Despite my lack of updates over the last four months, I have been keeping very busy, seeing many new and old films, and writing and directing four short films since June, with a fifth on the way this coming weekend. For any visitors of this site, I have a frickin avalanche of updates coming your way, complete with reviews of the films I’ve seen in theaters all the way back since May, all the movies of the 50’s I’ve taken a look at and neglected to write about, trailers of upcoming fall films I’m uber excited about, brand new short films of mine, and lots, lots more!!

I’m making one change to my reviews, and that is, from now on, 80-90% of my reviews are going to be short one-paragraph mini-reviews. Of course, movies that I fall in love with (like a Dark Knight) or hate with a passion (like a Halloween remake) will get some more typing space. But from now on, it’s time to keep most of these reviews short and sweet. 

Of course, having said that, my first update is going to be a nice big lengthy review of my all-time favorite film, Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard. But the mini-reviews begin right after that, as I get caught up with four months’ worth of reviews.

I’ll leave you right now with the new trailer for my most anticipated movie of the rest of 2008. Just click below.

Last month I made a new 3-minute movie for an internet competition that was looking for a pilot along the lines of “Law and Order” but with any profession one could think of. I decided to do a pilot about college newspaper reporters. The film stars my roommates Will Hyler, Scott Gairdner, Katie Bode, and, yes, even myself! Enjoy! 

Who will win on Sunday night? I have no idea. And that’s kind of exciting. For the first time in many years, the race is totally open this year, with only Daniel Day Lewis, Javiar Bardem, and Diablo Cody the sure things to win. No Country for Old Men has a close lock on Best Picture as well, but who knows? Any of the films truly has a chance. I went out on a limb with a few of these… I honestly think Julie Christie will win but Page is the wild card. Might as well be a little bit ambitious with my picks, right? I think because of the variety of films this year the Academy will spread the wealth around, and that’s what I’m counting on this year with my picks.

Best Picture

• No Country for Old Men

Best Director

• Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Actor

• Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood 

Best Actress

• Ellen Page, Juno 

Best Supporting Actor

• Javiar Bardem, No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actress 

• Ruby Dee, American Gangster 

Best Original Screenplay

• Diablo Cody, Juno

Best Adapted Screenplay

• The Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men

Best Animated Feature

• Ratatouille 

Best Documentary Feature

• No End in Sight 

 The Oscars are Sunday night on ABC!

Best Picture

• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
• Into the Wild 
• Juno
• No Country for Old Men
• There Will Be Blood

 Best Director

• Joe Wright, Atonement
• Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
• Sean Penn, Into the Wild
• The Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men
• Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

 Best Actor

• George Clooney, Michael Clayton
• Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood
• Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd 
• Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl 
• Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises 

 Best Actress

• Julie Christie, Away From Her
• Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
• Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
• Laura Linney, The Savages 
• Ellen Page, Juno 

(more…)

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS 

I’ve wanted to do one for a long, long time and here it finally is! Starring Nicholas Stanton and Lauren Robinson, from my 2005 thriller Virgin State of Mind, this new holiday movie also features an intro by my friend and roommate Katie Bode! Enjoy!

ADDICTION CONTROL

It’s taken me over thirteen years, but I’ve finally made a film that deals with an obsession of mine that truly will never die. The film stars Scott Gairdner and Ryan Mitchell, and is 4 minutes in length. I hope you all enjoy it!

Well, the AFI Film Festival is officially over, and I must say I had a great time. I wasn’t able to get out to too many films, but here’s a run-down on the seven films I saw over the course of the week…

Southland Tales. Richard Kelly’s follow-up to Donnie Darko proved to be highly entertaining but strangely disappointing. ** (out of ****) See full review.

Sigur Ros: Heima. This is a beautiful, hypnotic music documentary and a real treat for Sigur Ros fans. The movie chronicles the end of Sigur Ros’ world tour that ends in Iceland, where we are treated to different performances from the band. Cutting between the performances, interviews with all the members of the band, and various shots of gorgeous Iceland, the film can almost work as a relaxation exercise. I just became a Sigur Ros fan about a year ago after first hearing their work, and I’ve since used their music in two of my own films. Their music makes for great inspiration, especially in a visual sense, and the director Dean DeBlois uses the great material he has to cut together a movie that is as informative as it is beautiful. ***1/2

4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days. Winner of the Palme D’Or at last May’s Cannes Film Festival, this well-made but difficult-to-watch movie (more…)

Ahhhh, film festivals. My ultimate weakness. There’s nothing like sitting in a room with a group of true film fans, eagerly awaiting a movie nobody knows anything about. I very rarely know much about movies I’ve seen at Sundance or the LA Film Festival or the AFI Festival. Sometimes the movies are disappointing, but most of the time they are very good. I’ve seen the worst movies of the year at the LA Film Festival this year–Trigger Man and Wizard of Gore. I’ve also seen some of the best–2 Days in Paris and Billy the Kid. It’s a little bit scary to walk into a movie you know nothing about, but it can also be really rewarding.

My festival experience started in 2003 with a trip up to Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival. I saw only five films during that short weekend, but I knew right away that film festivals were not only a blast but also truly inspiring for up and coming filmmakers like myself. I’ve been to Sundance once since, in 2005, and I’ve gone to the LA Film Festival in 2006 and 2007. Both festivals are pretty fantastic, with great 10 day line-ups of films. The AFI Festival, the second major Los Angeles film festival, begins today, and I must say I’m pretty excited at this year’s films. The AFI Festival can be a little bit scarier because there’s an emphasis on international cinema, which I typically don’t make first choice, but I’m going to try to see films this week from all over the world. It should be pretty interesting.

Tonight marks the opening night of the festival, with the opening gala screening of Robert Redford’s Lions for Lambs. I will see the movie eventually, but I didn’t go, because I’m cheap and I bought the cheapest pass you can get. I got the Day Pass, which allows me to see movies screened any day during the festival before 6pm. Today’s first screening is at 7pm, and tomorrow’s first screening is at 7pm, so I won’t actually be seeing a movie until day 3 of the festival, on Saturday (with Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales, woo hoo!).

Throughout the next week I will be making sporadic updates on the festival, writing about what’s worked the best and what didn’t quite do it for me. Today, to complete this first entry, I’ve included the complete list of mini-reviews for all the movies I saw at the LA Film Festival in June. Some have been released, some may never see the light of day again, but most are worth seeing. Enjoy! (more…)

Take a look at this new 2-minute short I made for an online filmmaking contest. The topic given was “The Clinic” and we had complete creative freedom. Thanks to Kevin Andrews and Will Hyler for helping me out! Look for the other short I made for this contest in coming weeks.

Here’s another music video, this time from another far too talented roommate of mine, Mr. Scott Gairdner. I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time. I don’t know what made me laugh the most… Vampire in Brooklyn, Dom DeLuise, or Scott’s crying head. It also works, strangely enough, not just as a comedy, but as a loving tribute to my all-time favorite pastime. I don’t know if Scott was going for that, but it worked both ways for me.

Watch this amazing video and just try not to break a smile.