Delayed Reactionz

2012! The end is nigh! The apocalypse is coming...or at least thats what the rumor mill will have you believe. Though sometimes thats how I feel when I look at current trends in pop music, ridiculous hate politics and our obsessive culture of celebrity consumption that seems to be oversaturating our minds with lard-like stupidity. Then again I might be vicitim of this current epidemic as its taken me 3 months into the new year (March, my bday month!) to update my blog. Hopefully with the soon to be announced iPad 3, I'll do more blogging..and while I've been obsessed with Instagram and its uber cool social photography functionality, I've been churning away on my feature film script that I intend to get into pre-pro by the end of the year...TRACES...its happening people! 

Did I mention that earlier in the year I covered the 2012 Sundance film festival for the Film Stage? Had an amazing time covering a slew of movies including Queen of Versailles, Kid-Thing, Indie Game Movie, Room 237, Compliance, Bachelorette and Wrong while getting to interview talented people like Quentin Dupieux, Cliff Martinez, Leslye Headland and the Indie Game filmmakers! Let's also not forget all the partying with cool peeps like writer Jeanne Veillette Bowerman, editor Eric Brodeur, filmmaker Julie Keck (one half of the awesome King is a Fink duo!) and of course all of my fellow film bloggerati. I look forward to continuing my film critic capacades when I return to my favorite festival of the year in May, Cannes!

One final shoutout to my friends Christian and Woody, otherwise known as the musically gifted duo With Lions, for whom I directed their first official music video Leaving Me. It got re-posted on a bunch of music blogs and hopes to be one of many collobarations with this awesome band! So that's it for now and stay tuned for more big news (hopefully) before the world comes to an end!

Sundance 2011

Earlier in the year I had the esteemed pleasure of accompanying both editors of The Film Stage, Jordan Raup and Dan Mecca, to attend the Sundance Film Festival as a press representative of the online media outlet. I couldn't have been more excited to be there, having dreamed of one day being part of the festival as a filmmaker, and was definitely charmed by the fun dance in the sun. Over the eight or so days I was there, I got to meet some amazing people, including many filmmakers but mostly fellow journalists in the realm of what I like to call the cinema bloggerati, whose friendships I now cherish dearly. And oh yes, the films. I saw a total of 24 films (most of which were good) over the course of the fest, including the world premiere of Kevin's Smith controversial film Red State, which was not so good.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience and if everything works out it will become an annual tradition. You can check out my plethora of photos on Flickr and check out all my reviews of the following films: Silent House, I Saw the Devil, Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Guard, Shorts Program Vol. 1, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Red State, Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, The Son of No One, Cedar Rapids, The Details, Senna, The Green Wave, Reagan, A Few Days of Respite and my favorite film of the fest Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey. And don't forget to stay up on my writing for The Film Stage, since I just found out I've been accredited as press for this year's Cannes film festival!

My Top 10 Films of 2010

It's been a whirlwind of a year for movies and myself this year. This has been the first year I've been writing for a film centric website, The Film Stage, doing news, reviews and even interviews. Working with this team of creative young minds has truly been inspiring for myself and re-opened an infinite amount of possibilities for what I want to do with my film directing career. Another bonus has been the opportunity to see lots more movies than I normally would have had time for, making this year's top 10 list extremely special. So check out the entire picks from The Film Stage team or you can jump straight to my page here. Thanks everyone and Happy New Years!!!

No posts in September!

Ahhhh! How does life pass by so quickly and let time slip through our hands like grains of sand on the infinite beach? Busy doesn't even describe it, but I'm sure if you are hard working you know the feeling. Needless to say it's been a tremendously busy month. 

Between covering the New York Film Festival for The Film Stage where I reviewed Poetry, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Certified Copy, LENNONYC and The Robber in addition to seeing The Social Network, Film Socialisme and the 5 hour epic Carlos and editing various projects (including The Tents a fashion documentary I've been involved with premiered at Fashion Week) I've had all my time swallowed whole. But I love it and will keep pumping out content and pursuing my dreams. Oh I also reviewed Enter the Void which as of right now, is my favorite movie of the year.

Check out my pictures for the Film Stage coverage from this weekend's New York Comic Con and look out for some new videos very soon!

Scott Pilgrim vs Inception

I seem to be having some type of mash-up fever because I had a blast mixing and matching the trailers of Scott Pilgrim vs The World and Inception. Even though I prefer Scott Pilgrim overall as a film (read my review here) I loved how Inception was marketed and thought the two films fused rather appropiately in the above mashup. So check it out and let me know what you think!

Issues with Inception

This weekend heralded something truly rare for a Hollywood industry that has become scared of supporting films not based on some sort of existing franchise. Whether it be comic book, TV show or simple retread of a foreign or old film, there is a disturbing trend of lack of originality in both concept and quality of big budget films. So for the summer movie goers who have grown tired of seeing remakes that ruin the source material (see Airbender), Inception is a beacon of hope for those lost in a dreary nightmare of mundane films. Christopher Nolan's completely original concept is a marvel in both ambition and complexity and there's a lot to love about this film.

That being said I had issues with certain elements of the film that prevented me from loving it as much as the overflowing positive public response.

Click to read more ...