Posts from — March 2007

I love absolutely everything Danny Boyle directs. So I’m pleased as punch about the new trailer for Sunshine. Apparently, the sun is dying and a desperate crew go on a 16 month mission to re-ignite the sun. Along the way, some pretty freaky shit starts going down. Think Event Horizon but classier. And the lovely actor from 28 Days Later , Cillian Murphy, is in it too. Actually, the cast doesn’t look all that bad at all.

Gwen Stefani is still everywhere! I don’t know what that woman has goin on, but it’s working. Maybe it’s her make-up & stylish outfits. She always puts together something unique.

Look at those glasses and that hair. She’s definitely making a statement with every outfit and look. I don’t think it’s her song lyrics that have made her a star. “This s*%t is bananas”? Think again.

And the digital cameras just love her. Look at this music video. It’s crazy, but she’s got that wacky fashionista thing down to a science.

I love me some Bloc Party. Those lads can do no wrong by me. This video is pretty trippy. The director used some nice f/x to show the surreal experience of drugs. It’s predictable, but I hadn’t seen one of those bender-induced themed videos in awhile. I wonder whether he used After Effects to do it or something else. It looks like the area is burning a hole thru the film where all the freaky stuff is going on. Quite nifty actually.

I visited SxSw in Tejas and I noticed tons of cameras from several internet tv stations (or channels, or what have you). Panjea.TV and Music+ TV were a few that kept popping up everywhere. Panjea even sponsored some shows at Club Barcelona. It was way too hectic for me to make it those parties, but I did at least hear about them. That’s saying something. Of course, myspace made their presence known by sponsoring a hot dog truck. My flight back home even had two cameramen from Panjea carrying their camcorder cases on board.

Every company tried to get their sponsorships in somehow. My friend’s gallery even had their show branded by Mytoons.com. They’re like You Tube but for animation. The art show actually did tie in to the Mytoons audience since it had drawings done by famous musicians (Moby, Gibby Haines of Butthole Surfers) & other various artists (including HR Gieger).

One night, we ended up at Elysium (a crap goth bar) to see IAMX. And lo and behold, it had Mytoons banners hanging up all over the place. That place was a dive, even had a fog machine (so nineties). Doesn’t matter cos, if you get a good sponsor, you can get some decent talent to play your venue.

Still, I saw some band at bars that looked like glorified shacks with a bbq pit out back. But they had the space to hold an event, so presto, instant concert. That’s all it really takes at South By Southwest. Get some beer, some tunes and the crowd will follow. That last party at the Scoot Inn was pretty sweet come to think of it.

Zack Snyder, director of Dawn of the Dead, makes his mark on the 2007 movie season today with 300. It’s based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel.

Doesn’t the trailer make it look ridiculously epic? I know it’s based on the Spartan war with the Persians. It’s historical and everything. Still, I expect tons of blood. I mean the whole concept is about them being up against ridiculous odds. The special f/x look pretty sweet. This would probably be hard to make with your everyday sony digital camcorders. Every frame of the movie went through a type of “crush” post-image effect that brings out the black content of the frame. They truly enhanced the movie going experience.

That certainly sounds expensive, I wonder what the budget was. We’ll see if it holds up at the box office.