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JUNE 20th, 2009

YEAR ONE

In the same vein as Superbad (as well as containing a majority of the same film’s cast), Year One is able to pull the laughs, scoffs, “ewwws,” and cult fans.

The film boasts a stellar cast of comedic giants like Hank Azaria, Oliver Platt and David Cross. But aside from the many hilarious cameos, the primary cast is perfect in each of their roles. They offer just the right amount of true acting talent, even if it is buried underneath disgusting scenes where characters piss all over their own faces, shit in their beds, and repeat many of the same jokes, over and over again.

Aside from the “toilet humor” throughout, the film is actually pretty good for this genre, and I think this can be attributed to its direction. What makes Harold Ramis such a fantastic director is his ability to understand both sides of filmmaking - what it takes behind the scenes to make a film great, and what the actors in front of the camera must project in order to give the performance demanded of them. Ramis is able to relate to his actors, and can therefore draw out the comedy necessary to get just the right amount of laughs. His hands on approach is what has made Year One an effective film. This is a Harold Ramis film, through and through.

And the multitude of Jewish jokes… oy! Don’t get my started. Hilarious… if not, again, over done…

In all honesty, this is my kind of genre. I’m a Jack Black junkie and I love Michael Cera’s dry delivery. These men are characters in their own right, which makes them relatable and believable. When one imagines meeting them in person, it’s almost expected that hey will behave as their characters always do. Well done casting team, well done.

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WEEDS - SEASON 5

Only 3 episodes in, and Season 5 is already proving to be much more entertaining than the train wreck that was Season 4 of Weeds.

Shane is still incredibly troubled, but that’s what we’ve come to expect from him. At this point it’s no longer annoying. His quirky and disturbing interest in his own family’s sexual exploits is now nothing more than a strange and almost acceptably character trait.

Nancy’s formerly irritating ignorance is FINALLY getting her into trouble. She’s not simply a pair of big brown eyes anymore. She knows what’s going down, and it’s starting to break her. While last season I was simply annoyed with her story, I now look forward to what comes next.

Celia is still a bit excessive… but now that she’s finally admitted she has no friends and nobody to turn to, she is actually becoming somewhat relatable.

The episodes are better written and, as usual, incredibly well directed and shot. Season 5 is looking promising kiddies… Lets see what happens…

Catching Up...

Realized I have some left over posts from my Tumbler that never made the journey here to blogger...

JUNE 5th, 2009

WEEDS

Finally making my way through the fourth season of Weeds (trying to catch up before the new season begins this week), and I’m thoroughly disappointed with the quality of the show these days.

Season Three started to go downhill towards the end, but I never expected it to get this bad. The writing and dialogue are still up to par, and the acting is always fantastic, but it seems the writers are reaching for plot points and story lines. Everything is over the top and exaggerated, and the characters are becoming caricatures of their former selves. Nancy’s wide eyed play at innocence is getting old, but her attempts at dominance are growing more pathetic. And poor, poor Silas, always failing with the women in his life, getting stuck in reckless and uncomfortable situations. Shane’s smart/eccentric little boy phase is also becoming overwhelming. Taking control of security in the house… awesome. The whole talking to his dead father thing… weird. Masturbating to old pictures of Nancy… awwwwwkwarrrrdddd. And don’t even get me started on Celia.

As far as this viewer is concerned, the only ray of light in the show anymore is Guillermo. I’m a huge fan of Diaz’s work (particularly in the masterpiece “Half Baked”), and I’m really glad that they’ve kept him around… I was hoping that he’d become a more regular character after his first appearance.

I’m desperately hoping that Season Five has more to offer.

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STAR TRECK

Monday evening I went to see STAR TRECK with my uncle - a fan since childood - and I actually thoroughly enjoyed the film! I was really shocked, though, to find that my uncle loved it too. I was convinced he would take issue with inaccuracies, or simply with the fact that it was a remake of one of his childhood favorites... But no. He had just as much fun as I did.

The special effects are surprisingly well done. Nothing is over the top, and the film’s visual style is able to stand on its own, while remaining somewhat reminiscent of George Lucas’ original “Star Wars” trilogy. There is no reason to question the blending of environments - Vulcan cities, schools, and topography are equally as realistic as Earths dry Iowa. The futuristic elements do not overshadow the realistic settings, nor do they take away from the very human interactions throughout the film. In terms of effects and style, the only problem I encountered while watching the film was Kirk’s green love interest - she brought up images of Idina Menzel in “Wicked” on Broadway.

One confusing element of the film is the time travel and existence of a present and future Spock. Obviously this is one circumstance where reason and believability is overcome by story (We are talking about a science fiction film, after all!). However, as I left the theater I felt as if there were some significant plot holes. I simply might not have been paying close enough attention to the explanation of this anomaly… But as such a significant portion of the film revolved around time travel, especially changes in the course of history, I was left feeling that the overall issue was unresolved.

Finally, the acting is impeccable. Zachary Quinto’s performance as Spock has been surprisingly praised by old-school Treckies and new fans alike (even by Leonard Nimoy himself!). He is able to master his character’s emotionlessness, providing a dramatic and serious performance, while also adding hints of coy and knowing sarcasm that only Quinto can deliver. Performances aside though, the real beauty of the film lies in the casting choices made by the filmmakers. Unexpected but fitting picks such as John Cho, Simon Pegg and even the young Jimmy Bennett bring the characters to life, turing them into dynamic and relatable individuals - not caricatures of the original cast. One unusual choice, though, is the casting of Winona Ryder as Spock’s human mother. Not believable. Not good. Simply… odd.

Overall, I really enjoyed this film. It was exciting, entertaining, but also well made. All the elements (cinematography, direction, writing, etc) came together cohesively and effectively to produce a great summer blockbuster.

Inspired

Painting again!!

I just finished this today… can’t take full credit though - took the image/idea from something I found on tumbler. sorry i can’t give proper props… can’t remember the original source :(

Bubblings

Bubblings from the depths of childhood memories today.

I found this image on tumbler forever ago... can't remember the original site... but when I was eight this was the most romantic thing/scene/concept I'd ever encountered, and couldn't imagine anything more so...

sigh... memories

Look Right

The Last Exorcism

My interest in actually going to see The Last Exorcism borders on sick curiosity and complete ambivalence.

However, I am thoroughly impressed by the distributers choice in digitally marketing their product.

Viral promotion is nothing new. For years the internet has provided filmmakers and studios with an outlet for reaching millions of viewers in new and creative ways. Official websites are now more accessible and user friendly. Certain films are linked in with product lines and other companies in cross promotional efforts. And more recently the use of message boards, websites, blogs etc add a new dimension to the creation of "hype" about a film before its release. Often at no expense to the filmmakers, they spread the word about a film, increase awareness, create discussions, and theoretically increase viewership.

Cloverfield is the best example of this type of marketing strategy. The teaser trailer was released almost a year before the film went public. But the content of the clips presented were ambiguous - nobody knew what Cloverfield was. The title wasn't even included in the trailers! Clearly it was a disaster/monster movie, but there was something else. Almost everything about the movie was done under a cloak of secrecy. The project was quietly greenlit in 2007, casting was done secretly - the actors were unknowns and weren't even sent scripts for their auditions, and the filming was almost completely gorilla style.

But after the film was completed, the producers continued to encourage speculation about the film. The official website for Cloverfield consists of a series of timestamped images, but little else to give any sense of what the monster is or what the film is even about. JJ Abrams, a prominent film and television producer involved in the project, included fake product tie-ins in some of his other projects like Alias and Star Trek. Theorist websites like those for shows like LOST began popping up. While most studios try to put a damper on such blogs and message boards, the Cloverfield producers allowed for the speculation to continue. Ideas and questions spread, and enthusiasm for the film's release increased. The film was a box office success, grossing over one million dollars worldwide, substantially evening out the approximately $25 million production costs.

I assume that this is what the producers of The Last Exorcism are hoping for.

Trailers have now been showing in theaters and on television for over two months. Not unlike many similar films, the advertisements are both exciting and terrifying. Their viral marketing campaign, however, is unlike anything I've seen before.

Chatroulette, developed by a teenager from Russia, is a website on which users can anonymously connect to anyone around the globe using the website at that time. As its name implies, you can chat with strangers, but should you become bored or disinterested in the person on your screen, you can click through and, roulette-style, you are paired with a new partner. You never know what or who you might find on the other. Most often, you are faced with a group of young people - often one showing the rest what Chatroulette is. More often than not though, you will find half naked men pleasuring themselves for your viewing pleasure. Click through immediately. The website became incredibly popular earlier this year, however the interest waned quickly when the novelty wore off and the male nudity became exorbitant.

Sometimes, the "people" you are paired with are prerecorded images. My personal experience involves a quick chat with all three of the Jonas Brothers. I was suspicious from the get go, particularly because I had seen a still image on the news about celebrities using chat roulette - they were dressed exactly the same when I crossed paths with them. After explaining I wasn't a fan but knew who they were, I was asked to "show tits." Awesome. I clicked through and then enjoyed a nice chat with a handsome young man in England. There are the occasional weirdos in masks or funny costumes, the girls in full makeup, the frat guys drinking beer or smoking pot, and the elusive "normal" person, who, like you, is just curious about what's out there. Most common on the website are young men, usually 15-23, in pairs or groups looking for girls and trying to convince them to flash the camera. To my knowledge, this actually happens, but I have yet to understand why.

Anyway, knowing this, someone on The Last Exorcism team took note and came up with an incredibly clever, if not a bit behind the ball, idea. Their most recent campaign is a series of prerecorded "chats" in which a young woman flirtatiously looks into the camera, postures for the men watching, and teases them by beginning to unbutton her blouse. She giggles and feigns shyness, looking down and then back up at the camera. She looks down again, but when her gaze returns her eyes are glazed over and she looks nothing less than terrifying. They then roll back into her head and she grimaces and lunges at the camera. The screen goes black, and then she reappears and lunges again. The screen goes black one last time and reveals the website for thelastexorcism.com.

It is, in a word, brilliant.

See it here at The Last Exorcism - Best Of Chatroulette Reactions