KGB Productions

I haven't written anything here in a few days and I really need to, but I have no reviews, and sometimes I don't know if that's really what I want to be known for here. I've increased my viewing of various films that I've been interested in seeing, but haven't had a chance to see. It's a shame because movies have been a BIG part of my life. When I was younger I would always go see some films with a bunch of friends. In my teen years it was almost ritualistic. That and bowling I guess, but with a wife and kids now time has become precious. It's all about time management I guess, but sometimes time just runs out. Between family commitments and work time is a harder commodity to juggle. So hence this write up on what else time management. I read an article where a study said that depression hits people a lot in their mid-years. It doesn't come all at once, but develops through the years. The studies researchers stated that this is probably du...

This is a great video about the digital distribution revolution. Panelists include Leah Meyerhoff , JERRY RAPP , Arin Crumley and Susan Buice . It fires up the old brain pan, and all of these filmmakers make sense. It's almost 58 minutes, but well worth watching if you're serious about distribution, and getting you're film out there.

Jamie Stuart makes short films about filmmakers. You may have read about him earlier here, or maybe on Filmmaker magazines blog . I think he's a talented guy, and I find his humor funny, and refreshing. There's an interview of him on the NPR website , and as a bonus there's a video of him making his film at Sundance in of all places a parking lot. Check it out if you get a chance.

Layer Cake is an ingenious crime drama with layers of complexity that lifts it out of the regular standard crime drama scenario. Matthew Vaughn directs from a script by J.J. Connolly who wrote the novel also. It stars Daniel Craig as XXXX. Yes that's right Craig's character has no name. The name is never mentioned, and in the end it is suppose to mean something to us as the author uses irony to eventually show us the characters downfall. I had no problem with this film. It is complex and a bit hard to understand due to the accents, but it did feel very authentic. Daniel Craig does an outstanding performance as a cocaine drug dealer who we sort of like, and that's the beauty of this movie. Who would think or even care about a character like XXXX, but we do. Colm Meaney is also in this film, and he does a great job as a guy with both shoes in the criminal an the legit world. George Harris as Morty also gives an interesting performance that is quite believable, and that...

The latest Moviemaker magazine has a interesting yet brief interview with George A. Romero. Romero for those who don't know is & was the director of " Night of the Living Dead " (the orginal one), and it's sequels " Dawn of the Dead ", " Day of the Dead " & " Land of the Dead ". He's also done a lot of other films also, but that's probably where you've heard the name before. In the article he talks about being an independent filmmaker in today's market, and he reveals some interesting tidbits on his deal with the "dead" films. For instance Romero does not get much from his films. It seems as though others hold the rights to them. The article talks about what he is doing, and what he would like to do. He was awarded a lifetime achievement award from the National Association of Latino Independent Awards in 2007. Romero is currently living in Toronto where he is finishing two more films about the dead ent...

Match Point is a film steeped in ambiguity, and how luck has more to do with our success then we would like to believe. Woody Allen directs this interesting crime melodrama that feels like a through back to those noirs of the 40's & 50's. The plot is simple: "At a turning point in his life, a former tennis pro falls for a femme-fatal type who happens to be dating his friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law". Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays Chris Wilton a former tennis pro. At first we don't know whether Meyer's character is a man who is a con artist or a man who truly does like the finer points of life. His love for opera, and his fascination of Dostoevsky and his work seems a bit strange, but when he decides to commit murder you realize his cruel calculating demeanor is anything but false. Woody Allen does a superb job at immersing us into a place where murder will be gotten away with and with no consequence proving that sometimes the guilty don't pay for th...

I know its as though I'm jumping all over the place with reviews, but I'm trying to get inspired. I am a bit inspired, but sometimes it feels as though everything worth saying has been said, and still no one listens. Take the film " Crash " directed & written by Paul Haggis . Haggis is most known for his TV work on such shows as "thirtysomthing" "The facts of life", and "Due South", so the man knows how to write dialogue. I enjoyed the theme of the film " Crash ", but what made it ring out as false was some of its dialogue. People in real life don't talk in monologues. We conspire and hide our true selves usually from the world. It's probably a defense mechanism of sorts because when we encounter other people we don't know if their friend or foe. So we don't give people a clue to how we feel, or who we are at first. I understand the scenarios that " Crash " presents to us, but we are looking at a dr...

Coffee and Cigarettes is a film written & directed by Jim Jarmusch . Since seeing Jarmusch's film Stranger Than Paradise I've been a fan of his work. Jarmusch's cinema is of the sub-lime. The dialogue in his films are natural, and sparse. The old saying that silence is louder then words can be said of a Jim Jarmusch film. The plot of Coffee & Cigarettes is a "series of vignettes that all have coffee and cigarettes in common". There are various actors who do a rife on various subjects throughout the film. Roberto Benigni , Steven Wright , Steve Buscemi , Iggy Pop , Tom Waits , Cate Blanchett , and a host of others are all featured in the film. The film is shot in black and white by four different cinematographers. There is Tom DiCillo , Frederick Elmes , Ellen Kuras , and Robby Müller . The film is divided into eleven segments, and are titled. All the segments in the film do have something in common, but mostly it has to do with the art of conversation. So...

Okay where do I begin with this one. Let's take the plot of this film. "Three friends begin a dangerous three-way relationship that spirals out of control, leading to dire consequences that haunt them ten years later." Okay so I took that from somewhere, but that sums up the plot, and there isn't much to begin with. Mark Ruffalo plays Coles a animator/filmmaker of sorts. Maya Stange plays Sam the girl that Cole likes, and meets at some party in NYC. Enter Kathleen Robertson who plays Thea Sam's roommate, and friend. They have a sort of a Ménage à trois one night and after Ruffalo's character seems smitten by Sam. Pettiness, and jealousy doom the relationship and the threesome break-up. We then pick up in the present day about ten years or so into the future, and Cole is a ad man for an ad agency. Cole runs into Sam one day, and old feeling are stirred up between the two only this time with other complications. Seems as though Cole is in love with Petra Wri...

I read an interesting interview by filmmaker Sujewa with Pete Middleton . Seems Middleton made a film for less about 200 dollars. Middleton has posted his trailer and the making of his film onto YouTube. Check it out here when you get a chance. It's an interesting look at sub basement budgeted filmmaking. It's an example of how one now has to drum up support for ones film all by themselves. Hopefully Middleton will succeed. I look forward to seeing his film. From the glimpses I've seen it is interesting, and I'm a bit curious on what type of camera he shot it on. Check out the interview, and then head on over to his Youtube space and take a look at his videos. Middleton is also looking for a distributor for his film. Good hunting Middleton.

So I just happened to catch the film "On a clear Day" starring Peter Mullan as an out of work shipyard builder who swims the English channel. Brenda Blethyn plays his wife Joan, and both actors contribute a lot to this film that makes me really like it. Of course I can't say anything about the film if I didn't mention Gaby Dellal 's direction, and Alex Rose for the screenplay. Both work so well, and make this film an enjoyable view. Now I've been reading other reviews throughout the Internet, and in print, and I have to say there are a lot of positive reviews for this film, and the ones that give it a negative review seem to drum up that it's a film that we've seen before. These reviews site the plot as a feel good movie about an assortment of cooky characters who do something enlightening, but all I have to say to these reviews is a big " BULLOCKS !" What the reviews fail to say is that what is at the heart of this film is it's charac...

After seeing Hustle and Flow I have to say that I really liked it, but there is something a bit disturbing about it when you think about the story. After all it's about a pimp who tries to break into the rap game. The pimp is played by Terrance Howard who does a great job, but the film does gloss over prostitution as not so much as a "bad" occupation, but something the characters need to do in order to survive. The film takes place in Memphis, and Howard's character is represented as a benevolent type pimp. There is one scene where I believe Howard shows the true nature of a pimp, but even that is restrained, and you know that it's worse then that in reality. But this isn't reality is it. It's a film about creativity, and also how one needs his or her dreams. I liked the script, and I also enjoyed how the characters put life in perspective. Watching characters go through the creative process can be a boring endeavor, but Craig Brewer the director & wr...

What can I say about a film shot on DV and made for about 180K. Open Water is an interesting film about two vacationers getting stuck in the open sea. The film is 79 minutes and it felt even that was too long. Don't get me wrong the film is wonderfully produced, and it brings a certain reality to it that makes it frightening, but as one reviewer said "An expertly made suspense thriller based on an actual incident, but on a visceral level it's about as much fun as watching someone pull the wings off a butterfly". That little blurb says it all. I came away from the film drained, and yes I did use the fast forward button. I know how could I, but in my defense there are some scenes in the film that seemed to be just filler. I mean if I really wanted to I could make this film shorter, and still be effective. It's a one gimmick film, and when our two protagonists are finally on the water I was hoping that the film would kick in, but it never does. Open Water is a small ...

You would have thought I would have seen this movie already, but I never got around to seeing Forest Whitaker 's academy award performance especially with all the hype it had. Well the hype was right. The Last King of Scotland is a film that is exceptional, and Whitaker's performance adds to the films tenacity. The film is directed by Kevin Macdonald who is familiar with directing documentaries such as A Brief History of Errol Morris , and Touching the Void . It is Macdonald's understanding about documentaries that makes The Last King of Scotland such an effective film. The plot is a simple one: "In the early 1970s, Nicholas Garrigan, a young semi-idealistic Scottish doctor, comes to Uganda to assist in a rural hospital. Once there, he soon meets up with the new President, Idi Amin". Garrigan becomes an advisor and slowly realizes what type of a man Amin really is. The performances in the film are all stunning. James McAvoy plays Nicholas Garrigan who at first i...

Okay here's another Bruce Willis action/adventure thriller that's not " Die Hard " but tries really hard to be. The plot summary goes like this: "A failed police negotiator turned small town cop, must save the lives of a family held hostage, which draws him into a much more dangerous situation". Add a few surprises such as the mob kidnapping the main character's family (Willis), and add a fledgling psychopath to the mix and you have Hostage. The film is okay and throws in a few surprises, but it's the ending that sort of blows it for me. Everything is resolved and ends happily, but somewhere in the back of my brain I'm saying "I've seen this ALL before". The cinematography of the film is really something to note. Giovanni Fiore Coltellacci is the cinematographer of this film, and he knows how to frame a shot, and make Willis look oh so cool. The action sequences are well done, and the story is interesting, but then there's that...

Music & Lyrics is a pop infested cute romantic comedy which stars Hugh Grant & Drew Barrymore . Grant plays Alex Fletcher a one time 80's pop icon whose band disbanded in the mid 80's and who now makes his living performing his old songs. Drew Barrymore plays Sophie Fisher who is subbing for a friend who waters Alex's plants; she's a pretty good poet, and quick witted. Somehow Alex is offered a job to write for a successful young diva named "Cora", who grew up to Alex's pop hits from his band "Pop". Eventually after having no success on his own he stumbles onto Sophie and he somehow enlists Sophie's talents in creating lyrics to his melody. Sound complicated or a bit far fetched? Maybe, but guess what this works. The film is a quick 98 minutes long, and the movie does fly by. The songs in the film sound so camp, and yet that's what the 80's sounded like. The original music is by Adam Schlesinger . The music supervisor is Josh ...

Typhoon is an action/adventure thriller from Korea. It is directed by Kyung-Taek Kwak and stars Jung-Jae Lee as our hero & Dong-Kun Jang as Sin the villain. The story is simple. Long ago Sin's family was denied entry into South Korea, and was betrayed by a South Korean bureaucrat. After watching his father and mother die, and being separated by his sister Sin has it in for the two Korea's. Sin along with his gang of modern day pirates hijack some ballistic missile devices, and buy some Russian radioactive waste. He plans to annihilate the two Korea's by spreading the radioactive waste with balloons set to a timer to explode over the two Korea's. In steps our hero Kang Sejong. He's a South Korean navel officer who is called into duty to stop Sin. The budget seems extensive, and so the action sequences and special effects are plenty, but what this film can't hide is it's "pan-Korean nationalist sentiment". That's a quote from some review w...

I've been catching up on some movies I've been wanting to see, and never got around to them, so hence the mess of reviews in the previous blog entries. I have some more to go, but over the holidays something kind of clicked with me. My family had surprised me with some movie gifts in the form of DVD's. I've also been reading " The Portable Film school" by D.B Gilles ., In the book he makes some interesting observations, and the one thing that stuck out was a chapter about loving movies. After reading this and seeing all the movies I've acquired I suddenly came to the realization that I've fallen out of love with movies. Maybe it's just that there are other things in my life that have demanded more attention. But the thing is I still LOVE films, and filmmaking. I began watching some of these films, and slowly began to appreciate them. I'm not going to say that at this day in age there aren't that many GOOD films out there. On the contrary ...

Derailed is a film that tries to be one of those film noirs of the late 40’s and 50’s. You know the movie where the protagonist is a SAP, and it’s the femme fatale that does him in. There are dozens of films that I could name that follow that formula, and Derailed is sort of a throw back to one of those films. Of course there is considerable updating in the film, and the filmmakers put a few twists and turns to keep the audience on their toes, and to put their own spin on this true and tried formula. Derailed stars Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston . The film is directed by Mikael Håfström ,who brought you last year the film 1408 starring John Cusack . As I’ve said before this film tries to take the standard noir film and turn it on its ears. If you’re a fan of the genre you’ll see the plot points coming a mile a minute, but what director Mikael Håfström does in the beginning of the film is interesting. Håfström creates a reality that is dismal, and made up of monotony & despera...

Hard Candy starts off as a interesting film about a teenager turning the tables on a pedophile, and devolves into the standard revenge film. The film in essence is a two character play. Patrick Wilson plays the supposed pedophile, and Ellen Page plays Hayley Stark the girl. The film is directed by David Slade the man who brought you last years 30 Days of Night . This was Mr. Slades first film, and it's somewhat impressive. The film is shot a lot in very tight closeups, and it's style is intriguing for awhile, but at 104 minutes the film does drag after awhile. Both performances are quite good, and I'm always interested in seeing two good actors chewing up the scenery. But somehow the length bothered me. There is a torture scene in the film that will make some men cringe, but I didn't and the reason was that I had no sympathy for the character. Wilson's character at first is a bit dubious. Is he or isn't he, but his performance is such that you know that there ...

District B-13 is a film on high octane! Written by Luc Besson , & Bibi Naceri and directed by Pierre Morel this film flies onscreen at hypersonic speed. The film takes place in the future in an area known as District B-13, which has been walled up and is a no mans land run by criminals & gangs. The government has given up, and sealed off this section of Paris, which is now a war zone. Our hero Leïto was born and raised here, and he is only trying to survive in a desperate land, but when the police betray him, and his sister is given over to a ruthless drug kingpin heads will roll. Enter Capt. Damien Tomaso of the Paris police. A super cop who enforces the law, and is incorruptible. It seems that the ruthless drug lord has obtained a Neutron bomb, and it will go off in 24 hours if Tomaso doesn’t diffuse the bomb. Our two heroes forge a reluctant alliance, and off they go. To say that this film does not have any action scenes is like saying Disney does not do cartoons. Distri...