Vampire Academy:Blood Sisters

A while ago i posted about news about the Vampire Academy adaption. As you can tell, that was quite some time ago, and I had started to give up hope of it ever coming to fruition. But it seems the movie gods have answered my calls, and it seems to be finally coming together,under the title ‘Vampire Academy:Blood Sisters”

With that said, there is some stuff here that worries me a little. While i liked Mean Girls, that wasn’t exactly a film with directorial brilliance and there is nothing else in Marks imdb that really stands out to me. Also, i think it would have been nice to see a female director on this, considering the friendship between the two main female characters is a important part of the books. The screewriter’s resume is a bit more reassuring, thankfully. Also, while Zoey may be a great actress, i have to admit she doesn’t really fit the books description of Rose. In the books she is described as having a semi-exotic sand princess look…and im not sure i’m seeing that here. But in the grand scheme of things that is a minor complaint, and as long as she can act it won’t bother me too much.

With that said im hoping “Blood Sisters” being in the title mean the film won’t forget about the main friendship in the books. I think the main friendship is what makes it different from most YA books out their, and i would hate for it to be marginalized to emphasis the romance like a lot of YA stories.

I know with the onslaught of YA adaptions we have gotten this probably doesn’t really interest anyone who hasn’t read the books. But personally i really enjoyed the source material, and this is the first time a book series i’ve read has gotten a movie adaption which makes this even more significant to me. So you may have to tolerate a couple of posts on this

Casting news i’m excited about

As some of you may know, i became a fan of Ryan Reynolds after seeing Buried(and also found him good in Definitely,Maybe). Unfortunately for the last couple of years his role choices have seemed to follow a downward decline, and by this point had given hope on seeing him in anything really worthwhile.However, recent casting news have given me hope.

Reportedly he is in talks to to join Selfless, which from its plot summary sounds like a intriguing tale. Here is the synopsis below

a thriller that focuses on a wealthy older man who discovers he’s dying and pays to have his mind transplanted into a younger man’s body. Turns out that body is a cadaver whose previous inhabitant was murdered. Soon, he’s hunted by killers as he tries to get to the bottom of who took him out in the first place.

Im assuming Reynolds in in talks for the lead role,although i could be wrong on that. But either way, i would love to see Reynolds star in a movie with a original,interesting story. The director will be Tarsem Singh, who most recently directed the Immortals. I have to admit im not that familiar with his work(Haven’t seen the Fall, and i barely remember the Cell at this point) but i think he is a great choice who will undoubtedly bring some interesting visuals to this project.

So, does this interest anyone else or is it just me?

Favorite films involving sexuality

I have a fondness for films that are able to explore sexuality in a interesting way. Now, i must emphasis when i say “explore sexuality” i don’t mean just having a bunch of sex scenes for no real reason. What i mean are good films that just happen to have sexuality as part of its subject matter,whether as the main theme or as part of a larger focus.

Eyes Wide Shut:I think everyone here knows of my love for this film. Its masterful look at hidden desires,and in particular how it melds that with thriller elements makes this one of, if not my favorite movie in general.

Mister Foe:This is one of the stranger movies i’ve seen, in that it somehow manages to jump back and forth between twisted and heartfelt.It also has one of the more interesting takes on the whole lonely stalker archetype, in that the movie doesn’t try to make light or sweep that aspect of the character under the rug(Unlike say Edward in Twilight) but you still sort of root for him. That dynamic is also helped by Bells strong performance,who manages to bring to life both of those aspect. It also helps that when the female love interest finds out he stalked her, she actually calls him out on it,which leads to one of the few(if any) scenes where the male is nude but the female isn’t(from what i cna tell, usually its the reverse in movies).

Diary of a Nymphomaniac:I did a full length review a while back, but in brief if you can get past a unintentionally silly first act it becomes a far more interesting exploration of a woman too sexual by society standards. And to do that without the slut shaming that is applied to most female characters of that time is admirable

Shame:Unlike most films dealing with sexuality, this makes no attempt to be “erotic”. From the way the sex scenes are shot, it is obvious it is not supposed to be pleasant viewing, but instead supposed to make you feel pity for the main character. The last sex scene in the film on paper sounds like a fantasy come true for most guys, but with the way its filmed here just feels painful to watch. Not only one of the best films about sexuality, but addiction in general.

Basic Instinct:One of the classic erotic thrillers, this one crafts a fascinating tangled web of sexual intrigue. Layering twist upon twist, the question of who to trust becomes more and more complicated.

Secret things:This starts out as what looks like a run of the mill erotic thriller, but in the 2nd half it becomes something much more. Becomes a fascinating of class and power,with a sexual twist.

Mysterious Skin:I don’t want to say exactly how this relates to sexuality as i think that would be a spoiler(In the film you don’t find this out until the end), but suffice to say it is a nuanced and respectful take on a subject that could have easily ended up feeling exploitative.

Belle De Jour:While the story of a bored housewife is nothing new,the way its done here is fantastic. Its examination of fantasy’s and desires brings to mind Eyes Wide Shut,although this one is much more surreal. I have to admit it got a bit too surreal for my tastes at the end, but everything before was just so good i had to include it.

The Piano Teacher:I already mentioned this aspect of the film in my filmmaking inspirations, but what i love about this one is that no matter how explicit the movie gets, it manages to retain a repressed tone.

Black Swan:Here Aronofsky combines his usual interest in the obsessed with a element of sexual repression, to impressive results. While this may be one of his more pretty looking films(Especially when compared to his film the Wrestler) it still has a underlying darkness to it.

Notes on a Scandel:A tale of people desperately trying to control others, this one manages to go beyond what could have been a simple premise and turns it into a complex tale of interesting,flawed characters.

Repulsion:I went back and forth on whether to include this, as the main character goes beyond repressed straight into frigid territory. But even with that, i think the absence of overt sexuality becomes a theme in this well crafted psychological thriller.

Stoker:I know this one is rather recent, but i have no doubt this one will stay in my memory for a while. A stylistic, yet creepy take take on the coming of age genre, this one features one of the more twisted sexual awakenings i’ve seen on film.

Honorable Mention

Kaboom:The fusion of conspiracy and sexual awakening doesn’t totally come together in this, but i still have a certain fondness for it.

P.S I’ve already told some people about this, but for those who don’t know recently my actress crush Deborah Ann Woll retweeted me on twitter Suffice to say that was pretty much the highlight of my day(Link to a screenshot for evidence)

For those interested in films of this genre/type, what do you think of this list?And if you have any suggestions not on this list i would love to hear it

My filmmaking influences

As promised my post on what has influenced me as a aspiring filmmaker. There are a lot of films that have probably influenced in that area(I’ve noticed i’ve gotten a fondness for darker films in particular,and most of my film ideas lean towards that spectrum),including ones i don’t like(In that they showed me what i am not interested in doing) but for this post i tried to focus only on my major inspirations.

Let the Right One in/Thomas Alfredson-When i saw this i had already started to become interested in the supernatural genre. But this movie took my interest to a whole new level. Its gritty approach to the vampire genre amazed me, and it was something i hadn’t seen in any American depictions of vampires thus far. Alredson impressed me again in TTSS

The main thing that attracts me to Alfredsons style is that he is doesn’t rely on tricks like shaky cam to create a gritty feel for his films,which i see in far too many films today. Instead he uses tools like lighting and color contrast, which creates a look that is realistic but also beautiful to look at. For my final project in my film class,i brought in a copy of LTROI to ask my teacher how to get that look for my film. Unfortunately issues that came up prevented me from really competing it the way i wanted, but i still look at Alfredsons style as a inspiration

Nowhere Boy-Coming into this,i didn’t have very high expectations for this. Im not a huge beatles or biopic guy, so i wasn’t all that excited for a biopic on John lennon. But i quickly became invested in his character and by the end this became one of my favorite films ever. To me this showed the power of well written characters, in particular when it comes to subject matter one may not be a huge fan of. I truly hope the characters in my film can have that same power.

Stanley Kubrick-The visual consistency to his films is something i would love to achieve. Every one of his films looks amazing, and what makes it even more extraordinary is that he was able to change up various aspects from film to film without losing quality. And even though i wasn’t a fan of all of his films, the ones i did like are definitely a huge influences to me.They manage to retain their cinematic power years and decades later,something i hope i can achieve in my films.

The Dark Knight/X-men/X2-The reason i grouped these 3 together is because they all inspire me for a similar reason. They made a serious approach to the superhero genre work even when most people didn’t think the genre was worthy of that approach(I Know Nolan has gotten most of the credit for that approach,but i would argue that SInger was at the very least inching towards that with his X-men films). This is something i would like to do with the supernatural genre. Also, despite the proliferation of non-mainstream fare in this post, i do appreciate a good blockbuster, and would like to make at lest a few films blockbuster type films in the future.

Ip Man-The way this used fight scenes to show the changing tone of the story(in that the beginning fight scenes are shot in a fun way, but gradually starts to take on a more brutal tone as the film becomes more serious) made this one stick out in my mind,and to me showed how action can be used for effective storytelling.

The Piano Teacher-I adore a film that explores sexuality well(I plan to make a post about this at some point),and this is a prime example of a film that does just that. Even though it is quite graphic in its depiction of sexuality, the film retains a repressed atmosphere(at least until the end, where all that repressed leads to disastrous consequences). A couple of my own film ideas focus on sexuality as a theme, and i hope i am able to portray it with the same effectiveness as this film does.

My first ever Oscar party

For this years ceremony, i decided to have a Oscar party at my house. 4 of my friends came, although only 1 was able to stay through the whole show. I started off the Oscar party with a viewing of the Paperboy because i had originally tried to watch it in theaters with 1 of the friends who came but it didn’t quite work out. I made 2 recipes, and my friends brought some food of their own food to contribute

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Chicken Quesadilla with tomato saucue

How i had the party set up. Note the movie inspired decorations

And i tweeted my thoughts during the Oscars,but i will post them all here for your convenience

-Apparently sound guys have the craziest hair

-Kilts aren’t just a figment of my imagination

-Apparently they couldn’t get the only female Avenger for the tribute…I’m not the only one who thought that was a bit odd,right?

-Every actress now has a pixie cut

-I kind of fanboyed when Nicole came on. Not sure whether that was due to watching the Paperboy right before or just being a big fan of hers,or possibly a bit of both

-Adele was amazing

-Can someone get DDL in a comedy?

-Phoinex’s “Awards are the bane of my existence” shtick has gotten tired. When they announced his name from the way he reacted you would have thought his dog just died.

-Apparently getting hated on by Spike Lee is like walking through fire…or something.

-Tarantino’s speech seemed to ramble a bit, and Affleck seemed like he was going off the rails near the end of his.

-Did someone put a curse on Lawrence to make her fall at every award show?On a related note, she should do a shot before every interview

My favorite short film

As most people here know, i am a aspiring filmmaker and for the last year and a half(basically since i graduated college) i’ve been trying to come up with a short film idea to make my debut feature. This was not a easy process, as i went through a couple of ideas before settling on one. During this time i also looked through a couple of short films on youtube for inspiration/guidance, but i found most of them were too arty for my tastes. But eventually i found one that fit what i was looking for, and so i’ve decided to share it here.

Honorable mention:This is one my dad found, and for a presumably low budget horror short this is actually pretty effective.

For anyone curious, i am putting the finishing touches on a script for a martial arts short film(One of my friends knows a lot about martial arts, so that was my main reason for going that route). I plan to make a post on my film making inspirations next to mark my progress.

Missing from trailer?

Recently a trailer for one of Deborah’s upcoming projects hit the web, and being the fanboy i am i checked it out immediately, hoping Deborah would have a prominent presence in it. Unfortunately,she barely appears in it(She pops up around 1:40-150,but thats about it). The only glimmer of hope that she will have some decent screentime is that she is included in the cast rundown at the end of the trailer. Still, i can’t help but feel a bit disappointed since she is the main reason i have any real interest in this flick. So, is was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience with a favorite actor/actress not being as prominent in a trailer as you hoped?

And since this is already kind of a fanboy-y post, Deborah has recently been cast in a upcoming indie called Forever. Unfortunately, i have no idea whether her role will be prominent or not(I will assume it is a bit role until proven otherwise), or even what its about so i can’t say whether it looks like something that would interest me just yet(Plus this looks like it is being written and directed by a unknown, so i don’t have a track record to go by either). Here’s to hoping tho