Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Mechanical errors
Simon West's THE MECHANIC doesn't hold a candle to Charlie Bronson's original. Not that I remember much from the original because I was pretty young when I saw it. But I do remember the ending, "End of game. Bang! You're dead" which they just couldn't resist fouling up in the remake. Ugh!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Time to get Thin
I think I'll read THE THIN MAN next. It's one of a handful of Hammett books I have yet to read. Of course RED HARVEST is the book I read over and over again.
Colombiana
I guess I liked COLOMBIANA. It was well shot, decent action - though some of the action is so frenetic that it's hard to follow. A simple revenge plot - perhaps too simple. It felt like a video game with a lot of sneaking through vents and deliberate obstacles that barely made sense. I hate the ending.
Monday, January 23, 2012
boxurshorts Film Festival 2012
Grab your ticket, swag, and more for the boxurshorts Film Festival that will be held in LA in March. Support a fun night of great filmmaking, guaranteed laughs and unlimited Swiss chocolate!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Prime Cuts
This script rewrite is taking shape but taking time - I'm sure I am over-writing scenes, which will require a lot of cutting in the 2nd draft. But I always take that as a good sign. You get the best results when you have fat to trim so that only the choice parts are left in the final draft. Now I'm craving steak.
The Apes Did Indeed Rise
Overall I liked RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES but I do think it tries to cram too much drama AND Sci-Fi into such a short opening act - it does this well but you can sense that the story is being rushed. But it is the 3rd act that makes it all worth it. I've heard criticism on the CGI and I agree, it's not perfect, but it's still incredible how far CGI has come and exciting to see how far it will go. It wasn't quite the zombie-movie-with-apes film that I wanted, but a sequel to this prequel would be where the real fun begins! I would almost want to write a spec for the sequel (but I'm busy writing other scripts at the moment).
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
THE DEBT script
www.imdb.com
Directed by John Madden. With Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Tom Wilkinson, Ciarán Hinds. The espionage thriller begins in 1997, as shocking news reaches retired Mossad secret agents Rachel...
Friday, January 06, 2012
Another Thing about it
I can totally see why people may have not liked the 2011 THE THING and I think CGI is a big part of that. I worked on a film that was a reflection on the excitement of the original release of Star Wars and yet that unnamed film excessively used CGI and greenscreen which completely killed the soul of its own Spielberg/Lucas roots of scale models, trick photography, and intricate puppetry. I guess that would be different if you couldn't tell it was CGI but in both films that was not the case. There's also the fact that the new THE THING didn't really step out of it's own box to reveal more depth to the over-all narrative. I actually appreciated this but I do feel the filmmakers missed an opportunity to show off a little at the end (spoiler: going inside the spaceship was not as impressive or inspired as it could've been). But as I mentioned before, I liked THE THING - I was entertained. If I was asked, I would say the impact of the 1st movie on me was far greater and thus I would say it was the superior film.
The Thing about it
I enjoyed the 2011 prequel of THE THING and I'm a big fan of the original John Carpenter version. The movie did a pretty good job of linking all the puzzle pieces of the original with comparable tension and yet introduced it's own logic to dealing with the situation. It picked up pace fairly quickly and the writing felt very close to how the original movie moved. If there's any complaint I have it's that the monsters felt extremely CGI'd. The orignal movie benefitted from the monsters feeling visceral and creepy raw where as this prequel had nice monsters but they felt more like something from a video game.
Sunday, January 01, 2012
MI4 impressed
MI4 was really great. Very entertaining and clever. I like how plot elements were threaded throughout the movie on multiple levels. Nothing too deep but always moving forward. IMAX looked a bit soft but the vertigo shots were really affective.
Happy New Year!
2012 just got real in SoCal. Happy New Year! 2011 was great but I have high hopes for 2012 - Hong Kong, Hawaii, France? We'll see... A Sequel, a Devil, a Stuntman? What will be next? I'm excited - I hope you are.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Coughing up some research
Looks like my cold jumped over to my lungs - a little wheezing and more coughing. Not terrible - just terribly inconvenient. But I am finding some really interesting research on a new script treatment I'm writing (yes another one - you got to keep throwing stuff up on that wall until something sticks). I wish I could say I'm completely self motivated but the truth is I do better when someone gives me a theme or a premise to work with. Writing doesn't have to be lonely - you'll be surprised at what you can accomplish when the right person dangles the right carrot in front of your face.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
World War Z
Somewhere along the way I got into horror movies and in turn into Zombie fiction. WORLD WAR Z is a novel written as a collection of interviews after the zombie apocalypse and has some really epic and imaginative imagery in it. But it does drag sometimes and the ending falls kind of flat. It should be interesting to see how the movie turns out.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
From SAKI to you!
Here is the special message from SAKI star Sachiko Kokubu which was played during the opening of the SAKI screening at the Nuart Theater! She totally mentions my name in the Japanese version because we get along like Gangbusters!
Here are the special extended versions of the special message from actor Lance Masa (the killer Kanekichi). It's in Japanese but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying the spectacular vistas of New Zealand!
Here are the special extended versions of the special message from actor Lance Masa (the killer Kanekichi). It's in Japanese but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying the spectacular vistas of New Zealand!
Friday, December 23, 2011
SAKI and beyond
www.amazon.com
Saki (Sachiko Kokubu) is not your average art teacher - she handles prison inmates, as well as art students. When Saki's grandfather (Hidetoshi Imura) visits Saki, he also brings trouble, in the form of an evil Yakuza. Saki uses her artistic demons to fight the gangsters and killers who infil...
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
SAKI on IMDB.com
www.imdb.com
Directed by Chisako Yokoyama. With Chad Bates, Sergio Candido, Cathy Deobler, Aja Devaragas. Daughter to a slain Yakuza boss, Saki delves deep into her subconscious as an artist to find the darkness of her killer instincts.
Monday, December 12, 2011
SAKI THE KILLER screening highlights!
Here's a highlight video of the SAKI THE KILLER screening at the Nuart Theater! I look pretty terrible in all the photos but I don't look half-bad in this video. Thanks to all the friends that shot and cut the footage. Looks great!
SAKI, Mission Accomplished!
www.amazon.com
Saki (Sachiko Kokubu) is not your average art teacher - she handles prison inmates, as well as art students. When Saki's grandfather (Hidetoshi Imura) visits Saki, he also brings trouble, in the form of an evil Yakuza. Saki uses her artistic demons to fight the gangsters and killers who infil...
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