SturgisPodmore

Happy Birthday John! ~Sturgis

His favorite movies are Star Wars and he loves Tarantino. And his hero is George Lucas. ~Sturgis, now fully confident this is the real deal

55. "Duel of the Fates" - TPM As long as cars are weaving in and out of each other at 100 mph and exploding and stuff. ~Sturgis

Anyone seen the trailer for Hancock? It's set to the acclaimed hit "Move, Bitch, Get Out the Way." ~Sturgis

Well, the ones in Children of Men were amazing, especially the car scene. ~Sturgis

Umm, no, I think it's the most interesting and unique Potter poster. ~Sturgis

~Sturgis

Then why was the head so small? The statue isn't all that huge. From this site: Height from base to torch: 152' 2" (46.84m) And more importantly, Head from chin to cranium: 17' 3" (5.26m) Even with an extra few feet added for the spikes on her head, that would fit in a city street. ~Sturgis

"Swimming" from The Water Horse. ~Sturgis

That is actually very unrealistic. Hud was taping over the material, it's not possible to go back to previously recorded footage if you taped over it! Acually that video tape thing is realistic, just as QMM said. Have you never experienced this when watching Mini-DV tapes (which by the way come in lengths of anywhere from 30 to 80 minutes)? They tried to make it a cool effect, but any camera would do that if it was on auto-focus and you were trying to focus on something. The camera for one would not survive the helicopter crash nor dropping the distance it fell from the monster. Yes, any camera would do that, making it a cool realistic effect. And as for the falling thing, it would be able to survive a 20-foot fall to the ground, which was not concrete or anything that would cause it to shatter from a fairly short drop. And in the helicopter, if Hud was holding it when they fell, it is possible that he would not have let go, so it never hit anything. This is probably what happened, seeing as how the camera is still working after that. ~Sturgis

What about the 1/6 of the movie between the first half and the last third, huh? What about that? ~Sturgis, on a math trip (not to be confused with meth trip)

The Sixth Sense for film. Signs for score. Good poll! ~Sturgis

I saw Cloverfield last weekend and again this weekend, and really enjoyed it both times. While the whole home-video thing disallowed for traditional visual storytelling, it provided for a lot of really cool opportunities for the filmmakers. The frequent cuts and glitches back to Rob and Beth's day at Coney Island were wonderfully jarring and made for a more realistic experience, as the film plays just like a real video tape does, so we can view it just like the U.S. military did when they found it. I liked how in the beginning you are introduced to the characters through choice clips and time cuts throughout the night, then the monster portion of the movie begins very suddenly, and from then on it's a disaster movie. It's great, how the filmmakers kept the movie completely realistic: what would people do in this situation? When everyone rushes up onto the roof, there are snippets of people saying "Is it another attack? Is it terrorists?" And of course the terrifying moment when the Statue of Liberty's head flies through the air to land in the street, what does everyone do immediately, but begin taking cell phone pictures. People take advantage of the situation and start looting stores. There is fire in the streets, and papers and dust floating in the wind. I was particularly shocked the first time I saw it when that building collapsed after the monster walked by (was it the Empire State Building?). When they were on the bridge and it attacked again, I actually felt pretty bad because Lily, who was always so composed and cool all the time, was screaming and crying for her boyfriend, which was sad to see. Rob's decision to go back to find Beth didn't seem that crazy to me. I didn't like her a ton, but he was in love with her, and the rest of his friends felt they had to stay with him, so I don't think that was a plot problem. As for the rest of the characters, I think they are realistic too: the cameraman Hud is the token annoying but funny friend (everybody has one), and the rest of them are the typical New-York partygoers, but with perhaps slightly more depth than most of them. The scene in which they are running down the street, when all of a sudden the monster rears out in front of them and they are caught in the middle of a loud-as-hell gunfight was very thrilling. I think the most chilling part of the movie, however, was when the rats were running down the tunnel, and the camera turns around and you can hear distant noises, but all you can see is the lights trailing off in to the blackness. The most utterly terrifying moment, perhaps, is when, after they have resuced Beth (which is a suspenseful treat of a rooftop sequence), they are going back, and are all just sitting ducks as the monster approaches, roaring and chomping. The helicopter scene, too, was exhilarating, when they took off as the monster continued to demolish the army, and then watched that "Woblin' Goblin" plane (for which I don't know the actual name) bomb the crap out of the monster, and the crashing part was particularly heart-pounding. I also loved the camera's attempt to focus on Hud's face after he was dropped; what a neat effect. (And the monster is friggin' scary in this scene, too.) Considering the format of the movie, I don't think it could have had a more perfect ending. There is indeed a splash in the last shot, on the horizon on the right half of the screen, right before the camera swivels to Beth and Rob. It goes very quickly, but apparently it is indeed a satellite, according to all that online backstory stuff. Which, by the way, is incredibly elaborate and fun to trace if you have some time on your hands. I guess it's supposed to be a Slusho satellite which crashed, but it was there because they were trying to globablize their slurpy company. I guess the same thing the company put in their slushies is what the monster drank, and it made it very happy and strengthened its skin. Anybody who found out about these effects, which were also becoming apparent in the people who were consuming them in Japan, was kidnapped, like that guy whose girldfriend got word of his kidnapping and apparently drank some of the ingredient that he left her along with the note (I guess she was the one who was passed out at the party because you can't drink it warm ) I think that oil company who discovered the ingredient and was related to Slusho (not sure how) was the company that hired Rob, and then one of their satellites crashed into the ocean and disturbed the monster, which, a month later, attacked the city. All of that I am piecing together from various accounts, but I think it's pretty accurate. It's a cool indication of how movies are spreading to different mediums and becoming accessible online (it also shows some serious awesomeness from Abrams and Co.). I think the characters all have MySpaces too, which contain clues in comments and stuff. That's what's great about the movie: it's an excellent and mysterious standalone piece, but it also incorporates this expansive backstory for those who are interested. A- Also, I enjoyed "Roar!" ~Sturgis - the issue with the battery is very simple indeed: the movie is only 1 hr. 25 min. because the battery life of a camera is short; the story spans seven hours, but the tape has 1 hr. 25 min. of footage on it because Hud was not taping continuously

Fincher is a master of digital and CG. Panic Room was his first use of it I believe, and it worked great. I think the over-head view of the taxi cab drive would be difficult to actually shoot. The way the camera follows the car, i.e. it turns as the car turns, making that quite difficult to get a perfect shot from a helicopter or from wherever you would be filming. Oh I see, I thought you meant the shot in which Zodiac actually shoots the cab driver, seen from a second-story window. Apparently I'm a little fuzzy on the definition of "bird-eye," haha. ~Sturgis

Wow, I didn't realize the film put CG to good use so much. Why, though, was the bird's eye view of the taxi shooting computer-generated? Would that be hard to create actually? (I was also wowed by the shot of the building being built, a great way to pass time in a movie, haha.) I recently watched Amistad in a government class as part of a look at the supreme court. I think the score in the "Give Us Free" scene is wonderfully empowering, and it works very well, and I like how everyone is simply dumbstruck by Cinque's words. I actually like this movie very much, aside from the depressing (if historically accurate) ending; it breaks up the triumph rather jarringly. ~Sturgis . . . sock it to me.

Funny movie. ~Sturgis

On the 300 debate (and you can take the fact that I'm a 16-year-old male into account if you like), I gotta say, I like it quite a lot. It's just a fun action movie, yeah, but I think it's well done. It has those "empowering" moments, but those really don't matter; what people remember is the cool-looking CGI and the badass battle sequences. It's pretty mindless, but I at least enjoyed watching Spartans and Persians beating the garbage out of each other for a while. Now some of my friends literally think it's the best movie ever . . . which is ridiculous, but as far as eye-candy goes (and I mean the CGI landscapes and battles, not the ripped dudes), I think it delivers. Some people say that its extremely prevelant use of CG is indicative of how movies rely on computers and it's the death of art, etc. etc., but the look the film makers wanted to create was a kind of overpowering fantasy-storybook-ish type of look, which they did well using CG, so I think its use is appropriate. Kind of unrelated: my marching band did a show this year featuring a piece from 300 called "To Victory" which was unoriginal but fun. ~Sturgis

Is the third one perhaps M:I-3? ~Sturgis, doubtful

Based on the movies I've seen so far (and I haven't seen a lot of Oscar bait): BEST ART DIRECTION: 1. 300 2. The Bourne Ultimatum 3. Ocean's 13 4. Zodiac 5. American Gangster BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: 1. The Bourne Ultimatum 2. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 3. Zodiac or American Gangster for the 1970s "period" look BEST FILM EDITING: 1. The Bourne Ultimatum 2. Zodiac 3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 4. Charlie Wilson's War 5. I Am Legend BEST MAKEUP: 1. Sweeney Todd: the Demon Berber of Fleet Street BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: 1. Joan Allen - The Bourne Ultimatum 2. Helena Bonham Carter - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 3. Julia Roberts - Charlie Wilson's War BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: 1. Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War 2. Alan Rickman - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 3. Robert Downey Jr. - Zodiac BEST ACTRESS: 1. Ellen Page - Juno 2. Amy Adams - Enchanted BEST ACTOR: 1. Denzel Washington - American Gangster 2. Jake Gyllenhaal - Zodiac 3. Steve Carell - Dan in Real Life 4. Will Smith - I Am Legend 5. Matt Damon - The Bourne Ultimatum BEST ORIGINAL MUSICAL: 1. Enchanted BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: 1. The Water Horse - James Newton Howard 2. Stardust - Ilan Eshkeri 3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Nicholas Hooper 4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Hans Zimmer 5. The Bourne Ultimatum - John Powell BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: 1. Transformers 2. 300 3. The Bourne Ultimatum BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: 1. Superbad 2. Juno 3. Dan in Real Life BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: 1. Zodiac 2. Charlie Wilson's War 3. American Gangster BEST DIRECTOR: 1. David Fincher - Zodiac 2. Paul Greengrass - The Bourne Ultimatum 3. Tim Burton - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 4. Ridley Scott - American Gangster 5. Zach Snyder - 300 BEST PICTURE: 1. The Bourne Ultimatum 2. Zodiac 3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 4. Charlie Wilson's War 5. American Gangster ~Sturgis

The main issue that they're on strike for is that the writers aren't getting paid anything for the selling of their work online. The studio execs claim that iTunes downloads and other priced downloads are just "promotions" and not actual sales of their work, which of course is ridiculous because the CEOs are the ones making money for the writers' products. The writers want a small share of Internet profits and they deserve it. I think they also want to double the share they get from DVD sales from like .4% to .8% (I believe those are the right numbers). They were assured that the percentage of video sales they would get would go up later when the VHS home-movie-buying industry was relatively new in the 80's, but their share hasn't gone up since then, and they just want what they were promised and what they deserve. Lots of Hollywood writers (probably the majority) aren't lucky enough to write for popular shows with great longevity, but will go from employed to unemployed on a regular basis, so they need to get paid like the next guy. They're on strike to get what they deserve (and even then it probably won't be enough to equal the work they put into the creative process). So if that means I'll be without my favorite shows for a while, it's okay with me. ~Sturgis

That was absolutely phenominal! I can't believe the work it must have taken to arrange that and plan out all the parts, not to mention playing, recording, and editing them together. Wow! ~Sturgis - amazed

Oh, yeah! Juno had some pretty creative opening credits, too. ~Sturgis

Psycho is indeed quite amazing. With the jagged old-time bars of black and white and gray, it looks like the inside of a psychotic person's mind. Plus the music is unbeatable. This sequence gets you excited for the film before the film even begins. Signs is the same way, and due in large part the music. The titles fly up and the music boils with major intensity, then the film begins quietly, kind of like Psycho. And most movies scored by Danny Elfman automatically have their title sequences made better my his main titles music, which is consistantly excellent. ~Sturgis

Charlie Wilson's War I'm never good at following politics in movies, but I still enjoyed them in this film, once it picked up pace after about a half hour. Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman all gave great performances, and I enjoyed their interactions with each other very much. All the foreshadowing to what American aid to Afghanistan would cost us in the end was unnerving, and especially the scene in which Charlie's defense committee chairman promises the people weapons and money was chilling. It was sad that even though Charlie wanted to help them rebuild their country, the rest of the government was only interested in defeating the Soviets. JNH's score worked well, if not being very memorable. B+ (Best moment of the movie: Julia Roberts' "Ha ha ha, Charlie!" in her awesome accent). ~Sturgis

Playing something that resembles the main theme from Medal of Honor. . . . except that Ladd came first. ~Sturgis