There Will Be Vader

Via Matt Zoller Seitz.

From the very beginning of this clip YouTube user AAC8888 understands There Will Be Blood to a tee. Granted, he’s got the amazing score from the film to work with, but when Vader/Plainview looks at Emperor Palpatine (Revenge of the Sith) and boldly, yet subtly, announces, “yes I do!” it sent chills down my spine.

The really fine-tuned part of the clip, however, is when Vader/Plainview confronts Luke Skywalker. It starts with Vader/Plainview screaming at Skywalker (The Empire Strikes Back): “I told you I would eat you up!” And then move towards the entire “bastard in a basket” sequence. Brilliant!

The clip ends with the always clever and fun “I drink your milkshake!” sequence and a rad lightsaber fight from Return of the Jedi.

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Speaking of milkshakes, Savanna (lead actress in St. Nick) was kind enough to buy me a really awesome There Will Be Blood “I Drink Your Milkshake” t-shirt at CafePress. Not only did she contribute to purchasing the shirt (in case you don’t know: she’s nine), but also had the foresight to have it printed on American Apparel’s Sustainable Edition (an organic cotton tee, made in the U.S.A.).

Read my response of There Will Be Blood.

For kicks, read my riposte of an article written in The New Yorker just after the opening of Revenge of the Sith.

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SMU Tate Lecture Series: Martin Sheen

Martin Sheen accepted an award at the LSIFF (back in November) and he was a keynote speaker tonight at the SMU Tate Lecture Series. Barak’s father works for Merrill Lynch, who sponsored the reception tonight, and hooked us up with tickets.

Interviewed by Dallas film reviewer Gary Cogill, Martin Sheen regaled the auditorium with touching, personal stories about himself and Charlie Sheen, his son. He talked about the recent, tragic death of Heath Ledger and why these things happen to Hollywood celebrities. He also told a lovely story about his meeting with Mother Theresa in an attempt to help end the Gulf War. Martin’s a vocal advocate for peace and he’s also quite a spiritual man, full of inspiration and vigor for positivity.

After the lecture, we headed over to the Merrill Lynch reception for a quaint meet-and-greet. Anyway, Martin remembered all of us from the Lone Star International Film Festival (Clay and I talked to him at the awards brunch and Barak actually brought the only copy of Da available in the DFW area because the festival programmers forgot the print!). He pointed us out to several others at the reception and talked to us at length about some of his early films. He’s really such a sweet, gentle man and a real treat to talk to.

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Sin Busters!

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Me, Yen & David checking out the Chick Tracts at the Angelika Film Center!

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A Catalog of Anticipations is Going to Slamdance!

Okay… So many of you already know that me and David are going to Park City, UT during Sundance. And many of you actually know why. But for those of you who don’t, I can now officially say that it is because David got into Slamdance with the second part of his triptych, A Catalog of Anticipations. The second part is probably the best short film David has created to date (and that’s saying a lot, given my recent review of The Outlaw Son after playing at the Lone Star International Film Festival in November). It’s already been to several film festivals and I’m sure it will continue on the circuit. David’s got some possible future plans for this part of the triptych specifically, but if he wishes to reveal them, he’ll do so on his website.

For more information about this film, go to: http://myspace.com/catalogofanticipations

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I’m really excited about going to Park City for both the Sundance and Slamdance festivities. Thanks to David Redmon & Ashley Sabin, we’ll be staying right on Main St. within walking distance from Slamdance headquarters. Friend and Austin based filmmaker, Bryan Poyser will also be staying with us for part of the trip down there. He’s responsible for representing the Austin Film Society, as they are holding some sort of event or party during the festival(s). I’m also contemplating bringing my board, as a few other friends of mine are bringing theirs. And on that note, I’m really surprised at how many filmmaker friends are attending this year! It will certainly be a fun time indeed, and you’ll catch it all RIGHT HERE on AKOOK.COM! Okay, I’ve always wanted to say something of that nature. And now I finally have. Yay for me.

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Austin Frownland Screening & Cinematexas "Viking" Funeral

Yesterday, David and I drove down to Austin to check out Ronnie Bronstein’s Frownland at the Alamo Drafthouse, courtesy of the Austin Film Society and Cinematexas. As all of you already know, I first saw Frownland at South By Southwest in March and have been a fan ever since; so, I was happy to make the drive down to Austin to see it again on the big screen and hang out with Ronnie and friends.

Arriving several hours before the screening, David and I hooked up with David Redmon and Ashley Sabin (Kamp Katrina, Mardi Gras: Made in China) at Mother’s Café & Garden for a late lunch. I had the Spinach Lasagna because of the frank menu description: “Our #1 recommendation for first-time customers.” Quite a treat with a glass of red wine, however, it weighed me down a bit–especially after a late night on Saturday seeing Curtis Glenn Heath play at The Ginger Man and then heading over to my favorite Fort Worth haunt, The Chat Room Pub.

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Following the linner or dunch, or whatever you want to call it, we all headed over to Spider House Patio Bar & Café to meet up with Ronnie and Noah Stroehle, a freelance writer. Having never been to Spider House, this was a pleasant experience for me, as it’s got to be one of the coolest coffee and beer spots in Austin. Boasting a large patio with sporadic tables and chairs, miscellaneous decorative artifacts and a bluntly honest wait staff, Spider House is certainly a hangout I’ll revisit. For some reason–perhaps the tiling–I was really drawn to the urinal:

Discussions ranged from Frownland to The Silent Movie Theater in L.A. to The Marx Brothers until we had to scoot to the screening at the new Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

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Before the screening, Bryking Poyser introduced Frownland and the critically acclaimed short Everything Will Be OK to accompany it. The Viking helmet was worn to mark the Viking Funeral of the Cinematexas Film Festival, to follow the screenings at The Moose Lodge.

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Despite the fact that Don Hertzfeldt’s Everything Will Be OK has screened at just about every film festival there is, I hadn’t had the opportunity to catch it on the big screen, so I was really excited when I found out it would be screening prior to Frownland. As to be expected, I was immediately sutured in to the experience. The short makes you laugh and cry, it’s heartfelt and moving; and ultimately, it’s somehow banally uplifting.

Hertzfeldt’s animation is amazing beyond words and should be experienced by everyone! (Check out Rejected on YouTube, and buy Everything Will Be OK on DVD if you haven’t had a chance to see it.)

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If you get a chance to see Frownland when Ronnie is in attendance, it’s imperative that you stay for the Q & A session, following the film. Ronnie’s got a sincere sense about him that resonates throughout the theater. I don’t care if you love or hate the film, you’re going to appreciate Ronnie’s attitude towards the subject and his attitude towards film, in general. He’s also very approachable and genuinely gracious, so have a few words with him, if given the chance.

On a side note, Frownland screens at The Silent Movie Theater in L.A. on December 29th. Oddly enough, along with Garbage Pail Kids.

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After the screening and the Q & A session, everyone mentioned thus far, plus a handful of other local filmmakers all congregated at The Moose Lodge for some drinks and discussion and then for the Viking Funeral of the Cinematexas Film Festival.

David really got into the spirit!
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Friends gather to celebrate Cinematexas
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And then, around 3am, David and I drove back to my place and crashed. Certainly a worthwhile experience–and I’m never against excusing myself to Austin, if only for an evening.

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Los Noviembres

After seeing Paul Boll play alongside Johnny Reno, T Bone Burnett, Robert Rodriguez, and of course, Harry Dean Stanton, at the Lone Star International Film Festival, I was eager to see Paul’s new project, Los Noviembres, with vocalist Angie Cassada, again at Club Embargo in downtown Fort Worth. The setting was very low-key, with a candle-fire red, ambiance that muffled any chatter or discord in the venue. As the two set up, I noticed Ricardo, the club’s music director, ready the atmosphere with a twist of light here and there and switching off a lamp or two. His particular care and concern for the atmosphere caught my eye and told me he was personally enticed by the music to come.

And then it did, and my heart raced as I heard Angie’s voice sail throughout the lounge. My eyes turned to Paul and that night I really saw his talent for what it was. His strumming was perfectly timed and effortless, and his eyes gleamed and shined as he played on. The pre-programmed synth-beats, the drum and bass, complimented the bluesy, jazzy duo; and the acoustics in the club were right-on. A friend of mine, who joined me randomly later, said she could hear the music perfectly on the other side of the glass, outside the club.

Vicariously through my random encounters, I was able to meet Paul and Angie and sit down with the two of them at length between sets. Angie’s so humble and seemingly shy, she’d never admit to how seasoned she really is. And Paul is really, really cool. He actually brought up cool after the set when he discussed another musician, Mose Allison, at length, and qualified his description by defining the word. It struck me that I’d recently read an article by Stephen King, who similarly defined the term, in Entertainment Weekly. King rightly states, “cool is not a way of life; it’s a state of being.” It’s when you’re in the know. You can’t teach it, you can’t even explain it; it just is.

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Ola Podrida's "Eastbound" & Other Happenings

David Lowery just sent me a link to the final version of Ola Podrida’s “Eastbound” music video. I blogged about the shoot about a week and a half ago. Here, for your enjoyment, is the embedded version of the final product; however for a superior look, I highly suggest that you check it out in HD.

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Tomorrow, I’m meeting up with David in Dallas to see if fifty feet of dolly track will fit in my hybrid SUV. We’re really hoping for this, given, we’d rather not rent a van over the weekend for merely fifty pounds worth of material! This Saturday we are shooting the first day’s footage of St. Nick. After the shoot, I hope to have time to catch “Plur,” a new play by The Butterfly Connection in Fort Worth. It’s playing at the Rose Marine Theatre in Fort Worth, at 7:30pm. The main event, however, is the unofficial St. Nick First Day of Shooting Wrap Party, starting at 9pm at The Ginger Man, where none other than the great Curtis Glenn Heath will be playing!

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In other news, I’m on day four of a week long detox. I’m doing raw veganism this week, primarily with as little additives as possible, even abstaining from alcohol as well. Next week, I plan to move into heated veganism; and the following two weeks, I may slowly introduce fish and chicken and dairy back into my diet. I’ll let you know how it goes. Surprisingly, it hasn’t been so difficult thus far.

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Sunday, me, David and others, are heading down to Austin to catch up with Ronnie Bronstein and support his nauseatingly brilliant film, Frownland. I saw it first at South By Southwest, earlier this year.

More details on all of these events later!

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Beyond 'The Strike'

The standoff between the Writer’s Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers has long but been inevitable. Not due to the specific circumstances that make up the pragmatic foundation of this particular conundrum, but more because of the long-standing rift between the hard-working individuals that actually create films and those that market and distribute them. It’s the same, sad story and it’s been boiling in Hollywood for years.

Recently, I’ve been reading some of David Mamet’s Bambi Vs. Godzilla and, although the book was published earlier this year, it’s as if Mamet were discussing this very concern. It’s of little shock value to say that the writer is the most resented person in Hollywood. How many re-writes and pandering to producers and studio executives and A List actors must a writer go through before the final script is in order? How much of the original artistic vision has been dismantled in lieu of crispy one-hundred dollar bills?

It’s a pathetic reality that artistic merit has long since been brushed aside in favor of financial fruition. Yet this sad state of affairs has become the norm as audiences become more and more complacent with seasonal routines and mundane expectations. It’s as if the viewers have resigned themselves to mediocre plots and amateur scripts, as long as they see actors they know and over-the-top effects. Then again, I might be giving Joe Movie Goer more credit than he’s worth; but that’s an entirely different discussion.

What’s truly ironic, however, is that these same executives are pushing the budgets higher and higher for, as David Mamet rightly suggests, if the money is spent on the best actors, the best directors, the best effects, etc., then there’s all sorts of other places to place blame in the instance of a failed movie. The executives have risked nothing of their own and they get to keep their jobs (and their inflated salaries) because they’ve adequately spread the talent around, creating a wall of stability between them and a pink slip. And the tip of the iceberg is the higher the budget (to account for all these talented individuals), the more money the executives can fill their pockets with.

And we the people, we star-crazy psycho fanatics that we are, play into this game perfectly. And that’s really a shame. A few weeks ago, I was in Fort Worth at the Lone Star International Film Festival, attending a panel about the mumblecore movement. The discussion basically described the do-it-yourself mentality that’s currently flooding the festival circuit and beyond. I’ll note James M. Johnston who professed the idea that even so-called independent films (produced by “independent” film studios) still cost a great deal of money; whereas truly independent DIY films cost very little. And granted, the reason why these big budgeted films cost so much is to pay everyone–and pay everyone well. And I wholeheartedly agree that all creative individuals should be justly compensated for their work. But throwing money at something that’s inherently bad doesn’t seem like a good idea.

As movie-goers, we should band together and demand truly moving films with smart dialogue and intelligible plot-lines. And as filmmakers, we should worry less about our hierarchy in the industry–for that’s what really bolsters this rift–and just make really good films. I’m certainly hopeful that come Monday morning, some sort of compromise will be made between the WGA and the AMPTP. And I certainly favor the writers in this debate. But in my mind, the issue is moot: the writers should have been compensated anyway. There’s really no debate there. The real issue is creating quality films and programming, and until writers and crew members and artists buck up and really stand for what they believe in, the studios will continue to plow filmmaking, and all its glorious splendor, into the ground. But whose fault is that, really? Is it the studio execs whose sole purpose is to not lose their jobs as studio execs? Certainly not. It’s all of us who’ve created them and supported their agendas of blockbusters and stars and effects. It’s all of us audiences and filmmakers alike who’ve long since traded in our love of the art of film for something far less important and sincere. But, concerning us filmmakers, it’s something that keeps us all going, for better or for worse, I suppose. But then again, if it were merely about survival, there’s far easier ways than filmmaking.

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Enchanted & The Mist Double Feature!

The pictures above–being my friends, David Lowery and Yen Tan at the Cosmic Cup and me and Yen on a trolley, respectively–were actually taken several days before seeing these films last night. But I just thought they were cool and decided to post them.

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David, Yen and I did catch two films last night, however. Of course, being the sneaky fools we are, we only paid for one. Tee hee. For some reason, David thought it would be humorous for the three of us to all watch Enchanted together. I’m not sure if that should be embarrassing, but how about the fact that all three of us actually enjoyed it? Anyway, here’s the breakdown:

Let me first preface that I have a predisposition for enjoying Disney animated films. I’m not sure if its the child in me, or the fairy-tale stories, or what; but for whatever reason, I have a rather large soft spot for them. Enchanted is no different and has not swayed me from my position a bit. It left me wanting so much more. At first I was concerned with how the transition from animation to live action would really look like on screen, but my fears soon faded away the first time I saw Amy Adams pop out of a sewer in a giant wedding dress. How marvelous and enchanting she truly is, I thought; and how animated! How absolutely animated she is! It’s really as if the cartoon has come to life–as if the New York City backdrop is just that, a fabricated, foreign backdrop. And then she started talking… And her voice, her facial expressions, everything: completely animated. After the film, David and Yen told me I absolutely had to see Junebug, and I certainly will after this performance. She shined the entire time on screen and she sold me. I actually believed she was really from some fairy-tale, animated world where dreams come true and everyone lives happily ever after. I loved her so much, I’m not even going to mention the other performances other than to say they were adequate and took nothing away from the film. I’ll also note that the Central Park musical number is to die for.

I will, however, take a brief look at the story as well. I know what you’re thinking: some cheese ball romantic-comedy mush that’s over-the-top and kid stuff, right? Well, think again. This story is all grown up, philosophically and realistically. I really liked the existential observations the characters made, being in this odd conundrum. Both they and we learn something about love and fairy-tales; about reality and fantasy; but above all, we learn that it’s ultimately a compromise between the two that finds us all true genuine happiness, forever… and ever.

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There’s always certain characteristics in a Stephen King adaptation that never seem to change. For one thing, you can always count on a decent story and on top of that, you typically develop some emotional concern for the protagonists along the way. The Mist doesn’t veer from those characteristics. And, while I haven’t actually read Stephen King’s novella, I’m sure I would enjoy it after seeing the film adaptation. As a whole, however, I really didn’t like the film at all. I really thought the screenplay was amateur and hokey, when it clearly wasn’t trying to be. The film really wanted to be intelligent and even eminent, I think. I mean, the underlying morals and lessons are all too important and certainly a bit urgent, given the world we live in currently. But with the dialogue so badly written, I really can’t give it the benefit of the doubt.

At first I thought it was the acting, but after some deliberation, I’ve come to terms with the fact that it’s completely the fault of the writers. The circumstances and logical conclusion the characters come to in certain key instances really seem flawed and misguided. There’s nothing more irritating than watching characters in films who are clearly supposed to be logical and reasonable, make illogical and unreasonable decisions, even though the film seems to think they made the right decisions. I’m not sure if any of that really makes any sense, but the bottom line is there’s a fine line between creating a character who makes mistakes and a character who makes mistakes but those mistakes are totally ignored by all other characters, circumstances in the film and the film itself.

And for those of you who have seen it–or if you haven’t, take a second look at this after you have–I suppose you think I’m mostly talking about the ending. But I’m not because the ending works. It doesn’t matter what I would do or you would do, or what the right thing to do is done. That’s not what’s important. What’s important is whether what was actually done is believable, or not. In this case, the ending was believable. I believed all the characters involved in the final climatic scene were truly to that point. Would I have made that decision? Probably not. But the fact that they did didn’t brush me the wrong way whatsoever. It was a shock and I was certainly surprised, but it worked really well and I think without that final scene, the film would have been a complete flop. So, I suppose it goes without saying, if the mistakes and/or illogical or unreasonable decisions are ignored, the film simply doesn’t work (and there are a lot of points in the film that I feel didn’t work for this very reason); but on the other hand, if the mistakes are acknowledged, then the film generally works because of it. By and large, this film just didn’t work for me.

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Have a Bloody Thanksgiving

Eli Roth’s grindhouse trailer for Thanksgiving, a bloody look at the celebrated holiday. With this trailer, you get sexploitation and explicit violence: all the right ingredients for a funfest of rape and murder!

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