I just finished reading this article from the LA Times, which was filled with heartening quotes, such as this one from Amy Pascal, Sony Pictures Vice Chairman:

"It’s
really easy for all of us to blame the condition of the theaters, gas
prices, alternative media, the population changes and everything else
I’ve heard myself say. I think it has to do with the movies themselves."

 This
is the third article I’ve read already wherein studio execs have been
"fessing up" to lackluster movies as being responsible for poor
earnings this season. I have to admit, the last movie I saw in the
theater was Skeleton Key,
which — although a nice little film — was nothing special. The main
reason I went to see it was to get a glimpse of my dear New Orleans
just before it went underwater. Plus, I have a profound weakness for
voodoo-centered movies, and the script we’re working on right now
(Amelia’s Ring) deals with voodoo as a central theme. Maybe the
creepiest part of the whole movie, however, was seeing that grand
tracking shot of the main arterial New Orleans highway that goes over
miles and miles of water, after seeing it only the night before,
crumbled and broken.

But yeah, how about those crappy movies? I heard The Wedding Crashers was pretty funny, and The 40 Year-Old Virgin
has been bringing in the crowds, but I don’t usually see comedies on
the big screen without a really good reason. I will admit, we saw March of the Penguins twice (once on our own, and once to bring our family along), but otherwise I’ve either been renting or watching classic movies.

Sin City
was pretty good. I appreciated it stylistically, and it was true film
noir at a time period when other films merely nod at the noir style
without taking it all the way. The plot was okay — 10 points for
imagination — but the use of almost monochromatic film stock, with
highlights of color along the way, was really something to see. Bravo
to Robert Rodriguez,
who usually does everything right, for ringing in the originator of the
material as a co-director. In fact, he had to resign from the
Director’s Guild of America to do it, which got him knocked off another
film, A Princess of Mars,
and may have some bearing on his future career. That’s unions for you.
With his reputation, however, I doubt the move will prove to be be
anything less than freeing.

Unfortunately, our cinema in town had an electrical fire, which prevented me from seeing The Corpse Bride until it reopens next week. And I’ve been waiting for years for the new Wallace and Gromit movie so you can bet I’ll be first in line for that one.

By
the way, I’m running a draft of Amelia’s Ring through Dakota and a few
friends for feedback. I’ve also been talking with a few film
enthusiasts on campus, scoping out their interest in helping out with
this fall’s shoot. In a day or so, I’m going to let you in on an
interesting little film festival I saw on campus this week.

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Hollywood has formed a new company called Movielabs to research
anti-piracy technologies. Six of the big boys — Walt Disney,
Paramount, Sony, Warner Brothers, Universal and 20th Century Fox — are
pooling $30 million to get things started. You can read more in this BBC article

Personally,
it sounds like a decent idea. At least they’re learning a thing or two
from the music industry. Of course, I’d imagine nobody expects it to
catch all piracy, but it will keep the casual folks away — like one of
my friends, who rents DVDs like crazy and copies them with AnyDVD for
his personal collection.

I don’t think it’s going to help one of
the biggest problems: Mainstream piracy in Southeast Asia. When I was
in Ho Chi Minh City, there were very few legitimate places to buy DVDs.
Pirated DVDs were $1 a disc.

Even in Bangkok, where the Thai
government has strict laws against anti-piracy and legitimate DVDs are
rather cheap, piracy was rampant. In one popular technology "mall" I
visited, half of the stores were empty places with a couple employees,
a desk, and a xeroxed catalog. You look through it, place your order,
then come back in about an hour after they retrieve  your DVDs
from some unmarked van in the parking lot. It was comical. As the
police patrolled the mall, these shops would close up in front of them
and reopen behind them.

And why wouldn’t they? They’re as hungry
for entertainment and luxury as we are, but when your average income is
less than $1,000 a year, who can afford $20 for a DVD? It seems to me
that what is needed is more SOCIAL engineering than technological.
That’s why iTunes is so successful — it’s easy, reasonable, and
actually quite fun to use. You can still easily convert your purchased
tunes into unprotected MP3 if you want to, but my guess is that your
average person doesn’t bother. 

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It’s been a month-long radio silence, but it hasn’t been without news.
Two days ago, I sent Donna three DVDs — the beta versions of all three
Artists’ Essentials DVDs. She should get them today, and she’ll be busy
all weekend viewing the footage and making notes for last-minute
changes. In the meantime, I’ll be busy gathering her pictures for the gallery feature.

This feature is one of the most special and anticipated on the DVDs.
Donna has asked her friends in the art world to donate pics of their
works. We’ve put them up in slideshow form on the Special Features
section of the DVD, along with Donna’s comments on how each work
illustrates the color concepts she is teaching in the course. Donna
believes strongly in teaching by example, and this is the sort of
enhancement that no other medium can offer.

In other news, Matt has finished a rough cut of his short, The Librarian. Here’s a look at the poster:

 

If you haven’t already, check out Matt’s link on the link section at
the bottom of this page. He’s one busy guy. After this is finished, he
plans to submit it to a few festivals and begin shooting a very brief
short.

I’ve begun writing the (hopefully) final draft of Amelia’s Ring, and
we’re still hopeful for a fall shoot. I’m getting a feel for folks
around my new town who would be interested in helping out with the
shoot. It’s a little frustrating to have to build a new cast and crew
with every project, but we’ll be sticking around here for a while, so
I’m excited about the prospects.

Oh, and be on the lookout for some new website changes. Now that it’s
been up and active for a couple years, I’m getting a better feel of
what’s lacking and what needs improvement. Stay tuned, and enjoy your
labor-day weekend!

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