Release date for "The Rocker" announced
Fox Atomic has announced the release date for "The Rocker" as April 18th. If you go to the Fox Atomic web site, you'll see a promotional picture for the film, with my bus all made up as "Gertrude" in the background.
You can see pictures I took while on location for the last two days of filming, here.
My son Travis and I did some background acting work for a couple of shots in front of the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame. It will be interesting to see if those shots made it into the finished film.
Still no word on my meeting.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Cloverfield
I should probably point out that I'm not at all trying to turn this into some sort of movie review/analysis blog. I've just had some time to myself lately that I've decided to blow on seeing some films in the theater rather than waiting for the DVD.
About ten years ago, I was on the big island of Hawaii at this great five star resort called the Mauna Lani Bay as part of an award package for the sales team that I was on at the time. At dinner one night, a waiter passed our table with this really amazing looking dessert. It had a couple of different kinds of fruit in it, some sort of mango looking ice cream, and this fancy looking cylindrical web of white chocolate sitting atop a carefully placed dollop of whipped cream. I said to myself, "my god I have to get one of those" and hailed our waiter. When my highly anticipated confectionery creation finally arrived, I soon discovered that even a five star resort can disappoint, and while it looked fabulous sitting there, and I did eat most of it, it wasn't all that satisfying. A clear case of being deceived by the appearance of something that not only looked well done, but seemed really interesting and different... Cloverfield was a very similar experience.
The best way to describe the film is that it was shot in HD; that is to say a "Highly Derivative" manner. Whoever it was that proclaimed that there are few, if any, original concepts left in Hollywood, clearly had films like this in mind.
Its technical execution, and effects were very well done. but it was so short on story and good performances that I had a tough time tolerating it - even as a popcorn movie.
I should probably point out that I'm not at all trying to turn this into some sort of movie review/analysis blog. I've just had some time to myself lately that I've decided to blow on seeing some films in the theater rather than waiting for the DVD.
About ten years ago, I was on the big island of Hawaii at this great five star resort called the Mauna Lani Bay as part of an award package for the sales team that I was on at the time. At dinner one night, a waiter passed our table with this really amazing looking dessert. It had a couple of different kinds of fruit in it, some sort of mango looking ice cream, and this fancy looking cylindrical web of white chocolate sitting atop a carefully placed dollop of whipped cream. I said to myself, "my god I have to get one of those" and hailed our waiter. When my highly anticipated confectionery creation finally arrived, I soon discovered that even a five star resort can disappoint, and while it looked fabulous sitting there, and I did eat most of it, it wasn't all that satisfying. A clear case of being deceived by the appearance of something that not only looked well done, but seemed really interesting and different... Cloverfield was a very similar experience.
The best way to describe the film is that it was shot in HD; that is to say a "Highly Derivative" manner. Whoever it was that proclaimed that there are few, if any, original concepts left in Hollywood, clearly had films like this in mind.
Its technical execution, and effects were very well done. but it was so short on story and good performances that I had a tough time tolerating it - even as a popcorn movie.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
More Oscar Contenders
I went to see "Atonement" and "No Country For Old Men" this weekend. They are both great films with amazing casts and exceptional performances all around. I particularly loved the long tracking shot in Atonement on the beach as the soldiers were waiting to be picked up. The shot went on endlessly and was just really well done. No Country had its great moments as well - truly an amazing film with colorful characters that was done in that laconic Coen brothers style. One thing that's always a great feature of the Coen brothers films is the dialog. This film was no exception. There was damn little of it, but what was there was amazing. Javier Bardem is intense and played such a great villain in "No Country". I've always thought Keira Knightley a great actress and she was at the top of her form as Cecilia in Atonement.
The thing that's great about seeing films that are this good is that they give you great ideas, or make you think about elements that may be applicable to your work. While LOD is not all that close to the No Country story, there are some vaguely familiar elements and themes between the two which I found encouraging. The thing that sucks about having similarities to popular films is that when people see LOD they're likely to say something like "they stole that from No country" when in reality most of the similar stuff was baked into LOD long ago.
I went to see "Atonement" and "No Country For Old Men" this weekend. They are both great films with amazing casts and exceptional performances all around. I particularly loved the long tracking shot in Atonement on the beach as the soldiers were waiting to be picked up. The shot went on endlessly and was just really well done. No Country had its great moments as well - truly an amazing film with colorful characters that was done in that laconic Coen brothers style. One thing that's always a great feature of the Coen brothers films is the dialog. This film was no exception. There was damn little of it, but what was there was amazing. Javier Bardem is intense and played such a great villain in "No Country". I've always thought Keira Knightley a great actress and she was at the top of her form as Cecilia in Atonement.
The thing that's great about seeing films that are this good is that they give you great ideas, or make you think about elements that may be applicable to your work. While LOD is not all that close to the No Country story, there are some vaguely familiar elements and themes between the two which I found encouraging. The thing that sucks about having similarities to popular films is that when people see LOD they're likely to say something like "they stole that from No country" when in reality most of the similar stuff was baked into LOD long ago.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Silver Eagle Update
It turns out the events relating to what will be the end of the Silver Eagle story as it's being told in my documentary are playing out in Brownsville TX. The first of the new coaches since the factory was reopened is about to be delivered. I need to get down there in the next couple of weeks to get footage of the test drive and the delivery.
I'll need probably another 8 hours of footage including B roll and some of the interviews that I'm missing. I guess I better get cracking and complete the logging and the script so I can figure out _exactly_ what I need.
It turns out the events relating to what will be the end of the Silver Eagle story as it's being told in my documentary are playing out in Brownsville TX. The first of the new coaches since the factory was reopened is about to be delivered. I need to get down there in the next couple of weeks to get footage of the test drive and the delivery.
I'll need probably another 8 hours of footage including B roll and some of the interviews that I'm missing. I guess I better get cracking and complete the logging and the script so I can figure out _exactly_ what I need.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Back from my break
2008 is off to a bit of a slow start for me. I'm pretty behind on blogging, I'm going to try and get better.
My partner in NY and I have had a number of people on the hook for one of my reality pilots (Star Coaches) but nothing has materialized. With the show being pitched at the NATPE conference in Vegas on the 28th, I feel pretty good about the prospects. I'm pretty much convinced that 08 is the make or break year for the reality stuff. The principals are still very interested in participating both with Coaches and the Big Idea Hunt, but the material I have is becoming dated, and we need to move it along. Fingers and toes are crossed, I think the timing is good (with regard to the WGA strike), now all we need is a little luck.
I attended Imagine Magazine's holiday party earlier this month and had the pleasure of meeting C. Palmer Stinson of Timefissure Animation Studios. Palmer took interest in a spec script that I'd written for an animated feature called "Rescuing Champ". I've developed a couple of character concepts to build some shorts around which will give us the chance to test our collaboration on such projects. I'm really looking forward to it. I've already handed in two concepts and one script that he and his team are pretty excited about.
The train continues forward on LOD. We've had a couple of meetings on it, and have a seasoned local NH producer that's expressed interest in acting at least in an advisory capacity for LOD. He seems fairly impressed with the work that James and I did on Alibi, and he said that he liked the Galaxy Girl music video that I did last year... Sounds odd to say it, but yes, that video was shot nearly a year ago... Damn. Anyway, once this guy has read the script, I'll post more about him. For now, he's pledged small role in behind the scenes advisory support that is very important to us, but I don't want to say too much until I can really gauge how interested he is in the project.
Another reality concept that I cut the development teaser reel for and wrote the "one sheet" treatment for has gone to a fully funded pilot which is pretty exciting. I think there's an excellent chance of it getting picked up by a network. It's been getting quite a lot of local media coverage in the Atlanta area, and is currently being cast.
In the last month or so, I've manged to get out to a fair number of films, including; "Charlie Wilson's War (fun/great) ", "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (excellent)", "Lars and the Real Girl (fun/great)" and "Into the Wild (excellent)". I also went to see Sweeney Todd (eh), and while Depp and Burton always manage to deliver something interesting (which this was) and fun (which this was if you're Hannibal Lecter), this one was just a bit too... odd for me (funny how it works out that "odd" is actually in the title :-) ). Next on my list are; "Atonement", "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood".
2008 is off to a bit of a slow start for me. I'm pretty behind on blogging, I'm going to try and get better.
My partner in NY and I have had a number of people on the hook for one of my reality pilots (Star Coaches) but nothing has materialized. With the show being pitched at the NATPE conference in Vegas on the 28th, I feel pretty good about the prospects. I'm pretty much convinced that 08 is the make or break year for the reality stuff. The principals are still very interested in participating both with Coaches and the Big Idea Hunt, but the material I have is becoming dated, and we need to move it along. Fingers and toes are crossed, I think the timing is good (with regard to the WGA strike), now all we need is a little luck.
I attended Imagine Magazine's holiday party earlier this month and had the pleasure of meeting C. Palmer Stinson of Timefissure Animation Studios. Palmer took interest in a spec script that I'd written for an animated feature called "Rescuing Champ". I've developed a couple of character concepts to build some shorts around which will give us the chance to test our collaboration on such projects. I'm really looking forward to it. I've already handed in two concepts and one script that he and his team are pretty excited about.
The train continues forward on LOD. We've had a couple of meetings on it, and have a seasoned local NH producer that's expressed interest in acting at least in an advisory capacity for LOD. He seems fairly impressed with the work that James and I did on Alibi, and he said that he liked the Galaxy Girl music video that I did last year... Sounds odd to say it, but yes, that video was shot nearly a year ago... Damn. Anyway, once this guy has read the script, I'll post more about him. For now, he's pledged small role in behind the scenes advisory support that is very important to us, but I don't want to say too much until I can really gauge how interested he is in the project.
Another reality concept that I cut the development teaser reel for and wrote the "one sheet" treatment for has gone to a fully funded pilot which is pretty exciting. I think there's an excellent chance of it getting picked up by a network. It's been getting quite a lot of local media coverage in the Atlanta area, and is currently being cast.
In the last month or so, I've manged to get out to a fair number of films, including; "Charlie Wilson's War (fun/great) ", "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (excellent)", "Lars and the Real Girl (fun/great)" and "Into the Wild (excellent)". I also went to see Sweeney Todd (eh), and while Depp and Burton always manage to deliver something interesting (which this was) and fun (which this was if you're Hannibal Lecter), this one was just a bit too... odd for me (funny how it works out that "odd" is actually in the title :-) ). Next on my list are; "Atonement", "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood".
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