Back in March, I dragged Al-Jay and Derek with me on a music video shot by my good friend Jon Fordham. It was an un-organized, under-budgeted shoot that left me cursing the heavens after the 16 hour day. You’ve heard the story before – limited crafty, handcuffed producers, blah blah blah.

On the positive side, the production design was pretty sweet and there were scantily-clad dancers. I also got to build a pretty cool rig with random parts I found at the location. The goal of the shot was to mimic a 360-degree dolly move around two people who were facing each other. Since the dolly we ordered never showed up we had to improvise. I found a wooden stool that had a seat that rotated like a turntable. I also found some wooden planks from a broken down shelf. I stacked up two planks and drilled the center to the rotating seat on the stool. It essentially made a see-saw that spun, but didn’t go up or down. Great solution despite the lack of proper resources and time (since they only asked me 15 minutes before they wanted to do the shot)

But despite Al-Jay’s claim that grips are just human hand trucks, anyone that has been on set will agree that grips solve a lot of the problems that arise during the course of a shoot.

Anyway, here’s the video for Bijou’s “Two Bottles”

People have been pooping on Terminator: Salvation, and they’re probably right in doing so. But you know what, I’ll probably still watch it. “Why? They’ll keep making shitty movies” Al-Jay retorts.

He’s right, you know. And now that DVD isn’t the sure thing it used to be, maybe skipping the fourth Terminator will ensure that another one won’t be made. Or at least another one not made by the hack of all hack directors, McG, who just took Brett Ratner’s spot.

But I can’t help it. Like the folks who are all up into celebrity gossip, I’m that way with movies. I like being up on what’s what, you know? Having lived in NY and now LA gives me the opportunity to see certain films before everyone else. It’s like saying you saw Green Day at a small spot in Berkeley before they were playing big ass arenas, minus the yapping about how they’ve sold out. (or Rilo Kiley for LA and No Doubt for the OC)

But whatever, I also like making my own decisions about what I see. If I’m interested in a movie, I’ll watch it and see how my thoughts compare to the people who get paid to share theirs. But reviews do help outline the priority level. So with the embarrassing Rotten Tomatoes rating, Terminator: Salvation also gets downgraded to matinee.

I’ve made a lot of good friends working in the film industry who are hurting for work right now.  And in a way, I’m ensuring they continue to make a living – $12 at a time (or $8 if it’s a matinee) I know, whatever helps me get my mind off wasting money on a bad movie, right?

“FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!” – Albert Mangay re-enacting Mel Gibson playing William when stepping off a bus during a tour of Scotland

So with the slowly-growing distaste for our work situation, a small office prank was pulled last week. Well, looks like it wasn’t so small after all. Here’s the backstory:

Without getting long-winded, the 20′x30′ room where they corral us now has 16 computers. We sit 4 to a row, literally less than 18″ away from each other. They’ve started to add workstations to random desks along the wall, and the rumor is that there will be more coming.

It’s official – I work in a sweat shop.

So on the front door, a hand-written sign – nothing extravagant – that read “Sweat Shop” was erected. It survived a couple of hours before the HR/Head Facilities guy noticed it. He laughed nervously and questioned if one of us was responsible. But our team believes in solidarity so we played dumb. He suggested that perhaps it was someone “outside” of our room that did it, since he’s heard some jokes being thrown around about our group. Anyway, he took the sign down (not surprisingly) and walked off. He seemed to appreciate the joke, but the nervous laughter suggested he at least had an idea about the morale of the team.

So before I came in this morning, the CEO came into our room and addressed Signgate. I don’t have many details about what was said, but he was not happy about it. A part of me wishes I was there to witness it – so we could do this!

This week, Rian Johnson is my new favorite filmmaker. His first film, Brick was all kinds of slick. Noir set in a present-day Southern California high school. I just got back from his newest flick, The Brothers Bloom. The Rotten Tomatoes synopsis regards it as The Sting meets Royal Tenenbaums, and I buy it. It is a well-crafted grifter tale with distinct and likeable characters, and you enjoy experiencing the hijinx that ensues.

I’ll go out on a limb and say that this will probably be my favorite script of the summer. While I’m sure it won’t take me for a crazy ride the way Trek did and probably other movies this time of year will, I bet it will be the most complete film of the summer. (I’m waiting to see if Michael Mann’s Public Enemies would supplant it) Johnson is a craftsman when it comes to storytelling. He sets up the story so you know how the movie has to end, yet he makes it fun for the viewer to experience how the story arrives there. The quirkiness of the characters and their relationships keep the tone light throughout.

I enjoyed the cinematography – definitely some great moments. Shots were meticulously framed without calling too much attention to itself. There’s a particularly interesting shot where Penelope shows off a sweet card trick. You just have to see it. And bravo to the art department and costume. It’s set in the present, but it felt like a period piece. (I won’t even venture to guess the era) Oh, and the score was great too!

I think I noticed some pacing issues towards the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd act, I’m not good enough of screenwriter to pinpoint exactly what was wrong. And like always, there’s a high probability I’m talking out of my arse.

I think I’m kind of jealous of Rian Johnson (though this guy is hardly). He’s written two scripts of such high pimptitude that I’d be lucky if I could write something half as good. Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo were as good as I expected them to be. Rachel Weisz always teetered on the border of actors I enjoy watching (and looking at), but I absolutely fell in love with her character. And if I could pick someone on my team, it’d definitely be Bang-Bang, the Snake-Eyes-like sidekick played by Rinko Kikuchi.

OTHER THOUGHTS:

• Tess’s co-worker and Al-Jay’s wife got us into a CW (yeah, I know…get over it) show called Supernatural. It’s kind of like The Hardy Boys meets The X-Files. After laboring through a few “filler” episodes early in the first season, it ended with a bang – well, crash really. Unfortunately, a show like this can’t really avoid scenes with tons of exposition, but I’ve grown used to it. The plot has hooked me and I’m looking forward to starting season 2.
• Angels & Demons is on the list, too. I recently discovered it was shot on the Red, which gave me even more incentive – I’ve been wanting to see how the 4K footage appears on a screen larger than a 19″ reference monitor on set. But the bad reviews from critics and friends has forced me to downgrade the viewing to matinee.
• Why won’t they let Scrubs just die already? Last I heard, they weren’t even sure how many of the original cast is coming back.

I read today that “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” would not be returning next season, while Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse”, would.

Let’s check Fox’s track record with some of their previous shows:

• “Family Guy” – canceled and forced back on the air after DVDs and reruns generated an audience.
• “Firefly” – Joss Whedon’s first show with Fox was canceled, but then revived with Serenity, a feature film with the show’s original cast.
• “Arrested Development” – critically acclaimed for years but was ultimately canceled midway through the third season. The final four episodes of the series were aired all together at the same time as the Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Fox insists they did not have to choose between one show or the other, but I’m baffled by the decision to can “Sarah Connor” when the movie, which comes out in a couple of months, can potentially generate excitement and corral viewers? The movie won’t tank – it’s been advertised for so long that people are practically programmed to buy their tickets. Why not just piggyback on the hype and just ride out the show for one more season? Or why not just wait to see how the movie does? (more…)