Saturday, December 20, 2008

My Dad has a Blog!


Holy crap the apocalypse is near, my dad has a blog now! My dad is a retired professional photographer who as of last year finally put his big Nikon away and got a digital camera. So I set him up a blog where he can post his digital photos. His website is www.davesdigitalphotos.blogspot.com

Friday, December 19, 2008

REVIEW: Flags of our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima


Wow and Wow are the first two things that come to mind in describing the greatness that Clint Eastwood's two films I watched on Blu-ray the other night. I guess the best way to review these are to review them together since in essence they are one story told from opposites sides of WWII. Flags details the US perspective of the Iwo Jima invasion. The battle scenes are intense, but in a very realistic and classic sense of filmmaking. There is nothing showy about Eastwood's directorial style. He composes his films like classical music. They have structure and layers that is such a lost and necessary art in Hollywoodland these days. Unlike Saving Private Ryan's brilliant flurry of high shutter speed violence, Flags and Iwo take there time so that you feel the impending doom of these characters. The one flaw I would lay on the Flags battle scenes is that at times its difficult to follow who is who on the battlefield, but that is a minor quip in an otherwise masterpiece of modern cinema.



Once Fathers gets going past Iwo Jima we follow the tale of three solders who survived the battle and were captured raising the flag in that famous photograph. But we soon learn a nasty lesson in US Government PR, that the three guys that raised the flag were actually raising the replacement flag because the original flag was taken down hours after it was raised so that a general could have it as a souvenir to hang in his living room after the war. Sad but true. The film follows the lives of those three men as they were rushed back to the states to go on tour to promote the war by selling war bonds. The US used these guys as heroes to promote the war as win able, yet the men themselves were living a lie day in and day out. The ending coda for some of these men are very sad as their lives post war were quite sad. I was really taken with Flags not so much as a war movie but on a psychological level it has a fascinating structure about how war is promoted to the public and how the casualties of that war linger forever.



Letters From Iwo Jima doesn't do much to lighten up the party, as this film now sees the invasion of Iwo jima from the Japanese perspective which was an idea producer Spielberg thought might be interesting to do during pre-production on Flags and Eastwood agreed and shot them both at the same time. This film follows the lives of a general and his men preparing for the landing of the US troops on the island. Unlike the US soldiers who were told they would be coming back from the war as heroes, the Japanese men were told that they were not coming back. So its interesting to see the different mindsets that poses on the battlefield. The General and the men know that they can't win, so they go into the battle purely just trying everything they can to survive one day after another and prolong death one day at a time. The film also details some of the US soldiers who see taken capture in Flags but we don't know what happened to them. We discover here that some of them were treated well and with honor.



The young Japanese soldiers see reflections of themselves in a particular prisoner and the general played by the genius of Ken Wantanbe speaks English and spent time in America is able to read some of the prisoners letters to his Mom to the troops. Some of the letters he is writing are exactly those thoughts and feelings that they have. All of the solder's write their families letters thinking that they are being sent home, when in fat they are all going a big bag. Towards the end of the film as the Americans are overtaking the caves and underground bunkers, a Japanese solider buries the letters in the cave. Later in a scene showing real explorers in the caves they are found. Both films detail the honor both sides had for their country and that in reality there was not a winning side with the thousands of men that lost their lives. They were all just young men 18 to 20 years old fighting alternate versions of themselves when every one of them wanted to be at home with their loved ones. These two films are both an amazing testament to the talent that Clint Eastwood is as a director. He is turning out films in his 70's that filmmakers in their prime will never match. Having said that where can I get a ticket to see Grand Torino right now? In all seriousness I know I am late to the party on these two films, but you must see them if you have not. They are modern day classics. Oh and an apology to Kevin F, because I told him we would watch these and I went off and did on my own. My bad. I will gladly watch them again!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Where Christmas Happens


Where Christmas Happens... from Atombomb.tv on Vimeo.

Amy and i did a little spoof of all those NBA Where Amazing Happens spots on TV, to use as our Christmas video for everyone. Hope you guys like it and Happy Holidays to everyone. Click HERE to see the original commercial we were spoofing. There are 50 of those things out there. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Zu the Cat Packaging Superstar!


We are proud of our little Zu Warrior being the face of Home 360 cat food! Go Zu!

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Playing the Blog Catchup Game

I am sorry for not updating any sooner, but since I last posted things got crazy busy at work and at home. So I'll pick up about a month ago on my last post. I did attend the Lone Star Film Festival in Downtown Fort Worth on that Friday. I tried to make it back out for some of the shorts and another feature but could not. So here are my mini reviews of what I have seen either at home or at the movies:

Let the Right One In (2008)



I was a bit disappointed that the screening for this movie was from a DVD and not a film print. This was very frustrating considering its currently in distribution around the States. However that aside, the film itself is among my favorites of the year. It's about a young boy, Oscar who befriends a new neighbor girl, Eli who seems as lonely and odd as he is. One difference is the new neighbor is a vampire. Now, for me vampire movies have been done to death. If you are able to breath life into that dead genre you have done something special, and this film is special. It's very slow paced and that was a welcome change from the MTV cutting style of recent vampire trite. The look and feel of the film is cold, inside and out. You want to start a fire while watching it. It feels like a Ikea vampire movie the way the Sweedish film moves along in a very neat and comfy fashion. I thought the performance of Eli by Lina Leandersson was particulary spot on as she toes the gender line of boy/girl/vampire. I have heard that in the book the gender issue is more a topic than the film where its dealt with and disposed of quickly. This is a great little vampire film that I think stays with you both visually and emotionally. Director Tomas Alfredson visual style oozes over you like a great painting from shot to shot. And of course if its a good unique piece of work it is being remade for illiterate US audiences that can't read subtitles. See the original!

12 (2007)



This is a Russian film that is essentially a remake of sorts of Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men. 12 jurors must decide the fate of a Chechen teenager charged with murdering his stepfather. Directed by Nikita Mikhalkov with a very strong character oriented visual style, the film never gets boring despite its 2 and half hour running time. The story within the story is not as compelling as the ones in the jury room. And in fact I guess it may be a little more compelling if I knew a bit more of the history of the Chechen/Russian history. But for dramas sake it was all very fascinating. If you are a fan of courtroom drama and that sort of thing, then this is an excellent film. Starting off the film every one but one feel the boy is guilty of murder, then one by one each begin to change there mind as they reconstruct the case in the basketball gym where they are held up using props to imagine how the murder may have happened. It was all very well done and not disrespectful to Lumet's original masterwork.

So here is some rapid fire thoughts on stuff I watched on dvd/blu recently:

Reno 911: Season 1
Awesome! Can't wait for season 2

The Sopranos: Season 6 (final season)
Sad, that the epic is over, but wow what an accomplishment for David Chase. I would retire now and never make anything again.

Hellboy 2
The blu-ray rules! The 2plus-hour documentary about the making of the film is worth the price of the disc. Del Toro rules.

Zodiac
I really wanted to flip out over David Fincher's new film, but as much as I liked it, it left me wanting more, and not in a good way. Still very recomended for the performances and directing. Also on a tech note, this is Finchers first film to be totally digital HD.

Incredible Hulk
Another blu-ray that I love. This film has gotten better with each repeated viewing. Highly recommended.

Dark City: Director's Cut
This blu-ray of a new cut of Dark City is really fun if your a fan of this film. I thought the film holds up really well over time and I still had a blast watching it.

Indiana Jones and the Raping of my Generation
Ok, thats not the title to the film, but it might as well be. There is some fun stuff, but George Lucas managed to mess up a movie with monkeys in it. You know why? Cause they are digital! You BASTARD!



Planet of the Apes: Blu-ray box set
This is heaven. Pure heaven. Will review more extensiviely later.

The Universe: Season One (blu)
This is great if you're a space junkie like me. Its like taking a Astronomy class refresher course. Good stuff and Highly recommended.

Wall-E
Best Pixar movie yet, for me anyway. I really dug the hell out of this movie. Pixar is a magical place.

X-Files: I Want to Believe
I wanted to believe I was watching something else. Enjoyed the return of the characters, but the movie sucks.

Transiberian
I really liked this movie by Brad Anderson (Session 9) This is about a couple who find themselves in a middle of a gangster ordeal while on a train in a very cold place.

The Fall
Tarsem (The Cell) directs this fantasy film that is unbelievable to look at it. Every shot is elegantly composed, however a good movie it is not...

Bruce Lee Plays Ping Pong

I know I'm late to the party on this one, but if you have not seen this, enjoy....


Bruce Lee Plays Ping Pong with Nunchuks - The funniest videos are a click away