George Lucas and Harrison Ford

Steven Spielberg

Quintin Tarantino

Martin Scorsese

Fernando Meirelles

Edward Norton and David Fincher

To me, all the men above have created some form of artful film that I will always remember, even if their later works may not live up to their old standard, their old films will always live on!

Ian Strachan on October 2nd bought 5700 shares at GBP 17.19, investing GBP 97k and increasing his holding by over 60%. His colleague Claude Lamoureux on October 9th bought 4000 shares at GBP 13.78, investing GBP 55k. I don't think he held any shares prior to this purchase.

If we look back to earlier this year, a number of executive directors including Trevor Reid (CFO), Santiago Zalmdumide (Executive Director), and Michael Davis (CEO) all exercised options and sold all their shares at between 3470p and 4342p (source: Company website, Digitallook, London Stock Exchange)_ Usual behaviour by directors is to sell a number of shares sufficient to pay the tax on the exercised share options, usually 40%. I'm not sure what the tax liability would be for these directors.

A sale of all the shares exercised indicates to me that they thought the shares were fully valued. How right they were. The share price of Xstrata fell from a high of 4420p in May to 1223p last week. 

Are the purchases by the two non execs of significance? Yes, they are significant in $$ terms, in terms of increase in shareholdings, and there are two directors acting.

Value of signal: Positive- Directors buying shares

Strength of signal: Medium

Now, as noted earlier, directors enjoy wide protection from scrutiny – not just from others, but from themselves: a director’s chair comes with a brass nameplate, but rarely a silver mirror. Boards have been reluctant to evaluate themselves for many reasons – some lack the time, some find it more confrontational than clubby, and some simply don’t know how – but this needs to change. The NYSE’s  Rule 303A(9) now requires boards to conduct a self-evaluation at least once a year. So how can a board best evaluate itself – and what should it look out for?

The key question the board must ask itself is, “How well did we perform our duty as a board?” That question points to the two kinds of inquiry it must make: into how well it performed – that is, into how well its own processes functioned – and into how effective it was in fulfilling its duties. The board should start with the second question, asking itself “What did we aim to do this year?” If the company’s governance is good, the answers to this question will be in the company charter, and will include developing long-range strategy, holding management to account for agreed performance goals, approving financial reporting, and so on. The next question must be, “Did we achieve each of our aims effectively?” This should be more than just a tick-and-cross exercise. If the board achieved a goal, it should ask, “Why? What worked well?” This will be useful data for compiling a list of best practices. If a goal was not achieved, or not achieved easily, the board must ask why not. Once it has gone through its performance by goal and collected a list of best practices and concerns, it should take one step back and look at its processes. Which worked well? Which need improvement? In a final step, the board should incorporate its findings into its governance process for the following financial year.

Evaluation should be tied into the board’s annual operating schedule, with annual objectives set at the beginning of the financial year, data collected during the third quarter (once it’s becoming clear whether the board’s expectations of management performance are aligned for the year) and a review session at the end of the year.

I recently saw a new 35mm print of Albert Lamorisse's The Red Balloon (Le Ballon rouge, 1956), and followed that with a screening of Flight of the Red Balloon (Le Voyage du ballon rouge, 2007), by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien. The former short film (it's 34-minutes-long) was an obligatory viewing experience for children growing up in the sixties and seventies, making it, according to Michael Koresky (who wrote the essay in the DVD booklet) "the largest-selling non-theatrical print in American history." By contrast, the latter feature (113-minutes-long) had a limited release beyond the festival circuit and has only been seen by a few arthouse faithful.

It's probably fair to say that The Red Balloon traumatized quite a few kids, despite its (spoilers ahead) literally uplifting message.  In fact, the projectionist for the matinee show came out of the booth looking like he'd just seen a ghost and immediately started complaining about how this film had scarred him for life, and even now, many years later, it still terrifies him because "it's all about being chased by mean kids, death, and then being kidnapped by a bunch of balloons that are probably going to pop above the rooftops of Paris."

I have to admit that for me, as a kid, the slow, sweaty, deflating death of the red balloon was absolutely gut-wrenching, and this despite the ending that was meant to reassure kids that magic still exists. The stark horror and abject loneliness I felt from that film came back to haunt me with the death of my first cat. Lamorisse's film (which stars his own son) was clearly meant to have an instructional value to children on the passing of a pet, and upon revisiting the film anew I noticed that it starts with a shot of the boy (Pascal Lamorisse) petting a passing cat just before descending into the Parisian streets. Others have also remarked about how the film was Lamorisse's way of trying to reclaim some of the innocence he felt France lost when the country collaborated with the Nazi's in WWII, and one can easily see how the bullies in The Red Ballon could represent Nazi aggression.

Upon revisiting the film in a gorgeous new 35mm print, the most eye-opening revelation for me came from the deepness of the colors - especially as my memory of the 16mm print I'd seen as a child was of something scratched and faded. In the new print by Janus Films, the red of the balloon was so rich and shiny as to almost seem like a 3-D effect against the uniformaly blueish-gray backdrops of Paris. The compositions were simple but elegant and, overall, this almost-dialogue-free film felt even more accomplished to me now, as an adult. Judging by the sniffles it got from the kids in the audience, its impact hasn't weakened one iota.

Flight of the Red Balloon, on the other hand, had no children in the audience - as is to be expected. Hou Hsiao-hsien is notable for eschewing traditional narratives altogether in favor of a meditative slice-of-life approach that is more interested in how people and objects reveal aspects of themselves and their culture by how they move through space and time. He doesn't use contrived plot points or typical story mechanics to progress from beginning to end, so a lot of western audiences might find themselves struggling with the pacing.

Still, Flight of the Red Balloon is being billed as his most accessible film to date, and that is probably true thanks to both Juliette Binoche and the occasional presence of a travelling red balloon (even if only in cameo moments). And, yes, there's a boy (Simon), but in this version the ally against loneliness is a Chinese film student (Song Fang). I let myself fall under the film's spell and it registered on my senses like a visual piece of classical music composed of minimilastic and languid notes bracketed by a stellar intro and end. J. Hoberman writes:

As though shooting a silent, Hou wrote a script without dialogue—then discussed each scene with his actors, who had to invent their own lines. This surely accounts for Simon's diffidence as well as Binoche's splendiferous eccentricity. Where actual film student Song Fang essentially plays herself, Binoche was compelled to invent the theatrical character Suzanne. The movie is animated not only by the hide-and-seek antics of the red balloon but by her extravagant turn as a frazzled performance artist. Played with total self-absorption and a corresponding absence of vanity, Suzanne is a harried composition in frowsy blonditude, filmy scarves, and mad décolletage—the most dynamic female protagonist in the Hou oeuvre. (Village Voice, April 1st, 08)

Of course, not all "homages" to The Red Balloon are as reverential as the one by Hou Hsiao-hsien. Gregg Rossen's Revenge of the Red Balloon (2000) has the following plot outline on IMDB: "The Balloon is back... And he's pissed!!! The Red Balloon returns to hunt down the bad little boys (now middle-aged Frenchmen) who popped it in the original classic film 40 years ago."

Along similar lines and with sheer misanthropic zest, for those who can handle morbid humor, it's hard to beat Don Hertzfeldt's Billy's Balloon (1998) - Hertzfeldt clearly relates to the trauma of the matinee projectionist:

]]> http://thedailyfedora.wordpress.com/?p=160 Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:07:49 +0000 squigs http://thedailyfedora.ar.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/director-spotlights-spike-lee/ I decided to add a new category to the posts I shall make: Director Spotlights. In these posts I will talk about a specific director. In this one, I shall (obviously) talk about Spike Lee. for those of you who aren't familiar with him, he's an African-American director. Most (actually, all) of his movies have African-American themes. He used to be a very respected director. Note I said 'used' to be. Now, I respect every director out there (save for maybe Uwe Boll) but Lee I respect the least. Why? He's incredibly racist. Ridiculously so. Perhaps you heard of his little spat with actor-turned director Clint Eastwood. Eastwood made two World War II films: Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima. These two films were centered around the raising of the flag in Iwo Jima, especially the first one. What was Lee's trouble with it? It didn't give African-American soldiers their due. He claimed that it showed no African-American soldiers whatsoever. First of all, the films did show African-American soldiers. Second of all, there were no Afican-American soldiers in the group that raised the flag. Lee subsequently called Eastwood racist, and Eastwood, in Western cowboy-type attitude, fired back that Lee needs to "shut his face." Now, most recently, Lee has made a film called Miracle at St. Anna's, which tells the story of a massacre in Italy. The only problem is, he shows African-American soldiers in the film where, historically, there were no African-American soldiers of any kind. When the modern day citizens responded (many of whom lost loved ones in the massacre) with things like "you are rewriting our history" Lee told them they "need to come to grips with their history." So he's making up history! He's probably the most racist person in Hollywood. Not to mention probably one of the most arrogant. He tried to sue Spike TV because they were "capitalizing on his fame" by using his name. He also thinks that his passion for Knicks baseball has cost him Oscars before, because the Oscar voters are usually Los Angeles based. "That's definite bias right there," he claims. Face it, Spike. You missed Oscars because your films aren't good enough.

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland
Creative Directors: Jeff Williams, Alberto Ponte, Tyler Whisnand
Copywriter: Jason Bagley
Art Director: Ryan O'Rourke
Senior Agency Producer: Matt Hunnicutt
Associate Producer: Juliana Montgomery
Production Company: Anonymous Content, Los Angeles
Director: David Fincher
Director of Photography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Executive Producer: Jeff Baron
Producer: Robin Buxton
Editorial: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Angus Wall
Post Producer: Michael Goble
Post EP: CL Weaver
VFX: Asylum
VFX Supervisor: Sean Faden
VFX Producer: Mark Kurtz
VFX EP: Mike Pardee
VFX Production Coordinator: Emily Hoovler
Compositing Supervisor: James Allen
Sound Design: MOS
Sound Designer: Ren Klyce
Sound Producer: Misa Kageyama
Mix: Lime
Mixer: Loren Silber
Mix producer: Jessica Locke

Britney Spears palasi seksikkäämpänä kuin koskaan...

Niiden saunakohtausten ja videossa vilahtaneen Nokian kännykän vuoksi minunkin oli pakko laittaa tämä video tänne. :)

Lue lisää musiikkivideosta ja muista Britneyn kuulumisista: http://www.britneyfinland.com

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1654737&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

How much of their future do we really think about? Do we only think about the economics of their future life? Can we include in our worries their future environment?

We don’t know what problems the future will bring. From previous generation to today’s generation we experienced wars, poverty, political and economic instabilities (which includes dot.com bubble and today’s credit crunch). I think the future will uncover a much worse problem than what we face now. How will you solve environmental problems caused by generations of neglect – climate change, pollution, food shortage? Money we’re trying to save will not save our children from these problems.

It’s worrying that majority of people and businesses don’t realise the urgency of this issue. Each individual has a contribution to make and they can also bring that contribution to their workplace. Businesses should take this seriously and not only use it for publicity or marketing strategy. They should actively implement their policies concerning the environment and energy efficiency. I would put this above the issue of health and safety as breathing polluted air and destroying the environment is a broad part of health and safety issue.

Our blog from previous weeks discussed many things how we can contribute to solutions on environmental issues affecting our children’s future. My sacrifice will not stop just providing them economic security.

How much are we willing to pay for our children’s future?

Read more: Companies need green directors article from the BBC.

Managing Director Dan Maze, MAZEfilms, Inc. was interviewed this week on CCN TV News about challenges of producing and distributing a movie in a challenging economy in Hollywood. The new movie is called "CORNERED!" starring Steve Guttenberg and James Duval, and was shot in downtown Los Angeles. Maze was interviewed in front of Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, the location of an upcoming MAZEfilms, Inc. event.

Be sure to check out the movie trailer, cast and crew at www.corneredmovie.com

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Which is the unseen creature that lurks below the dark surface of the water beyond the beach?

I know what you’re thinking.

Ooooh, scary! (Said very sarcastically.)

Of course, by today’s standards, no, but back in 1975 this was some scary shizit!

To finish reading the rest of this article please click on Jaws is gonna' get ya'!

Part of the reason for this may be the fact that it stars George Bancroft, an actor best remembered by most of us for his second tier character roles in later films, particularly his fine work as the warm-hearted marshal "Curly Wilcox" in John Ford's Stagecoach (1939).  Perhaps Bancroft ought to be better remembered as well for his earlier starring work under Josef Von Sternberg in three films about life on the shady side of society, the silents Underworld (1927), The Docks of New York (1928) and an early, significant talkie, Thunderbolt (1929), (the latter role even earned the actor an early Oscar nomination as Best Actor in a Leading Role).

In some of his better films, George Bancroft played a man who lived by a self-determined rough code, often sacrificing himself while keeping his inner nobility well hidden.  His early fame may also have faded so much because of the relative obscurity of these important yet transitional movies at the end of the silent era. Another factor may have been the removal of many pre-code films from circulation after the Production Code became the industry's self-imposed censor and protector of public morals. The dimming of Bancroft's unlikely stardom may also have been tarnished by his reported tendency to "go Hollywood" and believe his own publicity as a tough guy. A burly man, he might easily have played a more genial sibling of Wallace Beery.  Coming late to acting, Bancroft, who was a graduate of the Annapolis Naval Academy, went into acting by way of one of the last of the 19th century Minstrel Shows. Appearing in movies as a rough type beginning in 1921, he was already in his forties, but was lucky enough to play good roles despite his lack of that usual movie actor's essential of that time, physical beauty and youth. As his ego grew, however, he reportedly became more difficult to work with, refusing direction at times, and allegedly claiming in one scene in which his character was to die that "One bullet can't kill Bancroft!"

In Blood Money, Bancroft plays Bill Bailey, a bailbondsman who takes money from the guilty, the innocent, the rich and the poor, with little distinction or deference on display for any of his clients. The character played by George Bancroft* has no apparently well hidden nobility to mask, though his matter of fact attitude toward his business assisting criminals to get out of jail is regarded by him as "perfectly respectable" since "crime is a business like any other."

He even accepts as collateral the deedsof a widow's house whose son has been arrested; expressing admiration for the sixteen year old lad, who has a rather "complicated" relationship with a woman in her '30s. Bancroft plays a former cop, and, frankly, a cheerful scumbag without much to recommend him--except that he doesn't take any guff from anyone, (except his longtime, considerably cagey mistress). He seems to be a man without delusions, especially since his years on the force left him knowing too much about the inner workings of the city. Commenting on the praise being heaped on a "reform" mayor, Bailey says:
"As long as you have cities, you're bound to have vice in them. And you can't control human nature...the only difference between a liberal and a conservative man is that the liberal man recognizes the existence of vice and tries to control it, while the conservative just turns his back  and pretends it doesn't exist."

We soon learn that Bailey, after a tough day filching every red cent from everyone who comes through his door, relaxes in a dive where he encounters a woman dressed as a man at the bar, (seen at the right, we later learn that "she just does that for fun"). He also hears the legendary vaudevillian and rare film presence, Blossom Seeley,  (who may remind you a bit of Gladys George & Mae West), singing a vaguely familiar tune called "The Bad in Every Man". (The familiar melody was later used by Rodgers and Hart for one of their biggest hits, "Blue Moon").

The speakeasy is run by Bancroft's very formidable mistress, a "nightclub hostess" and tough gal Judith Anderson (in her film debut), who presides over what looks like a combination speakeasy and bordello. Anderson's presence, for those who tend to think of her as Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca almost a decade later is that of a glamorously assertive, sensual woman who realizes Bailey's many weaknesses may be part of his appeal for her. Having helped Bancroft when he was thrown off the police, she shares a fondness for her boyfriend's tendency to play both sides of the street, and appears to wield an unusual amount of power for a female character in what is superficially a gangster film.  While Judith Anderson would play another powerful criminal in Lady Scarface (1941), this is actually a better role than that simpler later film. Exercising more influence over other denizens of the underworld as the story develops, Anderson brings some of the authority that she must have had playing in her classical stage roles to this part. As the powerful character "Ruby Darling" she is softened by her love for the big lug, (even acknowledging his two timing tendencies with a somewhat sinister laugh), and her loyalty to  her younger brother, (Chick Chandler) an erratic, tow headed thief, (who is dating the cross-dressing dame at the bar).  Anderson creates a vivid portrait of a highly intelligent natural leader whose executive skills in her shadowy world hide a passionate attachment to her man and her sibling. Her conflicted love eventually turns against Bancroft, bringing the story to a rousing, (if unlikely) conclusion. Beneath her facade there is an ominous undercurrent in her character. Ruby Darling turns out to be the brains of the criminal lowlifes in this movie, though her mercurial nature leads her astray as well. Though each of the characters seems fairly stable on the surface, almost everyone in this movie is a slave to their own rage, leading them to seek revenge  and an eventual walk on the wild side.

The seemingly no-nonsense air about Bailey makes the shine that a shoplifting society beauty (played by Frances Dee ) takes to him more puzzling. Arrested for lifting a few items at a swanky department store, (despite the fact that she has a charge account there), Dee's kleptomaniac character exhibits a plethora of strange complexes. Addicted to excitement, aroused by rough men, and an inveterate liar; she manipulates a flattered, slightly puzzled, but not easily fooled Bancroft into helping her to cover up her arrest from her wealthy father. In a very strange scene, he is invited to a Hawaiian party at her posh home, where, showing a rather uninhibited side, Dee joins the hula dancers on display, teasing Bancroft to a fare-thee-well. Taken aback by the dissolute debutante's aggressive pursuit of him; Dee tells Bancroft that she needs a tough guy to tame her, "so she can follow him around like a dog on a leash."  Soon the two are carrying on a not so secret affair, even though Bancroft is made increasingly nervous by his new girlfriend's avid need for excitement. While attending the dog track together and rubbing elbows with the hoi polloi, they encounter Chick Chandler, a hot-headed bank robber who happens to know Bancroft well. With a new glint of excitement in her large, glittering eyes, Dee drops the laid back Bancroft for Chandler's brand of brutish fun, complete with a harsh kiss that Dee reports with satisfaction "hurt her lip."

If, like me, you may be used to seeing Frances Dee as an actress who personifies vibrantly fresh wholesomeness and purity on screen, the epitome of which was  her role as Meg in Little Women, (also filmed in 1933), this role is 180 degrees away from her usual screen persona. Though she once said that she took a role in  Val Lewton's I Walked With a Zombie (1943) in order to buy her mother a car with the salary,  her haunting appearance in So Ends Our Night (1941), her ambivalent role  in The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947) and her lovely serenity opposite her husband Joel McCrea in Four Faces West (1948) indicated someone who selected her roles with considerable thought, this forgotten film should have showed Hollywood that she had real range as an actress.  The writer and one of the  preeminent film critics of the 1930s and 1940s in America, James Agee, once wrote that Dee was "one of the very few women in movies who really had a face .... and always used this translucent face with delicate and exciting talent." Using her beautiful face, doe-like eyes, and graceful form, Ms. Dee show a talent that longed to grow, but, in this film, the actress clearly relished the challenging part.

Perhaps, unlike your dim correspondent, Dee's final scene, when her eyes light up once  when she encounters a disheveled, unknown female job seeker in the lobby of an office building who has just escaped from a wolfish man after answering a want ad, you will catch on to the meaning behind Dee's rapid vault toward the elevator more quickly than I did. According to her biographer, Andrew Wentnik, "When a friend...admonished her for playing a prostitute in Blood Money (1933), she denied it saying, 'I played a masochistic nymphomaniacal kleptomaniac, not a prostitute.'"

There is one other reason that occurs to me that may have contributed to Blood Money being less well known until recently. The director and screenwriter of this movie,  Rowland Brown, (seen below on the left), was one of those quirkily talented individuals who seems to have been lost in the shuffle of Hollywood history during the studio era. From what little I've been able to gather about him, he was born in Ohio and began his professional life as a commercial illustrator, specializing in bringing the fashion and sports pages of newspapers to vivid graphic life.  and migrated to Fox Studios in the late '20s, where he worked his way up from a common laborer to a position as a gagman, a screenwriter and a director.

Never heard of him? Well, you may have enjoyed some of his stories on screen. As a writer he contributed to the screenplays for Doorway to Hell (1930), What Price Hollywood (1932),  Angels With Dirty Faces (1938), Johnny Apollo (1940), and Kansas City Confidential (1952), almost all of which, to some degree, have some sympathy for the criminal class, acknowledge the existence of institutional corruption making it harder for the little guy, and a feel for the life of the streets, (which one critic described derisively as "pavement poetry"). He was nominated for an Oscar for his screenwriting for Doorway to Hell and Angels With Dirty Faces. Yet, as a director, he seems to have been his own worst enemy. After making a splash with Quick Millions (1931) featuring a very young, dynamic Spencer Tracy as a truck driver who organizes a criminal organization, he might have expected a promising career with steady work in the studio system. While some supposed ties to vaguely socialist causes may have affected his studio employment along the way, it was an alleged fist fight with an unnamed studio executive around the time of Blood Money's production that cut short his Fox career. Moving to England to jumpstart his career, Brown found a job directing Leslie Howard in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), but after a month, another violent run-in with someone on the production side of the film led to his immediate dismissal. Occasional uncredited work as a director on such films as The Devil Is a Sissy (1936) and writing, notably the George Raft movie, Nocturne (1946) and his last credit, for the excellent Phil Karlson-directed Kansas City Confidential are part of his threadbare cinematic legacy. As a director, Blood Money displays some possible skill on Brown and his crew's part for the rapidly paced scenes in Bailey's Bail Bond office, establishing the seedy air of Anderson's "nightclub" and a very tense concluding scene edited between a potentially deadly (if ludicrous) billiard game and a pell mell taxi ride across LA's actual streets, (I love to see real street scenes filmed surreptiously--and no doubt cheaply--in sometimes still recognizable places in old movies).  Though the movie probably didn't have a very large budget, and, based on the print I saw, it seems to have been photographed in the dark in several scenes as well. Btw, we do have one other possible reason to be thankful to the largely unheralded Rowland Brown. In 1942, he wrote and produced a melodrama called Johnny 2x4 at the Longacre Theater in New York City. The story was set in an imaginary speakeasy of his youth called the "2 x 4 Club" in Greenwich Village, between 1926 and 1933. A tall, sloe-eyed kid came to his office after all the speaking parts had been cast, shyly asking if she could be considered for a part and submitting her resume and photo. Apparently taking pity on her--or was he prescient?--he called her a few days later, giving her a non-speaking walk-on part that enabled the new graduate from acting school to get her Equity card, and appear in a short-lived but colorful show with such pros as Barry Sullivan and Harry Bellaver--on Broadway. The name of the young actress whose first professional acting job was awarded by Rowland Brown? At the time it was Betty, later Lauren Bacall.

_________________________________
*Whenever I've seen George Bancroft in these various roles in the late '20s and early '30s, I've been reminded that he might have been the ideal choice to bring to life Dashiell Hammett's "Continental Op" character on screen. The Op, a lowly detective for a Pinkerton-like agency was described by the classic crime novelist as "thick-bodied, mulishly stubborn, and indifferent to pain"--all qualities that Bancroft could easily have displayed. Btw, I've wondered if the title of the film Blood Money might have been derived from two of the author's stories, first published in The Black Mask pulp magazine in 1927; "$106,000 Blood Money" and "The Big Knockover", which were eventually published as one novel with the title Blood Money in 1943.

Sources:

Bacall, Lauren, By Myself and Then Some, HarperCollins, 2005.
Clarens, Carlos, Hirsch, Foster, Crime Movies, Da Capo Press, 1997.
LaSalle, Mick, Dangerous Men: Pre-code Hollywood and the Birth of the Modern Man,
Macmillan, 2002.

Town’s breasts 34% smaller this year
Average breast size in Orange County decreased by 34.4% compared to last year, a trend owing mostly to the rise in health care costs. Renowned plastic surgeon Jacque Perlough says he sees no end in sight to the breast shrinkage. “The government has made it nearly impossible for me to offer affordable enhancement surgeries,” he said. “My only hope is that Barack Obama is elected president this fall. Only universal health care can solve this problem.”

Stallone revives Lock Up franchise
Sylvester Stallone will reprise his role as convict Frank Leone in the upcoming sequel Lock Up 2: Solitary Confinement. According to the 61-year-old thesp, who recently brought back the Rambo and Rocky franchises, the second installment of the Lock Up series takes place “at an even more maximum security prison” and will feature “more chains, more violence and more than one surprise for longtime fans of the original.”

Agent fails to return writer’s phone call
CAA agent John Berthold did not call unproduced screenwriter Zach Teller this week, despite promising to get back to him about the comedy spec Teller submitted more than eight months ago. “I was too fucking busy,” said Berthold. “Plus I don’t remember what script that loser sent in anyway. I’m sure it sucked like most new writers’ work.” Teller plans to touch base with Berthold via email sometime next week.

Actors hate being typecast. The same goes for writers and directors, which is why Superhero Movie creator Craig Mazin announced plans to write and direct “Actual Movie,” a film that will spoof parody movies, effectively making it a real movie.

“The hardest part will be making it good,” said Mazin. “I’m not used to that kind of writing. But I figure if I do the opposite of what I normally do, everything should work out fine.”

The biggest hurdle will be avoiding sight gags and toilet humor, but Mazin insists he’s up to the challenge.

“It’s not like I need to drop an f-bomb to get a laugh,” he said. “I can be nuanced. There’s a way to do a fart joke tastefully, in my opinion. You’ll see. This will be the most movie-ish movie ever!”

The working tagline for Actual Movie is “This time it’s for real…sorta!”

Thousands of decisions go into every shot of a film, but you wouldn’t know it from listening to the director commentary included in the new Transformers DVD.

“Right here I wanted the fire to be bigger,” said Michael Bay, referring to a sequence involving Optimus Prime and Megatron. “The first three takes looked stupid and wimpy, so I told them to make it bigger. I really blew the shit out of that scene. That’s what moviemaking is all about.”

According to Bay (Pearl Harbor, Armageddon), plot and story are important to many films not directed by him, but he prefers to keep it simple.

“There’s just something about explosions and special effects that I like so much more than the rest of the filmmaking process,” he said. “Sure, the acting in Transformers was okay, but we all know people just came to watch stuff blow up. I mean, that’s why I directed it anyway.”

Bay echoes this sentiment over and over in the DVD commentary, alternately referring to scenes as “awesome” and “killer.” He does touch on character at one point, however, when praising Shia LaBeouf for his ability to act as if he was surrounded by explosions, even though the explosions weren’t added until post-production.

“I like to stop by IMDB every once in a while to see my profile. That’s when I saw projects like Blue Balls and Worst Friends,” said Apatow. “I was like, ‘wait a minute, what the hell is going on here?’”

According to the Internet Movie Database, Apatow is producing Blue Balls, Worst Friends, My Crazy Ex-Wife, Damnesia, Pink Slipped, Suburban Gangsters, Ultradope and Speed Daters.

The only problem is that Apatow doesn’t remember being involved with any of the movies.

“I’m hoping they’re raunchy sex comedies,” he said. “I knew I had a busy few days, but this is borderline ridiculous. Is it possible to write and direct a movie on the same day? I hope so, cause Ultradope is coming out this weekend!

With many in the industry already worried about Apatow stretching his brand too thin, the glut of new flicks has some second-guessing the bold, if accidental, move.

“This reminds of that one year Woody Allen released three identical movies,” said a top studio exec. “But we’re talking about eight days here. I’m all for churning stuff out, but...aw hell, they’ll probably all be good and make a lot of money.”

Apatow is not planning to produce any additional features next week, but he probably will anyway.

La Cronica reports from the production company's Morelia press conference that the promotional campaign for Rudo y Cursi will begin mid-November for the 500-screen winter release. Actors Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal spoke about how the Carlos Cuarón-penned film Y tu mamá también had changed his life. Mundo 52 also covers the event.

The actors and filmmakers also took part in the presentation of Ambulante 2009, dedicated to reclaiming public places, and spoke out about violence in Morelia. Read more.

"I'm thrilled that this short film competition will open doors for filmmakers to play with new languages and demonstrate that the creative process of film making can be more accessible than is often assumed."

Check out the competition here. Entries are due 7 November via Youtube.

This blog goes out to all the youth pastors/workers/directors/leaders/volunteers that have the caught the vision of youth ministry. You are the ones that go against the grain of church politics. Here is a great example of why, what you do you makes a big difference:

Jesus to me is the one who I know I can count on for anything & who helps me through the hardest time. He was the one that helped me through my best friend death. And helped me understand that he was safe & that he was always & will be with me just like Jesus. At first I thought I hated Jesus, but now I understand His plan & thank Him for not giving up on me. I love Jesus more than ever!

So to all my bro's & sister's out there in the youth ministry mission field....don't give up. Don't quit. Know that what you do makes a difference. That letter was given to me after we had a time of worship at 412 & I've kept in my wallet ever since, just to keep me dreaming of what God will do next in that young person's life. I am writing this on a Wednesday & most of us have a service tonight...rock it out tonight, hold nothing back, & dream. Dream big about what God will do tonight & live the vision out of what He give you.

Ask me if youth ministry worth it? I will tell you....absolutely.

Mere moments after Dreamworks’ deal with Reliance was finalized, Steven Spielberg was on set directing the first of 126 “Bollywood-style” films for the Indian financiers.

“This will be a much different model than we’re used to,” said Spielberg. “While there may be a drop in quality, I anticipate the sheer volume of films we produce will more than make up for it.”

Spielberg confirmed all the films will feature extensive musical numbers and nonsensical plot twists.

“Sometimes you don’t feel like explaining every little detail,” he said. “Now we don’t have to worry about it. It’s just…cut to the dance scene!”

Executives at Reliance expressed supreme confidence in Spielberg’s ability to help them earn a return on their investment.

“Mr. Spielberg is the premier name in filmmaking,” said a Reliance spokesman. “We can’t wait to see what he does with his first 8 films this month.”

Directors … may be concerned with a wide range of practical considerations, their judgment, if exercised in good faith and not for irrelevant purposes, is not open to review in the courts.

In other words, creditors and shareholders looking to recover from directors for losses resulting from poor business decisions will be disappointed to know that those decisions are not subject to review by the courts. It’s a massive exemption from liability, and it’s not one enjoyed by doctors, dentists or – until relatively recently, in most Commonwealth countries – even lawyers themselves. So why grant directors such freedom to mess up?

Delve deeply enough into the literature, and you’ll find as many justifications for the rule as you care to name. But there are three central reasons. First, scholars argue that people otherwise qualified to serve as directors won’t do so if their decisions are constantly second-guessed. This is well and good – no one likes to be constantly second-guessed, after all – but it’s not a reason to exempt a person from legal liability. Remember that we’re all responsible for reasonably foreseeable harm caused to others as we go about our daily business. Why should directors – who owe shareholders a fiduciary responsibility beyond what we owe each other in everyday social interaction – be held to a lesser standard than the rest of us?

Secondly, it’s said that courts are not equipped by nature to examine business decisions, and couldn’t act in real time even if they were. But, while it’s true that judges aren’t businesspeople, they’re not architects or forensic psychiatrists, either. That’s why courts call expert witnesses. There’s no reason experienced directors couldn’t be called on to testify about the wisdom of business decisions. And, true, the wheels of justice grind slowly – much more slowly than the wheels of commerce. But most allegations of director misconduct are made after the fact, in the context of an action for damages in the aftermath of bankruptcy, where time is no longer an issue. The courts have mechanisms for acting swiftly – injunctions are frequently granted under urgency – and there’s no reason they couldn’t deliver emergency interim relief in the same way.

The third and final reason given for the business judgment rule is that business requires risk-taking, sometimes even to the point of speculation, and that the directors are free to do just that. The argument here isn’t that, being in a position of responsibility, they should be held to a stricter standard than the rest of us; rather, it’s the reverse. Are the directors spending shareholders’ money irresponsibly on too risky ventures? Then, on this view, it’s up to the shareholders to fire them. Have the directors overcommitted themselves (without going as far as trading recklessly)? Caveat supplier – the firm’s trading partners should have done their due diligence before going into business with them.

Who watches the watchers? The business judgment rule says no one does, as long as the directors are using their powers for proper purposes to make good faith decisions. Why? Logically, the only reason is risk: it’s necessary for business, and someone – in this case, the directors – is allowed to take a lot of it.

This past Thursday marked the 40th anniversary of the Massacre of Tlatelolco. Alonso Fragua writes in La Jornada de Oriente about Mexico's filmic memory of if. "The important thing is not to forget but to prevent incidents like those of October 2, 1968 from recurring." Read more. Alfonso Cuarón has a film México '68 in pre-production that will deal with these events.

Jest na świecie jedno miejsce, gdzie nikt nie trafia bez powodu. Każdy przybywający tam człowiek ma swoją tajemnicę, i to najczęściej taką, którą z chęcią wyrzuciłby ze swojego życia… Każdy popełnia błędy, jednak niektórych przewinień się nie wybacza… Zrozumiesz to dosadnie, gdy tam trafisz. Gdy Twoje największe lęki obrócą się przeciwko Tobie. Ludzka krew spłynie po Twoim ciele, a Ty sam zaczniesz popadać w obłęd… Nie będzie dla Ciebie ratunku. Nikt nie usłyszy Twojego wołania, nikt nie nadejdzie z pomocą. Będziesz zdany sam na siebie w walce z demonami, które zalegają w Twojej głowie. Wtedy zrozumiesz, że z tego miasta nie ma ucieczki. Kto raz tam trafi, już się nie wydostanie… Witaj w Silent Hill – przedsionku piekieł.

30 września na amerykańskim rynku ukazała się najnowsza część jednej z najpopularniejszych serii gier z gatunku horroru. Silent Hill: Homecoming wpadł już w ręce graczy zza oceanu, dlatego uznałem, że warto przypomnieć sobie starsze części cyklu przed premierą SH:H na naszym kontynencie. Przejrzałem swoje gry w poszukiwaniu tej jednej płytki, którą zdecydowałem się odpalić dopiero, gdy na dworze się ściemni, a domownicy pójdą spać. Silent Hill 2. Założyłem słuchawki na uszy, włączyłem TV (i szybko przerzuciłem na AV, gdy tylko usłyszałem pewnego inteligentnego inaczej prezentera VIVY) i konsolę, żądny wrażeń. Nawet mimo tego, że w SH2 grałem już dawno temu znów poczułem to, czego nie dane było mi doświadczyć od dłuższego czasu – ciarki na plecach, zimny pot na czole i blada twarz to tylko niektóre z objawów STRACHU, jaki zawitał w progach mojego pokoju…

Jeśli nie wiesz, czym jest Silent Hill 2, to szybko tłumaczę: to historia człowieka, który nazywa się James Sunderland. Pewnego dnia otrzymuje on list podpisany przez jego żonę, Mary. Z treści listu dowiaduje się, że czeka ona na niego w Silent Hill. Nic dziwnego, powiadasz? A jeśli dodam, że Mary od trzech lat nie żyje z powodu choroby…? Jednak James postanawia wyruszyć do Silent Hill w poszukiwaniu małżonki, niosąc w sercu niepokój i nadzieję jednocześnie. W końcu zmarła osoba nie może napisać listu, więc może jednak Mary żyje? Krótko po dotarciu na miejsce James spotyka niejaką Angelę, która również szuka w Silent Hill bliskiej osoby. James nie zważając na jej ostrzeżenia („coś jest nie tak z tym miastem…”) rusza na poszukiwania żony, spotykając Marię – łudząco do niej podobną kobietę. Razem postanawiają udać się do apartamentów Woodside, gdzie być może czeka Mary…

Fabuła Silent Hill 2 to małe mistrzostwo świata. Nie jest ani płytka, ani przewidywalna, oraz co najważniejsze – nie jest schematyczna. To zupełnie świeża i oryginalna historia o miłości i poświęceniach, jakie jest w stanie znieść człowiek dla drugiej osoby. Japońska ekipa z Team Silent postanowiła chyba pokazać scenarzystom „M jak miłość” i pochodnych, że opowieść o miłości wcale nie musi być tępa niczym gwiazda porno na haju. Zaczęto od postaci – portrety psychologiczne tychże zasługują na Oskara. Gwarantuję, że scena z Marią krzyczącą na Jamesa wzbudzi w Was autentyczny niepokój. Zresztą, w tej grze nikt nie jest normalny, a już na pewno nie główny bohater. Tutaj mała rada: naprawdę dokładnie przyglądajcie się rozwojowi bohaterów w grze. Niejednokrotnie Was zaskoczą. Historia w SH2 ocieka w zwroty akcji, subtelne aluzje i zdecydowanie więcej wyniesie z niej gracz, który poświęci czas na refleksje nad tym, co właśnie zobaczył. Ode mnie Oskar w kategorii „najlepszy scenariusz w konsolowym horrorze”. I mam niemal pewność, że po przejściu gry i obejrzeniu jednego z zakończeń przyznacie mi rację.

Właśnie, jednego - Silent Hill 2 oferuje graczowi aż pięć zakończeń, co automatycznie przedłuża czas obcowania z tym tytułem. Owszem, można skończyć grę raz i rzucić na półkę, ale przyznajcie sami - czy nie lepiej poznać historię dogłębnie, spojrzeć na nią z kilku perspektyw? No właśnie, ja też tak uważam. Jeśli mowa o perspektywach, to twórcy SH2 wraz z wersją "Director's Cut" (standardowo na PC i Xboxa, na PS2 wydana jakiś czas po premierze podstawowej wersji SH2) dostarczają nam zupełnie nowy scenariusz, w którym kierujemy Marią. Przyznam się bez bicia, że chociaż posiadam wersję DC to jednak tego scenariusza nie przeszedłem, co mam zamiar nadrobić w najbliższej przyszłości.

A jak w to się gra? Fenomenalnie - sterowanie postacią jest intuicyjne, proste i nie nastręcza kłopotów, aczkolwiek niektórzy uważają je za lekko "sztywne". Rozgrywka opiera się głównie na trzech elementach - eksploracji, rozwiązywaniu zagadek i walkach z potworami zamieszkującymi Silent Hill. Przeczesywanie pomieszczeń stanowi klucz do rozwiązywania zagadek - ot, w pomieszczeniu X znajdziemy przedmiot, który można użyć w pokoju Y, by dostać się do lokacji Z. Przeczesując każdą miejscówkę w grze ciężko jest zabłądzić, zwłaszcza, że mapa jest wyraźna i czytelna. Plus dla Konami. Nie myślcie jednak, że sama eksploracja pozwoli Wam skończyć grę bez stresów - tak łatwo nie ma. Duża część zagadek będzie od Was wymagała logicznego myślenia i dobrej znajomości angielskiego (pecetowcy mogą ten drugi problem ominąć, ściągając stosowne spolszczenie do gry), gdyż wskazówki potrzebne do rozwiązania puzzli mogą być zapisane na kilka sposobów, zależnie od wybranego poziomu ich trudności. Może to być np. wiersz, mniej lub bardziej zaawansowany dialekt czy też po prostu rozwiązanie podane na tacy. Poziom trudności można również wybrać w przypadku walk, które to są chyba najsłabszym elementem całej serii. Brak w nich taktycznego zacięcia, więcej za to masherki po przyciskach na zasadzie "kto pierwszy, ten lepszy". Starcia z bossami potrafią dostarczyć adrenaliny (zwłaszcza walka ze złowrogim nemesis bohatera - Piramidogłowym, katem katów), ale brakuje im zróżnicowania. Na epickość rodem z Shadow of the Collossus nie liczcie.

Ok, mamy więc ciekawe zagadki, mamy nie mniej ciekawą eksplorację terenu, mamy w końcu słabujące walki. Ale co tak naprawdę obok fabuły stanowi siłę Silent Hill, i to nie tylko tej części? Warstwa audiowizualna, z naciskiem na "audio"! Oprawa graficzna SH2 w dzisiejszych czasach raczej nikogo na ziemię nie powali, ale nadal prezentuje się przyzwoicie - wyraźne postacie, ładne teksturki i ilośc detali cieszy oko. Miejscówki które przyjdzie nam odwiedzić są zróżnicowane - mamy ulice miasta, mamy apartamenty, więzienie, hotel czy też - mój faworyt - szpital psychiatryczny. Wizyta w tym ostatnim to ciężki cios w głowę - zakrwawione izolatki, niepokojące notatki pacjentów czy opisy ciężkich przypadków schizofrenii pozostawione przez lekarzy ostro zapiszą się w Twojej głowie. Wszystko uzupełni oprawa dźwiękowa, nad którą mógłbym się rozwodzić przez naprawdę długi czas. Akira Yamaoka, główny specjalista od muzyki w serii popisał się na medla - skomponowane przez niego utwory zapadają w pamięć, są niezwykle klimatyczne i co najważniejsze - w połączeniu z obrazami na ekranie naprawdę straszą. Dark ambient wypływający z głośników podczas gry jest niepokojący, dziwny i nieswój, obdzierając gracza z resztek pewności siebie. Rozpisanie dźwięku na poszczególne kanały wypadło mistrzowsko - nie zapomnę akcji, gdy wchodząc do jednego z pokoi nagle usłyszałem tuż za mną ciche "seen my dead wife...". Nie byłem w stanie poruszyć głową przez dobre kilka minut. Gra w nocy na słuchawkach tudzież głośnikach 5.1 to świadome samobójstwo - nie mówcie, że nie ostrzegałem.

Cokolwiek by nie powiedzieć o Silent Hill 2, gra jest ukoronowaniem konsolowych horrorów. Nie ma drugiego takiego tytułu. Gry, z której wylewa się czysty sadyzm, strach i jednocześnie piękna fabuła. Nie pojawił się do tej pory horror z lepszym udźwiękowieniem, tak zapadającym w pamięć. Mimo kilku nieznacznych wad naprawdę polecam Wam wycieczkę do spowitego mgłą miasteczka. Pamiętajcie jednak, że za ubytki na psychice spowodowane grą nie odpowiadam ;) Więc jak - zanurzysz głowę w ten kubeł okropności i pozwolisz strachowi wejść do Twojego umysłu? Wiedz jednak, że gdy raz to zrobisz, nie będzie już odwrotu...

Plusy:

- niesamowita fabuła, oprawa AV, muzyka, klimat zaszczucia

Minusy:

- mało ciekawe walki, czasami niewygodne sterowanie

Ocena: 9+/10

Bzdursky

Max Hardcore, 50, was sentenced to 46 months in prison today.  Max whose real name is Paul Little was indicted on 10 counts of producing and distributing obscene material via the Internet and mail.  Little was also fined $7,500 as was his company Max World Entertainment.  Little was ordered to surrender the obscene material and forfeit all profits from the selling of the material.  The conviction stems from extreme videos produced in 2006, depicting women swallowing urine, vomit and other bodily fluids.  Little directed, produced and performed in the videos.  He asked the judge for leniency at sentencing stating,

"It just seems a very high price to pay, I think," Little told U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew, "and I ask you to understand how much I've suffered."

His attorneys plan on appealing his conviction.

Max Hardcore videos are almost always rough and degrading.  There is a fair amount of urination, gagging, and rough anal sex.  The women in the videos are paid and willing participants but often cry, throw up, and generally appear to be disgusted by what they are being paid to do.  Max contends that the crying is all an act.  Still when watching one of his videos it is very difficult to tell the where the acting ends and pain begins.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/oct/03/040216/judge-sentences-porn-producer-46-month-prison/