Cinematic Arias

We all have dream projects. Often, those are adaptations of books, plays, whatnot. And there’s nothing worse than seeing your dream project going to another writer when you know you’re the filmmaker for the job.

For me, this is one of those projects: ROBOTECH.

This was (is) one of my favorite cartoons. When life turned me towards filmmaking, I kept telling myself that “one day I’m gonna turn ROBOTECH into an awesome movie.”

Then Tobey Maguire bought the rights.

Then they hired Larwrence Kasdan to write a draft (did no one else see DREAM CATCHER?).

They they hired a couple of other guys.

Look, if they make an awesome movie, I’ll eat my words. Good for them. But when they don’t, I’ll be sitting on the sidelines waiting to reboot the series.

That is unless they want to hire me now.

(hint, hint)

If there was one director that I could point my finger at and say “I’m doing this because of you” then that finger would be pointed at this guy.

I’m not sure if the first film I saw was TAXI DRIVER, GOODFELLAS or maybe even CAPE FEAR but I do know I first recognized the man behind the magic after I watched the Criterion laserdisc of RAGING BULL.

And who knows if his next flick will be about Jesuit priests, Teddy Roosevelt or yet another music documentary, I’m just glad he’s still making movies. Happy Birthday Mr. Scrosese.

PS, did I ever tell ya that we met? I have proof.

That sorta says it all. But before I crawl into bed and slumber for a month all the while dreaming of foley sessions, color correction and final mastering, allow me to indulge my sentimentality for a moment.

Thanks to my entire company. Without you, this film wouldn’t have made it into the “digital” can.

Thanks to everyone that opened their home or business to us.

Thanks to my family for their constant support and understanding.

Last but not least, thanks to all my friends. Of the many goals I wanted to accomplish with this endeavor, I wanted a work that bore all of our marks, a work made by those closest to my heart.

But enough of my schmaltz. Time for bed.

(And check out my beard!)

I’m shooting a half day pick up for my film this Saturday night and I need a gaffer. The set up is simple, the shoot spartan, which is all the more reason why I need a good hand in this position.

Anyone?

It looks like our world is about to change.

Once again I’m supposed to finish shooting my film this weekend. Once again I’m keeping my fingers crossed that FilmLA doesn’t boot me form my location again.

Also, I need a gaffer and an HVX200 for the shoot. Anyone want to make a donation?

Lastly, I’m trying to keep the psychological wear and tear to a minimum but I feel like I’m losing that fight. Say a prayer for me, send me the good vibes or sacrifice a virgin in my honor, you know, whatever is your thing.

There’s nothing that whips mobs into a murderous frenzy quicker than a joke anywhere in the proximity of religion. Trust me, it took me one short film to learn that people will call you evil just because you dare to mix religion and humor.

(Although, truth be told, that didn’t stop me from writing a religiously based romantic comedy which, funny enough, excites people about as much as it scares them.)

So, in the spirit of fraternity, I saw Bill Maher’s documentary.

I was pretty much with Bill until the very end. Up until the film’s closing moments, Bill skewers Christians (like shooting fish in a barrel) as well as Orthodox Jews and Muslins (like shooting armor plated fish bunkered down behind a bulletproof canister of C4). It’s funny, it’s blasphemous, it works.

Then, in those final moments, when Bill asks all non-beleivers to stand up and tear down religion (I’m paraphrasing but that was his message), that’s when Bill starts sounding like one of those nuts that broadcasts on public access or, worse yet, like one of those militant, avenging religious zealots that’s looking to precipitate God’s purification and wrathful purging of the non-believer. That’s when Bill starts sounding like one of them.

Thanks for the movie but no thanks.

Have you checked out MTV Music yet? It’s a YouTube like service that let’s you view just about any music video shown on MTV (back when they actually showed music videos). It’s about f**king time.

Here’s a favorite just in time for Halloween:

And of course there’s this classic:

Oh, this one used to scare me as a kid:

Happy Halloween!

If there’s one things I have to thank Quentin Tarantino for (I know, I gotta thank him for more than one thing but lets focus) it’s introducing me to this filmmaker.

Since that moment, I’ve consumed just about every Wong Kar Wai film.

One of the harder ones to wrap my head around was ASHES OF TIME. It was an action movie w/o action. Lots of stop-printing, close-ups and voice-overs. What was it about? Well, there’s a swordsman in the desert.

Yeah, it wasn’t my favorite WKW film but I could appreciate how it opened him up to my favorite period of his which begins with CHUNGKING EXPRESS.

But now WKW has returned to tinker on his sans-action epic. The ASHES OF TIME REDUX print looks great, the sound is phenomenal and I think I understood it more but it’s still not my favorite WKW film.

But it still makes me appreciate my favorite films of his just the same.

When I direct, I find that I grow a beard. It isn’t intentional. It sprouts from a lack of time and a natural triage of priorities (do I shave or race back to Film LA to book my location before rushing into a production meeting?).

Still, in an effort to reclaim my life from preproduction hell I’ve decided to name my facial growth.

Say “hello” to The Worry Beard!

I’m gonna grow this sucker until I’ve wrapped principal photography. Watch out Iron & Wine.