Review: Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

by Jonathan Poritsky February 19th, 2010 § 0

Mo'Nique in PreciousLee Daniels’ Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire is difficult to talk about, let alone sit through. Part memoir, part fantasy and part social deconstruction, the film deals in a grab bag of hot button social mores: poverty, racism, rape, incest, epidemics and education reform to name only a few. The director is literally playing with fire, yet, somehow, he has managed to make a feel-good movie. You heard me right.

Clarice Precious Jones lives in Harlem with her abusive mother. The year is 1987 and she is pregnant with her second child by her father. At 16, Precious is still in junior high school, until her pro-active principal recommends her for an alternative schooling program called Each One Teach One. It is here, with the help of a self-assured teacher and a hood-bred cadre of girls, that her journey of self-discovery begins. What does she discover? The same thing we know about ten minutes into the film: that her mother is a big ol’ B-word. Read on...

Review: Crazy Heart

by Jonathan Poritsky February 11th, 2010 § 0

Crazy Heart StillEarly in Scott Cooper’s Crazy Heart, we see Bad Blake, the middle aged country music star played by Jeff Bridges, doubled over a trash can puking his guts up. It is heartbreaking, until Blake reaches into the void to retrieve his sunglasses, wiping the mucus off as he picks them up. In a manner that only Mr. Bridges can conjure up, the move comes off as charming, witty almost. Bad Blake is a drunk in need of a wakeup call. but if not for the brilliant nuance Bridges brings to the role Crazy Heart would be an after school special, shown at SADD meetings across the country to keep kids off the bottle. Read on...

SXSW 2010 Short Films and Panels Announced

by Jonathan Poritsky February 10th, 2010 § 1

Late last night a press release from the 2010 South by Southwest (SXSW, duh) Film Coference and Festival dropped into my inbox. While we’re not usually in the business of delineating this kind of info, this particular document is just so chock full of goodies, I figured it was worth showing you the moment I could. This is the full list of shorts and panels for the eight day fest this year, and the panels in particular sound phenomenal. Quentin Tarantino, Michel Gondry and David Gordon Green are the headliners, but don’t forget there are tons of other amazing talks scheduled.

The panel featuring Tarantino, “Directing the Dead: Genre Directors Spill Their Guts” sounds particularly interesting. Actor Jeffrey Tambor will be teaching his trade in a talk that I hope will feel like something the Scared Straight talk on Arrested development. Gizmodo writer Joel Johnson will offer up some advice on music licensing for viral videos and friend of the candler blog Paul Harrill (whose award winning short Gina, an Actress, Age 29 recently landed on theauteurs.com) will be speaking about “Cinematography for Improvised Films”. For those in attendance, there certainly is a wide assortment of programming planned. I haven’t even mentioned the shorts, but check out the full list after the break (it’s a long one, be prepared). We still don’t know how much of the conference the candler blog will be following, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated with the news. Read on...

Candlercast #8: Chatting with Parry Gripp, Youtube Composer Extraordinaire

by Jonathan Poritsky February 9th, 2010 § 2

Parry Gripp playing GuitarIf you travel in meme circles, then you’ve probably heard of Parry Gripp. If not, then let me fill you in. Gripp is a singer and songwriter who, before 2008 at least, is known for starting the band Nerf Herder, whose music was featured as the theme song for Joss Whedon’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. On January 1, 2008, he launched a website, Parry Gripp Song of the Week, whose purpose is self explanatory. Since then, he has kept true to his promise, uploading at least one song every week. He has also written jingles that go along with some of the most popular Youtube videos, which in turn become even more popular Youtube videos. As such he has become something of a web phenom, most recently with his iPad/Nachos song and video featured below. I recently had a chat with Parry about his career, the oddities of internet-creation, and some of the darker legal corridors that come with trying to have a good time online. It’s worth a listen and features some of his silliest work.

 
Right-Click to Download • Subscribe in iTunes

Read on...

82nd Academy Award Nominees Graphically Explained

by Jonathan Poritsky February 4th, 2010 § 2

The voting is over and the results are in: for the first time in 65 years the Academy Awards has ten films contending for the Best Picture statue. Wow, that’s twice as many movies as before; how can we make sense of all of them. Of course you should see all ten films and make an informed decision, or just read what the candler blog has to say about them. In the meantime we’ve parsed a bit of data and laid it out for you in colorful glory. I’ll let the graphic speak for itself, so take a peek.

Click the image to view full size:

That’s a lot to take in at once. No matter how much data we can look at, from a film’s gross to Academy voters’ tendencies, the truth is that most voters work hard to inform themselves and make the decisions they feel are right in their hearts. We’ve got a whole month of speculation ahead of us, but feel free to leave your gut reactions in the comments. Happy Awards Season.

Click here to download the massive, printable version of this graphic. Feel free to plaster the web with this thing, just don’t forget to mention your friends at the candler blog.

Guide to the 2010 Oscar Nominees UPDATED

by Jonathan Poritsky February 2nd, 2010 § 1

The candler blog was born in March of 2009. In the past year, we’ve written a whole lot about cinema, and I’m proud to say we’ve covered most of the top 2010 Oscar contenders on these pages. We even had a strong opinion back when AMPAS upped the number of Best Picture nominations to 10. There are still some holes and we’ll fix that soon. For now, catch up on our thoughts on the year’s biggest films and share your what you think in the comments. Read on...

iPad for Filmmakers, Hopefully

by Jonathan Poritsky January 31st, 2010 § 11

Apple’s iPad is 2 months from release and the Internet seems to have already made up its mind on the device, one way or another. This is all based on total speculation as even those who have handled the tablet haven’t done so long enough to offer an informed opinion. So while the mud and rainbows sling elsewhere, I would like to speculate how the device will impact filmmakers should it be embraced after launch.

First off, let’s look at the iPhone/iPod Touch which has enjoyed decent success in the film community. There are apps available as simple as AJA’s data rate calculator for estimating video file sizes and as complex as screenwriting applications. You can plug your iPod into an Alesis ProTrack and record audio via XLR mics. This doesn’t even to mention the simpler things like the video capabilities of the iPhone 3GS which gives any maker the ability to shoot a walkthrough or concept video whenever they deem necessary. Today, the filmmaker finds a decent tool in the iPhone/iPod Touch.

So when voices on the internet decry the new iPad “just a big iPod Touch”, I would ask the dissenters how they could consider that a bad thing. The truth is that if it were just a big iPod Touch, it would already solve a great deal of problems with the smaller screen on Apple’s mobile devices. Even though the device isn’t available in the wild yet, it is fast becoming clear that the iPad is something more than a glorified iPhone. Take a look at some of the advanced gestures possible on the iPad in this video compiled by Gizmodo:

The way Phil Schiller “stacks” those Keynote slides with a two touch gesture is something that has never been available on any Apple touch device before, and it is a sign of things to come. Gesturing is about to go way past touching and swiping. So how could this impact filmmakers? Let’s break it down by department. Read on...

Review: The Book of Eli

by Jonathan Poritsky January 26th, 2010 § 0

Overstylized, overdramatic and overcooked are all understatements when describing Albert and Allen Hughes’ The Book of Eli. The only facet of it I can speak highly of is Gary Oldman, who finally returns to the baddie throne he built so long ago. Otherwise, the film is just an exercise in technological possibilities on the part of the directors and their team. We come along for their ride.

Let’s start with the visuals, which is clearly where The Hughes Brothers devoted most of their efforts. Taking a page out of the Sin City and 300 playbooks, the film is mostly greenscreened footage over a hyper-realistic backdrop. It’s a style, no doubt, but one that is more grating than it is interesting in this instance. Shot on the RED camera, foreground imagery seems to break apart very quickly, at least on the print I saw. I don’t care how many “K”s they put in the resolution, it really did not mix well with the synthesized backgrounds. Besides that, this steampunk-chic post-apocalypse is nothing new to audiences. So what do the Hughes Brothers bring to the table that maybe we haven’t seen before? God! Read on...

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