Movie Of The Day - Schindler's List

SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993) d: Steven Spielberg

When I woke up this morning I didn't expect to be watching this film to start my day. While waiting for my coffee to brew I was flipping around the TV when I came across 'Schindler's List' on cable. I didn't want to stay on it as the subject matter is one that is hard to watch for just entertainment purposes while waiting for your breakfast beverage. But it was near the beginning and I was struck by the incredible cinematography in the stark black and white images. Having not seen the film in many years I had forgotten much about it. My coffee machine let out its steam as it finished brewing but I was no where to be found. Instead I was glued to the TV for 3 hours.

The story of Oskar Schindler a factory owner who profiteered from the use of slave labor during the war only to realize that his pursuit of money was inadvertently saving the lives of many Jews from being executed by the Nazi's. His realization leads him to spend everything he owns to save as many of them as he can. The harsh realism of the way the Nazi's treated and murdered Jews is unlike any other kind of cinema violence. It has a brutality and realistic portrayal unlike any I have seen. I was both enthralled by the incredible artistry of the film from its look and feel to the emotional depth it went leaving me in tears by the end of it. While certain shots and moments I had not forgotten since when I had seen the film before there was much I had forgotten. So the experience was near new.

While 'Jaws' will always be my personal favorite Steven Spielberg film 'Schindler's List' is without a doubt his best film. While not the ideal way to start my day I can think of no better way of spending it.

And yes, I did eventually get my coffee.

100 Greatest Movie Insults Of All Time

This is beyond genius.

Doing Some EFX Tests

Going off a few tutorials from the amazing website VideoCopilot.net I did some playing around in After Effects. I'm doing tests for my new film 'Dark Light' (that I wrote about here). These are not effects related to the film itself. Just testing out various methods. These effects are just for fun. They aren't polished as they were each done in a little over an hour.

Using the above still picture I animated it to look like it was live footage from a helicopter. Plus a little added surprise.

This next one I used the same photograph but did a missile test. Plus a slight camera shake and zoom as the explosion happens. There is a lot at work in this one. I couldn't even begin to explain all of the different elements and layers at work here. But look at the above photo and then see everything added.

Elements used include Action Essentials 2 and Optical Flares from VideoCopilot.net, and Particular from Trapcode.

We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat

'Jaws' is easily one of my favorite films. It has so much that it is literally something special. It has action, adventure, horror, humor, drama, and even a little emotion. A film that still holds up to this day. What was feared to be an astonishing disaster during its making turned into something that changed the film industry forever. It marked the birth of the summer blockbuster.

A young Steven Spielberg stopped at nothing to make sure his film was not shut down despite an escalating budget and constant technical problems with the film's star - the mechanical shark. Resorting to the Val Lewton technique of not showing the creature but implying its presence led to a stroke of creative genius which went on to terrify audiences who were too afraid to go swimming at their local beach but were more than happy to line up at the movie theatre for the carnage.

Starring the late Roy Scheider and featuring Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw the film is basically the ultimate man versus nature story. A modern day Moby Dick. The last half of the film being the three main characters setting out to sea to track down and kill the monster that has been attacking the local shores. Where this film could have been just a fun film and nothing more instead underneath has a line of drama which is ever so present in the real reactions people have of what is happening. Plus the utter genius of what is perhaps one of, if not my all time, favorite scene where the Robert Shaw character Quint breaks out of the rusty seaman cliche and creates a fully rounded character with the telling of his experience on the Indianapolis. What I affectionately call the "Quint Speech". A moment in a film where something about a character makes them fully realized. Never has this been better done than with this scene. 

So on June 20, 1975 audiences were treated to a film which would both terrify them and yet have them line up around the block for more. A young filmmaker went from being a guy holding a sinking ship afloat (literally) to being one of the biggest directors in film history. Generation after generation discovers this incredible film and it continues to live on. The oft quoted line,"We're gonna need a bigger boat," could be changed to,"We're gonna need a bigger movie theatre."

Congratulations to everyone involved in this masterpiece and I salute the film which is one of my personal favorites that continues to entertain and inspire me to this very day.

*Images taken from JawsMovieArchives.com.

Dark Light - My New Film

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but I've been a little busy. As some of you know I'm a filmmaker. My first film 'Distortion' is starting to make the festival rounds. Right now I'm prepping for my second feature. It's an action thriller called 'Dark Light'. Needless to say this is going to consume most of my time so posts may in fact be a little on the light side over the next few months. I'll try and squeeze in a few here and there. I am still here just a little on the busy side.

Here are a few links for anyone interested in following the film:

The Official Website (which is coming soon) is HERE

The official Facebook page is HERE

The official Twitter is HERE

The official MySpace page is HERE

There is also a blog covering the production HERE

It is a very low budget film and I'll be making it (much like the last film) with no crew. So any and all support is greatly appreciated.

Gory's Random Clip Of The Day - My Eyes ...

I say this at least twice on every film set I've been on.

Movie Of The Day - Minority Report

MINORITY REPORT (2002) d: Steven Spielberg

What was billed, and released, as a summer blockbuster I think slightly hurt a film that is more than that. While there is action and a star lead this Steven Spielberg film, based on a short story by Phillip K. Dick, is really an old fashioned film noir.

Three people have the pre-sight of people being murdered so the Pre-Crime division gets the scattered images from the "precogs" and decyphers them to discover who is going to be murdered and by whom. Then they swoop in and arrest the person before the crime happens. John Anderton (Tom Cruise) heads the unit until one day one of the visions reveals himself murdering a stranger. This leads to an unraveling of a mystery with twists and turns and even a few action sequences. But this science fiction film is at heart an old fashioned film noir set against a science fiction backdrop. And I absolutely love film noir so this film was really something when I saw it in the theatre upon release. This is also arguably, after 'Saving Private Ryan', Spielberg's best film since 'Schindler's List'. A tight film with some real suspenseful moments and a climax that is about character not explosions. So strange that a big budget sci-fi summer movie with state of the art digital effects is more in line with the low budget black and white films of the 1940's. And desevedly so. An underrated film and one I was happy to revisit.

RIP Dennis Hopper - The Man Who Saved Hollywood

I'm sure everyone has heard of the passing of Dennis Hopper. It was only a matter of time unfortunately with him having cancer but it's still sad when it happens. Much will be written about he and his movies. His drug years. His amazing up and down career. His friendships with all kinds of people including the late great James Dean. A man who lived life to the fullest (perhaps too full sometimes) and has left a mark unlike few before him. However one such mark is the fact that the man saved Hollywood.

During the 1960's Hollywood revenue had dropped drastically and the studios were on the verge of bankruptcy. People weren't going to the movies as much and with the social climate at the time more kids were getting high and/or protesting the war (specifically the draft more than the war but that's a whole other thing) so no one was invading their local theatre for the latest Hollywood had to offer which wasn't really much. The films being turned out at the time were not ones anyone wanted to see. Hollywood had lost touch with the current crop of moviegoers. They were in a downward spiral until one actor decided to make his own movie. A hippie drug biker flick starring he and his buddy and a few friends. The film was 'Easy Rider'. A low budget film that no one at the studios even understood. And quite frankly some of us in the audience didn't either. But the film struck a chord with the people at the time and it became a huge success. Hollywood scratched its head and decided they were out of touch and knew their only hope was to grab onto young directors and let them do their thing. Out of this came the careers of Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Brian DePalma, William Friedkin, Peter Bogdanovich, Martin Scorsese ... and the list goes on and on. These filmmakers in turn redefined Hollywood and soon both the amazing films of the 1970's came about plus the birth of the modern blockbuster.

If not for 'Easy Rider' then who knows what would have happened. All because one man decided he wasn't seeing the films he wanted to see and went out and made his own. 'Easy Rider' isn't just about the hippie movement of the 1960's but about how one man created something that he felt was missing and it ended up changing everything.

That man was Dennis Hopper. Rest in peace.

Movie Of The Day - Collateral

COLLATERAL (2004) d: MICHAEL MANN

It's no secret one of my favorite filmmakers is Michael Mann. I just think he makes such amazing films. His action films are a clear example of the kind I want to make. They have the action but have a very strong dramatic element to them which I love. One such film is 'Collateral' which stars Jamie Foxx as a cab driver who picks up Vincent (Tom Cruise), a hitman who came to town to take out five people. The two of the them are fantastic in their polar opposite characters and the film plays out almost as a bizarre buddy picture only on a more serious note. There's action, surprises, but mainly just great characters. An amazing film from an amazing filmmaker. I hadn't seen it in a few years but experiencing it again on Blu-ray sure did make my evening. And inspired me as well.

Happy Star Wars Day

Today is 'Star Wars' day and to celebrate it I am posting this special post for it. I know I've gushed over 'Star Wars' in the past. And for those that know me personally they have heard it to death. It's hard not to though. The usual fan boy celebration of the films and the mythology and yes, even the lightsabers can be found everywhere. However, 'Star Wars' has very personal meaning for me. It takes it to a different level of appreciation because I might be a different person today if not for it.

When I was 3 going on 4 my parents took my sister and I to see it at the theatre. When your that age pretty much anything bright will grab hold of your attention but this was different. I was completely mesmerized by the powerful iconic images on the screen before me. It was such an awe inspiring moment that it changed everything. I became fascinated by the moving image. By visual storytelling. Whether I was watching movies or TV I found myself studying it even before I knew what the technical aspects of it were. When I played with my toys my eye became the camera. I would move in real close for a close up or pull out for a wide shot. I would repeat actions so that I could view them from different angles. All before I knew what any of that was. I didn't know about camera angles, editing, cinematography. I just wanted my imagination to mimic what I see on the screen.

As I grew older I learned more about the filmmaking process and knew from a very young age that a director was what I wanted to be. It's all I knew how to be. People would tell me how cute it was and that I would grow out of it. But I didn't. It only became more intense as the years went on. Even when people told me I needed to find a "real" career to invest in I was determined. I even had teachers tell me to give it up only to come around and tell me to keep going no matter what after they saw how determined I was.

I made my first feature film 'Distortion' which I literally just finished. It was many years in the making and I made it on my own with almost no money. But my love of movies and of filmmaking stems back to that one moment when a young child was completely enthralled by the film playing out in front of him. 'Star Wars' changed my life and I cannot be more thankful. I don't know who I would be today if that had never happened. Quite honestly I don't want to know. I like who I have become. I only hope that little kid who dreamed of becoming a filmmaker one day feels the same way.

Here is the one moment from any film that I feel defines me. It is only fitting that it is from 'Star Wars'. That sense of dreaming for something that seems so far away. Hoping one day to reach it.




Thank you 'Star Wars' for everything you have done for me. May the Force be with you.