High Noon

I don't have the words to describe how much I absolutely enjoyed High Noon. 

Original Trailer:

Paper Man

Paper Man is a great indie movie about a frustrated writer, played by Jeff Daniels, who befriends a bored teenager, played by Emma Stone, and is routinely haunted by an imaginary ghost named Captain Excellent, played by Ryan Reynolds. I appreciated Lisa Kudrow's performance, but I'm not entirely sure why she's repeatedly cast as the cheating wife/annoying wife (like in Easy A). Like my experience with I Love You Phillip Morris, Netflix put this film into my suggestions and I didn't expect to like it. Of course, Netflix was right and I did enjoy it. At times the film got a little too dense and depressing, but it was a good movie.

Original trailer:

Philadelphia

Philadelphia is probably the saddest movie I've ever watched. I was bawling by the end of it. I don't have a lot of commentary on a movie that was universally flawless, but I would like to point out the excellent courtroom scene editing. I loved the back-and-forth between shots of the jury and close ups of the attorneys. That description doesn't really make sense unless you watch it.

Here's the original trailer for the film:

A Journey in Adobe Premiere Pro

The on-campus television station, NTTV, at my college, the University of North Texas, has allowed me to join the team as an editor. Apparently I'll be editing sports (for the nightly news cast, if it's good enough) and documentary footage ("Backstage"). They primarily use Adobe Premiere Pro, so I'm going to hunker in the bunker and learn more about the software this weekend.

I went to an "editing workshop" today and it was actually really fun. We edited together a multi-camera scene from an episode of Monk (good show!). I'm self-trained in editing software (relatively well for an intermediate user), but you don't just stumble onto un-edited footage all over the place (if you do, let me know).

Hopefully next week I'll have a finished sports video. I have to film and edit sports in 3 hours, so this will be a lesson in utilizing my time wisely. Let's just say I'm very meticulous when it comes to editing, which is a trait I would like to challenge this semester.

Memento

I saw Memento for the first time last night. Everyone is always, "Oh Memento! Christopher Nolan is such a GENIUS," but I wasn't exactly dying to see it. I should've checked it out sooner, because it was great. Guy Pearce was smokin' in this movie (in every way possible). The beginning felt slow to me as I found myself checking the time on the computer (fullscreen) every 20 minutes. Although, when the viewer was finally confronted with the "WHO DUNNIT?!?!" aspect of the movie, it became increasingly more intriguing. The "what the f*** is going on" timeline was a clever tool to force the audience to concentrate on the action. Editing this would've been a dream.

*Did anyone else recognize Callum Keith Rennie? He's the actor who played Leoben on Battlestar Galactica.

Trailer:

Note: Why didn't anyone ask Leonard why he wore that same suit over and over again? RANK.

I Love You Phillip Morris

This movie has been in my Netflix suggestions for a while, but I never felt like watching it. Then I got bored and decided to give it a chance. I really loved it. There wasn't anything I would change. Not only were Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor great, but the ending was perfect.

Trailer:

I'm diggin' this trailer. There seems to be a set mold for film trailers these days, but this one is oddly refreshing.

100 YEARS / STYLE / EAST LONDON

Check out this video promoting Westfield Stratford City, the biggest shopping center in London. It goes through time to show you all the styles from 1911 to 2011, some of which we'd probably like to forget.

Every Outfit Cher Horowitz Wears in Clueless in Under 60 Seconds

I love me some Clueless! This is a video I found on YouTube that shows every outfit Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) wore in the movie.

Beyond Scared Straight

Last night I started watching the A&E reality program Beyond Scared Straight. I've watched all the History channel/Discovery channel docu-series about life in prison, so I was immediately interested when the show hit Netflix. Boy, I'm telling you, this s*** is hilarious. There are definitely moments of seriousness, but the low age-range of the Beyond Scared Straight kids (12-17) makes it oh so funny.

Leanna is told she has to wear white inmate pants over her jean shorts.

Spit mask.

Does being 13 make this question okay?

FRI 9:43am

FRI 9:43am is an awesome new video by artist Vincent Skeltis. It's part of a series of self-portrait videos. Check it out:


http://vimeo.com/28024116

It's inspiring that he did the whole thing by himself.

New Girl

I'm really looking forward to the upcoming FOX sitcom New Girl. It's directed by Jake Kasdan, who was a consulting producer on Freaks & Geeks (even more of a reason to watch). I can't say enough how much I'm completely in love with Zooey Deschanel's comic timing. She's like Emma Stone, but could actually be one of your friends. I know Emma Stone came after Zooey Deschanel, but I feel that they definitely have a similar style. It's also exciting to see Max Greenfield back on television. You may not remember this, but he was Veronica's cop boyfriend Leo on Veronica Mars. It's been awhile. *I'm also choosing to ignore that he had episode arcs on Ugly Betty and Raising the Bar.

Here's a few promos for New Girl. Premieres September 20th on FOX.

Bananas (1971)

Today I watched a film by Woody Allen called Bananas (1971).
*I've been trying to watch as many movies as I can before classes get heavy. That being said, classes began today.


One of the things that stood out the most, to me, was it's credits. Unfortunately I can't embed the video here, but I'll provide the link.
It's a really loud video (gunshots), so turn down the volume if you're in a sensitive area.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzK9R4I-Yc8&feature=related

Film credits are usually something I don't pay attention to, but the rhythm of Bananas' credits definitely caught my attention. Gunshots aside, I appreciated the color and it truly foreshadowed the fun tempo of the movie. I'll be honest, until a few months ago, I'd never seen a Woody Allen movie. Ridiculous, I know! That certainly changed after I watched Midnight in Paris (2011). I am now, and will forever be, a Woody Allen fan.

I'm not going to write a lot about the film, because I don't necessarily believe I have the expertise (yet) to break it down convincingly. I'll provide a synopsis, though. Basically, it's the story of Fielding Mellish, a man who has yet to reach his full potential in life. He meets a beautiful activist named Nancy and quickly begins, what he believes to be, a picturesque love affair. Unfortunately for Fielding, he's left broken-hearted and travels to San Marcos alone on a trip meant for he and Nancy. Things get crazy when he meets the San Marcos dictator General Vargas (who has recently taken over the democratic government through assassination). I won't say anything else, but I will leave you with a 6min 'tribute' video I found on YouTube. It includes most of the funniest clips from the film. *Spoiler Alert*: