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Thursday, November 5, 2009
Exegenis
In building a simple blog based upon film reviews and thoughts about the industry, I considered my experience with blogs in the past and how best to shape my web presence as to convey the message and tone I wanted. Having never studied film and without an educated knowledge of formal reviewing (short of watching David and Margaret and reading Empire) I knew that the best approach would be a casual one, incorporating humour and sharing my own experience as opposed to breaking down the construction of a particular piece.
I chose Blogger as the host for my central node for a variety of reasons, it syncs up with my Google account which is convenient, there is already a large network which encourages aimlessly browsing through blogs and its simple to set-up and use. But the largest influence on my choice was being aware of my own predispositions upon reaching any blog. In choosing Blogger over nearest competitor Wordpress I chose a more leisure orientated blog, in my experience Wordpress is more often facilitated to express a professional opinion, I didn't want to give that impression. By choosing a platform which a specific group of content generating users, I helped influence the type of people accessing the blog and the impression they got of it.
The next important decision in shaping my impression people got of my web presence was choosing the layout of my blog. The simple Harbour layout by Douglas Bowman was the most appealing to my intentions, it was clear and yet decorative enough to show the site was arts related. I didn't want the page to be cluttered with too many distracting widgets so I chose the ones related to my external nodes and a trailer of the day one to tie in with the movie theme. I wanted my page to be rich in links throughout the text and for that not to interrupt with quickly reading the post if the reader doesn't have time or doesn't need to follow the links. Choosing the Harbour layout was important in achieving that because of the subtle difference in text colour between a link and regular content. Lots of embedded links helps to solidify the casual browsing feel I wanted the blog to give off, but if they are too “loud” on the page it distracts from the content.
I chose the social networking tools Delicious, Twitter and Digg for my contributing nodes because they all encourage the frequent short browsing that West Coast Cinema was meant to be a part of. I can link to various stories or trailers I might want to share on a smaller scale and get a good idea of general public consensus through the comment at each of these sites.
I chose Blogger as the host for my central node for a variety of reasons, it syncs up with my Google account which is convenient, there is already a large network which encourages aimlessly browsing through blogs and its simple to set-up and use. But the largest influence on my choice was being aware of my own predispositions upon reaching any blog. In choosing Blogger over nearest competitor Wordpress I chose a more leisure orientated blog, in my experience Wordpress is more often facilitated to express a professional opinion, I didn't want to give that impression. By choosing a platform which a specific group of content generating users, I helped influence the type of people accessing the blog and the impression they got of it.
The next important decision in shaping my impression people got of my web presence was choosing the layout of my blog. The simple Harbour layout by Douglas Bowman was the most appealing to my intentions, it was clear and yet decorative enough to show the site was arts related. I didn't want the page to be cluttered with too many distracting widgets so I chose the ones related to my external nodes and a trailer of the day one to tie in with the movie theme. I wanted my page to be rich in links throughout the text and for that not to interrupt with quickly reading the post if the reader doesn't have time or doesn't need to follow the links. Choosing the Harbour layout was important in achieving that because of the subtle difference in text colour between a link and regular content. Lots of embedded links helps to solidify the casual browsing feel I wanted the blog to give off, but if they are too “loud” on the page it distracts from the content.
I chose the social networking tools Delicious, Twitter and Digg for my contributing nodes because they all encourage the frequent short browsing that West Coast Cinema was meant to be a part of. I can link to various stories or trailers I might want to share on a smaller scale and get a good idea of general public consensus through the comment at each of these sites.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
On time Reviews!
After you have worked in a cinema and become accustomed to free movies, it is difficult to bring yourself to pay for them. Cinema prices are too expensive, there are better movies and a bigger selection at the video store, your living room doesn't have a gaggle of rowdy teenagers throwing popcorn at each other. In my experience I can't help by purchase some of that delicious popcorn either; I am sure that years of conditioning has left my body craving it and that accounts for the vast majority of the reason I do still periodically go.
But there is another good reason to go to the cinema this month at that is Duncan Jone's directional debut Moon. Unfortunately while being an excellent movie to see it is a difficult one to review without detracting from the mystique of the film. Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, a engineer on a three year contract to mine "Helium 3" on the surface of the Moon. Kevin Spacey voices GERTY, an emoticon faced AI robot programmed to help Sam and keep him from being too lonely in isolation.
One of the few films I have seen recently based upon an original idea and executed fantastically. I cannot sing its praises enough but I won't post a trailer here, I saw it without having had it ruined by spoilers... that's the way to watch it.
Great poster though!
The only other film that has enticed me to the cinema recently was The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which while being entertaining is not even worth comparing. This film got huge amount of press attention because it is Heath Ledgers last film, as if the fact that it was directed by ex-Python Terry Gilliam wasn't enough. Unlike the vast majority of my peers, I have not particularly enjoyed his work outside of Monty Python and although his most recent effort is his best a few scenes fell short of holding my attention. I did enjoy seeing Andrew Garfield playing a large role in a popular film, I liked him in 2007's festival hit Boy A and hopefully his performance in this will get him better recognized. Johnny Depp and Colin Farrel do a good job of filling in for Heath, its difficult to say whether Jude Laws performance was awful or whether I am still holding something against him for Alfie.
But there is another good reason to go to the cinema this month at that is Duncan Jone's directional debut Moon. Unfortunately while being an excellent movie to see it is a difficult one to review without detracting from the mystique of the film. Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, a engineer on a three year contract to mine "Helium 3" on the surface of the Moon. Kevin Spacey voices GERTY, an emoticon faced AI robot programmed to help Sam and keep him from being too lonely in isolation.
One of the few films I have seen recently based upon an original idea and executed fantastically. I cannot sing its praises enough but I won't post a trailer here, I saw it without having had it ruined by spoilers... that's the way to watch it.
Great poster though!
The only other film that has enticed me to the cinema recently was The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which while being entertaining is not even worth comparing. This film got huge amount of press attention because it is Heath Ledgers last film, as if the fact that it was directed by ex-Python Terry Gilliam wasn't enough. Unlike the vast majority of my peers, I have not particularly enjoyed his work outside of Monty Python and although his most recent effort is his best a few scenes fell short of holding my attention. I did enjoy seeing Andrew Garfield playing a large role in a popular film, I liked him in 2007's festival hit Boy A and hopefully his performance in this will get him better recognized. Johnny Depp and Colin Farrel do a good job of filling in for Heath, its difficult to say whether Jude Laws performance was awful or whether I am still holding something against him for Alfie.
Free entertainment!
If you are an Australian resident you'll know all too well that we have limited free online streaming available. Throughout the rest of the world bandwidth is plentiful enough to offer a variety of legal streaming services so that you can watch your favorite TV shows after you have missed them.
So far the only Australian channel to have taken the leap into free streaming is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and their iView interface has set a high standard. They keep anything that shows on the ABC up there for a couple of weeks and loading is fast considering the high quality of the video.
You can still catch a fantastic BB4 documentary "The Great Contemporary Art Bubble", which explains the facade behind exorbitantly priced pieces that have sold in the last decade. I have never taken an interest in the modern art world but stories like Damien Hirst's crystal skull being sold for 100 million US dollars penetrated the mass media and I remember being shocked to find out that the artist selling this work was still alive and had set the price himself! Art critic Ben Lewis spent a year documenting what had caused this explosion in the value of contemporary art, and how its availability led to it being treated like a commodity, prone to speculation and market manipulation.
Its a really fun watch and it will help you to understand why some art has been getting sold for more money than you and everyone you know will ever make. Plus Lewis is a likable character that drives a hilarious electric car.
So far the only Australian channel to have taken the leap into free streaming is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and their iView interface has set a high standard. They keep anything that shows on the ABC up there for a couple of weeks and loading is fast considering the high quality of the video.
You can still catch a fantastic BB4 documentary "The Great Contemporary Art Bubble", which explains the facade behind exorbitantly priced pieces that have sold in the last decade. I have never taken an interest in the modern art world but stories like Damien Hirst's crystal skull being sold for 100 million US dollars penetrated the mass media and I remember being shocked to find out that the artist selling this work was still alive and had set the price himself! Art critic Ben Lewis spent a year documenting what had caused this explosion in the value of contemporary art, and how its availability led to it being treated like a commodity, prone to speculation and market manipulation.
Its a really fun watch and it will help you to understand why some art has been getting sold for more money than you and everyone you know will ever make. Plus Lewis is a likable character that drives a hilarious electric car.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
When the "Making Of" is better than the Movie it's being made about
My last post was prompted by having seen both Boondock Saints and the documentary based on its director Troy Duffy, Overnight recently.
I didn't particularly enjoy Boondock Saints, sure it was violent which is always great and there were some pretty good outfits but the characters all appeared to be douchebags. Willem Dafoe is pretty hilarious but it didn't seem to suit the movie and it really plays out better in a two minute cut up of all the ridiculous parts.
If you haven't seen the movie now you need not bother and if you have you'll know what I mean. You don't need to have seen Boondock Saints to enjoy Overnight though, which is based on the first time writer director Troy Duffy and how instant success in Hollywood revealed his massive ego to his close friends. It is a good watch if you are interested in how "the business" works as well, it appears that you only have to annoy one significantly powerful person in Hollywood for your whole career to be thrown into jeopardy.
Mark Wahlberg makes a short cameo and this coupled with the portrayal of studios and artists bickering was enough to prompt my girlfriend to ask me if HBO series Entourage was based on this documentary. It is a pity that Harvey Wienstien doesn't make an appearance (well there is a shot of him in the distance at Canne) though because he is the significantly powerful person who gives Troy the flick after he bites the Mirimax hand feeding him. Overnight paints an ugly picture of Duffy, but it also goes to show that Boondock Saints would have been more that a One Week Release had it not been for Weinstiens authority in Hollywood.
I got thinking about other great film making documentaries and without a doubt my favorite is cult classic American Movie.
American Movie is in sharp contrast to Overnight; its appeal lies in empathizing with the writer-director of Coven, Mark Borchardt. I loved watching Troy Duffy struggle under circumstances often out of his control mainly because I wanted him to fail. When your watching American Movie you can't help but get behind the endlessly enthusiastic Mark and you get the feeling many of the people helping him at the time in his town felt the same way. Its a heart-warmer and a tear-jerker and its might just inspire you to invest in a digital camera and go out and make your own horror movie. Chances are you'll find it alot easier now that Mark did in the late 90's.
One final recommendation on this subject is Heart of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse. I know that many of you are going to be scoffing that this documentary could equal Apocalypse Now, not to mention better it, and that's fine. If you've seen Francis Ford Copploas classic already, you will love the story behind its making but if you haven't and you don't really have 202 minutes of free time for the Redux version, (which is the one you should be watching) Heart of Darkness is a fantastic insight.
You could do alot worse than read Heart of Darkness, the Joseph Conrad novel Apocalypse Now was loosely based on. Google books has got the first eight pages and its a "Popular Penguin at a Perfect Price" which means you can buy it for ten dollars. Best option is to borrow a copy off someone a bit older though they'll be grateful you did and you might restore their faith in the Xbox generation.
I got thinking about other great film making documentaries and without a doubt my favorite is cult classic American Movie.
American Movie is in sharp contrast to Overnight; its appeal lies in empathizing with the writer-director of Coven, Mark Borchardt. I loved watching Troy Duffy struggle under circumstances often out of his control mainly because I wanted him to fail. When your watching American Movie you can't help but get behind the endlessly enthusiastic Mark and you get the feeling many of the people helping him at the time in his town felt the same way. Its a heart-warmer and a tear-jerker and its might just inspire you to invest in a digital camera and go out and make your own horror movie. Chances are you'll find it alot easier now that Mark did in the late 90's.
One final recommendation on this subject is Heart of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse. I know that many of you are going to be scoffing that this documentary could equal Apocalypse Now, not to mention better it, and that's fine. If you've seen Francis Ford Copploas classic already, you will love the story behind its making but if you haven't and you don't really have 202 minutes of free time for the Redux version, (which is the one you should be watching) Heart of Darkness is a fantastic insight.
You could do alot worse than read Heart of Darkness, the Joseph Conrad novel Apocalypse Now was loosely based on. Google books has got the first eight pages and its a "Popular Penguin at a Perfect Price" which means you can buy it for ten dollars. Best option is to borrow a copy off someone a bit older though they'll be grateful you did and you might restore their faith in the Xbox generation.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
What makes a One Week release?
I worked in the cinemas as an usher for three years and in my time there I enjoyed seeing movies come and go. Cinemas get more money for every ticket sale the longer a movie has been screening, each week they take a larger percentage cut than the producers and distributors so at the outlet level they are encouraged to keep movies running for as long as is feasible.
So for a movie to have only shown for a week must have meant that it totally bombed, right? That's generally the case but it often has more to do with the cinema chain deciding to only do a limited release.
A perfect example of this tragedy is A Sound of Thunder
Too often, I would come to work on a Thursday and be totally surprised by a new film we were screening. I took an interest in what was coming soon, but smaller movies that couldn't sustain ticket sales for very long didn't get any trailers shown. I didn't even get to see this great poster!
You may be thinking its just awful B-grade time travelling action films that don't get enough attention but thats not the case. Not long before A Sound of Thunder was released another great film screened to empty theaters...
That Shaun of the Dead poster is another one that I would love to have been able to throw out after the cinema was done with it but alas, for some reason cinemas screen movies they don't even have ads for. This movie is a more fitting example of a money-making opportunity missed by the cinema chain, it had achieved commercial and critical success in both the US and UK markets and yet it got shown to a few people who had friends overseas or had seen it reviewed online... for one week.
So for a movie to have only shown for a week must have meant that it totally bombed, right? That's generally the case but it often has more to do with the cinema chain deciding to only do a limited release.
A perfect example of this tragedy is A Sound of Thunder
Too often, I would come to work on a Thursday and be totally surprised by a new film we were screening. I took an interest in what was coming soon, but smaller movies that couldn't sustain ticket sales for very long didn't get any trailers shown. I didn't even get to see this great poster!
You may be thinking its just awful B-grade time travelling action films that don't get enough attention but thats not the case. Not long before A Sound of Thunder was released another great film screened to empty theaters...
That Shaun of the Dead poster is another one that I would love to have been able to throw out after the cinema was done with it but alas, for some reason cinemas screen movies they don't even have ads for. This movie is a more fitting example of a money-making opportunity missed by the cinema chain, it had achieved commercial and critical success in both the US and UK markets and yet it got shown to a few people who had friends overseas or had seen it reviewed online... for one week.
I know that one week releases are still common in WA and I can only guess at reason as to why so many great films get "shuffled under the carpet" with a total lack of exposure both prior and during its release. Either:
- We are such a small market that distributors don't bother producing advertising materials for us (which begs the question why even release the movie here)
- The cinema chain chooses to focus on the movies they are convinced will sustain a more extended release and deliberately don't advertise smaller films
- The staff responsible for exposing the WA market to these the films and disseminating advertising materials are too incompetent or otherwise engaged to cover every film
Maybe cinemas are obliged to show these films they don't really want to for a week at a loss, and I'm glad they do because a tiny release is better than none at all. It was funny that ASOT screened four times a day for seven days and less than ten people saw it over that period, (company employees only pay 50c though so it would have grossed <$30) but disappointing when I couldn't take another friend with me next week. Its a pity more people didn't get to enjoy it and I am still hanging out for the Blu-Ray release so I can revel in just how budget the CGI was.
If you have any other thoughts as to why potential breakaway hits like this are ignored, share them in the comments!
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