Intense Math, Part VIII

Intense Math has been selected to screen at the 7th Annual Math Film Festival presented by the University of Montana Math Club. Thanks to Jenny McNulty for considering and including our film. Now we'll really see if our little film is offensive to actual mathematicians.

The Sound of Silence

Anyone that has been to my house knows about my screaming PC. Not screaming fast. Screaming loud.

It has been that way ever since the move to the X-Blade case last year. The X-Blade was supposed to be cool because it had a window on the side and a number of fans and lights. However, the construction was a little flimsy, and the fans were loud. Along with a very loud P4 fan, it added up to noise that could be heard at the other end of the house on a quiet night.

So, I just picked up the Nexus Breeze 500 case and installed everything yesterday. Wow, light years difference. It has just one big fan for intake, and the power supply for output, and is completely sealed to control the airflow. Both fans are slient fans. The case is well constructed, with sound-dampening foam on every possible surface inside. It's a night and day difference, and will be even quieter when I get it mounted up on a solid surface. It is now safe to go back into the computer room.

Since I was switching cases, I tossed in a new Pioneer DVD -/+ R/RW DL drive, and a new Seagate 300GB SATA drive. So, now I have 200GB, 250GB, 300GB drives. It won't be long until I need another.

TucsonFilm.com ShortFest 2006, Part I

Matter of Chance Productions is proud to announce that two of our films have been selected from the TucsonFilm.com ShortFest 2006. Leonardo (the final version, slightly longer than the Screen Wars version) and Pantomiming (one of Brock H. Brown's fine student films). The festival takes place on Saturday, April 15, 2006 in Tucson. We hope to see you there!

PFF 2006 - Awards Ceremony

Bruce & Connie Dellis

Arizona Filmmaker of the Year 2006

All I have to say about the PFF 2006 awards ceremony is get on with it! It was an hour of dancing and music followed by a handful of awards, followed by more music, a few awards, music, etc. and on and on. The band wasn't bad, it was the waiting that was bad, and we weren't even up for any awards. It wasn't until midnight that the ceremony wrapped up, three hours after it started.

On to the awards, here are my highlights:

• Brian and Dean Ronalds won Best AZ Short Film for Little Victim. This was well-deserved. Not only was it a great film, but they broke through in bringing some big-name talent to the valley.
• Bruce Dellis won AZ Filmmaker of the Year. Bruce wrote and directed two great films that won in Screen Wars last year, along with writing the aforementioned Little Victim, Netherbeast which was all over film festivals last year, and the upcoming Netherbeast feature film. Why does he still have a day job?!
• Andrew Jenks, Room 335 won Best Feature. This was absolutely the right choice, but it was major drama in getting the award. They had already given on Best Documentary and Audience Award to other films, at which point I thought AJR3 was out of the running. I assumed Best Feature referred to narrative films only. I guess not. Andrew himself was looking a bit dejected, likely thinking the same thing, up to the point they called his name to close out the night. We all took turns talking to Andrew in the down time between awards, and he was a great guy. This film is going to have a long run at the festivals, and he's already starting to get outright invitations. Beyond that, I'm sure he'll continue to make great films.

PFF 2006 - Andrew Jenks, Room 335

The premise for for Andrew Jenks, Room 335 was immediately engaging:

Just like the other residents at the assisted living facility Harbor Place,
I played bingo, hung out in the courtyards contemplating “the golden years,” and
even helped fellow neighbors change their oxygen tanks. However, unlike Tammy
(age 95) or even Bill (age 80), I am only 19-years-old.

My name is Andrew Jenks and this past summer I moved into a senior
residence in Florida. I moved into room 335. For one summer I did all of the
things that old people do. By the end of the summer, I had formed unimaginable
bonds with some of the greatest, and oldest, people that life has to offer. I
came to realize that it is in such friendships and the spirit in which you live
that meaning is to be found.

So, we planned to check it out and saw this documentary last Saturday night. This film really delivered the goods. Wonderful characters, plenty of humor, touching human interest, a bit of social commentary, and some truly unsettling real-life drama. Andrew Jenks is a real 19 year old, and he really did spend five weeks in an assisted living facility. While there he sees the good and the bad that goes on there (mostly the good, this isn't a film with an overt social message, and focuses on the wonderful people there), and leaves us with a lot to think about.

This film is a prime example of how story and character can carry a film beyond any technical limitations, of which there were many. Bad audio, shaky camerawork (even when tripod-shot oddly), bad lighting, bad exposure, bad color balance, cameras in view of other camera, microphones being bumped around, microphones in view of the camera, this thing was an absolute mess... and it didn't matter one bit, because you come away with a real affection for the elderly subjects of the film and a true respect for the young kid who devoted his time to this story.

Days of Being Wrinkle Free, Part IV

Since the last DoBWF post, I've done a number of editing passes through the footage, tightening up the edits, replacing shots, adding some insert shots between the major sequences, and generally tweaking unsteady/off-balance shots. At first, the chip scenes were cut, then one was added back, and now I am going to add some parts of all the chips scenes back in. Not where they were originally envisioned (which just won't work), but redefining what the scenes mean and putting them in different places.

I am also compiling a list of references found in the film. So far, I have found 16 references to Wong Kar Wai (mostly to Chungking Express) , and 7 references to the Cleary music video (it was unavoidable). I'm definitely interested in putting together a little behind the scenes video that shows the references side by side. There's no shame it. It was our intention from the start.

Finally, I was looking back at a post from November that has some stills of the final Tim Nm, CPA scene in the laundromat. Now that DoBWF is almost done, I'm excited to see the end of Tim Nm and how it will flow right from that dramatic and funny final scene into DoBWF. It's going to be pretty cool.

PFF 2006 - American Dreamz

I'll admit it, we saw American Dreamz Saturday night because of our addiction to American Idol. We know it's a guilty pleasure, so we're comfortable watching it while also checking out this film that satires the whole concept. Pop idol contests are but one half of this film, along with a plot line about a goofball president the puppet of his staff.

The film was good, but missed its potential. It never went over the top into parody-land and got really funny, and it never really took a chunk out of someone with a well-done bit of biting satire. It just sort of meandered along on a decent, somewhat novel premise.

Hugh Grant, Mandy Moore, Willem Dafoe, Marcia Gay Harden, they were all passable, not outstanding. Dennis Quaid was a cut above as the pres, if only because the character arc gives him some redemption as he transcends his buffoonery to some semblance of reality, while seemingly everyone else in the film sells out and shows their despicable sides.

Perhaps the funniest parts of the film were the depictions of the terrorist training camp that produces one of the pop idol contestants, and the sleeper cell that contacts him when he arrives in the US. It's five years after 9/11 and perhaps it's time someone went there, not that it is explored for anything more than its comedic potential. Yet, for this and the reasons above, I doubt the film will make a splash beyond its $19M budget.

PFF 2006 - Last of the Spanish Mustangs

Sunday night we saw Last of the Spanish Mustangs. This is a documentary by local filmmaker Len Johnson. The film looks at horse slaughter in the U.S. (mostly for European countries where horse meat is a delicacy), particularly the slaughter of wild horses rounded up on public lands.

I have to give major respect to Len for making this films. It cost him a lot of money out of pocket and put him in a lot of dangerous situations, from confronting those selling wild horses to slaughter to connecting with the horses themselves in the wild. It was a real labor of love, very genuine, and he does get his message across.

However, I can't say this was a great documentary. Too much of Len's TV background comes through, and it comes across as an overly long local TV special, not a film in its own right. Much of the humor just doesn't fly, and I think some of the better arguments that could be made for protecting the mustangs were left unexplored (perhaps focusing on the biological uniqueness and scarcity of the horses, rather than condemning horse slaughter and consumption outright?). He reveals a lot of shady government and business activities related to the horses. Yet, we already know the government and big business are shady. I kept waiting for a compelling argument and found none. At the same time, the emotional connection with the horses was scattered throughout the film, lessening the impact it might have.

Last of the Spanish Mustangs is a good, not great documentary with a lot of heart.

PFF 2006 - IFP/PHX Shorts Program

Friday night was the IFP/PHX Shorts Program, and the Matter of Chance extended family was in attendance. In addition to nine films in the Dead of Winter challenge, they showcased two other shorts: Chris Lamont's Paychecked! and AZSA/PFP collaboration Romey & Jules.

Paychecked! was a hit. This short documentary explored the world of the omnipresent payday loan stores, their outrageous interest rates, and the people that frequent them. It was upbeat and funny, not overly preachy, and fast-paced, fun to watch even if you never thought about these stores before. Good selection of music, too.

Romey & Jules was a melodramatic love story about the forbidden love between a mime and a clown. Immediately recognizable was Kirby Soderberg, of Pantomiming fame. Kirby was also in attendance, and we got to meet him after the program. Nice guy, much younger than I expected.

Of the Dead of Winter films, the first film (the name escapes me) caught my attention. It was stark black and white with great cinematography and editing. It featured a rambling yet rapid-fire poetic voiceover that spanned the whole film non-stop. Quite a mouthful. And who should show up in the credits but Justin Ward, the legendary and reclusive local filmmaker behind Manscare. I didn't catch in what capacity he contributed to this film, but it all made more sense when we saw his name.

It was good to be back at a PFP event. It's been five months since the Screen Wars award ceremony. Things are really looking up for this year.

PFF 2006 - Arizona Shorts Program B

On Sunday afternoon Brock, Angie, and I checked out the Arizona Shorts Program B.

The big draw was the Ronalds Brothers film, Little Victim. This local short film, written by Bruce Dellis, was a big step up for the Dean and Brian, their first film on 35mm. It stars Robert Wagner and Lori Singer, along with locals Laura Durant and the aforementioned Brian. This is a big deal, about as big as they come in Phoenix. Sure, major motion pictures occassionally film here and bring big stars (okay, very rarely), but this time it was the locals putting on the show, bringing in the big names.

The film premiered last August, but was sold out by the time I tried to get tickets. This was our first time seeing it. The plot synopsis is wonderfully intruiging without giving away a single plot point. So, we knew it had to be good, but every second was a pleasant surprise. Here is an talky ensemble piece, all of Bruce's wonderfully dry humor, completely absurd, thoroughly engaging, and hilarious. It was a great short film in just about every way. Great writing, acting, cinematography, sound, and even a few effects. What more could you want?

Another standout was Reflect, a moody reflection on memory and loss, with excellent cinematography and direction. I came in a few minutes into the 20 minute film, so maybe I didn't follow everything, but I doubt the missing minute or two would have filled in the gaps. The film was intentionally elusive, like a prolonged dream. Well done, total suspension of disbelief, which is sometimes tough to come by in local shorts.

The other notable was In the Eye of the Beholder: The Diane De Vries Story, about a woman born with no arms and no legs. She's quite the character, has led quite a life (Masters from USC, talented social worker), and gets around well. The scenes of her amazing improvisational activities to get through normal human functions were mezmerizing. In the end, she's probably overachieved based on her handicap, and its catching up to her. Currently, she's quite down on her luck, yet still optimistic. A well done local documentary, probably just the right length for the subject.

Rendezvous, Part V

Rendezvous screened tonight to a packed house at the IFP/PHX (formerly Phoenix Film Project) Shorts program at the Phoenix Film Festival. It was well received many, understood by some, and took home the award for Best Ensemble. Congrats to Brock, Gabe, Micah, and Angie (and William Jennings, I hope we can find this guy). I don't count (I was a voice for goodness sake).

It was nice to be back at a PFP event, the first major event since the Screen Wars season finale awards. Networking, schmoozing. It was good to meet Paul Santa Cruz, an enthusiastic filmmaker new to narrative films, director of Alone. Rendezvous will be screened again on Sunday morning.

The Micah Blowers Explosion

Farewell, Micah, it was great to have you around!

Next Tuesday I'll pick up the final mixes of Micah's album from Greg at Sound Tracks Studios in Mesa. From there, they'll go to Roger over at SAE for mastering.

Micah's album is a long time in coming. I always thought it was weird that for years Micah didn't have a computer or the Internet, but had a 16-track ADAT home studio in his basement. He had the gear to get it done, but it was rather low-tech. Most of the instruments were half-broken, duct-taped, or had other quirks. His cymbals are full of cracks, and holes he drilled to stop the cracks... and the music is great, not despite those problems, but likely because of it! The lo-fi instrumentation and recording techniques create an insane world of squawks and feedback.

Micah and his brother Justin (and the occasional friend) have been working on the songs for years. There are tracks that are five years old or more, and other tracks on the same songs that are recently written and recorded. There were reportedly 40 or so songs to pick from, and Micah chose 13 for the final album.

The sound is absolutely outrageous. So far I can't compare it to anything I have ever heard. Oh, there is the occasional part or two that conjures up Radiohead or Pink Floyd, but its momentary at best since Micah jumps from part to part in rapid-fire succession, like a madman driven to create and never repeat himself. Yet, the totality of the songs and album as a whole is unlike anything. Next to this, Radiohead or The Smashing Pumpkins seem completely precise, planned-out, and fine-tuned, even something like Paranoid Android seems cookie-cutter compared to the sonic assault of Micah's music.

Connecting Micah with Greg was a good step in getting this album completed. Not only did it give Micah a deadline to work with, but put the project in the hands of someone with an outside perspective and great skill. Greg has proven to deliver in the past with Fatigo and Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl releases. With a little polish (just a little) to clean up the tracks and EQ them into some semblance of consistency and listenability, we get this album that retains a raw and original edge, with no technical barriers to disrupt the listenability and acceptance of this as a professional album and work of art in its own right.

The final touch will be Roger's mastering: additional fine-tuning of EQ, application of compression, along with the fades, timing, and spacing to forge the album as a cohesive whole. It cannot be understated the positive influence Roger's tweaking will have on the album. He never fails to peel away subconscious sonic issues to reveal the essence of the music, like windexing a dirty mirror. After mastering, you will hear things you never heard in the music before, and there is a lot of layers in the music that demand to be heard. He'll make sure that you can, and that it translates across a variety of systems, from his custom-designed mastering studios, to your home theater, to the car, to the boombox. Also, the songs will just feel like a unit, smoothing out the differences inherent in tracks recorded years apart. The studio mixes were light years ahead of Micah's old home mixes, and the mastered tracks will be a similar leap in quality.

I believe the band name is 99% set on Interpose (though Micah never definitively made the call). The album title is moreso up in the air. At least the songs have names. We'll target September to release the album. If Micah can get a band together, there'll be at least an East Coast CD release show, if not one in AZ as well. I can't wait!

Snow Day 2006

Once in a while we do get some snow pretty darn close to this desert city. It happened a couple weeks ago. We headed up to Carefree to check it out. There were people everywhere, lining the streets for miles. Families building snowmen, frat boys building snowwomen, and snowball fights.

We loaded the trunk with snow and made special deliveries to friends and family. Check it out.

The Human Clock

Wow, this is actually a pretty cool social project.

Sound Neg

Brock, I thought you might appreciate this article (page 5-6, POV). This guy shot on sound negative, intended to record optical sound, and it resulted in a crazy look.

IFC Media Lab Update

With seemingly no advanced notice on the IFC Media Lab web site, IFC began screening the first batch of top-rated films Wednesday night. A total of five films were screened. The March Media Lab Results show will be replayed nearly every day through the end of the month, with an April show to follow (and on and on, conceivably).

We didn't make the top ratings this time around, but there's always next month. Regardless of making the ratings (which are still all askew), most of our films have now been seen by over 100 people each. Intense Math, which has been camped out on the front page for some time now, has surpassed 500 views! That's good exposure, no matter how you cut it.

Rendezvous, Part IV

Rendezvous has been accepted for the Phoenix Film Project's Dead of Winter screening at the Phoenix Film Festival. The film will be screened as part of the IFP/PHX Shorts program on Friday, March 24, 8:35pm, and Sunday, March 26, 9:35am (click screening date and time to purchase tickets). Awards will be presented at the Friday screening.

A three-minute cut of the film will be screened (down from the original 4:18). It was tough to get it down, but as you might expect, it is very tight. Also, it is a high-quality version, much better on the audio and video sides than the version that was screened at the A3F.

Shan Pin Koh

I recently got an email from an old friend I haven't heard from in eight years. I knew Shan Pin Koh when he was a high school student in Malaysia. We'd chat about the Smashing Pumpkins and Malaysian swap meets where he could pick up trays of Intel processors and memory on the cheap. Later, he attended the University of Michigan where I almost got him deported over an MP3 scandal.

It's 2006. He's back. He's taking some great photographs.

Leonardo, Part V

Larry posted a few behind-the-scenes photos on his blog. You can also check out Gabe's behind-the-scenes photos on Snapfish.

Spring Is Here

Looks innocent, doesn't it? They all do.

Last night I took Micah down to Mesa to get started mixing his album. I was tempted to hang out at the studio and observe, but I didn't want to be the interfering record industry guy (yeh, right!). Anyway, I had a few things to do, so I checked in, and headed back out.

I hit the post office and dropped off an eBay sale. Next, I hit Mill Avenue. My destination was Borders Books to find a copy of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly for Micah. He used to be in a band by that name, but doesn't want to call his current project that. For one, this is a different project. More importantly, there is a film adaptation of the book coming out. It could be good, or it could suck (stars Keanu). Either way, it will seem like a rip-off, and no one will care that he's used the name for years.

That being said, Micah does need a name and need it fast. He's been searching other books for inspiration (such as 1984, from which he got the potential band name "Interpose" and the potential album title "Courage + Cowardice," both of which have since been scrapped), but figured why not go back to the original source? I have been hunting around for the book, been to a number of stores, and no one seems to carry it. The synopsis is a mindmelter, I can't wait to read it myself.

Anyway, I struck out at Borders and headed down Mill to find a bite to eat. A block down I feel something fall on my shoulder. At first I thought it was a leaf from a tree and brushed my shoulder... and got a handful of bird crap! Man, was I pissed! I was surprised how mad it made me to get pooped on. There I am on Mill walking around with crap all over me.

I went back to the parking garage in hopes that there was another piece of clothing in the car, but there wasn't. So, I cleaned it up as much as I could, turned it inside out, and went back up to find a new shirt. I went into Hippie Gypsy, considering a Bob Marley shirt, only to realize I am just not cool enough to pull off the "stoner" look. Over to Urban Outfitters were I debated between a shirt with a disassembled Fender Strat on it (said "Ensemble"), or one with a toddler working some turntables (said "Teach Them Well"). This time I realized that I'm not cool enough to pull off the "hip hop" look, so I opted for the guitar. I ducked into the Valley Art bathroom and changed, tossing the soiled t-shirt.

As if it wasn't bad enough, I didn't even find anything on Mill I wanted to eat, and the used book store across the street from Borders ended up being closed. There was no point in my walking down Mill in the first place, and no need to get crapped on.

Now, I'm told that Mill is like that every Spring. The sidewalks are caked in the crap, it's a real health hazard! Anyway, that's how I learned that Spring is here.

Poop!

Gabriel Loyer - The Arc

I was perusing the Matter of Chance Productions web site today, and something hit me about one actor, Gabriel Loyer.

He starts out playing good guys—victims, even—in I'm Not Crazy, The Glove Box, Outside In, and Intense Math. Then, he begins what seems like a string of bad guys, leaving a trail of carnage in his wake: Lelay in Winter's Day, a Sheriff's Henchman in Arizona Citizen, and Rupert Gallows in Rendezvous. Next, he'll be a drill sergeant of sorts (do I have this right?) in Filmic, a boxer who gets his due in Everlast, and finally Fidel Castro in Sierra Maestra.

Gabe is going to a dark, dark place. What up with that?

Days of Being Wrinkle Free, Part III

Well, I gave it a shot. I was dead tired last night, but I sat down and started hammering away at the footage, editing section after section, like some kind of editing machine. Unfortunately, the day got the best of me. I looked at the clock. 11:30pm. Halfway done with the edit after a couple of hours work. It just wasn't going to happen. Maybe next year.

Days of Being Wrinkle Free, Part II

It seems I keep watching the footage, but not getting a whole lot done. I'm way too left-brained to deal with this footage.

Hey, I did give a shot at giving it a structure. Made a call to Jeremy to consult, and broke up the footage into about fifteen sections. Started to go through section by section, then jumped to the end to see if having an ending together made the rest of it make sense. Then, gave up for a few days.

Well, the Inspiration Film Festival says they will take a look at "works in progress," so if I want to get it in, I have to hit it hard tonight. All the books say not to rush to meet a deadline, and to just wait until next year. However, to that I say, hey, I have never gotten anything done without a deadline, and we could really use the prize money (were it to get that far) this year.

Rendezvous, Part III

The latest on Rendezvous... The film screened Thursday, March 3 at the AMC Arizona Center 24 theater in downtown Phoenix to a sold-out audience of about 450 people. It finished 8th place overall out of the 56 films in competition. No awards this time around, unfortunately.

It would have been nice to win some awards, but we can look on the bright side. First and foremost, it was a blast to make the film. I think it's fair to say it's a much better film than AGTC was a year ago, so we continue to improve our skills and ability to work under pressure. I'm very proud of the film. Who knows, it might have done better if the visuals were not so hopelessly jacked up due to the compression compromises I had to make to get the film to tape the Sunday of the competition. The final version looks and sounds light years better.

8th place out of 56 films is actually better overall than last year's 5th place out of 21 films. Really, there was some stiff competition. Some great films, certainly a major step above last year's crop, and by many of the same teams. Everyone is improving.

The award-winning films really didn't do it for me, but there were some major standouts. My favorite may well have been Agape by Irish Productions. The film was really fresh, honest, unassuming, and just fun and funny to watch. A real feel-good buddy film. Other notables were So Good, in the no-music-just-dry-humor vein. It may have been a bit long, but the long takes just added to the absurdity of it all. Very nice.

Of the more serious films, Disillusion really stood out to me. It had this strange tone throughout, you knew something was not right, but you didn't know what. The ending was beautifuly done with editing and music to hit an emotional point. The acting was perhaps a little over the top, but all in all, very effective. Infection was one that wasn't immediate likeable, but has been on my mind ever since. It actually did a good job of taking you out of the present day into its alternate world. The fireball was a little much, but the long rotating shot in the living room was well done, and the gas mask guy passionately playing piano was a true Fellini-esque touch, so absurd you have to kick yourself for not thinking of things like that.

There were other films I liked, as well. Our buddies Bob Rue and Brian Ronalds were in a horror spoof that was first class. I tend to appreicate all the little things, considering the time pressure these films were made under.

Further on Rendezvous, it still has a lot of life left in it. It will probably be featured tomorrow on undergroundfilm.org, and it has a good shot at making the Top 25 in the Phoenix Film Project's Dead of Winter challenge, which would get it screened twice at the upcoming Phoenix Film Festival and give it a shot at some awards.

Days of Being Wrinkle Free, Part I

Well, I already did a post called Without A Wrinkle as a sort of preview for Days of Being Wrinkle Free. However, since I've been on a recent kick of actually getting films done and cleared off the hard drive, I had space to get started on DoBWF (hopefully I'll get it done by the time we start shooting Wildlifeless).

I captured the raw footage. It ended up at 1:21. That's hours, not minutes. A lot of footage for a short film, but less than the 1:30 I thought I might be dealing with. Well, I guess it's in line with some of the other films we've made. AGTC had about the same, and most of our films end up breaking across two tapes. However, it's the kind of sloppy shooting, camera always rolling style that gives us so much footage that drives you crazy when you have to deal with the huge files. Of course, the other side of that is shooting only when actually doing a take, which is nice and clean, but robs you of having cool extras and behinds the scenes for extra features. Oh, well.

Over a couple nights, I cut through the footage twice and now have it down to around 25 minutes. Again, compared to other films, where we usually have around 8-12 minutes of good footage to work with, this is a ton of footage, and a lot to put through my typical post-production process of deartifacting, deinterlacing, color correcting, etc, all in high-quality, massive-storage-requirement files. Fortunately, I do have a lot of space right now. The next step is to resequence some of the shots that are out of order.

Honestly, I am a bit lost in this footage. I have the script, but it is 90% voiceover. I know we were shooting scenes that matched with sections of the script in some way, but I'm not clear on what that was. This is the downside of not having a real screenplay. The upside is that we never would have shot it if we were waiting on a full screenplay, and we wouldn't have been as adventurous with the shots we got. I pitched the script back to Jeremy to see if he could remember what shots went with what thoughts.

Oddly enough, I decided to pull up an MP3 of the song from Wong Kar Wai's BMW Film The Follow. I was editing to that, and the ethereal music really opens up a lot of editing possibilities. With that music, it wasn't so strange to see jump cuts, and cuts that repeat the same action from different angles. The trick is going to be finding music like that (not sure, but I think it's got flute, bass, and Portugese vocals) that we can use for this film.

There is also the issue of how we will approach the voiceover. Hopefully, Brock's brother Chase can refine our translation and assist with the pronunciation. I'll probably end up voicing it. Then there is the English, gibberish English, gibberish Chinese, and maybe even a real Chinese speakers voiceovers. And the subtitles. I'm going to need new DVD authoring software just to put all of it together.

IFC Media Lab

Well, it's way overdue to let everyone know about IFC's Media Lab. It is a new web site from IFC that allows posting and voting on short films. The top films get aired on IFC.

Nearly all of the Matter of Chance repertoire is posted there, sans AGTC (too long) and Rendezvous (too new). So, please do check it out, sign up, and vote for your favorites. Let your friends know. This is a chance to get our films out to a much bigger audience.

The site is is, from what I can surmise, IFC's response to the overabundance of short films being produced these days. Put it out to the public, and let them pre-filter the content. This saves the channel the arduous task of individually judging all of these films to determine what to air.

Of course, with anything based on Internet voting, there are some problems. The rating scale is from 0-10, but the top films are only coming in at the high 4's. I would guess that since, at this time, it is mostly filmmakers voting on each other (the competition), that there is a bit of bias reflected in the scores. Personally, I have voted across the full scale, most of the time voting for even average films higher than their current average scores.

Just like Screen Wars, which was also a great venue, but also based on audience voting, the best films didn't always make the cut. I personally favor a jury process (obviously not possible with something on the scale of Media Lab), which is what makes the A3F so great, and why I am hopeful for the PFP's Dead of Winter film challenge.

In a way, there is some jurying going on, since IFC has requested to take Leonardo with them to the SxSW Film Festival, as a showcase of the quality of the films being submitted to Media Lab.

The films are also available on Studentfilmakers.com Bogen Imaging Contest, which has top prizes from $3,000-9,000. No need to vote on those, they will be judged, but that site does allow posting comments if anyone felt so inclined.

Leonardo, Part IV

It's a difficult step to call a film done. My inclination is to let all of the raw and project files brew on my hard drive for a good long time, in case I feel the need to make changes at any point. Cleaning all of that stuff off and keeping only the final AVI file is a painful step. What if I realize one last change just after hitting the delete button? Really, it's an unhealthy obsession. I just cleared off AGTC about a month ago, for goodness sakes!

I'm getting better at nailing down a project and clearing out the old. Rendezvous was in an out in under a week. Also just finished is Leonardo. We always knew it would end up longer than the Screen Wars-mandated 3-minute limit. The final cut is a shade over four minutes. No new material, just longer shots, longer transitions, longer credits. More to the intended European pace. Hey, wait, there is one new shot: a single domino bouncing in super-slow-motion.

To get the final version done, though, required a lot of rework. The audio in the first scene was always lacking, captured from an on-camera microphone fifteen feet away from the action. For the final cut, I ditched all of the location audio. Joe re-recorded his dialog in-studio, we recorded foley for the whole scene on Saturday evening (sorry Brock, wanted to bring you in for sound design, but had to get it done), and I got some traffic sounds as a bed off the Internet. Before, the technical failings of the opening scene really failed to sell the seriousness of the film. Now, I think it's there.

Some of the proposed changes ended up not making it after some review. There was a lingering panning shot across Leonardo's workspace that felt out of place. There was the sound effect of blaring horns rushing by Leonardo's car in the first car scene (the consequence of his staring at a picture and not keeping his eye's on the road), but that disrupted the brooding mental aspect of that scene.

It wasn't all me, though. IFC wants to bring the film to the SxSW Film Festival in a showcase, but they need all sorts of clearances. Every actor, every location, every prop not owned by myself personally, needs to be accounted for in writing. I've been bad enough so far in keeping all the wonderful people that helped Leonardo come together in the loop on when it was playing on TV, that I felt I couldn't just go ask for signatures empty-handed. Therefore, the impetus to get the final cut done, get it on DVD, and have copies to hand out in exchange for signatures.

We worked out the DVD packaging last night and made a Kinko's print run. It's not perfect and thoroughly thought out, but it does look pretty slick. I'll try to get a picture posted later, but the cover is the photograph of Isobel at the bottom and Leonardo looking at it on the top, with the title across the middle. The back has three stills along with the title, tagline, and synopsis, all the laurel wreaths, and full credits. The credits are movie poster-style in appearance. On the spine, Micah suggested we put those tiny little images of the leads, so we have Marco and Angie. That was a masterstroke.

So, they are all set, and I head out around the valley this afternoon and tonight to distribute them and collect signatures. I hope I can make the Thursday deadline to IFC!

Rendezvous, Part II

Congratulations to all! Rendezvous made the Top 20 films in the Almost Famous Film Festival. It will be screened this Thursday, March 2, 2006 at 7:00pm at the AMC 24 Arizona Center in downtown Phoenix. Tickets? Hard to come by!

Rendezvous, Part I

Another year, another 48-hour film challenge. Sure, there are others in Phoenix, the official ongoing series and the PFP-sponsored one, but the Almost Famous Film Festival is the real deal, always well-executed in every way.

Last year was a great experience, albeit one that I recall very little of. The whole thing is so fast and furious, it's tough to keep up. Of course, I remember the screening, a great event, and winning our first awards as Matter of Chance. AGTC and the impossibly complex plot and guerilla shooting at the public library. Totaling up 32 hours of actual work during the 48 hour period. Heck, the unused ideas from last year sparked many of the films to follow and ones currently in the works. Didn't we swear we would never do it again? Yet, here we are.

This time around, we again began very early, conceiving of film concepts that we would like to try out. All in all, there were about twenty ideas on the board. Many ideas, but most of them without any locations we could nail down in advance. Although we have gained much experience in the last twelve months, it felt to me like we didn't have anything solid, like we had no chance at following up on last year's effort. Brock, on the other hand, was uncharacteristically optimistic, playing the cheerleader role that I usually assume. "We've got it, no question," he would say with great conviction.

Friday at 6:30 the guidelines were announced: theme of mistaken identity, prop a plant being watered, line of dialog "I don't think this is going to work." As if that weren't enough, we wanted to self-impose additional guidelines so that a single film could qualify for both the A3F and the PFP's Dead of Winter film challenge. Fulfilling the PFP challenge would kill two birds with one stone, and, if well executed, get us a film screened during the Phoenix Film Festival. The additional guidelines were: genre of Suspense/Thriller/Mystery, prop of a pizza cutter, and the line "I need a line here." Come to think of it, maybe having both guidelines in mind was somewhat of blessing, in that it led us down a hard and fast path towards the film we were about to make.

We set up our house as the base of operations. Our favorite concept pre-guidelines was a strange film about a person who travels to other parts of the world through dryers at a laundromat, but it would have been a huge stretch to make it fit any of the guidelines, so we shelved it. Quickly, we whittled the list of twenty down to two top contenders. It was either the ensemble cast caper film, or the Hitchcock-inspired noir. Over dinner, we thoroughly explored both options. At first, most felt strongly about the noir, then some waffled to favor the caper. It was a toss-up and the availability of a location would break the tie. Any caper needs a good-looking base of operations. We asked the on-duty manager of Cucina Tagliani (where we were eating) if would could use one of the rooms, and got referred to call the owner sometime tomorrow. Not very promising. So we headed downtown to the Hotel San Carlos, the only somewhat classic hotel in the valley. The Mae West suite was available the following day (for a change, of course), so that settled it: the noir it was!

In typical fashion, Brock hammered out six and a half pages as soon as we got home. The whole team did a quick read-through and I noted changes and took the wheel, working through the rewrites. It was 4:30am when we got down to bed, already ten hours of hard work into the challenge.

We rose at 10:00am for a final polish of the screenplay, then headed out with a huge shopping list of props and supplies for the shoot. Chic-Fil-A was the lunch spot.

It was 3:00pm by the time we arrived at the hotel. We were already quite behind schedule for shooting compared to last year. We loaded everything up into the room and started tearing it apart. Fortunately, it was a suite, so there was a spare room we could use to stage everything. The room itself was terrific. Very classic, stylish, and even colorful, which in and of itself decided a key stylistic element, whether to shoot in black and white or color. While black and white certainly would have fit well, the room was good enough to shoot in color and not be bland. I found myself wondering why we they didn't show us this room when we were shooting Leonardo (though that worked out just fine).

Collaboratively, we worked out the angles we would shoot and tested lighting setups and camera settings while everyone rehearsed. Around 4:30pm, we rolled the camera for the first time. We started with the hardest shots, at least for Micah. I don't think it's giving away too much to say that Micah played a dead body, and did it as good as anyone could have done. Scrubbing through the footage later, it was evident that he never moved a muscle for at least an hour and a half while we shot wide angle shots from various angles. Impressive!

Then, we moved on to close-ups, nearly at the time when we were wrapping up shooting last year. Close-ups of Gabe. Close-ups of Brock. When it came time for close-ups of Angie, she wasn't quite ready, so we took a break for a few minutes. Then we got the shots with Angie and the shots in the hallway.

Around 9:00pm (when we arrived at the hotel we swore we'd be done by 6:00pm), we finished the shots in the room and went into furious clean-up mode, moving all the furniture back where it belonged and packing up our stuff. The all-important establishing scene in the lobby was still unshot and certainly in doubt, since we didn't have permission to shoot there. We packed up the cars and let Angie work her magic on the front desk clerk, who played along with us. He played the role of the clerk, and in one take each we got his and Brock's shots, and agreed to dial in the dialog in post, since there was a very loud wedding reception going on right off the lobby (you can see someone doing the Macarena in the background of Brock's shots).

That was it, 10:00pm and we were done with the San Carlos and blazing home to capture the footage and get to work on editing. About midnight, the editing began, and went on until 4:30 once again. I set the alarm for 8:00am, got my three hours of sleep, and got back at the task. It went smoothly and steadily. We picked up close-ups of Brock and the opening scene dialog in the kitchen at some point during the day, and captured those as well, working them in and matching them to the lobby footage.

By 5:00pm, we had ourselves a good edit, but no music as of yet. We hit productiontrax.com and selected six pieces from Victor Spiegel, the same composer who wrote the music for Arizona Citizen. We worked those in and began to output the film, only to get a strange "Unknown Compile Error" from Premiere, something I have never seen before. The result was that I had to really compromise on quality just to get the footage out to tape. At 5:45pm, it was done, and Gabe, Brock, and Micah ran out the door to make it downtown by the 6:30pm deadline, which they made with fifteen minutes to spare, an improvement over last year.

It's crazy, but we got it done. Personally, I put a little over 40 hours into the film during the 48 hours. Only now can I relax and reflect a bit on it. Honestly, I don't have a bad word or regret about any of it. Probably a first. I was impressed all the way around with the writing, acting, and the shots we got.

Once again, we jumped into a whole new genre and really embraced it. It was last night that I picked up the book on Film Noir that I picked up in San Diego, and actually read through it for the first time in earnest. It was amazing how many of the themes, characters, and stylistic elements we incorporated into our film, though sheer historical film influence (it must have been since I've only seen a handful of actual these films): the low camera angles, hard lighting cutting through the scene, hard-boiled dialog, and ruthlessness of it all. We've got some lines in there that are sure to become instant MoC classics.

The screening is (assuming we make the Top 20) March 2nd. It'll be tough to wait that long, I'm really looking forward to it. Now onto making a 3-minute cut for the PFP challenge.

The Worstest?

Is it the greatest Cat Power album of all time? No. Is it the worst Cat Power album of all time? Probably not. Does it have a couple of the greatest Cat Power songs of all time? Yes.

Chan gets a lots smoother here by teaming up with some first rate musicians. There's some real structure to some of these songs, especially toward the beginning of the album.

I would say the last three full length releases have all had the same feel for me. A couple of stand out, fantastic songs, a couple of real duds, and a bunch of stuff in between. Unfortunately, this pattern gives me just enough to keep coming back for more. The Greatest is no different. The title track and "Lived in Bars" are hands down superb.

Just as a tip for those who will be purchasing: make sure you purchase the limited edition digi-pak version of the album. It contains a decent bonus track. I found mine in person at a Barnes & Noble, which is not a typical music purchasing location for me but it got the job done. After I posted this I noticed that Barnes & Noble seems to have the digi-pak for sale on their website. Get it here. At least then you can deal in US dollars.

My feelings towards The Greatest remind me that at some point I need to write about my First Album Theory which basically states that the first album that makes you get into a certain artist always ends up being your favorite, never to be topped. Note that this is not necessarily the artist's first album, just the first for you. Anyway, that is a topic for another time.

Without a Wrinkle

In getting the Matter of Chance Productions web site up and running, I had to quickly scrub through some footage of Days of Being Wrinkle Free to get a still for the web site (pictured above). Some thoughts while reviewing the footage:

• We have 90 minutes of footage for a film that is supposed to be five minutes long.
• After double-checking the screenplay, it's quite wordy. I'm not sure five minutes will be long enough.
• The lines that we have thrown around (e.g., "Ta zhangde shufu chenshen") are actually the simple ones. There are some real barnburners in there. Translate "If ones clothes become overly tattered, perhaps it is best to discard them and try on new clothes" into Chinese and say it. Not easy. Makes me question whether I should get an actual Chinese speaker to do the voiceover (to which Brock posed the question, "What would Tim Nm do?" and it became clear I, as a non-Chinese speaker, needed to tough it out and get through it myself.
• The footage is an interesting combination of two directorial styles. Jeremy and I co-directed, but not in the sense of collaborating and making decisions about each shot. Rather, I shot it one way, and Jeremy would say "try it this way" and we'd shoot it his way, too. We're each going for as interesting and meaningful shots as possible, with two different visions of what that is, and we have all of the footage to prove it.
• This is going to be tough to edit, just due to the sheer volume of footage. So many decisions to make. There are so many ways to go with the footage. It's an editors dream and nightmare, all in one. It would be interesting to pass the script and footage around and see what other editor's would make of it.
• There are so many WKW influences in the footage already, but a lot of it will also come in the finishing touches. Doing some radical color correction in post. Maybe some ghosted step-motion. A sound track that is either ethereal or laced with old pop music, or both.
• Wasn't sure which credits to put on the web site. Went with reality... for now.

So, to final cut of Leonardo is on the verge of being completed, and we don't start shooting Wildlifeless for another six weeks (woah, it's coming up fast!), so maybe I'll have some time to dive into this? Hold up! A3F is coming up. Micah will be town. Very interesting.

Matter of Chance is Alive!

The Matter of Chance Productions web site (a bone fide actual real web site), if now online. Ah, it feels good.

This One's For Brock

The props are pouring in...

The Subject Poster

All the talk about taglines and plot synopses got me thinking about posters. Here's the little stab at a poster for The Subject that I messed around with.

Luggage

Southwest lost my luggage. My single piece of luggage. My luggage that was small enough to carry on, but they didn't have room for and forced me to check. It's 16 hours later and I now have my luggage, but it was a streesfull night.

Outside In Color Correction

A while ago Brock and I discussed getting Outside In up to spec for general release. So far, this film has stayed off the web site due to uncleared music. Also, we talked about some color correction. In general, the original uncorrected footage was a bit washed out with a slight blue tint. We talked about getting the tint and contrast right, and really making the reds (Gary's tie, clerks shirt) and golds (mailboxes) pop. I had some time today, so I took the footage into After Effects and color corrected the whole thing (pending Brock's approval). Brock has a new edit of this film that I haven't yet seen. However, if the color corrected footage looks good, maybe you could take one last swipe at it, and get some licensed music as well, so the world can see the twisted masterpiece that is Outside In.

Top 50 Music Videos of 2005

For your consideration, music blog DoCopenhagen has put together this list of the best music videos of 2005, and you can watch them all. Sweet!

Bretton Woods

Finally! After seven years off, I went skiing last Friday. The location was Bretton Woods, near Mount Washington, in Northern New Hampshire.

We weren't quite sure where we were going to ski, even up to Thursday night. It had been raining across most of New England on Thursday, with more coming on Friday. We scoped out almost every ski resort in New England, and found Bretton Woods had only had drizzle part of Thursday, turning into snow at night with snow all day on Friday. Sounded good.

We headed out at 8am Friday morning with JAG in tow, picked up Carl in Natick, and headed North three more hours. We got there just at the right time to check in and get half-day passes. Between the car and the base lodge adjusting hats and gloves, I managed to lose my wedding ring, only realizing it when I got in to rent skis. We backtracked and Carl eventually found it in the middle of the parking lot, where I had checked two or three times already and missed it. Yikes!

Angie was skiing for the first time, so I took her over to ski school. She did really well, much better than I thought. Actually, what I thought was that she'd never be able to ski at all, but she did it, and got pretty good at it. JAG was trying to snowboard for the first time, so Carl got him started. I think he made it up and down the bunny slope (nay, the learning area) a couple of time. Maybe not the most value for his money, but I'm glad he tried it out.

I blasted out of there and hit the lift. I ended up getting six good runs (and a couple of runs on the learning area with Angie) in before they closed the lifts at 4pm. I was shamelessly giddy about the whole thing. I was born to ski, I love it, I just had forgotten how much I do enjoy it. The trails were great. A couple of nice fast runs, some winding runs, a couple of bump runs, and a leisurely two-mile long trail from the summit to the base, around the side of the mountain. I even busted a couple jumps.

Anyway, I can't wait to go again. I'm not going to let it go seven years, that's for sure. Maybe we can head up to Colorado with Gabe at some point? Anybody want to ski?

The Island

If I'm even reviewing The Dukes of Hazard and The Island back to back, you know Angie was playing tricks with me at the Hollywood Video...

The Island follows Lincoln 6 Echo and Jordan 2 Delta as they unmask their sterile, white protected world as an organ-harvesting clone farm for the well-to-do. Lottery winners do not go to the only contamination-free tropical island left after a global epidemic, they go under the knife and are disposed of. First, they escape. Having gained their freedom, they break back in to undermine the corporate plot.

I'm sure you all know how I feel about the Bay/Bruckheimer school of filmmaking. Not my cup of tea. Yet, this is the first one that I have viewed with a real critical eye. I have to say I am a bit conflicted.

Technically, this is a great movie. Every shot is a beautiful shot. Great cinematography. Great camera direction. So slick. So perfect. However, I have seen this movie before. It was called Logan's Run. It was called Coma. THX-1138. The Matrix. 1984. Heck, they even copped the speeders from Return of the Jedi. They took anything and everything that was great or unique about those films and glossed them up.

So, if the theft is so blatant, why am I conflicted? Because Logan's Run was horrible. Coma is badly dated (directed by Michael Crichton, BTW). It's not a terrible thing for them to get an update. THX and the rest are so iconic and influential, it's tough to avoid referencing them. I've done it myself. Some of the references are so direct (the rising Red sun form the end of THX), I'll give Bay the benefit of the doubt and called them homages.

So, at this point you might say it's a wash. A movie worth seeing once, but not worth owning. Writing breaks the tie, and that can be summed up in Lincoln's first encounter with the outside world. In a dive bar on the outskirts of Tucson, Lincoln tries to find his only contact in the outside world. He is told that he is "in the can," "taking a dump." "He's in a can?!" "Taking a dump where?" "I've got to go, he's in a can, taking a dump!"

Apparantly, so was Michael Bay when this movie was written.

The Dukes of Hazard

Did I actually just watch this movie?

The Interpreter

The promotional material was all emblazoned with the phrase "A Full-Throttle Thriller." That might be reaching a bit (there is one notable explosion). The Interpreter is much more of a slow-burning thiller, tightly focused on two characters and themes of loss and forgiveness, and all the better for it. There are plot holes, yes. No doubt the cumulative effect of too many screenwriters with their hands in the material. Yet, I believe these are more than compensated for in a number of good decisions that were made.

Kidman and Penn deliver superb and subtle performances, making up for any weak points in the script by not taking it over the top. The auxilliary characters are left largely undeveloped in favor of a more measured study of these two characters, the interpreter and the secret service agent protecting her, as they deal in their own ways with thier own losses.

The political intruige is smart, and takes us inside the guerrila political landscape of a small African country. Therein, liberators become corrupt dictators, opposition forces are branded as terrorists, and even the children are armed. It would be cliche at this point to insert Middle Eastern Islamo-fascist terrorists here. The approach here is a much more novel backdrop against which to understand the lead character, and one that lends itself to an interesting interchange of language and culture.

For the first time, the United Nations allowed a film to be made on the premises. This was an incredible production challenge, as they had only late Friday night until early Monday morning to work, including staging everything through the night on Friday and tearing everything down and getting it out by early Monday morning. They went through this process fix or six weekends from what I recall in the American Cinematographer article on the film. This was the challenge of director Sydney Pollack (Tootsie, Out of Africa) and DP Darius Khondji (Se7en, The Beach, and Wong Kar Wai's next film).

Great actors, great locations, great direction and photography, great use of language. The kind of film I'd be proud to make myself.

Snow

It has snowed on and off for the last two weeks, but today was the day the snow really hit the fan.

There were four inches on the car this morning on the way to work, and very little plowing had been done. It was a slow, dangerous commute.

When I headed out for lunch, I had to clear another four to six inches off the car, and just getting out of the parking lot was tough. By the time I was done cleaning off all of the windows, the first window was covered with snow again.

In the two hours after lunch, about six to eight more inches were dumped. The parking lot had not been plowed since the morning, and the cars were just jammed in. The parking lot was a mess, with people digging out their cars by hand and pushing each other out. We're talking about close to a thousand cars, and nearly everyone was stuck. I got out with the help of three people. I stopped on my way out to help an Asian woman get out of a snowbank. It took an hour to get home (usually twenty minutes).

It's wild. Just a cold, frozen world out there. A pain sometimes, but fun, too.

We met Jeremy at Teppanyaki for dinner. We shared two california rolls, one cucumber roll, a spider roll, and a spicy tuna roll. Jeremy added a Caterpillar roll (Eel w/ Eel Sauce) and a Spicy-something for his entree. Angie and I added full Teppan meals. We all had a little chocolate ice cream for desert (they were out of coconut). The highlight was Jeremy and Angie eating Uni (sea urchin roe, the pinnacle of sushi) on a dare. I feel like I'm going to explode.

After dinner, a snowfight in the shopping center parking lot where there are massive fifteen-foot high banks of snow. Icy!

8 1/2

Fedrico Fellini's 8 1/2 is one of the most outstanding films about filmmaking, and an outstanding film by any right. This is the first Fellini film I have seen, and is widely regarded as his signature film.

8 1/2 follows Guido Anselmi, a famed director who, in the thick of pre-production on a big-budget blockbuster, loses all sense of what he is doing. What kind of film does he really want to make? What kind of story does he want to tell? Does he even want to make a film in the first place? He's lost all sense of inspiration, vision, and personal motivation. Producers, critics, agents, lovers, family, cast, and crew are pressuring him from all sides.

Guido's breakdown is conveyed in a combination of narrative, flashback, and fantasy, all so seemlessly layered as to effectively cause disorientation in the viewer. Yes, from the opening scene of the film, in which Guido psychosomatically suffocates in his car during a traffic jam, then floats away only to be pulled to Earth by a dangling rope, we know to expect anything and everything to happen in this suureal world. Thankfully, it is a whimsical journey, not heavy-handed.

The direction and camerawork are superb. Nearly all scenes involve meandering camera moves where the points of interest shift from various layers of foreground and background and then back again, with characters constantly coming and going. It's dizzying and surprising and conveys the relentless demands put upon Guido, and his inability to stay grounded.

In the end, Guido finds redemption, and we are treated to one last bit of humorous cinematic absurdity.

Five More Films

OK, random mini-reviews from stuff we've seen in the theater or rented since we got here...

Walk the Line - A terrific film with great performances all around, great directing, great cinematography. John Cash was an original punk rocker and "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die" may be the best punk rock lyric ever. This film is a fine distilation of his life. However, it cannot go unsaid that there are major similarities between Walk the Line and Ray. Or, perhaps it is more approproriate to say that there are a lot of similarities between the lives of John Cash and Ray Charles: grew up in the south, tough upbringing, death of a brother that impacted their lives, trying to write gospel music, accidentally finding their "sound," being accidentally discovered and somewhat exploited, drugs, drink, women, trouble on the homefront, getting busted, getting clean. Two iconclastic individuals, but all the high points chosen by the screenwriter and director are the same. In terms of look, they are both very dynamic and did a great job of evoking the period and including sincere and realistic performances. Heck, the time periods are even the same. Both films are superb. I come out feeling that Walk the Line is slightly diminished, and that if they were switched, Ray would feel diminished. They're both so good, the seqeunce is all that set's them apart.

Batman Begins - A worthy film and much less self-aware than its Batman predecessors. It seemed a very focused effort. Overall very well done, though I was disappointed that the last fifteen minutes of the film was basically just a rehashing of lines that had been delivered throughout the film, as each and every storyline was neatly closed and the repeated lines gained new and revelatory meaning. Where the older Batman films often seemed like a series of setups to bust out really campy lines, the current approach is to wrap lines around from throughout the story in a bit of transparent and gloating foreshadowing. Well, how clever! I lost a lot of respect for the film as a result. The darker and more serious approach to this film seems more cinematically grounded, but in the sequels that are sure to come will serve to preclude memorable and flamboyant performances on the lines of like Jack Nicholson's Joker. Sadly.

Good Night, and Good Luck - I really enjoyed this tight little film written and directed by George Clooney. It's a highly focused look inside Edward R. Murrow's televised strugle against McCarthy's anti-communism crusade of the 1950's. Or is it? Really, it's a jab at the Bush administration for their nationalistic scare tactics and a reminder that they are nothing new, but dangerous and wrong and something to bravely confront. The word terrorism gets dropped on a number of occassions. No firm sense that its use is historically accurate. Message aside, it's a tense, smoky, jazzy little black and white number shot in shallow focus. It was 90 minutes long, but felt twice as long. It was enjoyable, but perhaps a bit too educational?

Melinda and Melinda - Testament that Woody Allen continues to be Woody Allen, with or without mainstream attention. Here's a film that flew so low under the radar I hadn't heard of it, despite a name cast, and ends up coming out through Fox Searchlight, no doubt passed over for wide release because of its experimental edge. M&M is what starts out as the same story, told twice: once as a tragedy/drama and once as a romantic comedy, simultaneously, with different casts except for the title character. The stories diverge, but stay somewhat connected, and switch back and forth every few minutes, reveling in the norms and cliches of each genre. Neither story would stand on its own (each only has about 45 minutes screen time to develop), but both are admirable, and the premise and the contrasts it brings are quite entertaining. The comedy is easily recognizable as classic Woody Allen, with Will Ferrell in the role Woody would normally fill and with such gusto you'd think SNL was just a paycheck while he secretly coveted this role for years. The drama side had quite an odd tone, at least for Woody. Something like a Merchant/Ivory picture like Le Divorce, but with Mamet-speak dialog. It should be noted that the whole affair is elegantly photographed by the great Vilmos Zsigmond, A.S.C. I loved it.

Yesterday Once More - Where Woody Allen toys with the Romantic Comedy genre, this film is in the thick of it. It's an odd thing that film language cuts so distinctly across the actual language barrier. In style, pace, and look, this film is instantly recognizable as belonging to its genre in every respect. It's a film that I would no doubt spurn if it starred, say, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, but gets a shot for being Chinese. In the respect of its novelty, it was quite enjoyable and entertaining, and had just enough unique Chinese flair and sensability to keep it interesting, despite the largely formulaic presentation. Plotwise it's about an on-again, off-again, pair of thieves, who perhaps resent their own continued attraction and take it out on each other in a series of well-done Spy vs. Spy episodes, sometimes directed at each other, and occasionally teaming up. Generally very well done, but with a perplexing, unbelievable, and out of place twist that made the end less than satisfying.

Finally, I'd like to point out the image, in which Woody Allen attempts to audition for the role of Castro in our upcoming Matter of Chance production. Sorry, Woody, we already have our man.

No More Sunsets

My how things change, even in a small town.

Last night Angie and I had some time to blow after dinner, so we headed to downtown Franklin and settled on hanging out in the library for a while. OK, so we were basically waiting to watch Lost, which isn't on until 9pm on the East Coast. Marco would have you believe that we should have eaten dinner after Lost, instead of before, that we had eaten way too early. Yet, again, we are Americans, and we act like old people. Anyway, I have diverged.

So, we had an hour and a half, so we got some books on Cuba (and I got a book on Esperanto), and we read. It was while looking around that we noticed that all of the bins had been reversed in the archived magazine section. Instead of the nice greens and blues walls of bins, the various colors of the magazines had been exposed. There are some cool shots in Tim Nm, CPA that involve the bins set up the old way. It hasn't been a year yet, but things change.

On top of that, Campus Laundry Express, the landromat made famous in Days of Being Wrinkle Free, has been spruced up and painted a shade of blue-green. It, too, is very different compared to the last time we were there.

All of this makes me wish I was home, working on editing these two fabled unfinished films.

I have also noticed in myself a growing fascination with laundromats. I am starting to see them everywhere, and even seek them out. Even if I am driving, I gaze at them longingly as I pass by. I have a feeling that Days of Being Wrinkle Free will not be the last film I make in a laundromat. For that matter, AGTC will by no means be the last film I make in a library. The New Times article was oddly prescient.

Perhaps there is a legend of laundromat films in the making, much like the legend of Brock H. Brown's crazy films: I'm Not Crazy, Outside In, The Subject, and whatever else is to come.

The Monster

Here's a new old short film from the archives. The Monster was made around 1992 from what I can tell. Maybe earlier than that. Jeremy plays the Mad Scientist, I play The Monster, and Carl is running the camera.

Eric Legend

I just had to share my favorite news story of the past week. You may have seen this already, but for those who haven't: there's a new legend in town!

Greeley

I'm working up in Greeley, CO for a few days. Not much here to see and it smells like cattle, and fertilizer. I did find a nice little Mexican restaurant, El Pueblito, and had some flautas for lunch. Mui sabroso!

Wordplay

Hey, have you guys seen this site? Some well-written and interesting essays on screenwriting.

Harold Castro

The Protagonist Is Dead

ST. GEORGE, ANDREW - Andrew St. George, journalist and photographer, died May 2, 2001. He was born Andras R. Szentgyorgyi in Budapest Hungary; he was 77. His photographs chronicling the Cuban Revolution, many first published in Life Magazine, won the Overseas Press Club and Sigma Delta Chi awards in 1958. His work also appeared in Esquire, Harper‘s, Look, the London Sunday Telegraph, among others, and on network television. He was the beloved husband of Jean St. George (nee Hoopes), loving father to Andrew H. and Tom Szentgyorgyi, father-in-law to Nancy Brickhouse and Angeline Szentgyorgyi and grandfather to Nicholas Szentgyorgyi. Funeral 8:00 pm Friday, Edwards-Dowdle Funeral Home, Dobbs Ferry. Visiting Friday 2-4 and 7-8 pm. Contributions to Central Westchester Humane Society or charity of one‘s choice. EDWARDS-DOWDLE FUNERAL HOME, INC. 64 Ashford Ave., Dobbs Ferry (914)693-3330

Josh On A Couch

Enjoy!

Couch

I'm on Jeremy's couch. Hootie-hoo!

Mobile Blogging

I'm wi-fying this one in from sunny Southern California.

This post is being authored from the i-mate JASJAR device that I picked up at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference. They hooked up conference attendees for a cool $149. Already I've seen them going on eBay for almost $1100. I'm still trying to decide if I should keep it or not.

Check out the specs for this thing on this eBay listing.

I was hoping that I would somehow hook up with some Arizona people while I'm out here, but it's just not in the cards. Molly has been spending her time in Beverly Hills, visiting the stars' homes, horseback riding by the Hollywood sign, etc. I have been spending long days learning about Vista, WPF, WCF, WWF, WinFX, WS-*, SQL and the like. We're off to MA saturday morning.

That's all for now.