Author Archive: admin
Reflecting Inwards
Making the news this morning was Michael Ignatieff’s speech to the Liberal caucus of his intention to call a fall election which, if it happens, will be the fourth election within a five year period.
There are many ways one can read this tactic – needy power grab, moral grand-standing against the villainous Harper and…
Early Technicolor Films: Part 2
In his immensely informative commentary track to The Black Pirate (1926), film historian Rudy Behlmer cites the cautious steps produce/co-writer/star Douglas Fairbanks took in making sure the new 2-strip Technicolor format was worth the cost and extra planning for his next film.
Soundtrack Reviews
Next up are a pair of soundtrack reviews: – Clinton Shorter’s District 9 (Sony), which can be pre-ordered via iTunes and Amazon.com as a MP3 album – Trevor Jones’ Runaway Train (La-La Land Records), beautifully mastered in an expanded CD Both scores are worth snapping up, but I’m compelled to focus here on Runaway Train […]
Culture Clashes of a 3rd Kind
Interview with District 9 composer Clinton Shorter, film review of District 9, YouTube links, and human-alien culture clashes in film and TV.
Early Technicolor Films: Part 1
Back in July, Universal released Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936). The film is an important stepping stone in the history of colour cinema because it marked the first time a feature-length movie was shot on location with Technicolor’s new (and very big) 3-strip cameras.
Leisure Still Rules
It’s no secret that around the time of Curly Sue (1991), his last effort in the director’s chair, John Hughes (1950 – 2009) was starting to lose his so-called golden touch, although that’s really a facile statement, since Hughes’ prominence came when he inadvertently overhauled the youth film from a stale genre to something energetic, witty, incisive and hugely commercial.
Fall Canadian DVD & Blu-ray announcements
J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek will street Nov. 17, and Paramount will spread the film out on single disc and 2-disc standard DVD editions, as well as a 3-disc Blu-ray release, the latter featuring what’s billed as “plot-based deleted scenes,” a new phrase that’s rather baffling, given most deleted scenes were originally conceived to advance plotting, if […]
Music From The Movies DVD Column: Archived, and Good to Go
Why bother archiving old columns for DVD releases with unique film music content from years ago? Is it ego? Or just the cold hard fact that words written – good, bad, or blatherish – can vanish when a site folds? If one comes from a print background, the discomfort is when the physical medium of one’s work is no longer in print, and the content can’t be…
From Shorts to Features – Part Two
Brian Hecker’s period at the AFI yielded the short Family Attraction (1998), which reportedly became one of the AFI’s most popular shorts – unsurprising that it would be the first of six films in Vanguard’s DVD 2003 collection, Celebrating AFI. Hecker eventually wrote and directed his first feature, Bart Got a Room (Anchor Bay/Starz) ten years later, wherein he mined his uncomfortable teen years for a refreshing take on guy-getting-girl-for-prom plot…
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