In this installment, we look at Soderbergh's Sundance Film Festival smash hit, along with the preceding short that inspired and informed it. Screenshots all come from the 2009 Blu-ray of sex, lies, and videotape.
James Spader has done so much since sex, lies, and videotape, but this role re-shaped his screen persona and redefined him.
One of various things I like looking at are the semi-illogical causal events that would prevent the entire narrative of specific movies from happening.
If seahorses were already extinct, Finding Nemo would not have happened. Seahorses are pushy*, trust me. Nemo's arrival on Blu-ray late last year finally got the entire Pixar library on Blu-ray, with no "vaulting" in sight.
*I keep seahorses.
I recently interviewed Guillermo del Toro on Screen Time, one of the highlights of my professional life. We talked a fair amount about the classic Universal Monsters movies. For me, the guy with stitches and neck bolts will always be the definitive monster...if he's even the one you consider the monster in his story.
I did acapella in high school, so I knew Pitch Perfect would be my sort of thing. The only more-perfect kind of movie would be one focusing on high school or college forensics (speech and debate).
Well, if it stars Rebel Wilson.
A memorable interchange from Ozu's The Lady and The Beard, wherein the ingenue tells her would-be "modern" suitor that he lacks an essential skill she needs from her man.
She stands firm
He brushes her off
Oh snap!
The next installment of Soderberghopolis posts later today, with new stills taken from the Blu-ray.
If you've never seen Terry Gilliam's Brazil, Criterion's recent Blu-grade of it is a really great way to discover one of the greatest speculative fiction movies in history. Avoid the recent Univeral Blu-ray.
The best part Jonathan Pryce has ever played.
This is the first of three catch-up Daily Grabs, in the interest of them actually being daily this year. Goals, go figure.
Tokihiko Okada, a silent film actor on the rise, and one of Ozu's early career megastars-in-the-making, died far too young. I learned something surprising, delightful, and touching when I researched his background and legacy.
The next few Ozu films cover the last four movies he made in 1930 (out of seven), and the three that he made in 1931. They are a diverse mix of crime, melodrama, romance, an attempt at a character franchise, and the story of Japan's cultural progression.
Check back on this entry in March, when I get my hands on the BFI's latest Ozu Collection release and add screengrabs from the first feature in this in batch...
Satoko Date in 1931's The Lady and The Beard
I talked with my pal Sam Smith recently (iTunes link) about movies, art, design, and classic, true-blue Mario Bros. games. He made this, among other really cool things:
I talked with Emma Rios for a good long while (iTunes link), to the point that I didn't have space for another interview. This chat is very much worth it. The fact that English is not her first language is really not an issue, either, and she got comfortable after a while.
This discussion is a great look at the creative process and how you go from one "job" into the creative career that you really want to do.
Welcome to another revision and completion of an unfinished series I started at another site.
In advance of the 2011 release of Contagion, I watched all of Steven Soderbergh's movies that are available and wrote a series called "Soderberghopolis" for Badass Digest.
For a few reasons, I wanted to re-post and update this series with various changes, alterations, and updates.
In 2013, I'm starting an Arthouse Cowboy Screening Series here in Austin that will feature the work of at least Soderbergh and Tony Scott, and possibly a small quantity of Ozu and some other stuff. I'll be promoting these screenings here, as well as on Twitter and Screen Time (one of my podcasts on 5by5).
Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, Holy Mountain) has seen The Hobbit, and he's tweeting about it in Spanish. I have a towering respect for him as an artist and truth-teller.
Here are select tweets as translated very roughly and quickly by yours truly:
I just finished watching "El Hobbit" : a movie only for male children, not girls. In this long saga there is only one woman for a few minutes, an untouchable Queen.
Link
The Hobbit is a single male elf accompanied by male dwarves. How can we make movies where women do not exist?
Link
The Queen in El Hobbit [Galadriel] is a symbol of an unapproachable, immaculate mother like the church presents the Virgin Mary. Misogynist hypocrisy.
Link
Males of all sizes that gorge on food and break bones, this is not a homosexual world. It is a world of male brutes.
Link
In reply to someone:
@nomesigaoiga ¿did you like it? // very nice landscapes, amazing special effects, attractive monsters, slow and vacant conversations.
Link
UPDATE: A new favorite tweet...
You have convinced me: women are evil, the proof is that the Pope doesn't have one. And a Hobbit is not a Dwarf, it is an office worker with big ears.
Link
Another, where The Truth comes out:
I confess that they paid me to give Hobbit some publicity. Now I leave you because I have to go get drunk with a dwarf. Gut bai.
Link
This article was originally posted on Ain't It Cool News.
Here is a link to CBS News' ongoing coverage of this terrible event.
18 children are among the 27 reported dead in an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL shooting in the northern United States this morning. I just saw the President visibly shaken addressing the nation. The Governor of Connecticut has just confirmed that not only the shooter, but "someone he lived with" are now among the dead.
According to the sheriff, there is a secondary crime scene where someone else was found dead. The rumor is that the shooter went to go kill his mother, a schoolteacher. People are creating Facebook hate pages for the name that first filtered out (and apparently isn't the actual shooter).
The anger boiling in me is only matched by how profoundly sad this whole thing has made me.
This isn't "Cool" news, or movie news, or anything fun. I decided this was something we should talk about.
This is my favorite show yet (subscribe in iTunes). It's long, but when talking to an artist of this stature, the length is merited and warranted. I talk with Andrea about things I haven't heard or read her discuss in any previous podcast or interview.
Andrea Romano either cast or voice directed (sometimes both) all of the following animated projects and more (not in chronological order):
Batman: The Animated Series
Animaniacs
Tiny Toons
TMNT (2012)
The Last Airbender (and The Legend of Korra)
Ducktales
Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers
almost all of the DC Animated movies, starting with Batman: Mask of the Phantasm on through The Dark Knight Returns
Snorks
Smurfs
Pound Puppies
ReBoot
Static Shock
Superman: The Animated Series
Justice League
There are too many more to list. She's directed Batman more times than Burton, Schumacher, and Nolan combined, and has director's shelf in my DVD library alongside Scorsese, Spielberg, Lean, and Hitchcock. In the opening minutes, we discuss exactly what a Voice Director does, and why she's this big of a deal.
The stories she tells are absolutely unreal. Here's a name you won't forget after hearing this episode:
Don't Google him, just listen.
I unapologetically dig this movie.
New Deleted Scenes with director Ron Howard, Warwick Davis' personal video diary, and new intros to existing featurettes are added the to pre-existing extras. Drops on 12 March, 2013.
"Madmartigan!!!"
George O'Hanlon is an actor you'd know by his voice more than his face.
Three words: Meet George Jetson.
In this week's Screen Time 17, my guest is Andrea Romano. Andrea has been working in voiceover direction (and previously casting) since the 1980's, and a significant portion of our discussion centers around the great Mr. O'Hanlon, with whom she worked on the 1980's revival of The Jetsons.
Warner Archive has collected all 63 of the Joe McDoakes shorts on DVD, clocking in at 650 minutes of content. Here's the one I found on YouTube, "So You Want to Be a Detective":
I grew up trying to imitate the voices of guys like O'Hanlon, and his comedic timing formed so much of my formative study of acting. Cartoons were the radio theatre of my generation and so many others before and since.
Mostly ignored due to people owning many of the shorts on other discs already, the Pixar Short Films Volume 2 set has some great student films on it from John Lasseter, Pete Docter, and Andrew Stanton. Commentary, intros, and various other things make nice additions to the shorts themselves.
Did I mention there's a dinosaur short by Pete Docter?
Ok, just checking.
Marvel and DC are not the only two comics publishers out there. On this episode of Giant Size, I talk with two people from non-Big Two companies.
Branwyn Bigglestone works for Image Comics by day as their Accounts Manager, and by night freelance edits some of their comics.
The featured interview this week is with Ted Adams, the CEO of IDW Publishing. We delve into the history of the company and the extremely diverse array of comics and books they make, from republishing classic runs of Bloom County, TMNT, and Transformers to brand-new books based on licensed properties to some of the most unique and interesting original stories of recent years, like Locke & Key.
In my weekly chat with Brandon form Austin Books & Comics, we not only talk about the week's comics, but we also seethe with anger at the abrupt dismissal of fan and personal favorite writer Gail Simone from DC's Batgirl.
Subscribe to Giant Size in iTunes here.
I should also mention here that I am now booking sponsors directly for both Giant Size and Screen Time. Drop me a line through the contact form if you or your company are interested in sponsoring these shows. We can accomodate varying levels of budget and placement.
Based on the two currently released, the Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-ray sets represent an outstanding achievement in both 35mm preservation and home video. On this episode of Screen Time, I talk to Robert Meyer Burnett, one of the co-producers of this series, which will see more seasons out next year.
Subscribe to Screen Time in iTunes here.
The next episode of Screen Time features an interview with legendary voice director Andrea Romano. It, along with #16 here, are among my favorite bits of work I've done with Screen Time.
We have some more great guests coming up, including Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro (subject to their very busy schedules). 2013 is going to be a big year for this show.
I should also mention here that I am now booking sponsors directly for both Screen Time and Giant Size. Drop me a line through the contact form if you or your company are interested in sponsoring these shows. We can accomodate varying levels of budget and placement.