Archive for March, 2006

Sony FX1 for under 2,000

Published by Administrator March 31st, 2006 in Digital Technology, HD Cameras and Video Production. 6 Comments

Sony HDR FX1I’ve been extolling the virtues of HVX200 for the last few months.


This time, however, it’s Sony FX1 turn to shine (review of Sony FX1). How, you ask. Very simple - it’s the first time I see the camera go for under $2,000!

Apple Store has the FX1 for $1,995 - you should definitely hurry up. It can’t be linked directly, so here’s the instructions: go to Apple Store, search for “HDR-FX1″ and voila! You got an HD cam for less than 2,000.

Update: It seems the item is out of stock now (April 7).

HVX200 vs HD100 (a shootout)

Published by Administrator March 29th, 2006 in Digital Technology, HD Cameras and Video Production. 3 Comments

Panasonic HVX200Barry Green at DVXUser just conducted another camera shootout. The stated reason was to dispell certain rumors that the JVC HD100 performs MUCH better when the action is fast-paced. The rumor itself claimed that when shooting action, the HVX200 became a SD cam.


You can review the screenshots of the Vegas strip. To quote Barry himself, the shootout proved:

A) the HVX is every bit as high-def as the HD100, whether shots are moving or not, and any claim to the contrary is simply and easily demonstratable to be a falsehood.

B) the HVX is clearly, obviously higher color sampling, which should dispel the 4:2:2 vs. 4:2:0 controversy.

C) I could detect no veracity to the notion that there are “overexposure artifacts” in the HVX when in 1080 mode; something that was not part of the initial claim but I figured hey, this was a good chance to see whether there was truth to that rumor or not.

So if you want interchangeable lenses or a shoulder cam, get the HD100, otherwise - HVX200!

GLAAD recognizes Ang Lee

Published by Administrator March 26th, 2006 in Film School and News bits. 0 Comments

Brokeback Mountain: the gay cowboy storyBrokeback Mountain failed to get the best picture Oscar. There’re legions of fans who claim that the only reason it didn’t get it is because the academy is deeply homophobic.

In sharp contrast, GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) recognized the movie by giving Ang Lee another award (possibly the last one for that movie). Ang Lee said that this is “an award that actually means something.” Unlike the Oscar?

Anyway, Lee continued by saying that “Brokeback Mountain has helped to change the world.” Does he mean there are scores of gay cowboys going back to Brokeback each year? I hope not…

Oldman signs for Harry Potter V

Published by Administrator March 23rd, 2006 in News bits. 2 Comments

Gary OldmanFor a while it was unclear whether Gary Oldman will appear in the next Harry Potter movie - Order of the Phoenix. He played Sirius Black so it was much a given that the producers will want him again.

Just listen to Oldman’s manager himself:

“I’m so relieved and happy. I can’t put my mind in the place of the producers, but I would’ve thought that when they read the book, a call to us would’ve been very high on their list. Obviously, the character of Sirius Black is key”

It has become a tradition to get top British actors to star in Harry Potter. Ralph Fiennes was cast as Voldermort in Harry Potter IV. I’d love to see a cute Gary Oldman figurine become a part of the standard Harry Potter merchandise.

Review: Tora! Tora! Tora!

Published by Administrator March 20th, 2006 in Book/DVD Reviews and Movie Reviews. 0 Comments

Planes at take-offTora stands for tiger. It was the code word that the attack of the Japanese planes at Pearl Harbor is a surprise and success.

The movie was shot as two separate productions - one in Japan, one in the USA. The Japanese production was headed by Kurosawa for 2 years when he was replaced (for good) with Kinji Fukasaku. The US production was directed by Richard Fleischer.

Tora! Tora! Tora! objectives were realism and sticking to the facts. That’s probably what doomed it at the box office in when it was released in 1970. That same year another war movie was released - Patton which grossed 70 million so it does help if the hero is an American.

Takahiro Tamura as Commander Mitsuo FuchidaThe Japanese side definitely had the advantage, and I don’t mean just militarily. The Japanese side has a story to tell - an engaging one at that. Their victory depended on one factor - surprise - as they were outnumbered and outgunned. Kinji Fukasaku does an excellent job of directing the Japanese production. I wasn’t bored by the US scenes (mishaps in communication and what not) but they paled in comparison to their Japanese counterparts.

Japanese performances came out much stronger as well. I was especially thrilled to see Takahiro Tamura as Commander Mitsuo Fuchida. I didn’t recognize any of the Japanese actors but they seemed well cast.

I recently saw The Caine Mutiny again. This one isn’t that dated but definitely old war movies are an acquired taste. Movies with a single protagonist are easier to chew - I highly recommend Patton - George C. Scott is simply amazing.

Info: Tora! Tora! Tora!
USA, Japan 2005
Running Length: 2:24
Cast: Martin Balsam, Soh Yamamura, Joseph Cotton, Tatsuya Mihashi
Director: Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku
Producer: Elmo Williams
Screenplay: Larry Forrester, Ryuzo Kikushima, Hideo Oguni
Cinematography: Charles F. Wheeler, Osamu Furuya
Music: Jerry Goldsmith

Tron - the story behind it

Published by Administrator March 19th, 2006 in Film School, News bits and Storytelling. 3 Comments

I haven’t seen Tron but I’m very aware of his cult status. Since I haven’t seen it on DVD around here, my options are going to Amazon (wait for a month) or downloading the Tron torrent.

Anyway, if you like a good story, head straight to Tom’s Hardware. This is a hardware reviews site that analyzes stuff like new CPU’s in 5-10 pages! The same methodical approach is taken towards Tron - a detailed 10 page+ story of how Tron was created. Most useful for aspiring filmmakers…

Science fiction films that are heavily visual are often a tough sell. When George Lucas tried to set up Star Wars, he had a hard time drumming up any interest because it was completely unintelligible in treatment form. The Wachowski Brothers reportedly had to create extensive graphic novel style storyboards for The Matrix before Warner Brothers really got it. When Lisberger and company went out to sell Tron, they were ready.

Note: Back then they didn’t have previsualization on a computer. For a sneak peak of drawing storyboards on paper, get Visual Storytelling with Iain McCaig from Gnomon.

Here’s the direct link.

King Kong gets Empire award

Published by Administrator March 17th, 2006 in Digital Technology and News bits. 0 Comments

King KongApart from being a tad overindulgent in some of its CGI sequences, King Kong was an excellent summer movie. Empire magazine’s award for Best Movie understandably went to King Kong).

In his acceptance speach Peter Jackson was rightfully disappointed that Brokeback Mountain, a.k.a. the gay cowboy movie, upstaged King Kong at the Oscars.

Watch Peter Jackson acceptance speach (pre-recorded) here. There are some hilarious outtakes from King Kong.

What scares me though is that Peter’s working on an EXTENDED version of King Kong on a DVD. I mean … how much more extended can it be? Das Boot runs for four hours but it’s a sub movie so all is forgiven.

Review: Merlin’s Apprentice

Published by Administrator March 15th, 2006 in Book/DVD Reviews and Movie Reviews. 0 Comments

There’s two genres that have an IMMENSE potential to disappoint me: 1) swords and sorcery; and 2) Sci-fi. In the former category, my worst-of-all-time is Dungeons & Dragons. Even Jeremy Iron’s travesty couldn’t save it.

Miranda Richardson as MabA big part of the reason why I’m easily disappointed is the amount of good genre books I’ve read - both fantasy and sci-fi. In my mind I pictured things differently, certainly not as cheesy as Merlin’s Apprentice.

The movie’s been produced as a mini-series so budget has been severely tilted towards cheap costumes and disjoined narration. Miranda Richardson graces the screen for a few seconds though she quickly falls victim to special effects (right).

Ballistas at workSome of the most “offensive” moments come from total disregard of plausibity. One example: Barbarian hordes (albeit lacking in extras) wheel in ballistas when ambushed near a river ford. The Saxons (?) operate them with such cunning that other plot devices fall silent for the next 10 minutes or so when ballistas take care of cast no longer vital for the plot. (right)

Merlin’s Apprentice is an earnest effort to dislodge Dungeons & Dragons from the top position. It matches it in terms of star power (Miranda Richardson), special effects, and plot. It doesn’t score high on the dragon scale though - I miss the pointless flocks of golden, red, black, emerald, etc. dragons that plague D&D. Merlin has to settle for silver (or even bronze).

SXSW showcases HVX200

Published by Administrator March 14th, 2006 in Digital Technology, HD Cameras and Video Production. 0 Comments

Panasonic HVX200There’s a report at Cinema Minima that while guys from Apple and Panasonic were setting up an Apple G5 / HVX200 combo. The point of the exercise is obviously to showcase how well HVX200 integrates with Apple’s new mac.

If you’re attending SXSW, you might want to check out some of the movie premieres as well. They boast “115 features, 50 of which are World Premieres.” Not exactly equal to Sundance’s selection but nonetheless impressive. Here’s the schedule.

Review: The Matador

Published by Administrator March 12th, 2006 in Book/DVD Reviews and Movie Reviews. 1 Comment

The Matador starring Pierce Brosnan and Greg KinnearGetting out of the James Bond routine is probably a full-time job for Pierce Brosnan. In The Matador, he’s a hitman (contract killer), so staying away from 007 is necessary and even essential.

Getting your expectations straight is another essential thing - this is no Munich. You don’t get the victim’s “plight”, you don’t get their perspective, etc. Thank God for that. This is an entertaining buddy movie that will leave the same legacy as a box of popcorn will. A nice box though.

The Matador starring Pierce Brosnan and Greg KinnearJulian Noble (Pierce Brosnan) is a burned-out hitman who’s in a hurry to get a few last jobs done before he retires. A tireless womanizer, Julian manages to fits his assignments in between affairs.

Julian’s moustache contributes significantly to the portrayal of a charming oddball. The other key ingridient is Julian’s manic drive - I cannot imagine this guy retiring any time soon. This is a good performance from Pierce Brosnan, perhaps a notch higher than his performance in After the Sunset.

The straight guy in this unusual buddy story is played by Greg Kinnear (not that Julian is gay, far from it). He takes his “friend’s” confessions in stride, without too much consideration for the poor victims. In one scene, Julian showcases his skills in setting up the perfect hit. Greg’s character, Danny Wright, goes from excitement to fear to relief - which is exactly the range of emotions appropriate for the movie.

All in all, The Matador is light and entertaining with some excellent scenes between Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear. If you’re looking for fun flick, that’s it. I definitely enjoyed it.

Info: The Matador
USA, Germany, Ireland 2005
Running Length: 1:36
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis
Director: Richard Shepard
Producer: Pierce Brosnan, Bryan Furst, Sean Furst, Beau St. Clair
Screenplay: Richard Shepard
Cinematography: David Tattersall
Music: Rolfe Kent

Rachel Weisz wins an Oscar

Published by Administrator March 10th, 2006 in Film School and News bits. 0 Comments

Rachel Weisz wins an OscarIt’s a good thing Rachel Weisz got an Oscar because her presense made The Constant Gardener a lot more fun. It’s not a huge surprise as she already grabbed a Golden Globe and a Screen Actor’s Guild award in the supporting actress categories.

It was probably her karma to do this because of her “portrayal” of a librarian in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. She needed to pay back in a BIG way.

Apart from Rachel, George Clooney got what he deserved for his role in Syriana. King Kong got a few Oscars for special effects and sound.

Surprisingly, Brokeback Mountain didn’t score as highly as expected. Which reminds me I still have to review Walk the Line. I saw posters for Tsotsi in London but over here the closest I’ll get to Tsotsi is the Tsotsi torrent!

P.S. Has anyone see the movie Grbavica? I got quite a few people coming to the site looking for grbavica torrent. The movie was shown at Sundance 2006 - Grbavica directed and written by Jasmila Zbanic.

Revolver explanation

Published by Administrator March 7th, 2006 in Film School and News bits. 11 Comments

Guy Ritchie's Revolver ft. Jason StathamI think I definitely need to see Revolver again. Even if it’s just so I can confirm that nothing slipped by me the first time I saw it.

There are a lot of people looking for a Revolver explanation. I don’t think there’s one but a lot of Guy Ritchie fans feel there must be more to it.

There’s an article in The Guardian that discusses the sly marketing tactics employed by Revolver’s PR agency. It included paying blogger and forum posters to create a “buz” for the movie. I wonder if they are still paying for that because I get quite a few “forum trolls” posting comments about how everyone who thinks this movie is anything short of a masterpiece should “die a horrible death.”

The original gay cowboys?

Published by Administrator March 3rd, 2006 in Film School and News bits. 2 Comments

Paul Newman and Robert RedfordI recently changed my Skype picture to this one (a bit smaller though). No one at work seems to recognize them, much less guess the movie that this shot is from.

This got me thinking - with all the hype about Brokeback Mountain being the “real” gay cowboy movie, everyone has forgotten about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid .

Paul Newman and Robert RedfordJust when you thought my argument that Voldemort was a Nazi officer is as far as I wanna go, I take it a step further. I think Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was the ORIGINAL gay cowboy movie and Brokeback Mountain is nothing but a copycat.

To make it more scientific, I did a search for more photos from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Here’s what I found! Told ya!

The Oscars are on Sunday so I got just two days to let the truth be known. Spread the word.

Mardi Gras & Easy Rider

Published by Administrator March 1st, 2006 in Film School, News bits and Research / Influences. 2 Comments

Jack Nickolson in Easy RiderI was listening to the BBC (drive time) today and they said Mardi Gras was over in New Orleans. Made me think about Easy Rider and my “writer’s block” when it comes to reviewing great movies.

In my book, Easy Rider stands out for two reasons: Jack Nickolson and Laszlo Kovacs (cinematographer). Jack did a good job which took him to A-list status. Quite a different thing happened to Laszlo.

Laszlo Kovacs - Easy RiderLaszlo Kovacs had to wear a “I’m not Vilmos” t-shirt, so he doesn’t get confused with Vilmos Zsigmond. Both of them left Hungary in 1956 with footage of the Soviet invasion which they sold in Hollywood.

For a long time “Easy Rider was my least favorite film, interestingly enough, because “Easy Rider” caused me the most heartache and the most bad times and all because I was rejected because of “Easy Rider.” It was just a few years back, you know, I just fell in love with this movie. And especially one element in that movie was so important to me because all these bike riding scenes through the trees and the forest, you know, you had this dappled light and you have this rainbow reflection in the lens, and that was a pretty unique creation at that moment. Nobody had ever done it.

Lens flares were considered a mistake back then. If you have an eye for detail, that’s not the only “mistake” in the movie. In the scene where the choppers are first seen, if you pay close attention, you’ll see a ton of lights getting reflected off the chrome surfaces. That’s another “mistake” that gets the message across in a powerful way.

His camera rig consisted of a “1968 Chevy Impala convertible… and put a half sheet of 4×4 plywood”. That’s why my dream “car” is a Toyota Hilux. It’s the low-budget filmmakers killer rig.

Laszlo recently got four Lifetime Achievement Awards. He’s a living proof of what my photography professor used to say: “underexpose or overexpose, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s consistent. You call this style.”

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