Yesterday, Variety reported that Ridley Scott is attached to an upcoming Alien prequel. I am a fan of both Mr. Scott and his groundbreaking 1979 space thriller, but I can’t help hiking up my crotchety old man pants and start telling it like it is. So here comes a finger-wagging rant; get ready.

The Alien franchise is one of the most interesting in film history (for the purposes of this article, I am excluding the Alien vs. Predator series of films from the franchise). It stands out mostly for the incredible list of alumni. James Cameron, who directed Aliens, went on to pioneer the art of digital special effects and make the most successful film of all time, Titanic. Frenchman Jean-Pierre Jeunet, already established for international hits Delicatessin and City of Lost Childrenby the time he made Alien: Resurrection, directed Amélie a few years after joining the franchise; that film became the biggest francophonic film outside of France ever. Mr. Scott’s brother in arms from the Propoganda Films days, David Fincher, first cut his teeth with Alien³ in 1992, going on to make some of the most provocative thrillers since.

But it is Ridley who has always stood out as the most illustrious alum. The original Alien is a landmark film that took the world by surprise. It was a thriller set in space, not a sci-fi film that was thrilling. Three years later, Mr. Scott turned the sci-fi world on its side once again with Blade Runner. Essentially a film noir set in a bleak future cooked up by Phillip K. Dick, it remains the gold standard of futuristic cinema in the age of advanced special effects. Of course, sci-fi was only the beginning for him. In 1991, he recieved his first Oscar nomination for Thelma & Louise, which again rattled the world for defying genre and moving us forward. Read on…

The comedy short has a long and illustrious history in cinema. In modern times, the art is still alive but exhibition spaces are limited. As a result, film festivals have become the number one destination for these little films. deadCENTER has its share of shorts programs, but I was only able to check out the comedy section because I needed a laugh. Did I get one? Let’s take a look.

Ten For Grandpa — dir. Doug Karr

This slick little short follows a man wondering who his departed grandfather really was. The camera flows between scenes, across time, and across rooms to create the illusion of fluidity. This is extremely well executed, but I do wonder how much of this film actually qualifies as comedy. If anything is a joke, it seems to be the efforts the filmmakers went to to pull off these shots. Every time we enter a new space we are supposed to be wowed into a laugh; the form is so over the top for such a little film. The choice of the 2.35:1 aspect ratio seems like an arbitrary choice; the piece may be funnier with more vertical space. Of course, we would lose that slickness. Ten for Grandpa is tight, well executed, well acted, and fully realized. Overall, it is a very strong piece and I want to see more from all involved.

The Last Page — dir. Kevin Acevedo

The best part of this short is the Dodge College opening logo. Its self-assuredness provided me the biggest laugh all day, but sadly, all logos must end. The film goes on to depict the terribly tired premise of a writer envisioning the final page of his novel. The writer goes for a walk ends in him getting into all kinds of “wacky trouble”. I realize this is a student film, but still, it is fraught with problems. Again we have an unjustified 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The biggest issue of all is the runtime. At 22 minutes, the piece is more than twice as long as there is story. Most offensively, the laughs are unexplained. Why, Mr. Acevedo, is it funny when a rotund woman grabs the writer’s crotch? If you are out there, defend your joke. And to the professors at Dodge College at Chapman University, please guide your students to kill their favorite babies and cut their pieces down to size.

The SPAM Job — dir. Padraic Culham

Stone faced after the last bit of drek, I was determined not to laugh once through this cheap-looking documentary, but it wore me down over time. I couldn’t help but chuckle by the end. Through interviews and photos, the story of one prankster’s stolen spam becomes clearer and clearer. It sounds dumb and that is the point. The joke here seems to be on us for making it through the whole damn story. This “cheap” feeling I mentioned only adds to the charm of the piece, you simply don’t expect how far they are willing to take this joke about a can of spam ending up in different locales across the globe. The piece is a little fat, could be cut down to size. I could see this as a sketch on a late-night comedy show, that is if Mr. Culham and friends have any other notes up their sleeves.

Cherchez la femme — dir. Idit Dvir

Comedy has a darker side that is briefly explored in this short. A man dressed like a taco wants to kill himself over a woman until he finds a friend in another suicidal man with far different love troubles. Slowly we learn that the man’s wife cheats on him while he is home, so the taco concocts a plot to kill her off. The film takes too long to get to very little payoff, though one of the purest laughs during the shorts program came out of the film. Once the murder is imminent, the murderer must continue having sex with his victim through tears. As an audience, we are left with no emotional output except laughter because our other options simply won’t do given the rest of the film. This one laugh is impressive, but it doesn’t make up for the slow pace of the rest of the film, not to mention the pre-required misogyny one needs to find humor throughout. Ms. Dvir assumes a lot about her audience’s beliefs: that walking tacos are funny, that promiscuous women are sluts, and that murder is a natural progression from anger. Focusing in on these muddled corners will help to make better work in the future.

Tom’s Day Off — dir. Justin Stanley

Sigh. I believe in film criticism as a tool to help filmmakers better their work over time, but when I am given nothing to work with I feel there is nothing I can offer. This is how I feel about Tom’s Day Off. It’s such a mess that I would rather the filmmaker, Justin Stanley, go make something else and bring it back so I can actually give some critique. Apparently, after being dumped a lanky bank employee chooses to rob his place of business. Then he ends up in the back seat of a student driver’s vehicle with no plan. There are no laughs, no plot, no aesthetic quality to speak of. Mr. Stanley probably thinks he’s a genius with his use of an inner monologue interspersed with diegetic dialogue. The bigger question is what place this film has in any film festival. The 10 minutes of space this took up could have been used so much better.

Miracle Investigators — dir. Jeremy Dehn

The program finished off with this crowd pleaser. Overall, this is a lame mashup of kung fu action and outdated church humor. Still, the laughs are there, and that is respectable for a student film thrown into this mix. The film follows two priests charged with meting out justice against perpetrators of false miracles. Unfortunately, this goofy premise never really comes to fruition. The film bumbles along from joke to joke with a plot that hardly makes any sense. It seems that it didn’t matter since the laughs were there. The makers of this film would do better to cut it down to about a 5 minute sketch and really focus in on each joke. Nonetheless, a valiant effort.

The 2009 deadCENTER Film Festival has come to an end. It’s been a fun ride indeed. I saw some good films, I made some good friends, and I discovered a town that I had never been to before. Oklahoma City is an interesting place for film. There are many many makers out here and an increasing slate of productions for people to find work on. The biggest gap to a thriving film community here seems to be the availability of art house, fringe and repertory film screening spaces. Once a year, when this festival rolls into town, the citizens of Oklahoma City get a nice helping of the films that don’t get out here. They need more, but the fest represents a nice start.

To be honest, I only went to 2 screenings yesterday which I will post about either later today or tomorrow. It has been a whirlwind few days here and there is finally a nice reprieve. I’ll be here a few more days touring around. I will keep you all up to date, especially on film news. Interestingly, I’m currently at a book signing at a local book store. The book, Sooner Cinema: Oklahoma Goes to the Movies, features an essay fro my good friend (and future candler contributor, watch for it) Sunrise Tippeconnie. The book just came out, otherwise I would have read it in advance to help understand this state a little better. No matter, as more film related info comes to me, you’ll get it. Here are some pics from closing night, enjoy.

The folks at Pixar are an eclectic group. Over the years they have moved on from their roles as technological pioneers to animation revolutionaries of sorts, trying to boldly bring the form back into maturity after it has long been relegated to the stuff of Saturday morning television. It is no surprise then that Up does everything in its power to subvert our preconceived notions of the animated film. The main character is neither young nor cuddly, the themes are complex and layered, and death is a very real possibility in the world of the film. Still, this is a Disney film so it hits most of the marketable requirements.

Up is the story of Carl Fredrickson, and elderly widower who decides to float his house to South America, fulfilling a wish he and his late wife have shared since childhood. After takeoff, a young boy scout named Russell is discovered as a stowaway and becomes Carl’s unwanted sidekick. The team makes it to their destination, running into some new friends: Kevin, a giant bird with a knack for trickery, and Doug, a cheerful dog equipped with a collar that allows him to speak. These new visitors set up a mad-cap adventure for the two city-dwellers, and we are invited along for the ride. Read on…

Still grabbed from Hulu.com

I just wanted to take a little (more) time to talk about the new “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien”. As you know, the television landscape is rapidly changing. Fewer people are tuning into scheduled broadcasts and more are watching them online, on DVR or Tivo. So it seems that the best thing that anyone can do is to breath new life into one of television’s aging strongholds.

I remember when the whole late night débâcle went down in the early 1990s. Initially, I was devastated that David Letterman was replaced by a nobody. Who was this Conan, and could he really fill the hilarious shoes of his predecessor on Late Night. Worse than that, oy, Johnny Carson was replaced by Jay…JAY! Even as a youngster I didn’t think he was funny. It was a shame because Johnny had built such an incredible home for America at 11:30.

Moving on…

The joke ended up being on me. Letterman moved to CBS with a hilarious new show while Conan slowly built one of the smartest shows on television. Much of “Late Night’s” appeal under his tutelage was not only his charisma, but a grab bag of memorable characters and sketches. From the long-running “In the Year 2000″ to Triumph the Insult Comic Dog to the claymation episode, the Conan show has been a hotbed for creative release. This shouldn’t be a surprise from a guy who penned some of the greatest Simpsons episodes in the early years of the show.

Less of a performer than he is a writer, Conan is now entering this new space without changing much, it seems. Watching last night’s first episode, the only thing different from his old show was the color palette. The dark backgrounds are gone, making way for brighter colors. This almost feels like daytime television it’s so bright. But it’s still the same variety show it has been for decades.

The worriers who think that Conan won’t be able to work at 11:30 are nuts. He is going to do great, not only based on his first show but based on logic. He has grown and adapted over the years. He came from behind as the dark horse of late night television and has weathered many storms over the years. He’s not only going to do great, he’ll move the show in a more positive, more hilarious direction.

I think we are looking at the next king of late night here; a new Johnny Carson. I believe that Conan will probably do this show into his old age just as Mr. Carson did. Maybe I’m wrong, or maybe I’m just greedy, because Conan is damn funny. I’ll be inviting him into my home until there is no more broadcast television or he goes off the air, whichever comes first.

“Live long and prosper” is the least that one could say about the Star Trek franchise. Over four decades have passed since the first incarnation of Gene Roddenberry’s brainchild. The original series, known for it’s cheese and moral pomp, ran a mere three seasons, but nonetheless inspired eleven movies, five television series, countless books, toys, videogames and, above all, generations of space enthusaists and geeks. Daunting, then, is the task of re-introducing the classic characters onto the big screen. Thankfully, director and television impresario J.J. Abrams rises to the occasion to make Star Trek (it’s actually the first film to bear that name alone) not only a welcome addition, but an inspired thrill-ride which really kicks summer 2009 into gear.

Unlike some other 2009 blockbuster, screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have crafted a legitimate origin story for the franchise. The film opens with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock as children on their respective planets showing a distinct promise of greatness. Over the years, the Star Trek galaxy has become so vast that the characters within it seem to have shrunk in stature, considered more to be model citizens of the Federation than anything more. By focusing on the early years of these two shipmates, Mr. Abrams is emphasizing that Kirk, Spock and their cohorts are not the norm; they are extraordinary; they are superheroes. Read on…