Adventures of the Scarlet Rebel

Golden Globes 2012

2012-02-11T03:41:00.000-08:00

I live tweeted during the Golden Globes- here it is just for the record:

Salma Hayek is still incredibly hot. She is 45? Are you kidding me? #GoldenGlobes
Hey Paula Deen is there with the Masterpiece Theatre crowd. #GoldenGlobes
I like how Rob Lowe said Kate Winslet like its no surprise. #GoldenGlobes
If you know you're gonna win, sit up front! #GoldenGlobes
Oooh Frida Pinto. Keep her on screen #GoldenGlobes
Sears has a MLK day sale?
Mmmm Morena Baccarin... #GoldenGlobes
"I'm sorry, I'm French"- Quote of the Night #GoldenGlobes
Thomas Newman loses again. A predictable tragedy. #GoldenGlobes
I am not used to seeing Kristin Wiig as a brunette.
Peter Dinklage looks so unamused. #GoldenGlobes
George Clooney doesn't need a pimp cane! #GoldenGlobes
So Spielberg neglects to give credit to Edgar Wright? #GoldenGlobes
Its my man-crush JGL! #50/50 #GoldenGlobes
The perennial Woody Allen category. #GoldenGlobes
Wow, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is so into themselves they even have absent people thank them in their speeches.
Alan Ruck is there! #GoldenGlobes
This is the funniest speech ever. #SidneyPoitier #GoldenGlobes
What was that Casket thing? That was amazing!! #GoldenGlobes
Must see Electric Company.
YES! YES! Hugo is SO good! Go Scorsese! #GoldenGlobes
Every shot of Ricky Gervais is of him drinking. #GoldenGlobes
Tilda Swinton, you just so... weird. #GoldenGlobes
They hate Thomas Newman as much as they love Meryl Streep #GoldenGlobes
Screw you HFPA. Seriously. Screw you. It's all about Hugo!

Next up: This semester I am taking Intermediate Editing, Intermediate Directing, and Analysis of the Film Genre (Action Films). I'll post about those classes periodically.

Skyrim, Subway and Sunlight Jr.

2012-02-11T03:34:00.000-08:00

@TheScarletRebel: Filling up the store. 20 minutes left! #SkyrimMidnightRelease #OccupyGamestop
@TheScarletRebel: Just got a picture and had an awesome conversation with Patrick Fugit. Super nice and cool guy. #SkyrimMidnightRelease
@TheScarletRebel: I am turning #Skyrim into a lesbian, medieval Thelma and Louise.

For those of you who don't know, Skyrim is an epic role playing game that will be remembered as a landmark achieving in gaming for the level of depth and detail that went into the making of this game. It just won game of the year at this years Video Game Awards. I had high hopes for this game and it has not disappointed. What I did not expect was a celebrity sighting when I went to the midnight release party for the game. While in line I hung out with Patrick Fugit, star of "Almost Famous" and costars in "We Bought a Zoo".

@TheScarletRebel: Lugging a desktop around Dallas Int'l Airport so I can do VFX work at home over Thanksgiving. #AdventuresInFilmmaking

So after working on the visual effects on Thanksgiving day and wrapping up the sound and post work on Meet Derek- 508 was finally over. The film screened at the USC First Look screenings and was very well received. All the jokes were laughed at, people seemed to like the action sequences and lots of people came up to me and congratulated me on my work afterwords. Also my homemade fudge that I made for the reception was gone before I even hit the lobby.

@TheScarletRebel: 508 is over, and the very next morning here I am working out and then running to set. Nothing has changed.
@TheScarletRebel: I am in a Subway commercial today with @JPerryFilms
@TheScarletRebel: Day 2 of Subway job. Praise the Lord for this beautiful day!

The very next day I started work as a key grip on a Subway ad. Paid work! Woohoo! The first day was miserable. It was raining. It was cold. And if you have ever worked with an HMI light you know they can't get wet. Rough day. The next 3 days were gifts from God! It was perfect weather outside and we were on a football field for 2 of those days. And all I had to do really was move around these big 12x12 frames and make sure they were safe.

So Meet Derek was well received and I just had 4 days of paid work and was now going home for Christmas. I didn't think life could get much better at this point. But on the way to a Christmas party I got a call asking if I wanted to work the next day. Before I said I really wanted to spend time with my family he said it was paid work. I accepted. At this point all I know is I am working and getting paid. I show up on set and start to work and I see this is much bigger than a music video like I was expecting. This is a feature film. I am on set for 4 hour before I see the star walk by. It's Naomi Watts.

@TheScarletRebel: I'm a grip today on the set of Sunlight Jr. starring Naomi Watts and Norman Reedus.

I run up to my friend as say the star looks a lot like Naomi Watts. He laughs at first until he sees I am serious and tells me that it is indeed Naomi Watts. What else was I suppose to say? You think he would have mentioned that when he called me up and asked if I wanted to work. And the last place I was expecting to met a huge star like her would be St. Petersburg, Florida. It also turns out that Matt Dillon and Norman Reedus (The Boondock Saints, The Walking Dead) are in this film. So I was only supposed to work the one day but by lunch I have been booked for the rest of the shoot meaning I will be working up until Dec. 23rd.
Some of my tweets from set:

Just booked 2 more days on #SunlightJr. Matt Dillon will be here tomorrow.
A mom in a minivan just got into a fight with a motorcyclist. A fun little event for us on set here to witness. #SunlightJr
Driving to set. Somehow Pandora has decided to convert my "Nirvana/ Rage Against the Machine" station into an Indian Dance music station.
Smoothies??? This set is awesome! #SunlightJr
Filet Mignon for lunch! #SayWhat #SunlightJr
Our Best Boy Grip took a speargun to the face. #TrueStory #SunlightJr
#SunlightJr is officially hiring me on until the end of production.
Doing the Diet Coke + Mentos trick on set. #SunlightJr
I'm playing football with Matt Dillon. #Awesome #SunlightJr.

Literally "Making it Rain"

The film centers around this gas station called Sunlight Jr. Production was using an old station that had been out of business for a while. This meant the production design team had to make it look like a fully functioning place. Meaning they had to bring in all the food and drinks that a convenience store would have. Once filming was over they could only return certain items- the rest was up for grabs. Best shopping spree ever. Since I was on set I found that Xmas shopping was difficult but when this raid happened I decided to grab ALL the coffee and made a gift basket for my mom. She loved it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517249/

Sunlight Jr.- everyone go see it when it comes out later this year. Go see my name in the grip and electric department!

Part 5: Burning Down Places with "Meet Derek"

2012-02-11T02:53:00.000-08:00

@TheScarletRebel: The Falcons won, I can get away with anything this Tuesday. #TheKenCosbyDeal

When you are in 508 you also take a editing and sound theory class called 509 and a writing class called 529. My writing professor was Ken Cosby, who happens to be Bill Cosby's nephew, a longtime ghost writer for Law and Order, and one cool dude. He was the perfect writing professor for me due to his hilarious nature (he is also a stand up comedian), his love for comics (he once worked for Marvel as well) and his love for football. At the begining of the semester we made a bet on the Falcons after he said they wouldn't win 5 games. Later I found out we even share more in common as he was in an episode of How I Met Your Mother as a cab driver, and I am inexplicably mentioned in Season 5 Episode 10: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQiGrw7WcKM

@TheScarletRebel: Thank you @markdanielewski for such an inspirational evening! #REDCAT #T50YS

Each year on Halloween my favorite author, Mark Z. Danielewski, performs a live reading and interpretation of his rarest book live at the REDCAT theater in downtown LA. I am a huge fan of his other books "House of Leaves" and "Only Revolutions". I am such a huge fan of his unorthodox style that I have considered flying out to see this in the past but it was never practical.

A page from House of Leaves.

But now I am in LA and I finally got to go see this. This was so exciting because this book is so rare I have never gotten to read it so not only was I seeing a live interpretation of the story, I was experiencing for the first time all together. Also like I expected I got to meet Mark, but what I did not expect was they had a small collection of his rare book there for purchase. It was $100 (this is how rare the book is) but all the money was going to charity and Mark would sign it when you got to meet him. When it was my turn I talked to Mark about how I was going to USC for film (because he also attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts back in the early 90s) and how I had the same writing professor as he did. After a short chat not only did he just sign my book he wrote a small poem just for me on the opening flap. "To Michael, Who shall find the angle, the light and the shadow, and give it meaning."

So Halloween was now over and now it was November, which meant it was time for Meet Derek. After two heavy emotional films, The Black Mambas were all set and excited for an action comedy. I was the writer/ director, Drue Metz was our producer and editor, and Alana Waksman was our cinematographer. Alana got into the mood of things by wearing my trademark bandana on set. Drue worked like a man possessed getting all the things I was asking for. Whenever you hear about big expensive Hollywood pictures you always think of action films, because the reality of it is- action films are expensive. And in 508 all films have to come in under $1000. Of the 60 films in 508, only 2 were action films and we were the bigger one so we had a daunting task ahead of us. The film required 2 restaurants, a nightclub, lots of guns, fire, 30-40 extras, zombies and a burning building. I could tell our directing professor didn't think we were going to be able to pull it off until the day before we started shooting and we presented our final shooting plan.


The shooting plan for the big shootout scene.

Our first day was the first scene which features several cameos and inside jokes. We got our editing professor, Bob Jones, to play the part of our piano man. This is epic because as I have said before the man is a legend. He is an Oscar winning writer and editor. He has done everything, except apparently act in a film. Afterwards he said it was a lot of fun coming and being in my film and thanked me for letting him experience another side of film making. Our other cameos were made by the lead actors in Alana's and Drue's films.

Grandpa Bob!

Our second day was our zombie scene. Here is where it gets interesting. We shot our establishing shot of the restaurant that night. We then wrapped in the early hours of the morning. This where everyone gets to go home and sleep before we start shooting that night. Except for the effects artist who has to make it look like the restaurant is burning down. That guy is... me.


It took all day.

Luckily our third day was an easy day. An average film should have about 15-20 set ups a day. Day 3 of our shoot had 2. But as fate would have it we nearly lost this day due to lost paperwork and scheduling conflicts on our soundstage. We jumped in and had to help another film breakdown and move out of the stage so we could get in to get our 2 shots. The stage manager, who was not happy with this mixup, gave us a one hour ulitmatum to get our shots. This sounds easy but 2 effects shots (see above picture) in an hour is not easy. We got it done with not a minute to spare.


Drue never gives up, never surrenders!

So after a 3 day weekend full of shooting we had a week of classes leading up to our final shooting weekend. We only had one day left of shooting but it was the big one. The shootout. As I mentioned before, an average 12 hour shoot day will have 15-20 setups. We had our location for 5 hours, and we had 32 shots planned. How does one mentally prepare for this? By not worrying and getting his mind off it so he doesn't stress. I went against everyone's advice and played Skyrim in the final hours leading up to the shoot. The 5 hours went by in a flash. It was a blur but I was in the zone. Planning the gun fight with my stunt coordinator Jason was the most fun I have ever had on set. We ended up dropping a few shots but I think we may have added one or two. Thing is we got in close to 30 shots in 5 hours. We rocked it. The whole teams was top notch and was on their A game. Thank you again to anyone and everyone who came out and made that night a success.

Stunts!

Our lead actors Julian Leong and Mary Black

Casey Bond and Marten Borg checking out their guns.

Epic stunt coordinator Jason Avina.


Alana and I frame up an insert on a gun.

Here is a link to the film. It is password protected for festival purposes. The password is guns.
http://vimeo.com/33645821

Part 4: Cheyenne is Burning!

2012-01-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

@TheScarletRebel: Camera tests in Stage 3! #AdventuresInFilmmaking

@TheScarletRebel: Driving 15 miles to pick up a fog machine should not be a 3 hour endeavor!

The Black Mambas, having finished a touching story with For Closure, began work on our second film immediately. This film is called Cheyenne is Burning, directed by Alana Waksman and shot by Drue Metz. I was the producer and editor.The editing part I was excited about. The producing terrified me. I am not the organized man in the world and I hate paperwork. Producing requires both. I did have one hidden strength as my team discovered. I can make killer phone calls to get things done. I apparently turn on this incredibly professional voice when I get on the phone. And I did get things done. A major important scene of this film is a dream sequence where Cheyenne is in this vast wide open space and she is on fire. To achieve this we needed to play around with projector effects and lighting styles. So on multiple occasions I had to procure sound stage reservations way in advance or on some occasions at the last minute. What was harder was facing the horrendous LA traffic to get the fog machine. But it all worked out and we got some incredible footage!


The Black Mambas fog up up a soundstage.

@TheScarletRebel: Editing while listening to Pink Floyd. #win

Like I said before I was excited to edit this project. Alana wanted to capture the emotions and moods of the character and since she rehearsed the dance sequence to Pink Floyd I decided to listen to that same song while I cut that scene. We ended up going with a more experimental direction and the project really turned out great.

The infamous dance sequence

@TheScarletRebel: Good news: I scored my all time high score of 147 points in #FantasyFootball. Bad News: I still lost. #FML

We ended up each putting in $10 into the Fantasy Football pool. This was the first time I have ever bet on this, because I have never even come close to winning. Even after this unfortunate case here I was currently second in the standings and looking good for the playoffs at this point.

Up next is Part 5: Meet Derek and the Conclusion of 508.

Part 3: Back to USC and For Closure

2012-01-01T07:10:00.000-08:00

So 508 works like this. You are in teams of 3, or trios, and you must make 3 films in 15 weeks. You are the cinematographer for one, the producer, editor and sound recordist for one, and director/ sound designer for one. Our trio decided to call ourselves The Black Mambas. My trio mates were the amazing Drue Metz and Alana Waksman.

@TheScarletRebel: FILMMAKING TIME!

Drue was the director for the first film, For Closure, and it was produced and edited by Alana. I was the cinematographer. It was based on the true story of how Drue's family got divorced and had to sell their home. Now as much as you plan ahead, and Alana wonderfully dealt with a lot of potential issues very well, things always go wrong on set. That accounts for the following two tweets.

@TheScarletRebel: I'm on set, the location owner is drunk. She keeps coming into frame for more pasta. @ailise my life IS that interesting

@TheScarletRebel: Come to set location to find a saw waiting in the kitchen. That's not scary at all. #AdventuresInFilmmaking

See, our location owner just might be crazy. Despite these issues (I have a picture of the saw if you don't believe me) we made our days, got what we needed, and were confident going into the dailies to show our teachers. Well, maybe my teammates were, I was a little scared of disappointing Charlie Rose, our cinematography professor. Turns out he was very impressed by my work. Said I wasn't afraid of the dark and avoided over lighting things. I also apparently employed a unique style called Harlequin lighting. I was just doing what I thought looked good but now I can give an excellent backup to my methods. Charlie is an amazing fountain of information.

The Black Mambas on the set of For Closure

Our other professors are amazing as well. Our producing professor was Gail Katz who produced Air Force One, The Perfect Storm and In the Line of Fire. Our directing professor was Peter Sollett who directed Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Our sound professor was Robb Navrides who was the sound supervisor for the entire run of Desperate Housewives. Our editing professor was Robert C Jones, or as we affectionately call him Grandpa Bob. The man is a legend. He is an Academy Award winning writer and editor. He wrote On Golden Pond and Being There. He edited Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Shampoo, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Heaven Can Wait, Days of Thunder... The list goes on. Just look at all he has done on IMDb: Robert C. Jones

@TheScarletRebel: What a great start to the season! #NFL

One last thing they say about 508- you don't have much of a life outside of it. So I chose just a few "escapes" from 508 to relieve the pressure and to focus on those things. They were exercise and football. The exercise kept me in shape- in fact I may have been the one person to improve how they looked over the semester. It also gave me the energy to get through the long days. The football was my outlet for a life outside making movies- if just for a little bit. I love it, we all do- you couldn't make it here otherwise. But you need something else or you will go crazy. So I watched football and played Fantasy Football (3 leagues in fact!). So it happened to be on the first night of the season 8 of us were sitting down in Tommy's Place (a bar under the school- how cool is that!) watching the New Orleans Saints face the Green Bay Packers. It came down to the last play in the final seconds. God I love football! It is also nice to see film students here take an interest in football. Nobody at UCF did. Strange.

Next up is Part 4: Cheyenne is Burning!

Part Two: 15 Minutes of Faye

2011-12-15T10:31:00.000-08:00

Part 2: 15 Minutes of Faye

I had to leave Territory to jump on another feature, this one in Bradenton, Florida directed by my good friend Josh Ingle. Yes, I was leaving a job as a sound mixer to be a cook, but I like cooking and Josh is a good friend of mine. Also it meant a paid trip home where I could see my family on the days off. It was a super fun shoot with old friends, cool days off at the movie theater AND I got to start up the Insanity program again to continue my goal of getting in epic shape. My usual routine was to wake up and make breakfast for the cast and crew. Then I would prepare the 2nd meal, do a round of Insanity, then I would go for a run with the producer, Addison Bryan. I would put the meal into the oven, take a shower and then drive the meal to set. I'd come back, prepare third meal, clean up the leftover mess and then sit back and play some Bioshock 2 or Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Great days- I had a blast on this shoot.

Here is a list of the great tweets from set. Prepare yourself, I tweeted the hell out of this adventure:

-"I want escargo on set." "Well fuck you." #crafty #cooking #15minutesoffaye

-Walmart sells dentist scrubs but not beanies. #WTF #15minutesoffaye #adventuresinfilmmaking

- My new living arrangement for the shoot has family photos in it. I feel like a squatter. #adventuresinfilmmaking #15minutesoffaye

- Lead actor here has gotten into a pillow fight with Justin Beiber and a towel war with Miley Cyrus. #15minutesoffaye
(One of our lead actors worked at a Bed Bath and Beyond in LA)
- Also apparently it takes Kel Mitchell three hours to choose curtains at Bed, Bath and Beyond. #15minutesoffaye

- Conversation just went from Inside Job to gonorrhea to CatDog. #waitWTF #15minutesoffaye

- I just cooked a double batch of pasta in half the time on medium. This stove is powered by Satan. #cooking #15minutesoffaye

- Walmart doesn't carry cilantro? #screwyouguys

- My homemade salsa is a success.

- A Walmart Supercenter across the street from a Sam's Club. #theendoftheworld

- Watching The Room... Again #WorstMovieEver

- Spent lunch on set discussing the nature of art. "What is art? What is good art?" #15minutesoffaye #highbrow

- The 80's station is playing "Would I Lie to You (1985). We switch to the 90's station and we get "Would I Lie to You?" (1992) #WaitWTF

- 3AM shopping at Walmart in Bradenton. I feel and might possibly be the only customer in the store right now.

- Telling boogeyman stories from the #Sanctuary shoot over third meal. #15minutesoffaye

- You wake up at 3pm and say good morning to people? You have fully switched over to nocturnal morning. #nightshoots #adventuresinfilmmaking

- Discussing the artistic integrity of Lady Gaga over third meal. I love film sets! #15minutesoffaye

- Add beer, wine, ramen, and ice cream sandwiches now. Wait, when did this set become a college party? #15minutesoffaye #waitwhat

- Empty beer cans, dirty wine glasses... Money in the fridge? Did I get sucked into The Hangover? #adventuresinfilmmaking #15minutesoffaye

-"I'm gonna blast you like a whore." -Our gaffer Zac #15minutesoffaye

- "When you die in Naples, you die in real life." #neverforget #Sanctuary

- Theory presented on set: It is impossible to NOT like Queen. So is anyone out there who can disprove this? #queen #15minutesoffaye

- I am being moved again. Le sigh. #15minutesoffaye

- Locked out of Wal-Mart because they lost power and apparently have no backup. #fail

- Throwing free condoms around like ninja stars at third meal. #15minutesoffaye

-Had to toss a whole new bag of sugar cause of ants. #fucknature

- Illegal parking a moving van, Led Zeppelin, actors answering the door in nothing but towels... #adventuresinfilmmaking

- Traveling down I-75 in the back of a U-Haul moving van. #dangerous #adventuresinfilmmaking

- The Change-Up and then Captain America. #doublefeature #daysoff

- I was just described as a "worldly man". What an awesome compliment!

-"Eating at Waffle House is like listening to Ke$ha. You end up greasy, gross and have a whole bunch of nasty in you." -Kyle Shelton

Up next, Part 3: Back to USC and For Closure

What happened to the blog? 508 Happened: Part 1

2011-12-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

For reasons that are about to be explained the blog was out of commission over last semester. The second semester of USC's graduate film program is called 508. Now 508 is over and I will basically recap everything that happened over a series of posts. I will be able to do this thanks to my twitter feed reading like a history book of what I did.

Part 1: The Summer Before Faye

@TheScarletRebel:

Meeting McG, director of Terminator Salvation

14 Jun

We left off at a nice hike and finding the Cave of Life. A few days later I met Bridget Moynahan and McG as part of the closing of the Youtube Institute Program that was being held at USC. McG was very cool and actually talked to each of us who arrived early. Nobody does that! Bridget was super sweet as well. She wasn't there to be interviewed and was just there to support McG but was kind enough to talk to me anyway.

@TheScarletRebel

Chess Boxing is everything I thought it would be. #exhaustion #somuchblood

19 Jun
For those of you who don't know I started a Facebook group where people could challenge me to any experience or challenge they could think of. One I discovered myself while online at Cracked.com was Chess Boxing. Yes it is a real sport. It is quite big in Germany. It is exactly what it sound like. 11 rounds, alternating between chess and boxing. 4 minutes of chess, two minutes of boxing. Win by checkmate or knockout. There is nothing else you need to know, you can watch the match in the video below.

Challenge 1: Chess Boxing

@TheScarletRebel

Going all Hermione Granger in Doheny Library. For real this time.

27 Jun It was great working with both of my trio mates over the summer before 508 began. (In 508 you work in assigned teams of three to make three films in 15 weeks.) I worked on Territory with Alana and was in a Critical Studies class with Drue Metz. This class was taught by the infamous Drew Casper. He is very intense as he goes into the history of film and he is very theatrical and animated. He also assigns these huge papers that cover vasts amounts of film history. I has to watch 7 Billy Wilder films outside fo the ones we watched in class and he also assigned several readings in books that were nat available to check out of the library.Turns out that of those 7 films I needed to watch the expansive USC film library had just 1. So I watched that one and then on the morning of the day that paper was due (because the section of the library with those books is closed on the weekend) I went to the historic Doheny Library, down to the basement and pulled out stacks of books. Anything written by Casper and wrote like a man possesed. I really looked like Hermione Granger because that library is like a castle and it looked like Hogwarts. And I was surrounded by books. And then everything I wrote was sourced by the books, not the internet. I found enough material in the books to cover up the fact that I was unable to see those extra films. I spent the whole day on that paper and turned it in on time. I think it is the paper I am most proud of in all my schooling years.

@TheScarletRebel:

I hereby commandeer this bathtub in the name of sound! #adventuresinfilmmaking

8 Jul
I got hired onto a feature film called Territory directed by the head of the USC Directing track and produced by the amazing Alana Waksman and Bernardo Duran, Jr. I was the the sound mixer. We were in a hotel room and the only place sound could hide out without being seen by the cameras or mirrors was the bathtub. We went to some really cool locations around LA including a toilet factory and some alleys full of the most amazing graffiti. I guess there isn't too much more to say about this now, it was just a great working on another feature.

Oh and yeah I died my hair red for the summer.

Up next, Part 2: 15 Minutes of Faye

Topanga State Park and the Cave of Life

2011-06-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

8 of us decided to go on a long hike in Topanga State Park on Sunday. We never actually intended on it but we ended up going straight through to the other side. This was discouraging when we were tired and discovered we were on the other side and would have to go all the way back through it again to go home. But we all had a good time overall and it was great exercise.

Me, Fangso and Brian

There are several trails and our goal was to make it to the waterfall that is deep inside the park. After some detours and other distractions we did find the waterfall. It is actually off the path a bit and you need to go boulder climbing up the creek to get there.Once there I tried to scale the cliff face of the waterfall like an idiot. I was almost successful.

Me being an idiot

Damir at the waterfall


Kristin, Sean and Steven

There were also several cool caves slightly off the path we discovered. One of them is the apparent hideout of the Zodiac killer. The other one I call the Cave of Life due to the secrets it holds. What so I mean by this? Fangso ran up to the cave first and saw some letters and notebooks hidden there. Messages, secrets and truths from the past! We left our own message but I plan on returning and reading the entirety of both books and writing a script about it!

The cave of the Zodiac killer

The Cave of Life

Anyone interested in journeying back to the Cave of Life in the upcoming weeks?

All picture credit goes to Micaela Colman and her camera.

Sorry for the incessant emails

2011-06-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

I set up a new Facebook group in order to experience new things and get the most out of life. It was so I could get suggestions for challenges I would have never even thought of. It has been a huge success except for one little flaw. Facebook now emails you every time ANYTHING happens in the group. So I apologize for that inconvenience- I never intended that to happen. You can easily disable the emails on the group page. There is a small box at the top that says "Edit Settings". A dialouge box will pop up and you can disable email notifications.

The idea for the group is as such:

"After I played Zelda for 48 hours straight Shyam said I should create a blog where I got suggestions about what else I can do for 48 hours. I thought about it and decided I shouldn't just limit it to that. I have been trying more and more to live life to the fullest. So now I am opening this group. I will consider and do anything anybody suggests that isn't illegal or will kill me. So suggest away people!"

I will be taking these suggestions and fulfilling these challenges. Most of them will be filmed and probably posted as a web series of some sort.

Fell free to shout out suggestions here as well!

Sunset Blvd. and other madness

2011-06-02T00:51:00.000-07:00

I feel bad when I don't update this more often. I want a solid record of my adventures so I can remember all the stuff I do out here. I should be more diligent and post regularly like the amazing Crissy Kikkawa does over at PlayBackFilm.

I worked on a couple of thesis film over the past week. One was at a crazy mental institution that had some abandoned wards in the back. Creepy stuff! Then this past Monday I was in the mountains of Malibu and had to drag a 300 pound Fisher dolly up a very steep hill. Not fun. But I like exercise so... worth it?

This thing

I am taking a summer class about Billy Wilder. Shockingly up to this point I had only seen one movie of his and that was "Some Like It Hot". this will be a perfect opportunity to see several films that I have been meaning to see. I guess I can call it catch up work. For example tonight I finally got to see Sunset Blvd.

I also went to a special karaoke event with some Reddit-ers last night. My song was never called though. They were all spared of my awful voice doing my version of White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane. It was my first karaoke song I ever sang and it's amazing so I wanted to do the same here. Oh well...

On a final note my class ends at the end of June instead of August. I can has summer vacation?

My P2! Finally!

2011-05-22T00:50:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post my film earlier but I was having computer problems.

http://www.vimeo.com/23968488

Disharm0ny.com, 508 and the Zelda Documentary

2011-05-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

My P2, Disharm0ny.com, is finished. It has been very well received so far in class. My friend Bryce is putting together a Vimeo group for our P2s and it will be up there shortly and I will provide the links for it here. But for now here are pictures:

After 4 years of having this idea stashed away it is now a film. The premiere screening is on campus this Friday. Thanks to all my cast and crew for helping this dream project become a reality.

We had our first meeting for 508 this week as well. 508 is the class number for Production II, our fall class in which we work in randomly selected teams on three projects. My team consists of Drue Metz, Alana Waksman and myself. You are the Producer/ Editor on one project, Director of Photography on one and, Writer/ Director of one. I am DP first (for the film Drue wrote), producing second (for Alana) and directing third. The film I wrote is tentatively called Meet Derek. The film is about Derek (surprise!), a 25 year old guy who has bad luck with the ladies. He has only had 4 dates and they have all gone poorly. So he is extra determined to make things go well when he meets Bridget. Much to his dismay the world seems out to make things difficult.

On a final note I shot a feature documentary outside of school this last weekend. It is a film about video games as an art film, the limits of human endurance, and insanity. A small group of elite Zelda players have teamed up to beat 4 Zelda games in 48 hours. I documented my journey to join those ranks... by myself. Special shout out to Michael Starr, Shyam Sengupta, Brian Ott and Bryce Kho for helping me on that endeavor.

Catching up

2011-03-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry the long gap in posts. Spring Break was a whirlwind of seeing as many people as I could. This week is jammed to the brim. I didn't even get to watch "The Office" last night. Usually thats how I unwind after a long day. (Thank God for Netflix!) This weekend I am the cinematographer for my P2. So I am planning those with their directors while working with my producer for my P2 that takes place the following week. I am also building a dolly. It is almost finished. I just have to tweak the trucks a little. I plan on using it on Xu's P2 this weekend.

Sleep will be a luxury with all the shooting this weekend. Thursday at midnight I will be seeing Sucker Punch. Then I grab as much sleep as I can before Kristin's shoot Friday morning. I will be wrapping around 7pm and I start Xu's shoot immediatley after and we go to 1am. Now my AMC work schedule isn't done yet but I may be working Saturday or Sunday there and then have Xu's shoot from 7pm-1am on both those days. And then school starts up 9am Monday like usual. Exciting!

My P2 is called Disharm0ny.com. It is about a website that helps you find your worst enemy. Someone you will be bound to hate so you can fight them and take out your stress on them instead of your loved ones.

Finally today is Career Day at the cinema school. Over 40 different companies are coming today and we can talk to reps about jobs and internships. I plan on talking to Pixar, Warner Animation, Disney, Sony and Lucasfilm. I think with all these Pixar events I am going to I am bound to eventually get an internship or residency there. Their camera staging artist position sounds like a dream come true.

My P1

2011-03-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the downtime between posts. I was enjoying my Spring Break. Anyway the good news is, while I may not have my editing assignment or my FoD scene that I have been promising for so long I DO have a cut of my P1 on a private Vimeo page. Click the link below, password in angel.

http://vimeo.com/21223064

Working on 3 projects at once

2011-03-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the gap between posts recently. I am currently trying to output my Directing project on DVD, edit my P1 and write my P2 all at the same time. P2 is an interesting project. The only thing we are required to do is write it and then we can have other crew members help with any or all other duties. We can also have dialogue this time. I am again Group B so I get a chance to crew on Group A and C projects and have already been chosen to DP a film in Group A. In other news I got to meet Lee Unkrich, Oscar winning director of Toy Story 3 at an event at USC. There are a lot of other interesting events comng up and I will post more on that soon.

Into Dust

2011-02-25T10:16:00.000-08:00

I shot my P1 Wednesday night. I haven't gotten on here to tell you all about it yet because it has been an sleep depriving situation and I wanted to be coherent as I wrote this. So here is an hour by hour breakdown on how it all went.

Hour1:
I wake up at 8AM. I go through the morning routine as usual. I leave my sound kit at the apartment because I plan on coming back for supplies and don't want to lug it around all day. That will be a challenge though because I shoot in 14 hours and I don't have location permits finalized, homework to print out, work and classes to take of today. I pack food in my backpack in preparation of not having time to stop by Armando's for lunch as per my usual routine. I walk to campus.

Hour 2:
I arrived at work. If you didn't know I work in the Production Equipment Center at school. I pull equipment for orders and act as the repo man for people who don't return their stuff.So today I was pulling light kits for all the P1s including my own. I tagged it as mine and said I would pick it up at 5. I really don't want to carry this thing around. Heaviest kit ever.

Hour 3:
Still at work but got all the kits ready. I asked if I could take a quick break finish getting the permits finalized. They are super cool and let me. I am now officially allowed to shoot at the fountain tonight.

Hours 4-5:
Made some repo calls, surfed the web, found this picture also known as the best Zelda fan art ever.

Hour: 6:
Clocked out of work and found a secluded spot. I pop in my headphones and listen to this song as I write and organize my shot list for tonight. Now I know what I am doing tonight! Hooray sanity!

Hours 7-9:
I attend my writing class. I eat he trail mix bars to stay awake.

Hour 10:
I run and get my light kit before the PEC closes. I walk to my next class early so I can take care of some business. I want to know if I can leave early so I can prepare for my shoot tonight. Dominic stops by and delivers our camera and tripod. I am now carrying a large tripod, a decent size camera case, my backpack and a easily 70 pound 5 foot light kit. I set it all down and start calling UPS numbers to find my angel wings for tonight. Turns out the one dead spot in the whole cinema complex is right there. Thankfully Orlee- Rose was walking by offered to watch all my stuff as I found a signal and worked that out. Turns out my apartment building doesn't hold packages so since I wasn't there to take it UPS takes them to a warehouse and this warehouse closes at 7. I would have to skip class to get them and even then I would be cutting it close due to LA traffic. I decide I have permits for tonight and tomorrow and I can reluctantly film all the non-wing shots tonight, get the wings tomorrow and film those scenes tomorrow night.

Hours 11-13:
I attend my Fundamentals of Directing class. Peter Sollett says I did a good job with my cut considering the circumstances with noise. The rest of the class wishes me luck on my P1.

Hour 14:
John gives me and the huge equipment load a lift home. I return to my apartment to see my roommate there. He was supposed to be at work. Turns out he got a ticket for driving a California truck with a Florida license and the truck was impounded for the night. So since he was home when the UPS guy came by I have wings for tonight. Rejuvenated by this miracle I pack the food, the chocolate syrup (excellent blood for black and white films!) and a whole bunch of blankets. It's going to be a cold night.

Hours 15-21:
The wind has died down so it wasn't as cold as I expected at first but it slowly got chillier and by the end it was really bad. But it was worth it. the footage looks great. Sharon and Kevin were real troopers dealing with the cold and Mahin was a fantastic assitant. Here are some photos from set. Take note these are not screen captures.

Hours 22-24:
Sleep!

Hour 25:
I wake up with a slight headache and head back to work at PEC.

Hours 26-30:
Of course today would be one of the busiest days at work. I got a free burrito from some guy who stopped by to fill out an order though.

Hour 31:
I sit on a couch and beat the fire temple in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks on the DS as I wait for class. Nathan sees me and tells me he heard that my P1 is being talked about as the most visually exciting in our class.

Hours 32-35:
In Cinematography class we broke into two teams (picked 4h grade kickball team style) and in less than 3 hours write, produce, setup, light and shoot a scene based on a picture. Each team amongst themselves would select 2 actors, a director, AD, DP, key grip, camera operator, and 1st AC. I was chosen as director and decided to have fun with this. I decided that the scene would be at a house party between a government spy and a vampire fighting over a potion that would allow vampires to come out in the sun. The sheer lunacy in the scene went over well. We are doing another assignment like this next week. This time we are doing the steak scene from Raging Bull and I get to be Jake La Motta.

Hours 36-41:
I go home and watch The Office and Kevin Smith's Too Fat for Forty. Then I go to sleep.

On a final note I am coming home for Spring Break on the 11th. I want to see as many people as I can so I need you all to comment and tell me when you want to hang out so I can schedule it and see as many of you as possible. Pick your time slots for March 12th through March 18th.

The Goblet of Fire

2011-02-18T09:04:00.001-08:00

I am on the road again.

My apartment in California for the last month and a half has been basically an air mattress, TV and computer. So my dad and I are driving the rest of my stuff out this President's Day weekend. The extra day off makes it possible. The only downside it trying to setup my P1 while on the road. Lots of things still need to fall in place. My actress might need to leave early for New York. Will my angel wings arrive in time? Location permits and light kit forms need to be finalized. So I am a little stressed about all that.

I went to a presentation Tuesday night by Bill Kinder. Bill is the head of post-production at Pixar. He spoke about the differences between editorial duties for live action and animation. Fascinating stuff and I would have gone to that seminar for just that but there was more. He talked about the PAID Editorial internship Pixar has each summer. In that moment that roomed turned into the Goblet of Fire. Why? There is only one spot. I am going to apply even with the crazy odds.

Blogging via my Blackberry. Not looking forward to West Texas.
-Scarlet Rebel

Fundamentals of Directing

2011-02-13T09:39:00.000-08:00

First of all, I am not changing my metaphors, Editing is still Potions, but it is resembling the Harry Potter version of having several Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. So far here at USC I have had classes with 4 different editing professors. Here they are and what they have edited:
Phillip Neel: Boston Legal, Twin Peaks, Ally McBeal, Remington Steele and currently Human Target
Tom Porter: Golden Girls
Normyn Hollyn: Heathers
Reine Claire- Assistant editor Assassins, Space Jam


Yes, this movie.

I worked on 4 Fundamentals of Directing projects this weekend.I was boom operator for two of them. I provided location for another and then I shot my own. Lesson learned from all this: don't shoot yours in a parking garage on campus on a Friday night. I am praying I have decent enough audio to cut together a scene I am proud of. It was a challenge for me and my actors but in the end we decided to try and use it to our advantage. My scene was from "All The President's Men" and we decided to try and make it a scene about paranoia. Every time a loud distraction came by, or which there were many, I had my actors look quickly around and act as if they were being discovered. It should work.

My P1 is coming around the corner. It is about a man who gets into a car crash and is clinging on to life but needs to let go. An angel comes to comfort him in his final moments. It is shot in all black and white and at night. Luckily it is a silent film so that should help because (see prior problem) it takes place on campus and I have to shoot on Friday. I already found an excellent source of music for my piece. I am getting an original song from the band Gemeni. If you are not familiar with them, check them out. They are simply amazing. If you live in Orlando, go see them live because they have shows almost every weekend.


Gemeni

Steve is working on getting a sizeable upload of the Boston Legal scene and I will also post my Directing project after I edit it this week.

My P1 has been approved

2011-02-09T23:56:00.000-08:00

Lots of news, so little time to post.

Quick points:

My P1 has been improved and approved.
My Fundamentals of Directing project shoots this Friday.
Steve is converting our Boston Legal cut into a smaller file so you all can see it.

I'll post more news later when I have more time.

Happy Chinese New Year

2011-02-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

I finally did it. I am not allowed to answer questions in my cinematography class anymore.

In all honesty, I am not trying to brag. I am fortunate to have worked with a lot of the equipment on the indie features over the summer. That combined with my eagerness and enthusiasm of being at the Hogwarts of film making have turned me into Hermione Granger. I wasn't called out as an "Insufferable Know-It-All" but the above statement is true. I am still learning a lot and it's great! So today in Transfiguration (That means we are studying lighting which tranfigures the scene into something cinematic- I am not letting this metaphor die.) I got to finally understand F stops and how it effects exposure, the one thing that continued to escape my comprehension. I am very excited.

In Potions (Editing) my Boston Legal cut came out pretty good but since it was a first draft they are having us all tweak it for next week. So that will be the one that I post on the private Vimeo page for you to see. It was a great experience. I had edited with a partner before coming here but it was always so frustrating for multiple reasons. This time was different thought. Steve and I banged it out in just a couple of hours and we agreed on a lot. We seem to have the same vision for the pacing and timing of cuts. It was also clear from the dailies that William Shatner is so "over the top" ridiculous that, as one fellow student put it, "it's a miracle he has a career".

Steve and I are working on a project called Lotus. It is very complex and will take a long time to explain so I won't get into details here but I want to say we are very excited. Our TA in that class is very hard to impress but over dinner he told us that the idea was golden and not to waste it on a 546 project.

As far as my P1 film goes I had an idea and pitched it my writing class yesterday. I discovered that this idea needs some work. The class was very helpful with the constructive criticism and I have gone back to the drawing board to iron out the details. One thing is clear, I want to start off in black and white. I know the mood and look I am going for. Yes, this probably is working backwards but I think I can formulate a story for the elements I have at hand. I want my film to look something like this:

Oh and it happens to be Chinese New Year. Like I said before we are a very eclectic class from all over the world so I am off to a party to enjoy some home cooked meal that I probably can't spell right. Night!

I love film school.

2011-02-01T01:38:00.000-08:00

So Sunday morning I woke up and it was cold. I bundled up and at first did not feel like working out. That plan changed as it started to rain and I booked it over to church. From there my day just got more exciting. I had to go through security on Jefferson because of the SAG awards were being held right next door to the Zemeckis center where I was working on a 546 graduate film called Volcano Girl. I helped out in the grip and electric department for a few hours and the headed back through even more security because the event had just started. Then that night we I went to a little documentary screening party for a great doc called "The Five Obstructions" which was about a film challenge between Jorgen Leth and Lars Von Trier (Dogville, AntiChrist).

Jorgen Leth

Today between my theory and directing classes I edited a scene from an episode of Boston Legal with my friend Steve. Very enjoyable exercise due to the fact that the production value and acting was better than some of the previous exercises (James Spader beats David Caruso any day) I had in my undergraduate years. Later that night, my directing professor Peter Sollet (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist) offered to set up a workshop next week with some of our actors. I signed up right away. I hope that I get selected as it would be a great opportunity.

I will post again when I have a link to my Boston Legal cut. It will be on a private Vimeo account as I can't publicly release it due to copyright but as you are my family and friends you will get the password to the page.

A New Purpose

2011-01-27T11:28:00.000-08:00

So this blog is being revamped and has a new purpose- my journey through the USC Master's program for film production. It has already been a crazy journey. Most of you followed my trek across the country via the Facebook album so I won't re-hash any of that here. The group that I am part of here, the 2011 SCA Spring Graduate students, is an amzing group of people. We are a very diverse group coming from all over the world and we will all being making very different films, each with a unique perspective. I can't wait to work with all of them.

I already have several assignements and I will be posting links to them here for you all to see. Over the next couple of weeks I will be editing a scene from Boston Legal, recreating a scene from "All the President's Men" and my P1. My P1 is a solo project that I must produe, direct, shoot and edit all by myself. It also must be silent, have no guns or cars and be made for less than $100. Not sure what I am going to do yet for that.

I am enjoying the benefits of being out here. I saw both The Mechanic and Sanctum before their release date for free. I nearly hit Winona Ryder as she booked across the street in her Golden Globes dress as she had illegally parked her Mercedes. I must admit though, I hate the traffic and parking in this city. and it is always cold. But these are trifles as this oppurtunity is beyond brilliant. I feel like I am at Hogwarts. The way the Dean talked about how we were all hand selected and this was beyond a dount the best film school in the world. She once joked that if all the SCA students didn't go to work one day Hollywood would shut down. And the she realized that it wasn't a joke, it was true. To further the Harry Potter analogy I decided that Cinematography is Charms and Transfiguration, Directing is my Defense against the Dark Arts, Editing is Potions and Sound is Herbology. Don't ask me why, it just feels right.

"Your cuts are too arbitrary Mr. Potter!"

I am working at the AMC Del Amo 18 because after a year of 80+ free movies I am not paying for movies anymore. I am also working in the equipment room at USC. Great job as it is pretty relaxed and I get to be very familiar with all the tools at my disposal.

That's all I can think of for now but this blog will finally be updated on a regular basis because there is always so much going on I want to tell of you. Also these posts will be prettier in the future with pictures and video but I am on the computer at work right now so I am limited.

(500) Days, (0) Nominations, (1) Angry Blogger

2010-02-02T07:20:00.000-08:00

So the first couple of thoughts after glancing over the nominations at 8:30 this morning:

1."Apparently I am not allowed to sleep in." I am a late night projectionist at AMC but despite that there is ALWAYS something happening really early. This just may be the factor behind my insanity.

2. "The Blind Side is nominated for best picture, so is UP" The Blind Side I have not seen but that was unexpected on my part. Now on the matter of deserving it, I'll have to see it first. Now on the other hand Pixar has deserved this spot at least 3 or 4 times now and it finally has it thanks to the 10 nominee slots. It still doesn't stand a chance for the award thanks to the unfortunate attitude against animated films winning the coveted award but it's nice to see the recognition of a nomination. Plus it also is nominated for Best Animated Feature.

3. "Jeremy Renner for Best Actor" Look, I thought Hurt Locker was a very good film. Very intense, pretty original for a war film, as far as I could tell accurate as well. Renner was also very good. It's just, in comparison to many other winners, for example Daniel Day Lewis in "There Will Be Blood", there's a big difference. Watch Jeff Bridges or George Clooney run away with this one.

4. "Thomas Newman isn't nominated for Best Original Score. Neither is Clint Mansell for Moon. Randy Newman's got 2." ...
...
...
Are you telling me that there is a possibility of Randy going up two wins to nothing over his more talented cousin? This is a travesty. And "Moon" was the Best Score of the year- just saying.

5. "2012 is NOT nominated for Best Visual Effects" Hey, I agree with this!

6. "(500) Days of Summer is NOT nominated for Best Picture or Best Screenplay" Oh come on. Really? Look I could understand the Picture snub, if not condone it. But Original Screenplay? REALLY? It's only the most original "Rom-com" in decades!

7. "Avatar is NOT nominated for Best Original Screenplay" GOOD! Now all you wanna-be film snobs can SHUT UP. It's about how you present an idea and Cameron did that masterfully, that's why he is nominated for directing and the movie is up for Best Picture- where I will be rooting for it. Because it is "Best Picture"- that means everything wrapped up as a whole.

The Academy's Top 10:(not in order)
Avatar (2009)
The Blind Side (2009)
District 9 (2009)
An Education (2009)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
A Serious Man (2009)
Up (2009)
Up in the Air (2009/I)

My Top 10 (and why I am angry):
1. Avatar
2. Moon
3. (500) Days of Summer
4. Up in the Air
5. District 9
6. Up
7. Away We Go
8. The Hurt Locker
9. Watchmen
10. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Next year's best picture:

Just kidding.

(500), Precious lead 2010 Spirit Award Nominees

2009-12-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

2010 Spirit Award Nominees

Best Feature
500 Days of Summer
Amreeka
Precious
Sin Nombre
The Last Station

Best Director
The Coen Brothers, A Serious Man
Lee Daniels, Precious
Cary Fukanaga, Sin Nombre
James Grey, Two Lovers
Michael Hoffman, The Last Station

Best First Feature (Award given to the director and producer)
A Single Man
Crazy Heart
Easier With Practice
The Messenger
Paranormal Activity

John Cassavetes Award (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)
Big Fan
Humpday
The New Year Parade
Treeless Mountain
Zero Bridge

Best Screenplay
The Messenger
The Last Station
500 Days of Summer
The Vicious Kind
Adventureland

Best First Screenplay
Cold Souls
Crazy Heart
Amreeka
Precious
A Single Man

Best Female Lead
Maria Bello, Downloading Nancy
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Gwentyth Paltrow, Two Lovers
Gabby Sidibe, Precious
Nisreen Faour, Amreeka

Best Male Lead
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Joseph Gordon Levitt, 500 Days of Summer
Souleymane Sy Savane, Goodbye Solo
Adam Scott, The Vicious Kind

Best Supporting Female
Monique, Precious
Samantha Morton, The Messenger
Natahlie Press, Fifty Dead Men Walking
Mia Wasikowska, That Evening Sun
Dina Korzun, Cold Souls

Best Supporting Male
Jemaine Clements, Gentlemen Broncos
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Cristian McKay, Me and Orson Welles
Ramon McKinnon, That Evening Sun
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station

Best Cinematography
A Serious Man
Sin Nombre
Treeless Mountain
Cold Souls
Bad Lieutenant

Best Documentary
Anvil!
Food Inc
More Than a Game
October Country
Which Way Home

Best Foreign Film
A Prophet
An Education
Everlasting Moments
Mother
The Maid

Robert Altman Award
Joel and Ethan Coen for A Serious Man

This blogger is pulling for (500) Days of Summer in all categories it is nominated. My sources also have told me that Two Lovers, A Single Man, and Food Inc. are all formidable films.

Pre- Oscar Race lineup

2009-11-16T06:17:00.000-08:00

My list of predictions for the 10 Best Picture nominees before the "Road to the Oscars" begins.

The Lovely Bones
Avatar
Moon
District 9
500 Days of Summer
Inglorious Basterds
Star Trek
Bright Star
The Hurt Locker
Away We Go ( or Up if they allow an animated film)

Hard at Work

2009-10-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

I am hard at work on many projects right now. Some more urgent than others. But I want to give the heads up. On the back burner I am slowly working on
A.) A revamp of the Top 30 Soundtracks list
B.) A list of my choices for Best Picture for every year
and
C.) My Top 10 Films in every genre

...and Disappointment

2009-10-17T12:05:00.000-07:00

With high expectations two brothers set out to their local AMC to find a a great film. Unfortunately "Where the Wild Things Are" disappoints. This is not to say its a bad film as we had very high hopes. It just didn't meet our high bar. What's truly disappointing though is how the potential was there. The cinematography is great. Jonze gets a phenomenal performance out of Max Records who for the most part is by himself on screen for the majority of the film. The mechanical effects from the life size puppets is so lifelike that the visual just take you in. The sad part is the emotion kicks you back out. The creatures aren't likable enough and the pathos is so sporadic you feel like your emotions are being thrown around like a bad rag doll. You want to have a good time and that lollipop of fun is pulled away every time you are within its grasp. Basically the film doesn't want to commit itself one way or another. The film definitely has it's moments and is a visual stunner so I would like to recommend it and just remind you it's a good film, just not the great one it could be.
3.5 out of 5 Stars

Excitement

2009-10-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

I am seeing "Where the Wild Things Are" tomorrow morning. YAY!

Be a Patriot: Don't see 2012!

2009-08-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

Back in 1996 Roland Emmerich made the film "Independence Day", with such memorable scenes such as the one of Bill Pullman saying "This is our Independence Day!" One might think that this is a pro- American film. As a child at the time and not knowing any better, I, like many others thought so. I also thought it was a good movie and had no qualms about Emmerich's directing. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Not only is Roland Emmerich a hack, he might be the most anti-american filmmaker since Michael Moore and Leni Riefenstahl. Look at the evidence: He's German. In 1995 he blew up the White House. In 2004 he froze over the Statue of Liberty. Now in his next movie, 2012, he has the Capitol building substituting as a bowling ball and has Air Force One chopping the Washington monument in half! The man's favorite activity is destroying American icons. Sure he made Independence Day but that film was really about the earth's independence from evil aliens. Sure he made "The Patriot" but I am sure he just needed a paycheck by then. But we need to send a message to Hollywood. We don't like seeing bad movies, especially when they show the destruction of our country. So whatever you do, don't see 2012. Be a Patriot! If it is a big enough of a bust for the investors we just may get rid of Emmerich!

P.S.- I bet that Sprint cellphone ad where that pompous director is trying to blow up Mt. Rushmore is a parody on Emmerich! Robots from space blowing a historical site? Sounds like Emmerich to me!

Link to the trailer: HERE
Link to a better version of the trailer: HERE

Miyazaki Update: Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

2009-08-20T17:48:00.001-07:00

One of Miyazaki's more child friendly pieces, with no real villainy at hand, but that doesn't make it any less magical. Again the level of artistry and imagination is top notch showing Miyazaki's only failure is the failure to disappoint. Surprisingly Frankie Jonas and Noah Cyrus did not bug the hell out of me until their insipid credits song came on, obviously that was the Disney marketing machine at hand and not Miyazaki's idea so I just ignored that little bit. I highly recommended this film to anyone who still has an inner child at heart.
4/5 Stars

Review from the Vault: Cashback

2009-08-13T09:45:00.001-07:00

Every now and then I would like to review a film that's not brand new. One doesn't need to run out to the theater every weekend, especially in this economy. Have you seen Cashback? If not, go to your Netflix account or what have you and put it in your queue now. GO! Do it now I can wait.

Is it done? Good.

A film from 2006, it is a feature length version of a short by Sean Ellis done in 2004. The actual short is contained in the feature film. Ths short is a brilliantly creative piece with great writing but the full film becomes so much more when Ellis added the complete love story. Simply stunning and beautifulkly shot. This is not surprising as Ellis by trade is a fashion photographer.

When Ben Willis breaks up with his girlfriend he finds he can no longer sleep at night. He decided to make use of his extra 8 hours a day by working the night shift at the local supermarket. There he learns he can freeze time and decideds to draw the customers in the buff as he dreams of one day being an artist.

The nudity is handled in a very delicate way and does not comes off as exploitation at all. The film admires the everyday women and it is not demeaning in any way. Along with the the technical excellence of the staging of all these events in remarkable. Do yourself a favor and check out Cashback.

2009 Mid-Year Report

2009-07-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

Last time I did a mid year report some people didn't know I was exaggerating to make a point and got upset. So I am doing two things:

1. I am going to give you a disclaimer if I exaggerate.
2. I am not going to exaggerate.

I need a job.

Yeah by this time last year I had seen a lot more than 10 movies...and this has effected the outlook on the year in a major way but even so taking into account I have seen the big movies up to this point and some of the smaller ones and if I were to take this as a cross section sample of the whole... (It's a math thing lets skip over this boring stuff)

AHEM- My conclusions: 2008 was a very good year as a lot of very good movies came out that year, probably one of my favorite years overall. Now this may be because I have seen more movies but like a I said 2009's sample isn't faring too well as a example. Now by this time 2008 had a lot of bad movies too. So 2009 is kinda sharing a mediocre rating as everything is kinda hanging around the middle. On the flip side there are some exceptions and we have learned some things. So some awards:

The "Sam Raimi didn't lose his mind" award: Drag Me to Hell
The "Tom Cruise was not in Prom Night" award: Christian Bale for Watchmen
The "Isn't Really as Bad as Everyone Says but its Still Lousy" award: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
The "Good Sequel" award: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
The" Better than the Last One but Isn't the Best Installment" award: Terminator Salvation
The "Underachieving Sequel/ Paul is going to hate me" award: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The "I am in freaking everything this year" award: Eric Bana (For Mary and Max, Star Trek, Love the Beast, Funny People, The Time Traveler's Wife and Armored)
Biggest Surprise: Star Trek
The Consistency Award: Pixar for Up and Sam Mendes for Away We Go
Best Poster: Drag Me to Hell

So in Conclusion:
Films I most likely will still be talking about at the end of the year: Watchmen, Up, Away We Go
Other Noble Efforts: Star Trek, Taken, Drag Me to Hell

Everything else has been fun for the moment to forgettable, but luckily nothing has been pure garbage. So like I said, not bad but nothing special. So who do we look for to save the year. Lots of good looking things ahead, my anticipated movie list runs strong but two film stand above them all. Two films I really cant wait for. Two films that look so good that it reignites that fire, they reminds me why I go to movies and make movies:

Whatever happened to the Run 'n Gun?

2009-03-31T16:29:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of thought in my head that I have been meaning to put on paper; or in this case a text box. So today I will write down the oldest one and after this long hiatus I have left my 1-2 readers with I will return tomorrow with the next one and hopefully continue on a regular basis so these long pauses won't pile up.

So today, a video game issue. What has happened in the video game industry is a pile, no, a MOUNTAIN of first person shooter games. FPS has been a mainstay in this business since Doom and Wolfenstein 3D came in and changed everything. What people don't seem to remember is that those games, like a lot of games, were not realistic. Movies have to be based on reality, a realistic world, or a world that the movies sets up for viewers to accept. To accept these worlds they must be based on a set of unwritten rules on what is to be expected. If you break these rules people tend to get upset, if you don't everything turns out fine generally (unless your film bores us to death because you are a pretentious twat).

Games are not burdened by these rules. The new Call of Duty game has Nazi Zombies for Pete's sake. When you change things like the aforementioned CoD game you become recognizable in a world burdened by this new rush in the game industry to be realistic. there is nothing wrong with realism but it seems that nowadays almost every FPS game is super realistic and if you make one misstep in this endeavor to be real you will be hung on a cross for sacrilege and we will throw ninja star into your belly (Medal of Honor series I am talking about you). Whatever happened to the Run 'n Gun? Sure a challenging war game can be fun but when was the last time you were able to just relax and have some fun? Why can I no longer run around with ridiculous amounts of health firing away at AI soldiers that are pants on head retarded? Yes I am talking about Goldeneye, Perfect Dark and Timesplitters, true successors to the pioneers of FPS. Wolfenstein has werewolf Nazis! This is not realistic and it was praised for it. People still talk about Doom. Perfect Dark kicked ass. People still play Goldeneye, a game over a decade old. When was the last time you saw someone rush off to play Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault? I want health bars and color again, not every game to copy and paste the same war environments form WWII in gun metal gray color schemes with timed healing and me dying every 30sec because its realistic. Now who wants to play some Goldeneye and Perfect Dark?

Yeah, that's what I thought.
The movie kicks ass too!

Upsets and Upset

2009-02-23T18:46:00.000-08:00

I am having lunch tomorrow with two other Oscar experts. I will post my complete feelings then once we fully analyze the night together. I just thought I would check in and let you know that I am disappointed in more than one decision by the Academy.

The night had its up moments too, and Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway just jumped up in the cool book too! Oh and that Tom Cruise ad for Jimmy Kimmell was hilarious.

-The Scarlet Rebel

Late again, but not too late

2009-02-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

Life happens but at least I am not too late to post predictions. No extra introduction necessary- here they are:

Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Actor: Mickey Rourke for “The Wrestler”

Actress: Kate Winslet for “The Reader”

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger for “The Dark Knight”

Supporting Actress: I like Tarija P. Henson for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” but it will end up going to Penelope Cruz, another worthy recipient, for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”

Original Screenplay: I want WALL-E but my prediction is Milk

Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire

Director: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Animated Feature: WALL-E (Surprised?)

Costume Design: The Duchess

Foreign Language Film: Walt with Bashir

Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Makeup: Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Sound Mixing: WALL-E

Sound Editting: WALL-E

Best Original Song: “Down to Earth” by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman for WALL-E. Two reasons, one it is a great song and has been a front runner for a long time and 2. Slumdog holds the other two songs causing a vote split very much like what John Williams suffered from in 2005 with “Munich” and “Memoirs of a Geisha”.

Original Score- Thomas Newman for WALL-E is my hearts choice and it stands a good chance. This will be my prediction because I can’t tear myself from it but don’t be surprised if Slumdog pulls this category too.

Cinematography- I love Roger Deakins and he did a good job with “The Reader” but I just have this feeling it’s going to “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Editing- The Dark Knight

Best Documentary Feature: Man on Wire

Best Documentary Short: The Witness

Best Live Action Short: Spielzeugland

Best Animated Short: Presto

Now go win that Oscar pool!

Sincerely,

The Scarlet Rebel

BAFTAS are a girl's best friend

2009-02-19T10:16:00.000-08:00

I am so busy I can hardly keep up. Anyway as the Oscars approach the last big stepping stone on the way to the big show is the BAFTAS. Slumdog continued it skyrocketing potential and everything else pretty much went to plan. Except that Marisa Tomei's final push to be the front-runner took a spill. Penelope Cruz, the wide out front runner in the beginning of this journey has come back out of the shadows. This makes the supporting actress category the only big section with any real contention left. The battle between Cruz and Tomei should be a good one to watch. Kate Winslet should also be happy because her gap in the buzz grew so she is now way out front and everyone including Vegas agrees that she will be finally walking home with an award.

That's all for now. I will post Oscar predictions along with what I actually want to win (not to different for once) on Saturday night.

Ketchup Time

2009-01-26T19:49:00.000-08:00

I found out I really don't like ketchup (despite all the commercials I have done for Heinz), or catch up for that matter. Problem is I have a lot of it, and this time I am not talking about the red stuff. I haven't written about what I thought about the Golden Globes, or the Oscar nominees. You probably have all heard the news by now so just a quick rundown of the good the bad and the ugly.

Golden Globes:

The Good- Kate Winslet winning both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. However she is not a supporting actress in The Reader so that still confuses me, but since that oversight resulted in her two-fer I will accept it for now. Also, Slumdog Millionaire going 4 for 4 and 30 Rock's sweep as well. Good speeches by Kate twice, Nolan honoring Heath Ledger, and Tina Fey' comedic acceptance.

The Bad- Wall-E not winning Best Song.

The Ugly- Miley Cyrus

Oscar Nominations:

The Good- Just about everything for once. So some special things of note instead: Thomas Newman being nominated in both Best Song and Best Score. Wall·E being nominated for Best Screenplay. No Miley Cyrus.

The Bad- The Duchess not being up for Best Original Score.

The Ugly- Thankfully nothing this year.

Of note: Kate Winslet is up for Best Actress but for The Reader, in which she has previously won Best Supporting Actress. This means three things:
1. More confusion.
2. She can't pull a two-fer like at the Globes :-(
3. Since she can't pull a two-fer she is now the front runner :-)
Anne Hathaway was the front runner, then Bride Wars came out. Eddie Murphy can tell her what happens next.

P.S.- If you don't know what I talking about I am referencing Murphy being the front runner for Dreamgirls and then losing out due to the release of Norbit. What this means is that it is finally Kate Winslet's (above) year.

2008: A year in review

2008-12-31T12:38:00.000-08:00

Hey, everybody else is doing it and it's December 31st so why not hand out some awards. Please note these are not predictions- these are just my opinions.

Film Awards

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire (Live Action) and WALL·E (Animated)
Best Actor: Sean Penn (Milk) and Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Best Actress: Keira Knightley (The Duchess)
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Best Supporting Actress: Tarija Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

This is my Top 10 movies of the year at this current point. There are still a lot of movies I have yet to see as your not so humble reviewer doesn't get to go to press screenings. Any changes that are made will be noted below.

Top 10 Movies

1. Wall-E

A true masterpiece of cinema if there ever was one.

2. Slumdog Millionaire

A movie miracle.

3. Tropic Thunder

One of the funniest movie I have ever seen. It is even better if you have seen "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" otherwise known as the making of Apocalypse Now, a true story of a Vietnam war movie gone to hell.

4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

A cinematic symphony. A work of art delving into the deep inner meaning behind life, death and love.

5. Definitely, Maybe

A complete surprise for me as I saw it on a whim. A completely original take on the romantic comedy genre and a surprise treat for all who watch it.

6. The Duchess

A heartbreaking true story of sacrifice. Fine performances all around, superb costume design and a breathtaking score.

7. In Search of a Midnight Kiss

Overlooked indie feature of the year. A rare film about romance on New Year's Eve.

8. Speed Racer

A frenetic treat for the eyes. The explosion of lights and colors does not overstay it's welcome.

9. Doomsday

A guilty pleasure of mayhem and violence. Purposely is cliche as it's an homage to many classic films in the same genre.

10. Cloverfield

The movie ends with the helicopter crash for me, and because I view it in this manner it remains a well executed monster movie of the highest caliber of originality.

Bottom 5

5. The Forbidden Kingdom

Cliche, an uninteresting plot and poor acting about sums up this lackluster film.

4. What Happens in Vegas

Proves Kutcher can act but his roles remain inane and stupid.

3. Drillbit Taylor

We have already seen a more offensive and profane version of this. We don't care.

2. Pride and Glory

Painfully bad. Painfully.

1. 10,000 B.C.

Too shamefully cliche to evaluate. The difference between this and Doomsday is that Doomsday never took itself seriously. This film did.

Video Game Awards

I don't have the time nor money to play all the games I wanted to this year. It is nowhere near the amount to make a well informed Top 10 list. So instead I will list notable games I was fortunate enough to play.

Worthy of note:

Grand Theft Auto IV

Mirror's Edge (Most Original Game award)

Rock Band 2

Guitar Hero World Tour

Gears of War 2

Little Big Planet

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Game of the Year (Handheld): Kirby Super Star Ultra

I bought the DS for the sole purpose of playing the latest installment of the Legend of Zelda franchise: Phantom Hourglass. I had no intention of buying anything else off the bat although I was hoping something would peak my interest. That indeed came along as I am a huge retro guy. I couldn't believe my eyes to see the Kirby SNES classic "Super Star" come to the DS. Not only is a faithful port of the entire game they added 2 new games and a new Arena! 5 Stars Nintendo!

Game of the Year/ Underrated Game of the Year: Tomb Raider Underworld

With one of the most epic begining I have seen in many years I was instantly on th edge of my seat. I have yet to complete the game (I just bought it yesterday for only $29) but I can already safely award 5 stars to this game. By the third level you have already survived the explosion of your mansion, fought the Kraken, found Thor's tomb, taken out terroists who have taken over a Class A freighter, climbed out of that freighter once it goes vertical and starts to sink and you discover that both Amanda and Natla are alive. Most people discount this franchise just because the movies are bad but play just the beginning of this game and you will be hooked. Soundtrack is A+ too.

"Slumdog Millionaire" gets another fan

2008-12-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

As if this movie needed more buzz, I will add to this films already blazing bonfire of buzz. You have probably already heard it all but I feel like I need to say something. I will make it quick.

It's a movie miracle.

It also helped me round up my picks for Best Original Score.
Here they are (in alphabetical order):

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by Alexandre Desplat
The Duchess by Rachel Portman
Revolutionary Road by Thomas Newman
Slumdog Millionaire by A .R. Rahman
Wall·E by Thomas Newman

I am a genius

2008-12-19T11:19:00.000-08:00

Bear with me a moment and you will see I am not as pompous as I sound.

I like catchy titles and I know that bragging will usually draw attention. Now I am going to defend my statement before I also draw the snappy responses. In November of 2006 people were going crazy with the release of the Wii and the PlayStation 3. Pundits were going ga-ga for the PlayStation 3 and all its powerful specs. With the well dispersed disappointment of the Gamecube, Nintendo last effort, nobody was giving the Wii any credibility as a doorbuster for the upcoming holiday season. Except me. I alone stood the ground that the Wii would the big seller. Let me make it clear here before all the internet junkies start there rant (as most of them are the Sony and XBOX fanboys) that I am not defending the Wii's curretn game line. I lean Nintendo and am a huge Zelda fan but I must express dissapointment in the majority of their line of games. XBOX currently has the best lineup. However video games are still primarily a buisness and numbers do not lie. Wii is the winner. It has been in the lead the entire time except for a few months after Halo 3. And Playstation? HA!

From Wikipedia:

Console	Units shipped to retailers (worldwide) (as of September 30, 2008)		Units sold to consumers in Japan (as of October 1, 2008)	Units sold to consumers in the US (as of November 1, 2008)
Wii	34.55 million		6,826,612	13.4 million
Xbox 360	22 million	0870,000	0748,992 748,992	11.6 million
PlayStation 3	16.84 million	0520,000	2,369,484	05.7 5.7 million

Now on to movies:
On July 19, 2008 I made some outrageous statements. I meant the piece as a satire, to make a point. I understand the backlash I received as there was no way I could defend the comments, and it was a difficult point to make. Even Johnathan Swift had problems with his "Modest Proposal", which is now viewed as one of the finest pieces of satire ever.

What did I say?

I said forget the rest of the year, we have our Oscar winners: Wall·E and The Dark Knight should win everything.

Even I don't believe they deserve every award but I wanted to make a point that we should recognize these widely popular pieces in the areas that they deserve their due credit. I was afraid they would be overlooked. I slowly accepted that they would not be given anything major. The pundits were right...

But hold the phones, launch the torpedoes, I have yet to begin to fight, WHATS THIS?!?
Maybe the Academy won't go through and finish my dream but my point is well made. Look at this!

-Wall·E won Los Angeles Film Critics Association, The Dark Knight is runner up.
-The Dark Knight won Utah Film Critics best picture award.
-Wall·E wins Chicago Film Critics best picture award.
-Wall·E is a London Critics Circle best picture nominee.
-Entertainment Weekly has Wall·E and The Dark Knight on Lisa Schwarzbaum and Owen Gleiberman Top 10 lists. Wall·E ranks 1st and 4th respectively. The Dark Knight gets 2nd and 3rd respectively.
- The Onion AV Club puts Wall·E as the best picture of the year. The Dark Knight comes in 4th.
- Wall·E is a runner up with Toronto Film Critics for best picture.
- The Dark Knight won best picture from the Austin Film Critics.
- Detroit Film Critics have both Wall·E and The Dark Knight among their nominees.
- Wall·E ties Slumdog Millionaire (the only other film with this many wins) for Best Picture from the Boston Film Critics.
- The Dark Knight and Wall·E make AFI's top 10 list for 2008.
-Stephen King ranks The Dark Knight as his top film of the year. Wall·E comes in third.
-The Dark Knight comes in second on Richard Roeper's top 10 list.
-Both films are Critics Choice nominees.

Sure Milk and Slumdog Millionaire are garnering a lot as well but besides those two films, all the other Oscar bait are underpreforming. Doubt has been floundering, Revolutionary Road is campaigning like mad and all it has is a Golden Globe to show for it. Austrailia came and went. Changeling has as many nominations as Tropic Thunder does. Even Oscar front runner Benjamin Button has less critics backing it than Wall·E and The Dark Knight.

Face it. I was right. Even if the Oscars don't go with this trend, my point was well made.

Golden Globes put The Dark Knight in critical condition

2008-12-11T10:51:00.000-08:00

The Dark Knight was shipped to an undisclosed hospital in Los Angeles around 5 A.M. Thursday morning. Authorities say the reason is because its Oscar chances are now in critical condition after only receiving one nomination from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Things were looking up after the film had regained use of it's original score but then things got worse soon after with the release of the Golden Globe nominations. Fellow blockbusters Wall·E and Tropic Thunder stood by its bedside overnight hoping for a healthy comeback by February. Together they were supposed to make a statement this year by showing that summer hits can be award material and The Dark Knight was supposed to lead the way. Now that dream seems in jeopardy. Wall·E and Tropic Thunder received 2 nominations each. Get Well cards and flowers can be sent to Christopher Nolan's office.

Enough of the analogy and down to the nitty gritty. Critics and Academy voters alike say the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HPFA) can be fools at times, so Dark Knight fans, please do not get your pants into knots just yet. This definitely isn't a good sign but the road is long and far from over. There are a lot of good contenders this year and I am honestly not surprised by the snubs in Best Picture and Best Director categories. This may very well happen in the Oscars as well but look for cinematography and art direction nods to be much more likely additions to its nomination total. Also, be happy for Heath Ledger who has gone from just buzz to a cemented front runner for both Globe and Oscar.

Overall I am very happy with the list, (and coincidentally very proud of getting 4 out my 5 prediction right in the actress categories) as my favorite films of the year placing in all of their respective categories except for one. Yes, this one thing bothers me greatly. Where the heck is Thomas Newman? One of his scores should have placed but instead they gave Clint Eastwood a nod for Changeling. Nothing against Eastwood, I love the man, but his music isn't that great, and Wall·E's score is magnificent (see my post for the top 30 soundtrack of all time). Also, I haven't heard the Revolutionary Road score yet, but I have heard many good comments and I have high expectations for it. I seriously hope to see a different score short list from the Academy, with a Newman score that goes on to win and hopefully a nomination for The Duchess by Rachel Portman. The only score worthy on the Globe list is Desplat's music for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which I discovered last night and is hauntingly perfect.

Critics Awards x 3

2008-12-10T18:16:00.000-08:00

The Road to the Oscars have begun and the score is Wall·E and Milk- 1, Everyone else - 0.
Please don't think I expect things to continue in this fashion. I am just taking what I can get now and running to the bank with it. I love Wall·E and the fact that one of the respectable organizations (The Los Angeles Film Critics Association) have given it the title of the Best Film of 2008 makes me ecstatic. In fact I was very pleased with the LAFCA list overall. Heath Ledger got his due, Synedoche, New York got best Art Direction and Benjamin Button got runner up on the soundtrack. Not all my personal fav picks were there but it was a lot better than New York's picks.

The New York Film Critics Circle was a sad, very uninteresting thing to see. All safe picks. The politically correct choices if you will as it was Milk and Happy go Lucky running away with practically everything. Heath Ledger didn't get Best Supporting Actor, and Benjamin Button was nowhere to be seen. (It is important to note that Revolutionary Road was snubbed in both lists entirely.) The only thing I truly liked from New York's list was Wall·E for best animated film, only because if they chose otherwise nobody would take them seriously. What else would you choose? Bolt?

The Critics Choice Awards nominations are out as well. My choice is nominated in every category so I am happy but I am not going to do a full rundown here because it's pointless. Basically nothing has changed as everything that has the tiniest bit of buzz was nominated for every category. These aren't nominations- its a list of films that are considered Oscar bait (again except for Revolutionary Road, which again goes without a single nomination.). There are 10 nominations for Best Picture. 10! I am sorry I can't take this group seriously, they obviously can;t make up their minds or don't want to offend anybody. No drama here- I am moving on.

Golden Globe nominations come out at 5 AM tomorrow so I will be posting my reactions to that list tomorrow but for now I will do what everyone else is doing: PREDICTIONS!

Best Picture Drama:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Milk
Frost/ Nixon
Doubt
The Dark Knight

Best Picture Comedy or Musical
Wall·E
Slumdog Millionaire
Happy Go Lucky
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Tropic Thunder

Best Actor Drama
Sean Penn- Milk
Frank Langella- Frost Nixon
Micky Rourke- The Wrestler
Clint Eastwood- Gran Torino
Brad Pitt- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Actor Comedy or Musical
Dustin Hoffman- Last Chance Harvey
Javier Bardem- Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Dev Patel- Slumdog Millionaire
Brad Pitt- Burn After Reading
Adrien Brody- Cadillac Records

Best Actress Drama
Kate Winslet- Revolutionary Road
Meryl Streep- Doubt
Cate Blanchett- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Angelina Jolie- Changeling
Anne Hathaway- Rachel Getting Married

Best Actress Comedy or Musical
Meryl Streep- Mamma Mia
Sally Hawkins- Happy Go Lucky
Emma Thompson- Last Chance Harvey
Beyonce- Cadillac Records
Francis McDormand- Burn After Reading

Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger- The Dark Knight
Robert Downey Jr.- Tropic Thunder
Phillip Seymour Hoffman- Doubt
Josh Brolin- Milk
Michael Sheen- Frost/ Nixon

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz- Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Kate Winslet- The Reader
Tarija P. Henson- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Rosemarie DeWitt- Rachel Getting Married
Viola Davis- Doubt

Best Director
David Fincher-The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Danny Boyle- Slumdog Millionaire
Christopher Nolan- The Dark Knight
Ron Howard- Frost/ Nixon
Gus Van Sant- Milk

Best Screenplay
Slumdog Millionaire
Revolutionary Road
Rachel Getting Married
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Milk

Best Animated Feature
Wall·E
Kung Fu Panda
Waltz With Bashir
The Tale of Despereaux

Best Original Score
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", music by Alexandre Desplat
"Milk", music by Danny Elfman
"The Duchess", music by Rachel Portman
"Wall-E", music by Thomas Newman
"Slumdog Millionaire", music by A.R. Rahman

Best Original Song
"Down to Earth" by Thomas Newman and Peter Gabriel
"O...Saya" by A.R. Rahman and MIA
"The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen
"Barking at the Moon"- Jenny Lewis
"Right to Dream"- Mariah Carey and Willie Nelson

In 7 hours we will find out...onward!

The Top 30 Soundtracks of All Time

2008-12-01T18:44:00.001-08:00

I am an avid fan of original scores to movies. So much so that I follow them close enough that I honestly believe I could make more informed votes on that category than half the Academy. They should really let me vote on that one category. Since that is not going to happen I decided that I would honor my favorite soundtracks. The list isn't in any paticular order since you can't compare genres of music. Who is going to say that Grindhouse is better than Amelie? One is Spanish guitar/rock where the other is classical piano. I also listed my favorite tracks on each one, the tracks that define the mood and theme of the music.

1. Memoirs of a Geisha by John Williams

Key Tracks: Sayuri’s Theme, Going to School, Becoming a Geisha, The Chairman’s Waltz

2. Amelie by Yann Tiersen

Key Tracks: J’y Suis Jamaise Amelie, Les Jours Tristes, La Valse de Amelie, La Noyee

3. Edward Scissorhands by Danny Elfman

Key Tracks: Storytime, Falling in Love With Kim, The Ice Dance, The Grand Finale

4. Wall-E by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: 2815 A.D., Wall-E, Eve, Bubble Wrap, The Axiom, Define Dancing, All That Love’s About, Horizon 12.2

5. American Beauty by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Dead Already, Arose, American Beauty, Any Other Name

6. Jurassic Park by John Williams

Key Tracks: Opening Titles, Theme from Jurassic Park, Journey to the Island, Welcome to Jurassic Park, End Credits

7. The Legend of Bagger Vance by Rachel Portman

Key Tracks: Savannah Needs a Hero, Bagger Offers to Caddy for Junuh, Bagger and Hardy Measure the Course at Night, Junuh Sees the Field, Junuh Comes Out of the Woods, Bagger Leaves, Old Hardy Joins Bagger By the Sea

8. The Time Machine by Klaus Badelt

Key Tracks: Professor Alexander Hartdegen, The Time Machine,

I Don’t Belong Here, Good Night

9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by John Williams

Aunt Marge’s Waltz, Double Trouble, Buckbeak’s Flight, Window to the Past, Mischief Managed

10. The Godfather by Nino Rota

Key Tracks: Connie’s Wedding, Love Theme, The Godfather Waltz, Apollonia, The New Godfather, The Godfather Finale

11. Raiders of the Lost Ark by John Williams

Key Tracks: The Raiders March, Marion’s Theme, The Map Room, The Basket Game, The Warehouse

12. The Shawshank Redemption by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Shawshank Prison, New Fish, Rock Hammer, Brooks Was Here, Suds on the Roof, Shawshank Redemption, Sisters, Zihuatanejo, Lovely Raquel, And That Right Soon, Compass and Guns, So Was Red, End Title

13. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring by Howard Shore

Key Tracks: Concerning Hobbits, Many Meetings, The Council of Elrond, The Ring Goes South, The Great River, The Breaking of the Fellowship

14. The Land Before Time by James Horner

Key Tracks: The Great Migration, Whispering Winds, If We Hold On Together, Foraging For Food, Rescue/ Discovery of the Great Valley, End Credits

15. Grindhouse by Robert Rodriguez

Key Tracks: Grindhouse, The Ring in the Jacket, Killer Legs, Cherry’s Dance of Death

16. Pride and Prejudice by Dario Marinelli

Key Tracks: Living Sculptures of Pemberly, Arrival to Netherfield, Postcard to Henry Purcell, Liz on Top of the World, Secret Life of Daydreams, Your Hands Are Cold, Mrs. Darcy

17. Ocean’s 11: David Holmes

Key Tracks: Caravan, Gritty Shaker, Tess, 160 Million Dollar Chinese Man, 69 Police

18. Meet Joe Black: Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Yes, Everywhere Freesia, Peanut Butter Man, Whisper of a Thrill, Cold Lamb Sandwich, Frequent Thing, Someone Else, That Next Place, Over the Rainbow

19. The Empire Strike Back by John Williams

Key Tracks: Main Theme, The Asteroids Field, Luke’s Nocturna Visitor, Han Solo and the Princess, The Imperial March, Yoda’s Theme, End Title

20. The Good the Bad and the Ugly by Ennio Morricone

Key Tracks: Main Title, The Strong, The Story of a Soldier, The Ecstasy of Gold, The Trio

21. The Duchess by Rachel Portman

Key Tracks: The Duchess, Gee and Grey Together in Bath, Six Years Later, End Titles

22. Atonement by Dario Marinelli

Key Tracks: Briony, With My Own Eyes, Half Killed, Elegy for Dunkirk

23. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest by Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt

Key Tracks: Jack Sparrow, The Kraken, Two Hornpipes, Wheel of Fortune

24. The Fountain by Clint Mansell

Key Tracks: The Last Man, Death is a Disease, Xibalba, Death is the Road to Awe, Together We Will Live Forever

25. Road to Perdition by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Rock Island 1931, Just the Feller, Murder in Four Parts, Road to Chicago, Reading Room, Dirty Money, Rain Hammers, Virgin Mary, Grave Drive, Cathedral, Ghosts, Lexington Hotel Room 1432

26. Psycho by Bernard Hermann

Key Tracks: Prelude, The Patrol Car, Hotel Room, The Murder, The Search

27. The Horse Whisperer by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: There Was Snow, Runaway Meadow, Rhythm of the Horse, Grace, End Title

28. Hook by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Prolouge, Granny Wendy, The Arrival of Tink and the Flight to Neverland, Presenting the Hook, From Mermaids to Lost Boys, The Never-Feast, Remembering Childhood, You Are the Pan, When Your Alone, The Ultimate War, Farewell Neverland

29. A Beautiful Mind by James Horner

Key Tracks: A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics, Playing a Game of Go, Creating “Governing Dynamics”, Cracking the Russian Codes, Of One Heart of One Mind, The Prize of One’s Life…The Prize of One’s Mind, All Love Can Be, Closing Credits

30. Gladiator by Hans Zimmer

Key Tracks: Homecoming, The Slave Who Became a Gladiator, Rome is the Light, The Gladiator’s Waltz

Honorable Mention: Jaws

The Dark Knight Golden Globe Poster

2008-11-30T06:56:00.001-08:00

I have a problem with this.

My problem is not with the film. The problem lies in how Warner is going about who they are pushing for what and where. At least they are stating the categories unlike Milk and Revolutionary Road, whose first "For Your Consideration" posters said in all categories. That's a little presumptuous. However Warner is not without fault. First off they listed off practically their whole cast for Best Supporting Actor. That category is Ledger's and nobody else should be pulling from that. Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and the others did great but nobody was as memorable as Ledger regardless of his death. Second of all- Bale for Best Actor? The main character of The Dark Knight is Harvey Dent. His character is the one we follow, the one whose character arc follows the story arc. He has the most screen time. Aaron Eckhart is the one should be under the Best Actor billing, although he probably have a tough time against the heavy competition this year: Pitt for Benjamin Button, Penn for Milk, Rourke for the Wrestler, Eastwood for Gran Torino.

Other problems remain: As many people know the Original Score has been disqualified for legitimate reasons and where are some other categories that deserve note. Warner has shafted Wally Pfister for Best Cinematogrpahy and Nathan Crowley for Best Art Direction? Both of those people have a better shot that Maggie Gyllenhall has for Best Supporting Actress. Does Warner think they have a juggernaut acting piece on their hand like Doubt? No, they have an action movie which stands a better chance in the technical awards instead of acting. They will get a nod for Ledger and that's it. Now where is a mention for something like editing?

Know what this poster is? Epic Fail

Old Note: The Films of Hayao Miyazaki

2008-11-24T22:26:00.000-08:00

I thought a nice kick off to a movie based blog would be an old note I wrote on Facebook concerning many movies in one. Here in it's original format, my analysis on the films of Hayao Miyazaki:

April 21, 2008

Tonight my roommates and I completed our Miyazaki marathon. Having now seen all of his movies I decided to rank all his films. All of them are highly imaginative and wondrous journeys to new worlds. None of them are bad, and it is impressive to, today, go through even a talented directors work and not find a weak film. All of Miyazaki's work is at least good, if not great.

The ranking from least impressive (worst is such a harsh word for something decent) to best:

My Neighbor Totoro

Totoro and his crazy Cat-bus!

The story seems a little disjointed, and unlike his other films (besides Kiki's Delivery service), there is no good and evil. the story comes from the interaction between Totoro and the young girls, but for lengths at time Totoro is not present so you wonder where the plot is going. However, it is still endearing, and a kid would love it. To be honest, this film may be interesting to watch while high on some drug because it really takes advantage of animation by being able to do whatever. There is a bus that is a cat, and Totoro always has this vacant expression and creepy grin. It is quite hysterical.
Grade: 3.5/5

Castle in the Sky

The last robot of Laputa gives a flower to our heroes.

This film was the first in our marathon and it was a great start. The opening sequence is one of the best in all of his work. The pirates attack on Mark Hamill's air ship is very exciting. Speaking Mark Hamill, what a great voice actor, I can't hear Luke Skywalker at all. Laputa is a very interesting concept, and while I wasn't super thrilled with it being replaced by a tree, or the technology heavy core, I realize all the robots and technology are integral to the story. Miyazaki was the right person for this film, a ancient colony in the sky. After a few films you discover Miyazaki loves the theme of flight.
Grade 4/5

Kiki's Delivery Service

Look! Miyazaki doing a film about a FLYING witch! Who would of guessed?

The first half was amazing. It stared to lose steam once the cat, Jiji, left to hang out with the other cat. His commentary on what Kiki was doing was so charming. This is the other film without a good vs. evil theme but the film doesn't suffer from that at all. This film was very pleasant, like a walk in the park. Not every film needs a heavy profound conflict. This films sweetness is it's strength. When I first heard of this film, my doubts were quite large. Just the title itself was worrisome. Are you serious? Kiki's Delivery Service? No film ever sounded more directly aimed at kids and only kids. I am sorry I had those doubts for this film is enjoyable for all ages, a wholesome family film.
Grade 4/5

Porco Rosso

Fio and Porco Rosso (translation: Crimson Pig)

I looked past the fact that they never explained how he turned into a pig, although that information would of been some nice back story, and this film is great. It would of been amazing if not for the abrupt ending. It just ends. There is the final fight and then Fio comes in on the voiceover and explains what happens to every character...except Porco! It makes no sense! I don't understand the decision of giving every character closure except the protagonist. Beyond that "small problem", the film is a delight and the character of Fio is so easy to fall in love with. Again, Miyazaki is at home with this film and its emphasis on his love of flying.
Grade 4/5

Princess Mononoke

Ashitaka at the beginning of the film.

A lot of people have this as their favorite but I am not as crazy about it as everyone else. It is still quite a good film. The animation is amazing, and the way the boars are drawn is captivating. What makes this, for me, just as good as many other films of his, and not the exceptional one- is the Forest Spirit. I never really understood his changing and evolving. It raised a lot of questions that were never answered for me. Beyond that, the animation team is at it's peak and another compliment is how deep all the characters are written. While a lot of conflict is going on, and the good vs. evil theme is present, it is not as prevalent as it usually is. normally you can pin the evil side in a character or force. No one character here can be labeled evil. Lady Eboshi wants to kill the Forest Spirit, but she is a caring lady who helps lepers. San wants to kill Eboshi but wants to save the forest. every character has more than one side.
Grade 4/5

Spirited Away

Sen and NoFace on a train in the spirit world.

One of the great things about Spirited Away is how jumps right into the story. We enter the spirit world just a few minutes into the film. A few characters, are bit confusing on how they easily change from a mean person into a kind and caring person, especially the witch in the swamp, but I guess that happens in the real world too. The rest of the discrepancies can be thrown out by the easy and effective answer of "It's a magical world." and it's true, this film is magical. Even though they may change, people change too. All these characters are so original and the character design has never been better. The animation is mind blowing and nothing is predictable.
Grade 4/5

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Nausicaa in blue at the end of the film.

Joe Hisaishi, the composer for all of Miyazaki's films, is at his best here, with a musical score that you can repeatedly listen to. This is actually one of Miyazaki's first films and it remains one of his best. The world is so expansive, but all of it is well detailed and explained so we are never lost. We feel like we live in that world too because we understand it so well. Another remarkable thing about this film is that it doesn't follow conventional plot structure. Just when you think you know what will happen next, something else happens instead. Just when you think everything will be conveniently resolved, Miyazaki's story raises the stakes. Near the end you are actually anxious because so much has gone wrong, you don't think there is enough time left on the film to resolve everything. I won't ruin it for you, just know that this is a must-see film.
Grade 4.5/5

Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle

The first Miyazaki film I ever saw is my favorite. The first time I saw the clouds part and saw the castle in the distance at the beginning of the movie I was instantly hooked. I knew I was in for something special. The film had my attention the whole time and was never disappointed. Every character is dynamic. Their desires and ambitions make them multi-dimensional and nobody is flat where you can sum them up in a word. For example you can't just look at the witch of the Waste and call her evil. It is so much more complex than that. Also, the voice acting is at it's best here. Billy Crystal is perfect as Calcifer. Every line of his is entertaining. Christian Bale is a treat as well.
Grade 4.5/5

Blag!

2008-11-24T22:02:00.000-08:00

I wanted my first post to be introductory so it didn't seem like I just started talking or like you were walking into a conversation and you had no warm up.

So here is the brief.

The lowdown.

This is my blag.*

*www.xkcd.com- all the cool kids know its a called a blag now.