If Life Wasn't Painful Enough...

Here's something to make you lose all faith in mankind... ESPECIALLY if you're an MMA fan!



I hope to the loins of Satan that this is some sort of vomit-inducingly cruel joke because if this is ACTUALLY a movie that's being made, like clearly isn't worth living any more!

Enjoy! :D

VFS Final Accept to Online Film Fest

The day has finally come! My Vancouver Film School final, a 10-minute short film entitled Prometheus, has been officially selected from more than 2000 other submissions to be a part of the Babelgum Online Film Festival, which is being hosted by none other than the influential and prolific director and filmmaker, Spike Lee!

So of course, I encourage all of you to download the Babelgum TV program here, so that you can create an account, view my short film and if it's not asking too much, vote very graciously towards the film so that I might be able to win upwards to €20,000 as well as meet Spike Lee at a gala luncheon in Cannes, France! The other bonus is that for every advertisement that accompanies my film, I get a share of the profits. So help me out and watch my film as many times as possible so I can make a dime in the process. Trust me! I promise not to forget all the people that help me work my way towards fame and fortune! (*Fingers crossed*)

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I would like to preface, however with a few thoughts and explanations about my short film. For me, this was an attempt to "break all the rules" of cinema; an attempt to get across a concept that was possibly too complex for the short film format; but most importantly, it was an experiment to see how far I could push the envelope in questioning traditional cinema conventions and to try and employ the use of special effects and compositing to explore the problem of translating internal conflict onto the screen.

In retrospect, I would probably have gained more from doing a simpler film, but I'm all about the challenge, and now that I've experimented so vastly on this project, I'm ready to focus my talents on a more story-driven and more 'conventional' approach to film.

Thank you all for your support and please find the embedded site below.

Prometheus
**I'm not sure if this is working for anyone else, but if not you can use the following links:
-Prometheus on Babelgum
-Babelgum Online Film Festival
-Download Babelgum TV

Mathew's Movie Review: The Island

I don't care what anyone says about this movie, or what anyone is going to think about me for saying this; but I liked this movie! I really did!

I mean, yeah, I can understand why it was poorly received; film buffs saw it and thought it was nothing more than a Michael Bay action roller coaster ride, only out to pull in some green with the promise of sci-fi special FX, car chases, explosions, product placement and two big-name actors attached to the cover.

Fans of the high-octane shoot 'em up genre where probably pissed that the movie wasn't exactly as it was advertised, and the beginning was too "slow" (meaning that there was an actual dramatic plot element that took away from cool action sequences).

In my opinion, even though this film was obviously made in order to rake in loads of cash and it's doubtful that Bay had any interest in the film that was deeper than that, this film has a very strong theme and a powerful message that goes along with the action sequences (which are pretty intense, I might add!). This is probably a similar reason as to why I like I, Robot so much as well.

I personally found the storyline of The Island to be enjoyable, the cinematography rather standard for movies of this genre, the acting was pretty good. The whole utopia/dystopia thing was represented nicely. The setting of 2019 was a bit soon for my liking (I don't foresee "hover bikes" being in commercial use in 11 years from now, but that's just me), of course it's always possible that the date is and homage to Blade Runner, which was set in 2019, but who knows. There's a few issues with continuity and a few anachronisms, but I can let those pass.

All in all, I give it:
8.5/10

Like I said, I don't care what anyone else thinks! Flame me all you want! :D

The Coming

Boy, oh boy!
Do I have some sort of treat for you guys!!!

Chad Costen, one of my instructors from VFS has just finished shooting his first feature film! Something that he's been working on for the last 3 or so years now.

The Coming is an epic science fiction film "about man's fear of himself."
I was lucky enough to read the script when it was still in the preproduction stages of development, and I can tell you first hand that if the written word and the recently released trailer are any indication, this is going to be a solid film, through and through! independent

So without further a due, please enjoy the trailer for Chad Costen's The Coming!

OFFICIAL WEBSITE!


I'm also going to be linking it permanently on the right side of the site, so you can go back to it later.

Mathew's Movie Review: Brazil

I've had a fair amount of free time lately, so I've been spending a bit of it watching movies. Not just crap movies -- largely this could go hand-in-hand with "new releases" -- but unique, influential, recognized, sometimes underappreciated films that have in some way impacted the world of cinema today.

Brazil (1985) is definitely one of the most unique films that I've ever seen. Directed and co-written by Terry Gilliam (Twelve Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and the Monty Python films, among others), the film takes place in a grim, industrialized retro-future, ruled by a bureaucratic, totalitarian government, similar to that of George Orwell's 1984. Instead of demonizing any of the antagonistic characters though, Gilliam and his writers have chosen to satirize them and their compulsive necessity to "do their job" and conform to the order that is being imposed on them by the unquestionable status quo of society.

The dark comedy of the material is almost hard to laugh at sometimes when you realize that even though this is meant to me an farcical exaggeration, some of the things in the film aren't too far away from the truth.

The cinematography of the film is absolutely brilliant, and that coupled with the intricately detailed and imaginative sets, your eyes will remain glue to the screen for the whole two-and-a-half hours. The style of the film borrows from a plethora of different cinema genres and melds then perfectly for the dramatic and thematic needs of the scene.

The story of the film twists and turns in many unexpected directions, facilitated by its repeated theme of redundancy and randomness, keeping the plot interesting and constantly in a state of unfolding right before you eyes up until the very end. Only a minor lag in the pacing occurs at about the 2/3rd mark, but things pick up promptly and with more intensity than before. This could even be seen as a necessary break the audience to recuperate and regain their concentration.

All-in-all this movie is absolutely SPECTAFABULAWESOME!!!!!
I give it a rating of 9.9/10!
If you haven't seen it, go rent it. If you've already seen it, rent it again. If you currently watching it, then go rent a second copy and play the two side by side, one in standard forward play, the other in reverse!

Happy film watching!

Review: Pan's Labyrinth

I’m in a movie reviewing mode lately, so here’s one for Pan’s Labyrinth:

This movie is absolutely visually stunning! It looks absolutely amazing and the story, characters and settings are extremely imaginative and creative. The composition is done fairly well also, nothing as noticeably spectacular or ingenious as with Kill Bill, but very effective none-the-less. The scene transitions are done extremely well though, and everything seems to flow together smoothly without missing a beat. The 3D animation in the movie also syncs up perfectly with the live action, making the visuals fairly “believable,” which really draws you into the movie.

The story is great as well. Like with Kill Bill, there is a strong underlying theme. With Pan’s Labyrinth however, you’re left unsure as to that theme by the end of the movie. In one hand, the story can be interpreted as being a figment of the protagonist’s imagination; an allegory of internal subconscious reflections of ones life based on their “sins and virtues”. On the other, it could very well be saying that the world is a sort of “magical” place and that the modern, analytical mind needs to take time every now-and-then to suspend their disbelief in order to see that “magic.”

All-in-all, an excellent movie, probably now in my Top 10! Go see it if you get the chance!

Review: Kill Bill

This was a movie a thought was awesome before I came to VFS. Now—thanks to Trent, my ‘Storyboard’ teacher—I’ve realized (along with everyone else in the class) how much of a masterpiece this movie is! Not only is the composition of nearly every single shot done to perfection, but the underlying metaphors, analogies and allusions within the story itself, being blended together so harmoniously, astounds me to even attempt to comprehend the movie in its entirety; even in its conceptualization!

In an extremely small nutshell…
Underneath the obvious storyline, you can see the transformation of the female protagonist as she rids herself from the using crutch of “masculine” power, in order to find power within her own “femininity.” Just the fact that this deeper story is told in a much deeper, philosophical, intellectual and unconventional way is further echoed by the non-linear movie structure and the drastically varying genres within the movie itself.

The moral of this story: ‘Storyboard’ class rules, Kill Bill is genius and it’s going to take a little bit of work if I wish to compete with the likes of Tarantino some day!

Tainted

I went and saw Casino Royale the other day; probably one of my favorite Bond films to date! Daniel Craig does a bang-up job as the new JB. There’s a really sweet Parkour-style chase scene at the beginning (with none-other than Parkour co-founder Sebastien Foucan!) that got me pretty psyched for the rest of the film. As always, Bond is suave as a mother*%$#@& and just fun to watch.

I’m starting to suffer from the curse of knowledge though. I realized this more while I was watching the movie. Here I am, watching this crazy action film and I’m critiquing the technical aspects of the film! I’m looking at the composition of the frame, the use of contrast, silhouette, the cropping and carre, principle of thirds, use of perspective, et cetera, et cetera, and how it adds to the scene visually. Now instead of enjoying a movie what it is, I’m starting to enjoy it for what it’s composed of. I’m not quite sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing yet, only time will tell I guess.

I’ve also found myself complaining about the choice of font (Papyrus in particular) on advertisements and commercial buildings. The worst part about that being that I’m actually not all that fond of typography to say the least! :D

It's Niiiice!!

I went and saw Borat the other day. Oh sweet Jesus it was hilarious! Almost too funny actually. The thing that kind of upsets me is the people who are going to go to it without any knowledge of Sacha Baron Cohen’s humble beginnings as Ali G, and no clue about his background or that of Borat’s character. I know a lot of people have been saying that the film is anti-semetic, and I could totally see how they would think that if they didn’t already know that Sacha Baron Cohen is Jewish himself. That’s exactly why I find it a shame that people are going to see this movie without any previous knowledge of him.

But the movie has my recommendations, go see it, laugh you butt off!