Essays, Not Rants! 210: Four Years I’ve had this blog for about four years now. Four years. And I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve missed my self-imposed midnight EST deadline. Why? I’ve been hard at work on my movie, The Conduits, and today marked us being half done with shooting. Which is good. In the meantime you should check out the Facebook page (linked back there) and the Kickstarter here. And tell your friends. But anyway, keeping this blog has been a real experience. B
Holy snap buckets. Here we go. It's movie time. Spent most of today driving around with fake concrete barricades in a van picking up last minute equipment and props. Also: we're shooting with a skeleton crew tomorrow. When we weren't planning on. WOOHOO ADVENTURE. This is happening. Here we go. Also, because I haven't advertised it enough; Facebook page here! And Kickstarter here! I should probably get some sleep in the meantime.
Essays, Not Rants! 209: Fear of the Unknown One of the wonderful agonies I found when I started watching Lost years and years ago was the show’s tendency to show a character’s reaction to a revelation/object/monster rather than the revelation/object/monster itself. It became characteristic of the show, and something emblematic of Abrams’ style. Granted, J.J. Abrams had little involvement with Lost past the pilot, but he did work with Damon Lidelof to lay much of the show’s groundwork. Inclu
Y'know how in Parks and Rec it was always fun when Ron and Leslie would leave the office to go do work in a park or in the field or whatnot? I'll have you know it's REALLY frustrating when the manager of a park is out in the field every day you try and get ahold of them about filming in their park.
Essays, Not Rants! 208: Of Zootopia Stories are often a reflection of reality. Star Wars was a reflection of the existential threat posed by the Cold War. The Hurt Locker was, quite obviously, a discussion of the human cost of war. The Revenant reflected Leonardo DiCaprio’s all-consuming want for an Oscar. And then there’s Zootopia. Which holds an unrelenting, condemning-yet-hopeful mirror to modern America. Which you wouldn’t exactly expect, because it’s a major Disney movie. Nonetheless,
I got a bar! As in, a bar to shoot in. An affordable one. Also, Mr. Robot was just shooting there recently. Go figure. Also got a diner. And it's the diner I go to almost weekly. Woo! And a stunt coordinator has signed on. He's worked on Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Zombieland, and a buttload of other stuff. Paperwork is almost done. Woo! Also totally cast. And I have a Facebook page. Which you should like.
In the post right below this one I mentioned looking to shoot in a street where Jessica Jones shot (y'know, the street outside where they held Kilgrave). After much contact with the folks in charged, I could shut down stuff to work there... ...but it'd cost more than my entire budget for a single day. Man. Must be nice to have Marvel/Netflix money.
It's March. Sure, only a couple hours past midnight into the new month, but here we are. My movie's shoot date is in 22 days. Y'know, this one. The one where I'm the first non-film major to make a thesis film. I'm just about cast, which is good. Working on locations (I may be shooting in a location Jessica Jones used. Also, bars and diners are kinda hard to lock down for biggish productions). I'm still around $7,000 short of meeting my budget. Which, btw, is a friggin' fart load of money.
Essays, Not Rants! 205: Tarantino, Iñárritu, and The Art of Indulgence I finally saw The Revenant this week. I also saw The Hateful Eight the same day and it’s really interesting to have seen them back to back. Both are by directors who are arguably auteurs, both are classified as Westerns, and both are covered in their fingerprints. Filmmakers have their trademarks. Something by Joss Whedon will be rife with witty dialogue. J.J. Abrams’ stories will have mystery and wonder. A Michael Bay mo
Essays, Not Rants! 204: Juggling An AK I’ve had some brushes with virtual reality before, through prototype Oculi and Google Cardboard — working at a game center has its perks. It’s really cool to be able to see a world around you and look around it; one game in particular had a PS3 controller hooked up so you could move too. All very neat stuff, a little gimicky, sure, but it’s exciting to see that level of immersion. Then I had the chance to play Epic’s “
” tech demo today. And wow. L
Essays, Not Rants! 201: We Get The Subtext, Alright? Being stuck in a plane for sixteen hours is only somewhat alleviated by in-flight entertainment. Which is somewhat undermined by a dismal selection of comedies. Because when you’re trapped in a flying aluminum tube, you don’t wanna have to think too hard. Also, I once watched Fruitvale Station on a plane and I was in no mood to have a repeat of that emotional rollercoaster. So I decided to watch The Iron Giant for the first time in over a
Essays, Not Rants! 200: Performing Truth Twelve years ago I went to the Grand Canyon. While in a town nearby, a couple of guys dressed as cowboys did a shootout. Blank firing guns and all; twelve year old me thought it was real cool. This past Thursday, part of my school trip here in South Africa had us watch a group doing a collection of traditional dances. Also cool. Were they authentic? A cowboy shootout isn’t particularly typical of modern Arizona and Tribal dances celebrating a good hunt
Essays, Not Rants! 199: 2015 In Review Well. It’s 2016. Since it’s tradition, let’s take a look at my rants essays from this past year. Five Most Popular/Viewed Posts #5: Let’s Talk About That Whole Black Widow Thing Hoo boy, yeah, that’s one way to start off this year-in-review. I stand by this post (that there’s nothing inherently problematic with Black Widow’s characterization in Age of Ultron, rather the real issue is that we have one female character to tell every female narrative)
Essays, Not Rants! 198: Diversity: It’s That Easy! Claire Temple, played by Rosario Dawson, shows up in the last episode of Jessica Jones, providing a quiet link between that show and Daredevil. She tends to a wounded Luke Cage, because it takes a special kind of doctor to treat an (incredibly hot) man with unbreakable skin. Malcolm, Jessica’s neighbor, shows up too and the three share a scene. And suddenly there are more (important) people of color interacting on screen than in any other M
Essays, Not Rants! 197: Just So We’re Clear, Rey Is The Best Rey, of The Force Awakens, is one of those characters I really like. Not just one those who I think’s really cool (Captain Marvel, Han Solo, Aragorn), but the ones who, for me, go beyond that (Iron Man, Nathan Drake): Rey’s one of those characters who I don’t just really like, but the sort I wanna be. So what is it about Rey’s that captured my imagination (and everyone else’s)? What makes her so special? Obviously, spoilers for F
Essays, Not 195: Thoughts on The Holy Trilogy Doing something different this week. In advent of The Force Awakens, the club I run at NYU is marathoning the Original Trilogy. In lieu of an essay, what follows is something of a live blog. Star Wars (A New Hope) It’s remarkable how much of the first few minutes are told visually. The first proper dialogue isn’t until Vader interrogates Antilles. Once we get to Tatooine, we’re back to relying on the visuals for Artoo’s run in with the Jawas. The lac
Essays, Not Rants! 194: What Makes A Superhero Story? Spike Lee was a guest on The Nightly Show the other day and one of the things they discussed briefly was people of color as superheroes. Lee offered up Bruce Lee as an example of an Asian superhero. Which raises an interesting question, what exactly is it that makes a superhero narrative? Could be the narrative type. The typical superhero plot follows an outsider/everyman (so, Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Clark Kent) who has some special abi
This week's Essay, Not Rant isn't being mirrored on BZP 'cuz it discusses some of the more adult aspects of Jessica Jones. So instead I'll leave you with the following sentiment regarding the show which I'm pretty sure we can all agree on: Hot dang, Luke Cage is HOT.
