Crazy in Love

What I want
Originally uploaded by mscottart

Love makes people crazy. Everyone knows this, there’s cliché’s about it and yet still people’s wackiness and willingness to lie while in love is astounding to me. This was brought to light because of two crazy articles I found on cnn.com this week. Each of these stories is at a different level of crazy on the crazy spectrum.

The first you may have heard of or it may have gotten brushed under the rug because it took place in Florida on Christmas Day; the story can be read here: Woman Faked Missing baby Story to Win Back Ex.

The headline in this story is deceiving. It makes you think that this woman put her baby in danger (real or fake) to win back the guy she wants. Ehhh!!!! – wrong answer. This 22 year old psycho told her ex that she gave birth to his baby when there was no baby, she invented the story to try to entice her ex back into her life. On Christmas Day said baby would have been 5 months old and turning out to be a good guy the supposed father showed up on the ex girlfriends stoop to spend time with his son – but remember there is no son. Instead of doing what any sane person would do and coming clean to the ex and admitting that you made up the son to get him face to face with you again this psycho ex decided that the best thing to do would be to tell the former beau that their son had been kidnapped. This went so far as to put out and Amber alert and the distraught “mother” & “father” ended up on the news pleading for their sons safe return before people finally figured out she had never even been pregnant. I feel bad for the ex in that scenario – here he thought he was doing the right thing, goes through a huge emotional rollercoaster and it turns out it was all a lie.

The other story isn’t as literally insane, but it is definitely a lie that involved love that got way out of hand and remained out of hand for decades. Read the story here: Holocaust ‘Greatest’ Love Story a Hoax.

This story has been around for decades. It’s about a boy in a concentration camp during WWII whom a girl on the outside would toss an apple to every day over the fence and after the war they met and eventually were married and have been married ever since. This became a famous international love story that spawned books and even a session on the Oprah show. As it turns out the boy (now a man) was in a concentration camp, but that’s not where he met his wife and no one ever tossed him apples over the fence. Now that some scholars have manned-up and pointed out that this apple-tossing scenario is very nearly impossible the man came out and said that he made the story up to inspire people. My question: how exactly do you inspire people when you turn the truth into a lie?

I am kind of glad that these stories hit now, because if they hit in February people would want to cover them up in Valentine’s Day wrappings.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

Best Christmas Present Ever

Best Christmas present ever. Caryn got me my first credit on IMDB. It's completely viewable here.

Random Quote #25 of Many...

Gordon's Son: Why is he running Dad?

Gordon: Because we have to chase him.

Gordon's Son: But he didn't do anything wrong.

Gordon: Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent gaurdian. A watchful protector. A dark knight.

The Dark Knight

Going Paperless

Going Paperless
Originally uploaded by khatma

So we started a new program at work this week that we were told would help us be paperless...the thing that I don't understand is that we are using just as much paper as ever, it's just getting printed at a different step.

I think it's false advertising.

Instead of myself and the other art coordinators taking care of printing the paperwork and letting the artists sift through the work stack and pull out jobs the jobs are electronically sorted and the artist prints out the order and the proof after they are done.

Seriously, how does that help cut down on paper?

Plus we've begun to encounter the fact that we are "paperless" but our clients are not all electronic so they are still faxing things to us and we had to figure out how to deal with that when that happens. We decided to scan the faxes and make them electronic, but we still have the original paper fax.

How are we saving paper?

The Curious Case of NBC

Retro NBC Peacock Logo
Originally uploaded by nurse_marbles

NBC announced last night that when Conan takes over the coveted Late Night 11:30 time slot instead of running to a rival network Jay Leno will be getting a new time slot – 10 pm Monday through Friday. This is great for Jay Leno, but ultimately kind of a stupid decision. Maybe I am slightly biased as I am a struggling filmmaker, but this decision sucks.

For those not used to thinking about things like TV schedules pause and think – what currently plays between 10-11 pm?
Monday - My Own Worst Enemy
Tuesday - Law & Order: SVU
Wednesday - Law & Order
Thursday - ER
Friday - Dateline NBC.
With the exception of Friday night these are all adult, scripted dramas which get a very good amount of viewership. ER, and the Law & Order’s will bring NBC a lot of money due to syndication as well.

While Leno is cheaper to produce than a scripted series, Leno has not had the viewership that something like Law & Order has had; you can possibly account this to his current time slot, but in the same vein there is no guarantee that people will watch Leno at 10, and even further that they will watch Leno at 10 and still watch Conan at 11:30. Rather than watching both programs it is likely viewers will divide with the older generation still watching Leno and the younger still watching Conan and sticking around for Jimmy Fallon afterwards. This decision also screws NBC royally as I’ve never seen a talk show go into syndication – no one is screaming to see repeats of old Jay Leno’s on cable, you only occasionally see episodes of Johnny Carson on a channel or two.

I am appalled that NBC is decreasing their programming by 4-5 prime time hours. It again proves to me that NBC is still faltering because they are no longer the number one network and cannot figure out how to get back there.

Santa Claus...Ewww

selfridges shop window
Originally uploaded by i'mnopro

I hit a whole new level of disturbing over the weekend and I don’t think I can go back.

My grandfather played Santa Claus for his American Legion outpost. Not only did I not know this till I went to my grandparents house this weekend but I found out by being shown pictures of this Santa Claus. The new level of disturbing comes into play because he kept showing me the picture he liked of the hot female bartender who was wearing reindeer antlers sitting on his lap.

Those images stay with you forever. I’d really like to wash out my brain right now. Ugh.

The image to the right is not this picture. Even if I could share the actual image I would not – it’s too scarring.

Random Quote # 24 of Many...

"Listen, Touch of Evil's playing near my hotel. You wanna go check it out? Watch Charlton Heston play a Mexican?"

Chili Palmer
Get Shorty

Random Quote # 23 of Many...

"It's just like American Gladiators but with cooler accents and better names."

BBC Amercia
Review of UK Gladiators

Thanksgiving Humor

Thanksgiving
Originally uploaded by felixtcat

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I don't know about you but mine is going to be a bit different than ususal. I have decided to keep optimistic and enjoy myself! I have a lot to do over the next four days!

BTW - I just thought this picture was too amazing not to share. Enjoy the image on the right and remember to enjoy your Thanksgiving as well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Weekend Update

Friday:
* My best friend passed the California Bar!!! Go Stefanie!!!
* The holidays have started at Disneyland. I went and it was gorgeous!
* I somehow lost an hour between 11:30 and 12:30 – can’t figure out how…Stefanie and I thought it was 11:30 when we were exiting Disneyland, and when we got to the car it was 12:30.

Saturday:
* Saw Madagascar 2 when I got together with my brother.
* Shopped around for odd sized frames for my graduation present – I graduated from college in 2005.
* Watched Brand Upon the Brain. That is a strange movie.

Sunday:
* Went shopping with my Mom.
* Bought the frames for my graduation present and framed the two sided Widescreen Film Festival poster from my senior year. Haven’t finished the framing for the WFF booklet – that’s a lot of work to pull it apart and lay it out. It will be huge.
* Decided I want a Christmas tree in my bedroom, a regular size one.
* Watched Strictly Ballroom to prepare for my Red Curtain Trilogy commentary for the feature of the month at Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Film*.
* Read some Sookie Stackhouse.
* Watched The Day the Earth Stood Still.


Reviews for my weekend movie watching will be up soon on The Director Is In.

Random Quote #22 of Many...

"Use the information I have just given you to work the system."

My Boss this morning

Random Quote # 21 of Many...

PEOPLE: You turned 40 Oct. 12 and now you're the Sexiest Man Alive. What was your wife's response?
Jackman:God bless her, she said, "I could've told them that years ago!" And then she said, "Obviously, Brad wasn't available this year." And I said, "That was a joke, right?"

People Magazine

Santa Ana Winds

1013081250.jpg - Santa Ana Winds
Originally uploaded by Someguy925

They're back! It's November 15th - why does it have to be 90 degrees and so dang dry????

I hate the winds and I want fall weather back!

Random Quote # 20 of Many

Dean: Sam – too much information.
Sam: I told you I was coming clean.
Dean: Yeah, but now I feel dirty.

Supernatural

Retirement???

Joaquin Phoenix is confusing me greatly. He is leaving acting for music. He’s announced this retirement.

What I cannot understand is that he’s so wholly dropping acting. I understand he’s been doing it for years and probably wants a new challenge, but he’s so dang good at it and hasn’t proved he’ll be a great musician yet – so why announce you’re giving up movies without establishing yourself in the other path?

As much as I love Phoenix I think this decision will probably end up in the category that all stars use for statements like this after they fall on their face – the “I didn’t really mean that, even though I said that” category.

Read the full story on cnn.com.

Skynet

John Connor en Terminator 4
Originally uploaded by Dotpod

So does anyone else find it funny that Britian has actually launched Skynet?

Seriously, if you could name your new military program after something why would you chose the program that killed humanity in fiction?

Full story here: Skynet.

Halloween part 1

Just a taste of Halloween at work. More later.

Random Quote #19 of Many...

"So it’s preserving the soul of the experience while having enough reference, so that there are moments where the fans are rewarded for having followed his stories are so long and not frustrated by that. Often times people who are fans of comic books go see the movie and enjoy it less than people who don’t know anything about the heroes because they’re so frustrated by how many leaps and liberties they took with the source material."

Jon Favreau on Iron Man

Something to Rember on Election Day

Flag II
Originally uploaded by ACreepingMalaise

Tuesday is FINALLY the day we get to vote for the next president. It's been almost two years of campaigning and recently FAR too many people panicking. I just want people to remember to breathe and that despite what anyone says this is not the most crucial election in our history or any dirividation there of.

I normally hate the kind of list below, but I would like a lot of people to keep the below in mind while they watch the election coverage.

Top 10 Predictions
No Matter Who Wins the Election

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.

2. Prayer will still work.

3. The Holy Spirit will still move.

4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.

5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.

6. There will still be singing of praise to God.

7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.

8. There will still be room at the Cross.

9. Jesus will still love you.

10. Jesus will still save the lost.

ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS STILL IN CONTROL?

Random Quote # 18 of Many...

"You know you've reached rock bottom when you're told you have character flaws by a man who hanged his predecessor in a military coup. "

Charlie Wilson
Charlie Wilson's War

Day Dreaming

Pictures like this make me envious. I cannot wait until the day that I get to sit inside a genuine set for one of my films and discuss everything with the actors before we play out a scene. I mean I've done this before, but not on a set with a large budget, full construction and art department, and had a completely original creation that so completely emmerses you in another world.

I want that bad.

NBC

What happened to NBC? This is a serious question. A few years ago I had faith in the network; it seemed that it was committed to making sure it put quality programs back on the airwaves, not just insipid scripted shows or reality based ones – it actually wanted to make the audience smarter in the shows they watched.

For the 2006/2007 season they hit the airwaves hard with their fall lineup and had a slew of new original programming and from what I saw it was all good; they had Heroes, Friday Night Lights, Kidnapped, 30 Rock, & Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Almost all of their new shows were critically acclaimed and praised beyond belief, and there was not a reality show among them. I almost had faith in network TV again. But sadly, most of their new shows except Heroes and 30 Rock did not gain the viewship they deserved and were canceled despite this acclaim.

Last year, NBC’s lineup of new shows was not quite as strong, they were not quite as daring as the year before but they were still trying. For the 2007 season they premiered Bionic Woman, Chuck, Journeyman, Life & Lipstick Jungle. These shows were not quite as strong as the previous season, but were decently unique and have lasted longer than they might have otherwise because of the fear of the writer’s strike and the network knew they had no new programming waiting in the wings if they canceled these. The problem was Bionic Woman had the marks of a show tampered with by the network and ended up canceled and Journeyman was really good but too complex for most audiences and was canceled. My main problem was that the new shows they kept possibly didn’t deserve to be kept; Chuck I have no opinion of, but Life was far too strange and scattered to be kept in my opinion and Lipstick Jungle felt like nothing new or original to me – just another sad attempt at a Sex and the City. But again, NBC tried. Who knows what would have played out last season if it weren’t for the strike.

That brings us to the 2008 season. NBC’s lineup of new shows was interesting to say the least: My Own Worst Enemy, Kath & Kim, Knight Rider & Crusoe. I know that the strike probably effected the availability of new shows to some extent, but I kind of feel like NBC scraped the bottom of the barrel to get these shows.

From what I’ve seen My Own Worst Enemy is probably the best of the bunch, but it’s poorly executed. Beyond the good performance of Christian Slater the pilot was lack luster not leaving me with any reason to tune into the show again next week. Kath & Kim I dislike on concept – not what the show is actually about, but the fact that it is based on a show from I believe Australia or New Zealand. I wish Molly Shannon and Selma Blair the best but now that DVD makes international television shows to readily available I really don’t see the point of using the concept from another country’s show – the audience can see it by just getting the DVD’s. But either way, these are the better options for new shows on NBC.

Now we come to the bad options. Knight Rider. Maybe NBC got wind that the CW was doing a spin-off/sequel to 90210 and decided they needed to bring an old show back too, but Knight Rider? The testing-the-waters movie they did last season was terrible enough they decided to go ahead and launch it into a new series? This show has been panned by everyone and I do not expect it to last long as long as SAG does not strike.

That brings us to Cursoe. I have not seen this show yet as it premieres tonight, but from the few reviews I’ve read and what I know of the concept I really wish that they hadn’t made it. Robinson Cursoe is stuck on an deserted island for twenty years trying to get home ala Ulysses only Ulysses got to travel – Cursoe stayed put. My own doubts were echoed in several reviews I read that basically said the show was downright laughable.

I feel bad for NBC. They used to be the best network on television in my opinion. They had such greats as ER (when it was good, before the entire original cast left), Friends, Seinfeld, Scrubs, News Radio and a slew of other shows that will stand the test of time…now they are relying on Deal or No Deal as their ratings clincher.

I think Conan O’Brien put it best in the video below. Sorry NBC.

Another Law Suit

Lady Justice
Originally uploaded by js_moorman

Okay, a lot of you might have already heard about this, but I still find it funny. A senator is trying to sue God.

Seriously.

This senator claims “God has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents in Omaha, inspired fear and caused ‘widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants.’" This suit was just thrown out because “the Almighty wasn't properly served, because of his unlisted home address.” Read the whole AP story here. I guarantee you it is worth your time.

I am a religious person, a Christian who believes in God and Jesus as the Messiah with all my heart. However, let’s look at this from an outside standpoint. By placing the law suit the senator is acknowledging God exists; he is acknowledging that God has power to do great and terrible things – that’s why he’s trying to take an injunction against Him.

Looking at those facts even if you don’t call yourself a Christian wouldn’t you be a little scared of the god that you were suing? You’re blaming him for haneous acts, terror, violence, death…and you want to put a lawsuit against him??? To me I think it would be like being a witness against the mob; they’ve done terrible stuff and you’re afraid of them so most people wouldn’t do it because they are afraid they’d end up on a hit list and be retaliated against.

So I guess what I am really saying is by not being afraid of punishment from this god that he’s pegged as so vengeful and terrible isn’t he kind of saying he doesn’t believe either in this god or that this god is a terrible enough god to strike back against him?

So Excited...Such a Geek

I am a little sad I have to wait 7 more months to see this movie. I think it's going to be phenominal; it has been a long time since I've been this excited about anything Star Trek related. Plus the more I see of him the more I think Zachary Quinto is hot, even with Vulcan ears.

Sad, but True

Found online. Sad, but funny. Seriously. Look up the man online if you don't know who he is.

Idol Sighting

I saw Baz Lurhmann tonight!!! I am always amazed when I see the people I idolize in flesh and blood. They still don't seem quite real to me. I only hope that some day I can address him as a peer.

Politics 2

Superhero
Originally uploaded by probationboy

Another in the long line of reasons to hate politics.

Why are they doing this to my icon! Don't defile Superman's image with anyone real who has not played the man of steel.

Release Superman!

I cannot wait until the dang election is over. I hate this time period. Elections stink.

If you grew up in my house you'd understand.

Politics

Sarah Palin's legs
Originally uploaded by malibuguy79

I do not voluntarily align myself with any political party. I think they all stink. I hate politics because it's always the same, no one ever actually makes a difference, and it's all a matter of what candidate makes the most promises that we all know they will actually break. They know they're lying all the way through the election, we know they are lying and yet people go all crazy about the candidates.

What is driving me the most nuts about the current election is the fascination with Sarah Palin. Has anyone in the democratic party realized that she is the VP candidate not the Presidential candidate???

Why the heck has the democratic party shifted almost all focus off McCain to center on Palin? Unless McCain dies in office she is not the decision maker? Besides, has anyone noticed the humor in this situation?

Obama has gone around for months promising "change" without managing to tell us what this change is and he picks a VP candidate that is basically John McCain. McCain goes around for months on his campain and picks a woman as his VP candidate. Who do you think made the more progressive choice?

I think "change" is just a nice catchy tagline to get people to vote without thinking.

I have not made up my mind on the election yet, but Obama better make some moves if he wants my vote. I don't like someone that would like to deal with memo's and language rather than decisive action.

ARGH!!!!

Silent scream (vol 2)
Originally uploaded by TonivS

I was totally prepared for today to be a lazy Friday. But no, of course it can't be.

I got into work today and was immediately bombarded by problems. Big ones. And angry customers.

It has been far too crazy of a week.

I want to be making movies full time already. Please?

God give me a hand.

Random Quote #17 of Many...

"It looks like a treadactyl from a gay Jurassic Park."

Tim Gunn
Project Runway

The 60th Emmys [a.k.a. what happens when you cater to the taste of a fickle audience]

Sunday was the Emmy’s – the new bastard step-child of award shows. It wasn’t always this way though. As much as I love to see who wins, and what people are wearing those responsible for putting the Emmy’s together have run out of ideas and are scraping the bottom of the barrel and have been doing so for several years now. I much prefer watching the Golden Globes, the Oscar’s and the Independent Spirit Awards. Heck, I even enjoy the SAG Awards.

Let’s face it. The Emmy’s peaked when Conan O’Brian hosted them a few years ago.

Since Mr. O’Brian brought a much needed sense of levity to the show they’ve gone downhill. Last year they did the much annoying “Emmy’s in the round” hosted by Ryan Seacrest, and this year they had five hosts. Five.

Let’s talk for a moment about the until recently dumbest thing they had done – the round format. Think about this logically. Let’s get all of TV’s hottest stars, directors, writers, producers, various celebrities, etc. and get them dressed to the nines, and then place them all around a circular stage so that for at least half the ceremony half of these Hollywood players are staring at the host, presenters and winners backs…I don’t know about you but this seems completely illogical to me. I don’t even like going to a concert where I am going to get a profile view of the performer based on my seat, but to be a power player and be seated BEHIND the action????

That doesn’t even begin to cover the other great problem with last year’s show – their choice of host in Ryan Seacrest. Don’t get me wrong. When Seacrest used to be on Star 98.7 I listened to him all the time, I thought he was fun and a great host; I don’t even think he’s bad on American Idol. A little annoying sometimes but not bad. However, to expect Seacrest to be able to adlib, or to let him go through multiple costume changes…that was just odd placed on top of the badness of the presentation. See the photographic evidence.

Now we are brought to this year’s ceremony. The positive thing I can say about the broadcast is that they got rid of the round format. However, for the 60th anniversary of the awards they decided to let the five nominees for Best Reality TV Host be the hosts of the program. The person who thought this was a good idea needs to be removed.

One of the primary issues with awards shows that are broadcast on television is that they tend to run very long, over the scheduled time…and that’s with one host. I don’t see why adding four additional hosts seemed like a good idea for that alone.

They realized they were so far behind that about half way through the show they cut all of the little jokes and banter the presenters were supposed to do before each award; they would just introduce the presenter and the pissed off presenters would come out announce the nominees, open the envelope and walk off the stage. On top of this a great many of the winners were played off. Not classy. I am sure there are a bunch of pissed celebrities that will think twice before being involved with the broadcast again.

Then there is a matter of the dialogue delivered by the hosts. These are reality tv hosts, they really don’t have much deviation from episode to episode – they say the same things, or nearly the same things every week. They are not people who should go off book, especially Howie Mendel and Tom Bergeron. Bergen had nothing entertaining to say and Mendel rambled so much it was obvious he had no idea when to shut up. Jeff Probst and Heidi Klum are at least charismatic as can be, and Seacrest isn’t that annoying, but that really didn’t help. It also really didn’t help that they hosts gave a bad first impression because Oprah was brought in to introduce the show and then the hosts were brought out to again introduce the show…and they stood with nothing to say and no idea of who should speak first, and they blamed it all on Oprah taking their intro.

Seriously, whoever planned this year’s show needs grave evaluation. There are very obvious reasons the show has dropped in the ratings and got such scathing reviews this year. Five of them.

Come on people, fess up. You know we’re all just watching to the Emmy’s as a place holder. The Golden Globes are much cooler to get for a TV program. Thank God the Emmy’s are not really the start of award season.

Random Quote #16 of Many...

"It's my pre-packed disaster preparedness bag. It's reccomended by the Department of Homeland Security...and Sarah Connor."

Sheldon
The Big Bang Theory

Halloween

Okay, so I almost never do anything for Halloween. But for some reason I really want to this yeat. Luckily this year my best friend came to me and said she wants to dress up too, so now I don't feel like so much of a freak.

But of course nothing is ever simple. We both had to decide on costumes that really don't exist.

I really want to be either Rita Skeeter from Harry Potter or the Max Fleisher version of Lois Lane. Stefanie wants to be Penelope.

I think we are in over our heads. But it's going to be fun.

Random Quote #15 of Many...

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it."

Kay
Men in Black

Asthma

Project 365 - Day 210
Originally uploaded by mrbosslady

I've been plagued by asthma since I was a child; I was not diagnosed until I was seven but the current theory is that I've had it since birth, but the doctor's didn't recognize it as I am not a wheezer and it was not recognized that you didn't have to wheeze to have asthma until about 15+ years ago.

Having been dealing with rather significant asthma since birth I've become a pro at treating it. I pride myself at knowing my symptoms, my triggers and knowing how to keep healthy. I forced myself to learn because when I was about 14 I lost almost two years of my life to asthma and other medical problems. I was so medicated for this time that it really is a struggle for me to remember anything about that time; due to the meds and being sick it's just gone from my memory.

I vowed that I was never going to let myself get that sick again and once I hit the middle of college I really became proactive about it. I lost over 30 pounds to help my lungs, began to work out, etc. I was the healthiest I have ever been. I was dealing with the disease.

This is why I became so upset when I went to the doctor Monday.

My physician did a pulmonary function test on me to compare to the one I took about 18 months ago. At the time of the first test I was unmedicated (as my insurance had just kicked in after a year without it) and my lungs were at 112% capacity and I was breathing out 93% of the correct materials; Monday my lungs were at 105% of their capacity and I was breathing out 79% of the correct materials.

This is a significant drop and I can only account to it that I have gotten lazy with taking care of myself. I've stopped exercising, I've stopped eating as well and all the other healthy activities I was doing. I'd noticed the circles under my eyes getting more pronounced, headaches had started to pop up more often and I was always tired. Instead of attributing this to asthma as I should have I assumed it was because I was "burning the candle at both ends";after all, in the past year I've left one miserable job, temporairily returned to retail, then took a new office job and made my first feature film. It's been crazy. So I did what I vowed not to do and ignored the symptoms. Now I am paying for it.

I have to kick back into high gear and treat myself the way I know needs to happen. I am not going to let my laziness get the best of me again.

Wrapped

Production has officially wrapped on my feature. We had the photo shoot and party today.

It was great from start to end and I am thankful to God for pulling this all together for me. Now I am off to bed.

Confession

tapes
Originally uploaded by zeelje

I hate watching the footage I've shot.

It's not that I dislike the footage, think it's bad or any other permentiation of the sort. In fact, from what I've seen on set I adore my footage. It's just that rewatching it stresses me out like nothing else.

I rewatch the footage and I start second guessing, trying to debate if the footage will cut together, did I get all the angles I need, etc. This feeling stays with me until I see the footage start to be put together in editing.

I think that one day, when I have a budget and know that I can afford to make little mistakes watching dalies and footage may not bother me as much on some levels; however, I do not think the complete concern over my job as a director will ever go away. That is with me until I see the fottage being put together by an editor.

The artistic process is made up of small stress moments for me. But I still love the process.

Harry Potter Junkie

So they announced that The Tales of Beedle Bard are coming out to the mass market. Of course I am buying my copy...but there's a special (limited) edition of the book on amazon.com. It's more expensive, but it looks like the ones J.K. Rowling made for auction.

Guess which one I'm getting?

AFM

I just started looking up more information for the final stages of my film. I really shouldn't do that yet as it is mind boggling.

I jsut spent a good deal of time absorbed in the American Film Market website. Obviously, my feature won't be completed in time to shop it at this years conference at the beginning of November; but by next November if I haven't found distribution yet that is definitely a way to proceed. An expensive way, but a way.

The most mind-boggling thing on there is that they have laid out steps for the first time attendee to follow if they intend to try and shop their project.

My brain now hurts.

I can only continue to pray that all the efforts of everyone involved in this project manage to come together the way I've been praying they are and that God does use this project to help us all jump into the careers we want instead of the jobs we work at now.

I am 26 years old and I am ready to stop pretending to enjoy my daily life; I am a director and I want to be one. I do not think that God would have given me this drive and passion if He didn't want me to do something with it.

So as I continue to pray, please join me in that effort.

Hoax

iHoax™
Originally uploaded by berbercarpet

So as we all know was the truth, the Goergian finders of Big Foot were lying. They of course made it all up and thought it was funny.

The finniest part is now the idiots are the subject of legal action and they apparently want to rely on the defense that it was all "a joke" that got out of hand.

Have fun with that in court.

Seriously, I think people are getting dumber with every generation.

Random Quote #14 of Many...

"Robert Mitchum played the drunk in El Dorado. Dean Martin played the drunk in Rio Bravo. Basically, it was the same part. Now John Wayne, he did the same in both. He played John Wayne."

Chili Palmer
Get Shorty

Random Quote #13 of Many...

"Back when I was picking beans in Guatemala, we used to make fresh coffee, right off the trees I mean. That was good. This is shit but, hey, I'm in a police station. "

Verbal Kent
The Usual Suspects

Sasquatch

Sasquatch
Originally uploaded by laguenther

I love myths & legends, and do think many of them have roots in reality. Personally, I do believe in Nessie. I know many of you will find what I am going to say next dumb in light of that admission.

I think that Big Foot is a myth. In a country as densely populated as the United States, with logging, and other numerous forms of enviromental destruction that goes on here in our wooded areas someone would have found the Sasquatch years ago.

Instead, every single time someone has come out claiming to have found "evidence" of the real Big Foot it has been uncerimoniously debunked as fake. In my lifetime alone I remember there being "evidence" of Big Foot's foot prints that turned out to be made with a cement press or something to that effect, and more conclusive evidence showing the classic video of walking Big Foot to be a man in a suit, just like the gorilla's in Congo.

So imagine my skepticism when I saw on CNN.com today that low and behold two Georgia residents have the body of a Big Foot shoved in a freezer and will be revealing undisputible evidence today. They know where the Big Foot den is as well but are refusing to reveal it's location out of "respect" for the creatures...yet they're trying to make money off of the body. Contridiction much?

Pardon me if I am wrong as this is unresearched, but I thought Big Foot was theorized to live in the pacific north west - so what the heck is a Big Foot den doing in Georgia? Did they migrate from Washington, traveling across the flat plains of the mid-west until finally saying "Ah, the land of Peaches. This will be our new home, surely the men in white cowls burning crosses will leave us alone out of respect for our habitat."

Please. I think that Rick Baker pulled off a better Sasquatch in Harry & the Hendersons than the guys in these photos did.

Tired

Okay, i know I am making a movie and working a day job but I am exhausted. Don't get me wrong, this is a great, but very tiring thing to do.

I am putting all of my energy into my film and that leaves very little left for the day to day function of life.

What can I say?

This must be done in order for me to be a successful director. Right now, my "day job" is not the job I expend my energy at. I spend my time working hard at work, then going home to work harder on my film.

Don't worry about me though. While I will continue to be exhausted for awhile, I do believe the worst of it will be over when I am out of production and on to post. The schedule will be a bit looser and I will not be stuck inside a sweaty, sticky house for hours on end.

I am enjoying myself though - at the movie, not the day job.

So friends, continue praying for my film and me, but don't worry. "It's all going to be okay".

I'm Trying

"Though the world is so full of a number things,
I know we should all be as happy as
But are we?
No, definitely no, positively no.
Decidedly no. Mm mm.
Short people have long faces and
Long people have short faces.
Big people have little humor
And little people have no humor at all!
And in the words of that immortal buddy
Samuel J. Snodgrass, as he was about to be lead
To the guillotine:
Make 'em laugh
Make 'em laugh
Don't you know everyone wants to laugh?"

For Those of You Paying Attention

This is my last few days before photography begins on my film. It's going to be an exhausting endeavor, but it's going to be fun and the end product is going to be so worth my time.

Anywho, the next month or so is going to be a whirry-wind of busy for me, so I don't know how good I will be at keeping in touch unless you are actually involved in my movie. Sorry. What I really came here to say is that I would appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers as I go into filming. My person prayer requests are that I keep up my strength, be a good leader and that my cretivity keeps flowing through the entire process. For my cast and crew I'd like if you would pray for the same. It's going to be long days, and close quarters and all that goes along with the constant creative process. Please pray that we avoid problems, etc. on set as well and that the shoot would go as smoothly as God will allow it.

Thank you all and I will try to keep my blogs posted on the process. So many of you have already been helpful beyond anything I could ever expect and I thank you for that.

Speaking of which, the movie has a blog to keep people updated: http://endmovie.blogspot.com/

New Blog!

As some of you may know I am working on my first feature film. I now have a blog devoted to it. Please check it out to see what's the what.

Here it is: End

Breaking Dawn

my copy of Breaking Dawn arrived today
Originally uploaded by massdistraction

I just bought my copy of Breaking Dawn. I am far too excited about that, but I love fantasy and I love books so I guess that makes sense.

It better be good.

Comic Con 2008: Day 4

Sunday: It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Hamlet 2

I entered the It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia panel not knowing what panel I was going in to, I wanted to wait around for Hamlet 2. I’ve seen a few episodes of Philadelphia and never known what to make of it as I’ve caught them half way through, and didn’t understand the concept. I became a fan at the panel, and not just because they gave me a free t-shirt and the show on DVD. IT’s a fun show and they described it as Seinfeld if the characters really were that mean and horrible of people that no one else would ever be friends with them.

What I find really interesting about Hamlet 2 is the fact that it’s already achieving cult film status without being widely released. Sexy Jesus is going to be a geek icon, and I do have to say the lyrics to Rock Me Sexy Jesus are some of the funniest things I’ve ever heard. I cannot wait to see this movie.

Comic Con 2008: Day 3

Saturday: Heroes, Lost, Terminator Salvation

I went to the Heroes panel last year and had a blast, so I had to go back this year. I was not disappointed even though the panel started late because the cast got stuck in the elevator. Tim Kring brought the entire cast, plus the entire season 3 premiere for us to watch.

Heroes: Villains is going to be amazing. I have not seen a better hour of television in a long time than that episode. At the season 2 panel Jeph Loeb asked us not to talk about the footage they showed, this time they pleaded with us to talk about the episode as Heroes will have been off the air for 9 months when it premieres.

The best part was that during the panel several cast members decided to tape the audience from the stage. That was funny, you could tell they were having so much fun. On top of that a kid went to the Q&A mike and told Zachary Quinto (the arch villain Sylar) that “Silo” was “the best hero ever!” The entire audience and Zachary could not stop laughing. When asked another question by the audience Zachary insisted on being called “Silo”.

I sat through the LOST panel even though I don’t watch the show because Christopher and Beth are fans. I appreciate the show, but I’ve had issues with how a season or two felt so muddled and off track. Last season rocked though. However, the panel was fun as two of the creators/exec producers were there and did a Q&A where they gave out odd prizes like a life vest & dry eraser signed by the writers. It was also “sponsored” by the Dharma Initiative as they are recruiting.

My favorite thing of the weekend had to be the panel for Terminator Salvation.

I will be the first to say that until Christian Bale was cast as John Connor I was beyond skeptical of this film. I really didn’t enjoy Terminator 3 that much and didn’t see a point to continuing the franchise without James Cameron. However, Bale picks his projects carefully so that really helped up my comfort level.

The only thing holding me back was McG being attached as the film’s director. I never really disliked him, but after the Charlie’s Angels films I just kind of thought he was Brett Ratner without the roughness around his edges; then I saw We Are Marshall and was blown away by the skill put into that film and the ability of McG to change genres so flawlessly – but I still didn’t see him making a decent Terminator film.

I was wrong. McG is going to make a GREAT Terminator film.

I was blown away by the knowledge and passion McG demonstrated for Terminator Salvation proves that he is not an idle director but one who does his homework, has inspiration, is a fan of the series and truly wants to make an excellent film. I sat with my jaw dropped as he explained the evolution of the machines and how that process went into the concept of where they would be at that point in the film, the makeup of the resistance fighters, the mental process of Connor, and the concept of a destiny/fate that cannot be avoided by the characters. Then he showed the footage and I got goose bumps it was that good. This is the war with the machines we all imagined it would be and not only that it is visually stunning. On top of all this the entire cast (minus Bale who was still doing international press for The Dark Knight) adores the project and you can tell.

Comic Con 2008: Day 2

Friday: Watchmen, Trailer Park, Wolfman, The Spirit

I am currently reading the graphic novel on which Watchmen is based. I have not finished yet, but it is amazing. Even with as little as I know so far about the comic I cannot wrap my head around how the heck Zack Snyder and his team managed to even come up with a coherent way to turn such a dense, far-reaching story into a film and stay faithful to the original material. Let me clue you in for those that don’t really know what I’m talking about.

The main story takes place in 1985 in a post-hero era where the majority of costumed heroes have removed their capes in the name of patriotism or become agents of the government – then one is murdered and one of the last non-government heroes (he’s also the legally insane one) begins to they and find out why. There’s a love triangle between Dr. Manhattan (a 6’4” blue former-human who can manipulate time, space & molecules), a second generation hero Laurie, and another retired hero, Nite Owl. There is an old generation of heroes waxing nostalgic on the past, and we can actually visit the past due to Dr. Manhattan, there is the Cold War issues, and there is some conspiracy forming around Dr. Manhattan. On top of this there is a sub-plot about a kid reading a pirate comic that underlies some of the themes in the story and there are excerpts of novels about our heroes laced throughout the book. And I’m only half way through the comic.

Back to the panel, everyone from Zack Snyder to Billy Crudup was excited to be there and stoked to see the footage – which kicks some major ass BTW. If all goes as I think it will this film will further cement Snyder as one of the foremost big budget film directors in the business. Just wait until you see Dr. Manhattan on Mars.

I’m not going to write about Trailer Park because let’s face it – it’s just a bunch of us sitting in a room watching movie trailers to kill time. You’ve seen ‘em all before online or on the big screen.

The nice little badly advertized surprise was Universal’s Wolfman panel with Rick Baker, Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro. The footage looks pretty dark and bad ass, they did the wolf with make-up instead of CGI and I got to see Fenster in person, and one of the film gods – Rick Baker.

Baker talked a bit about Stan Winston, and the coolness of getting to make Del Toro into the wolf, Blunt was stoked because she got the be the damsel in distress and Del Toro is a wicked old school film geek. It was fun. I want to see the period-piece horror movie they have created. It has Anthony Hopkins so that’s a lot towards its credibility.

What we were all actually waiting through the Wolfman panel to see was the panel on The Spirit. We were not disappointed. Frank Miller is a kick to listen to because you can tell he loves the material but would still rather not be talking about it, he’d be drawing or showing it.

The best part of the panel was Samuel L. Jackson who is playing the villain the Octopus. When he came out he climbed up and stood on his chair while people cheered and then he was the wittiest panel member I’ve ever seen. Someone asked Samuel what his favorite action figure of himself is and he said Mace Windu as there are so many versions of that figure, and that he has his action figures all over his office peeking around shelves, fighting each other, etc. When asked about Nick Fury he said that he was excited because when he was a kid Nick Fury was white, and now Nick Fury had finally evolved into something he could understand and that it proved that “you too can grow up to be a black man.”

Comic Con 2008: Day 1

Thursday: The Day the Earth Stood Still/Max Payne, Summit (Push, Knowing, Twilight)

Instead of doing studio panels this year I was a bit disappointed to find that each studio (or perhaps Con) broke the panels down to focus on 1-2 movies by that studio. That being said, I did enjoy the panel for Fox’s The Day the Earth Stood Still and Max Payne.

I do not think that Keanu Reeves is a phenomenal actor; however, he is a smart actor in the sense that he picks roles that work for his personality and when used by a strong director can give a great performance. That being said he was a blast at the panel because people kept asking him complex questions that poor Keanu had no chance of answering. Jennifer Connelly is a shy actress as well, but still was able to deliver great articulate answers. I don’t know much about the people behind the film, but they have obviously thought out how to remake this film while not pissing off the lovers of the original. I cannot wait to see what the final product is.

I know nothing about Max Payne, and really didn’t enjoy the footage all that much, but I was greatly excited to see Mark Wahlberg in person. You could tell the crowd went nuts just for him, and he did remark that a response like that made him understand why musicians did reunion tours; however, I could have lived without hearing the phrase that the crowds response made him “all warm in the pants” referring to his Marky Mark days.

One of the biggest surprises of the weekend was right after Max Payne. The moderator came out and announced that there was a special guest just arrived – Hugh Jackman with Wolverine footage. Not only was the man completely cool and humble thanking his fans for giving him a career, but the creator of Wolverine was in the audience and he jumped off stage to go shake his hand. On top of that we saw the footage/trailer for Wolverine and it was damn cool but one thing stood out. We get Gambit in this movie!

The Summit Entertainment panel was entertaining but I in no way am looking forward to their slate of upcoming releases. First there is Push, which could be slightly interesting in concept, but from hearing the director speak I don’t think they have their sci-fi mythology figured out. It’s a film about people with psychic abilities who have been manipulated by the government since experiments that began with the Nazi’s in WWII. The footage was not that spectacular and the director Paul McGuigan was not that smart. He talked about how he shot his effects very low-fi as they tried to do everything on location (he meant practical effects yet used a sound term), and was upset that when they blew up fish tanks that he wasn’t allowed to blow them up with the fish in them… Brilliant man I tell you.

They also have Knowing which might be interesting despite my heebie-jeebie factor regarding Nicholas Cage. It’s about a kid that 50 years ago created a numeric cipher that foretold all the major disasters up to a few years in our future…the footage was actually decent and I enjoyed it. But why Nick Cage? Sorry, that’s my personal thing.

Finally, they had the Twilight portion of their panel. I am a fan of the Twilight book series, and I know I’m not in its prime target audience, but like the Harry Potter books I think they work for many age levels…but I was not a fan of Con being invaded by thousands of screaming teen girls who had nothing intelligent to say to the panel. If Catherine Hardwicke and Summit were smart this would have been an opportunity for them to prove that this is an intelligent film and team that transcends teen mania; instead, it was a ton of screaming teenagers talking about how hot the actors and characters are and the cast and director couldn’t form an intelligent sentence to save their lives. The only two people I had respect for on the panel were Rachelle Lefevre and Edi Gathegi who were able to speak in a clam, collected, and intelligent manner about the project and the production. I would cast Rachelle based on seeing her there.

I was saddened by the fact that Hardwicke is the only female director that I've ever seen on a panel at Con and she did nothing to help the credibility of female directors.