Giada Meets Jed!

Giada De Laurentiis was in town recently and my wife's boss got to stalk her for a few blocks! Go Jed!

Hobo With a Shotgun

"Hobo With a Shotgun" was the winner in the "Grindhouse" movie trailer contest. I found it to be pretty funny, but not as good as "Holy Hell".

justin.tv

Saw this dude on Attack of the Show the other day. He is a guy who wears a web cam on his head all day 24-7, and you can tune in to wherever he is and watch his life. Kind of like the Truman Show. You can go to www.justin.tv

AFI Dallas Fest

Had a chance to go out and see some movies at the AFI Fest in Dallas on Tuesday. The first up was a documentary on the font Helvetica. Yes, that's right a documentary on a font. I found it to be quite entertaining and informative while somewhat inspiring as well. The documentary kind of challenged you creatively as you were watching it to either agree with those pro or con Helvetica. I thought it did a great job of showing how in less than a decade how one font has almost dominated the globe. The interviews were very interesting although a bit short on a few of the subjects. Be interesting to get the dvd to see what else was in the mix before the final cut. A really fresh subject for a documentary. My wife Amy really enjoyed seeing a doc on what she does every day and how frustrating designing and deciding on the right font to use in her work.



The next stop was going from "Helvetica" at the Magnolia to seeing "Living and Dying" at the Angelika. This film is directed by my buddy Jon Keeyes, the hardest working filmmaker in Texas. I'm guessing this is probably his biggest budget film to date, and I was excited to see the film after reading the script so long ago. I saw a lot of cast and crew from "Seventy-8" there so it was great to catch up and talk to everyone. Jon looked a bit nervous before the screening, so I didn't bother him. In fact I don't know if he knew Amy and were there until after it was over. So anyway onto the movie. First off it was a 35mm. print which I though looked great. The movie is about a band of bank robbers that are trapped in a cafe that happens to inhabit two crazy killers while the cops are trying to get in. So its a Rio Bravo/The Thing/Assault on Precinct 13 type of deal here. Jon did a great job with this movie. The budget yes is small but he got some name actors in here like Edward Furlong, Bai Ling, and Michael Madsen.

I thought the performances were pretty good. There were some questionable casting choices in a few spots, but knowing the behind the scenes drama, I know there was not a lot Jon could do about it. There are a few plot points that are unresolved towards the end, but at that point you don't really care too much. I'm sure it bothers Jon to no end, but its a fun movie, its not a deep message movie, its a caper flick. So its all about that more than anything. The rape scene in the film seems out of place to me. And it's not so much how its shot or how long it is, but its more about the tone of that scene in connection with the rest of the movie. And after the screening, Jon informed as to why the scene drags like it does. Let's just say the money peeps needed some longer nudity...and don't we all sometimes.

But more over I was probably watching technical aspects more than anything since after a while I realized I had read this way back and forgot, and then it all came back to me, so i focused more on the tech aspects. Man Jon my man you have really raised your bar here. I thought the look of the movie was really impressive. The colors in the cafe are excellent and I liked your handheld camera feel in there too. Inside the police area it felt very static and procedural which was good. I thought framing wise you really hit the mark. I loved all your compositions with all the characters you had to deal with. Really nice. I like when i can leave a film and remember a shot or two like a photographic still the next day. And I remembered several here. I think this film will go far in showing studios what Jon can do and the potential he has for bigger budgets in the future. The film opens in Europe next week and will show on HBO sometime here in the future. Way to go Jon! Click HERE to see the Living and Dying trailer...You can also read Jon's blog by clicking HERE

Amy updated her Blog!

My wife, Amy updated her blog! Click HERE to see it... And I am re-posting the cute picture of her at age 3 above since she won't allow any other photos of her on-line.

Holy Hell

My friend Barak Epstein made this wicked trailer for the Grindhouse movie contest. He just sent it to me and I think it is genius. Thought I should share. He is wanting to make this into a feature over the summer, but needs some investors. Anyone? I will be back later to talk about the two screenings I went to at the AFI Film Fest in Dallas. Click Here for Holy Hell

REVIEW: The Descent

Wow. Wow. Wow. This is by far the best horror movie I have seen in many many years. I really don't know where to start to dissect this bitch. I was not a fan of director Neil Marshall's first movie, Dog Soldiers. My how things changed. I don't know how or why this film was not a huge hit. I mean it will obviously gain an audience in the next few years and will someday be up there with the great horror films in history. And to think this sat on the shelf for over a year. Why oh why did I not get my ass in gear and go see this in the theater!!! Damn me to hell! I hate myself for missing this on the big screen. Why oh why didn't I pull the trigger on that UK DVD import a few years ago. The horror. The horror. Anyway, here is the setup:

Sportswoman Sarah loses her husband and daughter in a car crash, but she survives. One year later, her friends Beth, Rebecca, Sam and Holly, leaded by Juno, invite her to explore a deep cave in the mountains. When the expedition is about three kilometers underground, a rock collapses and blocks the access tunnel, trapping the group inside the cave. With limited supplies, they try to find a way out, but sooner they face a hunger and savage breed of predators.

This movie gave me the creeps. If you are at all claustrophobic, run from this movie. For me the monsters were scary and all but the worst scene for me is the one where Sarah is stuck in the rocks before the monster peeps are even introduced. Creepy, intense, and very gory. A perfect mix of suspense and gore. As Chainsaw and Dave from Summer School would say, "we give this two thumbs up, make that four for gore. Gore aside, this movie is friggin scary folks. The cinematography, music, and sound are all top notch. Screw those teenage horror movies and American remakes of Japanese horror films, this is the real deal, and someday will join the ranks of classic horror films.

Bigfoot and Wildboy

Why has Hollywood not remade this?

Mask

How could I forget...

Street Hawk

Let us not forget the greatness of Street Hawk...

The Phoenix

Does anyone but me and my Mom remember this show, The Phoenix? How great is this show intro!

REVIEW: ROCKY BALBOA

Watched "Rocky Balboa" last night. I must say this film really worked for me. Sure it had its flaws, but I got so charmed by the Rocky character again, I didn't care where it went. It's one of those rare sequels that actually takes you back in time to where you remember where you were when you saw the originals. It’s really like seeing an old buddy and catching up on what they have been up to for the past 20 years or so. In fact I had a blast with the first half of the movie. The fight seemed like a throw away to me. It was not even that important to me. I was more interested in how Rocky dealt with the rest of his life and those around him. In fact if I had to watch it again I would probably watch the first half and then shut it off. Stallone's directing was loose and free and really felt indie like the first film did. It didn't ever feel like a blockbuster movie trying to impress you with its scope. The real locations and energy of the street helped out a lot in it feeling real to me. So if you'd like to visit an old friend you can't go wrong with Rocky VI aka Rocky Balboa. Hey yo Paulie.

UPDATE: Greatness of the Week!

UPDATE: I guess Fox Searchlight is putting a stop to these clips getting out, and got most of them removed from the web. I found a college humor site that has the desk scene still, but the car scene is gone it seems. Watch this one while you can!

Watch as Lily Tomlin goes berserk on the set of I Heart Huckabees and director David O. Russel then follows. This makes up for the movie sucking ten fold. The first part is a scene in the car and Dustin Hoffman is the guy sitting in the middle. This is almost as good as the Orson Welles breakdown during his frozen fish finger radio commercial.

TV Wrapup

I have not discussed some of my favorite TV shows. As I am behind in almost every show except Heroes, I'll do my best here. Ill focus on four shows that I follow: Smallville, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica and The Office.

The Office:

Show is still funny, but you can tell in its third season they are stretching to find new stuff. They spend a lot of time out of the office now, which for some things is fun, but now it seems every other week they are out of the office. I suppose as the show has become more popular there is a need to tone down the more creepy comedy and go a bit more mainstream with the plot lines. Thank god there is still no laugh track. Laugh tracks are beatings to me. Anyway the show itself still is good for a few laughs, but I am no longer foaming at the mouth to see it.



Battlestar Galactica:

This show started its third season well, and then somewhere fell off. I'm not nearly as passionate about this show as I was. The plotlines are still good, but they are beginning to back peddle and move away from the main plot. I am about 4 episodes behind, so hopefully they can turn things around b4 the finale in a few weeks.



Heroes:

I am really digging this show, but unlike Battlestar in the first 2 seasons you get the sense they don't know where its going anymore. The episodes are still outstanding, but this is like a tv series of the movie Unbreakable that will probably never end. And that’s too bad. I think it would be cool if a new series was planned for 2 or 3 seasons with a beginning, middle, and end and then the show was done. Fin. But I am sure they will drag this greatness on until it is no longer greatness. But for now I am enjoying the Heroes and the new ones they are finding along the way. I love the subplot of Silas and his evil plot to kill off everyone. You are starting to see who will be good and who will be evil in the long run. I wish this show a long life if they can keep it up. If not don't screw it up, write an ending and do it up right.


Smallville:

So far this season has been pretty mediocre. There have been a few bright spots, but the "discovery" phase of Clark Kent's powers is growing thin. The one good thing about the show is the plotline of Clark and Lex. I love how they have had 5 seasons to grow their relationship. That’s really the best part of the show now. The Green Arrow is OK with me, but what really beats me down is Lana Lang. PLEASE kill her off the show. She drags this show down to a grinding skid and stop. It would make the Clark/Lex relationship even more insane and lay the groundwork for a future relationship of epic proportions. Please no more kidnapping episodes. Enough. Everyone on the show has been kidnapped now. The quota is reached! This show might have one more year left in it. With the Superman Returns 2 being delayed a year, it may be the only Super related show for a while.

Oh I have also begun to really like a show called Robot Chicken. There is a link on my sidebar under tv.

REVIEW: Pan's Labyrinth

My wife and I saw this on my birthday about a month ago. What can I say but Guillermo Del Toro continues to get better by the picture. Now I didn't go completely gaga for this film like some I know did, but it was a great movie. It is much different than I thought it was going to be. It even surprised me a bit too. The movie is dark and very depressing yet very enlightening at the same time.

In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old fawn in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.

The movie to me is about the power of imagination and how important that is to people who have the need to escape into it for more than just creative purposes. The young girl in the film uses her imagination to escape a horrible situation both domestic and war torn Spain as her world literally collapses in and around her. The only thing that seems to help is this imaginary world that helps her deal with such terrible conditions at home.

The cinematography in this sucker is low key but about as good it gets. Hats off to DP Guillermo Navarro for making Del Doro's vision shine even brighter. And its no wonder he won the Academy Award for best Cinematography. Well done. Del Toro is a kid at heart and I totally understand where he is coming from. He loves fantasy and tries here to reason with it and make it as real as he can, because to his little hero it is real and she believes in it as much as Del Toro does.

I really enjoyed this film as grim and harsh as its reality may be. It made me think about how wonderful it is for us to be able to have imaginations and to be able to use them in an ever changing world. Cannot wait to see what Del Toro serves up next. One of the best of 2006 by far.

Now for some Decent Flicks.....

"Scarecrow"
A little independent film from the 70's with a young Pacino and Hackman. I really enjoyed this film, but felt it kinda copped out towards the end.

"The Departed"
Remake of the very cool Hong Kong epic, "Infernal Affairs directed by God of Film or Martin Scorsese if you will. I liked the movie, but having seen the orignal film a few times, it really didn't do much for me other than the performances. I'm glad Marty got an Oscar finally, but the film itself, is not Best Picture worthy. But these days its a popularity contest anyway. Go figure.

"Feast"
Now this one totally surprised me. I watched the making of it on the reality show, "Project Greenlight" It looked horrible on the tv show, but the finished product although very short, was actually a fun movie. And I think I was in the right mood for it at the time, so that helped. It's basically these people stuck at a bar in the desert attacked by a family of unknown beasts. There is never an explanation for anything, and it would prolly suck if there was one, so its really about 70 minutes of people being eaten and decapitated in humorous and gory ways. Good time.

"The Host"
Had this one sitting on the shelf for a while and was not sure really what to make of it. It's funny, intense, and a family drama all at once. Oh, did I mention it's a monster movie? This is a Korean monster movie that is being released in this country soon. And I had a fun time watching it. It may be construed as anti-American if you look between the lines, but to me I took it as an environmental warning/monster movie. The closet thing I have seen to compare it with is the original 50's Godzilla movie. A little girl is taken by this monster and her family dedicated themselves to tracking it down and killing it while hoping that there little girl is still alive. I loved all the performances and I'm sure the inevitable remake will suck balls, so try and go see this instead.

"District B-13"
Loved! Loved this French action flick. This movie is the really the first movie featuring the art of "parkour" style fighting. If you can call it fighting. Parkour means "the aim of which is to move from point A to point B as efficiently and quickly as possible, using the abilities of the human body." You have never seen moves like this before in a film. Written and Produced by Luc Besson, this movie has an energy that I have not seen in a long time. The opening 10 minutes will blow your mind. The stunts are amazing in this thing. The story not so much, but you don't care, it’s the fighting that’s the star here. Very much cool on display here.

"Miami Vice"
I wish I had seen this in the theater but I just missed it. And I can see why. I LOVE Michael Mann. He is a huge influence on me, and I feel he is one of the few filmmakers out there today that is still evolving on a creative level. And he continues to evolve here on a visual level, however story wise he takes a big leap back. Let me sum this movie up for you: This is Universal Studios giving Mann a check for $150 million and saying go buy yourself some bad ass HD video cameras and get some names in it and do whatever you want as long as it says Miami Vice in the title somewhere. I thought the cinematography was great it places, and very risky and challenging. Especially for a movie of this size. In fact I can't believe he got away with some of the stuff, but ultimately it’s the title of the movie that counts here. I understand that you can't recapture that time of the 80's with a goofy remake, so he tried to continue the style of Heat and Collateral here but take it a step further. Mann made a 150 million dollar art film. And he probably had a blast doing it, but to me it was like watching a rough cut or a demo reel for HD cinematography. Still recommended if you like pretty pictures...

"Inconvenient Truth / Who Killed the Electric Car"
I enjoyed both of these documentaries and I support Al Gore in his campaign of "greenin'" our world up, however I felt the documentary felt a little self-serving at times. The info was stuff you can learn in elementary geology, and maybe all Americans need to take that course! Overall I felt it was a good showcase for people that don't really grasp what is happening to the planet. Now the Electric Car on the other hand felt a tad more genuine to me, maybe because it was a more focused cause. This is more or less a 90 minute version of 60 minutes piece about how and why all these electric cars from the 90's started to disappear. I found it to be a pretty interesting subject that I knew little about.

"Grudge 2"
Perhaps this belongs in the other list below this one, but if you like the Grudge universe like I do, then you will probably just like seeing it for completist sakes.

"Munich"
All while watching this I never felt like I was watching a Spielberg movie. This felt totally John Frankenheimer from beginning to end, and I loved it. It's not the greatest paranoia film of all time, but I liked the plot and the reason for these characters beings. I think it humanizes the horror that men do to each other because of war and religion. I thought it was the best work Eric Bana has done since "Chopper". I used to not be so much a fan of Spielberg around the time he made Hook and Jurassic Fart. But over the past five years I think he has really turned the corner and started to become a fully rounded filmmaker. He is obviously at a point in his life where he can take creative chances with whatever he chooses. And I think he has made some really nice unsafe choices recently.

"The Notorious Bettie Page"
This movie was decent at best, but still just cable movie good. I didn't know anything about Bettie Page going into this movie, and afterwards I learned a few things but nothing of note that really made me take notice. I thought Gretchen Moll was really good in the role and I liked the stark black and white photography.

"Real Life"
I have said this before, Albert Brooks is close to genius level. This is a movie made in 79/80 and Albert plays himself developing a new film that actually follows real people around in their every day lives. However he actually becomes a part of the show and when the studios begin to question the concept of "reality" programming, he has to go to great lengths to bring some drama to the otherwise boring family he is filming. I had never seen or heard of this movie before I happened to come across it on Netflix. I think its genius and is a great statement of the state of tv/film today. There is one scene with Brooks in a meeting with the studio head on a speaker phone that is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. He really saw into the future with his one. Too bad we have to wait 5 years between Brooks films.

"Science of Sleep"
Director Michel Gondry's look at what life is like for a creative mind that is constantly in a dream state. I found this movie to be really slow going, but then I felt it turned some good corners towards the end and you may have to read between the lines and be a creative person in nature to really appreciate the little nuances here, but I found it to be a really sad yet entertaining film. If you live life a lot in your own head like I do, then you will enjoy it.

"Saw III"
I really wanted to dislike this movie for some reason and there are indeed good reasons to, however for some reason I liked the odd twists and turns at the end. The gore is amped up form parts one and two of course. This horror series is starting to remind me of the Nightmare on Elms Street flicks more and more. Different set pieces, same villain, and more creative effects. Everything hinges on that and that alone. However this one took some risky plot turns at the end, and I am very curious to see in what happens in the already in production part IV and V.

"Silent Hill"
Never played the game, prolly never will. The movie is gorgeously horrible looking. This is what hell looks like in my mind. Empty dead spaces and dirt, grime and despair. And beyond the looks of this film there is not much else to like folks. So again like Miami Vice I recommending this on visuals alone.

"Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny"
I really enjoyed this movie, I'm not a mega D fan like my wife, but I could be moving that way. Having grown up in the world of Heavy Metal and such, I felt a real love for the characters. This is every kids dream back in the early 80's to rock with Dio and Ozzy. And the dream sequence of the performance of "Master Exploder" had me rolling. The films poster makes it look like the film is Spy Kids or something, but its nothing like that! Kids stay away!! The dvd outtakes are great too.

"Unleashed" aka "Danny the Dog"
Another Luc Besson produced film, that I felt was a fair action movie but ultimatly falls a bit short. Should of been a bit darker and sinister, but after all it is a Jet Li film. Decent fights by Master Yuen Woo Ping and good turns by Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman as expected.

Movies that Took away precious moments of my life that i may never get back....

(a.k.a. stay away from this shit...)

"Brick"
Some people had this on their top ten list, I thought it was prentious.

"Skeleton Key"
I couldn't concentrate on this for some reason. No matter how cute Kate is.

"Diary of a Mad Black Woman"
Started good, ended bad. Bad bad bad.

"Hollywoodland"
Even with Superman in it, I could have cared less"

"Snakes on a Plane"
There is a reason this movie didn't live up to hype. It sucks."

"Closer"
Good performances, thats it.

"Beer League"
Message to Artie Lange, don't quit your day job...

"Black Dahlia"
DePalma, where are you dude.

"Lady in the Water"
Put a cork in M.Night, he's done.

"The Last Kiss"
This was supposed to be realisitic? OK.

"Beowulf and Grendel"
Go see Lord of the Rings again or 300.

"Memoirs of Geisha"
I don't remember much

"DaVinci Code"
Great looking movie, great premise, yet empty. Keep trying Opie.

"Slither"
Nice throwback to 80's horror. But its 2007.

"Pulse"
If you have one after seeing this, go watch the Asian original.

"Demon Lover"
Again great looking flick, yet totally boring.

"Crank"
Made me want to take crank during it to make it go by even faster. (Parrot gag was funny) UPDATE: I wrote this post while watching it, after finishing it, this is by far the worst movie I have seen in a long time.

I wanna know where da gold at...

If you have never seen this before then you are in for a treat. It is real. Very real. Enjoy.



If you need more and I think you do, Click HERE

The Grandma Arnold Show is over...

My Grandma passed away this morning. Not a lot to say at the moment. But I am posting a radio show in two parts that we did together when I was 10. My cousin Melissa always liked it, and I have great memories making it with my both my Grandparents. Peace out Grandma...

Click here for part 1

Click here for part 2