July 2011
1 post
February 2011
3 posts
I'd Do It All Again
A song from my other favorite album of 2010, Corinne Bailey Rae’s The Sea.
Jónsi
There was a lot of great music released in 2010 (much of which was overlooked by the Grammys). I appreciated The Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs, gave The National’s High Violet quite a few spins, and was in awe of the songwriting on display in Corinne Bailey Rae’s The Sea. But if I ask myself what album moved me the most, what got under my skin in a way nothing else could, the answer...
January 2011
2 posts
Favorite Music from 2010
Jonsi, Go
Corinne Bailey Rae, The Sea
Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
The Weepies, Be My Thrill
Teitur, Let the Dog Drive Home
Brandon Flowers, Flamingo
Broadcast 2000, Broadcast 2000
Hammock, Chasing After Shadows…Living With the Ghosts
Janelle Monáe, The Archandroid: Suites II and III
Laura Veirs, July Flame
John Mark McMillan, The Medicine
Mt. Desolation, Mt. Desolation
Peter...
Black Swan
I’m trying to catch up on movies, as I’ve been a little busy making my own (After, in theaters fall 2011, tell everyone you know). Last night I finally got around to seeing Black Swan.
I’ve been an avid Aronofsky fan since his debut film Pi back in 1998. With its gritty, surreal black and white cinematography, it blew my fifteen year old mind wide open. It certainly made me...
August 2010
1 post
After Pre-Production
Last Thursday was a good day for me. We signed the deal with our investors, securing the financing for our film. Although I’ve intentionally kept quiet about it in the past, I can now say that the film is called After and it’s a supernatural thriller with a very minimal cast. Other than that, I still can’t say much. But we’re now officially in pre-production. You can...
July 2010
1 post
McGuffin
John August posted this on his blog, and I felt it was too cool to not post here. Animation by Isaac Niemand.
June 2010
4 posts
Toy Story 3
★ ★ ★ 1/2
Toy Story 3 picks up eleven years after the events of Toy Story 2. Andy has graduated high school and is getting ready to leave for college. His mom is still single (does she ever date?). The toys we have come to love over the years aren’t played with anymore, and Andy has to make a decision about whether to bring them along to college or throw them out. You’ve seen the trailer,...
The Karate Kid
★ ★ 1/2
Curious about the new Karate Kid remake? Here’s how it breaks down:
The story follows Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and his single mother (Taraji P. Henson), who are moving to China because the mom has been transferred there (though we never see her at work). As you can imagine, this is difficult for Dre. Not only does he not speak the language, but there is also a bully who walks out of a...
Borrowed Ladder
I was fourteen years old when I saw Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca for the first time. It was a defining cinematic experience for me. I was already convinced that I would someday be a director. I had watched my share of movies and written a few ambitious (and mediocre) screenplays, but really knew very little about filmmaking. I still recall the opening credits sequence as it played that night -...
It's a Hard World for Little Things
Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter is an unshakable film for me. It contains one of my all time favorite scenes, a dreamlike journey down a river that involves two children and a particularly haunting song written by the film’s composer, Walter Schumann. It is the turning point in the film, and leads us into the surreal.
The story revolves around a preacher, Henry...
May 2010
3 posts
Have You Not Guessed?
Lucy said, “We’re so afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back into our own world so often.”
“No fear of that,” said Aslan. “Have you not guessed?”
Their hearts leaped and a wild hope rose within them.
“There was a real railway accident,” said Aslan softly. “Your father and mother and all of you are - as you used to...
Some Brief Thoughts on LOST
I’ve been trying to figure out how to write about the LOST finale. I’m emotionally satisfied, even though I don’t completely understand everything that happened during the episode’s nearly three-hour running time. There are many questions still left unanswered. I’m ok with this. LOST has always been more about questions than answers. And it has posed some very big...
Iron Man 2
★ ★ 1/2
I’ve been racking my brain trying to decide what doesn’t work about Iron Man 2. All the ingredients are there, but the soup just doesn’t taste right. What I can say is this: I was emotionally invested in the first movie, but not in the second.
Things start out nicely, but there’s a point where it all starts to feel a little busy and convoluted. It occurred to me...
April 2010
1 post
Crap of the Titans
I walked out Clash of the Titans, and I don’t regret it. Despite the big budget special effects, I was bored to tears by Louis Leterrier’s remake of the 1981 film. Borrowing liberally from the repository of Sword and Sandal cliches, the story trudges along, fulfilling its purpose, even though we couldn’t care less. The cast features Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, and Ralph...
March 2010
3 posts
A Goddess in the Bath
He arrived at the door of the conservatory, defenseless, as the echo and timbre of Beverly’s grand piano rang through him in a resonance as solid and direct as one of the physical laws. Running that fierce black engine was a girl in a towel. She was sweating, working hard, lost in powering the wide end of the speeding piano. Her hair was half wet, still plaited, delirious. She sang and spoke to...
Devil's Shoestring
I don’t think I’ve ever posted this directly on the blog, so here it is. Devil’s Shoestring, in its entirety. You can check out the IMDB page here. I’m notoriously hard on myself, so all I will say is, there are good moments scattered throughout.
ShoWest Round-Up
Last week I was in Las Vegas for the annual ShoWest convention, a meeting of film exhibitors from around the country. I was lucky enough to catch some early screenings of upcoming films. Here is a roundup of my impressions:
GET LOW ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Earlier tonight, a film called Get Low screened at ShoWest. You may have heard something about it, as it played at Sundance earlier this year. Walking...
February 2010
2 posts
Bunny Lake is Missing
★ ★ ★ 1/2
It’s a strange title, and a strange film. Otto Preminger (Laura, Anatomy of a Murder) directed this 1965 thriller about a woman whose daughter goes missing in London, and it’s a wonder to watch it unfold. Preminger makes the wise decision of never showing us the young girl. When the detective in charge of the case (Laurence Olivier) begins to doubt that she ever existed, we start to...
2010 Oscar Nominations
Immediate reactions:
- So glad that District 9 received a Best Picture nomination. This happened only because there are ten Best Pic nominees this year, and it really has no chance of winning, but it’s still nice to see it recognized.
- Also nice to see Up nominated for Best Picture in addition to Animated Film.
- Disappointed that Broken Embraces didn’t get a nod for Foreign Language Film.
...
January 2010
6 posts
The Lovely Bones
★ ★ 1/2
Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones (adapted from the novel by Alive Sebold) is a polarizing experience. Saoirse Ronan (one of my favorite young actors) is excellent in a story that doesn’t give her character enough to do. She plays Susie Salmon, a fourteen year old girl who is murdered, and finds herself “In Between” earth and heaven. From here she can watch her family and friends as they...
Top 12 Films of 2009
In alphabetical order…
AN EDUCATION
I was pleasantly surprised by this classy British production about a young girl (Cary Mulligan) who engages in an affair with a charming older man (Peter Sarsgaard), only to find that the glamorous lifestyle he promises her may not be all that it seems. Mulligan is a revelation.
AVATAR
James Cameron spent ten years on his epic sci-fi spectacular, and it...
The Book of Eli
★ ★ ★
In a post-apocalytic future, a man named Eli walks alone, carrying in his possession the last remaining Bible on the face of the earth. Eli, portrayed with a cool confidence by Denzel Washington, hears commands from God, and follows them. He is morally upright. He reads his Bible every night. He prays before meals. He kills mercilessly, but only when he has to; only when it is necessary...
VFX Tests Shoot
The feature we’re working on at Seabourne is a psychological thriller that calls for quite a few digital effects. So we went out the other day to shoot some tests with the wonderful folks from Magnetic Dreams. In a couple months, they’ll give us the completed shots with VFX. Above is some behind the scenes footage from the shoot.
Broken Embraces
★ ★ ★ ★
Broken Embraces contains all of the things a Pedro Almodóvar film should have – death, sex, the color red, betrayals, doomed romances, double-crossing, blackmail. His films are not mainstream (at least not in America), but they are influenced by mainstream cinema, specifically Hitchcock. To watch an Almodóvar film is to be transported into a purely cinematic world, where even a simple...
Best Films of the Decade
Here are my favorite films of the past decade (in order of release):
ALMOST FAMOUS (2000)
Inspired by events in his own life, Cameron Crowe’s tale of a young journalist who goes on the road with a rock band in the ’70s is irresistable cinema. A “smile all the way through” movie. Crowe’s best work to date.
GOSFORD PARK (2001)
Robert Altman’s murder mystery is a modern masterpiece, a complex...
December 2009
1 post
Avatar
★ ★ ★ 1/2
The story of Avatar is familiar territory: during a time of war or unrest, an outsider from one “tribe” is welcomed into the enemy tribe, and soon finds himself siding with his former adversaries. Think Dances With Wolves. Think The Last Samurai. What sets Avatar apart is not the story itself, but the way in which it is told. This is a breathtaking ride of a movie.
Rumor has it...