February 2012
16 posts
18 tags
Black History Month: Alvin Ailey (1931-1989)
I’d never been one for dance or the ballet, and generally when I indulged in the artform I was more fascinated with the production and costume design, or the music that accompanied the piece. I guess I never was able to understand the language of dance.
Turns out that I really didn’t want to understand the language of dance, because to know dance is to have an intimate knowledge of...
23 tags
The Importance of Screenplay Brevity.
If you haven’t noticed already, I write a lot. When the words get going, they’re often unstoppable, and I even find myself using words that I don’t know the meaning to, and when I look them up in the dictionary (remember those, kids?), to my great surprise I find that I used the word in the right context. Funny how that works out.
As a result of my writing style, my first...
30 tags
shout out sunday, 2.26.12
Remember, if you want to be featured in future SOS posts, send me a message with your blogs / artwork / music / films / Kickstarters, anything!
Movies: Daughters of the Dust, directed by Julie Dash, 1991, USA.
Keeping with the theme of Black History Month, this week’s film selection is Julie Dash’s landmark film Daughters of the Dust. Dash, who is Black Cinema’s predominant...
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Overlooked Oscars.
As per annual tradition, I’m presenting my picks for films and artists that were overlooked in the major categories for this year’s Academy Awards. It was a pretty banal and conservative year for the Academy, who decided to go safe. The choices of films like War Horse and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close are clear examples of the power of political lobbying in the industry....
21 tags
In Memoriam: Eiko Ishioka (1938-2012)
Every year the Oscar telecast includes a memorial piece honoring fallen contributors to the motion picture craft. While I’m sure there will be a rousing piece for Sidney Lumet, Whitney Houston and Elizabeth Taylor (the intensity of applause mimics a popularity contest), I do hope the Academy and its audience pays due respect to one of the most influential minds in modern cinema, costume...
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shout out sunday, 2.19.12
As promised, welcome to the first ever Shout Out Sunday! It’s a cabinet of curiosities, interesting things worth looking in to and supporting.
Remember, if you want to be featured in future SOS posts, send me a message with your blogs / artwork / music / films / Kickstarters, anything!
Movies: Five Centimeters Per Second (Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru), directed by Makoto Shinkai, 2010,...
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Black History Month: Philippa Schuyler
This week’s Black History Month profile is on Philippa Schuyler, a prodigious classical piano player and journalist who came into notoriety not only for her talents, but also because her life was one of the leading sparks in the discussion of the identities of biracial children.
Schuyler was conceived in the spirit of scientific method. Her parents, noted black author and conservative...
30 tags
Transmedia and "The Killing Moon."
I’m normally extremely humble on this blog and this one time I’ll take exception, in large part because long before it became the current buzzword of Hollywood, I was pushing transmedia way back in 2002, when I was putting together my martial arts epic The Killing Moon. Yes, I am claiming this. Yes, I am bitter that the film fell apart in 2008. Yes, I hate Lehman Brothers for putting...
13 tags
Happy Jill Valentine's Day!
Awesome teaser for Julia Voth and Resident Evil fans alike!
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'Lilith' Soundtrack is all locked up!
The Lilith soundtrack features six songs plus twelve original compositions by dälek. Whether we release the album is a decision to be made later.
The songs are as follows (if you wish, you can support these obscenely talented and hard working artists by buying their full albums or individual tracks. I’ve included their corresponding links). You can also preview the tracks on the Lilith...
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Writing for Television and Web.
For the past few years I’ve been chipping away at writing a pilot for a one-hour scripted television drama. Ever since I first saw The West Wing many many years ago, I’d been wanting to write for television, as it embraced dialogue and character. It also provided a writer the opportunity to develop said characters over many episodes, as well as several narrative threads. Film - at...
23 tags
WTF, Puppy Bowl?!
Super Bowl Sunday used to be about football. And when it stopped being about football and more about promotion of products, then it became about the Puppy Bowl. Ah yes, the Puppy Bowl. That last bastion of sport that hadn’t been sucked down by the undertow of corporate greed. No longer did I have to endure giant men wearing pink Susan G. Komen gloves and cleats and pretending that they care...
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Bringing back the DVD.
I’m planning the mastering for the Lilith DVD, and I’m hell-bent on packing as many special features that I can onto the disc. From a business standpoint, I want to make sure that I’m delivering bang-for-buck. DVDs aren’t cheap, and as a consumer I often feel ripped-off when all I get is the movie and and the trailer for the film (along with trailers for other movies). I...