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Showing posts from November, 2008

The Road

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Okay so I had to write this while still being inspired. After getting my latest Filmmaker magazine I read an article about a movie called " The Road ". It is being directed by John Hillcoat , and it is from a novel written by Cormac McCarthy. McCarthy is the author of the "No Country for Old Men", so this is not a story from an unknown author. The story is a post-apocalyptic story about a man and his son traveling across a burnt out and desolate United States. It is not an easy read, and from what the article author explains in Filmmaker it is NOT an easy film to watch. The movie is being distributed by Dimension Films, and looks to be released in early 2009. The movie was filmed mostly in Pennsylvania, and was chosen for its tax breaks and its abundance of locations that looked post-apocalyptic such as coalfields, dunes, and run-down parts of Pittsburgh. The abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike was used for much of production. The director also said of using Pittsburgh

Dan in Real Life (2007)

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I had a chance to watch the movie " Dan in Real Life " starring Steve Carell and directed by Peter Hedges . I watched this movie because my late grandmother loved it so much. She was a big movie fan, and loved comedies and family dramas, so I thought I would watch the first ten minutes of the film and see how I liked it, and I soon forgot about the ten minute rule, and watched it straight through. The film is filled with sentimentality. "Dan in Real Life" is about a widower (Carell) who is raising three girls by himself. Dan Burns (Carell) and his daughters are heading up to a family get together that they have every year. While there he meets a women ( Juliette Binoche ) in a book store while out getting a paper. They talk and share a cup of coffee, and fall for each other. But here's where the conflict happens. After Binnoche's character leaves and Dan heads back to the family he meets her again only this time as his brothers girlfriend. So hence begins a

Diary of the Dead (2007)

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So I finally sat down and watched George A. Romero's " Diary of the Dead ". I am a fan of Romero's, and I do like his work, but Diary is a film I was very much disappointed with. The premise is interesting. Have a bunch of students videotape there experiences as the Dead start coming back. Make them film students doing a horror film, and add your own irony to the film within the film. Throughout the film we the audience are subjected to the "narrator". You know the one who tells us what is happening and who tells us of her or his plight. In this case the narrator is Debra Moynihan played by Michelle Morgan. The narration seemed to get in the way for me. I felt detached and I didn't care at all about our protagonists. Also the narration is annoying at times. I can hear Romero hammering away at a point about civilization and whether we need saving or not. For freaking sake please! don't lecture me. I can figure this out myself. Ultimately the narration

Quantum of Solace (2008)

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Ever since Daniel Craig has become the new Bond I've had a bit of excitement when another 007 picture is released. Now don't get me wrong I've been a Bond fan since seeing Dr. No way back when. So it's a little hard for me not to like a Bond film though there are some that I don't like, but Craig's introduction as Bond in "Casino Royal" was a breath of fresh air into a franchise that seemed to have run out of steam. Ian Fleming's Bond is a man who does what he has to do and it may not be morally right, but he does it. For Queen and country is Bond's operatis mondi, and he does it so well. The Bond films have or should I say had gone away from that and focused on the technology, and the fantastic villains that Bond was up against. Never did we get a look into Bond's heart and what makes him tick as we did in the last two Bond films, and that can be attributed to it's writing and Craig's acting. In " Quantum of Solace " Bond

Christmas on Mars (2008)

2008 - Christmas On Mars - Trailer from George Hussein Salisbury on Vimeo . Came across this film and thought it looked cool. It's playing till the end of the year if not the end of time: New York City at: The KGB Complex's Kraine Theater . The plot you say what is it? It's Christmastime, and the colonization of Mars is underway. However, when an oxygen generator and a gravity control pod malfunction, Major Syrtis (the Lips' Steven Drozd) and his team (including the Lips' Michael Ivins) fear the worst. Syrtis also hallucinates about the birth of a baby, and many other strange things. Meanwhile, a compassionate alien superbeing (Coyne) arrives, inspiring and helping the isolated astronauts. You got that? Now whose it from? Psychedelic rock band the Flaming Lips present Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring the Flaming Lips, a glorious science fiction film that marks the directorial debut of the Lips' visionary frontman Wayne Coyne. Se