KGB Productions

I had been interested in seeing these two films for awhile.  I do like some of Lars von Trier  early work  and find him as a director interesting.  I was interested in the the Nymphomaniac series because of the subject matter, and who was in it.  First off the actress Charlotte Gainsbourg does a phenomenal job and she is captivating throughout the two films.  It is her performance that I found to be true, and honest.  Mr Trier does not go for the vulgar.  He shows an individual who is complex and a bit broken.  How she is interacts with others throughout the film is what made me want to continue with the films.  It also shows how Mr Trier and Ms Gainsbourg trusted each other through the production process.  Surely with such a title the film would go into a more exploitative theme, but under the direction of Mr Trier's he involves us (the audience) in the character of Joe.  We are subjected to many relationships and scenes...

Okay you've heard by now this movie is doing fantastic business.  The studio has passed the two billion mark worldwide, and it's still growing. I'm also sure you've heard all the spoilers now.  Amazing now that we have to contend with "spoiler" alerts now.  I mean what would Hitchcock of done with "Psycho"?  I remember the campaign back then had people NOT to tell the ending to the people coming out of the theater.  Now you're a tweet away from making that happen. But I digress.  So how is the film?  One word "FUN!" If you're a fan of Marvel, and you've seen most if not all the movies you'll love this film.  I can only imagine the box-set coming out for this.  It would be huge.  Now if you're not a fan then this is not the movie for you.  Clocking in over a little over 3 hours long it certainly does not feel like 3 hours, and that's a good thing.  The filmmakers Anthony Russo , and Joe Russo do an extraor...

Went to see the latest superhero movie, and was pleasantly surprised.  The mix of drama and comedy works for this film.  It works because our superhero is a 14 year old boy in a hulking big body.  That is the charm of the movie, and it's theme is family, which isn't a bad theme to have.  Shot in Toronto filling in for Philadelphia the filmmakers create a good illusion of the city.  The filmmakers made sure they capture all the iconic Philadelphia landmarks and used them in their process shots.  I'm very skeptical when it comes to substituting cities with other cities because the filmmakers got a better deal in the city they were shooting in, but here it doesn't detract from the fun. Though I would really like if Pennsylvania get's its act together and offer bigger tax credit to studios and filmmakers.  Don't they know for every dollar spent in the city or town they get like 3 or 4 dollars back?  But I digress. The film is a fun origin story...

So Universal Studios decided to cash in on the original Mama Mia! and try a second go at it with a sequel of sorts.  I really liked the first one.  In fact my entire family loves the film.  We find ourselves singing along to the film, and enjoy watching the film unfold, so why does the sequel partially fail when the original kicks butt every time you watch it?  Easy.  The second film is nothing but a rehash of the first with other people singing the songs.  There are a few new songs in the film, but a lot of the first songs are rehashed and when they are sung it feels like the filmmakers are just trying to elicit emotions you had for the first movie.  It all feels forced. Now don't get me wrong.  I did succumb to some emotions, but only because that was towards the end of the film.  The death of Meryl Streep's character is handled very emotionally towards the end when Amanda  Seyfried and Meryl Streep's sing a duet together "My ...

I was excited to go see the latest Marvel movie for a number of reasons.  One is that I always thought Captain Marvel would make a great film.  It is especially powerful since our protagonist is a women.  The one thing the Marvel universe has skipped over was having a women superhero, and that's pretty strange since the Marvel comic universe is littered with powerful and assertive women.  From the She Hulk to Sue Storm from the Fantastic Four , to Valkyrie of the Defenders .  There have been a number of lady super hero's that have rocked the comic book world.  It was about time that Marvel make one. To be fair Marvel movies have had women in their films such as Black Widow in the Avengers , and Storm in the X-men franchise.  With the success of Wonder women from DC Marvel had to introduce one of their own women super hero's, and all I can say is about time. Brie Larson does a great job as Mar-vel a noble hero warrior from the Kree home-wor...

So I finally saw the film "Bohemian Rhapsody" about the band Queen and Freddy Mercury.  I have to say it was enjoyable to hear the music again, and see how the band actually formed.  But something was missing, and at first I could not put my finger on it.  Halfway through the film my son looked at me and said is this the "cliff notes" of Queen's origin.  He had a point.  It seemed to the story went too quickly.  The story evolved quickly and seems to not dwell on the earlier years of Queen's origin.  I thought so as well, but still was interested in hearing the music and seeing how some songs came about.   What I really wanted to know was more about Freddy Mercury, and though towards the end of the film I did feel I learned a bit more about Freddy, yet I only feel I got a small glimpse into the man's life because if anything the movie shows me how really complex Freddy Mercury really was. When the movie starts we see Queen perform at the...

So I finally got to see the documentary " Won't You Ne My Neighbor? " directed by Morgan Neville .  I had heard a lot of good things about the film, so I was excited to finally see it.  What I can say is that it is an emotional piece about a man who literally helped many children understand about growing up.   Roger's became an advocate for children and fought for good educational programming that would help children through the perils of growing up.  In the film we learn when and how "Mister Roger's Neighborhood" came into existence, and how Fred Rogers developed the concept.  It is quite moving to see how Roger's comes up with the concept of "Mister Roger's Neighborhood".  I can say that I was one of the kids "Mister Roger's neighborhood" was preaching to.  I remember vividly sitting down and watching Fred Roger's go through his day and learning new things.  All before I even set foot into a classroom.   Roger...

This week marks the 20th anniversary since the television show" The Sopranos " debuted on HBO , and with all the celebrations going on this week I wanted to put in my two cents about the series. It feels like only yesterday that we were all talking about the show.  Every Sunday night HBO would air the show, and by Monday we were all talking about it.  the show seemed to capture our imagination, and we were always drawn back to it no matter what happened each week. The Sopranos was about a family in New Jersey that happened to be in the mob.  Tony Soprano was the head of this family and it was his character that drew us in every Sunday night.  Of course James Gandolfini had a lot to do with us coming back to the show each week.  Along with the cast of Edie Falco James Gandolfini and Falco turned a unusual drama into a weekly viewing ritual.  I am of course not listing the others such as Steven Van Zandt ,  Tony Sirico , Michael Imperioli , an...

Orson Welles last movie " The Other Side of the Wind " was finally released back in November of 2018.   33 years after Welles' death in 1985 Netflix premiered it on it's platform.  The film had a limited run in theaters starting in October.  The film is a stunning piece of cinema due to it's editing and it's photography.  The film with-in the film concept is nothing new, and Welles denied that the film was autobiographical, but it is hard to say that it is not.  The film is about a director played by the legendary John Huston whose career is in decline and who dies in the end.  The film is about friendship, betrayal, and power.  It is in essence one long flashback into the director's last days, and who he was, and who he cared about.    Peter Bogdanovich plays a up and coming director who is friends with Huston's character.  In that way it is a personal film for Welles.  Being a friend to Welles was a challenge, and the fi...

Okay so there's this meme going around called the top ten movies that influenced you.  John Oak Dalton did his, so I try it.  I left a lot of movies off this.  Just way too many good films to choose from, so I tried to make list them quickly.  I'm sure you can figure the titles out.  Have fun.

Okay here's a really neat little camera for those on the go videos.  The video is brought to you by our friends at B&H camera.  The results are stunning, and the size of the camera is even more remarkable.  You can use it with you're smart phone as well, or just alone by itself.  It's a lot less encumbered when not using your smartphone, but when you use your smartphone you have a better viewer to frame your shots with.  Either is good. It also can take still pictures, so it makes for an excellent on the go camera for blog posts, and web based applications.  I am blown away with the quality too.  I'm sure sound isn't that great, but from what I saw for simple set-ups it sounds okay. It's a bit pricey but at $349 it's not a bad deal if you use it for blogging purposes or you're an aspiring you-tube star.  I'm sure we'll see more of this in the future.  The clarity and the smoothness of the shots are really good.  Take a look at th...

Ricky Jay passed away at his home in Los Angeles last Saturday.  Known for his superior card skills which lead him from the stage to screen in such films as "Heist", "State of Maine", "Boogie Nights", "the Spanish Prisoner", "House of Cards" & "Magnolia".  His talent was most of all his skills with a deck of cards. It has been reported that Jay started practicing magic tricks at age four.  Jay's interest in tricks and cons lead him to form a company with his partner Mark Weber called Deceptive Practices.  He had several Broadway shows one of them called "Ricky Jay & his 52 Assistants" directed by David Mamet. *"Jay’s film career hit its saturation point in 1997, a year in which he appeared in Mamet’s  The Spanish Prisoner,  played an adult movie cameraman in  Boogie Nights ,   and popped up as a cyberterrorist in the James Bond film  Tomorrow Never Dies . He reunited with Anderson for a double...

I started another blog, but I don't want to abandon this blog.  They say the more you write the better you get, so I've double downed.  Being relevant in the 21st century is important.  Both on a personal level as well as on a career level.  I will not abandon this blog just because I've had so much fun doing it, and it's because of this blog I've meet and talked with some pretty awesome folks.  I will try and review more films since I like doing it, and though I'm no Roger Ebert I do enjoy it.  Being a filmmaker of sorts I find it hard to hate a film or not enjoy a film.  It either works for me or it doesn't.  I was always taught constructive criticism will make you better.  In a culture of attacking ideas and thoughts I find that counter-productive. I have always loved and admired the " French New Wave " because of their collaboration with each other as well as their competitiveness towards each other.  They produced some radical...

I've been always an admirer of people who love the cinema and make their own films independently of Hollywood.  As I grow older I really would still love to do this.  You do it for yourself, and you're friends.  If something comes of it all the better, but this short film shows the passion that the Spence brothers have for filmmaking.  Reminds me of Don Dohler and American who also had a passion in filmmaking. Take a look and get inspired. Movie Mavericks - The Spence Brothers from Notasuch Films on Vimeo .

Check it out.  Always looking for an editing platform that is mobile.  I'm an Adobe fan.

It's been awhile, but I finally went to see a Steven Spielberg film in the theater which I have not done since 2008.   Don't get me wrong I did see "Lincoln" and "Bridges of Spies", but on cable and at home.  Spielberg's films are masterful, and when seen on the big screen you know why he is such a consummate director.  Spielberg's visuals are breathtaking, and he knows how to tell a good story.  He has been a favorite of mine since I was a teen and saw a picture of him filming when he was a teen.  It's taken me awhile for me to get excited about a movie, and I have to confess my boys were more excited seeing this film then I was.  After all it's about gaming, and what teen doesn't game? The movie is 40% live action, and the rest is CGI, and animation, but Spielberg blends the two so well it's hard to see where the line is drawn.  Since the movie is about a fantasy place called the Oasis, and the reality of a bleak future I think...

The anticipation for this film is off the charts.  No matter what you think about these superhero movies Marvel does a great job at promoting it's content. 

Another legendary horror filmmaker has passed.  Mr Hooper's filmography lists some of the most original, and probably the most scariest films of modern times.  Of course what Tobe Hooper is best known for is the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre".  A film that has been listed in both the museum of modern art in New York, and the library of Congress in Washington.  Not bad for a film when it was released was dismissed as a sort of pornography of cinema. What the film " the Texas Chainsaw Massacre " was a film beyond its time.  Scholars have written about the film, and I believe it will be continually be written about when talking about horror or American cinema. I was introduced to the film by a friend, and when I saw it I did not know what to make of the film.  It certainly pushed some buttons within me, and that's what I think it did for a whole lot of people.  When people describe the film they say it was the most bloodiest and goriest film they had ev...

Dunkirk is one of those movies that is better seen in the theaters then seen later at home.  Dunkirk is a film that harkens back to great filmmaking.  Every frame of this film is a work of art.  The sound design is quite intricate and when the German Junkers dive bomb the beach you feel as though you are there.   Christopher Nolan the director of Dunkirk uses all the tricks of the trade to really make you feel that you are there at Dunkirk, and the dread that faces the troops stranded on the beach. Nolan divides the film between the sea, the air, and the beach.  To say that there is no one character to concentrate on would be correct.  Nolan divides the screen time among various actors who do a fantastic job at conveying the dread and the fear of the early months of the war when Germany was running through Europe, and devouring all that was good. Throughout the film we see the horrors of war, and the film begins with a bit of silence as several sold...

George Romero the director of such films as Night of the Living Dead , Dawn of the Dead , Creepshow , Knightriders , and Martin has passed at the age of 77. Romero directed Night of the living Dead back in 1967 with some friends and colleagues and changed cinematic history.    Shot for about 100K the film would go on to become a classic of modern horror, and would also be inducted into the museum of modern art, and into the Library of Congress’s National film registry.   Romero would go onto produce and direct many other films such as Martin , Dawn of the Dead , and Knightriders .   It was the film Dawn of the Dead that put zombies back into the media and it is a film that re-invented the zombie genre.   Many current shows and movies have Romero to thank for being the first to re-inventing the zombie genre and making it profitable.   Roger Ebert considered "Dawn of the Dead"one of the best horror movies ever made. On a personal level Geor...