Tag: James Cameron

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

I was able to sit down for a couple of years and pump out a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.

And now, you can follow me on TWITTER under the name: Stipp

Item #1 – ICE CREAM!!!

I’m acutely sensitive to those who ask for what little help I can provide.

I’ve never purported to actually have any ability to sway people to do things, Lord knows that losing 50k in that McDonald’s contest that was based on votes didn’t work out real well for me, but I am always eager to do what I can for those who have taken a chance on me.

Dennis Widmyer is such a guy and he deserves your vote.

The short of it is that you need to go here to watch his short film “ICE CREAM!!!” and vote for it. The long of it is below, straight from Dennis, a guy who has created a really solid short that is at the same time twisted, gory and all sorts of funny. I’ll allow him to explain what is so important about you pushing a few buttons. And, remember, for the love of God, vote on the FilmmakingFrenzy site. It’s the only way this will work. More from Dennis:

I have a short film I directed for Fantastic Fest 09. I’m sure you’ve heard of Fantastic Fest. It was co-created by Harry at Aint It Cool News, and in only its third year, it’s already become the largest genre film fest in the country. Anyway, something cool that FF does is they have this contest called Filmmaking Frenzy whereby they accept entries from filmmakers for ‘bumpers’. Bumpers are like short, 30-45 sec commercials that play before a film at a fest. The rules of the contest state that you need:

– A kid (below age of 18)
– A monster
– 30-45 secs
– End off in the word “Fantastic”

Anyway, my bumper is called “ICE CREAM!!!” and you can watch it here:

http://www.filmmakingfrenzy.com/ViewFilm.aspx?FilmId=554

It’s actually doing very well right now and we’ve gained a lot of momentum. I think we might actually have a shot of winning this thing. So please offer me whatever vote you think the film deserves. You have to register for the site to vote. The whole process takes about 2 mins. Some people have complained that the process of voting is a little confusing, so I typed up some quick instructions on it that you can view HERE.

The link people need is: http://www.filmmakingfrenzy.com/ViewFilm.aspx?FilmId=554

Now, go out there and vote.

Item #2 – “Ari Gold’s Office…”

Ari Gold, the man who created the very funny ADVENTURES OF POWER, passed along an e-mail message to let me know that the site for POWER is finally in full swing and, I have to say, it’s really robust and has a lot of information about his film which will finally be hitting theaters this fall.

Check out the film I thought was one of the best crafted comedies I’ve seen this year:
HERE

For those needing an explanation of the film, here it is:

When hard times hit his small mining town, Power doesn’t wish for riches; he only wishes he’d learned to play drums. But his father could never afford to buy him a drum set, so Power has embraced the next best thing: air drumming. Tired of the constant ridicule, with nothing but a few dollars, some breakfast cereal, and the support of his Aunt Joanie, Power sets off across the country to the “paradise” of Newark, where an underground air drumming crew has invited him to join their team. But as the big air drumming competition looms, so does a rival-multi-millionaire drummer Dallas H., who thinks air drumming is an abomination and seeks to destroy Power and his crew.

More than just a rock’n’roll comedy, ADVENTURES OF POWER is an epic fable about the American Dream-about making something out of nothing, and trusting in your own heartbeat as a way of changing the world. With a phenomenal soundtrack featuring original songs alongside hits by Rush, Phil Collins, the Dazz Band, and more, ADVENTURES OF POWER will have you drumming in your seat and cheering on your feet.

Starring Ari Gold, Michael McKean, Jane Lynch, Adrian Grenier, Shoshannah Stern, and Steven Williams and also featuring Jimmy Jean-Louis, Chiu Chi Ling, Annie Golden and Nick Kroll, the film premiered to widespread acclaim at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. With classic songs by Rush, Judas Priest, Phil Collins, Dazz Band, Loverboy, Bow Wow Wow, Woodie Guthrie and original songs by Ethan Gold, Adventures of Power will be released theatrically in fall 2009 by Variance Films.

“Adventures of Power” was produced 100% independently, and shot from sea to shining sea-from the forgotten industrial towns of the West to the ghetto cities of the East. It is being released 100% independently as well, with the help of volunteers and fans from all over the country who believe in the power of the human heartbeat to change the world.

Item #3

I’ve got some DVDs to give away. Want some?

LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT came out earlier this year and it did well. As a low budget movie it made it a little scratch and, in the critics’ eyes, it was acceptable cinematic fare.

If you’d like to add this DVD to your collection, send me a note at Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com and I’ll enter you in a contest to win a copy of this puppy.

For those who want to know what it’s all about here is a synopsis:

Renowned horror director Wes Craven returns to the scene of the most notorious thrillers of all time in this darkly disturbing reimagining of The Last House on the Left. After kidnapping and ruthlessly assaulting two teen girls, a sadistic killer and his gang unknowingly find shelter from a storm at the home of one of the victim’s parents– two ordinary people who will go to increasingly gruesome extremes to get revenge. Loaded with shocking twists guaranteed to leave you on edge, it’s the ominous film critics call, “One of the best horror remakes ever made” (Scott Weinberg, Fearnet.com).

AVATAR (2009)

Director: James Cameron
Cast: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez
Release: December 18th, 2009
Synopsis: In the future, Jake, a paraplegic war veteran, is brought to another planet, Pandora, which is inhabited by the Na’vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture. Those from Earth find themselves at odds with each other and the local culture.

View Trailer:
* Large (Apple)

Prognosis: Positive. Is there any lack of snarky, nitpicky comments on a movie no one has seen? Welcome to the Interwebs because, no, there are more than a few haymakers to go around.

Before seeing this teaser I’ll be honest in that nothing has really ignited that geek desire to see anything more than the various publicity shots of James Cameron in various states of guidance as he talks to the film’s stars.

Cameron’s legendary control of what people know and when they’ll know it about his films almost make him the Steve Jobs of the motion picture world; he’ll give you what you want when the fever pitch is at its greatest. I would agree with that assessment if his latest eking of information, photos, et al., about the movie actually tantalized. Instead, all we know is that this movie deals with a cripple and a bunch of blue leopards that look like taller, slender Keebler Elves that were rejected from the stage production of Cats. The footage shown at Comic-Con did not incite a wholesale riot of fan boys looking to jizz all over the promise this film was making. That honor went to IRON MAN 2.

So, what to do when the tepid response, proportionately speaking, leaves people wanting more about the tin man than they do your Sesame Street blue man group? You get yourself a 2 minute teaser trailer out there, that’s what.

The opening sequence, to be honest, really does get me into a mind space where I would’ve liked to have been months ago. The way Cameron captures the silence and majesty of space on a grand scale simply cannot be matched, the way we are ensconced in this planet’s ecosystem is genuinely thrilling as the music is perfectly matched to the sense of awe and wonder at an alien terrain where you can walk out freely but need an scuba like system in order to breathe. It feels open and beautiful.

And then I see the worker mechs from ALIENS. And from the crappy MATRIX sequel. I’m left trying to figure out if this a hybrid from ALIENS or if we’re to believe this is its own universe but, if that’s the case, what’s with the cribbed worker mech? Having this argument with myself is taking me out of this grand universe and that’s not what you want for a film that needs to build its own sense of self.

Weird guy with an obnoxious scar across his face (seriously, can we just do away with the overt make-up that will obviously play an important part to someone’s twisted backstory? “Well, yar, I’ll tell ye how I got this scar…”), Worthington rolls by some tanning beds and then, well, we get Delgo. Seriously, I dare anyone with half an idea of what I’m talking about to refute the notion these aliens look like that wretched kids film. If this was an issue of copyright I am pretty sure I could make a mint for Freddie Prinze Jr. in open court. It’s a little nutty and, at almost the half way point, I’m just screaming inside my own head. We’ve got lots of things going on and none of those things have to do with this movie’s awesomeness.

We get the clue that the cripple’s consciousness (and let’s be clear that this movie is obviously making an issue of Worthington’s handicap and I would never call a cripple a cripple. Worthington is, on purpose, a cripple to forward the plot. It’s a device. Like John Locke. He’s a cripple. He can walk in Lost. Same theory applies. I wouldn’t put it past Cameron to have thought that was an awesome idea to have a cripple walk and then meditate on the idea of mobility, the fragility of life and, thus, Sam Worthington the cripple who soon won’t be) is fed into this cartoon character (and let’s be honest, we all can tell it’s a cartoon character. It’s certainly no DISTRICT 9 effect work.) and we’re off into a fake jungle with fake plants and fake animals with chicks who like to get grungy just like in the second crappy MATRIX film.

But I will give praise to the amalgam of cartoon fantasy and live action that seems really action-y. You’ve got machine guns and planes that mean some terrible business and dudes hanging out of planes that are firing all sorts of armament. You’ve got alien people yelling out, with their tiger teeth laid bare, and all hell’s breaking loose. It’s like the Savage Land come to life!

There is so much happening and not much context that the issue I have with this trailer is that it is devoid of some logical sense. I think you could put together the entire film (I’m pretty damn sure Worthington is going to have some alien sex with some alien chick with deadlocks) just by looking at what’s happening and I am pretty sure we’re going to see Worthington have some kind of crisis of conscience as his alien self becomes at odds with the big bad military force. It all sounds hokey to me but the scenery looks pretty nifty and the action sequences look to be rather engaging once we see how this all plays in 3D.

I’m in for sure but, come on, there are some things I really hope aren’t as hokey as what we see in this teaser.