The Dumb Are Mostly Intrigued By The Drum

Just watch it and you'll see it. The pain. The agony. All of that just festering within the child with the force of a thousand exploding suns! But the story does end well, as someone has decided to step up and repair the damage done to the little guy, which you can read about here!

Another week, another trailer so we're going to start showcasing the best of the best here and this week, we've got some good stuff.

Step Brother
Not a massive Will Ferrell fan has worked out well for me. Yeah, he's good and when he's on top of his game (Anchorman), the man can be funny as all hell. But I thought the best part of Talladega Nights was John C. Reilly so it pleases me much to see the two reunite to make this film. You can check the trailer out here.

Get Smart
Man, I used to love the original shit back in the days. I was a part of my daily intake right along with I Love Lucy & Price Is Right. The casting of Steve Carell was brilliant and I can never say no to Anne Hathaway. Throw in The Rock and Azamat from Borat and we got ourselves a winner. But being a TV remake, odds are that it's gonna suck. Preying on nostalgia rarely works but I still have hopes that the cast can pull this off. Fingers crossed, suckas! Check out the trailer here!


Iron Man
What can I say? Being an admitted Iron Man fanboy this movie will make a happy child outta me even if it treads onto Ang Lee's "Hulk" territory. I'm just wondering if we're going to get to see a drunk Tony Stark getting a FUI (Flying Under The Influence). Check out the HD trailer that made me smile ear-to-fucken-ear here! Or watch the embedded version here:
Iron Man Exclusive Trailer
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Sex And The City
My SATC intake has mainly been from edited episodes on TBS and I can't help to wonder if I'd watched the unedited versions of the show (of which I've only watched around 6 or so) first I'd be a bigger fan. Another thing is that the stars of the show just all seem to remind me of different grade school teachers of mine and I just can't get past that (except for Charlotte...Mmmmm, yummy!). But from the few episodes I have watched unedited....not too bad, honestly. Still kinda weird to see my 6th grade teacher talk about blowjobs and anal sex, though. Check out the trailer here!

Yup that's it.....okay one more. This past weekend I attended Wondercon up in San Francisco and was able to see some very cool shit. One of those was an early trailer for the upcoming "X-Files" movie which will be released later this year (I love me some X-Files!). They asked for no one to record or take pictures of it. Someone in the crowd didn't listen. See it here in Ultra-Grainy Vision!

In an effort to help bring local filmmakers into the limelight, I've decided to begin the Valley Goods! series here on the blog. For our first entry we have Hyperactive Studios. The other day I was surfing the net and I ran across a news story on local station KSEE 24 about a local trio of filmmakers and they showed some clips from the Hyperactive Studios team. And they looked really effin' cool. SFX heavy, this crew really created some impressive stuff and from a technical standpoint, by far some the best looking examples of filmmaking I've seen come out of the Valley and if you check out the video posted up there, you can see why. Hyperactive Studios is a consortium of some fine creatives which include Matt Sconce, a local filmmaker and director of Stricken, producer Jennifer Tadlock, an industry professional who has directed 4 feature films, and rounding out the team is Mark Aro, VFX veteran with 15 years of experience in the field and has done work for Vivendi Universal. Between the trio, I'm sure they'll be harvesting some gold that'll make our eye balls bleed with blood (to be added in post, no doubt). Check out Sconce's award winning film Stricken and if you head over to his You Tube channel, you can see all of his other films and shorts and along with some stuff from Hyperactive Studios. Where are the links? They're right here, sirs! Nyup!

Hyperactive Studios

Matt Sconce You Tube Channel

Stricken Official Site

If your a filmmaker from the Central Valley and you have some stuff that you'd like to showcase here for our Valley Goods! series, please shoot me an email at brodiemash@gmail.com or just contact us here and we'll get your stuff on. If you already have your stuff up on the web, even better! We can't promise much but we are trying to build a more tight knit filmmaking community here in town (and maybe get to know each others names) so send me your stuff so we can spread the word and build up the scene here in our fair valley.

NYUP! Harley and his gang have posted their newest short which you can check out right up there. Yup, just click on that lil' "Play" triangle graphic in the middle of that pic up there and magically, the wonder box in front of your face will display the film. Soaking with Fresno (ahhh, the Speech Arts building), see if you can spot the different areas showcased in the film. Even the trademark Fresno fog makes an eerie appearance. Keep on supporting the AMF Productions crew and don't forget to visit AMFproductions.com for more of their stuff!

UPDATE: Check out the blooper reel from the shoot!

Akira. If you haven't seen it, stop wasting your time reading this and go buy it or ask me to let you borrow it. Okay, now that your back from asking me to borrow it (you cheap bastards) a little background on the film. Katsuhiro Otomo's masterpiece has been one of the most influential..... fuck that term is over used. Lets say "important" instead. But for me it has been influential. The scene you see above has been the core for some of my writings and even our short film "An Inch Or A Mile." One of the most important films in the 80's, you look at it now and the animation still stands out among the sea of CG features. And now, Hollywood has decided to turn it into a live action film. This project has been bouncing around La La Land for a while now but the difference is that Leonardo Di-Crapio is attached to this one and rumors are he might star in it as well. Hmmmm, maybe that "Di-Crapio" line is a bit harsh a merely a remnant of every single female I know having had a crush on him during his "Titanic" days. He's a skilled actor and if he does go ahead with starring in it, I hope he does the material justice. Oh, an expect the film narrative to follow the manga more so than the animated film did. Mmmm....can't wait!

Read the story from Ain't It Cool here!

Sure, we're not the first in town to do it but we're throwing our ring into the hat (yup, like that) and have given birth to "The DUmb," our very first podcast, which you can download here. On our inaugural dealie-o we talk about Indiana Jones, Hollywood visiting Fresno, the filmmaker community here in town and maybe some smack on Ray Arthur? Nope, just creative criticism.

My guest this week were:
• Robert Anaforian - creator, onepicturesworth.com
• Adrian Rodriguez - creator/publisher, lateupdate.com
• Martinez - professional internets jockey

Also, listen for my dog to demand to be fed in the middle of the operation! Ah, the authenticity of DIY podcasting, baby! Check it out and let us know what you think! Any and all comments are welcome. And if your interested in joining us for a round, please let me know. Drop me an email or leave me a comment if your interested! A warning: The language used in this podcast is NSFW so wear some headphones so you don't get sent to HR. If your cool with that, download here & enjoy!

Finally! Something to humanize this guy since the internets has decided to paint this dude as a hack. Honestly, his brute force action scene's are balls out the best in Hollywood right now. Yeah, he lacks the finesse of others but he's consistently pulls off some great action stuff that always peaks my interest no matter what the subject matter. And this commercial......fucken AWESOME! This should of run during the Super Bowl, if you ask me. It's that awesome!

I hate moving. Yeah, I've repeated that very statement like 20 times this morning but seriously....where the fuck is my teleporter machine already? Meh. But enough about me. The blogoshpere (awesome word) demands more content so here we go. Over the weekend, a trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's new film "The Happening" was released. Looks cool, but I said the same thing about his last two films and they turned out of turd-like proportions. Not horrible but not great. I still remain optimistic and hope he really goes to random restaurants to get ideas but if he sticks to his writing and drops the acting, he might bust out some gold once again. So what do the bees have to do with the film? Hmmmm.... Check it out here and let us know what you think.


Also, this little clip was supposed leaked onto the net this weekend, too. Not too sure but some have been confirming that it's the real thing while others are nay saying but from the looks of it, it looks cool! "Where The Wild Things Are" has been in production since 2000 when a teaser trailer was attached to Jim Carrey's "Grinch" movie. Since then it's changed studios and already going through some reshoots. It's one of those troubled productions that usually don't end well. But the although footage is promising, I still have some qualms about the final product. Guess we'll have to wait until 2009 to find out for sure. As a fan of the children's books, I hope it comes out good!

P.S.— Our podcast is done and will be up this week (if the podcast gods allow, of course) so keep and eye here for "The DUmb"!

Well, it's nice to finally see footage from the film after the big shoot here in Fresno last year. There's nothing more to say, just watch the damn thing. It's taught!



Or go here to get it in HD! Enjoy!

Ah! Everyone loves alliteration! Anyways, this morning I was blessed with a slice of pie that made my heart skip a beat in the form of a new trailer for "The Forbidden Kingdom." I like Jackie Chan. I like Jet Li. For me, "Drunken Master 2" (or "Legend Of Drunken Master" as it was named when it was released here years after it's original release in China) and "Fist Of Legend" are 2 of my favorite action films of all time. We've always dreamed of one day seeing the stars of those two films appear together and although the Chinese film industry wouldn't allow it due to contractual obligations, in the US those rules don't apply. Henceforth this film is like seeing Ali fight Tyson. Awesomeness is sure to ensue. Not guaranteed, though because the main character looks mighty out of place in this environment but as long as Jackie & Jet are there, that's all that matters for me. Hopefully, at worst, it'll be decent. At best....the Shangri-la team-up I've been dreaming of!

Friend of "The Dumb" & Fresnan Bryan Harley has wrapped up his "Superheroes Week" over at AMF Productions which is merely a precursor to this week in which he plans to showcase his newest film. On top of all that, he's also added some more tutorials to that section of his site to help the community add muzzle flashes to their guns and also create a convincing hit & run. This guy sickens me with his talent. But nonetheless, head on over to his site and check out all the good stuff and help support the Fresno native and be sure to keep checking back this week to see what else Harley and his band of merry men have in store for us all!

UPDATE: The podcast is now up on lateupdate.com and you can listen to it here or download the MP3 here!

Well, we still don't have on for this site but it is on my to do list but for the mean time, you can scope out lateupdate.com this weekend to hold you over until then. I was involved in recording a podcast this week for the local news site and it's done and ready to be released into the wild this weekend sometime. On it, you can catch:

• Adrian Rodriguez, founder/creator of "Late Update"

• John Rios, local artist & creator of "Dead Days"

• Aaron Wall, lead singer of local band "40 Watt Hype"

And of course, myself. We talk about various subjects......well, not really. Mainly just about Fresno and....yeah, that's pretty much it. Check it out and grab a little insight into the minds of some REAL Fresno creatives......and myself as the bumbling sidekick. So in the mean time, just stay home this weekend. Don't go out cause you'll probably just end up getting pepper sprayed by some trigger happy security guard anyways :) Keep checking out the site for the transmission!

This past weekend had me focused. I decided to do start on projects that I had put off a while. And even though I got further than before, I still felt the need to continue pushing and ultimately felt unfulfilled. You know that feeling when you get when you push and at the end you find yourself thinking "I could have done better." But enough about that bullshit, lets talk films cause this weekend was filled with those, too! ALL REVIEWS ARE OUT OF FIVE POSSIBLE STARS!

Citizen Kane — 2.5 Stars



I can sit here and wax philosophical all day (well, maybe 30 mins.) but the film just didn't hit home. I mean, I understand the technical feats of this film as well as the controversy and characters represented in the film (at least who they're supposed to represent) but as characters in this narrative, they are not very well developed and overall very shallow. But look, I have 20 something years of pop culture influence in me. I mean, the first time I ever heard of "Rosebud" was from the cartoon "The Real Ghostbusters" and although I never heard of the film back then, it still resonates with me that it drew from this film. Could that have affected me perception on the film? Possibly. But more so was the hype. "Best Film Of All Time" says the AFI. This is the exact dilemma I went through with "The Godfather" series. Good films, but the greatest of all time? That's something I think I'm gonna have to wait to declare until my death bed, then I'll proclaim my very own "Rosebud." But for now, this'll have to do.

There Will Be Blood — 4 Stars



Here's a film that is already getting earmarked as the greatest film of this generation (critics really need to stop thrown that phrase around. Nary an Oscar season passes without some dumb fuck from Omaha proclaiming that the greatest film of all time was released that year) and although that's kinda of like proclaiming that yesterday's Super Bowl was the greatest of all time, it's not going to stop people from saying it. So to start off on this film, no. It isn't the greatest of all time. Perhaps of last year? Couldn't tell you, I haven't seen every single film released last year. But it was very entertaining and very good and without doubt one of the best I've seen this year. The acting was superb from all participants but above that was the music. I hate to use it but fuck it, I will: Haunting. The music in this film is the epitome of that very term in describing film score. It blends so well and strikes you with an overbearing sense of "the shit's about to hit the fan" through out the film. Although the landscapes in which this film takes place are overtly uninteresting and visually bland, the serve as the perfect blank canvas for these characters to shine undisturbed. And it worked. The cinemotography is esquisite. I'm a fan P.T. Anderson's work and this film I think really allowed him to stretch his legs a little bit and work a little outside his modern realm. And the line I talked about in a previous post.....it was great! It was a build up for me to hear it and it really paid off for me (you can see it on YouTube here but a warning: It contains some spoilers so click at your own risk). Highly recommended you watch this on the big screen if at very least for the score.


A Fistful Of Quarters — The King Of Kong — 3.5 Stars



Billy Mitchell is a bastard. How do I know? Cause I've met guys just like this dude back in the days in local arcades and they're all the same. Talk mad shit about their skills but when it comes down to it, they never bring it. In my times as a video game player, battling others head on was a rush like no other and although the death of the arcade as we knew it means that most people won't be able to experience head to head, face to face competition, it's good to see this documentary try to do it. But Billy "Bitch"ell does just that: Bitch out! Sorry, but dude angered me. Ant that's what made this an excellent feature for me. Everyone hates the bad guy as Mr. Tony Montana told us a long ago and that hasn't changed. The film is very engaging and if you've ever played a game of "Donkey Kong" back in the day, then you'll simply get that much more enjoyment out of it. Running just a tad over 1 hour, the film doesn't drag and is pretty straight forward and does an excellent job in developing the two main protagonists in the film. Rent it today!


Well, on a final note, the Super Bowl has come and gone and the underdog came out on top. Congrats to the Giants on taking it to Bill "Bitch"icheck and his sore loserness. What a joke. He can't wait 1 second for the game to be over, he rather run to his locker room and cry himself to sleep? Get the fuck out of the game if you lack and strand of sportsmanship you cheat! Sorry....just kinda steamed at that guy. ANyways, I'm sure you saw these trailers during the big game but here they are in case you missed them. Oh, a great summer this will be, indeed!


IRON MAN


WANTED


And this little movie called "Taken". No it didn't air during the game but I figured I'd put it up here. The film is from writer/producer Luc Besson (5th Element, Le Femme Nikita, The Professional) but is directed by Pierre Morel (Disctrict 13). Not a noted director but this film looks pretty cool and with Besson involved, it could be good.

Yup, although it's been rumored for a while now, IGN is reporting (via The Guardian) the the announcement has been made official during the French premier of "The Orphanage," of which Del Toro was Executive Producer. He sure love his monster movie's and it's good to see that he's sticking to what he loves and that Peter Jackson & company are handing over the reigns. Now, to see what Memo can come up with the power of WETA fueling his imagination..... Check out the original Guardian story here. Viva Mexico, Cabrones!

P.S.— Not planning on watching that little football game this Sunday? Your dumb. You should if only to see the new Iron Man trailer. Should be all kinds of nut-busting-ness in that one.