indie wednesday: live prude girls (again)
The Live Prude Girls are back (and apparently they brought cash this time). So we'll celebrate by featuring their new episode of Let's Talk About Something More Interesting with guest, Matt Damon. I think he's the one in the middle.
news and notes 2.11.13
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| Valentine's Day, everybody! |
Last week we used the wonders of technology to have our first full-fledged meeting in months. We went over 2 hours in a Google+ hangout and I have to say, it was pretty cool to get that opportunity. (What, you've never heard of Google+? I think it was Google's grand attempt to overthrow Facebook, but anyway...) To be honest we probably got even more done than we would have in person. (Fewer chances for distraction.) The topic of discussion: What do we do this year? All I can say is there is a LOT on the table and I'm excited about all of it. I have no idea how much we'll get to do and I'm always reluctant to give anything away, but I'll say the ideas include suspense and drama in addition to the regular nonsense you're used to. You already know there are at least three new Space Cops episodes in some level of production but there is also a brand new web series is also high on the agenda.
My public service announcement for the week: Valentine's Day approacheth, gentlemen. That would be Thursday.
Did everybody catch Allen's movie rental reviews from Friday? If not, they could very well save your life... or recommend a good movie to rent.
Saturday we released a new VHessay on Space Camp. Another VHessay already? Uh yeah, we're on fire. Space Camp made less than ten million dollars at the box office, so there's a decent chance you haven't seen it. All the more reason to read the essay and find out what a gem you've been missing. Space Camp is quite possibly the greatest movie ever made about kids who accidentally get launched into space by a sentient robot.
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| Look like fun? |
This week you can expect an Indie Wednesday as usual and who knows what else. I need to put some kind of new video up soon. I'll try to get on that. Maybe Cannonball deleted scenes or the 3 Ladies behind-the-scenes footage. The easiest way to make sure you don't miss anything is to Like our Facebook page! Hint, hint.
Have a good week everybody.
Valentine's Day, fellas.... Thursday!
VHessays: Space Camp
VHessays aren't about the greatest movies of our generation. They're about hidden gems and guilty pleasures. We write them to bring back memories of a different era of filmmaking and hopefully send you searching through an old closet to find your VHS tapes.
Ohhh, Max and Jinx...
In the 80s, space was still a place to dream about. Astronauts were still top-five on the "what I want to be when I grow up" list. The Apollo missions and moon landings of the 60s had given way to Space Shuttle missions. We may not have always known what the point of those enormously expensive missions were, but we were excited either way because the Shuttle was cool. The Shuttle looked like an honest-to-goodness space ship. Oh how we envied the kids that got to go to the real Space Camp (I'm looking at you, John Ashley Ponsoll) and marveled at their shiny packages of freeze-dried, astronaut ice-cream.
Challenger - 1986
Every Shuttle launch leading up to '86 was a big deal. They were an event. And the popularity culminated with an estimated 48% of all American children, ages 9-13 (and I was one of them), gathered in school rooms to see Christa McAuliffe become the first school teacher in space on January 28th. There we sat in excitement, gathered around televisions like generations before us, but rather than seeing a man walk on the moon, we saw the Challenger explode and disintegrate right in front of our eyes.
It was the first where-were-you-when moment since JFK's assassination and, after that, nothing was quite the same for kids' perception of NASA and the space program. At that moment Space Camp officially became an unprecedented marketing nightmare as it was released less than five months later. Roger Ebert gave it one and a half stars, saying our thoughts about the Shuttle could never be the same, the memories were too painful and the movie was "doomed before it begins."
With all that said, I want to put those events out of our minds for the purpose of this essay / analysis. By the time the film hit rental shelves, a year had passed since the incident. It may have still been fresh in the minds of adults but, as a nine year-old, I sat down ready to enjoy the movie without any previous emotional equity. .......I was nine and it was a movie about space! Do you know how much a nine-year-old can put behind them in a year?
When cut free of that framing, Space Camp is a fun look at the space program before it all changed. A classic tale about dreaming big. It's unashamedly hokey and cliché and those are all the things I love about it today. I was able to watch the movie without the burden of the tragedy on my mind. I enjoyed it on its own merits and that is exactly how we're going to look at it now.
Who's Who
Space Camp has quite the who's-who 80s lineup. None other than the Viper himself, Tom Skerritt (Top Gun was in theaters at exactly the same time). Kate Capshaw hot off of Temple of Doom, the future Mrs. John Travolta, Lamar from Revenge of the Nerds, Leaf? (Joaquin) Phoenix, Lea Thompson and Tate Donovan... Is it possible that any red-blooded American male wasn't crushing hard on Lea Thompson in 1986?
Make no mistake, the movie is not great. Every character is two-dimensional at best and obviously manages to conquer their single flaw by the end of the movie. It's as sappy as it can possibly be, full of cliches and bad dialogue, but it was right in my wheelhouse at the time. I loved it. I thought Kevin was cool. I identified with Max. I was in love with Kathryn... The whole nine yards. And that's why it has a permanent spot on my mental movie shelf.
The Plot
At the beginning of Space Camp we find a young Andie Bergstrom, staring at the night sky, spotting an Apollo orbiter, and dreaming of "going up." When we flash forward, she's the first female Shuttle pilot and getting ready to spend the summer helping her husband, Zach (Skerritt!) who is the camp director and a former Apollo astronaut.
Andie is tasked with teaching five kids from different backgrounds the true value of teamwork and leadership. Those happen to be the two main themes for kids attending the actual Space Camp (which you can apparently still attend to this day.) (Even you adults who are looking for a special weekend. Ohhhh yes. Let the romance begin.) Kevin, Kathryn, Rudy, Tish, and Max are a rag-tag group who can't quite make it work as a cohesive team due to their individual flaws. However, they're forced to come together when Max's robot friend Jinx, who is sentient for some reason, decides to hack into NASA's talking computer system and actually launch Max into space during an engine test because they are friends "for-eeeeeev-ver."
I will admit, believing there was a small possibility of accidentally being shot into space made me slightly less eager to attend Space Camp myself, at the time. Now, about this especially annoying robot... Didn't I tell you in the Rocky IV VHessay that filmmakers in the 80s had a robot obsession? Jinx certainly won't be the last one we see in these essays. Not by a long shot.
Okay, so the shuttle wasn't prepared for an actual launch, which means they are low on oxygen and have no long-range radio to communicate with mission control. (Do they remove the radio after every mission?) Andie takes them to an under-construction space station, Daedalus, which I just assumed actually existed but apparently never did. Daedalus has oxygen cannisters on it, but Andie is too big to reach them in her space suit. I'm not sure why you'd make them inaccessible when you installed them, but regardless... They tie little Max into a space suit using Tish's belt. The belt looks normal enough when she hands it to them, but apparently it's actually 50 feet long because it can wrap completely around the suit several times over. They do this under the notion that Max will be able to fit through the station rigging and reach the oxygen... in the exact same suit that Andie is wearing. I don't know, but somehow it works. Yadda yadda Max almost floats out into space. Andie gets knocked out. Kathryn nearly decides to reenter the atmosphere with Andie hanging outside the shuttle. Kevin chooses to bring her in. They all have to conquer their flaws and work together as a team to get home. They land the shuttle. End Credits.
No, seriously, Atlantis touches down (via stock footage no less) and the credits roll. I'm not sure what that's about. No relieved parents. No reuniting of Zach and Andie. No resolution with Max and Jinx. No hint of continued romance between Kevin and Kathryn. Nope. That's it. Get out. Granted, it's easy enough to finish this one off in your head, but still. It seems a bit abrupt.
Kevin as 80s America - A Cautionary Tale
Apart from the value of teamwork, the writer sneaks in a good old soapbox theme about where America and the world were headed. Its an absolutely classic 80s worldview and he lays it on thick. In a conversation on the beach, Kathryn plays the voice of reason to Kevin, who I believe is meant to represent the typical, disillusioned American mindset. The writer/Kathryn points out the untouched beauty of space. Kevin wants to know what the big deal is. Well, Kevin, "In space anything is possible." Kathryn surmises that maybe we can do things right up there... instead of screwing them up like we have down here. True to jaded form, Kevin responds, "What's the point? I mean, we're all just going to get nuked anyway." (YEAH! Try to find a line that's more 80s than that.) Kathryn says that's just an excuse for people who are afraid to try. Kevin says he isn't afraid, but he just doesn't care. And BANG, there it is. Lazy Americans had lost their way and decided not to care because it's easier than trying to change things. I mean you couldn't possibly be more preachy in four minutes if you tried. And yet, at least it's a hopeful message for change and I can get behind that. Kathryn believes Kevin does care and is simply afraid to try and fail.
couch potato weekend: blu ray binge
Like everyone else in America, I stay pretty busy. I've got 3 teenagers, a full time job, trying to make some films, and going to school at night part time. So rare is the occasion that I actually get a real day off. But when that happens, I binge. And I binge hard. I use those "blue moon"s to catch up on any movies that I may have had even a slight interest in seeing when they came out, but they slipped through the cracks and are now conveniently available in a magic box that just spits them out at the touch of a button when you go buy a Big Mac. So I thought "Hey, why not share your binges with the people. Maybe, if they happen to have a day to O.D. on some films, you could help them make the right choices or at least avoid the bad ones." So when I get that chance, you'll get the scoop. Sound good? Let's go!
LAWLESS - I had high hopes for this one and thought it would start the weekend off on a high note. Plus, my wife, Kristie, who is typically my partner in crime for these fabulous ventures, is kind of partial to Shia LaBeouf, so it seemed like a winner and a good one to lead off with.
The positives: Tom Hardy impressed me again. I've seen him in four movies now (that I can think of) and have really liked him in all of them. And, really, all of the characters in this movie were pretty well done.
The negatives: The story was pretty weak and really slow developing. And the ending was painfully predictable. I know it was based on true events, but if the events have an obvious storybook conclusion, change them. We won't mind, and nobody is going to call you on it.
PITCH PERFECT - *deep sigh* Ya, I'm a 36-year-old man and I watched a movie about college acapella groups. I blame Kristie for this one. Here are some thoughts:
The positives: If you go into a movie with extremely low expectations, typically you'll be pleasantly surprised with SOMETHING. In this case, the fellas (Skylar Astin, Ben Platt, and Adam DeVine) got a few laughs out of me. And I know girls don't necessarily like to be called cute, but Anna Kendrick is cute.
The negatives: I'm a 36-year-old man and it's a movie about college acapella groups.
LOOPER - To me, this was the one I was waiting for. The main event of the weekend. I just hoped my high expectations didn't have the transverse effect as my low one's for Pitch Perfect.
They didn't.
The positives - Joseph Gordon-Levitt is making me happy. I haven't seen him bad in anything yet. But in Looper, he outdid himself. He must have studied every Bruce Willis action movie since Die Hard, because he had the mannerisms down perfect. Even the breathing under duress was like Bruce. It was impressive. As was the movie as a whole. Great characters. Great acting. Smart story with good pacing. I will buy the blu ray.
The negatives - Watching movies made by people smarter than me about time travel makes my over-analytical brain go into overdrive and gives me a headache.
TED - Did you guys realize the T.E.D. stood for Terribly Extremely Dreadful (rim shot). Should have named this one "Turd". I didn't like it. At all.
The positives - Mark Wahlberg is pretty funny. There were a few times I actually laughed, and they were all because of him.
The negatives - Everything else. If somebody could make a case to me as to why people enjoy movies like this or The Hangover, I would love to hear it. Seriously. "Hahaha we're doing drugs and cussing and peeing and pooping on things and having sex and it's hilarious!" No, it's not. Not to me, anyway.
THE BOURNE LEGACY - I loved the Bourne Trilogy, with Matt Damon portraying the amnesiac human weapon, Jason Bourne. I loved the concept of the fourth installment, with Jeremy Renner playing super-spy Aaron Cross, who is in the next step of the evolutionary process of training that Jason went through, making him even more bigger and badder. Sounds good, right? Well...
The positives - It was pretty cool how this movie coincided time-wise with the last of the Matt Damon installments, The Bourne Ultimatum. I actually re-watched Ultimatum to refresh, and the stories seemed to gel pretty well together. Also, Jeremy Renner does action sequences about as good as anybody, and there are plenty of opportunities to showcase this.
The negatives - The decision to make this new batch of super-spies dependent on pills to sustain their abilities, seemed weak to me. Jason was a bad man because he was well trained and super skilled. Aaron was a bad man because he took government-issued drugs. I didn't care much for that. Also, the movie seemed sort of clunky. Transitions were far from smooth. By far the worst of the Bourne's, and it isn't close.
PREMIUM RUSH - I'll be honest: Redbox got another buck from me on this one because I loved Joseph Gordon-Levitt so much in Looper. I just wanted to watch him in something else. And this qualified as something else.
The positives - This movie was great for what it is: A fast paced, edge-of-your-seat, popcorn movie. Gordon-Levitt was fine, but he didn't exactly have a tasking role. And fellow Kentuckian Michael Shannon is always fun to watch be a psycho weirdy. Which he does again in this one.
The negatives - Everything is fairly predictable. The filmmakers threw plenty of formulaic obstacles at our protagonist, but at no point did they create the sense that he may not be able to overcome one. And the ending was pretty corny and kinda lame.
So there it is: a weekend well spent by me, as I'm sure you'd agree. Feel free to let me know what you think of my assessments. Agree? Disagree? Did I talk you into or out of any of these? I'd love to hear some opinions. Until the next weekend of binging, keep the Blue Ray player warmed up for me.
indie wednesday: Age/Sex/Location
I love when we can share some laughs on Indie Wednesday. I love it even more we can share some material from Kentucky. As promised, this is our first representative from the Short Film Night at Natasha's. This is Age/Sex/Location by Claw Machine Films (namely, Jeremy Midkiff and Jonathan Moore). The crowd was primed and ready for this one and, by the end, they were howling in laughter. So, if you can gather up 140 or so of your coworkers to watch it with you, I highly encourage it.
If you dig this, you might want to stop by and help the guys out with their Indiegogo campaign to make a feature length film with the same characters. Good luck, fellas!
Enjoy your humpday, everybody!
If you dig this, you might want to stop by and help the guys out with their Indiegogo campaign to make a feature length film with the same characters. Good luck, fellas!
Enjoy your humpday, everybody!
tech talk: next gen cams
Good news for all the Richie Rich's out there. According to an announcement on RedUser.net, a prototype of their new Dragon CMOS sensor has been blowing all its image tests out of the water, exceeding already high expectations. The chip reportedly exhibited 20 stops of dynamic range on a 21 stop chart (when shot with an astronomically expensive engineering lens, but still). Combine that with resolution that Red claims is comparable to 65mm film, and you have one bad mamma-jamma. Thanks to these specs the sensor upgrade is expected to cost a "little" more than the expected $6000 for Red Epic owners. But, that isn't a concern for you is it, Richie? (I'm kidding. Maybe we can all rent one.) If anybody would like to donate one to the WSF cause, we'd be happy to accept. If there are any Red Scarlet owners out there hoping for a Dragon upgrade, sorry. You're out of luck, but there may be a trade-in offer for you.
The next-gen camera arms race continues. Its amazing how far the technology has advanced in just the past 5 years.
affleck's news and notes 2.4.13
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| Short Film Night at Natasha's. |
Short Film Night at Natasha's
Last Wednesday was Short Film Night at Natasha's and, as promised, a full recap: first and foremost, it was a great atmosphere and you have to credit that to Justin Hannah and the staff at Natasha's. Everything came together to make a perfect event for indie film in Lexington, despite the nasty weather. It was great to meet a lot of filmmakers and film lovers. And, of course, it was great to enjoy five Kentucky-made indie shorts that played to an energetic and packed house. Age/Sex/Location, Consignment, Sour Notes, and Watch Me were the other four films that screened along with Bizarnival. I have a sneaking suspicion you'll get to see more than one of those films right here in upcoming Indie Wednesdays. I have an even sneakier suspicion that you'll see the first one this Wednesday.
WSF Housekeeping
Ben Affleck won the award for outstanding directorial achievement at the Director's Guild of America Awards on Saturday to follow up Argo's Best Picture win at the Golden Globes and goes in as a favorite for the same award at the Oscars. Uhhh, what's the best way I can put this? Ben Affleck highly-esteemed director > Ben Affleck, star of Daredevil.
There may be some Tech Talk this Tuesday regarding lots of camera news and scuttlebutt. And I believe that I can say with some certainty that you'll be getting a new VHessay this Saturday! Another hint? There may or may not be a Tom Skerritt sighting.
If you didn't catch it, Saturday I posted a little mini-doc I shot a couple of years ago about Street Scene, a store of all things vintage, in Lexington.
The Space Cops 4 edit is still going well. However, I have definitely decided to shoot future episodes in HD and then crop them down to 4:3. I need the extra color space and resolution for effects work. Mostly the chromakey.
Hey, did you know you can still hire us?
And last, but not least, Todd, Allen, and myself will be meeting in the next few days to discuss all possible productions for 2013 and prioritize the shooting schedule. We don't have the time or resources to produce nearly as much material as we'd like, so this is probably as important a "meeting" as we'll have all year. Will there be an ambitious short this year? Will we have something ready for the Danville Lawn Chair Film Fest? How far will we go down the Space Cops road? Do we have another web series up our sleeve? ...So much to discuss and I can't wait!
indie wednesday: David Lehre
Indie Wednesday salutes all the filmmakers who are light on budget, heavy on creativity, and won't rest until the story is told.
This video reminds me of the stuff we used to do in high school and college. Plus, it got David Lehre kicked out of Theatre History class and I certainly wish I had been kicked out of my Theatre History class. All good reasons to feature David here today.
I've been aware of Lehre since he gained YouTube fame when he was a high school student in Michigan. If I remember correctly, David got a development deal with Fox television thanks to his MySpace: the Movie and other videos. Nothing materialized out of that particular deal, but Lehre capitalized on the momentum. He left Michigan and moved to the West Coast where his Vendetta Studios now does high end, creative productions and has high profile deals with clients like Coke. Not bad, right? I got a lot of laughs out of his old material and continued to follow him as he transitioned into a professional career. I guarantee you'll be quoting Petey and Peanut all day after you watch this one:
We wish for continued success to Mr. Lehre in the future and maybe a little less of this. Chad Future seems to be one of his newest endeavors. From what I can tell it's a sincere venture into music with an alter ego. I don't know if it's a Garth Brooks/Chris Gaines phase, but hey, more power to you, David. You seem to be an energetic, enthusiastic, and super positive guy that just likes to live and let live and I can get behind that.
This video reminds me of the stuff we used to do in high school and college. Plus, it got David Lehre kicked out of Theatre History class and I certainly wish I had been kicked out of my Theatre History class. All good reasons to feature David here today.
I've been aware of Lehre since he gained YouTube fame when he was a high school student in Michigan. If I remember correctly, David got a development deal with Fox television thanks to his MySpace: the Movie and other videos. Nothing materialized out of that particular deal, but Lehre capitalized on the momentum. He left Michigan and moved to the West Coast where his Vendetta Studios now does high end, creative productions and has high profile deals with clients like Coke. Not bad, right? I got a lot of laughs out of his old material and continued to follow him as he transitioned into a professional career. I guarantee you'll be quoting Petey and Peanut all day after you watch this one:
We wish for continued success to Mr. Lehre in the future and maybe a little less of this. Chad Future seems to be one of his newest endeavors. From what I can tell it's a sincere venture into music with an alter ego. I don't know if it's a Garth Brooks/Chris Gaines phase, but hey, more power to you, David. You seem to be an energetic, enthusiastic, and super positive guy that just likes to live and let live and I can get behind that.
sundance's news and notes 1.28.13
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| Sundance says hello. |
Welcome, welcome. Since this is an indie film blog (of sorts), I'd be remiss not to mention the most ballyhooed spectacle in the indie world: the Sundance Film Festival. Just how indie it is always stirs great debate, but you can argue that amongst yourselves. I dig Redford and the fact is, if any one of us was lucky enough to get accepted into Sundance, we'd all go running and jumping through the streets. Therefore, we will give respect here at Walk Softly. As the 2013 Festival comes to a close, the biggest item of note was that this was the year of the ladies. That's right. Congratulations, ladies! The U.S. Dramatic Competition, for the first time ever, featured as many female directors as men. Jerusha Hess, the female half of the Napolean Dynamite team, made her directorial debut with Austenland which was very well received. And some other names that created waves included Francesca Gregorini, Jordan Spiro (who apparently made quite the heartbreaking love story), Mahalia Belo, and Lauren Wolkstein. Also, interestingly enough in this economy, there were several record breaking deals for films like the feature directing debut of Joseph Gordon Levitt. But enough of that. Let's talk more of the usual nonsense.
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| When Bo Jangles comes calling, it could be the end for Don and Jonny. |
There are several things that I'm excited about this week, the first of which is the way the Space Cops 4 edit is coming along. The closer it gets to completion, the more I can't wait for you to see it. Lots of effects work got done last week, primarily compositing. Things like sky replacement, adding muzzle flashes, bullet hits, and blood hits and whatnot into shots that would look even sillier without them. We don't have the budget, expertise, or time for many old school practical effects like exploding blood squibs (I wish we did), so we do much of it after the fact. The effects work continues this week as well as lots and lots of sound design as I'm trying to be meticulous about the sound effects and music on this episode while teaching myself a few things along the way.
The second thing I'm hyped about is the newest VHessay. The next movie up for analysis arrives today (courtesy of Netflix)! You want hints? It involves the ultimate excursion for nerdy kids in the 80s. And it stars several big names in an ensemble cast that were just getting their start. That's all you get for now and I'm afraid I've already said too much. I haven't seen this flick in twenty-five years, so I'm excited. I hope to post it this Saturday, but I'm not going to make any promises.
One last really weird and incredibly awesome tidbit for you today...
What year did Space Jam come out? 1996? Well, what if I told you the Space Jam website (yes, from 1996) had been living on the Warner Brothers site all this time? Untouched by the hands of man. Like a time capsule. Like King Tut's tomb. Just waiting for the sand to be cleared away and shared with the world, perfectly preserved. Waiting to make us all 19 years old again. I mean we're talking about the infancy of the internet. No joke. Now what if I told you, you could go see it? Right now? You have a ticket to King Tut's tomb. And here it is: Space Jam!!
See you later this week for Indie Wednesday and more!
UPDATE: I completely forgot to mention that the Short Film Night at Natasha's is this Wednesday, so I'll be sure to give updates on how that goes if you can't make it in person. It's always nice when you get a chance to support the indie scene in Central Kentucky.