Everybody Must Get Stoned
Current mood: relieved
Category: Life
Well... I gave birth... again...
The image above pretty much sums up my last three weeks. It is from the cover of a pamphlet from my visit to the Urologist. I write this blog not for pity, but to explain why I have been distant or MIA for the past three weeks. Here is my story.
Three Sundays ago I awoke to significant pain in my lower left abdomen. I thought it might be a case of diverticulitis since this condition runs in my family and I had corn on the cob recently (which can make it act up). I dealt with the pain for about a week. However, by the next Sunday the pain moved to the middle of my abdomen, and at this point a light clicked on in my brain.... kidney stone!
About four or five years ago I gave birth to Gerald, a relatively small kidney stone. Thinking it was a one time thing I neglected to have the stone tested. Instead I decided to raise Gerald along with his father Tony Wolf. Flash to five years later, it appeared Gerald was going to have a brother or sister. Of course, me being the type to purse my dream job no matter what, found myself in a lot of pain and without health insurance. I had some X-Rays taken by my father (to cut costs) and gave it another week to pass the stone.
Needless to say, that stone wasn't going anywhere, and caused me the worst pain I've ever had. I finally get in to a Urologist, and I'm informed that this stone is large and in charge, and they have to get it out of me. Yesterday at 10:30am I was put under for a Ureteroscopy (cue all guys reading this cringing). Yes, this is the procedure where they "poke da penis". The doctor finds, in his own words, "the largest stone he has ever seen anyone pass in to their bladder." He pulls it out and I'm good to go.
Now that you know a whole lot more than you probably wanted to know about my little guy, I will end my story here. I'm currently stone free, in a little pain, but relieved to get that thing out of me. Sadly this story does not have a good ending. Big Bertha (her name) was taken away from me to be tested. Little Gerald will never see his sister. And hopefully Will will never give birth again!!!
Post-Apocalyptic Remake Coming to Theaters!!!
Current mood: ecstatic
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
For those of you who know me and know me well... you are aware of the fact that I am obsessed with the post-apocalyptic genre. I have my inclinations on why I fancy this genre so much but I won't go in to the details of that. I just know that I'm not alone...
Many of you have probably not heard of I Am Legend or The Omega Man. I Am Legend is a story written by Richard Matheson. In the story, "the protagonist, Robert Neville, is apparently the only survivor of an apocalypse caused by a pandemic of a bacterium the symptoms of which are very similar to vampirism". Whenever mom would go away for a weekend when I was younger, my Dad and I would have movie night. And every time we would rent the classic 1971 movie titled The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston. This could be a good reason why I crave the thought of a world gone awry. Eventually I discovered the novel I Am Legend and loved everything about it. I also stumbled upon the 1964 film adaptation starring Vincent Price title The Last Man on Earth. All versions tell a great tale...
Today I was sorting through the new movie trailers and I stumbled upon this...
OH MY GOD!!! I want it now! Anyway, I wanted to bring this to everyone's attention. Please, if you have the time, prepare yourselves by renting The Omega Man or reading I Am Legend. You won't be disappointed!
For the higher quality version of the trailer go HERE
The creation of this game came to my attention about three or four years ago. And it sounded like it was designed for just me in mind. I have always been fascinated by the Chernobyl accident. And as many of you know, I want to visit the surrounding vacant city of Pripyat . JJ and I haven't decided if we want kids yet, so that is a factor of whether or not I'll ever visit (a bit of radiation poisoning might cause mutant babies - and though mutant babies might be fun for a year or two, I think the looks would get old).
Anyway, the creators of this game stalled the release date so many times, I thought it would never be released. And truth be told, I was kind of happy. Because the last time my PC was fast enough to play the latest games was about five years ago (the "whore-machine" is still ticking though!). So now the game is out and it looks awesome. They modeled many of the areas to the actual surroundings of this infamous area of the Ukraine. STALKER blends the best of the first person shooters and RPGs. Many of the areas are free flowing. Other than some bugs here and there, the reviews seem to be pretty super-fantastic.
I suppose some day I will have an awesome PC. And this will be the first game I'll purchase. In the meantime I'll watch the Mac commercials and laugh at how witty they are. And then I'll silently cry myself to sleep...
If you avoid the bulletins like the plague, perhaps you missed my post about the music video I created this past weekend. I know I'm being very persistent about showcasing this. And it's certainly not because I think its the best thing in the world. But I did probably did spend way too much time on it. I must admit that I miss the good old days of The Peanut Gallery (HS) and the STOOP making shorts and movies. I work in the motion picture industry now but sometimes its nice to just make something simple for fun. So please check out the music video for Broken Social Scene's "Looks Just Like the Sun". I hope you enjoy!
Perhaps you are all way ahead of me on this one, but I just discovered the video clips from "We Need Girlfriends" titled the same. It reminds me of my good old days of creating video projects with The Peanut Gallery and Tone (but certainly with a much lower production value). And I can also sadly relate to these guys from various parts of my life. So if you are bored, check out their first three episodes!
I should have written this review a couple of weeks ago when I saw this movie (sorry Aaron). My first thought when walking out of the theater was that I need to tell everyone about this amazing film. But I'm lazy and easily distracted. So here I am, two weeks later, telling the world (or the small group who actually read my blog) to see this movie.
Children of Men is a simple story. It takes place in the near future (about one generation ahead). The world is in chaos because 18 years ago women stopped being able to give birth. No one quite knows why, but the world crumbles without any hope of future generations. Through hints and newspaper clippings the viewer realizes that most countries including the United States have fallen into disarray with the crumbling of civilization and even nuclear fallout. Due to its geographical isolation, England is the only place on the Earth that is still somewhat "civilized" but the borders are closed to immigrants. The synopsis alone sold me on this one.
What happens is that the main character gets mixed up in a plan to find safety for a woman who is pregnant. The idea is to get her out of the country and to a mysterious group called The Human Project. Again, the storyline is simple. However, how it is portrayed is some of the most intense and fascinating filmmaking I have seen in years. I was at the edge of my seat for most of the movie. You become immersed in the main character's depression-turned hope as he tries to help the pregnant women find a better world.
There are parts of this movie that absolutely blew my mind. Near the end there is a nine-minute shot, which includes some of the most intense action I've seen in quite some time. I read up on this amazing scene and found out that the nine-minute shot took 12 days of planning and four hours to reset if something went wrong. On one take the cameraman tripped six minutes into the shot and they had to restart. The take that is actually in the film almost did not happen because at one point, one of the extra's blood pack splattered the camera's lens. The director yelled, "CUT!" but due to an explosion, the crew did not hear him. They continued with the shot and it turned out to be THE one. However, they hired some poor lady to go in and digitally remove, shot by shot, the blood splatter. It was well worth the time because this scene was choreographed so well and is so amazing, it makes an already impressive movie even more intriguing.
It is a rough motion picture to watch. And it is also quite terrifying because, truth be told, the future of the human race is heading down a dangerous path and films such as Children of Men may not be far from the truth. This movie is also important because there are plenty of correlations with today's society, the United States in particular (including an interesting portrayal of Homeland Security). You really should see this movie. You won't be disappointed.
Last week I had a dream... It was scary, but fascinating as well. It also wasn't very complicated, but for some reason I cannot get it out of my head. Here is the basic concept:
I found myself in an empty city. For some odd reason, I've always had a fondness for post-apocolyptic themes. However, as I wandered around the streets and searched the skyscrapers, I discovered that I was not alone. Something was following me. Eventually I caught a glimpse, and what I saw was terrifying. It was a creature quite larger than myself. It also seemed to be hovering above the ground. It was a simple oval shape, with a face, hair and tentacles hanging from its side, and around the top was a spinning flap. It seemed to be reminiscent of a helicopter and might have explained how the creature was hovering. But somehow I knew it meant to harm me. For quite some time the dream consisted of your typical dream-eque chase: Down empty streets and thru parks. However, at one point I was able to enter a building without the creature following me. It was a large office building with an open layout. I walked around the halls looking for a place to rest. There was an inner courtyard which I explored. I heard some commotion in a room down the hall. A large conference room just off the courtyard held about 30 people. They all seemed to be in the same predicament as myself. Tired, scared, and trying to rest. As I talked to them, I realized they had no answers. However, I was comforted at the fact that I was no longer alone. Just as I thought this, one of the men fell to the ground as if having a seizure. The people around him did not looked surprised or concerned. The man's chest started ripping open and out came some alien-like arms. It was at this moment that I realized that another creature was spawning from this human being. And as I looked around the room, somehow I knew they all had these creatures inside them. I ran... I ran down familiar halls. Halls I can't place just yet. At this point I awoke to my cell phone ringing. It rang only once and whomever called hung up...
Sorry if you were expecting an insightful, enlightening dream. It wasn't anything to learn a lesson from. But again, for some reason I can't get it out of my head and wanted to share. Below is a picture I made to try to show what the dream looked like.
When Goldeneye came out, I was a freshman in high school. Prior to seeing this movie, I hadn't really been a huge Bond fan. However, the first installment of the Bond series starring Pierce Brosnan, caught my attention (it also didn't hurt that the N64 game of the same name was all my friends and I would play that year). After that moment I'd get excited for TNT's 13 days of 007 (now on Spike TV I believe). And I also went to see all the Bonds that came to the theater. However, each time I went back I was increasingly disappointed. Each time there was less charm to the films and more outrageous stunts. The producers seemed to feel that they had to out-do the retarded stunts that they created in the previous Bond movies. And it all culminated in one of the worst Bond movies ever made, Die Another Day (the ice hotel was just ridiculous). Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Pierce Brosnan as Bond and was sad to hear he wouldn't be returning. But if it allowed for a change in the stale franchise, I was ready for anything.
Casino Royale is exactly the overhaul I was looking for. As the 21st installment in the series, the story follows Bond on his very first mission as an agent for Mi-6. I do not believe that you have to be a Bond fan to appreciate this film. However, the best part for me was seeing Bond evolve into what we already know him as. For example, in the beginning we see him drive up to a hotel in a Ford. At first you worry that this was a mistake on the director's part. But Bond hasn't established his perfect game yet. He doesn't have his drink defined, he is overly confident but still extremely vulnerable. And throughout the movie you see how each of the classic traits of Bond were defined. The movie also possibly foreshadows why Bond treats women the way he does. And the new actor does an excellent job. I was extremely doubtful, as were many. Typically Daniel Craig plays the villian in films such as Road to Perdition. He doesn't quite have the look of Bond, and they certainly try to showcase his muscles more than any other Bond. However, you could tell Craig took the role seriously and was thankful to have been given the role. It didn't take me long to accept him as the next 007.
Casino Royale is an action movie to the extreme. Some of the stunts are over the top. But the truth of the matter is that Bond was never meant to be taken too seriously. And though there is a new actor playing Bond, there are still elements to Casino that made the Bond series fun (The scarred villain, etc). And the charm of the Connery and Moore movies has found its way back into the story. The women are beautiful (Eva Green playing Vesper Lynd is stunning), the settings are gorgeous, the cars are slick, and the action is very well done. I highly recommend Casino Royale to those who are interested. And the movie sets you up to want more from Daniel Craig.
Thunder on the Farm accepted into the Ozark Foothills Festival!!!
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
We completed Thunder on the Farm only two months ago and have begun the film festival submission process. With 20 festivals on our list of interest, we have already entered Thunder into seven. This morning we received word that the Ozark Foothills Festival wants to screen our movie!!!
We are thrilled to tell you that Thunder on the Farm has been selected for the 2007 Ozark Foothills FilmFest. It is an amazing film that really creates its own visual language to lament the loss of rural landscape and all that represents.
We will be working on all the details about screenings over the next few weeks and will be in touch. We are tentatively thinking of screenings in both Batesville the first weekend (March 23-25) and Little Rock the second weekend (March 30 to April 1).
Thanks for thinking of us. Your film is a real treasure and we're looking forward to showcasing it.
Best,
Bob Pest
If you are interested at all in the festival check out their website below. This is great news as we sent this submission out last week and have already been accepted! Hopefully there will be more to come! Stay tuned!
If you weren't aware, I am the vice president for the small independent high definition motion picture company MANTIS AND MOON. The company has one full-length motion picture under its belt which won best drama/feature at the Hollywood DV/HD Festival last year. We have a few tweaks to make on the project before we start sending it off to distributors. Hopefully someone will be interested!
I have also been working on various other projects such as commercials and radio spots for my boss's financial planning company and various music videos. However, going into last summer we took on a project called Thunder on the Farm. The basic idea for Thunder is quite simple. We wanted to showcase in HD the nature of a typical midwestern farm. Thunder represents what appears to be a 24-hour period (morning, afternoon, evening). However, as the baby birds grow and leave the nest, the house across the street is built, and the plants grow and die, you soon realize that the entire summer season is shown in one day. We wanted to capture the essence of the old farmhouse which was built 150 years ago, watching the seasons and years go by in the blink of an eye: Much like how the older you get, the faster the years seem to go.
Shooting for Thunder on the Farm ended last month. I was the main cinematographer for this project and about 80% of the 34-minute documentary is from my eyes. I was literally crawling around in the fields and bushes for an entire summer. But it was well worth it. I was also the main editor for this project. I'm very proud, as this natural drama is extremely beautiful to watch. It's certainly not for the mainstream movie watcher. However, we have begun the film festival entry procedure by entering into the festival which we won at last year. Hopefully we will be accepted to the Hollywood International HD/DV Festival again, and I'll be in LA in March! Along with this festival, Mantis and Moon will be submitting to 15 festivals from all over the country (and a couple in Canada). If you are interested, stop on by for a viewing. And hopefully down the road we will receive distribution and you can buy a copy and help put food on my table ;)
Up next for Mantis and Moon is a documentary dealing with the potential downfall of the American economy. And early next year we will begin on our next full-length motion picture which represents a fictional account of the financial problems of the United States.
relieved
ecstatic
