Thursday, February 04, 2010

A Film Review + Amusing Photos

Today I thought I knew what I wanted to post about.  I had it in my head (and it’s really already written) to post my review of Ted Dekker’s Green.  But for some reason, I’m just not feeling it.  Instead I have a brief post for today.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that fellow blogger Mattson Tomlin was giving away another free DVD to four people.  I’ve been Following Mattson’s blog for quite a few months now, interested in seeing his ideas develop and come to life.  He blogs about various aspects of directing and creating a film, from the perspective of a young SUNY Purchase student, and occasionally posts a finished product.  I recently received and watched the DVD in its entirety, which is composed of three separate short-films: Solomon Grundy, (i), and Until the Sky Falls.

Solomon Grundy is an interpretation of the classic English nursery rhyme, “Solomon Grundy.”  Jimmy is young and nervous and he has a dark side.  He tries to keep it in, but he’s not always successful.  And when it shows itself, bad things tend to happen.  I’ve liked the “Solomon Grundy” rhyme ever since reading Batman: The Long Halloween, so I was eager to see Mattson’s interpretation. 

The film is well shot, the acting is solid, the script is great, and the plot is interesting (if a bit predictable).  I found it refreshing to see this up-and-coming director’s take.  The only problem I had was I felt that the build-up to the climax was a bit too long, but considering the film is only 7:31 in length, I understand.  If you’d like to watch Solomon Grundy, click here to head over to YouTube.

The next film, (i), was a film experimenting with technology.  Mattson wanted to shoot an invisible man piece.  He blogged about his “how to” do this here, which is even more interesting after having watched the film.  (i) was the weakest film of the three, but it was cool seeing the technology used come to life.  The acting was great, though I felt the digitalization was a bit shaky at times (certain backgrounds, etc.)  Overall, though, I liked watching the brief film, and I would likely watch a full film of this feature.

The last film was the longest (around 20 minutes) and best on the DVD.  Until the Sky Falls is a dystopic, post-apocalyptic silent film.  The video style and look of the film was pretty sweet.  I’m not sure if it’s because it was filmed using 16mm film or if there was some type of editing, but I really liked it.  It definitely added to the theme of the movie.  The plot itself was also very interesting, especially since it was told using no words.  The acting was superb and I’d like to see more like this.  You can see more about this film on Mattson’s blog around April-June of 2009.

In the end, I really enjoyed this small DVD.  I’ve liked watching Mattson’s work and progress.  I don’t know him at all outside of the blogosphere, but I think he’ll be going places with what he does.  He’s currently fundraising on Kickstarter to try and film more in the Solomon Grundy world.  If you’d like, throw some support his way.  I’m sure he’d appreciate it.  You can check out his studio website at www.wackeychan.com.

-----------------

As some of you know, I’m going on a cruise in May.  We don’t necessarily have to have our passport for the cruise, but it’d be much easier if we did.  So Keisha and I went and had our Passport photos taken.  There were some strict rules to getting those photos.  Ears had to show.  Face had to be just right.  Look natural.  Don’t smile.

Well, after paying $15 for both photos, I was expecting something awesome.  Instead, we wound up with two mug shots.  Neither of us look happy.  “I’m so mad that I’m going on a cruise.”  “I know.  It’s awful.”  Anyway, take a look and see for yourself.  And by all means, DON’T TURN US IN!

WANTED

By the way, I took a lot of that wording from the actual wanted posters stemming from President Lincoln’s assassination.  Of course, a few things were changed…

10 comments:

Bill said...

Haha, this makes me want to look up my passport photo now!

But hey, getting a passport is a good idea. It's a lot easier to keep up with and if you ever want to visit the nicer side of Niagara Falls you'll already have it on hand!

David Wagner said...

lol, nicely done. I hope your cruise is one to remember... I hope you take pics... you know, sunset on the ocean from the balcony of your Captain's Suite...

Adios,

Dave

logankstewart said...

@Bill: We're getting both a passport and a passport card (good for North America travel w/o flight). I really want to see Niagra one day, too, and indeed, the Canadian side's supposed to be much nicer.

@Dave: Oh I'm sure there'll be plenty of pictures. And if I get upgraded (free of charge) to a Captain's Suite there'll be even more than pictures.

Crystal said...

I missed this post yesterday....

HAHAHA!!! The wanted pictures are hilarious!! Keisha looks great, but you look very unhappy about something. My passport pic is awful too. Too bad you're stuck with it for 10 years.

logankstewart said...

Keisha does look great and I do look very unhappy. It's weird, too, cause I'm always in a good mood and happy. Heck, I was laughing and smiling at the guy before he took my picture, but then I had to assume a serious face. Oh well. At least I'll have 10 years of laughter...

MT said...

thanks for this- glad you enjoyed :) love when you watch my stuff!

logankstewart said...

You're welcome, Mattson. I enjoyed watching and am glad to review them.

Good luck with the Kickstarter fundraiser.

Stephanie Fey said...

I genuinely laughed out loud at this - the photos and descriptions are first class and brilliantly done!

Your ears must show in thr photos? Why the hell must your ears show? What sense does that make? Brilliant post, friend. And your wife has the kindest, loveliest eyes. Oh, and amazing ears too! ;)

Steph x

Kristopher A. Denby said...

Thanks for pointing me in Mattson's direction. I've enjoyed keeping up with his progress.

As for the wanted pics, that bit was funny. But what is more interesting is that now I know what you look like. Before this post I had no idea!

Keep on rockin'!

logankstewart said...

@Steph: I laughed aloud when I saw those pictures for the first time, too. As for the ears showing, I'm not really sure why. Maybe the US Gov. uses ears as identifying features...

And I wholly agree about my wife's eyes.

@Kris: No problemo. I don't remember how I stumbled across Mattson's blog, but I thought it interesting and unique. Glad you're liking his work.

It's always interesting seeing the faces of people, especially long after meeting them.