a little (re)direction

Hello all!

I just wanted to come up for air during this crazy post-final, pre-graduation time to tell you all (all 4-10 of you...and the one Alaskan, whoever you are) how grateful I am for your readership. You made me a blogger! It's been pretty cool. I just wanted to let you know, that though this blog's life is coming to an end, my other, personal blog is still very much alive. I love her, I hope you will too. Take a look, if ya feel like it...

secretsforstrangers

Finally, an honest answer

A chat with A.J. Jacobs:

A few weeks ago, one of my favorite writers at Esquire took time to answer some questions for me about a hilarious article he wrote called "I Think You're Fat," about a new movement called Radical Honesy. Here's a little insight into the behind-the-scenes of the piece:

Where did the idea for this article come from?

I was researching a book about living by the rules of the Bible, and I did a search on honesty. And up popped an article about a guy running for Congress in Virginia who refused to lie. It was (Brad) Blanton. The more research I did on Blanton, the more interested I became. 

What was the hardest part about trying to be totally honest to everyone around you?

I'm a homebody, so it was hard to tell people that no, honestly, I'd prefer to stay home than have lunch with them. People seemed insulted by that. 

When it came to writing the piece, how did you try to give an honest and accurate portrayal of Blanton? 

I was lucky because his quotes speak for himself. He says such outrageous things. That doesn't happen too often, sadly. But I relied a lot on his quotes, and on his gestures, like picking his nose and spitting. 

Was there anything you left out that you wish you hadn't?

The article was written in a hurry, and I asked for help transcribing the interview tapes from an Esquire intern (we only had female interns at the time). Which was humiliating in its own right, because he said so many offensive things. And then, to make matters worse, the intern reported that I forgot to turn off the tape recorder while taking a pee. Three times. She had to listen to me go to the bathroom. I thought it was a funny honest moment, so I put it in the article, but it was cut for space. 

How many drafts did you go through? 

We usually go through two or three drafts at Esquire. This article didn't change too much from the original, I think. 

Were there conflicts about what should go in and what should be left out?

I do remember I had a genuine conflict with my editor about my section on how the world is moving toward radical honesty with everyone exposing their lives on Facebook, etc. He wanted to take it out. I wanted to keep it. We compromised by having him write "Bullshit -- Ed." at the end of the section

find a complete Case Study here

One, Two, TRI times the fun! 3

One of the movies getting a lot of buzz at Tribeca is Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience. I first heard about it from this little snip on New York Magazine titled, "Porn Stars Gone Legit". Great title, no?
It reminded me about this blog I used to read called Confessions of a College Callgirl, which chronicled the life and mind of, well, a College Callgirl. She was sometimes vulgar, sometimes insightful and many times bared her soul to her readers. An eloquent writer, she gained quite a following documenting her adventures in Callhood, searching for answers as to how it became her life, and struggling to leave it behind. Now she's a writer for a paper somewhere (and veyr anonymous). I guess Soderbergh caught wind of her-- it seems obvious that she was a source of inspiration.
The star of the film is an actual Porn Star-turned-serious-actress, Sasha Grey, who, judging from reviews, gives a surprisingly good performance (insert joke here).

I'm excited to check it out.

One, Two, TRI times the fun! 2

Tribeca is also hosting a slew of free movie screenings to go with the ongoing talks this week. "The Tribeca Drive-In," They're calling it. I love this festival! I would go to these, but FINALS MESS EVERYTHING UP.

Click here to check out more screenings and to download a free invitation.

I was looking through Tribeca's site and watched a few trailers of some the festival's movies. This one looks fun

One, Two, TRI times the fun!

            Courtesy of Tribeca film festival, I guess.

The Tribeca Film festival kicked off this week with 80 new feature length films playing in theatres all around downtown. I'm lucky to have some lucky friends who have vip passes for screenings and talks, so I'm hoping to tag along to a few of those.

What's really awesome, though, is this year the festival is holding a series of free events all about independent filmmaking and screenwriting for the NYC community. Today, there's this:

PLANET EARTH IN MOVIE FORM!

I'm a big, big fan of Discovery Channel's Planet Earth series (in HD thankyouverymuch). I spent a whole winter break engrossed in moments of the Shallow Seas and Mountains and Great Plains never before seen by human eyes. From what I'm told, Disney decided to take the groundbreaking footage and make a family film out of it, naturally. We'll see if this actually works. I mean, are there going to be voiceovers for the animals? Creepy. James Earl Jones is narrating, which should be fun. I hope I don't keep thinking of him as Mufasa or Darth Vader--that would just kill the mood.

tip from tom

A few days ago, the incredibly talented Tom Chiarella (pronounced KEY-uh-rella) graciously spent nearly an hour on the phone to talk to me about his work. He's one of the writers at Esquire that I've loved to read ever since I was a 17-year-old sneaking issues from the mailbox to my bedroom. 

Chiarella does a lot of great profiles on movie stars-- like Charlize Theron, Halle Berry, and, most recently, Ben Affleck-- which can be tough when you might be dealing with notsogreat subjects. So, for inspiration, before meeting a subject, he reads a book that is somehow related to them. Before meeting Charlize for lunch, he read Out of Africa (because he knew she was from South Africa). Before Halle, Invisible Man (because Berry and Baldwin are both black, i guess). The point is, he reads these amazing classics and then goes in with a brilliant voice already in his head. That way no matter how much THEY suck, his words won't suffer for it.

I want to try this out, but maybe expand it...I don't know if I'll be meeting up with so many movie stars any time soon. 

If i had a nichol for every time...

If you're in NYC, or planning to be in the next two weeks, the Museum of Modern Art (one of my favorites) is going to be putting on a Mike Nichols retrospective exhibit, showing his films every day. I'll definitely be checking that out, especially some must-sees-- Wit, The Graduate, Angels in America. 

He's made some pretty freaking beautiful movies in his career. I can't wait. 

watch.

times, they are a-changin'

More proof that the end of print is going to really affect other industries...like the movie business (I'll elaborate later). the Daily Variety has become obsolete with the rise of film bloggers and online critics...

Here's the obituary. it's a good piece about the publication, has some good commentary on the nature of change

'tis this season ...

...for film festivals! now that the independent spirit awards and oscars are done and gone, it's time for a fresh round of moviessss
with that:
Dun dun dun dun!


The Crossroads Film Festival has begun!

Based in Jackson, Mississippi, Crossroads is an amazing festival that encourages multi-cultural, international filmmaking. The films are risky, beautiful, and generally awesome. Some of them are not what you'd normally expect from the depths of the bible belt.

The festival's kicking off tonight with reception for filmmakers and filmwatchers alike, with musical guests including Sanders Bohlke, one of my personal favorites. Movies are only 8$ a pop. You can't go wrong.

If you're down south, check it out!

I don't care how girly this is

Grey's Anatomy: i know, i know... it's the chick show that jumped the shark about 2 seasons ago and will never make it back. well, i've kept up because i believe in good girly tv/movies (you should see my dvd collection... I need the escape). and it's proven to be worth the wait; last thursday's episode of grey's anatomy was, hands down, the best one i've ever seen. i am not alone in believing this. you must watch.  if you haven't kept up, here's what you need to know:

isobel stevens has bad, bad cancer, and is starting treatment now.

karev and stevens are dating and in love.

owen hunt is an army doc who just got back from iraq and is all messed up...and happens to be dating cristina yang.

mcdreamy ran away into the woods for a little while because he had a nervous breakdown after killing a pregnant patient on the operating table.

now go watch.

film short and sweet

i love it when a short film gets it right. every minute, cut, word counts--there's no room for anything else. 

got my hands on this from my buddy amaya (she's been a blogging inspiration for me lately) and it's a beautiful little love story, likely to awaken the starry eyed girl in all of us (males included...oh you know you love this stuff)

julian smith update

just wanted to give you all a little heads up: i've been in contact with julian smith, of 25 things i hate about facebook fame, and i think we're going to try to make time to sit down and talk in the near future. i'm very excited about it-- i'll keep you posted!

translation, please

Also, one more thing... can someone translate this for me?
"Many films appearing in this year’s New Directors/New Films festival reaffirm social realism’s validity as humanistic art with an educational frisson."
Thank you, Stephen Holden... But you just scared me away from reading your article

virtually real

Another 3-d animated movie?! 

I'm beginning to feel nostalgic... 

Remember Schoolhouse Rock? Gumby? 

This is SO LA

Have you heard of Cory Kennedy?

Here's a great little blog post that my dear friend Carrie Goldberg wrote about her. Talk about hitting it big without doing anything. She's an Los Angelean socialite-- what Tinsley Mortimer is to Manhattan, she is to LA. Fascinating.

love from la la land

It's been far too long since I posted. I'm sorry. Currently, I'm in sunny California, in the suburbs of Los Angeles embracing the ability to carpool, eat in and out, and listen to live music at some of my favorite venues. Here in la, the music scene is pretty phenomenal. Despite being the capital of the film industry, Hollywood is home to some of the most impressive musicians there are right now. You know how Laurel Canyon was home to the singer-songwriter generation of the '60s and '70's? Well there's a whole new breed of Joni Mitchells and Frank Zappas just sprouting up like poppies in the southern california sun. 

Just last night I went out to Hermosa Beach to listen to some pretty amazing ladies/friends, Laura Jansen and Meiko.  Tonight, I'm off to a little venue that grew me up when i was just a high schooler in la la land: Hotel Cafe. I can't wait to go back to my second LA home. With that, I leave you with a quote from another member of the Hotel Cafe family, Gary Jules:

"All a club is, is a room with music in it. The magical part is defined by the people that come there – by the things that happen there – and all the magic stuff that gets left behind. That's what people will talk about years later, and that's what makes a place really endure."

Pictures to come!

the new brand of celebrity

this young filmmaker, Julian Smith, started a blog about 6 months ago. he posts smart, quirky short films in HD and uses every major social networking site to get his work and energy out into cyberspace: myspace, twitter, wordpress, flickr, youtube, and facebook.

speaking of facebook...

he made a little spoof video blog in response to a chain note that has been going around on facebook, "25 things about me" (i'm sure you've all been tagged to do it at some point) . his version, "25 things i hate about facebook" has become a youtube sensation: it's been up since feb. 13 and has had over 134,000 views. in its first week, it surpassed 40,000. talk about going viral. youtube, being a smart, progressive, media-savvy company, has contacted him about becoming a "Partner," whatever that means. Did I mention he's 21? Yea. 21.

he's literally becoming a viral celebrity... and judging by his charismatic work, it looks like he deserves the attention he's getting. Check it out:

Let's talk oscars. I know, I'm a week late. But I wanted to take some time and sit to think about it. Slumdog Millionaire. Like I said in my previous post, Slumdog just makes me proud to be Indian. But the success of Slumdog makes me cool to be Indian, which is even better. Other things that make me cool to be Indian? M.I.A (who's actually Sri Lankan, but close enough), bhangra, pierced noses, henna tattoos, tandoori chicken...the list goes on. I wonder if we'll see changes in Hollywood relationship with Bollywood, or how either make movies. Will Bollywood start looking like a more serious or viable option for major American studios? Will Bollywood start making more western-friendly movies that are-- gasp-- made in English or--GASP-- made by American directors? The possibilities are endless. 

Crossovers are inevitable, even necessary. I think Kwame Anthony Appiah wrote about how cosmopolitanism is just a jumble of cultures contaminating and re-contaminating one another...that's not a bad thing. contamination has such negative connotations, but it's actually the thing that keeps us connected to one other, despite being different. it keeps us moving, changing. And i think films are beginning to reflect that part of our ever-mutating, globalizing world. 

another great moment of contamination-- the acceptance speech of the precious Kunio Kato:

Award Season

The Oscars are tomorrow night, but tonight are the Oscars of Independent film, the Independent Spirit Awards... I'm so excited. Not only because there's a bevy of really brilliant work nominated (Milk, Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona, The Wackness, Rachel Getting Married, Frozen River, The Wrestler, etc.), but because this year, I have some personal investment in a nominee. My cousin Nina is a producer based in Mississippi and her movie Ballast is up for Best Feature, Best Director, Best First Screenplay, Best Female Lead, Best Supporting Male, and Best Cinematography. Yep, that's 6 Bests.

I'll be rooting for her here in NYC, wishing I was in LA to celebrate with her when the Ballast team comes home with a handful of awards!

To tell the truth

Lie to Me is a show on Fox about a lying specialist-- dont those actually exist?--who covers cases and helps investigators and government agencies find out the truth about what's going on.

Sure, fun premise, some witty dialogue and interesting stories...there's even a character who's taken an honesty oath and speaks everything his mind, which makes for some good tv. Think House, with criminals instead of medical cases. What I'm enjoying the most, though, is the way the show integrates actual events, actual people, actual liars into the narrative.

For example, Cal Lightman, our Truth Master, Lie Catcher, Human Lie Detector etc. analyzes a picture of a Papua elder expressing a look of disgust and then juxtaposes it with a picture of Jessica Simpson (I wish I had a clip...if I find one I'll post it), proving that our faces may be different, but some expressions are universal.

I'm taking mental notes, trying to see if I can become better at catching a lie...or telling one

Kelly Brown: making things happen

"I was supposed to be Punky, you know," Kelly Brown says, playing with her lighter. She puts out another cigarette in a nearly filled ashtray, exhaling smoke as she speaks in rapid, spitfire sentences. Her voice is a raspy but playful, like a grown up Punky Brewster. "It was down to me or Soleil Moon-Frye. I kid you not."
She’s sitting in what is now the living room of her rent-controlled Park Slope apartment. The long, narrow layout of the place is unusual; it took Brown months before she finally settled on a room arrangement.This used to be her bedroom, and then it was her dining room, then it was her guestroom, until finally she decided to make it her living room. She has lived here with her cat, Oliver, for nearly a year now since relocating to New York after over 10 years of working in Hollywood. Moving comes naturally to Brown; she has spent much of her life migrating from place to place, from career to career, uprooting herself from the most comfortable situations. Even sitting still sometimes seems like a challenge—she fidgets in her chair, looking anxious or excited or late for an appointment. After 10 years of knowing all the right people, making all the right friends, Brown packed up her things and moved to Manhattan, where she knew no one, to try to make movies from the ground up.
Though her childhood dreams were to be in front of the camera, her involvement behind the camera began accidentally. She was young, eighteen, and needed a job. Because her father was a screenwriter, she had grown up with people in the industry. The first movie she worked on was a small independent. "I think I got paid like $50 a day.” She says. “I couldn't even tell you what it was about." Soon, she started getting gigs through word of mouth. Moving set to set, she would go on day shoots for small films that needed help where she would act as a production assistant. Sometimes her friends were on a show or in the movie and would just bring her to set. "Then I'd make nice with the production coordinators" she says.
When she was 20, she was offered a job in music management. She helped manage the blues-rock band the Black Crowes and revolutionized the way fan clubs were run. The Black Crowes were one of the first bands to offer special tickets to fan club members; the first 20 rows of seats were reserved for fan club members only. "(lead singer) Chris Robinson wanted to see his true fans when he sang," Brown says, lighting another cigarette. And in most stadiums, you can only see the first 20 rows.
Though she was having a great time, Brown knew she didn't want to be in the music business. After 6 years in the field, she realized it was just a job to her— So, being the mover that she is, she left.
But music wasn't done with her. While she was in the middle of producing a reality television show for MTV ("A Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, but for adults…it was actually brilliant."), Brown heard that a song she had written for the soap opera Port Charles was nominated for a Daytime Emmy. Brown’s song, "Hey Sister," was originally written about her little sister moving to Texas, but, like every effective soap opera song, it was reworked to be about a girl who finds out she has a twin sister and when she finds her, learns the twin is dead. "In the end," Brown says, breaking into a girlish smile, "I lost to a song about a dead midget."
Brown had just finished producing a short film when she heard about a deal on an apartment in Brooklyn that was too good to pass up. “So, I just up and left,” she says, fiddling with her lighter again. Brown wasn’t afraid of the effects it would have on her career; she knew she would be able to do film and television consistently in New York, and after growing up in Los Angeles, “it was time to leave the nest—at 32 years old,” she says, laughing.
This has been her biggest move yet, and she says, the most fulfilling. “I hadn’t had a ‘first’ in a really long time,” she says. Her career has kept is keeping up with her. She's casting for MTV, she's co-writing a show, and she's trying to produce two films. Right now, one of her first projects out of Los Angeles is merging two major parts of her life—music and film—into a biopic on the nearly forgotten hillbilly rock pioneer Eddie Cochran. The only difference is, now she's in New York, where she knows no one. "In LA, everything is about networking," she says. And after years of being the person people would network through to get to celebrities, Brown now has the chance to learn for herself how to work in the business. “In LA, everyone is talking about what they're going to do or what they want to do,” she says. “In New York, they're just doing it."
"I can't not be working towards something," she says. "You just don't succeed if you're sitting on your ass."

Tips to becoming more Indian: 1. Go to India, 2. See Slumdog Millionaire.

I just got back from my first trip to India in 20 years. The last time I went, I wasn’t old enough to form my own opinions or memories of the experience. Growing up, India was the place that my friends’ families made a yearly pilgrimage to; it was a place that everyone had left for something better. This was what I thought about India. This was before I met her.
I went to New Delhi, Baroda, Baruch, Surat, and Mumbai. I traveled by trains and cars so that I could see the things in between. I saw entire villages made out plastic bags and tarp; I saw unclothed children playing with abandoned kites along train tracks; I saw starving cows standing beside parked motorcycles. These are images I can’t shake, moments that introduced me to an India I had only heard about.
In Surat, incense fragrances air that feels heavy with exhaust from cars and rickshaws. In Baroda, there are colors everywhere—ripe fruits and vibrant dresses that merchants sell roadside, kites strewn like confetti over dirt sidewalks. There’s not a moment of silence. Hawkers pace alleyways and neighborhoods while the sun rises, calling out names of fruits and vegetables I’ve never heard before. Late at night, motorcycles zoom past windows of quiet, sleeping houses and sleeping beggars.
Like an idiot, I forgot my camera at home, so I had to take mental pictures in my head. Before I left the city for India, I watched a darling of a movie called Slumdog Millionaire, which, I’m sure by now you’ve heard of. I was proud of it before I left; there are some things that just make you proud to be Indian (read: Jhumpa Lahiri stories, Bollywood, Deepak Chopra, etc.). But after actually going to Mumbai, the city that the film so artfully embodies, my chest swells in a way it couldn’t before.

some valentine's day reflections.

I don't hate valentine's day; i resent valentine's day.

Sure, it was invented by hallmark. Okay, everyday should be valentine's day. the commercialization of showing you care isn't what gets me; i am not worried about the mortality of chivalry and romance. I'm mostly mad about feeling discriminated against.

In a lot of ways, valentine's day is like a party that single people aren't invited to. it's a potluck for couples. I'm relatively cognizant of my singlehood all the other 364 days, but i feel like each year invitations go out to couples everywhere, and if you're not on the couple train by february, you're out of luck.

So, your friends get invitations, and all around you, everyone is asking, "are you going to the party saturday?!" and if you say you have no plans, they say, "oh, thats ok," awkwardly, kicking themselves for not realizing that you didn't get invited.

and then...THEN. they say, oh, you should celebrate anyway, even if there's no special someone in your life. they might as well be saying, "oh, you didn't get invited to the party? it's not a big deal, you should come...come! it'll be fun! it's not a problem, we're all going, just come with us!"

the last thing i want to do is crash a party i wasn't invited to, especially if the last-minute, make-shift invite comes out of pity. "no, thank you," i say. " i actually got an invitation the other day to clean my bathroom, watch movies online and eat cold pizza by myself."

That said, let us come together, girls of all genres: single and taken, spoken and unspoken for, and let's go see this chick flick, if only for the sake of solidarity.

the new breed of candid camera?

Over the summer I saw this experimental film called Railed, directed by Ryan Fox and produced by our friend Kelly Brown. There's a great write up about it here. It's a totally new way of using feature length film to entertain audiences, and gives new meaning to the traditional candid camera. Here's what it's about, briefly:

The film is a reality-movie/staged-documentary. Think Real World-meets-Darjeeling Limited.

There are only two actors in the film--the rest are just unsuspecting passengers aboard a cross-country train. The actors, a man and a woman, break into a lover's quarrel in a busy train car. Then, unscripted, they seek the guidance of the other non-actor passengers on the train.

The whole film was shot with strategically placed hidden cameras.

I wouldn't even call it a film; it feels more like a social experiment caught on camera. It's an amazingly clever look at the human condition--sometimes funny, sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes heartwarming. Railed shows us how we treat strangers in need and how everyone thinks they have the answer to our problems.

Pushing the limits

Has anyone heard of this movie, "Push: based on the novel by Sapphire"? Not to be mistaken for the new Dakota Fanning flick, "Push" (apples and oranges, anyone?), the tiny Lionsgate movie made quite an impression at Sundance and has been making news for pushing the limits of cinema storytelling. Every review I've read has mentioned how depressing the premise is, and they're absolutely right: an obese teenage girl sexually abused by her father, physically abused by her mother just trying to get through the day.

I don't know about you, but the movies I've been planning on watching (read: chick flicks) don't even try to dabble on this heavy stuff, probably because in bleak times, the last thing people want to do is watch bleak movies. But I think there's something to be said for a little film that addresses truly serious issues and even challenges what is appropriate to send to theaters. It's a nice change.

And for a movie that deals with such difficult themes and might not be at all what an audience is looking for these days, it's gotten some serious critical acclaim, not to mention it won a Grand Jury prize, Audience Award, and Special Jury prize at Sundance. That's a lot of hope for times like these

Behind the Scenes

Recently, film producer Kelly Brown took a minute to sit down with me and answer some questions about her career in music, film and television. We covered a lot of ground—from her aspirations to be a child star to her Emmy nomination to her recent move from Los Angeles to NYC.

When did you start thinking about a career in film?

Pretty much when I was about 6 or 7.Ireally wanted to be an actor...or so I thought. I used to watch movies and then lock myself away in my room and recreate them…I was obsessed with soundtracks too, so I would recreate the movies, but add characters and scenes and of course montages to the soundtracks.

But I think the first time I ever realized that being behind the camera was what I wanted to do happened accidentally...I was young (18) needed a job and so I got one on a small film as a PA.

How did you hear about movies that you worked on?

I would just get some gigs through word of mouth and sometimes my friends were on the show or in the movie and would just bring me to set and I’d make nice with the production coordinators, haha. I grew up with actors and my family were all in camera and my dad was a writer, so he'd make a call and then they would make a call and then I'd get a job somehow. I got offered a job in a music management office when I was about 20.

And you made a brief transition into music?

Stayed in music for about 6 years.

Not so brief.

I was being groomed to be a manager....to be David Ryan Harris' manager, actually. I helped manage The Black Crowes...i started their fan club. We were one of the first bands to offer tickets to fan club members. We'd secure the first 20 rows of seats for fan club members only. Chris Robinson (the lead singer) wanted to see his true fans when he sang and in a stadium, you can only see the first 20 rows.

So you were exposed to music—how did you wind up with an Emmy nomination in 2003?

I had been writing some stuff and playing it for my dad and he was writing for (Daytime Soap) Port Charles that had a fake band and the band members were becoming part of a bigger story line, so they needed a songwriter. My dad's work partner suggested me—she had heard some of the stuff—my dad reluctantly told me about it and said "You gotta do this on your own...if they find out you're my daughter, you won't get it"

The nomination was for “Hey Sister,” which was actually the first song I ever wrote when I learned guitar. I wrote it about my sister moving to Texas. But I changed the lyrics to be about a girl who found out she had a twin sister and when she found her, she learned the twin had died.

Listen to Hey Sister

...I lost to a song about a dead midget.

At the same time, I was working on producing a show for MTV—a sort of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood for adults. It was actually brilliant.

Its been a few years since then. What are you up to now?

…Not much has changed...I'm casting a show for MTV, writing a tv show for someone and trying to produce two films on my own.

Why did you relocate to NYC?

New York is pretty much the only city you can do film and TV consistently
and i needed to shake things up. i grew up in LA. It was tme to leave the nest...at 32 years old, haha.

I prefer living in NY because in LA, everyone is talking about what they're going to do or what they want to do. In NY, they're just doing it.

I've always been like this: I can't NOT be working towards something...you just don't succeed if you're sitting on your ass.

This has nothing to do with movies.

But, as a New Yorker (albeit a transplant), it's only right to pay my respects to the people that make this place so brilliant and alive. Joe Ades was a staple at the Union Square marketplace where I spent countless weekends. He was sweet and charismatic; I always saw him surrounded by peels and people. 

He was a spectacle--  arbitrary, out of place, welcoming and something you'd only find in this city. He embodied some of the best things about New York. Now that he's gone, I can't help but feel like he took a little bit of the city with him.

Breaking the Fourth wall?!

Here's a pretty cool article I read from the Sunday New York Times

This whole 3-dimensional thing kind of weirds me out, to be honest. I mean, I can deal with the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" 3D show at Disneyland, but in my movie theatre? I can't help but think the technology, while fun, detracts from a story instead of enhancing it. As a moviegoer, while watching any sort of 3D show (like the "Terminator" show at Universal Studios, Hollywood), I'm so preoccupied with trying to predict the next thing that's going to pop out at me that I'm distracted from the story altogether.

That said, the article does address the pitfalls of working with such an easily-abused technology on film. I like the part where Selick, Coraline's creator, says he wanted to make it 3D "to be a part of our story, another world that seems richer, where you can breathe."

Most of this filmmaking stuff goes way over my head, especially  when you're purposely trying to make something as fantastical as animation to look more real than, well, reality. 

I'm interested in seeing the film, though. Who knows what it could mean for animated film in the future. Before you know it, we could be watching Saturday morning cartoons with 3D glasses. 

Happy Birthday, Blog

I don't know how blogs are supposed to begin...I created this little guy a few days ago and I've been overthinking how exactly his birth should go. I was worrying about it again this morning when I thought, to hell with it, I might as well just write what I'm thinking. So, allow me to tell you a few things about myself.

1. I am not a film major, or even really knowledgeable in filmmaking, for that matter. But...

2. I love movies. And...

3. I want to learn more about them--how they're made, marketed, distributed, etc. So...

4. Consider this a sort of group exploration of film. A field trip! 

Welcome to Cameo!