"I Got A Fudging Junkie For A Wife"

background: CNN.com

Write or Die by Dr Wicked

Write or Die by Dr Wicked

I know you can DO IT

But will you?

http://www.ncte.org/awards/student/nmwa

"Norman Mailer produced extraordinary works in many genres, including the category of this year’s award: creative nonfiction. Students may submit work in any of the many subgenres of creative nonfiction: memoir or autobiography, essay, literary journalism, profiles of people or places, and so on. Whatever its type, the best work will be true material presented with compelling literary merit. Entries accepted April 1–April 29, 2010, Noon CST. "

We Have Decided Not To Die

I saw this not too long ago. It was really late at night and I couldn't get to sleep. The television was on and I found myself participating in the common act of channel surfing. I can't remember what station I finally bother to stop on, but it had been showing various short films. I decided that I could watch worse things and decided to give the short movies a try. What I ended up watching blew me away.

I was utterly entranced by what I saw on my screen. People. All in white. And they were... I couldn't be sure of what I was seeing. It confused me greatly. Confused, yet at the same time I understood what was taking place. It made sense in a surreal way, I could see the logic in this thing that confounded me. But this made it all the more perplexing. What was this thing I was seeing?

I would later come to find that I was watching what can probably be considered one of the greatest short films of all time: Daniel Askill's We Have Decided Not To Die. A highly decorated Australian, Daniel Askill's film has aired in multiple film festivals world wide and has won several awards including (but not limited to) Flickerfest's Best Australian Film, Brooklyn Film Fest's Best Experimental Film, and the South by Southwest BAFTA Award. And it isn't hard to see how Askill could gain so much recognition.

We Have Decided Not To Die is a powerful picture despite its almost ten minute run time. The cool tones and colors create an almost distilling effect on his characters and locals, making the images on the screen come to life yet keeping them uncomfortable and dead. There's an air of unease, of pondering through out the film and one can't help but feel the surreal chill that appears to waft from the screen and into one's chest. And though strange, it feels a little too familiar.

Hopefully, you'll understand once you watch it for yourself.

Link to the short film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSO-PJXnj7o

Link to list of awards: http://www.wehavedecidednottodie.com/

But Where are The Muppets?

Brilliant... Jim Henson circa 1965. Nominated for an Academy Award: Best Short Subject, Live Action Subjects

Cool Screenwriters Site

Info about screenwriting, tips and more:

http://www.screenwritersutopia.com/

A MOVIE THAT OUGHT TO BE SEEN

The Oscars are finally over as is all the hubbub for the supposed "best films of the year." But I can't help but find it really amusing that despite all the glamour and show casing these elect films receive, it seems a little misplaced. Sometimes it is the smaller, forgotten films that should be sitting in the starlight.

Case and point: Carriers.

Carriers opened in 2009 to a limited showing and was only aired in two theaters for about a week. Everyone who's seen the movie believes that this was a mistake. I am among them.

Starring Chris Pine (now popular thanks to his role as the captain of the Star ship Enterprise,) Carries takes a realistic look at the possible results of the legendary 'viral outbreak' theory. Inspired by the recent pandemic scares brought about by the Avian Flu, Carriers follows a select group of four uninfected teens trying to survive in a desolated world ruled by death and disease where you can't rust anyone, not even friends and family.

And before you ask it, No- this is not some revamp zombie flick. There are no zombies. Period. This is a completely realistic approach to the popular viral craze that seems to have swept the horror and suspense genre. And as a result has won a valuable place in my heart.

Carriers is currently available on DVD for any one interested. I know someone ought to be...

Trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOELwBxjkgY

for more information check out http://www.carriersmovie.com/

Letterbox: AKA "Those black bars on the screen"

Despite being ridiculously tired, I'm currently sitting up and watching The Gunfight at O.K. Corral with my father because I haven't seen him all week. Plus, hey...it's a pretty good movie. Stars Burt Lancaster (as Wyatt Earp) and Kirk Douglas (as Doc Holiday), it's about what the title says...the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Anyway, that's not why I'm here. I just watched this little informative tidbit that TCM plays occasionally about the beauty of widescreen and letterbox movies (and why these movies shown in fullscreen is heresy!). I managed to find it on YouTube...it's only about 5 minutes long, and it's pretty nifty. So, here it is. If you've ever wondered about those black bars on your screen, here's a wonderful explanation about them.

Happy St. Patty's Day, Kids

Here's the kings of the emerald isle and NYC! Enjoy!

How to Run and Evil Empire...

I stumbled on this site a while ago, but I think it pertains to the film writing we're starting. Besides, it's hillarious. http://www.sff.net/paradise/overlord.html

Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer

I thought you all might appreciate this.

A Serious Letdown - sorry Man

If you haven't seen A Serious Man, prepare yourself for a bleak dark comedy. Watching this film is like reading the Book of Job in the Old Testament while flogging yourself with a small barbed whip.Everything that possibly could go wrong to the protagonist Larry Gopnik does, everything except boils and leprosy. Poor Larry is a decent guy, but has the same luck I do - none. Hashem (God) to all you goys - should just strike him down with a lightning bolt. But after watching this film, you'll wish he struck you down and saved you some time.

This is a strange film. Right from the start you are transported to Poland and the possibility of a man being a 'dybbuk' - which is basically a Jewish zombie, or evil spirit. The man isn't a dybbuk and gets killed, but why the hell this was included in the film - I can't figure out. Oh, I get it - a future ancestor will be haunted. The Coen brothers usually put out some great films including one of my favorites The Big Lebowski. I also loved Fargo, and No Country For Old Men, films with great characters and unique plots, but unlike these films A Serious Man is a big let down.

Besides tracking a man's desperate and bleak existence we encounter hateful characters - his bitchy wife, selfish kids, a brother with a cyst which drains so much it could fill up the Dead Sea, and neighbors who should be living in Hammonton, or Berlin circa 1938. All the characters are horrid creatures, as I watched this movie I prayed for a twist in the plot and Javier Bardem would show up with his dutchboy haircut and kill them all, or they'd be put into a woodchipper, or a golem would get them, but no such luck. I told you I have bad luck - I wonder why? Maybe I had an ancestor that killed a leprechaun. The film is drawn out and you'll probably be checking your watch frequently, or hitting the fast forward button. Additionally, unless you are a Jewish male, or the Coen brothers reminiscing, or in a rabbinical school this film will try your patience with its referrences to Yiddish and Hebrew concepts and shibboleths. On the up side, there are some very funny scenes, but not enough to justify wasting over 100 minutes.

Why does God put Larry through so many troubles? Would God really care? Should we? Maybe God wasn't involved at all? People have been trying to make meaning out of our existence and the meaning of suffering for thousands of years, this film leaves those questions unanswered. Just like the Book of Job - there are no answers just more questions. Overall I would place this film way below the other films by the great Coen Brothers, maybe even in Gehenna. Mazel tov!

Televison Without Pity

For those of you who have never heard of this site need to check it out ASAP!
Televisionwithoutpity.com

Here is the Live Blog of the 2010 Oscars! (If you missed it =D)

8:30 - All the Best Actor and Best Actress nominees are on stage at once, as if we won't see them 6,000 times tonight.

8:32 - Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin look a lot like NPH when they're singing at the same time.

8:33 - A Busby Berkeley tribute? Who directed this? Adam Shankman? Oh, right.

8:37 - Confusing "dame" and "damn" is total dad humor. AND WE LOVE IT!

8:39 - Can't tell if Gabby Sidibe gets The Jerk reference, but she sure looks like she maybe does. And that's why she's nominated for an acting award and her co-star Mariah Carey is not.

8:41 - We know we just said we liked corny dad humor, but this is getting ridiculous. And remind us: why isn't Steve Martin hosting this solo?

8:46 - Supporting actors are great and all, but these are the longest clips we've ever seen in our entire lives. They're like those "entire movie in seven minutes" videos you see on YouTube, multiplied by five.

8:48 - Congratulations, Christoph Waltz! Uber-bingo, indeed. The first missed chance for an upset of probably many tonight!

8:53 - Really dreading nine more of these unnecessary Best Picture clips packages tonight. Anyone who doesn't know what these movies are already shouldn't be watching in the first place.

8:57 - Man, Secret of Kells -- we still don't know how you pulled off that nomination. Bravo.

8:58 - Didn't we just see all of these nominees? Is twice necessary? Especially since Up is obviously winning?

9:01 - Miley Cyrus looks afraid to move her shoulders, or else her dress will fall to the ground. Play it safe, Miley.

9:03 - Once again, we are stunned to see what T-Bone Burnett actually looks like. we keep expecting a ponytail, a five o'clock shadow and a crocodile-skin hat.

9:06 - Steve Martin's Last Station joke aside, this entire telecast should have been tagged with a "spoiler alert" at the beginning. These clips are blowing up endings left and right. Luckily, they're all still worth seeing, being Oscar-nominated films and all.

9:12 - RDJ and Tina Fey win for best presentation of the night. we don't need to see the rest of the telecast to call it. Someone get RDJ on 30 Rock.

9:15 - Hurt Locker takes Best Original Screenplay, and the screenwriter gives a great, quick speech. Yay, writers! Excuse us while we try to find a single page in the Inglourious Basterds screenplay that isn't better than the totality of The Hurt Locker.

9:18 - Seeing present-day Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick together on stage is creating a warp tunnel in our brains. R.I.P. John Hughes.

9:22 - GAAAHHHHH! Multiple warp tunnels! In our brains! But where's James Spader, Michael Schoeffling, Ilan Mitchell-Smith and Alan Ruck? Did Cameron get screwed yet again?

9:34 - People who win these Best Short awards always look so admirably unembarrassed to be boring millions upon millions of people. This and only this is why DVRs were invented.

9:37 - we want to use the bottom of Zoe Saldana's dress as the most dramatic ponytail holder ever.

9:38 - Say what you want about Ben Stiller -- the man commits to a bit. Full Na'vi makeup and made up language award presentation FTW.

9:40 - We want to plug our brains into your dragon too, Ben Stiller. Dirty talk (we think?) is always best when it makes no sense.

9:48 - Really important and RELEVANT question: Rachel McAdams: Better as a blonde or a brunette?

9:49 - Precious beats Up in the Air for Best Adapted screenplay. An upset for sure, but it should have been In the Loop. Now that would've been a freaking great speech.

9:51 - It's OK to act like you didn't know you'd win if you really didn't know. We feel for this guy.

9:52 - We don't know what's more embarrassing: Making Queen Latifah get all dressed up just to introduce this random Lauren Bacall dinner party clip package, or making her acknowledge that Bringing Down the House happened.

9:59 - Congratulations, Mo'Nique. Just because it was expected doesn't mean it wasn't deserved. And remember: she's also winning for being overlooked for her work in Beerfest.

10:00 - For some reason, Colin Firth always sounds like a Dickens character to me. Even his name sounds Dickensian. "What larks, Colin Firth! What larks!"

10:06 - "James Cameron, this Oscar sees you." The latest entry in the list of worst Art Designer acceptance speeches of all time.

10:09 - When a Costume Designer wins her third Oscar, is it still called a hat trick?

10:12 - "Hello, I'm Charlize Theron, and I was once in a movie as depressing as Precious."

10:18 - Decent Paranormal Activity parody by Steve and Alec. Also, that shambling Kristen Stewart homunculus is so realistic! (Cough.)

10:21 - That's two clips tonight that showcase a very young Alec Baldwin!

10:23 - Hollywood Rule #1: When you need a narrator, Morgan Freeman always has right of first refusal.

10:25 - Hurt Locker gets Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing? That's three for them. They're building momentum!

10:28 - And also, the nerd Oscars happened. Moving on!

10:36 - "Mishigas"? Who knew Sandy Bullock was down with the old country Yiddish. Probably learned it from George Lopez.

10:37 - Oh no, the death montage. As we all know, everyone died this year. Get ready to cry.

10:38 - They should've kept going with the instrumental "Unchained Melody" instead.

10:41 - That was like two seconds long. How is that possible? 194,838,474 show business legends died last year! Including Farrah Fawcett, who was missing from the montage. Why the Cannonball Run hate, Oscars?

10:42 - Will this year's Oscar telecast be included in next year's In Memoriam? 'Cause this thing's flatlined, and so has the audience at the Kodak.

10:43 - ABC has this scheduled to be over at 11:30. Very funny, guys.

10:47 - Slow down, dancers! We can't tell which ones of you were on So You Think You Can Dance when you're all flailing about like that!

10:51 - Ahh, good to see Kayla's being as needlessly fawned over on this show as she was on SYTYCD. Well, maybe good isn't the word. Freaking incomprehensible? Can we use those two words?

10:54 - Best Visual Effects was of course going to Avatar, but we would have watched a movie where a bunch of guys in silver spandex jumpsuits were evicted from their ghetto near Johannesburg.

10:57 - That Up in the Air clip package didn't have nearly enough Sam Elliott.

11:01 - Matt Damon may be the first Oscar-winning screenwriter to becomes an action star, but not the first nominated writer to do so. That honor goes to Sylvester Stallone, of course.

11:04 - Finally, the star of Short Circuit, Short Circuit 2 and Hackers has won an Oscar! Unfortunately it was for a documentary about killing dolphins. Still, it counts. Now the entire world knows who's Johnny.

11:06 - Snuggie!

11:07 - Best Editing for Hurt Locker. Just sayin'...

11:08 - "Hello, I'm Keanu Reeves, and I was also once in a movie about a bomb." (As well as Bigelow's Point Break, natch).

11:14 - If Quentin Tarantino isn't going to point out that that lampshade backdrop makes it look like they're being attacked by Space Invaders, we're going to.

11:16 - The Secret in Their Eyes takes Best Foreign Language Film! All those of you who picked it at random in your Oscar polls, congratulations.

11:21 - "Hi. I'm Kathy Bates, and I'm also a 3D character designed on a computer by James Cameron."

11:26 - Best Actor. They're doing that "five people present to five people" again, but this time with people who actually have a connection to those people. Good move. Still a time-waster, but at least they didn't do it for the supporting roles.

11:28 - Aww, Tim Robbins is making Morgan Freeman get all glisteny-eyed. Man, they're all getting glisteny-eyed. We guess it's pretty cool to be praised by a friend on national television.

11:32 - The Dude abides, man. He also wins Oscars. Let's see if he thanks his stand-in again!

11:40 - Damn, Forest Whitaker, getting FIT.

11:41 - Yes, Peter Sarsgaard, we know you're a fancy, distinguished STAGE actor.

11:43 - Did these actresses cure cancer or something? Why is this thing taking so long?

11:45 - Gabby Sidibe looking so overwhelmed at Oprah's tribute is making me overwhelmed.

11:48 - Yet another predictable win. At least Sandra Bullock is the most likable woman on the planet to make up for it.

11:50 - Is there any other actress who is more the antithesis of an asshole than Sandy? Good for her. Nice Beyonce infallible lip gloss too.

11:52 - Barbra Streisand just walked on stage and we immediately turned into Daffy Duck.

11:55 - And Kathryn Bigelow actually beat James Cameron. That's cool. The Hurt Locker is a good movie. We don't think we've ever had so few feelings and opinions during an Academy Awards show in our entire lives.

11:58 - Haha! The Hurt Locker mopped the floor with Avatar and we only went a half hour over. All in all a very inoffensive, albeit mostly dull, Oscars. Night, everybody!

Costal's Oscar Picks Pre-Show Rant

On this, gilded Oscar Eve, I reflect on the past month of nominee-wathcing and think: Man, February is really the worst month of the year, I mean, is that even disputable?

Another Oscar season almost in the books, and we at the FI will stave off that dreaded day-after-Oscars disappointment with a class period full of reminisces, laughs, gossip, Clancey yammering on about Sandra Bullock and the telecast highs/lows (read: if you don't hand in your critiques I am gonna "blind side" your "blind side"). Before we bid this year's celebration of current American cinema a twangy sayonara...here are my final thoughts and special picks.

Costal's Final Best Picture List:

1. Inglorious Basterds

2. An Education

3. The Hurt Locker

4. Up in the Air

5. District 9

6. Precious

7. Up
8. A Serious Man

9. Avatar
10. The Blind Side

NOW!!!!

I have said plenty about Jeremy Renner (Best Actor who won't win).

I have said plenty about how much I hated The Blind Side and Avatar. So much so that I think the Academy should edit the films together into The Blind Avatar during the inevitable Oscar night montage.

Best Picture/Director/Cinematogrpahy/Original Screenplay who won't win: I was a senior in high school in 1994 when Forrest Gump beat Pulp Fiction at every major award show. Back then, I agreed. Barely. I agreed, but looking back...I was so wrong.

Pulp has been so much more influential to cinema than Forrest. It resurrected more than Travolta...it resurrected cool. It gave us gangsta swagga with cultural importance. It innovated the screen strucutrally and spatially while daring an up-tight 90s audience to love violence again. It wagged its tongue at seediness. It paved a road for everything from smart alec, gross-out comedies that rake in millions today, to thought-provoking, plot-twisty capers a la Guy Ritchie.

Forrest was an amazing movie...visually innovative with stunning character development and poetic relevance...but it didn't change the game like Pulp did. Say "Life IS like a box of choc-ah-lates" today and people roll their eyes. Say "Le Big Mac" and a generation feels like it came home for spring break 

Tarantino brings us forward by forcing us to look back, and Inglorious brings him back to form. It is a nearly perfect satire: witty, incomparable, insufferably self-important and over the top. It also has amazing performances and inspiring shot sequences. Most importantly, it provides a killer fx of that old Tarantino dialogue magic. At the Globes, a huge head called Cameron said, "the future of movies is Avatar."

I hope its Inglorious Basterds.

Hosed: Brad Pitt. The man doesn't make bad movies. Period. And don't come at me with The Mexican, one day I'll post a rant called "25 Reasons Why The Mexican isn't as bad as posers pretend it is." But, for now, trust me.

Pitt has proved a greater chameleon than most Hollywood leading men. I never stoppped seeing George Clooney in Up in the Air, but Brad still disappears. He followed up his hilarious, movie-stealing performance in Burn After Reading with an even sillier, more devastatingly funny character performance in Inglorious. 

Best Adapted Screenplay/Best Actress: But Inglorious barely edged the most touching, refreshing and thought-provoking film of the year: An Education. Next to Carey Mulligan, Sandra Bullock is Keanu Reeves. She's community theatre.

Mulligan is an elegant, affecting heroine, who carryed a bitter sweet movie...as a rookie. She's Mark Sanchez with a bob.

The film peels back the layers of "growing up" better than any film since Good Will Hunting. And I didn't have to watch Ben Affleck in track pants.

An Education teaches us that what we want and when we want it are always two different things. Yet, for most of us, they are inseperable qualifiers. The movie is about the balance between romance and realism, and it sticks long after the final frame. I will follow the trend and call Mulligan our generation's Audrey Hepburn, once I see a follow-up performance.

An Education only falls short through some inexplicable moments. For instance, the end is rushed and too tidy.

Otherwise, Nick Hornby is the man! I am such a fan of his writing, and it translated to the screen seemlessly. His philosophies, his criticisms of culture, his genius: all rolled into Mulligan's knowing smirk and innocent expressions. Hornby has such a distinct style. It poked through shyly in adaptations of his novels (well in About a Boy, less so in High Fidelity), but it shines gloriously in his first screen adaptation of another writer's book. He weaves allusions and awkward nuances into portraits of the human condition that are often so life-like, we look away.  

Hosed: Peter Saarsgaard and Alfred Molina NOT being nominated is an injustice. The former's socio-path leaves the audience breathelessly conflicted until his final, self-destructive frame. The latter precisely captures the crux of the working middle class parents: awkward in their insecurity about raising children more priviledged and smarter than they. When he consoles his daughter during the film's denouement, your heart will melt. 

Enjoy the Oscar Prediction Post, due out tomorrow. Then, enjoy the show itself. Enjoy the glitz and glam. Watch ABC scramble for young viewers. Get ready to talk about it all on Monday.

Honest Movie Titles

Found these on the internet, and figured everybody would appreciate the poster for the, "Blind Side".

ZERO HOUR: Oscars Eve: Costal's Predictions

Tomorrow night's telecast will be standard fare. The program may pass with no surprises at all. Yet, in the spirit of fun, I will pick one Cinderella for this year's dance, and let's just say she is not debutante at this ball! 

These picks do not reflect my preferences. Those that do are listed in red. My picks, which are, of course, far more important to FIers...ahem...they don't just hand teacher of the Year out on street corners, ya know...will be discussed in a subsequent post.

Unlike most viewers tomorrow night, though, FIers spent some time researching and wathcing nominees for categories such as animated shirt and documentary short. So, myeh to you, American public!

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker (Why not Avatar? In order: 1. relevance, 2. people hate James Cameron (including Kate Winslet, and I do whatever she says), 3. Oscar wants to make a point in this economy that cash is NOT king, 4. CGI, 3D films still scare most of Hollywood, and most critics, and some Cubans with film blogs)

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart (This will really draw things together for the Dude)

Best Actress: Meryll Streep, Julie & Julia (Upset Alert: The Academy will buck the Sandra Bullock trend and go with a perennial favorite)

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious (a year for villains, as Paul Brower said, and both were breath-takingly over the top, by far these two actors had the performances of the year).

Best Director: Kathyrn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker (Oscar loves David, especially when Goliath is James Cameron. Especially when David used to be married to Goliath. Especially when David is a woman and could allow self-important voters to make history. Plus, again, no one likes how James Cameron walks around talking about pooping gold).  

Screenplay (Adapted): Up in the Air

Screenplay (Original): Inglorious Basterds

Animated Feature: Up

Cinematogrpahy, Art, Editing, Sound (both), Visual (any other technical awards): Avatar

Costume: The Young Victoria

Documentary: Food, Inc (again, relevance).

Documentary Short: The Last Truck (perfect way for Hollywood to pretend they "feel" the recession, now pass the Cristal, P Diddy, I'm parched!)

Foreign Language: The Prophet (though I did not see ANY of these, prediction based on reading only...the only prophet I worry about is Albee Grant)

Make-Up: Star Trek

Score: Up

Song: The Weary Kind from Crazy Heart

Animated Short: Logorama (really cool short about branding...kinda...Pulp Fiction goes commercials) 

Short Live Action: The Door

"I'm too young to be defeated"

I guess I will keep the music reviews rolling with a band that I discovered during the near-end of last year:

Surfer Blood is a five-piece band that hails from West Palm Beach, Florida. In recent reviews of their debut album, "Astro Coast," the band has been compared to Pavement, Weezer (circa 1993), and the melodic stylings of Brian Wilson.

Like other bands of late, Surfer Blood met around the college-age, but even though some of their songs (like "Fast Jabroni") were recorded in their dorm room at the University of Florida, not all of the members graduated--by choice. In an interview with SPIN Magazine, lead singer JP Pitts says, "I got some cash for college from the state government because I had good grades, but I ended up using a bunch of it to buy microphones... Good ones."

"...One lyric in "Fast Jabroni"...sums up the blossoming of many a collegiate romance. "We'll still pretend to be lightweights / My arms and legs, they will grow soft around you," sings front man John Paul Pitts. The numbing of one's limbs due to exorbitant amounts of alcohol consumption has never been put so romantically." (NYUnews.com)

And since this is a film blog: In one of my favorite songs, "Twin Peaks," the surf-rock band even makes references to director David Lynch and his 1990 television series by the same title. Twin Peaks, the show, follows the investigation of the murder of a local homecoming queen. However, the song not only pokes at the show and Lynch, but also the pains of growing up: "Why is everything a chore? / I'm too young to be defeated...I know things could be different / If I were older and less afraid / You don't have to make excuses / I'm already on my way."

Oh, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart... but that's for another time.


...So if you are looking for a fresh alternative to the one-too-many Vampire Weekend singles we've been hearing on TV--something with crunchy riffs, hooks, and TONS of mind-blowing reverb, then Surfer Blood is the band for you.


"Twin Peaks" MP3: Surfer
"Swim (To Reach the End)" MP3: Blood
"Fast Jabroni" MP3: Rules

Review by NYU News: Yuh

Keeping the music kick going...

The Decemberists- The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid

This is just one song off of a rock opera they released, The Hazards of Love.

Listen to the whole song it's phenomenal, and most of all- BA.

Discovery

Here is an EP by Discovery. This band is a collaboration and side project from Ra Ra Riot's lead singer Wes Miles and Vampire Weekend's lead singer Ezra Koenig, very good stuff. Before listening to this, you must know they aren't using autotune. Autotune is used to perfect a desired tone. They are either using a talk box or a vocoder. The main difference is that a talk box fluctuates the sound or voice.

These are three of my favorite

Can You Discover

Carby - Ezra Koenig sings

I Want You Back- Jackson 5 cover

Dr. Dog, from Costal's Jams of the Week

Here is little bit more music from Dr. Dog, i love them so here is some of my favorites

Livin' A Dream - From Takers and Leavers EP

Hang On - From Fate

The World May Never Know - From Easy Beat

Heart It Races cover (Architecture in Helsinki)

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

From The Photography Bay --

Canon has provided further details on the new Canon 5D Mark II firmware, which will be available for download later this month. The new firmware version 2.0.3 will enable the Canon 5D Mark II to capture 1080p video at 24fps (actual 23.976fps) and will change the 30fps rate to NTSC standard 29.97fps. The 5D Mark II will also be able to capture 1080p video at the PAL standard of 25fps. Additional tweaks include an histogram display for shooting movies in manual exposure, shutter-priority and aperture-priority, manual control over sound recording levels and a broadcast standard audio sampling frequency.

It's coming, everyone! The gravy train is about to roll in, and its name is 24fps.

It was ridiculous when the 7D was released with native 24p, and early adopters of the 5D cried foul. But once this firmware update gets released - pfffffffffft, well, let's just say the RED ONE had better up the ante. ;)

Actors, read this!

As Mr. Lockwood consistently tells us of times of doom... A future generation of Cameron-esque movies, where the actor won't even have to be there, just a voice, there's now hope for you!
Yes, you, the striving actor, will still have a job and just take this in...


Where films are turning their back on tradition of entertainment,
L.A. Noire is Rockstar's newest game. For all of you non-gamers, let me break this down: Rockstar (yes the drink maker) for the past nine years since the release date of the gangster mega-hit, Grand Theft Auto III, has been the expert and genius behind the drive and shoot epidemic. Releasing ten installments since GTAIII, it's monster corporation is taking a turn on what to expect. Unlike Manhunt, a ruthless game in which all you do is beat down on people. L.A. Noire is from the other side. Much like Mass Effect, a game in which your decisions actually matter and change the outcome of the game, L.A. Noire is about being a detective.



Taking place in the 1940's Team Bondi is creating the largest and most researched in-game map EVER! Now there's more to just fitting the age and what's going around (trends, etc). BUT they're re-creating Los Angeles. So get this, streets that aren't even there anymore, shops, even actual pictures of areas are all taken literally into the game. What is mind blowing is seeing an L.A. without freeways. What? Yes, that's right.

Now, skipping the details of the game itself, where all of you actors will be in luck is that Team Bondi and their sister developer have come out with a new software. Like Cameron's Avatar, it will change gaming history and production. Team Bondi has now a set design in which the actor/actress reads off a teleprompter, as you would if you were in news, but with the difference of as translated onto the screen, they are in 3D, like you would see in a normal videogame. They are pixelated and transformed into something new. Now this changes the whole process of making video games. Usually, you hire the actors, take their voice recordings, stylize the character faces, render the exact mouth movements, and end up with a fake looking emotion... It doesn't seem real. There's nothing human about it. BUT, now every emotion you would see play out, like in film, will be translated into a game.

So for all of you actors out there, never fear. You might not be Brad Pitt, but you could become an immoralized God for all those gamers out there.

It's Always Savage in Philadelphia

I just found out that one of my favorite childhood characters, Kevin Arnold, directs It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. For those of you who lost track, Fred Savage played Kevin in the Wonder Years and was a role model for aspiring teenagers like my six year-old self. I watched Kevin and dreamt of the days when I was a grown up- a high schooler. Lucky for me, and my parents, the Wonder Years did a great job of doctoring up this joyous journey. The Years, as I'm calling it now, gave me hope for my high school years as a 1970's teenager.

It's Always Sunny is very edgy and hits close to home for anyone within a twenty-five mile radius of Philadelphia, or can at least smell the poverty and alcoholism. In other words, it's one of the greatest shows on cable television. If you don't know, now you know (thanks Biggie).

Am I just out of the loop or am I dropping a huge bomb on all the It's Always Sunny fans?

Costal's Jams of the Week

Back by unpopular lack of demand!

Craziness All Around

Yesterday, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, i scooped up a friend of mine and we went to the movies. Nothing like spending the first beautiful day in about 900 months inside a dark movie theater. But i just couldn't resist. (Plus the tickets were only $7.50!!!!) Anyway, we arrived about five minutes late and the theater had way more people than i was expecting.

The Crazies (2010) is loosely based on the George Romero film by the same name that was made in 1973. George Romero's version went mostly unrecognized. But since i have not seen it myself, i can't say for sure why it never became like his other infamous horror flicks, like Night of the Living Dead. However, i can speak for the remake starring Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Danielle Panabaker, and Joe Anderson.


The story revolves around a small town in Kansas with one Sheriff, Timothy Olyphant<3, and his deputy, Joe Anderson. The action starts in the first 2 minutes of the movie and does not stop! Its packed full of scenes that will send chills down your spine, or maybe I'm just a big baby. I literally jumped about five times though. What makes the film so intense is the idea of being stuck in a town where everyone is losing control. It starts with no warning and the town becomes part of a massive cover-up. cover-up for what exactly? You have to see for yourself. Not to mention that the entire movie takes place over an action packed, CRAZY two days.

It's not over bearing with gore like every other "horror" film that has come out over the past few years. It's got just the right amount of gore, and i really don't like gore. But this movie has the best kind. I really enjoyed my Sunday afternoon full of crazy and i hope you will do too!!! (p.s. you are not limited to seeing this on a Sunday or an afternoon, it will be good anytime!!)