Saturday, May 28, 2005
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Foods for Thoughts
Interesting article on Ridley Scott & urban theory. A little short, but good reading none the less.
Also, apparently Doug Liman likes to watch two movies and read at the same time. And he's a bit of a spaz.
Also, apparently Doug Liman likes to watch two movies and read at the same time. And he's a bit of a spaz.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Revenge of the D.o.S.
This week's schedule for the D.o.S. is now up.
Also, a great link to a new DVD distribution house with a special focus on Japanese girl gang movies.
Also, a great link to a new DVD distribution house with a special focus on Japanese girl gang movies.
Friday, May 20, 2005
A Few Thoughts On Star Wars
So on Sunday, Beej had the bright idea of hosting a screening of Episodes I & II as a way of hyping ourselves up for Episode III. Like a good wife I kept my mouth shut as to the logic of this particular plan. He was just so excited & I certainly wasn't going to be the one to rain on his parade. But alas, although he tried to place a ban on "haters", by the time I finally showed up (most of the way through Ep I) I had to launch right in to the explicative filled directions:
"Why are there no fucking close ups?"
"What moron edited this piece of shit?"
"There should have been a cut there. And an insert there. Fuckers."
"God this is so fucking slow."
"This looks like a goddamn video game."
"The writing and acting I can forgive. You can work around that. If you know what the fuck you're doing."
And so on and so forth until I found the stack of comic books Beej had just picked up from RX and decided to read those and stop torturing my retinas.
I know it is easy to pick on Episodes I & II. With so much riding on them there was bound to be a backlash. But beyond that, the fact remains that they just aren't very good movies. Although they were meant to be cutting edge, and probably were for about 15 minutes, the bar for special effects is now so far above what was delivered as to be extremely embarrassing. All of the dialogue in Episode II, ALL OF IT, takes place in two shots. Poorly framed two shots. Even with flat dialogue and wooden acting, you can fake some drama by letting us SEE PEOPLE'S FACES! You know, show people ACTING! Or trying to. That would have been fine too. But neglecting your "talent" so blatantly just gives people another reason to buy into the image of you as a distant sociophobe incapable of relating to people, or anything outside of your compound.
As for the usual complaints about Hayden Christensen and his acting, let me come to his defense once and for all. Hayden Christensen is a fine actor, and like the rest of the cast (except for Natalie Portman), most of the inconsistencies in his preformance can be chalked up to lazy directing. The fact of the matter is, Anakin is not a good guy. He's not really that heroic. He's a spoiled whinny bitch, which is why it makes sense that he becomes Darth Vader (a.k.a. the Emperor's Bitch). Luckily Mr. Christensen comes through in the end (like I knew he would) which leads me to an analysis of Episode III:
Pretty much what I expected. I wouldn't go as far as Kevin Smith and call it my favourite film of all time or anything, but it is far enough above Episodes I & II in overall quality (general film making) and impact on the overall story (get this folks: actual DRAMA. ::gasp::) There were moments that gave me goosebumps and it was emotionally satisfying. In fact, Episodes I & II never happened and I am happy. Sure, the "love" dialogue all sucked ass, but what do you expect from a bitter divorce whose marriage was crushed in whole or in part by the empire that this film is a part of?
"Why are there no fucking close ups?"
"What moron edited this piece of shit?"
"There should have been a cut there. And an insert there. Fuckers."
"God this is so fucking slow."
"This looks like a goddamn video game."
"The writing and acting I can forgive. You can work around that. If you know what the fuck you're doing."
And so on and so forth until I found the stack of comic books Beej had just picked up from RX and decided to read those and stop torturing my retinas.
I know it is easy to pick on Episodes I & II. With so much riding on them there was bound to be a backlash. But beyond that, the fact remains that they just aren't very good movies. Although they were meant to be cutting edge, and probably were for about 15 minutes, the bar for special effects is now so far above what was delivered as to be extremely embarrassing. All of the dialogue in Episode II, ALL OF IT, takes place in two shots. Poorly framed two shots. Even with flat dialogue and wooden acting, you can fake some drama by letting us SEE PEOPLE'S FACES! You know, show people ACTING! Or trying to. That would have been fine too. But neglecting your "talent" so blatantly just gives people another reason to buy into the image of you as a distant sociophobe incapable of relating to people, or anything outside of your compound.
As for the usual complaints about Hayden Christensen and his acting, let me come to his defense once and for all. Hayden Christensen is a fine actor, and like the rest of the cast (except for Natalie Portman), most of the inconsistencies in his preformance can be chalked up to lazy directing. The fact of the matter is, Anakin is not a good guy. He's not really that heroic. He's a spoiled whinny bitch, which is why it makes sense that he becomes Darth Vader (a.k.a. the Emperor's Bitch). Luckily Mr. Christensen comes through in the end (like I knew he would) which leads me to an analysis of Episode III:
Pretty much what I expected. I wouldn't go as far as Kevin Smith and call it my favourite film of all time or anything, but it is far enough above Episodes I & II in overall quality (general film making) and impact on the overall story (get this folks: actual DRAMA. ::gasp::) There were moments that gave me goosebumps and it was emotionally satisfying. In fact, Episodes I & II never happened and I am happy. Sure, the "love" dialogue all sucked ass, but what do you expect from a bitter divorce whose marriage was crushed in whole or in part by the empire that this film is a part of?
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Movies I Watched Instead of Writing: Part 4
Blade Trinity [2004] -- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Best comedy of 2004! I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. Beej & I were both in tears. Within 1 minute I was able to proclaim, "This movie is ass." After about 5 minutes I declared that Ryan Reynolds had better be shirtless the whole movie for this to be worth it. Beej declared that Ryan Reynolds had better suck his own cock on screen for this movie to be worth it. Sadly neither of those things happened, but Mr. Reynolds was pretty ab-tastic none the less. My favourite part was when it turned into an i-pod commercial. Twice. David S. Goyer is probably one of the most incompetant directors I have ever seen. It makes "The Punisher" look good. I wasn't really the biggest fan of the first two, but I will watch this again. Preferably with (lots of) booze and popcorn to throw at the screen everytime Parker Posey tries to chew scenery. A new classic of T.A. cinema.
DiG! [2004] -- Awesome, inspiring & fascinating documentary that follows two bands: The Dandy Warhols & The Brian Jonestown Massacre on their quests to make it big in the world of rock. Director Ondi Timoner followed them around for 7 years and the footage she got is revealing & frightening. Unlike any music documentary you've seen.
DiG! [2004] -- Awesome, inspiring & fascinating documentary that follows two bands: The Dandy Warhols & The Brian Jonestown Massacre on their quests to make it big in the world of rock. Director Ondi Timoner followed them around for 7 years and the footage she got is revealing & frightening. Unlike any music documentary you've seen.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Perspective
So, a couple weeks ago while in the midst of full on Wedding Madness I ended up talking my way into writing a film review. I felt kinda stupid about this considering I am so behind on my Den of Sin columns and had pretty much blown off any other writing assignments that had come up, but I was restless and knew that by writing this review I would be helping a local filmmaker. Because I had been mostly writing mainstream film reviews for my "paying" gig, I think I'd kinda lost the spark of what I was doing, and more importantly, why I was doing it. So I watched the film and managed to stake-out some time to actually write the review. I whined and moaned: I had so much to do, why had a I agreed to do a review 1 week before the wedding? The filmmaker was emailing me to check up. I buckled down and finished my review and sent a copy to the filmmaker.
This was his response:
I don't think it is really just a coincidence that I got this email at this time in my life. With all the stress of the wedding and the whole new film editor at Terminal City thing, I was really starting to question why I even bothered. Especially when it was often so hard for me to bother in the first place. Was I really that stressed, or was I just lazy? If I really wanted to succeed, wouldn't I have done so already? But now I remember. I love film. I love the people who make films. I love the whole process and I love to examine it and pick apart how things work and why things appeal to me.
Although many people talk about the let-down after putting on a big(ish) wedding, whether it be a subconcious response to that level of commitment or simply withdrawl from all the excitement, Beej & I just feel filed with energy to move forward. We have been itching to get back to our lives and really push forward. Beej has "The Undead" to edit. I have a pile of writing to get behind. And for one of the first times in my life I really feel like we can do it, because of the support from our friends, family and larger communities.
This was his response:
These are the type of reviews we can only dream about. Thank you for a thought provoking accolade. You do us a great honour with your writing. It inspires me to be a better filmmaker, so we may maintain a higher level of storytelling that the viewing audience will enjoy.
I don't think it is really just a coincidence that I got this email at this time in my life. With all the stress of the wedding and the whole new film editor at Terminal City thing, I was really starting to question why I even bothered. Especially when it was often so hard for me to bother in the first place. Was I really that stressed, or was I just lazy? If I really wanted to succeed, wouldn't I have done so already? But now I remember. I love film. I love the people who make films. I love the whole process and I love to examine it and pick apart how things work and why things appeal to me.
Although many people talk about the let-down after putting on a big(ish) wedding, whether it be a subconcious response to that level of commitment or simply withdrawl from all the excitement, Beej & I just feel filed with energy to move forward. We have been itching to get back to our lives and really push forward. Beej has "The Undead" to edit. I have a pile of writing to get behind. And for one of the first times in my life I really feel like we can do it, because of the support from our friends, family and larger communities.
First Things First
I know I have a lot of catching up to do, but I figured some of you might actually care how things went on The Big Day. In a word: Awesome. But, for those for whom a picture is worth a thousand words, I provide an essay. In non-linear/experimental form.
And a brief dissertation.
Should have more up by the end of the week.
And a brief dissertation.
Should have more up by the end of the week.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Foods for Thoughts
Why big budget Hollywood movies are actually cheaper to make than low budget indies.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Couple of Links for Y'all
Yes, I said "y'all". Sue me.
Brains on Film - Exploitation & all that. Seems to focus on B-movies.
Cinemasewer - Can't believe it took me this long to find Bougie's site. I'm embarrassed.
Also, it's offical: Cinemuerte will return. October 26 - 31 2005 @ the Pacific Cinemateque.
Brains on Film - Exploitation & all that. Seems to focus on B-movies.
Cinemasewer - Can't believe it took me this long to find Bougie's site. I'm embarrassed.
Also, it's offical: Cinemuerte will return. October 26 - 31 2005 @ the Pacific Cinemateque.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Weekend Round-Up (Jack & Jill Stag Post-Mortem)
Decided it was time I start chronicling the events of last Saturday before I forget them all together. Corrections/omissions welcomed in comments.
2pm-ish: Got on the bus & lugged our crap to the Clubhouse. Managed to avoid crazy people on bus (no small feat these days). Could have been due to compulsive blinking of right eye in an attempt to expunge the chunk of eye make-up that got stuck under my eyelid, almost blinding me. Drinks: 0
3pm-ish: Show up at racetrack w/ Grae, Corinne & Mike. Decide that "Main Entrance" maybe wasn't specific enough. Drinks: 0
3pm - 5pm-ish: Are met by Cameron, the racing expert & various others. Get fed a beer and watch others make small bets. In the 8th race a horse named "Lord Samurai" is found and it is determined that everyone should contribute $1 to make a bet in my name. Total bet is $12 and odds are pretty good despite horse not doing so well in his last 3 races. Bob makes his own personal bet on the same horse and is threatened with beats if our horse looses as he has jinxed things. "Lord Samurai" comes dead last in his race but I refrain from beating Bob if only so Rachael doesn't have to drag his bloody carcass home since she is dressed nicely. Drinks: 1
5pm - 6:30-ish: Go back to Clubhouse to ditch car, make silly hats for Beej & I and consume 1 shot. Drinks: 1
7pm - 9:30-ish: Convene @ Shabusen for delicious All You Can Eat sushi & Korean BBQ. There are at least 2 people in ties. Beej finally shows and we are fed Sake. Kat only waves flaming meat in the air twice. Staff is polite about our ever expanding party as people who had not bothered to RSVP decided to show up, late. Beej is fed disgusting looking jello concoction in attempt to gross him out, but he finds it delicious. Later we are both fed Tako (octopus), he again enjoys it. I make awful faces & end up chewing for 5 straight minutes. Spot man dressed as "Duct Tape Warrior" sitting in other section of restaurant. Decide he has us trumped in the "silly hats" department. I demand more Sake. Drinks: 4 - 5
9:30 - 11-ish: Walk to bus stop. Both Mike & Beej need to be chased through Virgin. We mock the Christian interpretative dancers outside Art Gallery, securing our places in hell. Take bus to Uranus (snicker) & make it through 3 verses of "The Wheels on the Bus". Arrive @ Uranus (snicker) 15 minutes before Karaoke is set to start. DJ is not even there yet, but there is somewhat rotund mentally handicapped Chinese man already belting his heart out to bad Canto-pop ballads. We applaud him profusely & end up driving him to a dance routine later in the evening. I demand and receive an overpriced rum & coke. Once the books arrive, everyone starts filling out song slips with Prince songs and my name. I think we started with 3 in a row and later did 2 more. The Prince-a-thon officially ended with Kat & I savagely butchering "Raspberry Beret" since neither of us remembered the words (or tune for that matter). "Little Red Corvette" is abandoned all together. Are met by still more people to supply us with liquor. "Highlights" include:
Xian & Beej's performance art rendition of "Careless Whispers", complete with Beej walking out near the end.
A woman many of us guessed worked upstairs doing an impressively faithful rendition of "Private Dancer".
Sam & Deb's pitch perfect "Kiss".
Grae channeling Axel Rose for "Patience" (although the high notes weren't quite there).
The above mentioned dance routine (Jury is still out of whether it was the "best. thing. ever." or the "worst. thing. ever." Personally I'm going to best. We couldn't have planned it better if we'd found the guy on the street & paid him).
However, the gold star of the evening goes to Xian for his unique stylings on the Police's "Roxanne" (later described by Mike as "... sound[ing] like Bobcat Goldthwait coming out of Sting's ass"). Drinks: 1 - 2
11 - Midnight-ish: Finally make it upstairs to the "show-lounge" as I am now fairly sauced and demand "tits". Don buys Beej & I each a shot and waits until we down them and tears stream down our faces to inform us that we just ingested 151 proof rum. Corinne, Kat, Rachael & I form a united front by the stage in an attempt to curry the favour of the strippers. It seems to work as I am asked if it is my birthday (see silly hat). Katie buys me another rum & coke and the ever stealthy Rachael asks me my opinion on what sort of shot to order only to find out she has ordered two and one of them belongs to me. I prevent Beej from giving $20 to the skanky girl attempting (and failing) to "dance" around the pole in the corner where the rest of our party is congregated. It is later determined that she just wandered in off the street and probably isn't even employed there. Funds are pooled and Beej & I are both treated to "private dances", but sadly we could not enjoy them together. I am instead left by myself to enjoy the novelty of being asked about wedding plans while staring at the question asker's vagina. Kat & Corinne get "Sinful Sindy" to sign a poster for me and Beej is determined I have it framed to display in the office. Highlights include the yahoos across the stage from us "flashing their bling" and whispering sweet nothings into the ear of the Paris Hilton'esq dancer while being chastised by the DJ, & Beej and Corinne shaking their booties to "Hey Ya" in between dancers. Drinks: 3
Sometime after Midnight: Much broohaha at the bus stop to downtown. Meet up with Mike & Shawn who never left the karaoke lounge. Somehow make it to 7/11. While the rest of us are fetching water, Beej has to find an alley into which he unburdens the contents of his stomach. Many pictures are taken (can I get a copy of those Karl?). Wander down to Celebrities only to encounter a long line. That coupled with the $10 cover fee & our need to get back on a bus by 2AM inform our decision not to go in, but since we are supposed to meet up with people inside, calls are made and we decide to wait in case they come out so we can at least say hi. We wait so long the line moves to the point where we could have gotten in and magically one of our sister party emerges just in time to say goodbye.
1:30 - 2am-ish: Apparently we got on a bus back to the Clubhouse. Have little recollection of how things went.
2am - whenever: Gather in the living room of the Clubhouse to watch "Kaiju Big Battel". Most of us are far too drunk to make heads or tails of it & I pass out on the floor in my sleeping bag.
11am-ish: We are woken from our slumber & rides are arranged to take us to Chinefoo in Burnaby.
Noon: Chinefoo, where we finally managed to break $50 for the total bill (in fact, we hit over $70!). Many Uranus jokes are made (I laugh at all of them, still do) and no one is awarded the Bob award. Afterwards Beej & I get on a bus home & retreat to bed to burrow under our brand new duvet.
Total Drinks: 10 - 12
Total Puke: 0
2pm-ish: Got on the bus & lugged our crap to the Clubhouse. Managed to avoid crazy people on bus (no small feat these days). Could have been due to compulsive blinking of right eye in an attempt to expunge the chunk of eye make-up that got stuck under my eyelid, almost blinding me. Drinks: 0
3pm-ish: Show up at racetrack w/ Grae, Corinne & Mike. Decide that "Main Entrance" maybe wasn't specific enough. Drinks: 0
3pm - 5pm-ish: Are met by Cameron, the racing expert & various others. Get fed a beer and watch others make small bets. In the 8th race a horse named "Lord Samurai" is found and it is determined that everyone should contribute $1 to make a bet in my name. Total bet is $12 and odds are pretty good despite horse not doing so well in his last 3 races. Bob makes his own personal bet on the same horse and is threatened with beats if our horse looses as he has jinxed things. "Lord Samurai" comes dead last in his race but I refrain from beating Bob if only so Rachael doesn't have to drag his bloody carcass home since she is dressed nicely. Drinks: 1
5pm - 6:30-ish: Go back to Clubhouse to ditch car, make silly hats for Beej & I and consume 1 shot. Drinks: 1
7pm - 9:30-ish: Convene @ Shabusen for delicious All You Can Eat sushi & Korean BBQ. There are at least 2 people in ties. Beej finally shows and we are fed Sake. Kat only waves flaming meat in the air twice. Staff is polite about our ever expanding party as people who had not bothered to RSVP decided to show up, late. Beej is fed disgusting looking jello concoction in attempt to gross him out, but he finds it delicious. Later we are both fed Tako (octopus), he again enjoys it. I make awful faces & end up chewing for 5 straight minutes. Spot man dressed as "Duct Tape Warrior" sitting in other section of restaurant. Decide he has us trumped in the "silly hats" department. I demand more Sake. Drinks: 4 - 5
9:30 - 11-ish: Walk to bus stop. Both Mike & Beej need to be chased through Virgin. We mock the Christian interpretative dancers outside Art Gallery, securing our places in hell. Take bus to Uranus (snicker) & make it through 3 verses of "The Wheels on the Bus". Arrive @ Uranus (snicker) 15 minutes before Karaoke is set to start. DJ is not even there yet, but there is somewhat rotund mentally handicapped Chinese man already belting his heart out to bad Canto-pop ballads. We applaud him profusely & end up driving him to a dance routine later in the evening. I demand and receive an overpriced rum & coke. Once the books arrive, everyone starts filling out song slips with Prince songs and my name. I think we started with 3 in a row and later did 2 more. The Prince-a-thon officially ended with Kat & I savagely butchering "Raspberry Beret" since neither of us remembered the words (or tune for that matter). "Little Red Corvette" is abandoned all together. Are met by still more people to supply us with liquor. "Highlights" include:
Xian & Beej's performance art rendition of "Careless Whispers", complete with Beej walking out near the end.
A woman many of us guessed worked upstairs doing an impressively faithful rendition of "Private Dancer".
Sam & Deb's pitch perfect "Kiss".
Grae channeling Axel Rose for "Patience" (although the high notes weren't quite there).
The above mentioned dance routine (Jury is still out of whether it was the "best. thing. ever." or the "worst. thing. ever." Personally I'm going to best. We couldn't have planned it better if we'd found the guy on the street & paid him).
However, the gold star of the evening goes to Xian for his unique stylings on the Police's "Roxanne" (later described by Mike as "... sound[ing] like Bobcat Goldthwait coming out of Sting's ass"). Drinks: 1 - 2
11 - Midnight-ish: Finally make it upstairs to the "show-lounge" as I am now fairly sauced and demand "tits". Don buys Beej & I each a shot and waits until we down them and tears stream down our faces to inform us that we just ingested 151 proof rum. Corinne, Kat, Rachael & I form a united front by the stage in an attempt to curry the favour of the strippers. It seems to work as I am asked if it is my birthday (see silly hat). Katie buys me another rum & coke and the ever stealthy Rachael asks me my opinion on what sort of shot to order only to find out she has ordered two and one of them belongs to me. I prevent Beej from giving $20 to the skanky girl attempting (and failing) to "dance" around the pole in the corner where the rest of our party is congregated. It is later determined that she just wandered in off the street and probably isn't even employed there. Funds are pooled and Beej & I are both treated to "private dances", but sadly we could not enjoy them together. I am instead left by myself to enjoy the novelty of being asked about wedding plans while staring at the question asker's vagina. Kat & Corinne get "Sinful Sindy" to sign a poster for me and Beej is determined I have it framed to display in the office. Highlights include the yahoos across the stage from us "flashing their bling" and whispering sweet nothings into the ear of the Paris Hilton'esq dancer while being chastised by the DJ, & Beej and Corinne shaking their booties to "Hey Ya" in between dancers. Drinks: 3
Sometime after Midnight: Much broohaha at the bus stop to downtown. Meet up with Mike & Shawn who never left the karaoke lounge. Somehow make it to 7/11. While the rest of us are fetching water, Beej has to find an alley into which he unburdens the contents of his stomach. Many pictures are taken (can I get a copy of those Karl?). Wander down to Celebrities only to encounter a long line. That coupled with the $10 cover fee & our need to get back on a bus by 2AM inform our decision not to go in, but since we are supposed to meet up with people inside, calls are made and we decide to wait in case they come out so we can at least say hi. We wait so long the line moves to the point where we could have gotten in and magically one of our sister party emerges just in time to say goodbye.
1:30 - 2am-ish: Apparently we got on a bus back to the Clubhouse. Have little recollection of how things went.
2am - whenever: Gather in the living room of the Clubhouse to watch "Kaiju Big Battel". Most of us are far too drunk to make heads or tails of it & I pass out on the floor in my sleeping bag.
11am-ish: We are woken from our slumber & rides are arranged to take us to Chinefoo in Burnaby.
Noon: Chinefoo, where we finally managed to break $50 for the total bill (in fact, we hit over $70!). Many Uranus jokes are made (I laugh at all of them, still do) and no one is awarded the Bob award. Afterwards Beej & I get on a bus home & retreat to bed to burrow under our brand new duvet.
Total Drinks: 10 - 12
Total Puke: 0
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