FantAsian: Fantasy Films by Asian Women Invade March 6th BleedFest!

My good friend and blazingly smart filmmaker Elizabeth Fies has been working her tail off to promote amazing work written, produced and directed by women.  With the tireless help of her sister Brenda, they have created the Bleedfest film festival to showcase badass genre work that would otherwise go unnoticed. If you're in the L.A. area, be sure to check it out!

Los Angeles, California-- March 4, 2011 --

Monthly badass genre film festival BleedFest continues its quest for gender equality in movies and moviemaking with its March 2011 charity and screening event. The theme of BleedFest's March 6th event is FantAsian: Fantasy and musicals by female Asian filmmakers.

If I Picked the Oscars - Part 2

We're now only three days away from the big night, so I better get my picks in for the rest of the awards:



Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay):

    • “127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
    • “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
    • “Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
    • “True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
    • “Winter's Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini


I liked "The Social Network", but felt it never really got inside the skin of Zuckerberg. For me, "Winter's Bone" stands out for its perfectly nuanced and balanced storytelling.

My Pick - "Winter's Bone"
Oscar's Pick - “The Social Network”  



Best Writing (Original Screenplay):

    • “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
    • “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
      Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
    • “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
    • “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
    • “The King's Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

"The Fighter" and "Inception" were great.  "The Kids Are All Right" was funny and poignant.  "The King's Speech" was... well, I'll get into that later.

 My Pick - "Inception".  This multi-layered Borges meets the Matrix head-spinner was complex, thought-provoking and yet personal at the same time.

Oscar's Pick - “The King's Speech”.  Ok - here's the deal.  This was a good film.  There was nothing wrong with it.  It is a simple story told well.  But it's just so damned safe.  It takes absolutely no chances.  It is basically an ABC afterschool special: dude has stuttering problem... dude overcomes stuttering problem, except the dude just happens to be the future King of England.

When you compare this to really great movies, this one story arc would just be a subplot, woven into a bigger, more compelling whole.  Really folks, get over it.  Does this movie come even close to "The Godfather",  "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest",  "Amadeus", or "Silence of the Lambs"?

I didn't think so.




Best Documentary (Feature):

    • “Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
    • “Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
    • “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
    • “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
    • “Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

This is a very strong category this year.  "Gasland" is a compelling personal journey through the toxic wasteland of Natural Gas Drilling.  "Restrepo" does a tremendous job showing the viewer what life is truly like for U.S. soldiers serving duty in Afghanistan's Korangal Valley.  And "Inside Job" explores the nausea-inducing reality of the wall-street players who continue to hold the White House hostage.

For me however, "Exit Through the Gift Shop" stood out for its unique journey that explored the concepts of art, fame, and media manipulation.  And I'm still not even sure it was a documentary...

My Pick - "Exit Through the Gift Shop"
Oscar's Pick -  This is a toss-up here.   I'll guess they give it to "Inside Job" to send a message to the controlling interests that rule Wall Street, the Republican Party, the Top 1% high-income earners, the Tea Party...  not to get on a political rant or anything here...




Best Actor: 

    •  Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
    •  Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
    •  Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
    •  Colin Firth in “The King's Speech”
    •  James Franco in “127 Hours”

This one's tough because I've only seen "Social Network" and "King's Speech" and to be honest, I wasn't blown away by either performance.  In all fairness I really shouldn't make a pick in this category, but who said this was fair anyway?  I'm going to give it to Javier Bardem because I've heard great things about the movie and the guy is a total acting stud - so there.

My Pick - Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Oscar's Pick - Colin Firth in “The King's Speech”  The Academy loves them some feel-good movie and especially any acting gymnastics.  A king who overcomes a speech impediment is an easy, safe pick.



Best Actress:


    •  Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
    •  Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
    •  Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter's Bone”
    •  Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
    •  Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”


An easy pick for me.  It comes down to Natalie Portman and Jennifer Lawrence.  They both carry their films - the entire narrative rests on their shoulders.  Both bring extraordinary performances.  For me however, Jennifer Lawrence was a revelation.  She created such an authentic, understated yet dynamic and powerful performance as a sixteen-year old desperately trying to hold her family together, that I think she deserves it the most.

My Pick - Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter's Bone”
Oscar's Pick - Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”  Portman's performance as a ballerina at the tipping point of madness is a tour-de-force, and she deserves all the accolades she has received.  She is the obvious choice and will most likely win.



Best Director:

    • “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
    • “The Fighter” David O. Russell
    • “The King's Speech” Tom Hooper
    • “The Social Network” David Fincher
    • “True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

 Ok - down to the nitty gritty here.  I love Fincher and the Cohen Brothers, but don't think their work was Oscar-level this year.   Tom Hooper makes nice ABC after-school specials... er, I mean movies (actually, I liked "The Damned United" much more than "King's Speech"), but c'mon.. let's get real here.

That leaves Aronofsky's "Black Swan" and David O. Russell's, "The Fighter" (and I would also add, Debra Granik for "Winter's Bone".)  Aronofsky showed true film mastery with absolute control of his psychological thriller.  All elements of the film were fully realized to support the central theme.  Russell showed a lighter touch, though no less effective, letting his actors control the scenes and weave a heart-heavy tale of redemption, balancing humor and pathos and never regressing to melodrama.
Debra Granik, like Russell, chose a verite approach to weave her neo-noir tale - perfectly nailing the appropriate tone for such a story.

My Pick - “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky.  I'm torn here, but give Aronofsky the slight nod over Russell and Granik.  Great jobs by all.
Oscar's Pick - “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky.  I think this one is a slam dunk for Aronofsky.  He is one of cinema's shining lights.

And now...  Drumroll please...  Time to get the kids to bed and drain the last of the drinks, 'cuz the show's almost over.  Just one last Oscar to give out...



Best Picture:

    • “Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
    • “The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
    • “Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
    • “The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
    • “The King's Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
    • “127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
    • “The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
    • “Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer
    • “True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
    • “Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers



Dang... that's a long list!  But I'll make this short, because by now, you pretty much know my take on these films.


It's a close call, and I love them both, but I have to give "Winter's Bone" the slight edge over "The Fighter", simply because of its more original story.  If "Black Swan" had walked the line a little more convincingly between horror and psychological thriller (ala "Rosemary's Baby" "Jacob's Ladder", "Angel Heart") then that would have been my choice.

My Pick - "Winter's Bone"
Oscar's Pick - "Black Swan".     If "King's Speech" wins, please shoot me and put me out of my misery.

If I Picked the Oscars

Every year we do a little Oscar get together at my place - watch the show, critique the fashion, check out the parade-of-dead-stars montage and say, "Oh, that's right, I forgot HE died...", but most importantly we bet on the winners.  That's right, while the Super Bowl may be the single most bet-upon day every year, in my house Oscar night is the time to put your big ol' $5 bill on the line and put up or shut up.

Just like Fantasy Football magically makes that Arizona vs. Jacksonville game so exciting 'cause you're hoping Jay Feely can kick you 6 points so you can pummel your best friend and gloat about it at work the next day, so does betting on the Academy Awards suddenly make that best animated short category the single most important thing in the world 2 1/2 hours into the always excessively long ceremony.  And trust me, the overall winner each year is almost always determined by who correctly picks "Logorama" over "Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty."  What's that you say, you've never even heard of those flicks, well welcome to the club my friend, now put your fiver in the hat, pick up your pen and do what we all do...

Guess.

That's why my 8-year old has about as good a chance as I do.  It's like they always say, "The family that bets together, stays together..."

Anyway, in this post I will not do that - pick all the winners that is.  Because let's face it, I wanna win that pot as much as the next guy.  No, in this post I'd like to do what Siskel & Ebert used to do, which is present my picks as if I were suddenly king of the academy and able to choose the winners from the best and brightest cinema had to offer in 2010.  I will use their list of nominees as a starting point, except for when they completely whiff and ignore great work.  Ok, and I'll also throw in my predictions of who I think the Academy will choose for the big categories - those are usually pretty obvious anyway.  And I won't do every single category - just the ones I care about and where I've seen the majority of the contenders.  Unless I decide not to.  So there.

Alright then... bring it on!

Enter the Dark Updates

Here's what's new and exciting with my little bundle of horror goodness:

FESTIVALS

Enter the Dark will be screening at a couple of really fun festivals this week.
First off, if you happen to be in the greater Boulder City, NV. region (or ripping it up in Vegas), be sure to check out the Dam Short Film Festival. We will close out their Wednesday evening block of horror shorts from 9:15 - 10:15.

Then, hop on over to Sanford FL, and their brand new Love Your Shorts Film Festival, where you can see tons of great short movies of all genres (including the Oscar nominated God of Love).  Then stick around until Saturday night's sci fi/horror selections at 9:30 as we close out that evening's festivities as well.

We are also excited to be part of the High Desert Shorts Film Festival, May 27 - 29 in Pahrump, NV., another cool indie film short fest.  I'll let you know exact dates when I have them.

... And now for all the rest of you horror fans, this March you will get your chance to see Enter the Dark for FREE!!!  We were fortunate to be selected as part of First Glance Film Festival's short online contest:

In 2010 we presented over 50 short films online. More than any other festival in the world and awarded over $5000.00 in prizes.
 
Over 5000 registered voters, voted over 14,000 times to create one of the most competitive online short contests for any film festival in North America.
 
We look forward to you being part of the next Short Online Contest.
 
The Short Online Contest begins in Late March 2011 and run for 6 weeks.

 Stay tuned for more info on how you can watch and vote for a bunch of great short movies!


REVIEWS

Enter the Dark continues to enjoy great reviews from some really cool bloggers.  It has been incredibly rewarding to see that the vision I had for this short film is being well received.

From Midnight, With Love:

Miro's story works like a good horror tale should, suckering us in with one hand while it's preparing to pop up and scare us with the other.  There's a command here that can't be taught, and Miro shows a natural gift for creating tension.

Dollar Bin Horror:

… this 17 minute short has no gags. It's just scary.
It's just a really damn good film.

Chuck Norris Ate My Baby:

It's quick, fun and a bit spooky and, as promised, watching Enter the Dark in the dark makes it all the more effective.

Fatally Yours:

Enter the Dark is an entertaining, scary and thought-provoking short film.
The acting is also top-notch, with actors Charles Yoakum and Rob Sandusky putting on convincing performances.

That's all for now.  In the meantime I'll continue to play the festival circuit until October or so (do a full year to hit all that I can), and work on ideas for the next short film.

The we'll do it all over again!

Bleedfest needs your help!

My good friends Elisabeth and Brenda Fies could use a little help:

HELP! We have less than 1 week to meet our financial goal. We need to meet our goal to SAVE BleedFest from folding. We're doing what we said we would by bringing you badass genre films directed, produced and written by women... in addition to honoring a badass awesome man each month. Do you need something else from us in order to assist us in our cause? Thank you in Advance for being a BleedFest HERO!

Check out all the great things Lis and Brenda are doing with their monthly indie film fest Bleedfest.

We are passionate about raising the visibility of indie genre movies by female filmmakers.

BleedFest Values: Empowerment, Partnership, Fun, Self-Expression

BleedFest fetes the women who love writing, producing, directing, and watching badass genre movies: horror, thriller, action, sci-fi, western, exploitation, B-movie, and erotica. We also screen a few male filmmakers who
have empowering and edgy female protagonists; their work screens out of competition and receives our "Partnership Award". Our mission is to spotlight these bold films and their fearless makers, and prove to the world that the derogatory term "chick flick" needs to be retired.

Sound good?  Then bounce on over to IndieGoGo and spread a little love their way to help keep the festival alive!

Many thanks!

Inside a color grading session

Stu Maschwitz, the amazing DV Rebel himself, has posted an incredibly illuminating vimeo clip of a recent color grading session, using his Colorista II plugin for After Effects and Final Cut.

Now the skeptic may say, "Hey, this is just one big demo to pitch his software", and while this may indeed be true, it overlooks the fact that Stu presents an amazing wealth of information on all things color.  And it happens to be free.  You not only get to see the toolset in action, but more importantly, Stu's thought process as he is grading.  And that is indeed priceless.
 

07 - Color Correcting Food with Magic Bullet Colorista II from Red Giant Software on Vimeo.


Just please folks, all I ask is that you promise me you will use this knowledge for good...

Not Orange and Teal!

Red State: Kevin Smith Discovers 21st Century Indie Filmmaking

As many of you may know, Kevin Smith recently completed his latest film, Red State, which he made for a reported $4 million outside of the studio system.  The film premiered at Sundance, after which Smith made a big to-do about auctioning off the distribution rights for his home-made horror flick right there - right then to the highest bidder.

If you are interested, check out the clips of Smith's often funny (and of course expletive drenched) rant from Sundance here:

and part 2 here:

Of course, the whole thing was really a big setup for Smith to proclaim a big F_You to the current distribution model and announce that he was going maintain ownership of his movie and self-distribute through a road-show style series of bookings at various venues throughout the country.  In filmmaking terminology, this is known as "four-walling" - traditionally a last-option tactic for a desperate filmmaker looking to get some exposure, or at best a way for an unsigned movie to try to find an audience.

The funniest thing to me is that Smith has basically come to the same conclusions that most indie filmmakers have today:  own your content, build your fanbase and self-distribute.  Welcome to 21st  century indie filmmaking, Kevin.

The problem is that someone like Smith has a tremendous advantage over someone just starting out in that he already is a known name brand and has a huge fan base that ironically was generated my the same marketing machine that he rails out against in his diatribe.  So, when he says things like, "We're going to distribute without any advertising costs.", he can get away with that because he already has 1.7 million rabid followers on Twitter.  And where did they come from?  From all the films he's made over the past 20 years.  And how did folks come to see those films?  From the same bloated, unimaginative marketing machine he now says is unneccessary.  And you know what?  He's right.

For him he's right.  Or say, Eli Roth.  Or the Cohen Brothers. Or any other writer/director who already has a fan-base he/she can sell to directly.  For the rest of us poor scrubs looking to work our way up - good luck.

So, the model for any indie filmmaker trying to make it today seems to be something like this:

- Build your skills.  Write and direct a number of shorts.  Figure out what works and what doesn't on a small-scale that won't wipe out your life savings.  If you're good enough to get into some festivals and have some favorable reviews, keep going.  If not, hey you can always make videos of kittens and boobies for YouTube.

- Build your fanbase.  Utilize Facebook, blogs, twitter, YouTube, etc to find and engage folks who seem to like your work.

- Develop your brand.  This is kinda huge in the long-run.  When I hear Kevin Smith is making a new film - I already know what I'm in for.  That doesn't mean all his films are the same, but that he has a certain worldview, a certain style that shows through in all his movies.  If you are all over the map in the type of movies you make (especially in the beginning) it will be harder to grow and maintain a fanbase.  After you're established, you can branch out more.

- Take your big shot.  Now it's time to step up and make a feature.  If you can, find financial backing through traditional investors, or crowd-sourcing sites like IndieGoGo and Kickstarter. Keep production costs low by leveraging digital technology - shoot on HDSLRs, or Red. You know your craft, you've built your fanbase and established your brand - now, put everything together into a great script THAT SOMEONE CAN ACTUALLY MARKET.  This is not the time for introspective, experimental filmmaking - unless you already have a fortune and can afford to live off a trust fund.  This is a project that will make or break you, so it better be something your existing fanbase as well as others will want to see.

- Make your deal.  Here is where I disagree with Kevin.  For someone just coming up in the ranks, if you are lucky enough to have a distributor approach you and actually want to drop $20 million to promote your film - EFF YEAH, you should take that deal.  Sure, you will sign your film away and will probably never see any profits, but the trade-off is well worth it because now that bloated, unimaginative marketing machine will spread your name (and brand) far and wide in ways that you could never do yourself.

Now, what happens if no distributor ever offers you a big deal (which will be the case for most everyone)?  Well, in that case, you will need to self-distribute through IndieFlix, Netflix, etc. and scrape by, hoping that you can slowly build your brand and fanbase to a point where you can eventually make money doing this.

- Make your next film.   Hopefully, that first feature was successful and since your name brand has hit the big stage, you can now maintain ownership of your movies and their distribution.  Utilize your fanbase as evangelists to market your next film for you.  EFF the traditional marketing and distribution models.  Keep costs low, own everything and develop a one-to-one or one-to-many model to get your movies directly to your fans.  You are now Kevin Smith.  Go and buy a hockey stick.