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Cocksuckers on Craigslist Keep Flagging This
For everyone who has been seeking Crew Call information for "GRIM", you've come to the right place. There are plenty of smalltime self-dubbed "Filmmakers" in D/FW who hang out on Craigslist to "Flag and Remove" any info about any project bigger than the 6 minute Michael Jackson posthumus parody they're planning on crapping out by the end of the weekend.
Support Independent Filmmaking in Texas! Please feel free to pass this along to any interested parties/message boards/newsgroups and so on! Thank you very much!
---“GRIM” PROJECT DETAILS---
After unsuccessful attempts to revive our ailing economy, the US is forced to cut funding to rural, low-population areas of the nation leaving millions to “fend for themselves”. Amid ongoing territorial disputes, Nicholas Grim is forced to witness the brutal murder of his parents by Armed Militant Forces in Texas. Now an adult, Grim vows to avenge his family and uncover their killer’s motives.
“GRIM” is a feature-length thriller in the vein of “Mad Max”. Written, Directed and Shot by Adrian Santiago (Project Black Studios), “GRIM” will be shot in High Definition on weekends beginning Friday, July 31st 2009 and wrapping on Sunday, August 30th 2009 in Joshua, TX (20 minutes south of downtown Fort Worth): This translates to 12 days of dedicated shooting, all comprised of Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in August.
Cold drinks, snacks and meals will be provided on location. Upon completion, ALL actors, extras, crew members plus friends and family will be invited to attend two screening dates at Studio Movie Grill in Arlington (with the awesome 5.1 Stereo Track our Audio Ninja will cook up and in glorious High Definition via DLP Digital Projectors), tentatively set for November. NOTE: All credit earned on this feature film will be eligible for listing at imdb.com, if you have an existing body of work or not, this will add to your publicly-viewed profile.
--CREW POSITIONS NEEDED--
Assistant Director - Experience preferred, not required. Persistent Internet access is a plus, instant messaging, cell phone/texting are also helpful. Responsible for tracking the progress of the film versus the production schedule. Will also be needed to create callsheets (shooting schedule) and provide assistance in other areas as needed. Must be available during the remaining preproduction phase and throughout principle photography.
Boom Operator - Experience preferred, not required. No equipment needed (We just purchased new Boom Pole, Shotgun Mic, Fur Windscreen and XLR cable). Needed for all days during principle photography.
Production Assistants - Experience preferred, not required. Needed primarily during our shoot schedule, but may also be needed for additional days during preproduction on location.
Set Decorators - Experience preferred, not required. Will be needed at our primary location in Joshua, TX to help clear out excess debris and prepare locations for filming. Tasks include lifting, light construction, painting and cleaning. Needed primarily during preproduction, but should also be on standby during principle photography.
Grips - Experience preferred, not required. Will be needed at our primary location during principle photography. Responsible for assisting our Key Grip with setting up, tearing down and maintaining filmmaking equipment including lights, power cables and so on.
Casting Call for "GRIM" - NOW WITH DOWNLOADABLE SIDES
“GRIM” – A film by Adrian Santiago, Project Black Studios
"War, Pestilence and Recession: Just another Sunny Day in Texas."
---IMPORTANT AUDITION INFORMATION--- DATE/TIME: Wednesday, June 17th 2009 at 8:00pm WHERE: Holiday Inn Express “Alamo Room” - 1721 Pleasant Place Drive, Arlington, TX (Parks Mall Area) WHAT WILL I NEED TO BRING: Standard audition materials (headshots, resume, monologues, etc.) WHAT WILL BE PROVIDED: We will have role-specific copy available in addition to your own prepared scenes. DO I NEED TO E-MAIL SOMETHING: Yes! Please e-mail us ahead of time at evilprojectblack@gmail.com with your name/contact information as well as any photos/acting demos you may have! We will add your name to the list of actors/actresses to expect at the Audition!
---“GRIM” PROJECT DETAILS---
After unsuccessful attempts to revive our ailing economy, the US is forced to cut funding to rural, low-population areas of the nation leaving millions to “fend for themselves”. Amid ongoing territorial disputes, Nicholas Grim is forced to witness the brutal murder of his parents by Armed Militant Forces in Texas. Now an adult, Grim vows to avenge his family and uncover their killer’s motives.
“GRIM” is a feature-length thriller in the vein of “Mad Max”. Written, Directed and Shot by Adrian Santiago (Project Black Studios), “GRIM” will be shot in High Definition on weekends beginning Friday, July 31st 2009 and wrapping on Sunday, August 30th 2009 in Joshua, TX (20 minutes south of downtown Fort Worth): This translates to 12 days of dedicated shooting, though individual parts may require anywhere from a single day up to 4 days on set.
Cold drinks, snacks and meals will be provided on location. Upon completion, principal cast will be given DVD copies of the finished film, and ALL actors, extras, crew members plus friends and family will be invited to attend two screening dates at Studio Movie Grill in Arlington (with the awesome 5.1 Stereo Track our Audio Ninja will cook up and in glorious High Definition via DLP Digital Projectors).
After the initial premiere/wrap party/fund raiser, the film will be submitted to dozens of film festivals across the United States and abroad. All actors and actresses in principal roles will also be eligible for credit on IMDB.
---MALE ROLES NEEDED--- YOUNG NICHOLAS GRIM (AGE 11-14) - Click Here to Download Sides
Young Caucasian male. Green eyes and dark blonde/light brown colored hair preferred. Scenes include the key opening sequence (violent murder of his parents), being struck unconscious, learning to chop wood and shoot his first gun. Speaking role, plenty of key, solo on-screen time. Visit http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1784369/ for a photograph of our adult-aged actor. Estimated time on set: 1-2 days.
GEORGE GRIM (AGE 30-45) - Click Here to Download Sides
Adult Caucasian male. Dark blonde/light brown colored hair preferred. Key opening sequence (politically motivated beating, murder). This is a speaking role! Estimated time on set: 1 day.
ALAN ROSE (AGE 35-55) - Click Here to Download Sides
Adult Caucasian male. Alan Rose is a former county sheriff: Texas tough and wise. Discovers Young Nicholas and decides to take him in. Speaking role. Scenes include hunting, mentoring Nicholas, and eventually being shot and killed. Estimated time on set: 1-2 days.
ROMEO (AGE 30-45) - Click Here to Download Sides
Adult male, no race requirements. Key antagonist, speaking role. Romeo is extravagant and foul, draped in a toxic tapestry of bright, unnaturally colored fur and feathers. Cocky and sadistic at the same time. Scenes include perpetrating murder, showboating in front of a large audience, laying in bed surrounded by brothel girls and drugs, death scene. Estimated time on set: 2-3 days.
CUTTER (AGE 30-55) - Click Here to Download Sides
Adult male, no race requirements. Key antagonist, speaking role. Cutter is as close to a true monster as a man can get… war hardened, expert shot, nothing is sacred to him: His reputation for brutality and effectiveness single handedly makes him more feared than the entire UAB militia. Scenes include perpetrating multiple acts of “expressionless” murder, forest skirmish with Grim, key role in the film’s finale. Estimated time on set: 2-3 days.
---FEMALE ROLES NEEDED--- JULIANNE GRIM (AGE 25-40) - Click Here to Download Sides
Adult Caucasian female. Dark blonde/light brown colored hair preferred. Key opening sequence (politically motivated beating, murder). Speaking role. Estimated time on set: 1 day.
EMMA ROSE (AGE 35-55) - Click Here to Download Sides
Adult Caucasian female. Speaking role. Not much is known about her, other than she appears to be a kind-hearted woman who would stand by her man in any situation. Estimated time on set: 1-2 days.
CELINA (AGE 25 – 35) - Click Here to Download Sides
Adult Hispanic female. THIS ROLE DOES NOT REQUIRE NUDITY! Key speaking role, plenty of featured and solo on-screen time. Sister to Destino, the shamanistic bandit leader, Grim first meets Celina working against her will in a brothel. After learning of Grim’s ambition to destroy the UAB, Celina chooses to join Grim on his campaign. Scenes include an opium den/brothel sequence, reunion with her brother, personal mini-revenge moment involving a sniper rifle and several unlucky UAB soldiers. NOTE: Destino is played by a Hispanic actor, so the actress who plays Celina must also be Hispanic, or at least contain some Hispanic traits. Estimated time on set: 2-3 days
Fuck you, Taco Bell: But at the Same Time, Thanks!
Okay, so those delicious Volcano tacos are back... but new to the bunch is the Volcano Cheesy Beef and Rice Burrito. I thought the beef and rice burritos were a bit bland, but the prospect of spicy cheese made it tempting for a second go. Low and behold, the addition of what I would wager is ten cents worth of "Volcano Sauce" jacked the price up from the previous .89 cent item (which is still there, by the way) up to a $2.99 per burrito pricetag!
I know I was out of the country for awhile last year, but $3 for a not-so-spicy cheese sauce smeared on my burrito? Maybe that's why the economy is in such shit condition... or maybe I'm reading too deep into it and maybe the "Volcano" part of "Volcano Burrito/Taco" implies that the Volcano Sauce is a legitimate and exceptionally hard to manufacture condiment that calls for actual components of Volcanic materials such as pumice, smoke, or lava itself.
But that would be preposterous, considering the Volcano Taco is just $1.19! Are we implying that it costs Taco Bell -$2.80 to make every stand-alone taco they sell? Or are we revealing that Volcano Sauce's value exists solely in hype (like Blast Processing in the Sega Genesis, or the belief that the child's breath worth of air pumped into the tongue of your Nike sneaker) , and only adds prestige to common items, therefore allowing Taco Bell to ask for a blank check everytime they sell the shit?
However, though I passed on the Volcano Burrito (and got the Volcano Taco instead), I was mighty pleased that the incompetent "drive-thru" (Drive-Through, come on guys) staff failed to give the previous car their full order and offered me their spare bag of junk food free of charge: Low and fucking behold, in it are two Volcano Cheesy Beef and Rice Burritos!
Perhaps my expectations were too high (after all, it does include Volcano in the title), but the Volcano Burritos were shit... the same dry, flimsy wrap that it's forefather was: Not at all worth the price, let alone the price of two of the bastards... I'm glad I got to sample them for free, save the cash, and turn around to hopefully spare you some cash of your own.
Also, my video game review/comedy site will be going live in the next couple of weeks: Geeks rejoice! Until then, let's hope we get a dose of life imitating art sometime soon from Taco Bell... I wouldn't mind dishing out $2.99 for one of the tacos shown in the 100% authentic television commercial included in this update... boy howdy.
Anyone who's been visiting ProjectBlack.com for a number of years knows that I be quite the political-minded individual. The face or political party of my President is nowhere near as important to me as the heart he has or the agenda he carries out... the country I live in may, at times, disgrace itself but it will never disgrace me... and by that standard, my country may try to convince me of one truth, but it always within my power to refuse to believe it and investigate for myself... it's the American way.
Today, I would like to talk about the Swine Flu. As of this date and time, the WHO (World Health Organization) has the Swine Flu pandemic sitting firmly at Phase 5. Phase 5 "is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region." [Source: WHO Official Site]
The two countries in question? Mexico and The United States of America. Earlier in the week, it was 10 cases in the US... then it was over 100, then 10 school and public office closures, then the first confirmed death. Today the figures have increased disproportionately, skyrocketing to over 100 school closures including all of Fort Worth ISD. Officials are warning people planning trips to the mall, movie theaters and other densely populated areas.
There's an explanation for the enormous growth, but those details are far more Grim that the news itself.
Dr. Marcus Gitterle, an emergency medicine physician based out of New Braunfels, Texas, sent out an internal alert which contains several stunning claims about swine flu that, if true, officials have presumably sought to keep from the public.
“After I returned from a public health meeting yesterday with community leaders and school officials in Comal County and Hays County, (name removed) suggested I send an update to my patients in the area, because what we are hearing privately from the CDC and Health Department is different from what you are hearing in the media: The actual number of confirmed cases of swine flu is 10 to 25 times worse than has been reported, and that people are not recovering easily, as has been claimed, but that many Americans are in fact seriously ill."
Gitterle continues, “The way they fudge on reporting this is that it takes 3 days to get the confirmatory nod from the CDC on a given viral culture, but based on epidemiological grounds, we know that there are more than 10 cases for each “confirmed” case right now."
Dr. Gitterle concludes: "The severity of the situation has already crossed the threshold of the definition of a WHO phase 6 pandemic. This has not happened in any of our lifetimes so far... We are in uncharted territory." [Source: Prison Planet]
As of the time of this writing, CNN.com reports "Confirmed cases of swine flu worldwide increased to 236 on Thursday, up significantly from the previous day's total of 147, the World Health Organization reported." [Source: CNN.com]
236 cases *worldwide*? There have been 176 *DEATHS* in Mexico ALONE... the "official" worldwide toll seems suspiciously small, especially considering the precautions the *world* is taking in preparation for the imminent (yet almost entirely unreported) WHO Phase 6 announcement:
Today Egypt passed a mandate to slaughter 100% of their pig population, even though Egypt "officially" has ZERO confirmed cases of Swine Flu... riots are breaking out, many poor people rely on pigs for their livelihood and will be summarily destroyed as a result of these "precautions". [Source BBC News]
Mexico is priming its citizens for a 5-day Economic Shutdown. Mexican President Felipe Calderon ordered government offices and private businesses not crucial to the economy to stop work to avoid further infections from the new virus. [Source MSNBC.com]
Mexico and Egypt aren't the only countries expected to announce complete or partial temporary economic shutdowns: Third on the list? The United States... and it may happen sooner than you think.
Previously mentioned in this report, Dr. Gitterle claims "President Obama is being advised to declare a national emergency and that this could happen within the next 48 hours. This may not happen, but if it doesn’t, I will be surprised. When this happens, all public gathering will be canceled for 10 days minimum."
I have done some fact checking, information gathering, and a bit of logical thinking to put this article together: Please, feel free to share it with friends and family members... I'm not one to promote fear mongering, but I certainly am one to expose a story when it's being covered up, deliberately or unknowingly, especially when it has potential to directly affect those close to me.
Additional comments and speculation are always welcome... shoot me a line at: evilprojectblack@gmail.com
It has come to my attention that we have lots of spam-bots flooding our shoutboxes, comment sections and so on: It's not because they're super advanced hacking teams armed with the latest AMD-K62 w/ 3Dnow! blast processing and their "Bonzai Buddies" or anything like that, it's just because of a simple oversight of mine:
Long ago, in an attempt to grow site visitor participation, I enabled "Guests" to post comments, vote in polls, etc etc... apparently, someone figured it out and has decided that ProjectBlack.com would be a good spot to sell viagra and leave giant walls of incorrectly formatted HTML goodies.
Rest assured: You are not at danger, neither is the site... but it *is* long past due for a design overhaul. Rather than go through and scrub everything top to bottom, banning IP addresses and all that noise, I believe I'll just reset the site back to the stone age and start again fresh. I will, of course, update all the contact information and make it as featured as it has been in the past, it'll just be spam free and fresh.
Don't freak out if you come back and the site's gone or completely has a change of appearance! lol.
Buzz is growing for "GRIM" to a level that I had not yet expected... the script will soon be sent out to everyone "who needs to see it", and we're pressing forward with setting up a shot list/schedule and working on hammering out additional details along the way. Three of our main characters have been cast, as mentioned before we have a master location but are also looking to expand to additional settings as they become available, and it looks like we're already set up for an October/November theatrical screening in D/FW!
GRIM will be seen in High Definition... that'll be nice :)
On a light day, I'll get four or five e-mails asking about the status of the project, and many more IMs, phone calls and the like. Our actors are excited, our crew's excited... hell, I'm excited! As we move into the shooting phase of GRIM, you can count on me to update ProjectBlack.com with new photos and mini-featurettes on the making of the film. Don't feel left out if you can't make it to D/FW to watch the private screening... I have every intention of inundating the film festival circuit with this movie (you know, if it works).
More to come... until then: OH MY GOD! Punch-Out!! for Wii looks amazing!
Hey! So, I found out Terry's wife reads these blogs... that's cool. I've got plenty of incriminating testimony guaranteed to spice up their night life! Before I begin, it's 12:30am, the night of Day 4, and I have tasty Taco Bueno treats guaranteed to spice up my night life... IN MY MOUTH!
Day 2 In Retrospect
I was supposed to be at the Northpark Center at 5:00pm to cover the "Dallas Film Commission Party"... arrived on location around 4:30, ran into Jade in the Volunteer's lounge. There was boxed lunches provided by Eatzi's, and they were pretty damn good I must say! Roast Beef sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies: Fuck that pasta and fresh fruit noise... if something didn't bleed before it died, it doesn't need to be in my lunch box! (Notable exceptions are candies, cakes, and stacks of cash.)
Saw Dennis O'Neill at the event! That cool guy was there to check out the Chinatown event with four time Academy Award-nominated writer Robert Towne. He seemed excited to be there, and pretty well received: Of course, that's Dennis... the guy's great and working with him in the past helped direct my own approach to filmmaking in a direction that has boosted me up faster than I can keep up!
Let's see... then there was another Red Carpet. My team, though smaller today than on day one, is no less capable and talented. Most of our shooters are students, but their achievements and progress has impressed everyone within AFI and most of all, myself. I've seen LOTS of "kids with cameras" in the past, and have often been leery on having them around... but the past two days alone has proved me wrong, and I will happily admit that anytime to anyone that asks.
Then there was the "Rock Prophecies" after party at the Palladium Ballroom. There was some pot: No, not mine... but it was "in the air". I wonder if it affected my shooting? No clue. It was MY FIRST EVER concert footage... Terry seemed to like it. I forgot the name of the band... was it "The Dead Kittens" or something? Gotta say, their cover of Destiny's Child song "Say my Name" was unexpected and VERY enjoyable. Buy their CD or whatever.
HEY MOM: You reading this? They had one of those soul-filled rhythm and blues singers come out... didn't catch her name, but thanks to all of those concert DVDs you've shown me, including the Stevie Ray Vaughn stuff on Austin City Limits helped me get right in place for her deep, bluesy-speech: Something Terry said "he stopped recording because he thought she was setting up for a new song."
Can't wait to see how it turned out. Got home late, ate my Taco Bell dinner (post 2:00am) and slept.
Day 3 - Adrian Gets More Responsibility, Things Blow Up!
Magnolia Theater, West Park. Had a fairly large work detail to take care of: Every half hour or so there was a movie starting with a introduction and Q&A sessions by filmmakers, running concurrently with the Red Carpet media event: All on the same city block!
Final stats? I think we were covering 3 auditoriums with 8 cameras, 2 PAs and myself. All things considered, this day went by pretty smooth... got all the footage we needed, plus I caught more praise for our shoot team! It seems this year's footage has been pretty comprehensive and of good quality... can't wait to sit down with a final event reel to see how everything turned out!
Good news for the team as a whole! It would appear we've pretty much found our "groove"... editors are getting quicker at capping footage, shooters are on the mark and improving their overall shot composition! Nothing makes editors more happy than a largely competent video crew following "their" systems of labeling and tape checkouts and the like.
Also, got my sweet fucking free movie vouchers! I hope in the coming week that both my girlfriend and my mother gets a chance to use the vouchers and catch one of the flicks everyone's talking about. A lot of the student shooters have taken their "off time" as a chance to check out the free flicks this year, but I likely won't: The guys have got me running around quite busy, and that's a good thing... it gives me the impression that I can be depended on: Which is VERY comforting for a guy like me who's never quite sure if he's "done enough", "done too much" or "didn't do enough".
I packed an overnight bag on this morning... When we were done with our assignments I took off to spend the night at my girlfriend's house. We ate Wendy's and she made some strawberry lemonade: Great finish! We watched "The Rocker" on DVD... funny. Check it out.
HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SNAKES ON A MOTHERFUCKING PLANE! AFI Dallas 2009 Day One is DONE! My feets is killing me!
Normally I don't get on here and toot my own horn, but I feel like I'm allowed to in this case. Terry Real (Big Boss) has three leads for the videography team (Myself, Kevin and Kareem)... and I've known this for weeks. Today, Terry grabbed Kareem and ran into the theaters to setup for the in-house stuff for "The Brothers Bloom"... leaving me to handle all of the student videographers.
It didn't click until Adrien Brody hit the Red Carpet... "Holy shit, nobody's in charge down here!"
"Director" mode kicked in... I began doing large laps around the red carpet area helping 8 videographers get the right shots. The guys and girls all did fabulous work, real quick to adjust their shots and so on... made my job easier than it could have been.
The youngest guy? 15 years old! The kid can't drive yet and he was doing red carpet coverage for a Top-Tier Film Festival! I felt so shitty I couldn't get the kid a great shot, I moved him around to a couple of spots but we just couldn't get him a good angle.
Towards the end? I schmoozed one of the red carpet organizers and had him 5 feet away, completely unobstructed with the last batch of celebrities on the red carpet. He seemed pretty happy about being that close to the action, and hey, I'm sure he caught some badass stuff as a result.
Someone told me I reminded them of a rockstar... running around as much as I did, sweating, taking my AFI shirt and using it to dry my forehead. Compliment, I guess.
What did I learn from the day? Well... I'm as tall as Adrien Brody, I have mind powers over the police, salmon with creamed cheese STILL isn't as good as *cooked* salmon, and Bill Paxton lives in D/FW. Where? Not sure... though I'm sure I'll find out.
AFI Dallas goes on all week! Check out http://www.afidallas.com for showings, ticket info and so on! You can walk up anytime and buy a ticket for a screening... and yeah, you *will* see celebrities wherever they're scheduled. Me? I'm gonna take a shower and go to bed... days 2-8 are ahead.
Director Katheryn Bigelow (Strange Days, K-19 The Widowmaker) will be there, as well as the bad ass Henry Selick (Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline), and legendary screenwriter Robert Towne (Chinatown, Mission: Impossible 1 and 2, The Firm, Greystoke, Shampoo, Days of Thunder and more)!
You can also catch all of our coverage nightly on E! News, Entertainment Tonight, and local D/FW news affiliates (WFAA and so on). Internet media's sure to carry some of our dailies as well. Dig it!
AFI DALLAS™ International Film Festival Presented by NorthPark Center™, Founding Sponsor Victory Park™ begins *tomorrow*! Exciting times... I don't have a movie screening there (yet) but I've been delegated to be one of the lead videographers to help cover the event... I didn't realize the event was happening this week, and when I was reminded, there was a sudden rush of anxiety: Nothing I haven't dealt with before, in fact, I'm sure once me and my guys are out there on the opening night Red Carpet and awards assembly.
If any of you happen to be around the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex for the next week, I recommend coming out, seeing the Hollywood stars, and watching some great studio and independent films! I don't know the exact numbers, but this year AFI's got over 130 films submitted from over 30 countries around the world... you can have a peek at http://www.afidallas.com for a show schedule and a rundown of what big names you can expect to see at the event!
Hell, even the Governor of Texas will be there on the final day of the film fest to declare the first official Texas Filmmaker's day! Bonus, huh?
Anyway... it's 2:05am, the Rolling Stones are on my iTunes: It's time to go to bed. Another little tid bit, I finally got around to washing my car tonight. While it was parked in the street, someone drove by and threw a fast food cup of soda against it... take that, plus my friend Garrett throwing a bean burrito against it over the winter and about two years of just plain not washing it... it felt like it was the right time.
I wonder how much a new windshield costs? I'd like one of those too... have had a large crack on my windshield for three years. Whee.
Yeah... we did it last year, and although it's just a few page clicks away, I can't be bothered to remember how accurate my pics were: Though I would suggest I nailed em all except one, plus one technicality (I said I wanted to see Persepolis win, but admitted in the same paragraph that whatever Pixar put out would have probably taken home the prize).
Anyway, I'm busy with a lot of things this weekend... got some stuff to prepare for the AFI Dallas Film Festival in a few weeks, gotta crank out some wrestling-related DVDs plus start on the drawing board for IHW's big Wrestlemania promo DVD... (Hey! If you're going to be in Houston, TX this year... be on the lookout for those IHW guys, they'll be giving away free, full-length DVDs).
Self-stroking aside, here goes my 2009 Academy Award Picks:
Best Actor - Mickey Rourke "The Wrestler"
The Wrestler is one sorry ass movie man... not in terms of quality, but more in terms of accuracy. Pro Wrestlers, just like the biz itself, gets shit on by a lot of people with superiority complexes and extreme homophobia... it takes a lot to do what these guys do, but THAT aspect has been covered before (remember the documentary "Beyond the Mat"?): What makes The Wrestler and indeed, the part of Randy "The Ram" so excellent is how realistic his home life is.
90% of wrestlers got it real rough... and yes, that certainly DOES include several names that have headlined the big WWE shows. Mickey Rourke makes the story of "The Ram" compelling and universal, overcoming the stigma and disrespect that Pro Wrestling seems to have hanging around it... in other words, he makes people care about something they may actually despise. Great job.
Although I'm 100% behind Mickey Rourke's nomination, I must say that I am a bit underwhelmed with Marissa Tomei's nomination in the same role. I felt her work in "The Wrestler" was merely passable, especially considering how razor-thin her character was... I know that there was, perhaps, a subdued relationship between her and The Ram, but it was never fully fleshed out and in fact, seemed to have just been abruptly "injected" at points where we needed to blow 2-3 minutes with a soft, clean face to contrast Mickey Rourke's battered mug. I'm sure a lot of people would disagree with me on this call, but then again, I'm also sure they were too busy looking at her perky titties to notice that the rest of her wasn't working as hard. (Potential Runner Up: Sean Penn in "Milk")
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger "The Dark Knight"
What else can be said? Great actor in life, and in his final role, Heath Ledger met the task of picking up "The Joker" post Jack Nicholson and knocking it out of the fucking ballpark... no, this wasn't the same slapstick joker that the ancient TV series portrayed and Nicholson immortalized, this was a deranged murderer who captivated MILLIONS of viewers and embedded a deep-rooted terror inside their hearts: Not because of how evil his rendition of The Joker was, but because there were genuine moments where viewers *AGREED* with The Joker... that is, AGREEING that "This person should die for this reason".
In the long history of movie villains and "monsters", it is very rare that one is willing to overlook the obvious hero of the film (Batman) and begin to draw comparisons between their line of thought and the villain... so much so, that many people would have actually preferred to see The Joker come out on top over the caped crusader... and for those who saw the movie (I'm assuming everyone by now), you see that he very much did. He could have destroyed the entire city if it wasn't for his lunacy bringing out raw obsession in our hero, one that drove our hero to perform morally questionable acts in order to bring him down. That's what we call "Social Commentary", because... well... post 9/11 brought a lot of that type of chatter to the dinner table for many families. (Runner Up: Riots in the Street if it's ANYONE else)
Best Animated Feature - "Wall E"
Interesting showdown this year, actually... to see a Disney CG flick up against a Pixar CG flick. That said, although I loved "Bolt" immensely, it would simply be heresy to suggest that anything BUT a Pixar film would take home "Best Animated Feature"... not suggesting that the process is rigged, but because so much thought and creativity goes into each and every one of their films... and Wall E is no exception.
The most admirable thing about Wall E, in my opinion, is that while it's kid-safe fantasy entertainment, it DOES carry a larger moral than "Be nice to your friends" or "It's good to share", it warns of a planet in peril... although it's so far into the future, it does bring the point home and will likely play a part in shaping millions of young people's minds as far as being more environmentally friendly. Does it mean they're all going to convert to solar-powered homes, drive hybrid cars, and eat all organic food? No... but that's probably the ultra-conservative in you flaring up, heh. Me? I'd be content with the knowledge that, out of the millions of people who have seen the film, say 10,000 of them will elect to hold on to the McDonald's bag until they get to the next gas station rather than throwing it out into the road. (Runner Up: "Bolt"... hey, Kung-Fu Panda was cute, but it was otherwise 100% garbage entertainment.)
Best Makeup, Best Art Direction *AND* Best Cinematography - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Brad Pitt winning best actor? That's a long shot. Benjamin Button was a technically pleasing film, and so, you can look forward to the movie sweeping up a few technical achievement awards, notably Cinematography and Art Direction. Although I personally haven't seen the film (it has gotten some pretty mixed reviews, odd for such a heavily award-nominated film), the one thing that pretty much everyone can get behind is that it was beautiful... and the illusion of creating a man who ages in reverse was fully realized and believable.
That said, I'm not fully convinced that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has what it takes to lock in the coveted "Best Picture" win. Other movies that have come out this year have gathered much higher praise for overall production, but as I've said before, few... or perhaps none others... have pulled off a more ambitious technical production than Benjamin Button. If the movie fails to lock in any of these three predicted wins, you can assume that the "novelty" of the film wasn't enough.
Best Directing *AND* Best Picture - Danny Boyle and "Slumdog Millionaire"
Danny Boyle is a hell of a Director... he may not be seen as a legendary one, akin to favorites Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg, but that's only because he hasn't been around as long as they have. The thing that I like best about Danny Boyle films is that they don't 100% adhere to convention... as least in the area of story and presentation. The guy picked up a standard definition prosumer camera and put together one of the most intense horror films of the last 10 years, "28 Days Later", and since then has pretty much focused all of his energy into his projects... each one becoming a unique and worthy addition to their respective genres.
What we have here with Slumdog Millionaire is an example of Danny Boyle doing what Danny Boyle does best: Making as much movie as he can with as little cash as possible. On a reported $15 million dollars, he traveled to a foreign country and put together a film that has, to date, brought in $100 million dollars and brought him his first Oscar Nomination. It's been a long road for him to get to this point, and through his career he has made compelling films on "tiny" budgets: It'll be a supreme victory for independent filmmakers everywhere if his "Low budget flick with a cast of nobodies" beats out some of the bigger nominations with mega budgets, and given the caliber of the film, it seems 100% possible. We'll all know after tonight!
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Cold drinks, snacks and meals will be provided on location. Upon completion, principal cast will be given DVD copies of the finished film, and ALL actors, extras, crew members plus friends and family will be invited to attend two screening dates at Studio Movie Grill in Arlington (with the awesome 5.1 Stereo Track our Audio Ninja will cook up and in glorious High Definition via DLP Digital Projectors).
Anyone who's been visiting ProjectBlack.com for a number of years knows that I be quite the political-minded individual. The face or political party of my President is nowhere near as important to me as the heart he has or the agenda he carries out... the country I live in may, at times, disgrace itself but it will never disgrace me... and by that standard, my country may try to convince me of one truth, but it always within my power to refuse to believe it and investigate for myself... it's the American way.
Gitterle continues, “The way they fudge on reporting this is that it takes 3 days to get the confirmatory nod from the CDC on a given viral culture, but based on epidemiological grounds, we know that there are more than 10 cases for each “confirmed” case right now."
Mexico and Egypt aren't the only countries expected to announce complete or partial temporary economic shutdowns: Third on the list? The United States... and it may happen sooner than you think.
"Director" mode kicked in... I began doing large laps around the red carpet area helping 8 videographers get the right shots. The guys and girls all did fabulous work, real quick to adjust their shots and so on... made my job easier than it could have been.
Hell, even the Governor of Texas will be there on the final day of the film fest to declare the first official Texas Filmmaker's day! Bonus, huh?
Best Actor - Mickey Rourke "The Wrestler"
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger "The Dark Knight"
Best Animated Feature - "Wall E"
Best Makeup, Best Art Direction *AND* Best Cinematography - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Best Directing *AND* Best Picture - Danny Boyle and "Slumdog Millionaire"