/Film reports that Don LaFontaine has died. This is a real big deal. Let's think about how much this man has done.
Thousands and thousands of movie trailers have used Don as their voice. He's been doing voice work for years and years, meaning his effort has shaped the movie-going experience significantly. He started work in the late-60s/early-70s, which brings him to and through a revolution of the movie promoting industry. Imagine how different trailers would have been over the years without him, and perhaps how many studios would have made millions and millions less dollars. Think of all the trailers that will now come out and have the voice-over done by someone else.
Movie trailers were his forte it seemed, but Don also did thousands of commercials, among other things. I feel like his death will have a more significant impact on the film industry than most think. Maybe it will be more subtle, but it will be there.
9.02.2008
Don LaFontaine Dead at 68
Blog Cleanup
Because I took a nap earlier I'm far from tired. In an attempt to lull myself to sleep, I'm going to go through and clean up the blog. This includes, but is not limited to: re-labeling posts, deleting posts (note: nothing will be deleted, just permanently moved to Draft format), editing titles, fixing typos, removing posts that are short rants, killing irrelevant topics, and rewriting history.
Just kidding -- anything involving predictions or statements that are now proven incorrect will be left intact. I'm not that insecure.
9.01.2008
In the Spirit of Soundtracks....
In light of my post about the Narnia soundtracks, another film with a great musical score is Pan's Labyrinth. Conveniently you can listen to the soundtrack in its entirety on the official movie site.
Also, if you haven't seen the movie, you should do that, too.
8.30.2008
The Chronic(what!)les of Narnia
I feel it's my duty to tell everyone that the musical scores for both of the Narnia movies are amazing. Even if Narnia isn't your thing (haters), if you like good instrumental stuff, check them out. I've been listening to them constantly for a few years now.
8.27.2008
Shear Genius: Season Finale
Yes, yes. I watch Shear Genius. I'm not proud of it. But I will blog for the finale, because, well, why not.
My favorite was Daniel, but he went home last week (also, Daniel on PR went home last week. Conspiracy?). Now I want Nicole to win, but it's not very likely since Dee (bitch) seems like a better stylist, but also, Charlie (bitch) is a bit better, too. Daniel was where it's at. Plus he wasn't a douche bag. Even Jaclyn shed a tear when he left.
I really like Rene Fris. It sounds like he has to try so hard to say everything because he talks so slowly. It's charming, though.
Wow, three hours to cut, color, and style 4 different hairstyles? What a ridiculous challenge.
lol @ Charlie saying he would buy his boyfriend a nose job if he won the money.
Man, what the hell is with Dee's models not letting her cut any hair length? Isn't it like a prerequisite that the models are open to these things? Plus, they're so selfish they won't take a small change in order for one person to achieve their lifelong dream? Sad.
This is for real so crazy. Four people in 3 hours? Talk about ridiculous timing and multitasking.
Oh my God, so ridiculous. It looks like no one came close to finishing, but maybe that's just the editing. Probably not though. I really wanna see the runway.
Sweet! Daniel is fan favorite! I'm glad for him. At least he got $10,000.
Dee: 18 looks bad. 30 looks awful and unfinished. 45 looks decent, but nothing special. 60 just looks scary. I really don't like any of Dee's final cuts.
Charlie: 18 looks pretty great. 30 doesn't look the best, but it looks finished. 45 looks like a solid hairdo, but not right for that lady. 60 looks like Nicole's haircut.... And Nicole isn't a 60 year-old.
Nicole: 18 looks good. Simple, but good. 30 looks pretty good, but again, kind of simple. 45 is... blonde? Pretty great haircut, though. 60 actually looks pretty good, but unfinished.
I don't think Dee should win at all. I think Charlie's was the best, but Nicole is my favorite and I hope she wins....
As corney as Dee and Charlie's stories were, at least they had spirit. Nicole's was pretty boring and everyday, though. At least it was personal, I guess.
Wow, 48% of the voters think Nicole should be Shear Genius? Surprising.
Aww, God damnit. Nicole is called out first. F this show. Her cuts were better than Dee's.
What the FUCK. Dee is the winner? I hate Shear Genius. Yet another reason why this show is stupid. Not watching next season the end.
Project Runway: Two Episodes
So I watched last week's episode, but I watched it late because I was out of town. It was an okay episode. No real comments, other than I hate Chris March.
This episode is an interesting challenge.
For the record, I like: LeAnne, Kenley (her model dropping out is kind of BS), Jerell, and Terri. Blayne is all right.
Keith needs to shut up. Yeah, it sucks that she had to sit down, but don't make garments that fragile. Or have her wear something else while she gets hair and makeup done. Stop with the attitude.
Shit, Nina Garcia is missing? Damnit.
Runway time:
GOOD: Terri, LeAnne, Suede
MEH: Jerell (great garment, but looks odd on his model), Kenley , Korto, Stella (not bad, but the vest looks bland)
BAD: Keith, Blayne (top is a mess/not fit), Joe (good thing you have immunity)
Too many seatbelts for this challenge, in my opinion.
What, Heidi? Breaking a mirror is "seven years no sex?" I thought it was "seven years bad luck." Must be the German version.
LeAnne's looks so gorgeous. So does her model. I love this outfit. If she doesn't win I'm choking someone.
Thank you Michael Kors for telling Keith to suck it up. Anyone who goes out to the public will be judged, and there will always be demeaning comments. Learn to take it like a professional.
YES! So glad LeAnne won. Looooove her product, and she's so good. Will post pictures later (don't want to go to the Bravo website for fear of spoiling the Shear Genius finale).
Keith is out. Not hard to see that one coming. His garment was pretty awful and he has a shit attitude. Again, will post picture later.
Let's go next week!
8.25.2008
Quantum of Solace
Here's a trailer for the upcoming James Bond 22, Quantum of Solace. You're welcome.
A lot of James Bond has been on television lately, but the recent Casino Royale is definitely one of -- if not the -- best. It was one of my favorite films of 2006, and hopefully this sequel will be just as good. A new director, yes, but Marc Forster is very capable and the writing staff is the same as Casino Royale.
Definitely opening weekend material.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Woody Allen is at his best not necessarily in Manhattan, but at least when he tries to break the norm of story, or structure, or both. When he's good, he's really good (Match Point, Annie Hall, The Purple Rose of Cairo, etc.), and when he's not so ambitious it's a complete drag (Cassandra's Dream, Hollywood Ending, Anything Else, etc.). Vicky Cristina Barcelona (henceforth known as VCB) falls into the latter category.
I like to think that 'even a bad Woody Allen film is still pretty good.' Yes. True, but only when he's also acting as the neurotic we've all come to know and love. When he's not actually in his films the bar is much higher.
VCB is a drama about two girls with opposite outlooks on love (Vicky is in love with being in love, while Cristina "isn't exactly hard to maneuver into the sack."). They are both approached by Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), who proposes a weekend vacation and some three-way action. He's rich, charming, and holds a power over women -- including his ex-wife, who he still loves, and who love him. The movie funnels to a three-way relationship, all right. It's just between Juan Antonio, Cristina, and his ex-wife (Penelope Cruz as Maria Elena).
The fundamental problem with the film is the excessive use of narration. Woody Allen has chosen to tell, not show, and that is a elementary mistake in storytelling. Yes, it cuts down the film's runtime considerably, but I would much rather learn about the characters by observing them, as opposed to being told how they feel and why they feel it.
The most interesting aspect of the film is Vicky, and her relationship with Juan Antonio. They are exactly the opposite of one-another, and as Paula Abdul sings, Opposites Attract. Vicky tries to fight it, but we can all see how they are still similar, the least of which is that Vicky plans to be wed (and does become so), while Juan Antonio also was once married. Marriage is not something Cristina plans to think about for a long time, and because of that, perhaps Vicky is the better match for Juan Antonio than she thinks.
But the film cuts too much out and explains to us trivial plot elements that we couldn't care less about. Woody Allen doesn't seem to know what he wanted to accomplish with this movie (other than a tour of Barcelona and various other Spanish regions). I feel that he was on the right track, but just as we begin to develop feelings for the characters, we're cut off. Disappointing, and hopefully his next trip to Europe is more poignant.
Rating: 4/7
8.19.2008
Ignorance Talks a Big Talk
I don't mind a little jab here or there at people, places, or things (nouns, really). Sometimes feigning ignorance is done for comedic purposes or for satire, but lately it seems like a lot of people have been criticizing the women's vault finals. Primarily the fact that Cheng Fei got the Bronze medal instead of Alicia Sacramone.
Here is an example, which I saw linked to on the Yahoo! home page.
Look, I don't know much about gymnastics, but I do know that landing a vault on two feet is better than landing one on two knees. Olympic gymnastics judges evidently disagree with me, as they awarded China's Cheng Fei a bronze medal yesterday even after she fell on her vault landing. American Alicia Sacramone finished fourth despite, you know, not falling.
Yes, landing on your feet is better than having some knee touch the ground. But landing is not the only thing taken into consideration during a vault. Other than the obvious start value and execution, the vault is actually graded on an average of two scores, and anyone who watched the whole event can tell you Cheng Fei easily had the best first vault of the finals. People forget that part.
Wikipedia has the details, but to summarize: Cheng Fei scored a 16.075 on her first vault, and when averaged with her poor 15.050 on her second vault, gave her a better score than Alicia's. People don't notice that Fei did get an 8.550 on her execution, it was simply that her vault was much harder (6.5 against a 5.8) than Alicia's that saved her.
So basically, Cheng did phenomenal on a hard vault, and bad on a hard vault, and together those beat out Alicia doing good on a hard vault and good on a moderate vault. I'm all about America, but I don't think this is the scoring battle to fight.
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