The most absurd commercial ever.

Canon HV20 + NYC = Glory

Found this montage on Vimeo (Amen). Footage of my future home and favorite city shot with the predecessor to my future camera (the HV30).  Not to mention Gary Jules on the soundtrack.  Straight glory!

more about “Canon HV20 + NYC = Glory“, posted with vodpod

God is green, God is good

Why aren’t more Christians?

That’s the question Mandy Blankenship is posing in her blog/essay, “Why Christians Should Care About Being Green.”

I think this is an issue in Christian communities that doesn’t get attention like it should.  I remember when reading “Velvet Elvis,” Rob Bell stated that “pollution is a Spiritual issue.”  It really is.  But, as Mrs. Blankenship points out, many Christians seem convinced that “being green” is a secular issue and of no concern to them.

Read her essay and let it stretch you.  It’s time we all scrutinize our actions a little more, especially in the realm of spending, wasting, and loving.

How can we serve others by feeding and clothing them when we’ve done everything possible to destroy our means of making food and clothing?
Mandy Blankenship

VodPod + Vimeo = Happy

Yes!

Thanks to VodPod, I can now post Vimeo videos directly to my blog.  This brings great joy to my world.

As I said before, Vimeo provides far superior hosting quality than the current market leader, YouTube.

I would prefer a direct interface with Vimeo, but for now, this is a victory!  I celebrate now.

Canon HV30 + Brevis35 = ?

Here’s a great video showcasing the capabilities of the Canon HV30 when paired with a Brevis35 lens adapter. Such a rig would cost a rough grand total of $2300.I think the results will speak for themself.

more about "Canon HV30 + Brevis35 = ?", posted with vodpod

Get a camera.

Perhaps it sounds ridiculous, but the best thing that young filmmakers should do is to get hold of a camera and some film and make a movie of any kind at all.
Stanley Kubrick

Doesn’t sound ridiculous at all.

In fact, you don’t see this type of encouragement enough these days, especially from established auteurs.  I get excited when I read stuff like this.  Kubrick is one of my favorite filmmakers, so to have found this quote makes this even more personal.

We can all sit around and want to be anything.  Becoming that thing requires action.

Noted.

I love Sarah Jane

So a friend of mine directed my attention to this gem today.  “I Love Sarah Jane” is a new short film from Australian filmmaker, Spencer Susser.

Imagine Harmony Korine’s “Gummo” set inside the world of George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” with a dash of your first schoolyard crush sprinkled on top.  In a nutshell, that’s “I Love Sarah Jane”.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Jimbo is 13. All he can think about is one girl, Sarah Jane. And no matter what stands in his way – bullies, violence, chaos, zombies – nothing is going to stop him from finding a way into her world.

Basically, Jimbo has nothing to hold onto and no one to turn to except his abusive zombie-bashing miscreant friends and the jaded love of his life, a girl well beyond him in years and experience, Sarah Jane.

This little film is shot very well.  The images, even in this crap YouTube version, look great.  The acting is solid and the dialog is raunchy…and weird.  The film is unsettling, but very human.  You can view the entire film (with annoying Italian subs) here.  The trailer is embedded below.

Enjoy!

Barackula – The Musical

So I was on Vimeo today and found this video. Barack Obama vs Harvard Law Vampires…instant success!!!  The production is very nice.  I’m curious what camera they used.

But first off, minor rant:  Vimeo is far superior to YouTube and I really wish WordPress would wake up and allow embedding from Vimeo.  The quality of the videos are so much better.  YouTube compresses the crap out of their videos.  But with Vimeo, even in Full Screen mode the quality is very good.

Not to mention HD support.

Go Vimeo or go home!!

OK.  So since I can’t embed the video, I’ll just link you to the official website.

Watch Barackula here and let me know what you think about it.

Possible good news for Indie films in Upstate

I just got email from a friend that says that Spartanburg’s Regal Cinema Westgate 8 (the one at the mall) will be dedicating at least one screen to playing what the email says distributors refer to as “cinema art product.”  Essentially, limited release Independent films, foreign films and possibly even Art House films.  I’m excited for the Upstate.  I’ve long complained about this.  Greenville’s Cherrydale has made decent attempts at this with the occasional Indie film month; 4 indie films, 1 showing a week.  But, this seems to be a much more committed effort.

Apparently there’s a lot of support within the Regal group to make this work, including sending the local manager to California for occasional meeting with filmmakers, producers and distributors.  There’s talk of possibly having filmmaker Q&A’s at this location.

In conjunction with this, Spartanburg Film Society is working to help compile lists of desired and possible upcoming films to be screened.  Currently the film “Mongol” is set for screening June 27.  Other titles they are seeking to screen are The Fall, Choke, Encounters at the End of the World and Towelhead.

It shouldn’t require me saying, but I’ll say it anyway.  For something like this to work it will require support and viewers.  This means, if you’d like to see Independent cinema welcomed into the Upstate, with the possiblity of spreading into Greenville and Anderson, you need to make the trip to Spartanburg.  Without ticket sales, this will be a failed endeavor.

The ball’s in your court, Upstate Cinephiles.

More French horror?

I must say, this film seems intriguiging.  Thanks, Justin, for the blogs.

I’m apparently going to have to type more than I expected.

Why?

Because if I don’t this $&%* WordPress theme botches up the front page.

Lame.

Yes, I know.

Also, the image links to the web site for the film.

But, it’s all in French.

However, there’s two teaser trailers.

And trust me, all you get is teased.

So, that should be sufficient wasted space for now.

Au revoir!