Short Film Claude Lelouch - Rendezvous

SHORT FILM "RENDEZVOUS"

What a classic! Car fans, and filmmakers, the short film by Claude Lelouch, racing thru the streets of 1970's Paris! C'était un rendez-vous.

Wow.

Makes me wanna drive, or at least play a racing videogame!

Making Of...

Jay Leno was featured in a modern LA version of Rendezvous, in his SLS.

Making Of...

X-Men First Class Generation X Mutant X

X-MEN FIRST CLASS, emerges from a legacy of FAIL.

I know it's a bit too early to be judging a movie that has yet to be released, but I can't help but think about the previous attempts at a 'mutant teen drama.' And given the history of live-action mutant-themed productions that have come about in the past, my expectations for X-Men: First Class, are pretty low.

When I first heard that the next X-Men installment would be set in the past, back when Xavier and crew are in their youth, I immediately thought of the series, Generation X.

How could anyone forget Generation X, the Executive Produced Avi Arad, Stan Lee FOX TV Movie from 1996. It was based on the comic series of the same name, and filmed as a pilot for a series, which failed to happen. Generation X was like 21 Jump Street with mutant powers. It was filmed in Vancouver, BC like every X-Men film that followed in the years to come. I remember being mildly entertained by the movie as a youth, but looking back at it now, I cringe. This show is AWFUL.

(Kudos on the SEGA Virtua Fighter 2 arcade product placement. Jubilee sets that baby on fire!)

Flash forward to 2001, another attempt at bringing 'mutant youth' to the small screen, with the show, Mutant X. A series which unfortunately survived beyond it's original pilot and went on for 3 seasons. Maybe it's because they decided to go with a sexed up direction. Marvel Studios was the behind the series, with Avi Arad as Executive Producer. The main characters are genetically engineered mutants, rather than mutants who were born with powers. I don't believe Mutant X was based on an existing comicbook.

The only decent 'X-men Youth' series to ever hit the small screen was the animated X-Men Evolution. The show set Cyclops, Jean Grey, and others in High School. As a show, it was far better than the other crap.

In any case, maybe it is time for a proper reboot, remake, repackage of a teenage X-Men schtick, after all, the television series attempts have been nothing but fail.

CASTING BATMAN 2012 TOM HARDY and ANNE HATHAWAY

CASTING CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

I woke up this morning to the Twitter explosion of trending topics 'Catwoman, Selina Kyle, Batman, Tom Hardy, Bane.' And it seemed like everyone on my twitter feed had something to say about the new cast of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises set for Summer 2012 release.

With the movie being quite the anticipated follow up Batman film, the announcement of comic characters appearing in the movie, is more exciting than the actors playing them.

The Dark Knight Rises, sees the return of the Catwoman character, who previously appeared in Batman Returns (1992) played by Michelle Pfeiffer, and Catwoman (2004) played by Halle Berry. The former being the most popular interpretation of Selina Kyle. Catwoman is typically a love interest to Bruce Wayne, and villain to Batman.

Bane on the other hand has had less of a live-action adaptation spotlight, appearing briefly as a henchman in Batman & Robin (1997).

It would be interesting to see how these characters come to life on screen, under Nolan's direction.

Anne Hathaway (Alice in Wonderland), and Tom Hardy (Star Trek Nemesis, Inception), have played many roles over the course of their careers, yet I can see them bringing a youthfulness, to the comic characters which should be quite memorable for fans of the Batman franchise.

Geek hype machine in full effect, the casting reveal for next Nolan Batman flick puts Picard's Nemesis clone, as Bane. Mary Poppins, as Catwoman.

Should we expect the cast and director to make an appearance at San Diego Comic Con 2011?

SNL: Anne Hathaway as Mary Poppins por fmsantos2008 no Videolog.tv.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World - Awesome Movie

BLACK SHEEP, COME HOME.

I recently had a chance to see Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, over the weekend, and I must say I was extremely entertained, with this hyperactive comicbook adaptation.

Even though I've never read the original comic, nor read much about the movie before seeing it, I was blown away by the brilliance of the idea, and execution of the film. Based on the buzz from friends, gamers, and geeks alike, the consensus has been very pretty positive since the film's release. Unfortunately the same hasn't been true for box office dollars, with mainstream audiences avoiding the movie like the plague. Most people just don't and won't, 'get it,' maybe because of the highly stylized storytelling, that doesn't shy away from embracing videogames, and geek humor, animation and comics to the extreme.

This is one of the funniest movies I've seen, in a long time. The characters are so entertaining, from the League of Evil Exes, to the quirky characters that populate Pilgrim's life, that there is never a dull moment. I found myself laughing consistently throughout, even when the joke in question was over.

Aside from the sharp comedic timing, I was equally impressed with the fight scenes, and beautiful visual effects. The use of split-screen comic-esque panels, pixel art, and videogame music are great additions. Scott Pilgrim is a brilliant idea brought to life on screen by a brilliant director, Edgar Wright.

There is one downside to the movie though, if you can call it that. Michael Cera's Scott Pilgrim is a whiny little bastard, who can get quite annoying in the film. Luckily, the rest of the characters, make up for his lack of appeal.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World hits all the right notes that make for memorable classic for geek culture. Even film director Mark Romanek agrees, saying on his twitter: "SCOTT PILGRIM is an utterly fantastic film. I'm 100% certain it will be enjoyed by fans for decades. 8:18 PM Aug 22nd via Twitterrific."

Possibilities with Panasonic AG-3DA1 Twin-Lens 3D Camera

New ways of realizing dreams...

Last year, the topic of 3D filmmaking came up during post-production on my short film, Lazy Susan. Someone suggested that I consider making the film in 3D, to give the it a more dynamic feel. I liked the idea, but as a short film, there were too many complexities, and complications involved when making an effective 3D film on a limited budget. And not to mention festival screenings, and theaters ill-equiped for 3D films, after the fact. How much would obtaining 3D glasses cost for a whole theater? It all seemed overwhelming.

Yes, I think Lazy Susan in 3D, could have been possible, if the AG-3DAI had come out in 2009.

Lazy Susan a short film - VFX Trailer (HD) from Albert Art on Vimeo.

At the time I wasn't too sure about the whole 3D production process, and being already over-budget there was no way of spending more money into making a 3D film.

Flash forward to several months later. Avatar hits theaters, and the push for more 3D in film, and homes is in full swing as a result of Jim Cameron's hard work. My short film Lazy Susan is complete but in 2D, and Panasonic reveals their Twin-Lens 3D Camera, the Panasonic AG-3DA1.

As an owner of a Panasonic HVX, I was surprised to see a 3D camera so soon, and coming from Panasonic, for the independent film community.

I love my HVX. The camera has really given me the ability to realize my vision, at great quality, and for not that much money, but the 3DAI has me rethinking about going 3D.

Panasonic Pavilion Vancouver, BC 2010 Winter Olympics AG-3DA1 on display. These glasses look like cartoony sci-fi. These glasses belong in Mission Impossible.

Viewing the Full HD theater at the Panasonic Pavilion in Vancouver entertained me and many others, with 3D highlights from the Summer Olympic and Winter Olympic games, while the 3DAI camera on display, inspired me. I can now see 3D application in just about anything. From Saturday Morning cartoons, to sports, sitcoms and even adult entertainment. Even the most mundane TV shows, could be made entertaining if viewed in 3D. The 3DA1 camera has many possibilities, and Panasonic is doing a great thing by introducing it.

I can't wait to see the stuff shot with this camera, and I am really curious to learn more about it. I will keep a look out for any "Hands-on" previews of the camera.

Panasonic AG-3DA1 Twin-Lens 3D Camera Demo Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics from Albert Art on Vimeo.

CREEP web short film NOW online albertart

CREEP!!!

Okay, so CREEP is finally online, after a month of waiting to get it scored, and the audio mixed together, my latest web short, is now online for viewing on http://albertart.net/creep.htm and on my vimeo and youtube channels.

This was a quick production, shot while I was on xmas holiday in LA. It was a fun experience, and it was great working in Old Torrance, with a local cast. I brought along my Panasonic HVX200, and it performed nicely. I love this camera!

This film is meant to be amusing, to anyone who has encountered odd people.

Ninja Assassin Premiere Screening VIFF09

It's so bad, it's good.

With a surprise introduction by director James McTeigue, the Vancouver Film Festival premiere screening of Ninja Assassin, was met with an excited audience, who knew exactly what they were in for -- pure entertainment.

Your typical martial arts revenge formula: Renegade assassin, check. Hordes of disposable ninja goons, check. Head villian with nasty facial scar, check. Chick trying to investigate secret ninja clan, so check! And if you didn't know better, you'd probably think this was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the movie, something I couldn't stop thinking about during the entire length of the flick.

Amped up on high tech graphics, cartoony, over the top violence, and structured in a way that could be broken down into mangas, animes, or videogame levels, (or videogame titles, for that matter), the movie hits all the high points, in between the bits of story that the audience could care less about.

What more can you expect from a movie titled "Ninja Assassin"? Ninjas trying to kill other ninjas, of course. With the backing of the crew who worked on The Matrix series, the movie is a visual effects feast, with some padding of events to move the plot, Ninja Assassin, is an entertaining film, that really isn't anything else.

More videogamey than The Matrix, Ninja Assassin is like watching a videogame play out on screen. Any gamer would be able to pick out bits of Ninja Gaiden, and Mirror's Edge, in the film. It also has a feel of old 90s martial arts B movies, where the fight choreography takes center stage, while the rest is filler. The bad acting, and attempts at making the actors seem intelligent, and the supposed drama between them, are cheesy at best.

The fight scenes and stunt work are top notch, fused with lots of visual effects, lots of blood, limbs, and the Bullet Time style to really drive the point home. There's even a roof top scene, in which our main character has a neo-dodging-bullets moment, only thing is, he doesn't dodge them.

This film of course, has bigger, slicker production values to camouflage lack of any real depth. Not that the movie needs it, because that's not what Ninja Assassin is trying to be. If you're looking for an over the top, VFX heavy action flick, this would be it.

Advance Screening Terminator Salvation Tickets from Twitter! Looks good, how about the rest of the film?

I won my movie tickets on Twitter! Instant gratification.

Earlier this week I won tickets to the Advance Screening of Terminator Salvation, via Twitter. I've never won anything on Twitter before, so this was pretty cool. Warner Bros. has their PR representatives spreading the word of their upcoming films, on the social networking/status update site (tool?) which is great for fans because we can contact these people directly. The WB Rep for Vancouver had mentioned that followers to their Twitter could have a chance to win free tickets if you paid attention closely for trivia questions.

Of course when free tickets to a movie are involved, (a movie I'm excited for, but still on the fence about), I wouldn't mind trying to win tickets, especially since they were FREE. If I end up hating the movie I won't feel so bad anymore.

The WB Rep posted around 5 or 6 questions about the movie, and fans would tweet back their answer. The questions were fairly easy, mostly about the actors character names, directors full name etc. Nothing an online fan wouldn't know.

Expect a blog about my Terminator Salvation thoughts, shortly after the screening this Tuesday MAY 19th!!!

Watchmen film, a faithful adaptation... to a certain degree.

Before seeing the movie, I tried to convince myself to have low expectations for Zack Snyder's Watchmen so that I wouldn't be disappointed after seeing the film, especially having just read the Watchmen book several days prior.

I soon realized my expectations for this adaptation were quite high -- fresh from experiencing the written Watchmen, I was surprised by what had been cut, altered, and tailored from the book. My immediate reaction was, WTF? Turns out I was more attached to the source material than I had previously thought, and seeing it play out on screen the way Snyder had envisioned, had me sort of squirming in my seat at times. I expected more from the film.

As the end credits rolled, I immediately turned to a friend who had also read Watchmen, and expressed my, dare I say, disappointment, in how much was missing, and how much the audience wasn't getting from watching the movie -- who the majority of people most likely never read the book, and are only seeing the movie because of the hype surrounding it.

The film succeeds in that sense, introducing those who are unfamiliar with Watchmen to the bare-bones of Alan Moore's superhero epic. It's a good adaptation, it is just lacking much of the details that makes Watchmen so amazing.

For a film adaptation, Zack Snyder's Watchmen is as true as it could have been to the material, given the complexity of the narrative structure in book form. Which is something that I need to get over, because this isn't the book. It will never be the book. The book is a book for a reason, and the movie is a movie for a reason. The film lacks a certain depth that makes the Watchmen universe what it is. The film conveys the gist of the situation, and the characters, but leaves out a lot of detail that resonated with readers, the much needed 'human' element.

My two other friends who came along to the Friday night screening, had never read the book, so they came in with a fresh perspective on the movie. They were able to follow along without thinking about the book, but you could say they weren't as passionate about the ideas within the film, because well, without reading the book, there's no way that a film-goer would truly get the same feeling about the material.

Especially given the time constraints of the film. I felt the movie wasn't long enough, and I felt like everything was being sped up. Again, reading a book at your own pace adds a personal experience, while a movie forces you to move along without the ability to flip back, re-read, absorb or reflect on a previous page. Snyder, takes the relevant points from the book, and sticks to it, which is why it feels sort of clinical.

If anything, this movie should inspire those film viewers to read the book!

***SPOILERS

I especially hate it when, characters from the book only make very brief screen appearances, and are only recognizable to those who read the source material. What's the point of having these characters appear if they aren't going to be doing anything but standing there? Fan service? Hardly. It is more insulting if anything, to have secondary characters of the book reduced to 'extras'. Case in point, the Newspaper stand guys Bernard, and Bernie who are seen in two shots, and the Pirate comics have been removed completely.

Other things that disappointed me were the visual recreations of things like Adrian's Antarctic complex which was nothing like the Bio-dome in the book. The way he killed off his crew sucked as well. Also, Rorschach, and Nite Owl never used their cruiser devices to traverse the snow on the way to Adrian's hideout, which would have been a nice touch if the filmmakers bothered to create a new design. Instead the two characters walked in the snow.

Also Dr. Malcolm Long, was never shown having a home life, with his wife who hated losing her husband to the Rorschach case. And prior to the attack on the city, Dr. Long never intervened on the lesbian couples argument happening in the streets. There was no lesbian couple arguing. This scene in the book in particular showed people uniting to help total strangers, despite their companions demands to stay out of other people's business. These two scenes showed humanity, and the changing view of characters before the destruction of the city. It would have been a nice addition.

No giant squid either. No Dr. Manhattan walking on water, or transcending to godly state. No final sex scene either. lol

The depiction of Seymour at the end was also a disappointment, looking more like a stereotypical comic nerd, than an overweight Jimmy Olson, whose boss editor Hector Godfrey, didn't come off as mean as in the book. I think that was Snyder's way of saying, 'this movie is going to please all comic nerds'. Yeah right.

If it is one thing that really impressed me about the movie, and what made the material come to life, it was the opening credits. HAHA.

It's a good entertaining adaptation, just not entirely what I expected.

Reading Watchmen before the movie

Gotta finish reading Watchmen before 3/6/09.

Yeah, I'm like so many other people out there who never read Watchmen growing up, and are only getting into 'The Most Celebrated Graphic Novel of All Time', prior to the movie's release, hitting theaters March 6th.

I'm halfway through the book, but I don't think I'll finish in time. I just don't have much time to sit and read without any interruptions. I also like to enjoy the artwork, so that slows down the page flipping significantly. Still, I'm gonna keep reading and see how far I get before the film comes out.

Amazing is a good way to describe it, I can understand why this book is so respected, and revered. These superheroes are complex, have flaws, and the world they live in isn't a squeaky clean Metropolis. They've been hurt, and they've caused hurt, they seem quite realistic, and in very gray area, like everyday people. Their origin stories are deep, detailed, and are fascinating to read.

I definitely can't wait to see how this story plays out in film form. What gets cut out, and what remains.

Now back to reading...

Reevaluating my opinion of Richard Kelly's Southland Tales movie

Subjecting others to Richard Kelly's Southland Tales.

Over the Holidays I thought that it would be a good idea to introduce some of my family members to Richard Kelly's Southland Tales, a movie that I picked up on DVD at some point in 2008, and which never really saw the light of day as a wide theatrical worldwide release, appearing in only select theaters. To my dismay, they never reacted as I had hoped.

Everyone knows Southland Tales was slaughtered by film critics, and fans alike, only a few oddball hardcore fans have really grown to appreciate it, myself included. It's entertaining. The movie makes me laugh. Some ideas presented in the film about technology, politics, and time travel were intriguing, and visually it's a nice looking film, with an atmospheric soundtrack to go along with it. Being most of my relatives have similar tastes to my own in humor, and movies, I felt it was a safe bet that they'd enjoy it. So I tested out the movie on them. I was curious to see how they'd react.

One of my relatives (female, over 40) is very political, hates George Bush, Republicans, right-wing conservatives, and loves debating anything to do with government, science, and medicine. Another relative (male, over 30) grew up reading comics, and science fiction novels, enjoys all sorts of movies from the arty, to cult classics, to mainstream, and from time to time gets into political debates as well. These two for the most part I consider to be very well educated, well-rounded individuals, who have an appreciation for the satirical. A third relative (female 19), is a college student, someone who soaks up pop-culture, and mainstream entertainment, who is neither political, or into science fiction. This person never saw Donnie Darko, but when I mentioned that Justin Timberlake, and Sarah Michelle Gellar were in Southland Tales, her interest was piqued.

Without any introduction, aside from "I gotta really cool movie for you guys to watch", I went ahead and popped it into the DVD player, preparing myself to watch their reactions like they were guinea pigs.

The opening of the film held their interest, but soon after that, their interest started to breakdown. Confused, and unamused throughout the movie, they asked that I stop the movie before before Act 3. I found myself the only one laughing at 'Teen Horniness is not a Crime', and other parts of the film. Something was missing, they just didn't 'get it', like I did. In short, they hated it. So I popped in 'Army of Darkness' instead to win back their trust in my film choices.

While I can watch Southland Tales, more than once, it seems some people can't even get through the first time viewing, without losing interest. Indeed, 'Southland Tales' isn't for everyone. I'm such an oddity for liking this movie. If you're reading this Richard Kelly, I tried to introduce more people to the movie, but they quickly denied it! I'm definitely looking forward to 'The Box.'

I kinda wish I was in New York, kinda, not really.

Ba humbug!!! Movies to look forward to.

Not only did I miss Blipfest last week, but now I'm gonna be missing out on the premiere of 'The Sky Crawlers', the latest animated film by Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii. The film is screening at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, on December 12th, and for all those animation fans out there in New York, the event is quite the occasion. I've known about this film for a while since first hearing about it earlier in the year and have been looking forward another Japanese animated feature to come along and blow me away.

If any of youse readers out there happen to be in New York, please please, try and get tickets to the screening, and blog about it...

You know what, surprisingly it's already playing in Los Angeles at the Los feliz 3 Cinemas. I guess I'll be watching it over the Holiday's since I'll be down there, like every year. Don't need to go to New York after all. Yayy!

Watch Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire, an intense and vibrant look at the lives of three young people growing up in modern day Mumbai, all set to a killer soundtrack too!

So finally a movie comes along featuring a soundtrack that actually compliments the music rather than mismatching it with the movie. Unlike Pineapple Express -- which boiled down the M.I.A. song Paper Planes to simply 'getting high' -- those who never heard of M.I.A. before then assumed that the song was about smoking marijuana. People loved the catchy gun shots, and 'getting high like planes', but they took the song as very one-sided, and at face value. I blogged about that a while ago, and that post continues to get traffic from people curious about the song's meaning, who google 'Paper Planes meaning' on average of everyday. Slumdog Millionaire makes up for the Hollywood rape of the M.I.A. track, with an energetic soundtrack by A.R. Rahman. The movie and music are perfect for each other.

Sure I could explain why the song, music and movie are an excellent pairing, but you should really watch the movie to truly get it. Or read Q & A, the episodic Vikas Swarup novel, that Slumdog Millionaire is based on. I caught the film over the weekend, and finally understand why it's been getting so much praise. Directed by Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Trainspotting), the film feels very kinetic, and feels like it retains a certain aura of a foreign film, and not a westernized take on India, or Indian filmmaking, due in part to the co-director Loveleen Tandan. Watch this movie!

Entertainment Weekly - Star Trek New Movie, New Vision Feature

More images/deets from the latest Star Trek movie.

This week's Entertainment Weekly out on Oct.17, sheds more light on Abrams new vision for Gene Roddenberry's science fiction pop-culture franchise.

The 8-page EW cover story should have fans excited about Star Trek's reboot as it's loaded with more images from the film, as well as more details from the filmmakers. Be aware there are spoilers, so if you choose not to know anything about the film, don't bother reading, (or at least avoid page 4).

Abrams is focusing on worldwide appeal, making Trek cool. He's quoted as saying, ''We weren't making a movie for fans of Star Trek. We were making a movie for fans of movies.''

After the television abominations of Star Trek Voyager, and Star Trek Enterprise, here's hoping Abrams Star Trek vision, is more than cosmetic, perhaps one with intellectual appeal as well. Star Trek has always had the allure of wonder, and adventure in the context of space exploration where science and technology inspired. Unless the new Star Trek movie slips into popcorn flick territory, with not much brains behind the bimbo, then serious Trek fans should be worried. I'm sure they'd say Abrams brought a little too much 'Felicity' to Trek.

Read the EW feature, and you be the judge.

Blipfest - Reformat the Planet, on Pitchfork.tv

8.15-8.21 For one week, and one week only!

Today Pitchfork.tv did one of the greatest things that I've ever since them do in the short time that they've been around. Available for One Week Only, free for online viewing in it's entirety is "Blipfest: Reformat the Planet", the documentary on Chiptune music and culture by 2 Player Productions, which in my opinion is the best, most comprehensive resource that covers the Chiptune music scene. This my friends, is a cause for celebration.

The thing is, it's only available for ONE week, so head on over to Pitchfork.tv to see what the excitement is all about. If you haven't seen it, and have been curious about music made with Gameboys, now you can!

It came as a complete surprise to me, after having not seen the film since the Game Developers Conference back in 2007, so I found myself distracted all day long at work watching it over again. I was literally sitting at my computer when I got word of this Pitchfork exclusive, and as I watched it, I couldn't help but Geek Out. I instantly updated my Twitter, and facebook statuses to reflect my enthusiasm for this. You see, I plan on attending Blipfest 2008 in December, so seeing scenes from the fest got me totally stoked about attending the event. No one else in the room was as enthusiastic as me, and believe it or not I work at a video game company. I guess Chiptune is an acquired taste even for gamers, and employees of game studios.

I've always been somewhat frustrated with the fact that Chiptune music on the west coast of North America doesn't seem to be too prevalent. Certainly there are Chiptune artists in LA, and San Francisco, but other than that I don't think it has reached other cities on the west, definitely not Vancouver. New York is where it's at, and I've been missing many exciting events going on this summer. If ever I move to New York, I'd be all up in this party scene.

I began to think of the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle which is fast approaching at the end of August as a place that would be a perfect to showcase this music. The massive gamer/geek expo features musical acts, none of which are Chiptune artists. There's rappers, and electro pop acts with songs that deal with familiar gamer themes, and covers of game songs, but for Chiptune itself, that's where its lacking. I remember I emailed the folks at Penny Arcade sometime ago, regarding their lack of interest in inviting chiptune acts, but I received no reply.

*EDIT So apparently this year's PAX will be getting a Screening of Reformat the Planet, along with a performance by Anamanaguchi. I will definitely try and make it to those. So should you! Though Anamanaguchi rocks, I'd prefer if it were Bitshifter, Glomag, Nullsleep, Covox or Bubblyfish representing at PAX.

What will it take for Chiptune to gain a larger audience and presence at gamer events? Just because chiptune artists don't necessarily perform Megaman songs, and other fan service, doesn't mean the art itself isn't relevant to game culture.

Here's hoping this Pitchfork exposure gets Chiptune the recognition it deserves.

The Happening movie big disappointment

The Happening should have been advertised as a Comedy.

Before seeing "The Happening" a group of friends, and I decided to watch The Sixth Sense, in preparation for Shyamalan's much anticipated upcoming R-rated feature film. Though, in the end watching the Sixth Sense was a mistake, because it set us up into believing that "The Happening" would be Shyamalan's return to good movie-making form. Despite being aware of the early negative reviews of "The Happening", I went into the theater with somewhat good expectations. Yet, within the first few minutes of the movie, I knew that this was gonna be a stinker.

I couldn't help but laugh when the first scene of the movie, featured an Improv Everywhere-esque scenario. If you've ever seen Improv Everywhere, this scene is what it reminded me of, and it happens throughout the film, which made the movie if anything quite funny. Wow, a toxin that makes people freeze, and then kill themselves. Those improv actors!

I think it's about time for someone to start a Petition to end the film-making career of Shyamalan.

Rather then waste my breath on writing anymore about the movie. I think this review said it best.

Uwe Boll Postal Screening Vancouver Postal: It wasn't as offensive as I thought it would be.

A screening for Uwe Boll's much talked about 9/11 inspired licensed videogame film Postal, proved that, 1) the movie wasn't as bad as many have said it would be, and 2) the audience loved it, and were quite in support of the director.

Tickets for the screening were made available through various outlets, from local newspapers, websites like movieset.com, and businesses like Videomatica. Taking place at the Granville 7 Empire Cinema, with a Q&A by the director after the screening, the show was pretty packed with movie-goers who dared to see what this film was all about. Surprisingly when I spoke to people in the lineup prior to the show, many weren't angry Boll-haters. I noticed this again inside the theater where people applauded Boll, rather than booing. And cheered, rather than insulting. The Q&A after the show also didn't really have anyone making sarcastic remarks, but were more curious to see his thoughts on things like the Anti-Boll petition, the Michael Bay boxing invitational, and movies he enjoys. In other words, respectful. Being I forgot my camera, I unfortunately wasn't able to document this event in images/video.

Boll thanked everyone once they were seated for taking a chance on his indie film rather than the big Hollywood pictures like Speed Racer, from there the show began... This was the third time this week that I've been to a special screening in the same theater, the first being for the Cop drama Vice, (A movie that Boll was previously interested in during the script stage, but passed on it), then Syd Mead/Blade Runner Lecture, and now Postal with Uwe Boll. It definitely feels like film festival season, even though there is no festival going on.

Let me cut to the chase. Postal is a film that relies on politically incorrect humor, to convey Boll's frustrations with the events surrounding 9/11 -- George Bush, the Taliban, Germans, and organic loving hippie cults. The film opens with an amusing conversation of two middle eastern men piloting a plane, as they talk about the number of virgins they'll received upon their death as martyrs. As you would expect, passengers begin fighting their way into the cockpit, and eventually the plane crashes. This scene pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the film. The humor based on the beliefs of others, and how they go to the extremes to achieve their god given promises. The audience found this opening scene hilarious, and it seemed that Boll's film had an effect on them from the get go.

The story takes place in a small American town (actually filmed here in Vancouver), in which the main character who is down on his luck, can't seem to find a job, so he hatches a plan to make money, by stealing a shipment of penis dolls called "Krotchy". Osama and company express an interest in gaining these dolls too, as they hold little cylindrical containers with Bird Flu. Both camps collide and the movie ends up being a fight for these Krotchy dolls.

Personally I think the humor in the movie isn't anything new, brilliant or revolutionary. (A woman in the theater during the Q&A actually called Postal brilliant, which I beg to differ) Though the film is FUNNY, it ISN'T the greatest piece of cinema ever made, far from it. I've seen skits on various sketch comedy programs, that attempted the same type of gags, and many times they didn't work, but for some reason, Boll's writing got many laughs, which I noticed throughout the film, even when I thought that a lot of the jokes fell flat. I also don't think the so-called 'offensive' material was pushed ENOUGH, and though many weren't spared when it comes to the jokes, there's a lot that could have been said, (and done), that I expected, but never happened. Which has me wondering why 'people', critics who have seen it, are so repulsed by the material. Stuff like this is on American television all the time.

In fact, I've seen cartoons on SNL's TV Funhouse, and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim that are far far better in terms of pushing the envelope, being able to get a laugh out of how wrong the jokes are. Many in the theater compared Postal to South Park, which would be I guess similar in some respects, but if I had to compare Postal to live-action material, the movie would fall somewhere between a strange cross of Joel Schumacher's Falling Down, and Richard Kelly's Southland Tales, (which I enjoyed) but with less famous people. I would draw the comparison even further with the film sharing the same type of violent, stereotyping, satire that the Grand Theft Auto series is known for, and of course, the Postal game aswell. Which I think he was successful in that respect.

Now I know what you're thinking. How could this be? It's Uwe Boll, and most people hate him, for hating on his videogame material. Well, since I've been playing many hours of GTAIV the last few weeks, going into this movie seemed like a seamless transition. It was like watching a live-action GTA in a way. I know I'm gonna get shit for saying that, but I don't care, they are not that dissimilar from each other. A game that broke record sales, with millions of people sitting in front of their TV's doing exactly the same questionable actions that appear in this movie, gamers should at the very least find Postal humorous, and entertaining.

Though, it isn't perfect, and it felt sometimes as if there wasn't anything worth caring about in the movie, not the main characters, no one. I think the movie starts to slow down during the last half of the film, rather than coming to an exciting climax, it becomes a mess of 'stuff happening' on screen that kinda bored me. There's this one scene in particular that involves a massive shootout, and a speech that the main character gives, which seriously irked me, it wasn't funny, just badly done. To top it off there are many shots of female breasts, and nudity if that's the only thing that'll get you to watch the movie.

If anything Boll is successful in making an odd comedy, and perhaps should stick to this type of genre. His next few films though, definitely sound much more serious.

Boll, on feeling like a Black Sheep, and struggling indie filmmaker.

During the Q&A Boll expressed his dislike for Hollywood, and the machine in which movies are made. He mentioned that a few Sony executives saw Postal, and enjoyed it, but turned it down for distribution because they felt "they're demographic wouldn't get it". Boll thinks that the entire Hollywood system is fucked up, when someone like Michael Bay who made such an expensive blockbuster gone wrong (Pearl Harbor) continues to make movies. He also mentioned that Bay's lawyers have stopped him from making Boxing challenges. Boll, also felt sorry for investors of Hollywood films, saying that only people at the top of the chain make money whereas those at the bottom, never really make big bucks from their investments, and used The Lord of the Rings as an example. He had an LA agent for 3 weeks, but then fired him, and prefers to get his films out there himself. Europe also has been unkind to his movie Postal, being unable to secure theaters in UK.

In the end...

I can't argue against a theater packed with people who laughed with the movie, rather than at it. It was a funny movie. Whether it was a good movie, is an entirely different thing. Is the world coming to an end? Maybe. Watch it and you be the judge. That is all.

related: Raging Boll Boxing Match, Signing the Petition?, "They Wait" Horror Film

Vice, Vancouver Premiere Screening - a gritty police drama that tries, but cannot succeed.

Can you say, Direct-to-Video.

I recently caught a screening for a film called Vice, starring Michael Madsen as a corrupt cop, and Daryl Hannah as his partner. It premiered (May 9th) at the Granville 7 Empire Cinema here in Vancouver, drawing only a handful of people which was pretty sad, considering that the LA premiere had over 1000 in the audience, or so we were told. Having been filmed in Vancouver, and featuring many Canadian actors, the filmmakers felt it was important to showcase the movie in Vancouver, which was the only other Canadian city aside from Montreal to premiere it.

I had never heard of the movie before, up until a few hours before the screening after seeing a plug for it on a local entertainment program. Scheduled with the screening was a Q&A with director Raul Sanchez, and producer Mathew Robert Kelly, along with some supporting cast members, all of whom were Canadian. But because the main cast members and funding were of American origin, the movie technically couldn't qualify as a Canadian feature, thus the lack of screenings for Vice in Canada.

From watching the trailer, it looked like an edgy crime drama with some good action so I went ahead to check it out. Getting straight to the point, it's really a shame to see such talented actors in a film that ultimately falls very flat. Michael Madsen and Daryl Hannah along with the other actors give excellent and believable performances within the restrictions of the material, a movie about bad cops, drugs, gangs, and cover ups. The two headlining actors also played producing roles in the film.

Vice doesn't really have the feel of a feature film, rather it plays out like an episode of a cop show made for TV movie. It doesn't have the energy of a theatrical cop drama, coming off very monotone throughout the entire picture, with odd inserts of stylized camera work reminiscent of a hip hop crime movies, like those directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, to break the monotonous screenplay and limited visual impact. I actually found the movie quite dull, and very slowly paced never really meeting the action or suspense expectations I had in mind. Vice definitely came off as too long for its own good, with sets that felt small like a TV show, it was like an episode of Da Vinci's Inquest, with that distinctive Canadian dullness of episodic television.

During the Q&A, the director mentions that he likes having characters that are in gray areas, but I don't think he was entirely successful in creating the emotional connection that's important for the audience to fully believe in it. There wasn't enough in the movie for me to believe that Salt (Daryl Hannah) was a character who was really affected by the lack of respect she was receiving from her all-male team. I mean she complained about it, and it was suggested in some scenes as she watched from the sidelines the team bonding together in the bar, but it was pretty weak in that respect. Why would she feel this way? Was it something in her past? Also the pain from the death of Walker's (Madsen) wife wasn't really explained. She apparently passed away and it's hurt Walker so much that his life as a top cop has hit rock bottom. We see Walker boozing, and picking up hookers, but its hard to believe he had a wife under all the anger. It's one thing to show all these horrible things, but if the reasons aren't explained, it's hard to believe in them. You can't have gray with just black, you need some white in there too.

Paul Haggis did a great job portraying conflicted cops in the movie Crash, with some very intense scenarios, and that's exactly what this movie is NOT.

Funny, how Uwe Boll was looking for a crime drama, and was interested in the screenplay, but passed it up. I wonder how it would have turned out?

Watch this movie out of curiosity. Who knows you might like it.

Summer Movie Blockbusters bring out the annoying moviegoer in all of us.

Dude can't shut up for shit, and is it me or are there way too many commercials?

It's that time of the year again. The time when I find myself bitching about the humorous things that happen in theaters during the summer movie craze, from the guy who can't shut up, to the amount of commercials preceding a film, it's definitely the blockbuster time.

Especially when a movie is as anticipated as ones based on comicbook characters, there are very enthusiastic fans in the audience, some who like to let their presence, and intellect be known to the entire theater.

I caught Iron Man over the weekend, and as expected there was a guy in the row behind me that just wouldn't shut up. He spoke mostly during the commercials thank god, but still, this is the type of character I'd prefer to not sit near. In this case I had no choice, since the available seating was limited. I almost burst out laughing after the Happiness Factory Coke commercial (which was cut like a movie trailer) the guy says out loud, "no, that's not a movie". Yeah, no shit Sherlock. Totally, A.D.D. trying hard for attention. I turn around and he's like in his Forties. Then the commercials kept going and going. Then the coming soon trailers, and he just kept adding his 2 cents in between each one, like people actually cared to hear what he had to say. He wasn't even funny. In fact he wasn't even trying to be funny. I mean I've threw out comments in the dark before, but still this guy was retarded.

Like the majority of everyone else who's seen the movie, I enjoyed it. It could have been worse, a lot worse, like Dare Devil worse. Surprisingly, I never felt removed enough from the movie to actually think it was bad, meaning it held my interest, believing that Robert "Druggy" Downey Jr. was a rich man with everything, yet nothing. There are certain things that I found slightly hard to believe, like Stark constructing a fully functional suit in a cave, and the fact that he's actually that intelligent. Then again, the comicbook says he's a genius inventor, who am I to dispute that. It was a total MacGyver on crack escape attempt!

Though, when I first heard Downey would play the role of Tony Stark, I thought it was one of those early rumors that would fade away as the movie became more fleshed out in development. Like when Nicolas "balding" Cage was supposed to play Superman. I didn't think Downey would actually play the role. I guess he fit in the end, but then again, how much acting did he have to do anyway? Downey's Tony Stark is basically Downey, minus the drug use, and strange bi-polar behavior. Personality-wise the actor definitely made the character, they were meant for each other.

The Iron Man suit looked awesome, and I love the holographic effects in Starks workshop. Very cool. Also the addition of the funny fire extinguishing robot was awesome. Of course I knew beforehand to stay after the credits to see a cameo of Sam Jackson, who'll be in the next movie. It reminded me of the scene at the end of Dare Devil, in a way. Whatever happened to Bullseye... does anyone know, does anyone care? Dumbest character ever.

Did anyone else notice the Blackbird on Iron Man's HUD during his test flight in the sky?

In any case, there are plenty more movies I'm looking forward to, and plenty more irritating moviegoers to endure. Yay, the summer has arrived! Speed Racer Go!

Worth watching? Rambo, jPod

Rambo, it could have been worse

Despite the low score on the tomatometer, I quite enjoyed Rambo, the latest installment in Stallone's pair of revived franchises (the other one being Rocky). I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much if I hadn't saw the film on opening night. There's just something about watching a movie in a theater packed with fans of the action icon all laughing, clapping, and cheering, at pretty much the same instances. It makes the movie seem better than it actually is. Who knows, if I watch it again, I probably won't like it as much, but for now, I'm thinking it was an entertaining, at times funny, over the top action flick. And that's what you go in expecting when watching a film titled Rambo.

Living a simple life in Thailand in the jungles working as a fisherman, snake catcher, and river guide, Rambo comes to terms with his life when he hears that a group of missionaries from Colorado he helped to get to into Burma are being held captive by the Burmese army. He along with a group of mercenaries go into the war zone to rescue the Americans. Minus the villagers, and innocent civilians, the rest of the people in the film really deserved to die. The Burmese soldiers were brutal, and well psychotic...There's just something satisfying about Rambo going in for the kill, and saving the day.

jPod, the Television series.

Douglas Coupland's cult bestseller has been turned into a TV series which recently premiered on Canada's CBC. And yes, it follows the same characters who work at the video game company Neotronic Arts, (loosely based on Electronic Arts).

I've never read the jPod book, but I have seen another Coupland production, the film called Everything's Gone Green, in which he wrote the screenplay. Both jPod and the film, reflect contemporary Vancouver, the west coast culture, software technology industries, and well grow-ops. It's so west coast, and the writing is quite funny. I think it's because there's so many references to places, people and things in Vancouver. Especially the game company that the characters work at. It's an obvious reference to Electronic Arts Canada. Steph Song, as a mocap specialist. Hilarious!

Maybe if I'm not lazy I'll read the book, but for now the show is enough. The live-action suits the series, but I think jPod would have made a great animated show too.

jPod comes on Tuesdays @ 9 on CBC, but if you don't get the channel, you can watch Full Episodes on the site!, ain't that nifty?

Watch the trailer here.