What happens when you stay up all night on the night of a show deadline? Full Contact Compositing! Thats why I needed my motorcycle helmet while I was sitting at my desk – it is a pretty dangerous time in the cycle of a film. We just completed post-production at The Orphanage for John Woo’s Red Cliff: Part 2. Below is the poster for Part 1. There isn’t an english language trailer for part 2 yet, but the Japanese website for the movies have some stills. http://redcliff.jp/part2/index.html.

What are some of the sights you might see when staying late at night at a visual effects house? Read on to see what goes on.

Well people all seem to be a little delirious and a little out of focus.

Some people are hiding in their work.

Some people have to call their loved ones and tell them not to wait up.

And some people just need to rest their eyes for a bit.

But everyone is happy when it is finally done and we get to go home!

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I saw and really enjoyed “Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist” on Friday night. I really like movies that many would consider to be “chic flicks” but that have a bit more struggle to them. I read a personal ad earlier this week that said that the girl was looking for “movie love”.

I am someone who is looking for “movie love”. Cheesy as it sounds, not yet found and quite possibly a myth, I still search for this elusive love. I want someone who absolutely takes my breath away; the thought and sight of him gives me butterflies, like I had when I was younger. Someone who is both my best friend and lover, who I feel both excited and safe with at the same time.

I have a theory about people. You’ve heard the expression “they think the world revolves around them”. It is true, most peoples’ world revolves around them. They are the one constant in all of their experiences. They only know other people’s lives through usually biased stories about their lives. When I hear or witness things that people do or decide, I like to think of them in a movie – their movie.

It truly is – they are the director, the actor, and the critic of their own movie. They have a storyline that has been going on long before we came to witness anything that they are involved in or doing, and it will continue long after we are not around to watch or view. That is what makes great films – we get to witness the ultimate moment or climax of a characters story. Much like “Stranger than Fiction” featuring Will Ferrell, this film’s characters are on the brink of destruction – they could go either way with the flick of a pen. Nick, played by Michael Cera, has been dumped and he has gone into serious meltdown depression. Tris, played by Alexis Dziena, toys and taunts Nick at his band’s gig in Manhattan. Norah, played by Kat Dennings (crush alert!), ends up in a weird web of laughs, uncomfortable pauses, and a game of cat and mouse.

I highly reccommend this film. I put it up there with “Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind” which is one of my favorite “chic flicks” I’ve seen.

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It was interesting being at a Festival that you don’t have a pass to see any of the movies and you don’t have a film playing in the Festival. I met some cool people standing in line for the free things and I saw two movies that were incredible in the Outdoor Cinema. Oh and the scenery ain’t too shabby in Telluride either.

I camped in an area that was sort of a grey area. It was at the end of the pavement, at the end of the valley at sort of a dead end, but it was before you got to the sign that said “Public passage through private land – stay on road’. You could only get over Black Bear Pass if you have 4WD. I think I was fine because I saw several police trucks drive to the end of the pavement, and then flip a u-turn in front of my motor home! no tickets!

It was about 1.6 miles from town, so it was a good amount to walk with the dogs, or ride my bike. It wasn’t too far, but just enough that I could feel it as I was trying to recover from my hike.

As I went to and fro, I could swear that someone was watching me. Especially at night I would get the creeps because it was so dark between town and where I was camped. There was no moon as well so I basically was navigating by starlight. Yes I did have a headlight on my bike and a headlamp on my head, but what fun is that!?! During the daytime, I walked very carefully through the route I had taken and I think I found who was watching me!

Beware of the Eye of Aspens!

It rained most of Sunday, which provided some very interesting hanging fog and made the whole place seem pretty magical.

The two films which I really liked, I watched at the Abel Gance Open Air Cinema, which was actually outdoors in the park in the middle of the town.

The first film I liked was Pirate for the Sea, which is a documentary about Paul Watson and his quest to help the animals of the sea. Some of it was a bit graphic, but in a documentary about cruelty against animals, needless slaughter, and the fight against those forces – its necessary. If you want to see a passionate individual and see what all the fuss is about, don’t miss this film. Earlier in the day Paul Watson and Director Ron Colby were given an opportunity to discuss the film with Ken Burns moderating. It was truly fascinating to see and hear Paul Watson in person and hear how passionate he really is.

Photo by Peter Mathew (Sydney Morning Herald)

Poster in English

The second film I really liked was The Good The Bad The Weird. It was described as a “Korean Spaghetti Western” – and it lived up to my hopes. If you could ever imagine the cool Clint Eastwood with a bit more movement in his step, you’d have a good approximation of the movie. It is kept me pinned to the edge of my water soaked bench seat in the park. It had rained all day and continued to rain sporadically throughout the movie which only heightened the experience. The film is set mostly in the Manchurian desert and is quite a thrill ride. I found myself laughing through many scenes! This is definitely a “don’t miss film”.

If you’d like to watch the trailer it’s here on youtube.com.

The French poster is much better than English IMHO.

Celebrity Sightings:
Jeff Goldblum (actor – Indendence Day, Jurassic Park)
Laura Linney (actress – Truman Show, Mystic River)
Lauren Graham (actress – Gilmore Girls, Evan Almighty)
Leonard Maltin (writer – Movie Guide)
Salman Rushdie (writer – Midnight’s Children, The Satanic Verses)
David Fincher (director – Fight Club, Being John Malcovich)
Ken Burns (director – Civil War, The War)

And on a final note, Burn On The Bayou, a film that I edited, did not get screened at Telluride Film Festival, despite a hefty campaign by yours truly.

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One of the big reason’s I’m in Telluride this weekend is the Telluride Film Festival. The documentary I edited, Burn On The Bayou, did not get selected to screen, but since today is the 3rd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina coming ashore, I thought I might do a little guerrilla marketing. I’ve printed up posters and post cards and I’m going to hand them out and talk to people about it. I am also going to try and bug the film fest organizers into showing it in one of the TBA slots. We’ll see.

Click on the image for a closer look.

Above is the poster that I created for the film. It is a bit more elegant than the dvd cover I originally made. The dvd cover shows what the film is about, this poster makes it a bit more mysterious.

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Left to right: Zeke, Brains, Trespass (the blog author), Allie, Moth, Hunter, Licorice, Tink, and Hitch

Then on Sunday we went to Roaring Springs, which for some reason I kept wanting to call Roaring Thunder. When Roaring Springs closed we headed over to Boondocks for some Putt Put and Go-Cart fun.

reviews after the jump!

Hancock! (there is no exclamation point in the official title… although there should have been)

Have you ever seen a commercial for a Public Relations firm? I haven’t either – but I think this movie might have been written by the PR department at Columbia. I’m not saying that this movie is bad because of it, I just thought this movie was a perfect pitch for hiring a PR firm for all the superheros or villains who might be reading my blog.

I had seen the teaser trailer, but didn’t really know what the movie was about other than the ‘will smith needs to shave’ part. I thought it looked like an interesting take on a fallen super-hero, and that proved to be dead on. I really liked where the story went, a few fun surprises and plenty of popcorn and chuckles to go around.

Here’s the trailer if you hadn’t seen it yet.

Madhuban

I come from a family who enjoys and appreciates hot and spicy food. The spicier the dish, the wider the smile (as we wipe the sweat from our brow of course).

Madhuban’s “Bombay Spicy” Chicken Vindalu hit the spot! I was sweating after eating a third of the dish. Thankfully some others in the group got a Korma dish and a Sofia dish so I could have some sweet relief. I ususally get the Chicken Tikka Masala from Naan N Curry in the Inner Sunset, which is a cheap eat with unusually flavorful dishes.

I would definitely recommend eating here when you come and hang with the Boise crew!

Roaring Springs

After getting an early start at around 2pm, we finally got to the first ride which was ‘The Avalanche’. Moth and I got into the raft. I faced Moth and Moth faced forward, so it meant that I was facing backward. Imagine jumping off a diving board backwards so you couldn’t see the water coming up to you… talk about shear terror! That got the adrenaline pumping and we were off to a good start.

We went on every ride at least once because it wasn’t too crowded. I also had some overpriced pizza during the course of our adventures, but it helped me keep going and they don’t let you bring your own food into the park.

I think everyone in our group would agree that the Pipeline Mines was the best ride in the park. We heard several other groups of people say the same thing.

Allie’s friend Veronica joined us for the day and provided extra screams that I think could be heard for miles around. It looked like they both had a ton of fun!

Boondocks

After a long day of splashing we finally got to get some good racing going. It took several times around the gokart tracks to figure out which were the fastest gokarts, 74, 76 and a two seater numbered 75 were the fastest ones on the track. Even though the signs all say ‘no bumping’ its really hard to pass some people without spinning them out with a little nudge. Go Karts were so much fun, I couldn’t stop laughing. I think my cheek muscles are sore!

Next time I’ll remember to bring in my camera. I had left it in the car, so I had to steal these cheesy photos off of their websites. I think everyone was exhausted by the end of the day.

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