn't even realize he had it online until tonight so I figured I'd post it to get everyone in the holiday spirit and see what a brilliantly clever guy Mike Timm is. Enjoy!

There Will Be Blood - Deleted Scene

2007-12-08T08:47:00.000-05:00

Gotta love the internet. You can now watch a deleted scene from a movie whch hasn't even been released yet. www.littlebostonnews.com was the first official website for There Will Be Blood, while it was shooting. There now is only a deleted scene up. Check it out.

See Real Ten Eyck: Really See Ten Eyck

2007-12-05T21:18:00.000-05:00

See Real Women: Really See Women - Watch more amazing videos here

I met Carla Ten Eyck this summer at my first and sadly to date, only PUG Meeting. We became fast friends, breaking balls, trading movie quotes, pop culture references and the like. She expressed an interest in doing a video about her for her wedding photography business. With my workload at the time, I wouldn't have been able to pull it off. She also had mentioned a project that immediately intrigued me. She had posed the question "How do you feel most beautiful?" to numerous women and then photographed them according to their response. The result is a beautiful book filled with powerful images and wonderful words and stories to accompany them. The idea of "beauty" is interesting to me and I was even more interested in someone as cool, and well, interesting as Carla had vaulted such a cool project. Personally I thought it was a perfect idea to be captured in a documentary style. Also, this was a much more managable project than a video based on her business- one day of shooting and then the editing- so Carla bravely agreed to hire me.

2 months ago I had the pleasure of interviewing, Carla and three of her subjects- Jean, Marsha, and Susannah. Then we attended and shot the official opening of the project at the Hartford Public Library, where her pictures are still hanging and will be until December 15th. I highly recommend getting up there and checking them out.
We had a great time shooting, at least I did, and then we capped the night off with some beers and food and a big group of great people who all turned out to support Carla and her fantastic project. Now Carla is not done yet- she wants to take this idea and project international- photographing women all over the world! If you've met her you have no question in your mind that she will accomplish this and then some! Here's to the person who's smart enough to fund it for her!

I want to thank Jean, Marsha and Susannah for their time and wonderfully candid remarks. You all are very natural and relaxed on camera and made job so much easier.

Big up yourself Bob 2.0! Can't thank Bob enough, once again for his hard work on and off the set, as well as being a good, super supportive friend and fellow collaborator. Bob is a utility guy in every sense of the word. He ran sound, operated second camera on the interviews and shot b-roll with me at the opening and he also does all the graphics and photos. Thanks Bob, I couldn't have done it without you!

I want to thank Carla for her kindness and patience with my busy schedule- allowing me to finish at my own pace and trusting my vision. She was trusting (or psychotic) enough to believe in our work and see what we came up with. Mostly I want to thank her for her beautiful project and I hope it inspires you as much as it inspired me.

There Will Be Bloody Good Music!

2007-12-03T06:26:00.000-05:00

Shutter Island

2007-12-03T06:22:00.000-05:00

Word is Mark Ruffalo is very, very close to signing on as Dicaprio's co-star in Shutter Island! Good news in my opinion as I'm a big fan of Ruffalo. Eternal Sunshine, You Can Count on Me, Zodiac...the list goes on. So the question is, who is going to lens the film? Scorsese goes back and forth between Michael Ballhaus and Robert Richardson. He used Roger Deakins once, maybe he'll go back. Personally, I'd love it if he grabbed Rodrigo Prieto.

Digg This Shit!

2007-12-02T22:15:00.001-05:00

Head on over to digg.com and check out Potty Boy's new video. It's hilarious and you'll get to meet the incomparable Grace! Go now.

No Country for Old Men

2007-12-01T13:50:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of the Coen Brothers, but I wasn't exactly a huge fan of their last two films. Their latest, is easily one of their best, and that's saying something. No Country for Old Men is told in a very simple, straightforward, and clean way. That's why it's so effective. Also, as the film progresses they make some choices that will surprise you and I found them invigorating. The story is simple; A man, Llewelyn Moss is out hunting and he comes across a bloodbath, a shitload of heroin and 2 million dollars in cash. He takes it. The Coens have made a few movies about people who take something that doesn't belong to them and the consequences they face. Moss faces one of the most memorable screen villians I've ever seen. Played to perfection by Javier Bardem, Anton Chigurh, is a cold, relentless killer sent to track down the money and the man who took it. Their cat and mouse chase is taut and nail biting. The film is quietly simmering. You can smell the violence and danger and you fear for Llewelyn immediately because you know, as well as he does actually, that he is, in a word, fucked. I saw this film a week ago and their are scenes that have not left my brain and lines of dialogue that echo in my head. The work in and on the film is terrific. The Coens adapted the screenplay from a book by the same name from author Cormac McCarthy. Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Kelly MacDonald and Tommy Lee Jones are give excellent performances and as usual, one of my favorite DP's shot the shit out of this film. Roger Deakins work is striking and the visuals are a character of their own in the film.

I truly can't recommend this enough.

Cloverfield

2007-12-01T08:59:00.000-05:00

Okay here we go. Small but important tidbit.

The Wonders of the Internet

2007-11-21T16:13:00.000-05:00

I'm flattered. And excited. I just found this.

Someone found my short film Edit This and posted it on youtube. I have no idea who this person is but I can only assume that they liked it and that's why they posted it. Made my day.

Thank you cyberdelicamusic!

I said "arigato" to a Korean man.

2007-11-21T14:49:00.000-05:00

There is a terrific interview with Paul Thomas Anderson over at cigarettesandredvines.com. They discuss There Will Be Blood (can't fuckin' wait), Robert Altman, shoes, sandwiches and some other cool stuff.

Cloverfield

2007-11-21T07:06:00.000-05:00

It appears thats the title. Works for me...not that I have a choice. I like that it isn't a direct (as far as we know) reference to a monster or event, i.e. Godzilla or Independence Day. Better than the title is the new trailer. This trailer shows, however fleeting, much than we've seen yet so if you want to remain completely in the dark about the film don't watch it. Not that it gives much away but some people don't want to know anything. That being said, it's a kick ass trailer.

Of note...look at the page the trailer is on. NYC smoking in the background of a headless Statue of Liberty. Spiderman 3 also had the floor of a building, in NYC, destroyed with people falling out. Why is that okay, but the film United 93 was deemed "too soon?" Just curious...

Sicko

2007-11-19T20:58:00.000-05:00

Sicko will fucking piss you off! It will also unsettle, unnerve and upset you more than, quite possibly, any other film you've ever seen. Why? Because it's true. Because it has happened to people like you and me. The movie will also make you laugh because it's made by Michael Moore, who always infuses his films with humor. Thank Christ, because if not they would make audiences monumentally depressed.

I'm a Michael Moore fan. Big time. I've seen all of his movies and every episode of his, sadly, short-lived TV show, The Awful Truth. I realize not everyone feels this way. Moore divides people. He's a "you either love him or hate him" kind of guy. I think people misunderstand him.

The style he uses in his films makes his vision clear. In my mind at least. He's telling you, through his film, when he's making a funny or when he's having fun with the material. Listen to the music he uses, or the images he shows. This is what you do when you make a film, you use image and sound to get your point across, to manipulate the viewer. Manipulate? Sounds bad, right? Well it's true. Have you ever seen Psycho? Chinatown? The Usual Suspects? The Sixth Sense? See what I’m sayin’? The reason I’m explaining this is because Moore gets accused a lot, by Republicans or neo-con big mouth talk shows "hosts," of manipulating things. I've been hassled for liking his films and challenged by people, angry people, about how honest he's being and what his motivations are. I think he's being honest. I realize that he's being completely one-sided in some cases. The same big mouth blowhard fuckhead talk show "hosts" are one-sided. I feel Moore's trying to prove a point. And he does. Quite effectively. Whether you like his approach or him as an on-camera personality, there's one thing you can't deny, he's out there for the better of this country and the people who live in it. He's asking questions that no journalist will ask. He's bringing up hypocrisies in politicians, and policy. People are scared of him and that's why they don't like him. There's a scene in Sicko that proves this. I won't spoil it.

Whether you're liberal, conservative, extremist or somewhere in between, this movie will scare you, move you and even make you laugh. You may laugh because of misplaced anxiety though because what's going on with our Healthcare is downright frightening.

Usually, Moore is front and center in his films, on camera and interacting with his subjects. He lays back a bit in Sicko. Especially at the beginning. He doesn't need to be front and center, the stories do. He slides in at just the right time because I needed a break from the stories. They were that upsetting.

This is the kind of film which should be shown in classrooms across the country. Kids need to see this film and understand we need change. They're going to be the ones to save us, to carry the torch that will hopefully be lit in the very near future, burning for everyone's right to live a healthy life, unburdened by the threat of getting sick and not having a chance to be taken care of because they aren’t “covered.” But I shouldn't just place it on the kids. Everyone should watch this film.

Is Daniel LaRusso the Most Hated Man in the World?

2007-11-14T21:29:00.000-05:00

I was 9 years old when The Karate Kid was released in theaters. I loved it. My father took me on opening night and I saw it 2 other times in the theater. I think Elizabeth Shue was my first crush. I remember the crowd cheering when Daniel crane kicked that fucking prick Johnny, snapping his head back, thus winning the championship. The Karate Kid epitomizes "crowd-pleasing." It's a completely memorable movie and much like everyone else my age I can quote the movie up and down.

However after watching it one night my freshman year of college I had a different outlook. I laughed more. A lot more. By the time Daniel flipped out and threw his bike in the dumpster ("I hate this friggin' bike") we were on the floor in hysterics. When Miyagi got drunk, the chopsticks & the fly, anytime Daniel got beat up, the music, "Just like grape" we cracked up...the list goes on and on.

I suppose this happens- we grow out of our adolescent loves and see how much we've grown. Of course one could argue my laughing at a poor kid getting picked on and beaten up shows my immaturity but that's besides the point. And anyone who knows me could tell you that anyway. The point is through the tears (of laughter) I discovered something- Daniel LaRusso may be the most hated man in the world. Yes I said world, but I'll get to that. Maybe hate is a strong word and maybe all of the so called "bad guys" are just misunderstood. Maybe Daniel is just an insufferable little shit who instills a rage in the people he meets whereby they whip his ass. Take Johnny for example. One could argue that Johnny was a bully. But one could also argue he was just sticking up for his girl. Some punk from "The Dirty" (new jersey for you westcoasters- thank you jason) was trying to get my woman, I'd kick some ass too. Especially for Elizabeth Shue. Let me rephrase- I'd try to kick some ass. Accomplishing would be another story.

But that was how it started. Daniel tried to nicely help a girl from being taunted and humiliated by her boyfriend and his got his ASS HANDED TO HIM. Even his new friends ditched him. In fact when he bumped into them next they gave us the title of the movie in dialogue form "hey Karate Kid, got any cool moves?" Then one of Johnny's buddies- a fellow Cobra Kai student- went after Daniel in soccer tryouts. Daniel got a nice punch in but got kicked out of the tryout claiming that the school "sucked" and causing Allie to do her cheerleading routine half-heartedly as she watched him walk away. This fight caused the Cobra kai to try and kill Daniel. In the dark of night, on their motorcycles, versus Daniel's bicycle (see the symbolism here) they ran him off the road, down a steep hill, sending him flipping along until he smashed his head on a rock or something. It was after this that much hilarity ensued when he threw his "friggin" bike out and yelled at his mother about how much the place "sucked" for him (there's that word again). I think Daniel was projecting his anger on his mother, and his poor bike, over his inability to win over the girl and not be able to handle himself against the thuggish Cobra Kai. Maybe he's the problem, not the place. I mean it is California after all.

Miyagi had overheard the fight between Daniel and his mother and we know this because he poked his head out of his apartment after they left and stared contemplatively. I wonder if he thought Daniel was projecting too. Oh well, who knows, on to the next ass-kicking for Daniel.

At this point, one would think Daniel had learned his lesson, but no. He went to the Halloween dance dressed as a shower, thanks to Miyagi, and even got Allie to dance with him in the shower. Keep in mind he had a great, private place to make his move but the sadomasochist in him prevailed. Not only did he soak Johnny with water but he ruined a perfectly good joint that Johnny had been rolling. By the way, if Johnny smoked pot I doubt he'd be picking fights with people, but I digress. So Daniel inevitably gets chased out of the dance, all to an appropriately written pop song called "No Shelter." The Cobra Kai catch his sorry ass and take turns demonstrating their karate skills on Daniel's face and body. Johnny is ready for the kill strike but one of his Cobra Kai-ians stops him. "He's had enough." Johnny disagrees. "The enemy deserves no mercy!" This was the tipping point for me. "The enemy." "No mercy." Johnny really does want to kill him. And he would've if it weren't for a super slow moving old man from Okinawa who saves Daniel's ass. After this we the audience, along with Daniel, are schooled by Mr Miyagi. We learned lots of ways to fix up the house, wax our cars (in the literal sense) and how to get stinking drunk (the funniest part of the movie), but sadly there are no more beatings. Miyagi takes Daniel to the Cobra Kai Dojo to face his attackers. He quickly realizes they are not welcome there and that the Cobra Kai Sensei, now, also hates Daniel. For no other reason than- well I'm not sure. Because he's a wuss maybe? No, because Miyagi beat up his students who were beating up Daniel. So everyone hates everyone. But Miyagi smoothly arranges a "hands off" policy for Daniel while he prepares for the tournament. Which brings me to...? Yup. The tournament.

Everyone remembers the tournament. "Put 'em in a bodybag-yeeeaaahhhhh." It's classic. The best song in the movie- "You're the Best" is set to a montage of Daniel beating opponent after opponent. Then- "Sweep the leg." At this point Johnny is confused and expresses concern. Where the motivation for that comes from I don't know. On his own terms Johnny wanted to fucking kill this kid but once his Sensei tells him to "sweep the leg" he's all concerned about Daniel. Any-who he sweeps the leg, Miyagi performs some magic on Daniel and then he cranes kicks Johnny in the face and wins. It doesn't happen that quickly but it's close. Hurray. Everyone loves Daniel now, I mean it is high school so people are easily swayed. Annnnnnnnd movie over. Everyone loves him- Johnny, the Cobra kai gang, even his old "new" friends- there's even a freeze frame goddamnit! They don't end sad movies about hated characters with freeze frames! So why is Daniel the most hated man in the World not just California? Duh the sequel.

This kid travels across the fucking global to Miyagi's homeland and what does he do there? Hooks up with a girl which pisses another guy off and he and Miyagi are practically chased out of the country. A) How is this different than the first Karate Kid and B) Didn’t this little shit learn his lesson? I suppose it’s slightly different than the first one, I mean they gave Miyagi a love interest. This time though, they literally try to kill Daniel because his last fight is on a little island where only the winner comes off. The crowd even played little hand drums. That is serious shit. My favorite part is when the Father of the bad guy (kid in this case and yeah I forget his name) comes around to be on Daniel’s side. First of, didn’t the Father “raise” him? He probably raised him to be an asshole so who the hell does he think he is turning his back on his shitty son for some little non-lesson-learning puissant from California (formerly New jersey)? As we all know Daniel survives and even has a cute little moment where he honks the bad guys nose instead of killing him. What happened to the bloodlust of the crowd by the way? They were beating drums and everything. No crowd in a Jean Claude Van Damme movie would let that happen! P.S. I love that Daniel’s girlfriend is face face (hahaha) on the ground, cold-cocked and not moving. I don’t maybe it’s me but that added a whole level of humor to the whole thing. P.P.S. Wouldn’t it be great- for movie-going shock value alone- to have Daniel get killed in the end? Imagine the dead silence in the theater is Daniel was beaten to death, the bad guy leaves the island and we FADE TO BLACK. That would be sweet.

I haven’t the second Karate Kid in more years than I can count and really didn’t give a shit when the third one came lout. If I remember correctly the Sensei from the first movie comes back with an angry friend to get Daniel. They really lost steam for that one. They should’ve had Daniel be a drunk who forgot his karate skills and has to have Miyagi’s grandson teach him the way again after Miyagi is killed in a fight at a classic car rally and Daniel wants to avenge his death. But that’s just me.

Ralph Macchio thought better of starring in the 4th Karate Kid, convienently titled The Next Karate Kid, so they hired a Million Dollar Baby before she was a Million Dollar Baby, Ms Hilary Swank, Chad Lowe's ex-wife. I don’t even think I saw this one. What’s the point?

All right so maybe I overshot with most hated in the world, I mean there's plenty of other people to hate but let me ask you this; Have you ever moved somewhere or left the country and had people want to see you DEAD? I hope not. In the end, I suppose the lesson is if some greasy faced, obnoxious little punk from New Jersey one day, be nice to him because chances are some half-in-the-grave, slow moving old man from Okinawa may teach him how to fight and he could humiliate you in front of all your friends. Oh and steal your hot girlfriend.

Please enjoy:

I found this a few months ago and it seems like the perfect time to share it.

This video was directed by none other than William Zabka, aka Johnny Lawrence. Try and spot some of the cameos.

Bodyrock Ya'll

2007-11-08T20:20:00.000-05:00

I've been a fan of Moby since the first time I heard his music, but now I love him. Check this shit out! Certainly would be nice if more artists did this. It takes an enormous amount of generosity and trust to lead this charge. Thanks Moby! He's a Connecticut boy to boot!

"Damn it feels good to be a gangsta"

2007-11-08T20:00:00.000-05:00

Gangsters are easy to glorify and glamorize. It would also be pretty easy to make a vapid, wanna-be cool gangster film by simply being violent and using badass music. Go peruse the “Action” section at your local Blockbuster and you’ll see dozens of B gangster films all trying to be Goodfellas. Everybody wants to be Goodfellas, but Goodfellas is only Goodfellas because it wasn't trying to be something else. The film tells it’s story, we get to know the chararcters and come to care for them. All the while Scorsese throws his camera flourishes out there and his direction is beautiful, but it never gets in the way of the story. Ridley Scott has done the same with American Gangster.

American Gangster is an extremely involving film about cops, drug dealers and NYC in the 70’s. Clocking in at 2 hours and 40 minutes, the film feels like 5 minutes- there is no fat on it- everything counts. As usual, I’m not going to go to heavy into plot- one day I may and start putting “SPOLIER WARNINGS” on my “reviews” but not now. The film is based on an article titled “The Return of Superfly” which appeared in New York Magazine back in the summer of 2000. The film and article tell the untold story of Frank Lucas, a low-key man in a high profile world…drug dealing. Lucas enters the world of drug dealing through the backdoor and before Harlem knows what hit it, he has taken over. Poised to take down the drug trade is Richie Roberts, a cop so honest he turns in $1 million dollars in unmarked bills he finds in a drug bust. He’s also studying for the bar exam. These are two smart, determined men, working at opposite ends of the spectrum and you know they are going to collide because two people rising that fast are going to meet along the way.

One of the things Scott does so well is production design. Think about Blade Runner and Black Hawk Down. He’s a visionary. Here he recreates the 70’s so well you don’t even think about. The look and feel of this film is soaked in the 70’s. It’s isn’t just the production design though- it isn’t just the clothes, cars, music, and décor. It’s Vietnam, Ali vs Frazier, police corruption, and the casual mention of the French Connection job. It’s also the clothes, cars, music and décor. This film is about a time and a place and you never for one second even question that.

Both Russell Crowe (Rickie Roberts) and Denzel Washington (Frank Lucas) give terrific performances as one would expect. Crowe's character has much more to him than at first glance- he's flawed, like any human being and while he does right morally at work, he may not do so at home. Also, with the headlines Crowe makes in his personal life (i.e. throwing telephones at hotel clerks or biting people’s ears in bar fights) he brings some raw baggage with him. When you see him charging someone, or getting ready to break a door down to go after a suspect you know this guy is going to kick some fucking ass. Denzel gives a great performance as well. I’m never disappointed with him- he’s always good. He’s calculating here. Quiet. Strong. Ferocious, at times. When he lays down the law you best get out the way. Josh Brolin, who also has the lead in No Country for Old Men has nice supporting turn as a greasy, corruptest of the corrupt, NYC cop.

Ridley Scott is an excellent director- Alien, Blade Runner, Black Rain, Thelma & Louise, White Squall (highly underrated) Gladiator, Hannibal, Black hawk Down, Matchstick Men, and now American Gangster. I haven’t seen Kingdom of Heaven, but I’ve heard the directors cut is the version to watch. That was a huge film. Huge in everyway possible- big battles scenes, cast of thousands, sets, production design…While prepping that film, he made Matchstick Men. Yeah, he made that in the middle of producing a fucking epic. Have you seen Matchstick Men? It’s exceptional. He should do films like that more often. The point is, he’s at the top of his game. And American Gangster is the sum proof of that fact.

Of special note, Harris Savides shot this film. He has been doing exceptional work for awhile and the look he creates here earns a special spot at the top of his already illustrious list. Zodiac being another notable achievement,from earlier this year. He’s shot music videos for Madonna, Michael Jackson and such visionary directors as Mark Romanek and Michael Gondry. Slowly but surely he crept into film work starting with Heaven’s Prisoners and then onto The Game with David Fincher. Beautiful work…

Few New Reviews

2007-11-06T21:29:00.000-05:00

Even though it's a cool picture, I actually saw the following films from the comfort of my own couch.

I’ve seen a few movies over the last week or so that I figured I’d weigh in on, but not too heavily. The first is Reign Over Me starring Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler. Don Cheadle plays, Alan Johnson, a happily married, successful dentist, who reconnects with his college roommate, Charlie (Sandler) who lost his wife and three daughters on 9/11. The film isn’t about 9/11, it’s about a man who isn’t able to deal, and ultimately function, with the loss of his family. I liked the film overall, it’s a little heavy handed at times and could’ve been better by laying off some of the schmaltz, but Cheadle and Sandler are good and there’s some nice moments so I think the film ultimately succeeds.

Next I saw The Invisible, which was a nice surprise. The film is about a bright kid who’s about to graduate high school and has aspirations of being a writer. One night on his way home from a party, he is attacked, beaten brutally and left for dead. Thing is, he turns up in the morning, walks into to school only to discover no one can hear him or see him- this is were the title comes from- He’s invisible (clever, huh?). He has to convince one of the living, or pray to God, that someone finds his body before he dies. The film goes into a direction I couldn’t have possibly imagined from the previews and I liked that it had more on it’s mind than a revenge thriller or some stupid seen-it-all-before bullshit. I recommend this one too. The film stars Justin Chatwin, who has been in The Chumscrubber and War of the Worlds and seems like a pretty promising young actor. Another find is Margarita Levieva who is very good and also very pretty- I’m sure you’ll see more of her in the future, starting with Noise, a movie starring Tim Robbins, which has an interesting concept- a man living in NYC is overwhelmed by the noise and takes a vigilante approach to solving it. Check out The Invisible.

Have you ever seen Shaun of the Dead? Oh for real? Well go rent it right now because it’s friggin hilarious! And so is the latest from the same filmmakers- Hot Fuzz. Both films star Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and are directed by Edgar Wright. Here’s the drill: Hot Fuzz is about a policeman who gets reassigned to the quiet country because his arrest re cord is too high and he’s making the other cops look bad. He relocates to the quiet country and finds out it’s not so quiet. I watched Hot Fuzz for the second time this past weekend and found myself laughing even harder than I did when I saw it in the theater. Same went for Shaun of the Dead. Both films start out by poking fun at the genre their films take place in but they do it in a very underhanded, unassuming way and before you know it the film turns into just the thing they were initially making fun of. Very, very, very funny…I highly recommend them both.

Finally, I saw Spiderman 3 this weekend. Frankly I’m not sure what to make of it. I loved the first 2 Spiderman films. Solidly acted, and very well directed by Sam Raimi, the excellence of the first 2 made me think the third would be another out of the park home run. Not necessarily so. I didn’t hate the film, but it felt unfocused and certainly bloated. It bit off more than it could chew and then tried to swallow everything quickly. In between were varying degrees of tone which didn’t switch as deftly as they should’ve. Whether they’ve or not is beyond me because I wasn’t sure what Raimi was trying to do. Anyway, the jury is still kind of out for me because of how I felt about the first and how I feel about Raimi as a filmmaker. But at this point the film was a bit of a letdown. The action scenes were incredible as usual but I think the franchise has run it’s course. Of course they are making a fourth one, but without the help of any of the actors or director…so far at least. I have Sicko, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry and Ratatouille on the way from Netflix so I’ll drop a note about those when I watch them.

2007-11-02T21:45:00.000-04:00

My excitement lays upon more emotion than words can express- my good friend, and incredibly talented DP- Adrian Correia- just landed the head DP (Director of Photography) job for a documentary, which will carry him around the country and air on the WE channel. He was one of two candidates up for the job, the latter of which being a 30 year experienced DP in documentary work, and he fucking won out! The director/producer chose Adrian based on his “work” and “personality.” Clearly this woman is intelligent. Adrian is one of the most genuinely sweetest, kindest, nicest person(s) (did I write that right?) I know and his work is one of a true artist. This is a major break into the broadcast television world and I don’t know of anyone more deserving. Adrian is an artist. Plain and simple. Period- end of fucking story. On top of which, as I stated, he is also a top notch human being. Being on set is very stressful and all one can ask for in a DP and friend, beyond natural talent, which he has in spades, is a calming, ‘I’m-all-for-it’ attitude and he has all that and MORE. His work and attitude are unparalleled. I can’t express my happiness for him in words- as I would want to, but I can offer him all the best wishes I can possibly muster. Say goodbye to the dayjob, Sir, and say hello to everything you deserve- CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!

No Country for Old Men

2007-11-01T19:38:00.000-04:00

Not sure if this movie is on anyone's radar yet but it's released next friday and I can't wait. This is the new Coen brothers film, based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy. I've yet to read the novel but the trailer looks great and the early word is very good.

I'm a big fan of the Coen brothers. Raising Arizona is one of all time favorites and I still laugh my ass off when I watch it no matter how many times I've seen it. Miller's Crossing is a truly underrated film and it's hard to fully appreciate until watched it a few times. Blood Simple, Fargo, Barton Fink, O Brother Where Art Thou (just revisited this film on sunday), The Man Who Wasn't There, The Big Lebowski...impressive stuff. Sadly their last 2 films The Ladykillers and Intolerable Cruelty have disappointed me. No Country looks to be a return to form, of sorts, for the Coens. Although their films are fucking hilarious, their films can also be brutally violent. Watch the trailer and see if you sense the doom for poor Josh Brolin's character.

Another thing I like about them is that they've employed my favorite cinematographer, Roger Deakins, for almost 20 years. Good trivia question...What now famous director was the Cinematographer for the Coen's in the early days. Same said director also shot some pornos on 16mm back in the day. Start googling...

One Flush at a Time

2007-10-31T22:13:00.000-04:00

In a you-tubed world we all strive for funny online videos and it's just not always the case. One can only hope for some truly dedicated individual to come along and not only sort out the "crap" for us, but create his/her own entertaining videos for us websurfers to enjoy. Well, look no further. My good friend Michael Berndt has launched a new website for the world to enjoy. www.pottyboy.com is poised to be the ultimate online video vestibule. He and the incomparable Justin Starr are out in the crazy concrete jungle of NYC constantly looking for new material to film. They shoot and edit their own work and are two truly talented guys who settle for nothing less than top of the line content. Potty Boy will be posting at a consistent rate so be sure to keep checking back. Enjoy!

Ladies & gentlemen...Potty Boy Productions

Hey more Lehane & Cloverfield to boot...

2007-10-31T20:13:00.000-04:00

The NY Post had some info via Brad Grey yesterday. Brad Grey currently runs Paramount. He's a force in Hollywood. I'm a fan because his taste is right in my wheelhouse (that’s disgusting) and he supports people and projects I want to see get made. Check out his imdb page. You may recognize a few titles, like, um, oh I don't know, The Departed, a little show called The Sopranos and dozens of others...Well he spilled some beans recently. He stated that Leonardo DiCaprio is starring in Shutter Island, a Dennis Lehane novel I've been anxiously awaiting to be brought to the big screen. Guess who's directing? Scorsese. Um, hi, can someone knock me out? I never in a million (years that is) would've guessed he would be behind it. Let's hope it stays that way. Apparently they're set to roll cameras in March. Who'll play opposite Leo is the question? I love Billy Crudup. He rules and he hasn't gotten the recognition he truly deserves. Either way, being that it's Scorsese, I'm sure it won't be tough to get an excellent actor in the role.

Before I move on I need to express my love for Shutter Island. I take the train to work everyday so it affords me the time to read a lot of books, which is nice. It’s practically the only thing I enjoy about the commute. I read Shutter Island on the train. One night as I was coming into my station, I was like 40 pages out from the end. Got off the train, raced home and immediately sat down and started reading. Couldn’t put the fucker down. I dare say it’s my favorite Lehane book. So that’s where my excitement started.

Cloverfield. Grey spilled that it is a "classic monster movie" Either I missed something along the way or he didn't realize there is a big internet movement drumming up buzz about this film by not exactly saying what it's about. I know that it's been hinted at severely by several sources but this is a major player, who would know, saying it is a monster movie. So there's that.

Gone Baby Gone

2007-10-28T11:56:00.000-04:00

I'm a big fan of Dennis Lehane. His books are heavy subject matter with lots of moral questions and they don’t offer the easy way out. They also have sharply drawn characters and excellent dialogue (“I hate Coors light, it’s like sex on a boat. It’s fucking to close to water.”) so you get the sense they’d translate well to film right off the bat. I read Mystic River before the movie came out and I thought it was an amazing adaptation of a fantastic book. Gone Baby Gone is another amazing adaptation of a fantastic book and I think it’s a better film- no small feat.

Gone Baby Gone is my favorite book in a series of five novels centered around private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro so I went in with a certain anticipation as well as loaded gun ready to fire in the direction of any discrepancy I had with the movie in regards to it’s treatment and faithfulness to the book. By the time the introduction to the story had started - about 3 minutes into the film - I had a sense I was in for something special. Ten minutes later I was enthralled. Enthralled is one of those words that gets tossed around recklessly when describing movies- I’m sure I’ve done it myself – but this film is truly deserving of the word. My fiancé turned to me about 30 minutes and said, “It’s so good.” So true. She loved the books too so we were both super amped.

The film is about a little girl, Amanda McCready, who is kidnapped right out of her mother’s apartment. Her mother may or may not have been drinking and doing coke in a bar. She doesn’t seem to be too concerned that her daughter is gone. Baby. (sorry I had to do it.) The girl's Aunt & Uncle do care and they hire Kenzie and Gennaro to supplement the investigation because they will get info on the street and through the neighborhood unlike the cops. The film wastes little time getting into the meat of the story and letting us soak in the locals and locales. The film was shot in and around Boston, mainly in Dorchester where the film took place and you get an immediate sense of time and place thanks to the use of real locations and actual people from the neighborhood. I don’t want to get into the plot anymore as it’s better to discover it as you watch the film.

The acting is terrific across the board. Casey Affleck is perfect in the role of Kenzie and so is Michelle Monaghan as Gennaro. Again, they are sharply drawn in the book so I had a clear idea in my head of all the characters. Both Affleck and Monaghan are exactly what I pictured and they nail the roles. Casey Affleck is having a helluva year. I’ve heard his performance in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is incredible. And his work here is nothing less than exceptional. Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman are great as usual but some of best performances come from Amy Ryan, as the girl’s mother and Titus Welliver, as the girl’s uncle. Their characters are complex and three dimensional and you never doubt them for a moment. Welliver has a pivotal scene that I won’t soon forget. Of special note, John Ashton is in the film. Anyone who is a fan of Beverly Hills Cop or Midnight Run knows who I’m talking about. He’s a gem and he’s great in the movie. Why he doesn’t get more work is beyond me. The film is beautifully shot by John Toll and perfectly cut by William Goldenberg. This is the type of film that needs to be spot on editing-wise because if there’s any lag or confusion you’re done for. The pacing in this film is not your normal type where there’s a constant build to the ending. It makes you work and think. Which leads me to my next point.

For those of you that didn't already know this, Ben Affleck directed the film. Yes the same Ben Affleck who starred in Armageddon, Gigli, Surviving Christmas, Jersey Girl and Daredevil. He’s also the same Ben Affleck who wrote and acted in Good Will Hunting. He’s smart guy. I’ve never had a beer with him but I’ve seen him on Bill Maher a few times and he’s clearly very intelligent. But I also think he gets a bad rap for his acting. He hasn’t made some of the best choices but he also has done some very good work. Have you ever seen Changing Lanes? How about Dogma, Chasing Amy, Boiler Room, Going All the Way or Smokin’ Aces? I liked him better than Matt Damon and Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. His speech about “You’re sitting on a winning lottery ticket” is great and it’s what gets us to the end of that film, another scene he nails. He gave the best performance EVER as the typical “dick” in high school in Dazed & Confused. Given the right role, the boy can act. Gone Baby Gone proves he can direct. Really, really, really well. He co-wrote the screenplay and the choices he makes there are perfect but to translate it to the screen is a whole different ballgame. He pulls it off but at the same time he never takes the easy way out. The film is a huge moral question and it doesn’t let you off the hook. There are no simple solutions in life and this film understands that and doesn’t feel the need to interject a neatly wrapped up little package of them. Again, it makes you work and think. Where do you stand?

As I mentioned earlier, the pacing is way off from you’re normal thriller, but it works. Really fucking well. There is a documentary feel to a lot of the street scenes- it feels authentic yet self-contained- it doesn’t take you out of the film. Tone and pacing are paramount to making a good film. If you don’t have it you might as well pack up and go the fuck home. Gone Baby Gone has it in spades but the tone and pacing they created must’ve been a challenge. I can’t wait to see what Affleck directs next. I hope he does something soon.

I need to see the film again, but there may not be anything wrong with it. That’s pretty back-slappingly impressive.

All right then

2007-10-23T20:44:00.000-04:00

I wanted to check in, it's been quite awhile, with all 4 of my readers...Things have been busy and it's been hard to find time to post stuff but I have some good things coming in the next few weeks. Aside from work-work, I've been working on a mini-doc for my friend Carla Ten Eyck. For the past 2 1/2 years Carla has been working on an amazing project titled See Real Women: Really See Women and a few weeks ago we conducted some interviews and shot broll at the show opening. We had a blast and I'm in the middle of putting the piece together. Keep your eyes peeled.

I'm still editing Okay Great and I'm getting ready to cut a trailer for my friend Mike Timm's new webisode show. This past weekend I saw Gone Baby Gone and all I can say is it's incredible and I'm going to post a full review, plus thoughts on it and Ben Affleck's directing career in the next few days. More to come...

Okay Great we're done shooting. Now it's time to edit.

2007-09-26T23:53:00.000-04:00

It was a long weekend. Really long. 44 hours in 3 days. That doesn't include travel time and everyone was coming from at least an hour away. I can't thank my cast and crew enough. A majority of them gave up their entire weekend, as volunteers for this film and I'm forever indebted to them. The rest gave up huge chunks of their friday, saturday or sunday to act in the film. I'm indebted to them as well. On top of all that the enthusiasm and energy was palable on set. Every person broke their ass to make this project work. It's very humbling to have so many people be there for you. That was my favorite part of the shoot- the comraderie. Hopefully one day I will get a budget for one of movies and be able to pay all these people. Pay them and pay them back.

I love shooting. It's stressful and exhausting to say the least but I love it. You watch the scenes you wrote come alive and you watch the actors performing them take the scenes to new heights- far beyond your imagination. It's exhilarating. Now it's time for me to start editing. I need to make this movie memorable, not just for movie-making sake, but more importantly for all the people who contributed their time, effort, energy, and creativity to make it possible.

Cast & Crew:
Michael Berndt
Jamin Bricker
Adrian Correia
Joe Chasse
Nick Genchi
Tim Hotchner
Lynn Mancinelli
Ashley Pagano
Jon Pascale
Dan Ramirez
Joe Reilly
Pete Reilly
Erin Rosa
Bob Sylvia
Carla Ten Eyck - who also put up an awesome slideshow from the final day of shooting. Check it out on her blog.

Here are some stills from the movie & shooting.

3:10 to Yu-must Go See This Movie

2007-09-09T18:12:00.000-04:00

Just got back and Wow. I'm knocked out by it. The directing, cinematography, writing and especially the acting were outstanding. Well done, and well worth the wait. Can't wait to see it again.

On a side note, I get infuriated with people who talk loudly during a movie. It's a movie. Listen and watch and shut your fucking mouth. If you want to talk, go to a restuarant, or stay home. I find theres usually at least one per movie. Today took the cake. A man (I use that term loosely) took his 3 children to the movie. Well, sorry, one of the kids looked to be 14 or so, then a 4 year old and the other child was a baby. Even if I hadn't seen this asshole and his kids after the movie I would've know it was a baby because it cried and ga-ga-ed it's way through the movie. The man left with the child for about 10 minutes and then came back. Aside from disrupting the entire audience through about 85 percent of the movie, what on earth would make someone think it was a good idea to bring 2 young children to a violent R rated movie with lots of loud gunfights and action scenes? I wanted to drown the guy in my 57 gallon soda but instead I'll congratulate him. I'd say he's due for Father of the Year.

Shooting - Okay Great

2007-09-09T09:47:00.000-04:00

2 weeks from today I will be on my 3rd and final shoot day for my short film "Okay Great." Last October I started writing a few scenes that I had in my head. I wanted to do something different, something weird and kind of out there. I wrote about 17 pages but I had no ending, I had 2 ideas both of which I hated. I gave it to my friend Dan Ramirez, who is playing the lead and he liked the script but didn't really know how to end it either. Then another friend suggested the same ending I originally had in mind. I still didn't like it. Then about a month or 2 later I got one. It's been twisted and rearranged and changed a few times and after constantly revising the script here we are finally ready to shoot. I can't wait. It's by far the most ambitious thing I've ever attempted. We have 12 pages to shoot on saturday and if you've ever made a movie you probably just fell off your chair laughing at me. It's going to be stressful, but again, I can't wait.

It's fun to watch a movie progress. Writing is one thing. You can envision everything perfectly and it all sounds right on. Then you get on set and start shooting and the movie starts to take on a life of it's own. Things start to happen. Actors bring things to the performance you could've never imagined and it elevates the part and the work. You have to scrap shots and that you really wanted and are secretly praying that the film will work anyway. You can't get the angle you want and you have to try something else on the fly. It's invigorating. It's also nerve-racking. Then when you come into the edit room, the film takes on another life. Scenes play out funnier than you thought they would or more intense. They start working. Things are falling into place. You put music in, the scene becomes so much more than you thought it could be. On the downside you could get into the edit room and nothing is working and you have to revise the whole plan. To me thats what's exciting about making movies, things can change at anytime and there are hundreds of variables that can kickstart those changes. Happy accidents arise. Hollywood has called it movie magic. Whatever it is, it's fun to watch unfold, especially when you're right in the middle of it.

If you're interested, the still I posted below was taken when we were looking at locations. The scene in the movie that takes place in this bathroom was the first one I wrote.

Trailer - There Will Be Blood

2007-09-08T08:41:00.001-04:00

Sweet Jesus! I don't know if I can wait another 4 months.

The Wolfman

2007-09-08T08:28:00.000-04:00

Benicio de Toro, one of my favorite actors, is set to play The Wolfman. The film will be directed by Mark Romanek from a script by Andrew Kevin Walker. Romanek recently sent Aint it Cool News this photo below. Of note...Benicio has no makeup or anything it is purely his expression. This movie seems destined for scary greatness.

There Will Be Blood (and there better be)

2007-09-06T20:56:00.000-04:00

My friend Adrian just emailed this poster to me. My anticipation and excitement for this film cannot be measured in words. I also read that the trailer will most likely be attached to 3:10 to Yuma (even more of a reason to see this film this weekend) and/or The Brave One.

"What did that guy say when I said, 'What did that guy say?"

2007-09-05T21:49:00.000-04:00

I finally saw "The Simpsons." I've been a diehard fan of "The Simpsons" since they aired on "The Tracey Ullman Show." The last 5 plus seasons I've become kind of disenchanted with the series. In general a lot of repeat jokes and gags, along with seemingly uninspired plotlines. In its prime there wasn't better television and few will replicate their genuis. That being said, I had not the highest of expectations and I was pleasantly surprised. The genuis was back and it had a nice, thrice-episodic feel to it, even alluding to the story thread with a joke in the middle (I won't give it away). I laughed alot and thoroughly ejoyed it. The movie's days are numbered in the theater, but if you're a fan who became unenthusiastic about the show in the last few years or even if you didn't, go see it.

Tagged

2007-09-03T14:10:00.000-04:00

Senor Steve Depino tagged me. Informally, so did Carla "ten what I like about you." Here goes.

THE RULES:
1. Post these rules before you give the facts.
2. List eight (8) random facts about yourself.
3. At the end of your post, choose (tag) someone and list their name (linking to their page.)
4. Leave them a comment on their blog letting them know they've been tagged!

1. The name Face First Films comes from a long history of passing out. And I don’t mean from being knee deep in alcohol, I mean fainting. The first time I can remember passing out I was in 4th grade. I had poison ivy so badly my face was totally swollen- my eyes dwollen shut, and went down as a result. The next year I was at summer camp and passed out in an extremely hot room. Through my athletic years I had problems passing out usually with high physical exertion and heat. Since I became more lazy I haven’t had as many problems but last December I got up in the middle of the night to go pee and passed out knocking out the bottom half of a front tooth. Being that the toilet is between a vanity and bathtub I’m lucky I didn’t smash my face in much like a friend of a friend did. About a month later "face first films" popped into my head.

2. Believe it or not I was a quarterback in high school. I also played baseball, ran track and wrestled. I was also an avid baseball and football watcher. I hardly ever watch sports anymore and if I do I’m not the one who puts them on. Aside from going to the gym the only exercise I get is running to Wendy’s to get the Baconinator Value Meal.

3. I had to be vacuumed from my poor mother’s womb, a practice which has long since been abandoned due to the fact that it can cause brain damage. Pretty much explains everything about me.

4. I’m a packrat. I keep far more shit than I need or will ever use. Every few years I throw a bunch of it out but continue to accumulate other stuff.

5. I was so obsessed with movies as a young lad that when I got into trouble, if at all possible, my punishment would be a ban on which ever movie we were going to see that day or my dad was bringing home that night. Summer School and Watership Down standout. Ended up seeing Summer School, but still haven’t seen Watership Down.

6. Depino mentioned that Robert Norman was an over user of paper towels. Me too Robert. The amount I unspool to dry my hands could clog a sprung leak in the Hoover Dam.

7. I hate roasted red peppers. I mean I hate them. I can’t even remove them from a meal and enjoy it. I’d rather eat a live animal.

8. I used to be a long hair

and now I have none.

I don’t know who to tag since I don’t really know anyone else, so I’m going to tag a friend and fellow filmmaker whom I’ve tried to convince to blog. Maybe this will get him going. I tag Adrian Correia.

Depinot Grigio

2007-08-27T20:53:00.001-04:00

Steve Depino tagged me last week and I haven't had a chance to respond yet, but I promise I will. Check back.

Superbadass

2007-08-27T20:53:00.000-04:00

I posted about Superbad a few months ago which much anticipation. Well I saw it last weekend and it's easily one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. No kidding. Just go see it. Now. Go.

"May the good Lord-

2007-08-17T11:22:00.000-04:00

-Shine A Light on you"

UPDATE: Looky what dropped on youtube a few days ago.

Being a HUGE fan of Martin Scorsese and The Rolling Stones it's an understatement to say I'm over the muthafuckin moon about their new documentary, Shine A Light. The film will document a concert the Stones put on at the Beacon last year. Scorsese assembled some of the best DP's working in the movie business today to shoot it. Looky here. He also documented the lead up to the concert including preparations. Scorsese has already made the single greatest concert film ever - The Last Waltz, and the Stones are the greatest rock 'n roll band ever so this destined to be nothing less than beautiful and brilliant. Yes I love The Beatles too, but the Stones exemplify everything good, great, wonderful, decadent and perfectly imperfect about rock 'n roll. They've also been around longer and their longevity means a lot to me in terms of their status of greatest rock 'n roll band ever.
Had John Lennon not been killed it might be a different story but this argument is for another post. A brief but somewhat insightful article was recently done with Scorsese about the film. He's a longtime, die hard fan of the Stones and his use of their music in his films are nothing if not inspiring and ingenious. He was also one of the early adopters of using current pop/rock music in films. See Mean Streets.(and if you do take notice of Robert De Niro's attire in the film. Sylvester Stallone clearly ripped it off for Rocky 2 years later. But I digress, as usual)

Of note, The Last Waltz is a great film documenting The Band's last performance. Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, a very young Neil Young and many more grace the stage. The way he shot this film set the stage for the way every concert was shot since. Although I doubt anyone has ever approached it the way Scorsese did. He contacted each band, found out which songs they were going to perform and then he made a shot list on a music sheet- each lighting and camera angle motivated by the lyrics and music within the song. Yes he did. There's evidence too. Pick up the DVD. You'll be dancing in your living room.

Shine A Light was supposed to come out this fall, but recently it was pushed to the fall as Scorsese is still editing and mixing. I'm disappointed only because I'm anxious and you should be too!

Zodiac

2007-08-07T21:00:00.000-04:00

With much anticipation, I watched Zodiac over the weekend and it was worth the wait. I'm a big fan of All the Presidents Men and also, The Insider, as I've mentioned. They are both thrillers, but not really in the conventional sense. They are thrillers with drama cranked up a few notches. Zodiac is very much the same type of movie. All three involve men who are obsessed. Obsessed to the point where it consumes their lives. In the case of Zodiac, it is the infamous Zodiac killer who murdered 5 people, frightened countless others, and in the end, was never captured that obsessed such men. The first third of the film has some intense and hair-raising scenes involving some of the murders. It then settles into a film about process and obsession as different investigators and newsmen try to solve the crimes and it is engrossing.

The performances are excellent across the board. Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gylenhaal, Robert Downey Jr, Anthony Edwards, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, Dermut Mulroney, Chloe Sevigny and Brian Cox are all wonderful. Ruffalo particularly impressed me. So did Chloe Sevigny, but I'm a fan of them anyway.

David Fincher, the director, delivers one of his best films date (Fight Club is still number one in my book.) His attention to detail is impressive in all of his films but here it really shines in a period that has always appelaed to me. It looks like it was shot in the late 60's/70's. They even used the old paramont logo. Fincher is very restrained here. He has a few camera tricks up his sleeve and some very complex moves, as usual, but nothing overly flashy. As he said, "Two guys walk into a room, sit down over a cup of coffee and then proceed to rip through six pages of dialogue."

The film was shot in HD (High Definition) all recorded directly to a hard drive. The video I just shot for Steve Depino was recorded in a similiar manner (see a post below). We didn't record to hard drives, we recorded to what is called a P2 card. Either way, it's interesting to me because this is the new trend and I'm excited. Michael Mann shot 85% of Collateral in High Def and recorded directly to a hard drive. Fincher is doing his next film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the same way. As an editor, I can tell you firsthand that digitizing (loaded the footage off tape and into your computer) sucks. It's boring and frustrating for someone like me because once I start seeing footage I start getting ideas for cutting and get even more impatient. Now you can import or copy/paste the files and find something else productive to do rather than babysit the ingest of footage. Granted, I'm sure problems can arise this way, but so far so good for me and hopefully the more the workflow is ironed out, the less the problems will be. That being said, Zodiac is a very good film and well worth checking out.

The Truthiness of SteveDepino.com

2007-08-05T17:19:00.000-04:00

Steve Depino is a truly gifted photographer. One of the things that impresses me most about him is that he is constantly pushing himself and his style. You look at his work over the last few years and you see growth. Impressive and amazing growth. Growth that didn't need to occur because his work was so strong to start with. You see the growth of someone who is driven to change, adapt and break new ground, whether they need to or not. His photos consistently blow me away and the fact that he has the balls to always be pushing himself and not be content- to always be restless- is very admirable and most of all, inspiring. Very few artists, in any field, push themselves when they are already working at the top of their game, but Steve does. It's not just something to be commended, but to be emulated. Go to his site and check his work out. You'll see. Check out his blog too, he posts more than the Drudge Report, but he's struggling for readers, unlike this robust site, so help the brother out. Any-who, I decided to hitch my horse to his wagon, literally, not figuratively, and make a mini-documentary about him. We shot for 2 days. One day was interviews and the other was shooting Steve shooting a wedding. Then I tucked away into the edit room to try to piece together the puzzle that is the Steve Depino Photography experience. The result is below. Feel free to make any comments - good or bad - I welcome all.

I want to thank a few people who helped me immensely with this piece. I want to thank Adrian Correia, who is a superbly talented Director of Photography, for his time and beautiful lighting. Also, Mary, Brian, Jeff & Dawn, who all gave up a saturday in april to sit down with us and put up with my questions, requests and admittedly diva-like behavior. I want to thank Kelli & Petter who were kind enough to let me follow Steve around at their wedding. Thankfully, they have accepted my apology for knocking over their wedding cake. It was an accident, no matter what any of their guests say. Carla ten eyck, another amazingly talented photographer and super cool person, lent me some incredible photos of Steve rolling around in the grass taking pictures, all from her own collection of work. This was not something she had to do- she just did it out of the goodness of her heart and the segment wouldn't have been the same without them. She also took the photo of Steve featured at the top of this post. Sonia Baghdady was generous enough to also give up her saturday to do makeup for our interviewees as well as Steve. I think she'll agree with me when I say that Steve got a little carried away with the makeup. Some touching up is fine, Steve, but purple lipstick and neon yellow eyeliner is just way over the top, and frankly not very becoming on you. Speaking of Steve, I want to thank him for his patience with my busy schedule this summer and understanding that filmmakers need time to procrastinate and self-doubt. Actually, I think he was patient, I mean he swore up and down it wasn't him who slashed my tires, sugared my gas tank and spray painted "dick" on the side of my house, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Last but certainly not least I want to thank Bob Sylvia. His help was invaluable. He gave up 2 of his saturdays to help me on this project as well as many hours on graphics. He also listened to my bullshit on the train in the morning. "The stupid HDV footage is breaking my balls" "I need to find more music" "The room I edit in at home has no AC and it's hot as hell" and so on. Bob is also responsible for the presentation of Steve's photos in the video and he had the great idea of scanning Steve's business card to capture his signature graphicly so we could use it in the video. He was also responsible for animating that signature. He shot second camera, ran sound and transferred all the files on set. To say he's an exceptional utility man is a massive understatement.

Thank you again to everyone.

Am I hallucinating?

2007-08-01T09:06:00.001-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the director of Daddy Day Camp. Shocked? Yeah me too. I'm always fascinated to see who directs these kinds of movies and why. And by "these" I mean movies you would typically expect to go straight to video or simply be amazed they were able to secure a budget, cast and crew. So everytime I see a movie like Daddy Day Camp or Who's Your Caddy come out I always check to see who the director is. Ironically my fiancee asked me the other day if I had a chance to direct Who's Your Caddy (or something like it) would I? I think I would. If for nothing else I would do it for the experience. Even the best directors have made shit films. Who cares if you have some crap movie you're not proud of. Maybe you would be proud of it- who knows? At least you could say you directed a feature, and hopefully from there you'd get better work. Seeing Fred Savage's name as the director shocked me though for a few reasons. One, I had no idea he was directing. Two, it was the last name I expected to see. Looking at his imdb page, he's been directing ALOT. So if you've been wondering whatever happened to Kevin Arnold, he's directing Daddy Day Camp, among other things.

ps Cuba Gooding Jr. needs to have a serious discussion with his manager and agent.

New Cloverfield Poster

2007-08-01T08:15:00.001-04:00

The film is still shooting in NYC so they're going to have a short time in the edit room. Actually they're probably editing as they shoot, but for a film with appears to have a lot of cgi they're going to be busy. On the poster, notice the wake left behind by whatever storm in the city destroying everything.

The Dark Knight

2007-07-28T16:52:00.000-04:00

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?

2007-07-26T09:52:00.000-04:00

Dig this.

3:10 to Yuma

2007-07-18T21:52:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-13T08:52:00.000-04:00

***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

2007-07-12T09:05:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-11T09:17:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-10T16:59:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-07T08:10:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-06T12:03:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-02T19:45:00.000-04:00

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?

Okay Great

2007-06-29T09:29:00.000-04:00

From the day I wrote the first draft to the day I start shooting will be almost a year. Kind of a frustrating process...Initially I was going to shoot in january, but I got extremely bogged down in work, had to take on an additional unexpected project, etc...then we were going to shoot in May but my DP, Adrian ordered the new Red camera so we waited. The delivery schedule for the Red camera was just bumped 3 months and I'm not waiting anymore. The camera promises to be a revolutionary camera filmmakers- Steven Soderbergh is shooting his next 2 films with it, but again I can't wait anymore. I have a project in the winter and we'll shoot with it then. So be it...

If all stays on course (which it should) I will start shooting Okay Great on September 21st. It'll be a jam packed 3 day shoot. The project started with wanting to do "something weird" and evolved into much more. Without giving too much away- I'd rather have everyone watch it- Okay Great is about a twentysomething man, Sean Chase, who after a sleepless night, is having the single strangest day of his life, but he's not sure if it's his imagination or if it's real.

I'm still looking to cast a female- 20's-30's- in a small (2 scenes), but critical, fun and (hopefully) memorable role, so if anyone knows anyone...also if anyone knows an exhibitionist I have another small scene, no dialogue but very important. There is no nudity, but it is a sex scene. It's not exploitive or distasteful, it's for effect, and it's a neccesity to the story. Anyway, it's a tougher role to cast for the obviosu reasons, so again, if anyone knows anyone...I can explain and describe more when I talk to whomever might be interested. I'll keep posting about this project as I continue to prep.

Outside of my day to day work, I'm close to having a first cut of a piece I'm doing for Steve Depino, which will definitely be posted when it's finished.

later skaters.

There will be Blood

2007-06-22T14:44:00.000-04:00

My excitement for this film knows no bounds. This is my favorite filmmaker. Hard Eight, Boogie, Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love are all AMAZING films. Along with Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas), Robert Altman (Short Cuts), Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing), and Steven Soderbergh (sex, lies and videotape), Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) completely revolutionized the way I looked at making films and writing scripts. This is his new film.

On the Lot sucks (but I've seen every episode)

2007-06-22T08:48:00.001-04:00

It does though. I can't believe Mark "king of reality/competition shows" Burnett and Steven Spielberg dropped the ball on this. It's all over the place. There's no rhyme or reason to what they're doing and they're not showing the best part- the shooting! I don't think the general public knows what goes into making a film and maybe they don't give a shit but truly it's fascinating and would make for great drama without having to resort to the usual reality style editing where a situation seems more dramatic than it is. On top of that the Host needs to relax. Obnoxious doesn't even cover it. She has this habit of wrapping her arms around the contestants and making them do the same to her. It's awkward. Then she'll point out that they're "shaking" and "why are you nervous?" Ummmm, because you're a creppy weirdo who can't make them feel comfortable not to mention they just screened a piece of work that they put their heart and soul into (hopefully) and adrenaline is consuming them. I do like the guest director judges- there honest and not afraid to speak their mind, although Michael Bay seems like a douche bag through and through. Carrie Fisher is a trainwreck, and Garry Marshall says some good stuff and has some funny one-liners but sometimes I'm not sure where he's coming from. Either he's drinking during commercial breaks or he's slipping mentally. For example, he told one director that next time he'd like to see her do something more serious. Well their assignment was to make a comedy. I'm sure she would love to do something serious, when assigned to. But he ragged on himself for Beaches so that made up for it.

All right I'm done with the soap boxing...

I'm watching because I love watching the shorts. We DVR the episodes and fast forward thru the Crystal methed-up host. Probably the only way I could watch it. That being said, as a filmmaker (or wannabe filmmaker) it's a disappointment that the show doesn't tell you anything about filmmaking and that's it's American Idol for filmmakers. Maybe they'll get their shit together next season.

Short Films, etc...

2007-06-21T11:42:00.000-04:00

Please feel free to comment here on my work currently displayed on the site. I realize that this isn't the ideal setup but we'll get there. In the meantime, good, bad or indiffferent please voice your opinion.

UPDATE:

Even though one person reads this blog I've already managed to confuse her. Eventually I will have something setup where on my main page you can view my work and make comments. For the time being please feel free to post them and just reference the title.

Accelerating America

2007-06-13T09:41:00.000-04:00

I went to a screening of a documentary titled "Accelerating America" last week at the Soho Hotel screening room. My friend Tim Hotchner made the film as an independent with little money. He's polishing the film over the next few weeks and then he's looking for distribution. Go to the site and check it out- there's a trailer also. http://acceleratingamerica.com/

3 Back to Back

2007-05-20T09:12:00.001-04:00

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.

First of (hopefully) many...

2007-05-20T09:12:00.000-04:00

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.

Click here and go to the second page, halfway down to see a little preview I put together.