Two Trailers

Two trailers snatched from twitchfilm that are worth passing along. The first, for Dying Breed, promises a rather awesome film. The second, for Mum & Dad, just plain creeps me out.

Amazon Annual Fee

Just found out that Amazon will be charging an annual fee of $29.95 for selling through their Advatange Program - which is how "The Bet" is selling.

Please note the annual fee for continuied (sic) participation in the Amazon.com Advantage program will be deducted from your July sales payment. The annual fee is $29.95. The deduction will be indicated as a line item on your July payment. However, if you have not yet sold enough to cover the fee it will be deducted automatically from future monthly payments up until the fee has been paid in full.

Keep in mind, the film lists for $12.99, of which, we only get $5.85 - Amazon pockets the rest. And now they want to charge an annual fee on top of the 55% they keep from each sale. Since Februrary, we've only sold 5 copies through Amazon, instead pushing to keep the sales at Film Baby (where we get $8.99 from each sale). I'm wondering if maybe I should cancel the Amazon deal (since the 5 copies that have sold, still won't even cover the annual fee). Thing is, those are sales that we never really pushed for, as far as I know. It's great to have the films available through Amazon (and it's partners, like Target.com and a slew of independent places), but I just can't see giving them 55% of each sale AND paying an annual fee for what amounts to the "handling" part of shipping and handling. They are high profile, which is the only reason it's tough to end the relationship (despite all the other issues we've had with them regarding shipping, notifications, etc.).

I'll have to mull this one over. But it's not looking good.

After looking over how to cancel the program, they will sell the remaining inventory and pay out as usual. They currently have 6 DVDs of "The Bet" in stock. So, pretty much those sales will cover the annual fee they are charging (if they all sell by the end of the year).

Pissed.

I've always known I was different

I've come to accept it. I wear two different color high top Converse at times (fuck you, Punky Brewster). I wear shorts to work. I've got tattoos. My ears are pierced (though the earrings are long gone) and I even had my lip pierced. Sure, some may say rebel without a clue.

When Batman Begins came out, I still fought that Batman Returns was better. Who could deny Michelle Pfeiffer's epitomous (my word) portrayal of Catwoman ("Honey, I'm home!" - the whole transformation of Selena Kyle, while many complained detracted from the story of Batman which clearly the audience had tired of hence the fascination with the villains in every film, could have been a self-contained film from the snooping to the fall to the answering machine and sewing and rapist attack fail - and Daniel Waters' unexpectedly hilariously dark screenplay. But I was in the minority and was scoffed at.

So now, despite the fact that some people in the theatre watching HEATH LEDGER'S LAST PERFORMANCE BEFORE HIS TRAGIC DEATH didn't even know there were other films in the Bat-oeuvre. This was THAT film. And everyone had to see it. There were scenes shot with IMAX CAMERAS, yet the director and DP couldn't manage to use the anamorphic lens they used on the 35mm footage so the 65mm footage would match. Really? It's like shooting some scenes in black and white and expecting no one to notice - however you've fucked the long-time debate about aspect ratios and letterboxing vs. pan&scan far more than James Cameron did with Titanic. Look at the lights in the background. Look at how blurred lights become tall ovals when anamorphic lenses are used (which use the ENTIRE frame of film, despite the wide aspect ratio) and how they suddenly become ROUND when the IMAX film is used. I saw the film in a regular theatre and still noticed the change from 35mm to 65mm; I may have ran out of the theatre in an IMAX presentation where the aspect ratios actually changed.

I won't deny the film was fun. It was. If there wasn't so much goddamn hype. No, Mr Ledger does not deserve to even be nominated for this performance. He was good, but far better in Candy for which he wasn't nominated, nor barely recognized until after he died. But, that's not how the majority think, and I - as has been established - don't think that way. Stupid me.

It was better than Batman Begins - though I miss Scarecrow's intensity and fuckedupedness. And hate his useless cameo here and feel kinda cheated that they brought back Cillian Murphy for such a cheap return. There was just too much of the same thing for too long without a good enough payoff. Like courting the sexy blonde all through your junior year in high school only to have her leave your car after prom with a quick, teasing, gratuitous - better had it never happened - pull-down of her top as she approaches her front door, so you only get a passing glimpse of nipple before she goes in where daddy's been waiting up.

A rant on the MPAA ratings

A short one, cos I'm drunk, but why is Grand Canyon (and awesome film) rated R for "Language," (they say "fuck" more than once - and there is some violence, though this isn't even noted, realistic and disturbing at that) while Hostel 2 is given the same rating for "sadistic scenes of torture and bloody violence, terror, nudity, sexual content, language and some drug content." And then Run, Fat Boy, Run is rated PG-13, despite more than one use of "fuck" for "some rude and sexual humor, nudity, language and smoking." And don't even get me started on that smoking thing. If i ever went up against the MPAA, I'd be fucked, fucked and fucked.

IMDb Indie Showcase

IMDb sent me an invitation to upload "The Bet" to showcase on their Indie section. I chose to only upload the trailer (not the whole film) and, whether or not they decided to actually highlight it, the trailer is now live on "The Bet" IMDb page. Pretty cool. Cooler if they actually highlight it, though.

Absence

As a big fan of independent and no-budget filmmaking (and a fan of the Silent Hill games), this short by first-time filmmaker Steve Griggs really caught my eye. An awesome location (Pleasure Beach in CT) and some very striking, haunting images. Watch it. Comment. This guy'll only get better. Damn him and his talent. Opens a new window.

Wow

I haven't felt as tense as I did watching this film in a long time. So much for needing to see something on a big screen to get into it. Wow. Pretty intense stuff here.

INDEMNE

Wall-E

First - If you're gonna use anamorphic bokeh and blue line flares, please use the lens flare as well. it's just unrealistic otherwise (yes, i know it's a film about robots!)

Second - Enough with the Apple references.

Third - Enough with everyone claiming it's political.

Fourth - This film, despite everyone's raving and craziness, will not change the world.

Fifth - Edit. Cut. Do we need twenty minutes of space dancing? do we need ten minutes of "you have shut down with a plant you stole inside you and I will stand by you because I love you, see, i am here with you, in the rain and lightning, forever..."

Sixth - I love Sigourney Weaver.

Finally - In the future we will be animated. The present day people are human. In the future we become fat, boneless and animated. Why? It's just weird. I get what you're saying but to take a couple hundred lazy people back to Earth and expect them to recolonize?

Actually, it wasn't bad. Better than Cars, but how could it not be. But Pixar needs to decide if they are making fun family films or are they gonna try for the next Lawrence of Arabia or Departed. It's a film this full of itself that makes me want to watch The Little Mermaid and just get away from it all and have a little fun.

To DVD or not to DVD?

Was sitting here this morning, drinking my coffee, wondering how I would feel if I were to get to make Detox and it ended up going straight-to-DVD. Would I be happy that I got to make the film? Would I be upset it never played in a theatre? Does a DTV-release mean I made a lesser film? Is it better to not worry about having it go into the theatres, all the prints or drives for exhibition, and just be happy to see it on a screen if it makes it into a festival?

Could I be happy making films if I was making the same amount of money as I do now? If I had the same amount of recognition in film as I have now in design?

I think so. The idea of making the film is what makes me excited. I don't think I ever expected fame and fortune. It would be nice; I wouldn't fight it off.

Maybe I wouldn't be able to get the budgets I need for some of the stories I have. Maybe I wouldn't get some of the actors I'd like to work with if I didn't have the budgets or the reputation. Maybe I wouldn't make the kind of money I'd need to do some of the other things I'd like to do. But would I be happy doing it?

Or more importantly, would I not be disappointed if it ended up that way? I think I could deal with it. "The Bet" played on the big screen at CineVegas. That's the only time I saw it (didn't make it to ShockerFest) in a theatre. Then it went to DVD. I'm fine with that. In fact, at any time, I can rent a theatre, invite some friends and play it again.

There's a lot of films I've only seen on DVD. Maybe they were foreign, or never played here, or I just missed them or went straight-to-DVD. I don't think less of them (if they were good).

Yeah, I think I'd be okay with it. As long as it was good. And then, maybe I wouldn't even be having this conversation.

Sometimes I drink

Last Christmas. Vodka. Peanut Butter. My dog (stop your filthy mind). Edward Scissorhands.

We are on Google Street View

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And on Google Maps you can see Bat Boy!

I am awed by Jackie Chan

See why (as if you don't already know) - awesome video of his TOP TEN stunts

Talent = Talent - Hype

Yes, I admit it. I play the soundbyte of Daniel Noriega's classic "Some people weren't likin' it" anytime some questions me or my design fa shizzle (I have a rather small but potent array of soundbytes, the latest being the "Party in the elevator" awesomeness by Brent Bailey in the Taco Bell :15 second Queso Crunchwrap commercials), but back to the point, Mr Noriega actually has some talent...



I hate the fact that American Idol made him a personality rather than making him a popular singer. He's got the talent and the personality, someone should pay him for it.

Why is horror the indie gateway?

Yeah, I know that The Blair Witch Project is the most profitable film ever, but reading the numerous filmmaking blog I subscribe to, I gotta wonder why so many of the threads are about people who are making horror films?

Andm about that, read a post the other day that said if the company wanted to distribute the film, there should be blood and/or T&A in the first minute, and gore every every 7 minutes following. Really?

Fuck that.

You can pander to the netflix/Blockbuster/rental/impulse crowd that way, but have you really heard of or seen any "classic" - and by classic, i mean memorable, important, even Oscar nominated/winning film that followed that? Even on IMBd it doesn't work. THX had it right, the audience IS listening. Through IMDb, rotten tomatoes, b-d, etc., people are listening AND they are talking.

Go check out some of the discussion on IMDb about Automaton Transfusion. Despite the rav critical review, the real people thought it (and it's director), stunk. Why? Nothing new. Yet, these are the people that like the remakes.

What does it matter? I'm never gonna get the chance to make a feature-length film. I'm gonna be stuck in advertising my whole life and never again get to experience that absolute - I don't even know what you'd call it, bliss? happiness? - thing that inspired me so much with "The Bet."

Whatever. Fuck it.

Really?

After knowing that Christian Bale (from seeing Empire of the Sun some 20-odd years ago) was gonna be HUGE! and all the other actors I "picked": winona ryder, michelle pfeiffer (in Grease 2), uma thurman and keanu reeves (in Dangerous Liaisons), just wait for everyone to know and love
The Cat with Hands."

Really, I should give it up?
After getting the good reviews and the "Expect great things of Dunn" - City Life... and all those similar sentiments?

Really?

But "art" costs money. And dream are, apparently, reserved for that time when we're sleeping. Not to intrude into real-life where bills and war and suckage dominate.

...

Sorry got a bit sidetracked. Keep reading how people tend to get their start from horror. Matthew McConaughey and Renee Zellweger in TCM-The Next Generation. Or Jennifer Aniston in Leprechaun. All those stories, yet, horror is STILL a forbidden ground.

Fuck that.

I'm committed

I may beard again

Before I was gonna do it until, well shit, I don't remember what I was gonna do it 'til... Maybe for Detox to get made? Well, how 'bout a slightly shorter wait (or not) for the new short film, PeepShow. Meh. I'm doing it cos I get bored of the doof in the mirror.

The new short film

With any luck, in January of '09, I'll be shooting a new short film. If the script comes together. If there's money. If the SAG paperwork goes through in time. If I can get it all together and going before the end of January when my free equipment goes away.

Of course, as usual, I'm not giving away anything. I'll say this, though: it is definably horror (oh yes, there will be blood), it will have SAG actors (part of getting ready for a feature), it will have nudity (yes, really), it will (maybe) be scary (hopefully), it will have Silent Hill homages (duh!) and it will fucking rock!

My goal is to have it done before March 2009; that'll get it into consideration for CineVegas. But the real goal here is just to make another damn film, short or feature. It's too damn much fun to not do again.