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Showing posts from February, 2015

Interview with director of photography Daniel Patterson

Director of photography Daniel D. Patterson creates an inimitable naturalist vision for each story he works on. His work can be seen five nights a week, as he photographed the opening sequence of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. His latest feature, director Spike Lee’s Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, opened nationwide on Feb. 13, 2015. The film previously closed the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) on June 2014. The PBS documentary series POV will be kicking off its season on June 22nd with Out In The Night . That film is the story of (the "New Jersey Four") a group of lesbians who were arrested for fighting a straight man. Its a powerful and important film that needs to be seen. Daniel was kind enough to answer some questions I had about his work. How do you define the role of cinematographer? The cinematographer creatively helps bring the director's vision to the screen using cameras, lenses, light/shadow, interesting angles/frames, significant camera m

Interview with Heather McIntosh

Heather McIntosh recently moved to Los Angeles from Athens, Georgia. House cellist for the Elephant 6 Collective, she has played with of Montreal, The Olivia Tremor Control, The Music Tapes, Gerbils, Elf Power, Circulatory System, Apples in Stereo, Great Lakes, and The Ladybug Transistor. She has extended her talents outside of Athens performing with Linda Perhacs, Kevin Ayers of the Soft Machine, Faust, Animal Collective, Cat Power, Superchunk, M Ward, The Clientele, St. Vincent, Azure Ray, Icy Demons, Bright Eyes, Washed Out, Dr. Dog, Gnarls Barkley, and Lil Wayne. In addition she has scored the films; Compliance, Honeymoon, Black Rock, Z For Zachariah, Faults, The White City and Manson Family Vacation to name a few.

Power Rangers fan film that is better than most summer update/remake/reboot/adaptation things

Seriously, just watch it. 

What's New On Netflix in March?

March 1 30 for 30: Of Miracles and Men (2015) The Brothers Grimm (2005) Evelyn (2002) 1953. Desmond Doyle is devastated when his wife abandons their family on the day after Christmas. His unemployment and the fact that there is no woman in the house to care for the children, Evelyn, Dermot and Maurice, make it clear to the authorities that his is an untenable situation. The Irish courts put the Doyle children into Church-run orphanages. Although a sympathetic judge assures Desmond that he'll get his children back after he gets a job, he learns there's another barrier. During that time, Evelyn suffers abuse while Desmond goes to court to get his children back. A barmaid, her brother, her suitor, and a tippling footballer become Desmond's team Finding Neverland (2004) Mercy Rule (2014) Monster High: 13 Wishes (2013) Patch Adams (1998) Rules of Engagement (2000) Teen Witch (1989) March 5 The ABCs of Death 2 Food Chains (2014) March 6 Aziz Ansari Live at Madison Square G

Interview with Peter Rajesh Joachim

A film-maker from Bangalore India; he scripts shoots and edits all of his projects, a one man army. I had Peter on the podcast to discuss his film Blood Empires . Blood Empires is an independently produced crime drama focused on street level gangsters, cops and the middle class families that are affected by having loved ones on both sides of the law. At its heart the film is about individuals grasping to hang on to there humanity while their professions strip it away. The film seems to ask if people who are involved in such brutal lives can find and maintain love.

Interviews with Ethan Hawke and Seymour Bernstein about the IFC film Seymour: An Introduction

INTERVIEW WITH ETHAN HAWKE How did you first meet Seymour? I met Seymour at a dinner party. We were seated next to one another and I began confiding in him immediately. There is something magical about him that invites honesty. When you first met Seymour, did you immediately think, "I should make a movie about this man?" It wasn't really my idea. He invited me and a few friends over to his apartment and he played for us. I was transported. His friends seemed to have the same reaction. We knew he wasn't giving any more public concerts - so a documentary leapt to someone’s mind, who started pressing me to do it. I thought I would find someone else to do it, but then slowly realized I wanted to. Had you ever considered making a documentary portrait of anybody before? I'd written a profile on Kris Kristofferson once for Rolling Stone and enjoyed that – it felt a little bit like making a doc. I enjoy the process of meditating on the lives of ar

Bruce Sinofsky dies at age 58

Fuck man. I didn't know Bruce on a personal level but I like many people was definitely personally involved with his work. The first Paradise Lost film came out when I was in high school and like many people my age it had a profound impact on my life. The film was about a horrific triple child murder that led to an indictment and trial of three nonconformist boys based on questionable evidence. This was the first film that brought out a pure sense of hopelessness and rage in me. I was beyond effected, I was changed. I assume that I always had a lefty "fuck the man" leaning deep in my soul but this film brought it screaming to the surface. My voice has never carried a deep resonance but seeing Bruce's film.... it taught me to never hesitate when I felt I should raise it. I like many others are in Bruce's debt. Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelly were wrongfully convicted and placed on death row for the murders at Robin Hood Hills. Bruce Sinof

Interview with Melanie Wise

The Artemis Women In Action Film Festival is in Los Angeles in April of 2015. The first film festival devoted exclusively to female action films. We will celebrate powerful women taking action on the silver screen. From superheroes to super stuntwomen, from martial artists to mighty athletes, from women in law enforcement to women in the armed forces, we will shine a spotlight on females in film who are fearless and revolutionary. Here is my interview with the founder of the festival Melanie Wise. CM: …so the reason I had you on the show today is to talk about your kickstarter and your film festival that you're putting on right now. So can you tell the people a little bit about it. MW: Yes. Actually, we are starting the very first film festival that is dedicated completely to women in action roles. There's a couple of festivals that are dedicated to just women and basically they support women in front of the camera, behind the camera and so on. our festiv

Out in the Night review

This is one of those films that will be incredibly difficult for me to discuss without going off on expletive laden tangents. I'll do my best but I make no promises. Out In The Night tells the story of the "New Jersey Four" a group of  lesbians who were arrested for fighting a straight man. The "New Jersey Four" nickname was clearly a play on the "Central Park Five" case from 1989 and it was appropriate because the media frenzy surrounding both cases were solely based on prejudice and conjecture. You see, when you sell the story as "a gang of scary black lesbians stab a straight man in front of a movie theater" it sells papers, keeps viewers tuned in and in the process destroys the lives of the people involved. If you sell the story in a truthful manor it might just disappear and that would be missing a wonderful opportunity to up your Neilsen numbers and sell some ads. Journalistic integrity be damned when you are in the business upset

Interview with Lauren Ashley Carter

Lauren Ashley Carter is an actress and producer, known for Premium Rush (2012), The Woman (2011) and Jug Face (2013). Her latest film Pod will be premiering at SXSW later this year. I had her on the show to discuss Jug Face and the finer points of impersonating Jodie Foster and Holly Hunter.

Interview with Lea Thompson

Thompson has starred in more than 30 films, 25 television movies, 4 television series, more than 20 ballets, and starred on Broadway in "Cabaret". Lea can currently be seen on ABC Family's Peabody Award-winning hit show "Switched at Birth," where she acts and directs. Lea's movie credits include: "All the Right Moves," "Red Dawn," "Some Kind of Wonderful," "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Howard The Duck"(star and vocals), Clint Eastwood's "J. Edgar;" the 2014 Sundance favorite "Ping Pong Summer;" and a wonderful film that you need to see called The Trouble With The Truth. It's currently streaming on Amazon and one of the best films I've seen in years. Click play on the embedded player below to listen to our conversation.  

Interview with Richard LaGravense

Today we speak with the director of Anna Kendrick's latest film The Last Five Years LaGravenese wrote The Fisher King on spec in the late 1980s. It was acquired by Stacey Sher, Lynda Obst, Debra Hill's production company and subsequently directed by Terry Gilliam. In New York City during the early 1980s, billed as "The Double R" comedy duo, in collaboration with playwright Richard O’Donnell, LaGravenese co-penned and consecutively performed in several Off-Off-Broadway productions including Spare Parts, Blood-brothers" at The 78th Street Theatre Lab, The Lion Theatre, and West Bank Cafe. Click here for the interview

Interview with Green Inferno and Knock Knock director of photography Antonio Quercia

How do you define the role of cinematographer? Well beyond the photographic technique, style of lighting, the intention of the camera, optical frames and a cinema is certainly a mediator, a tightrope between light and shadow, between production and direction, between day and night, etc, the images are abstract gives a script, the reality is travez monitors on set, only then at that point becomes concrete all conversations that had before filming began, and achieve interpret these sensations we gives the script, with the help of the director, is undoubtedly the great mission of the cinema, What makes a good film? Film, film maker, is undoubtedly the union of thousands of items where parts can not work alone, it is therefore very necessary coordination and synchronization of different departments to get outstanding results, if we put in September 1 to the best exponents of each area and you do not communicate well, we will not get good results, then the film becomes a m

Interview w Melanie Wise founder of the Artemis: Women In Action Film Festival

The Artemis Women In Action Film Festival is in Los Angeles in April of 2015 .  The  first  film festival devoted  exclusively  to female action films. We will celebrate powerful women taking action on the silver screen.  From superheroes to super stuntwomen, from martial artists to mighty athletes, from women in law enforcement to women in the armed forces, we will shine a spotlight on females in film who are fearless and revolutionary.

Trailer for Cameron Crowe's Aloha

ALOHA May 29, 2015 In Aloha , a celebrated military contractor (Bradley Cooper) returns to the site of his greatest career triumphs – the US Space program in Honolulu, Hawaii – and reconnects with a long-ago love (Rachel McAdams) while unexpectedly falling for the hard-charging Air Force watchdog (Emma Stone) assigned to him.   From Academy Award®-winner Cameron Crowe, the writer-director behind such films as Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous , Aloha also stars Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride, and Alec Baldwin. Written and Directed by:  Cameron Crowe   Cast:   Bradley Cooper,  Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride, Alec Baldwin

Interview with Conrad Goode

Conrad's first professional acting appearance was in a 1986 Miller Lite commercial with Joe Piscopo. Following the Saturday Night Live alum, he made an appearance on SNL, in 1988, playing "Big Red" in a skit with Jan Hooks and Kevin Nealon. A theme that would re-occur throughout his career, having worked with Adam Sandler, three times (The Longest Yard, Anger Management and Bulletproof), Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, Horatio Sanz and the late Chris Farley. He has appeared in over 22 films and 40 national commercials. his most recent film Home Is Where The Heart Is can be purchased or rented on Amazon  

The Trouble with the Truth review

Directed by: Jim Hemphill Starring: Lea Thompson and John Shea Talkies. After the silent era films with sound were called talkies. Ironically enough films have moved away from conversation and grown (or digressed) into an era of pure visual spectacle. The Trouble with the Truth is a throw back in many ways but in others its quite progressive. The film centers around Emily (Lea Thompson) and Robert (John Shea) who are divorced couple having dinner, that's it, a couple talking. This is the kind of film that we rarely see, one that is completely built on performance and writing. The set pieces in this film are emotional ones and they carry far more weight than anything I've seen in a multiplex for years. Thompson gives the strongest performance of her career and is absolutely captivating to watch in this film. I've always enjoyed her work but I had no idea how good she was. This is the kind of film that has made me reevaluate her work as a performer. John Shea is also

Crazy Bitches review

The first horror films I remember are the ones whose names I can barely recall. They were gory, filled with sex and defiantly inappropriate for a 12 year old. I'm not talking about The Shinning or The Exorcist, those were films that I could watch with my parents. The movies I'm talking about were dangerous, I wasn't allowed to watch them. I would go to the video store and find films based solely on the box art. These films rarely lived up to the images used to sell them but it didn't matter, the promise of might be was enough. I took films like; Sleepaway Camp, Sorority Babes at the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, Class of Nuke Em High, and Chopping Mall seriously. I didn't watch them like some douche bag hipster with a detached sense of irony, nope Phantasm was my Citizen Kane. My taste has matured (slightly) but those films will always hold a special place in my heart. I've seen tons of modern films that try to call back to the B-Movie masterpieces of my y

Chappie trailer and stills

Directed by: Neill Blomkamp Written by: Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell Cast:  Sharlto Copley,  Dev Patel,  NINJA and ¥O-LANDI VI$$ER,  Jose Pablo Cantillo  with Sigourney Weaver  and Hugh Jackman In the near future, crime is patrolled by an oppressive mechanized police force. But now, the people are fighting back. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself.  As powerful, destructive forces start to see Chappie as a danger to mankind and order, they will stop at nothing to maintain the status quo and ensure that Chappie is the last of his kind. Finger crossed for this one it could be my favorite film of the year or the biggest let down. Either way I fully expect a strong reaction.