Month: February 2011

Oscars are tonight. Here are my picks GO!

Oscars are tonight. Here are my picks…

Actor in a Leading Role

  • Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
  • Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
  • Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
  • Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”
  • James Franco in “127 Hours”

Winner: Colin Firth.

My pick: Colin Firth. It’s never easy to play a part where someone has a disability, even a small one such as a stammer. Not to mention I enjoyed it a lot when he started cursing. That was hilarious as fuck.

Actor in a Supporting Role

  • Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
  • John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”
  • Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
  • Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
  • Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”

Winner: Christian Bale

My Pick: Christian Bale. He always kicks his own ass for his roles. It was just a matter of time before the Acadamy took notice. And they will tonight.

Actress in a Leading Role

  • Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
  • Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
  • Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
  • Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
  • Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Winner: Natalie Portman

My Pick: Natalie Portman. This again, should go without saying. Really she played two diffrent characters in that film and just blew me away. Though I’d love to see Annette take one home, Natalie has earned it.

Actress in a Supporting Role

  • Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
  • Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
  • Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
  • Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
  • Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Winner: Mellisa Leo

My Choice: Mellisa Leo: Mellisa Leo has always been a favorite of mine from films such as Frozen River or more recently Welcome to the Riley’s. Her character should have been in more of The Fighter, but she was a joy to watch whenever she was actually the center of the scene.

Animated Feature Film

  • “How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
  • “The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet
  • “Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

Winner: Toy Story 3

My Pick: The Illusionist. Pixar has made some of the greatest animated films of all time. This year is just not the case. Toy Story 3, it being a great movie and all, doesn’t do what the other great Pixar movies have been doing for all these years which I think will be the downfall of Pixar in the coming years. It’s unoriginal. The Illusionist on the other hang… yet it takes the “action speaks louder than words” approach that Wall-E did. It conveys a much different message, that there are some things that can never be real… no matter how much you want it. You can try real hard, but in the end you have to face reality. This is something I haven’t seen in an animated film since I watched Animal Farm and Watership Down years ago. Also in the film you’ll notice how technology and fads replace the illusionist… like… oh, CG over hand drawn anyone? If you haven’t seen the Illusionist, treat yourself to the best animated film in some time. Pixar does not deserve it this time.

Art Direction

  • “Alice in Wonderland”
    Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara
  • “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
    Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
  • “Inception”
    Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
  • “The King’s Speech”
    Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr
  • “True Grit”
    Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Winner: Inception.

My Pick: Inception. There’s some really fucked up shit going on. It’d better win, fuck.

Cinematography

  • “Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
  • “Inception” Wally Pfister
  • “The King’s Speech” Danny Cohen
  • “The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
  • “True Grit” Roger Deakins

Winner: Black Swan

My Pick: Black Swan. It was a movie that was MADE for camera tricks, and there’s no shortage of them here.

Costume Design

  • “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
  • “I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi
  • “The King’s Speech” Jenny Beavan
  • “The Tempest” Sandy Powell
  • “True Grit” Mary Zophres

Winner: The King’s Speech

My Pick: The King’s Speech. It’s a period piece. They never lose, nor should they.

Directing

  • “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
  • “The Fighter” David O. Russell
  • “The King’s Speech” Tom Hooper
  • “The Social Network” David Fincher
  • “True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Winner: The King’s Speech

Black Swan: Aronofsky finally impressed me (about time). Style and substance rolled into an orgy of classical music, drugs, and death.

Film Editing

  • “Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
  • “The Fighter” Pamela Martin
  • “The King’s Speech” Tariq Anwar
  • “127 Hours” Jon Harris
  • “The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Winner: 127 Hours

My Pick 127 Hours. If you have a film in one place. You have to make it look special. They did.

Foreign Language Film

  • “Biutiful” Mexico
  • “Dogtooth” Greece
  • “In a Better World” Denmark
  • “Incendies” Canada
  • “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria

Winner: Biutiful

My Pick: Biutiful. Mexico really doesn’t churn out a lot of quality films, not to say that there aren’t any good filmmakers down there… because there sure are.

Best Picture

  • “Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
  • “The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
  • “Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
  • “The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
  • “The King’s Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
  • “127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
  • “The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
  • “Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer
  • “True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
  • “Winter’s Bone” Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Winner: The King’s Speech

My Pick: The Fighter. No movie had me more pumped and into it than The Fighter. It and Black Swan were REALLY CLOSE though. But The Fighter had more great performances to go around. But Bale and Leo will get their due tonight.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

  • “127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
  • “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
  • “Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
  • “True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
  • “Winter’s Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Winner: The Social Network

My Pick: 127 Hours. How hard is it to write a script that’s basically all action and takes place in only one location. I’ll tell you, that shit’s hard.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

  • “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
  • “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
    Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
  • “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
  • “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
  • “The King’s Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

Winner: The King’s Speech

My Pick: The Kids Are All Right. Maybe it’s because I’m adopted as well that these stories seem to hit a cord. But between that and the whitty dialoge throughout. It’s a winner to me.

 

Well, let’s see how my picks go tonight. Oscar go go!

And if you’re live tweeting the entire show, come on son. No.

The movie is ready to shoot… But we still need your help

It’s been an amazing number of months. It’s amazing to see just a small idea become… well, real.

Those of you who don’t know what we’ve been doing, we’re not only making a film literally from scratch, we’re building the whole company (wolfen films) from scratch. The props and equipment we used will most likely be recycled to make more great things for you guys in the months and years to come.

But we’re still far from where we would like to be. Little money has been raised. Between myself and Lucca the Nerd’s Christye we’ve funded it quite well. But a dollar here and there would make it many times better than it already is.

Even better, if you don’t even wanna give money, that’s awesome.

After that computer meltdown I had a couple of weeks ago, my friend John really stepped up and gave me a new… well sorta new desktop. But it does need a better graphics card. I’m running an 8mb graphics card. No, that is not a typo. Editing with this thing is basically a no go. If anyone out there has a PCI Express video card to donate, let me know. I’ll give you a credit and my love forever and ever.

If you even wanna come help us film around Chicago, you can do that too. We need as many hands and cameras as possible. You can hang with us awesome people… and there’s gonna be FREE FOOD. Not to mention I’ll have a nice wrap party for us that’s gonna be off da chain yo ahem…

If you have some sort of location (we need a couple of houses or something) we could use that.

If you wanna buy some advertising in movie, we can talk about that too. Just leave a comment below, e-mail me, or whatever you like.

See the “Authors” tab above for all my contact info.

 

It’s a joy, and dare I say it… a blessing that I get this grand opportunity to create something fun for the universe to partake of.

I won’t let you all down.

So don’t let me down.

Donate, help, leave a friendly comment of support. Something. Next you’ll hear from me is from the set… filming. Ain’t that a hoot.

 

Indiegogo Campaign has 3 days left as of right now. Every dollar helps a kitten… okay it doesn’t, but it’ll put some coffee in a cold cameraman’s stomach so he doesn’t bitch all damn morning.

You can find all the fundraising links here… and of course the movie’s official website here.

All Star Superman? Not Even D-League…

When I heard that All Star Superman was getting the animated treatment, how could I not be excited? The epic 12 part comic series coming to life before my very eyes. Then the wait… about 6 months later. It was the day. I fired up my media player and got ready for what I was sure was the most epic Superman action I’ve seen since Batman and Superman teamed up that first time.

I was wrong.

The film opens up with Superman saving a mission to the Sun and getting exposed as fuck to the radiation. All a part of Lex’s plan. Over the next year, as superman is dieing from the radiation poisoning, he has a 12 point checklist of all the things he must do. It’s a very different Superman. There are far fewer fight scenes and many more of dramatic dialog and self reflection. This is all good.

The problem with this film is that it crams 12 issues of comic into an hour and 10 minutes of movie. Many of the stories were lost or just vaguely mentioned. Such as the Evil Superman or how Superman fixed the sun. It’s really a hollow shell of what could have been two or three really great movies.

What does shine, as always… is Lex Luther. He’s fucking hilarious as usual. So evil.

All and all, I think I made the mistake like I did with Kick-Ass and read the source material before watching the movie. But that still dosen’t excuse how lazy this attempt was. Come on DC, don’t start slacking in your animation department. After Nolan is gone, you got nothing.

C-

Been a While Since My Last Musing…

I’ve been bad at updating lately, but this is simply because I’ve had so much on top of me lately… mostly the DDR Movie… which I must say is ready to start filming in one short month. Can’t wait.

Speaking of which, there’s now an official web site too. Thanks to Mr. John Ulman. There you can donate like you can here. But we’ll also have some cast information and what not as well… when I get around to adding it of course.

But on to my musing.

Why do you write?

It’s the base question everyone writer or filmmaker has to before he can start anything. What do you intend to accomplish with what you’re about to do.

I know for me, since I started writing when I was ten… it was to give myself a little bit of control in my life. When you write, it’s the only place in the universe where everyone will do exactly what you say, when you say it. Maybe I’m just a control freak like that.

Too often I see people consumed WAY too much in actually getting something they wrote sold. Guess what people, you’re writers. Writers don’t promote well (usually, there are exceptions to that rule) we’re reclusive that way. Keep your focus where it should be, quality and fun storytelling. It’s what we were put on this planet to do.

Now that that’s all done, I gotta go back to my own writing. Toodles.

Final Draft is done!

It’s fucking done! Revision 4!

 

Okay, so we all know that a script is never done. Even while filming we could switch stuff or add scenes. But the story and characters as writen now will pretty much remain the same.

My PC went totally bust. But thanks to one John Ulman, I’m back and bigger than ever. Thanks John, you saved my film!

Next up, is yet another pre-production meeting. We’re going to roll through the whole script, with me attempting to storyboard everything with a box of crayons. Yes I’m serious. We’ll be livestreaming the meeting as well. So be sure to stick around… also, watch for a tweet-a-thon very soon.

 

Well peace out, see you on Friday ya’ll.

DDR Movie Update: Support History

Well, I WAS going to have a whole big presentation for these assholes I call my production (Wolfen has love for the assholes… no homo)

I was also going to reveal the 4th revision of my script. Which introduces two new characters Raul and Clyde Von Hummington.

Also added are actual scenes of training, not just a montage set to 80’s music… because that would be totally dumb. Just dumb.

 

HOWEVER, fate wanted to knock the hell out of my power supply decided to go out on me… it’s only gonna be like 12 bucks to for new one (picking it up in the morning) But delays delays delays. But I guess that’s the spice of filmmaking.

 

But it was a long weekend of buying props and rewriting. Fun shit, but hard shit. But it’s still not over. I still need to aquire a few more things and we’ll be golden.

Remember, this is a movie funded by the fans. For them. I can assure you, this will be like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

By donating, not only are you buying a piece of movie history, but you’re also helping yourself.  You’ll get a producer’s credit on IMDB, and if you donate enough, there will be special incentives such as cookies.

Only cool people bake cookies ya know. It’s true. Watch MTV… young people are still into MTV right?

Anyways, become a part of movie history. Because I promise you, something big is going to happen with this film. Buzz is starting to happen in a monster way… getting a story in a local news outlet… but I’ll post about that when the story breaks.

So as usual donate at Indiegogo or you can do a more anonymous and safe way through PayPal. We start shooting in about a month and every dollar would mean the world to me and the rest of the crew.

Wolfen out. I’ve been getting a lot of encouragement lately. It’s warmed my little furry heat. ❤

 

22 days of fund raising left… maybe a special event is coming.