Tag Archives: movies

An interview with Quentin Tarantino in the NY Times »

December 26th, 2012

I enjoyed this interview of Quentin Tarantino in the NY Times. Especially this bit on Page 5:

I remember reading a review that Pauline Kael wrote about some director’s big epic, and she said: Now, look, it might seem unfair to judge a talented man more harshly when he tries to do something big than a less talented person who’s doing something easier. But when you try big things, you take big risks, and if you’re trying to do something that is maybe above you and you can’t quite pull off, then whereas before we only saw your gifts, now we see your failings.

I’ve always been pushing that envelope. I want to risk hitting my head on the ceiling of my talent. I want to really test it out and say: O.K., you’re not that good. You just reached the level here. I don’t ever want to fail, but I want to risk failure every time out of the gate.

I like to think that I feel the same way. If you go big you will sometimes fail but go big or go home.

/via Michael Heilemann on Twitter.

Lucasfilm, ILM, and Skywalker Sound sold to Disney »

October 31st, 2012

The price? Four Instagrams.

Dean J. Robinson:

Lots of people I follow on twitter [sic] (pretty much all of them actually) are Star Wars fans of some description – and the general consensus is that while they are quite surprised by the announcement they don’t necessarily have negative feeling about it. In fact many seem enthused by the prospect of a Star Wars film that George Lucas isn’t at the helm for.

My little tirade on Twitter last night may have been seen by some as an indication that I’m mad or upset about the transaction. I’m not. Well, maybe I am.

If George no longer wants ownership of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc. etc., or the companies that have done the sound and special effects for countless films over the last 35 years there is probably no better home than Disney.

I am upset, however, at the current state that Star Wars is left in. A Star Wars without George Lucas is not the same Star Wars. Think about it. A New Hope was a smashing success in 1977. Arguably one of the biggest successes in film history on many fronts. And, economics aside, it is a great Sci-Fi film. Some say that Empire Strikes Back is one of the best sequels of all time. And, aside from the Ewoks, Return of the Jedi was about as good of a trilogy ender as anyone could hope for. And then, a slow plummet. The Special Editions. Episodes I, II, and III simply never had a chance. (By the way, I think Episode III was actually pretty great. The Emperor really comes out looking like a clear winner.) And the Bluray release.

The last thing George did was go in and fiddle with the originals and add Ewok eyelids and emotion to Darth Vader where no emotion was needed. As Dean said some are excited by the prospect of an Episode 7 that he has nothing to do with. I, on the other hand, was rooting for George to come back and make something great since I was very young. And now we’re left with George Lucas never doing another Star Wars. I guess I was always hoping he’d find that same spark he had in the 70s and 80s.

That’s what I’m most upset about.

Make an app, game, movie, music budget

September 25th, 2012

People make budgets for everything. Vacations, new cars, gas, a new home, gym memberships, etc. Some even budget in a morning coffee from their favorite barista everyday before work. Why is it, then, that some still have an issue with paying for an album on iTunes?

Most applications on the App Store are only a few dollars. The most expensive application I’ve ever purchased for the iPad or iPhone was somewhere around $10. There are more expensive apps, sure, but the median cost of an application is even lower than $10. So why is it that some would rather put up with free applications that don’t work well (or not having any applications at all) rather then to pay for a good one?

Going to the movies with your loved one today costs anywhere from $16 – $30 (depending on where you live in the US). And that is just the ticket price. And you don’t own anything when you leave. The big screen experience is certainly worth it for some movies but, if you’re like me, you probably have a decently-sized high-definition television hanging on the wall in your living room. Imagine taking that money, spending it on a movie in iTunes, through Amazon, or on Netflix or YouTube, and having a few friends over.

Again, I ask, why is it so hard for people to part with a few dollars for these things? I think, among other factors, it is because of how easy it is to pay for them. People are afraid to tap a button and spend $2.99 no matter how good the app is. Or $10 no matter the Rotten Tomatoes rating of the movie they haven’t seen. They’re afraid of losing track of how much money they’ve spent on applications, games, movies, and music only to turn around and realize they’ve spent their lunch money.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Just make a budget. Like you do for other things. Set aside a few dollars per month – I’d recommend $10 – and use that to buy the apps, games, movie rentals, and music you want. Well-made apps are worth their sticker price. Watching movies at home (without worrying about getting letters in the mail from the MPAA) is a fantastic experience. Buying music is quick, easy, and supports the artists. These innovations (and the hard work of the people behind them) help make your life more productive, easier, and even more fun.

Stop being so afraid of spending a few dollars. You’ll be happier.

Something I wish George Lucas had said »

August 16th, 2012

Steven Spielberg:

I’ve resigned myself to accepting that what the film was at the time of its creation is what it always should be for future generations.

I think Steven learned a little something from his friend George’s mistakes. Steven is, however, all for restoring his older films into higher quality formats as he’s currently working on Raiders of the Lost Ark being released on IMAX and Jaws being digitally remastered for Blu-ray.

/via John Siracusa on Twitter.

People are using Netflix to watch TV programs »

July 16th, 2012

Brian Anthony Hernandez of Mashable sums up the Neilsen study:

A new Nielsen study reveals 19% of respondents prefer using Netflix to watch TV programs — up 8% since a year ago — instead of movies or both equally.

I would argue that this study revealed very little data of interest. Netflix’s movie catalog hasn’t grown significantly in many, many months. In fact, it has been losing popular titles without adding many. TV shows, however, are really where Netflix is a boon for most TV-watchers. Netflix’s TV program catalog offers multiple seasons of many of the most popular shows over the last several years. How can its movie catalog even compare?

/via Mashable.

Jodie Foster reads Carl Sagan’s Contact

May 30th, 2012

Yesterday, while I was sick on the couch, I did what I usually do when I’m sick. Watch Contact.

I’ve never read the book from which the film was adapted – Carl Sagan’s Contact. But this led me to poke around and I found something I’m thoroughly enjoying. Jodie Foster reading an abridged, and performed, version of Contact. It is available on Audible. Recommended.

Why movie revenue is down

January 3rd, 2012

Roger Ebert gives six reasons why he thinks movie revenue was way down in 2011. Here is one of them:

3. The theater experience. Moviegoers above 30 are weary of noisy fanboys and girls. The annoyance of talkers has been joined by the plague of cell-phone users, whose bright screens are a distraction. Worse, some texting addicts get mad when told they can’t use their cell phones. A theater is reportedly opening which will allow and even bless cell phone usage, although that may be an apocryphal story.

I agree with all of his reasons and I’ll add one of my own. Actually, it is sort of an addition to one of Ebert’s reasons. He says that ticket price is a problem. Ticket price wouldn’t be a problem if the movies (and the theater experience) was really, really good. When I see a movie trailer I usually ask myself – “Is that worth driving to the theatre and spending $30 to see?”

The answer to that question could be “No” for several reasons. The movie may not warrant “the big screen experience”. The movie may look funny or entertaining but I’d just as soon watch it in the comfort of my home, on my couch, in my PJs, on Bluray. Or, the movie is in 3D or XD or EXTREMELY OVERRATED ACRONYM – which means I’ll likely not care to see it at all.

I don’t think the theater-going movie industry has a chance to remain as large as it has been in recent past. I think it will see a slow and steady decline and level out right where they should be. People will still watch “larger” movies in theaters or on first dates and will see “smaller” movies at home where they are most comfortable. And that should be OK. The industry simply needs to adapt.

What I use an Apple TV for

December 13th, 2011

I saw this link that John Gruber posted about a recent report on the habits of Apple TV owners and, at the end of it, he mentions how some of his Twitter followers use the Apple TV. He says:

“And lots of DF readers on Twitter are telling me they use Apple TV just for AirPlay and Netflix streaming.”

That is exactly what I use the Apple TV for. I do not buy or rent TV shows or movies from the iTunes store. Ever. Although the Apple TV integrates with the iTunes Store, Home sharing (for sharing files from a computer), the NBA and MLB (and others), Vimeo, YouTube, Flickr, etc. etc. the two features I use on my Apple TV are Netflix with Airplay.

I use Airplay to put videos I find via my iPad on the TV. I do this a lot. (Thanks Devour) Even if the source of these videos is from YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler, and other outlets – the integration with any of those platforms goes unused by me since I simply use Airplay. I suppose if I didn’t own an iPad my use of Airplay wouldn’t be nearly as significant. It is just so easy. I’ll also, on occasion, use Airplay to play some music via my Apple TV (this replaced my Airport Express’ purpose) and very, very rarely put some vacation photos on-screen.

Another note about Airplay; if you, like me (and obviously Jason Kottke), sometimes acquire a few TV shows you couldn’t get otherwise by grabbing them via Bittorrent you may be interested in Erica Sadun’s Airflick. Airflick is an application that lets you stream video, audio, or photos from your Mac to your Apple TV. Very handy application.

But all-in-all my Apple TV might as well just be a Netflix box. I’ve used Netflix on the computer, on an Xbox 360, on iPad and iPhone and on Apple TV. By far the very best Netflix application exists on the Apple TV. It is easy to use, looks great, and works nearly every single time without hiccup. I don’t know if I’d even be subscribed to Netflix if I didn’t own an Apple TV.

Helen Mirren on funding films

October 25th, 2011

Interesting bit from this interview with Helen Mirren on the always great The Talks:

“Well from my perspective, a film costs a lot of money. You could build three hospitals with the cost of one film and I take that very seriously. I take the responsibility of being a person involved in a piece of that product. The only way to be decent about it is to make that money back so at least you don’t feel that money is wasted.

If it’s cost a hundred million dollars and that money is completely wasted – it never even makes its money back – that would be so mortifying to me. What a waste of money. Better to put it into a hospital. Do you see what I’m saying?

So I feel it’s my responsibility to help the investors – and the investors are often you and me. We don’t realize it, but it’s our pension funds. Through that bank or company that’s investing in this hedge fund, that is investing in the film. So I feel a fiscal responsibility to help the investors.”

I know the resources for larger budget films typically come from multiple sources but I suppose I never realized how the failure of a film could have an effect on some of these funds. Go see a Helen Mirren film.

Keep up with the filming of The Hobbit

March 30th, 2011

The Hobbit: Part 1 is coming in 2012 but it is being filmed right now. How can you keep up with the news? Here are a few resources I’ve tucked away to check in on now and then.

Don’t let the titles and URLs fool you – each of these are different sites. Here is hoping these sites and others do as good a job digging into the making of this movie for the rest of this year as they did for Lord of the Rings and King Kong.

Tron Legacy Terminal style for Mac OS X

January 10th, 2011

Every since seeing Tron Legacy I’ve wanted Flynn’s computer. From what I’ve heard on the Interwebs it runs Sun Solaris. Since I’m a Mac guy maybe I can have my Terminal look like The Grid’s UI without needing to run an entirely different OS.

I’m basing this style solely off of this screenshot from the Tron Legacy movie trailer. Here is what my Terminal looks like now.

There is still more to do. First, I have to find the font that they are using (font experts, help?). If you want to contribute to this I’ve put the style up on GitHub.

Using an Airport Express to extend a wireless network using the LAN port

March 2nd, 2010

Recently Eliza and I signed up for Netflix. Ever since moving into our new apartment I haven’t had the Xbox 360 connected to the Internet because of the location of my cable modem/router and because the Xbox 360 does not come Wifi-enabled by default.

This hasn’t been too much of an issue since I haven’t been playing any games using the Xbox 360 (we’ve been playing a lot more Wii though) and haven’t needed any of the Live features. But, Netflix has an Xbox 360 application that makes it simple to stream any movies directly to your TV in HD. Daddy wants.

I didn’t want to spend the money for the “dongle” or whatever it is to give the Xbox 360 Wifi capability so I was very pleased when I came across Alex King’s blog post about using the Airport Express to provide a wired connection. I already have an Airport Express that I use for Airtunes to my surround sound set up which is right next to the Xbox 360. I’ve had Alex’s tutorial ‘starred’ in Google Reader for weeks and today I finally took the time to get it set up.

It works great. (And the Airtunes capability remains.)

Alex links to an Apple Support article that, inexplicably, isn’t complete. Where the article lacks Alex provides some tips so be sure to read both the support article and his blog post in full before you begin to help alleviate any headaches.

Jorge Quinteros gives Avatar five stars

January 19th, 2010

Jorge Quinteros on Avatar:

“It’s by far James Cameron’s finest pieces of work and although I’ll be one of the many to grab a Blu-Ray copy, seeing it in theatre is an experience you should not miss out on regardless of how big your Hi-Def TV is. Even the 3D-glasses supplied were a considerable upgrade from the tradition paper and plastic ones so I kept them as a souvenir.”

Agreed, I will too, yes you should, and I did too (twice).

A 70-minute video review of The Phantom Menace

December 21st, 2009

This is the best thing I’ve ever seen. Watch it.

/via Every Star Wars geek I subscribe to.

PS. There is a lot of backstory that goes along with this link. An example of which is that Damon Lindelof, the major creative driving force behind LOST and the recent Star Trek film, watched this and said: “Your life is about to change. This is astounding film making. Watch ALL of it.” That is why I’ve decided to leave my link to this video as simple as possible and just say watch it.

The real story behind that Princess Leia bikini photo

November 10th, 2009

If you’re a Star Wars geek, like I am, then you’ve probably seen the photo of Princess Leia and her stunt double soaking up some sun during a Return of the Jedi shoot. The Official Star Wars Blog decided to set the record straight about the origin of the photo – since some of the media outlets that “covered the story” had said the photo leaked onto the net recently.

Ebert and I wholly disagree about Transformers 2

July 2nd, 2009

I consider Roger Ebert to be an excellent movie critic. His reviews have caused me to rent many a film – and I’ve enjoyed nearly all of them as much as he did in his reviews. Recently, however, he crapped all over Transformers 2. I saw the movie over the weekend and enjoyed it very much. It had everything I expected to see; huge robots, explosions, *ahem* Megan Fox *ahem*, slow-motion galore, and quick-witted humor. I have no idea what he was expecting to see when he saw the film – but it obviously wasn’t what he saw. Pity.

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland

June 29th, 2009

Here is the first look at Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland courtesy of USA Today.

It is unfortunate that I have little faith in Tim Burton these days. I was very disappointed with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I didn’t like the remake as much as I didn’t like the fact that they remade what I felt was a nearly timeless classic. Why remake something that is great and can stand on its own still?

I believe a live action Alice in Wonderland remake is warranted. But why give it to someone who botched his last two remakes? Lets face it, Planet of the Apes was not a good remake. Its only redeeming quality was its look.

But, as always with directors who disappoint – I always hope for the best.