KGB Productions

Accomplices is a movie that is deeply layered.  On the surface it's a who done it.   A murder mystery about a boy whose body is found flooding in the Seine.  On the other hand this movie is about so much more.  We meet out cast of characters first as two detectives investigating this young boys death, and then we meet the boy in flashback.  The two stories move forward until they meet at the end.  In between the story arcs we get to know the characters.  Our two investigators played by Gilbert Melki , as Hervé Cagan, and Emmanuelle Devos as Inspector Karine Mangin really bring a three dimensional feel to their characters.  Both these actors play so real that you really get to know them, and in a way care about them.  Both detectives are in their mid 40's and they have been on the job for some time.  There seems to be a bit of chemistry between the two, but the movie isn't about that, and doesn't dwell on that aspect of their relat...

Would you believe way back in the 60's jolly old England gave about 30 minutes of pop music a day due to the fact that the government saw rock and roll as immoral, and lewd.  The answer to this was pirate radio .  These were actual ships that transmitted rock and roll tunes to the English while they were in international waters.  It was legal, and the these stations had about 25 million listeners. That's the premise of " Pirate Radio ", and I have to say it's a rocking good time.  Written and directed by Richard Curtis  Pirate Radio is one of those films that transports you to a time where music hadn't been monopolized by corporations yet.  It was the time of the Beatles, The Stones, Iggy Pop, and the Kinks.  The British invasion was on, and what came out of that was some great music.  Pirate Radio is an ensemble piece, and it has a multitude of characters.  There's Philip Seymour Hoffman , as the Count.  Nick Frost   as Doctor ...

This is one of those films that escaped me last year.  After seeing it now on DVD I have to say I was very much entertained.   The plot and the circumstances are quite ridiculous, and yet the non-stop action in this film makes it very entertaining.  From the start we are given a full roller-coaster ride of thrills, and I have to say I had fun seeing this film.  Angelina Jolie  gives a very determined performance as Salt a supposedly double agent who runs from both the Russians and the Americans.    The action scenes are really well done, and there is very little CGI work which seems to be the norm in today's films.  That's refreshing, because some of the scenes we can actually see Jolie doing her own stunts.  I must say the lady has some tenacity to do that, and it's what makes the film so enjoyable to watch. Of course there were times where I said to myself while viewing the film that had that happened in real life...

After seeing Monsters I had to go back and see Cloverfield .  A friend said that I should, so I figured why not.  First off I did not see this when it first came out.  I saw footage of it and said that it would just be too jarring on the eyes, and apparently it was for some .  The jarring camera work is enough to put me off, but a funny thing happens when it goes to video.  The screen shrinks and all that shaking of the camera becomes a little bit less annoying.  I say a little less because I swear the filmmaker in me wanted to grab the camera and film it the right way with less shake.  But the filmmakers of Cloverfield knew what they were doing, and that little imperfection added to the reality of what we were seeing.  I mean how scary is a Godzilla movie?  Now if you put a camera in one of the hands of someone running from Godzilla I would think that would be a whole lot more intense.  Not a new idea in this reality based wor...

Just saw the movie Monsters , and was very impressed by the production and the story. This is Gareth Edwards first film of sorts. I say that because Mr. Edwards has done work some some documentaries ( Perfect Disaster , Attila the Hun ) and a movie called End Day .   Mr. Edwards knowledge of what he can do in the realm of special effects makes Monsters a movie a must see.  The story in a nut shell is this: "Six years after Earth has suffered an alien invasion a cynical journalist agrees to escort a shaken American tourist through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border." The two leads in this movie make this movie what it is.  Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able  are actors that are of the highest caliber.  They are believable, and so convincing you think that you might just maybe be watching a documentary.  I'm sure the director did this on purpose.  I've read in articles that the director along with an associate pr...

The other night I saw " Edge of Darkness " starring Mel Gibson .  I only knew the story a little, and wasn't too sure how I would like it.  All I knew was that it was a film about revenge.  In Edge of Darkness Mel Gibson's characters daughter is killed right in front of him.  The entire picture is about uncovering why she was killed and by who.  detective Craven (Gibson) is a detective in the Boston police department, and after the brutal killing of his daughter he goes on a hunt for the men that killed his only daughter. So there you have it the story in a nutshell, but what is pleasantly surprising is the feel and the performances of the films characters which really make this film something interesting to watch.  All throughout the film I was thinking of several different types of noir type films , but the one that comes closest is " DOA ".  That's right the 1950 film which starred Edmond O'Brien .  It's a favorite of mine, but what "...

I was surprised to hear that Jill Clayburgh had passed away.  I had just the other day thought of the film "An Unmarried Women" by Paul Mazursky .    Clayburgh's credits are extensive so I won't list them all.  Check out her IMDB credits if you wish. I really don't know what to say here when it comes to a person who I've admired passes away.  It just feels that she had a lot more to give and was still very young.  We are at a loss for this, yet we can still see her performances in such films as; " Semi-Tough ", " An Unmarried Woman ", " Luna "," Starting Over ", " I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can ", and " Hanna K ." Ms Clayburgh died Friday at her home in Connecticut home at 66 after living two decades with leukemia.  She is survived by her husband (David Rabe), her children, and her brother James. Ms Clayburgh will be missed and always known for her extraordinaire work in both the screen and t...

So the other week I was invited to CCW conference.  That's Content & Communication World.  Since they provided me with free admission to the conference and seminars I felt I was obligated to go.  I went last year, and enjoyed it, and learned a lot.  This year was just as informative, yet I would have liked more vendors dealing with the production side of things, but all in all it was still very thought provoking.  I figured that since I couldn't write one BIG blog entry about the conference I figured I try and spread it out.  I went to ten seminars, and a couple of workshops in-between.  The conference was held in the Jacob Javits center in New York .  Both days I did a lot of walking around to seminars and through the exhibit floor which had over 200 companies.  I was most interested in DSLR Production, and they had several workshops and one seminar that covered that.  I'll get more into that on later entries here, but needless...

I had been wanting to see Tom Quinn's movie "The New Year Parade" for sometime now, and only now have I gotten around to it.  The movie for me didn't disappoint.  Mr. Quinn photographed his film over four years, and with a ton of footage he has managed to create a beautiful film about family, and tradition.  The film introduces us to the McMonogul family, whose members have been part of the South Philadelphia String Band for several generations.  Mike played by Andrew Conway finds out that his wife (Ann McDonald) has been unfaithful, and he moves out in a rage.  Mike is the captain of the string band, and he buries himself in his obsession, or is it his duty of getting ready for next years show.  Throughout the movie there are hints that Mikes wife had her reasons, yet the movie only hints at that.  It's that which I find unfortunate because Quinn does show the stereo-typical Irish-American family as it has been depicted in many movies for somet...

Okay I really wanted to like this movie.  I'm a big fan of those "grind house" movies, and I have fond memories watching them in theaters that were far from stellar, but Machete is in no way a "grind house" film.  It tries and fails miserable.  First off grind house movies were made with so little money the producers of those films had to come up with ways to exploit them.  A scene that would get audience's tongues talking about.  Here the filmmakers of Machete have enough money to do what they want and they do it poorly.  The movie tries so hard, and doesn't even come close.  The film is played way over the top, and it suffers from it.  Robert Rodriguez who is the director or co-director of the film does it all, and throws everything and the kitchen sink into the film.  The pacing seems all wrong, and it goes from one preposterous scene to another.  What also takes away from the movie is the actors themselves.  D...

I had been interested in seeing this when I first saw the trailer awhile back.  I've always been a fan of stories about spies, assassins, and other under worldly persona's.  Charles Bronson in " the Mechanic ", Terrance Stamp in " the Limey ", and Bob Hoskins in " the Long Good Friday" .  All of these movies are fascinating and are good portrayals of people on the other side of the tracks.  The American is a movie that follows that same formula, yet Cloney as the main lead plays it laid back.  Jack or Edward we really don't know his name is a contract killer or a man who supplies contract killers.  The story never says though in one conversation his employer says he doesn't have to kill here.  That's what makes this movie interesting.  It's the ambiguity of the story that pulls us in, and of course Cloney's performance.  In the first few minutes of the movie we are treated to an ambush.  Just when you think you know where the s...

Harry Brown is a movie I wanted to see when it came out, but never got around to it.  I was thrilled when it released this week on DVD .  With Michael Cain as the main character I wondered how this movie didn't do as well as it should have.  Say anything about Michael Cain he always gives his A game in a film.  The man could read Webster's dictionary and make it a good performance.  Harry Brown is Daniel Barber's second feature, and he comes out of the gate swinging with this one.  A film about revenge and growing old is what the film Harry Brown is all about, yet it plays on so many other levels too. After Harry's (Cain) best and only friend  (David Bradley) is murdered Harry takes on the hoods that have taken over his neighborhood.  I know "visions of Charles Bronson in " Death Wish " come to mind, but "Harry Brown is a different movie.  This film is not heavy on dialogue.  Cain's face portrays his character in this movie....

What can I say about this movie?  Anyone who sees it is probably a fan of action movies, and is a fan of Stallone.  For an hour and fourtythree minutes one can be entertained to stuff blowing up, fire fights, and good guys vs bad guys.  I won't go into what the story is about, and all the details of the film.  Suffice it to say is that if your a fan of action movies you'll like this film. I happen to be a fan of Stallone, and think he's a pretty good filmmaker.  The Rocky series proves that hands down.  But after leaving the theater I felt like this film could have been better.  One complaint I had is "sloppy film making".  What do I mean by sloppy film making?  Well just that.  Some of the cutting seemed quick and timed to get a reaction out of the audience.  Now of course you want a reaction from the audience.  Something positive and something that makes them get excited, but in this film I found it forced. In an age of v...

The family and I went to see Despicable Me the other day and I have to say we all enjoyed it. The film is a funny and quirky film about a villain. Yes that's right the main character is a villain, and his name is Gru. What's even better is that Gru has minions. (Doesn't every villain) These minions are the best thing in the film. They speak some gibberish that you almost understand, but laugh every time their on screen. My boys loved it, and I heard my oldest laughing along with his mom. I even found myself on the floor laughing at some of the jokes. (Yes it is that funny) But please don't make sense of the story. It's a fable, and a fun one at that. My 83 year old mom even liked it, and thought it was cute, so all ages seem to like it. The story is simple. Gru wants to be the number one villain of all time. So he sets out to steal the moon. Of course every villain has a nemesis, and Gru's is Vector. A younger more hip and a somewhat dead ringer for a youn...

Over at David Lowery's blog he talks about Heaven's Gate , and its director Michael Cimino. There is a link to a documentary on the movie narrated by William Dafoe. It's a good documentary, and after seeing it I had to post some of it here. I remember when this came out. It was 1980, and I was still in high school. I was enmeshed in film making back then. I started watching movies differently. It was also the height of the VCR, and believe it or not movies on videotape was the coolest thing. Only thing was that there wasn't much product yet. So the movies was where you still went to to study them. Heck! I remember sitting in theaters from afternoon till evening watching movies over and over again. I do remeber seeing a re-release of this movie.  Not it's two and half hour version, but the original 219 minute version.   By the time they released this I was in college I believe.  I saw it somewhere in Manhattan, and seeing it blew me away.  It's ironic that for a ...

I met Mr. Maysles awhile back, and was so impressed at his advice, and his interest in other filmmakers that I've come to the realization that the man is a true artist and documentarian. His advice here is something artists need to listen to. Thanks Mr. Maysles.

<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/X-z-fsKf_cU" width="480"></iframe> This is an interesting look at how movie making has evolved. Budget was $15K, and the effects were done with programs you can buy off the shelf. Makes you really think. Why aren't YOU making a film. This is stuff that excites me.

So I broke down and saw this film, and in a way I'm glad I did. Survival of the Dead is no masterpiece, but it is better then Romero's "Diary of the Dead", and shows some promise even though the story seems too preposterous. The whole story about letting the zombies live just seemed too off-beat. I mean zombies and bullets seem to go together. I mean what's the point in keeping a zombie alive? So the conflict between the two families doesn't make mush sense. What did make sense was the story of the survivors of the zombie Apocalypse. That's been it for me and I believe a lot others too. In the most interesting zombie film "Dawn of the Dead" Romero was going for the whole breakdown of society. He used comic book violence to get a point across without beating our heads in with the message. In essence it was fun and yet if you took apart the film there was a lot there. Even in "Day of the Dead" Romero goes darker and the violence becomes ...

What can I say about Jim Morrison and the Doors that hasn't been already said. For my generation he was and will be an iconic symbol of a time where an artist pushed the boundaries of his art. But that's not how I know The Doors. I remember hearing them blasting from big boom boxes that my buddies used to carry around. For some Morrison is the soundtrack of their youth and I guess I fall into that category. It was only later that I developed such a respect on what he did and how he did it. Without compromise Morrison did what he wanted to do. Call him a drug induced rock star that pissed off the authorities of his time or just call him the "lizard King". He was both. When your Strange is a documentary on Morrison and the Doors and is narrated by Johnny Depp . Tom DiCillo is the director of the film, and he does a great job assembling footage that we haven't seen yet of Morrison and the Doors. If your a fan of the Doors theres not much new in information about t...

I've seen some really nice things from RED, and it looks like their ahead of the curve on new technology, and work flow patterns. I'm sure there is a lot of testing to be done yet, but it's exciting news. Technology that breaks the barrier of just who can make new media. Simplicity is the key, and it looks as though RED is doing just that.

I finally sat down and saw the film that's been hyped for so long. I guess there are two camps to this movie. One is that you'll love it, or you'll hate it. There seems to be no middle ground here. The story is about a couple who move into a suburban house that seems to be haunted. They do their own investigating by setting up a video camera to document the many odd events that are happening inside their house. Now I have to say it is an interesting premise, and one that I think really works on some level. Yet it was not scary at all, and I found the movie quite dull. I did like the performances of Katie Featherston , and Micah Sloat as the haunted couple. Though I did think Micah's performance sometimes grated on me. I sometimes wanted to kick the screen when he was on. I don't know if that is a good thing here since I wanted to have some empathy towards the characters, and in the end I really didn't care what happened to them. People compare this movie with th...

Duplicity is a film by director Tony Gilroy, which stars Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Tom Wilkinson, and Paul Giamatti. All four of these actors make this movie worth seeing. Be warned though that this movie has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. The synopsis of the film is this: "DUPLICITY is a slick, comic caper in which it’s never exactly clear who is being conned. It’s easy to see that ex-CIA agent Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) and former MI6 member Ray Koval (Clive Owen) have a heated history together when they embark on an elaborate mission of corporate espionage." That's all I'm going to say about this. The way to enjoy this movie is just by watching it, and paying attention to the plot. Like I said the plot has many twists and turns in it, but the film is laced with some dark comic undertones that make this a funny romp. I have to say also that the cinematography by Robert Elswit is stunning, and I really like the feeling of this film. We don't ...

Okay I wasn't going to do another review, but having not updated here for some time I figured I should, and why not talk about a really good piece of cinema. The Hurt Locker deals with an American bomb disposal unit based in Iraq. By now you've heard the hype and seen the awards show. It swept the Oscars, and what ever you have to say about this film it certainly brings the chaos of war home. Kathryn Bigelow's direction is flawless, and she does so because of her talented cast & crew. Bigelow goes for a documentary feel, and makes the viewer feel as though she or he is there with the characters, and that anything and everything is possible. You actually forget that your watching a movie and it feels like a reality program. The use of multiple cameras works here, and the suspense is derived from the hyper active camera. The cast is also really good. They feel authentic, and seem like real hardened grunts working a job they know can get them killed anytime. Jeremy Renner,...

My boy won as a prize a game where you dig out some small miniature dino bones from what looks to be a rock. Amusing at first I decided to video tape the boys progress. It was fun, and kind of neat to see the boys so enthralled in amateur paleontology. Kyle loves digging and chiseling, and he so enjoyed the unearthing of bones, which were actually just plastic replicas, but it was fun. I finally edited it all together and what took about an hour or two is now shortened to four minutes. I added the music, and it sounds so like Jurassic park that it fit the theme, but I have to tell you I got lucky when I found the royalty free music. Hey it was fun, and the boys enjoyed it. As well as the adults too.

It was a matter of time till I saw this, and I've been resisting the hype, but I saw it over the week-end, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Now to get things straight. I like James Cameron. He is a decent filmmaker, and he makes movies that are very impressive to see. Avatar doesn't disappoint in this arena. The images are stunning, and the story itself, though simplistic, is well written. I've head a lot of criticism about it being a tree hugging liberal type of movie. Where man is the enemy. For those who believe that type of clap trap keep watching Fox, and please stay at home. It's a MOVIE! Star Wars was just as simplistic, and no one spouted political triads about that movie. Maybe it was something to do with fighting the big bad Empire. I don't know and I don't care. Avatar is a story, and a pretty good story. There are some things that the filmmaker put in the story that can be a attributed to the problems we face here on earth, but Cameron doesn't hit us...

I've been working on a film about my dad for some time now, and it's also encompassed my mom too. I felt I could not talk about one without talking about the other one. Of course not having dad here and relying on memory can be a tricky thing. Facts and events sometimes get distorted, so I've been painstakingly trying to piece together past family history. This includes me as well, and no matter how uncomfortable I am in front of the camera I need to record fragments of memory so that hopefully in the end it will all piece together. I got the idea from Scorsese's film "Italian American" where the filmmaker interviews his mom & dad. If you get a chance to see it it's pretty funny and touching. Way back in 1996 I interviewed my mom. My dad had passed away a year earlier, and so with 16mm camera in hand I sat down mom and shot about two rolls of 16mm film. I basically set up a light and shot it. Took the film to DuArt Lab and had it transferred to videota...

So I've been interested in seeing this movie for awhile. I'm a big fan of the Terminator franchise, and I really loved the original one, so I was looking forward to seeing this when I got the chance. Well it's a good thing I didn't see it in the theaters. Picked it up on DVD as a rental and to tell you the truth the buck that I spent on the rental even seems too much. To put it more bluntly this movie is soulless. I even was surprised at Christian Bales performance. He seemed like he was phoning it in, and as for the directing I really can't say anything nice. I even recognized some shots or sequences that were done in the original movie. The one sequence I remember was when the Terminator was chasing Conner through the Terminator factory. It seemed like a direct lift from the first movie when Sarah is being chased through the factory by the Terminator. I had to play back the sequence, but I'm sure it was a direct lift from the first movie. What? Is McG (the dir...

This last Tuesday the movie "Moon" was released on DVD, and so this week-end I picked it up. I had wanted to see the film when it hit theaters but it only got a limited release, and so I never got around to it. Moon is directed by Duncan Jones, and stars Sam Rockwell in a sort of dual role. More on that in a minute. The plot of the film is this: "Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems" It's Sam Rockwell's movie since he is in it almost 99% of the time. It is no small feat to do this also. If you have one main character in your movie the story better be interesting, and the character identifiable, or you loose your audience. Fortunately Rockwell's performance elicits our interest and our sympathies. The film reminded me of films back in ...