Adam decides AND I LIVED is better off dying

Written while writer/director Ryan Dacko was stationed in Antartica for the Coast Guard, And I Lived is at various times a teen angst drama, a parable about class, a love story, a long and drawn-out car chase/drag race and an excuse to put 1037 montages into one film.
If that sounds remotely schizophrenic, you don't know the half of it. And I Lived is incredibly earnest when it's focussed on story, but devolves into a confused mess towards the end. Occasionally it takes place in a small country town. Occasionally it seems to be in the city. Occasionally, you'll notice the school building just changes for no reason whatsoever. Just like it can't make up its mind where it takes place, the movie can't make up its mind what kind of movie it is.
It's not to say there aren't things to like about And I Lived. Dacko (who also shot the film himself) has a good eye for composition, and there are quite a few shots that demonstrate skill at framing his actors in just the right way to emphasize his points. Then, right alongside the great shots will be a jerky handheld shot that makes you realize how low-budget the film really is.

In this small town/big city high school, the classes are truly divided. The rich folk dress in whites, the poor folk in black. The color of their skin doesn't matter. Only the color of their shirts makes a difference. There is omnipresent tension between the white shirts and the black shirts, and plenty of resentment both ways.
The conceit that the rich all wear white and the poor all wear black might be meant to hint at the class struggle. It might also hint at race relations, even if the white and black groups are ethnically mixed. The visual is definitely meant to contrast the two groups, so you're always certain of where someone stands.
Frankly, it's a bit heavy-handed.
The filmmaker didn't count on the audience to recognize that the rich and the poor are at odds. He didn't expect the audience to recognize the difference between the two groups. So, he clothes them in opposite colors to show they're opposites.
Of course, opposites attract, so therein lies our love story.

Elaina (Lori Shaufelberger) and Kevin (Matt Clark) both have ties to the leaders of their respective sects. Elaina used to date Jered (David Bianchi), the leader of the white shirts (Of course, Jered himself used to run with the black shirts prior to his mother marrying into money.). Kevin is best friends with Reg (Josue Rivera), the leader of the black shirts and owner of the Dodge Charger that the production company (Charger Films) was named after (the Charger is important to the story! HINT! HINT!). Kevin's also already going out with Meagan (Kim Chesterton).
That doesn't stop him from falling for Elaina, in spite of the rule that the each group sticks with their own kind. Of course, as we already know from countless other stories (including Romeo and Juliet, which the opening narration references), that the tales of star-crossed lovers from opposite camps always end badly.
Oddly, I found the conclusion of the film somewhat weak, mainly because we've seen the tragic end of romance so many times. Had the two lovers just gone their separate ways, Kevin off to college and Elaina to California, the result could have been more real and possibly more effective.
Also, the past romance between Elaina and Jered isn't even hinted at until the climax, and it's a key factor in driving his actions. Some explanation before the fact might have been nice.

Schaufelberger is adequate as Elaina, and Clark is quite decent as Kevin, but it's the supporting players that shine. Josue Rivera and David Bianchi squeeze the most out of their screen time, managing through simple movement to tell more about their characters than the leads do through their speeches. Their conflict is really what drives the story, right up until the big fight scene. Bianchi might get a bit melodramatic in his delivery, but both spit out dialogue that shouldn't work and make it sing.
Also noteable are Kim Chesterton as Meagan and Delaine Dacko as Elaina's friend Susan. Both are credible in their meager screentime (and both would have filled the role of Elaina better than the very Jamie Lee Curtis-y Schuafelberger). The most thankless of roles, that of comic relief, goes to Mike Baird as Stan. He manages to combine bits of Falstaff, Curly and maybe a little bit of Charles Martin Smith in American Graffiti into a guy you'd probably want to hang out with. Until he starts spilling his soda...

Visually, this does not look like a movie shot on under $20,000. Dacko managed to make a film that easily should have cost ten times more on a budget so miniscule that Robert Rodriguez would shudder. Aside from a couple handheld shots that don't quite work and a murkily-lit climax, And I Lived looks like a million bucks and change.
The cinematography and the editing are top-notch. Based on look alone, the film is definitely worth a gander by anyone studying the art of filmmaking. The shot composition is fantastic, and the movie flows quite naturally most of the time.
Hell, they might not work thematically in the story, but the car sequences alone look like the budget was much, much larger. They do, on a budget, what the studio system spends millions on.
My one gripe with the film from a technical standpoint is that the director relies on montages to tell the story, instead of letting the story tell itself. So much time is spent on the sweeping montages that litter the reels that we really only get a few choice minutes to get to know our hero and heroine.
Unfortunately, it's the lack of a relationship with the leads that torpedoes an audience's enjoyment of their journey.

The opening act is where the film is the strongest, in spite of an pointless extended sequence where Kevin and Reg go to the race track. The moment where Kevin and Elaina connect over music is simple, sweet and beautifully shot (watch the camera angles to see how the distance between the two changes). It's as close as we get to knowing Kevin and Elaina as people. And it's almost enough to tell their love story on its own.
From there, the movie just begins unravelling. There's no illustration of the relationship developing between the two, only montages and the occasional shot of the two of them touching hands when no one else is looking. There's mention of them talking on the phone, but we see no conversations between the two of them. We don't see them connect more than a fleeting flirtation, and this makes every moment thereafter feel false.
On top of that, the script morphs from a love story into a massive brawl and then into about a half hour of drag racing and car chases that's supposed to be a fifteen minute drive to the prom.
Let's look at the race and chase sequence for a moment. Imagine that you're a youthful rebel who's decided to take your brand spankin' new rich girl girlfriend to the prom. Except it's supposed to be ending in fifteen minutes (but it's not dark yet). Would you 1) get into a drag race with some Moby-looking dude in a Ford Taurus or 2) get into a car chase around a mall parking lot with two rent-a-cops or 3) go to the damn prom and get it over with? Both sequences have no place in this film, and were included as an indulgence that wastes the viewer's time.
I forgive a lot of things in low-budget films. I'll be extra forgiving of bad actors if there was no money to hire real talent (Clerks). I'll forgive cheesy effects since there was no budget to hire a real effects artist (Evil Dead). I'll even give a pass to bad direction if the overall effect of the movie is good. Wasting my time, I can't forgive.

And I Lived might have been a good ten minute short film. But, with the padding of montages, car chases and an utterly illogical ending (How does someone get shot through another human being when the person in front isn't injured? -- Oh, did I just spoil the ending? Naughty me.), it becomes a colossal waste of my time as a viewer. Don't set a time limit and then willfully exceed it, expecting your audience to play along. Don't promise a story and deliver a montage.
While there's some obvious talent involved in the cinematography department, And I Lived just shows how terrible a writer Ryan Dacko is and quite probably why someone shouldn't attempt to write a story about humanity when disconnected from it. He's a great visual stylist, but he's not much of a storyteller. That's fine, though. Because he shows such a talented eye for capturing the moment in his lenses that he could easily have a future directing other peoples' scripts (how many directors write all their own material, anyway?). With a great script and a budget, he'd be a force to be reckoned with. And I Lived may be incomplete as a story, but as a demo reel of Ryan Dacko's ability with a camera, it may open some doors.

The final verdict? Well, I can't truly say I enjoyed sitting through And I Lived. It takes a lot of chances, but unfortunately not in the sake of telling a great story. I did, however, see plenty of talent on display...enough to check out things that the principals involved do in the future. With luck, we haven't seen the end of any of the cast and crew.

The Zombie Reporting Center reviews DEAD HEIST

The fun thing about the internets is occasionally you drop in on someone else's little corner of the cyber world. I did just that a little while ago, when I commented on the Zombie Reporting Center's posting of a bit of Fangoria's review of Dead Heist. I kinda called them out for dismissing the film outright without seeing it, as I had fun with it.
Well, the folks over at ZRC aren't cowards. Far be it from them to shrink away from a little movie. So, they had their stab at it and you can read it HERE. While not nearly as positive as my look at it, they're even-handed in their treatment of it. So, I figured I'd show them a lil' link love and let you check out their site.

Wizard's got the goods on HEROES

via Ain't It Cool News:
There's a huge article over at Wizard Magazine about the DVD release of Heroes. Lots of great lil' insight about the show's first season and some great quotes from the people involved.
I thought about posting the latest pre-season stuff from the metagame, but I think this image is far more ripe for discussion.

The whole milk moustache campaign has raised snickers from time to time, but this one's just purely ridiculous. Not only do we have the milk moustache on barely legal starlet Hayden Panettiere, but she's also getting a splattering of milk on her face and chest. Yup. Milk Bukkake.
Is bukkake coming into the mainstream now? Has it been referenced enough on Howard Stern that everyone knows what it is? I know that my buddy Byron had to explain it to the state of Ohio (well, they figured it out by spying on his website), which cost him his BUKKAKE plates. But, I'd hope that the average person would be slightly more well-informed than the government.
Anyhoo, it's still kinda gross. And worrisome that the advertisers would include fringe imagery in their ad to appeal to the sickos that 1) get all gooey over young girls and 2) are into Japanese porn. Ick.

The 45th New York Film Festival Line up is Released

Thanks to a source in New York I was given a release of the films to be shown at the 45th New York Film Festival. Please check out the WEBSITE for more info and to buy tickets. Sorry this is so long but it is worth it!

28 Films to Debut at 45th New York Film Festival, Sept. 28–Oct. 14

Closing Night: Persepolis
Five Special Retrospectives, Three Special Event Screenings, Three Sidebars Included


NEW YORK, August 15, 2007—The 45th New York Film Festival will premiere 28 films when it runs Sept. 28-Oct. 14 at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The festival, presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and sponsored by Sardinia Region Tourism and The New York Times, also features three unique sidebars, three special event screenings and five retrospective films.
Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Persepolis has been selected as the festival’s Closing Night film. The animated coming-of-age story, based on Satrapi’s popular graphic novel about her own childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, won a Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. It features the voice talents of Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni, Danielle Darrieux and Simon Abkarian, several of whom are expected to attend the festival’s Closing Night screening at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall on Sunday, Oct. 14. Sony Pictures Classics is releasing the film.
The festival’s previously announced Opening Night and Centerpiece selections (Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited and the Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men) now headline a strong American contingent in the 2007 slate. Noah Baumbach, Gus Van Sant, Todd Haynes, Sidney Lumet all return to the festival with American productions; Julian Schnabel and Abel Ferrara come back with international co-productions; and Brian DePalma, John Landis and Ira Sachs each make their festival debuts.
Baumbach will screen his follow-up to The Squid and the Whale, the very funny and very true Margot at the Wedding. Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh star as contentious sisters thrown into a disastrous family weekend caused by Pauline’s (Leigh) engagement to the underwhelming Malcolm (Jack Black). Scott Rudin produces the film, a Paramount Vantage release.
Van Sant’s Paranoid Park, based on the novel by Blake Nelson, details the unraveling of a skateboarder’s life after he is involved in the death of a security guard. Newcomer Alex Nevins stars in the film, for which Van Sant won Cannes’ special 60th Anniversary Prize. IFC First Take will release the film.
The other American titles include Haynes’ I’m Not There—a rumination on the life of Bob Dylan, with actors Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Wishaw and Marcus Carl Franklin each representing elements the famed musician’s mystique—DePalma’s trenchant vision of the Iraq war, Redacted, and Ira Sachs’ taut melodrama Married Life. Lumet returns to the New York Film Festival for the first time in 43 years (Fail-Safe, 1964) with Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, a crime story starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney and Marisa Tomei. Two documentaries—Landis’ Mr. Warmth, The Don Rickles Project and Ed Pincus and Lucia Small’s The Axe in the Attic—round out the festival’s new U.S. productions.
The 45th New York Film Festival honors worldwide film production with more than half of its slate taken from other countries. Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly tells the story of magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, paralyzed by a stroke, blinks out a memoir that eloquently captures his vibrant interior life. Mathieu Amalric stars as Bauby in the Miramax release, which won Cannes’ Best Director award and Technical Grand Prize.
Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona will screen his feature film debut The Orphanage, a supernatural drama about a woman who re-opens the orphanage in which she was raised, only to discover terrible secrets as her seven-year-old son, Simón, begins making imaginary friends. The Picturehouse release is presented and produced by last year’s Closing Night director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth).
Among the other international titles in the festival are Carlos Reygadas’ Silent Light, which shared with Persepolis the Jury Prize at Cannes; Abel Ferrara’s Italy/U.S. co-production Go Go Tales; Catherine Breillat’s The Last Mistress; Claude Chabrol’s A Girl Cut In Two; Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Flight of the Red Balloon; Eric Rohmer’s The Romance of Astrea and Celadon; Alexander Sokurov’s Alexandra; Béla Tarr’s The Man from London; and Jia Zhang-ke’s documentary Useless. Cannes Palme d’Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and Best Actress prizewinner Secret Sunshine were previously confirmed.
Five films will be featured as special retrospectives of the 45th New York Film Festival: the long-awaited “definitive cut” of Blade Runner by Ridley Scott, honoring the landmark
science fiction film’s 25th anniversary; the premiere of a new score by the Alloy Orchestra to accompany Josef von Sternberg’s 1927 film Underworld, winner of the Best Writing Oscar® at the first Academy Awards®; John Ford’s first major film The Iron Horse (1924), a massive production about the building of the transcontinental railroad; Sven Gade and Heinz Schall’s 1920 German production of Hamlet, starring actress Asta Nielsen in the title role; and an evening titled The Technicolor Show, introduced by Martin Scorsese and featuring John Stahl’s Leave Her to Heaven (1945).
The Walter Reade Theater will also host three upcoming music documentaries as part of the New York Film Festival’s special events. Carlos Saura will screen Fados, an exploration of the celebrated Portuguese musical style. Acclaimed rock documentarian Murray Lerner’s The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival, 1963-1965 features footage of Bob Dylan’s infamous Newport performances, where the musician first used electric amplifiers. Peter Bogdanovich will complete the set with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin’ Down a Dream, an in-depth look at the legendary American rock band to be screened at its full 238 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission.
Persepolis joins a select group of films that have closed the New York Film Festival, many of which have gone on to critical acclaim and successful theatrical runs. Over the last 20 years, these have included David Mamet’s House of Games, Jane Campion’s The Piano, Milos Forman’s The People vs. Larry Flynt, Pedro Almodóvar’s Live Flesh and Talk to Her, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 21 Grams, Alexander Payne’s
Sideways, Michael Haneke’s Caché and last year’s selection, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth. Due to ongoing renovations at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, this year’s New York Film Festival screenings will be held at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, in the Time Warner Center. Opening Night will be held at Avery Fisher Hall, as well as Rose Hall. Closing Night will be held at Avery Fisher Hall only. Special events and some retrospective screenings will be held at the Walter Reade Theater.
The 45th New York Film Festival’s selection committee is made up of Richard Peña, chairman and the Film Society’s program director; Kent Jones, associate director of programming at the Film Society and editor-at-large of Film Comment magazine; Scott Foundas, film editor and critic, L.A. Weekly; J. Hoberman, film critic, The Village Voice, and visiting lecturer at Harvard University; and Lisa Schwarzbaum, film critic, Entertainment Weekly.
As previously announced, this year’s festival sidebar will honor director and screenwriter Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, a renowned member of Brazil’s Cinema Novo movement of the 1950s and ‘60s, who solidified his place as a master filmmaker with his 1969 classic, Macunaima. The series, titled Tropical Analysis: The Films of Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, will run Sept. 29-Oct. 9 at the Walter Reade Theater.
Two other sidebars are included among the festival’s events screening at the Walter Reade Theater. Views from the Avant-Garde returns for its 11th year as a distinguished showcase of experimental film and video, screening films during the second weekend of the
festival, Oct. 6-7. The festival also celebrates the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with Chinese Modern: A Tribute to Cathay Studios, Oct. 10-16, screening films from the Hong Kong production house that, more than any other, introduced a distinctly modern lifestyle to Chinese culture.
Additionally, during the festival, the Film Society will salute New Line Cinema’s 40 years of extraordinary filmmaking at a black-tie gala to benefit the Film Society’s campaign to build a new film center. New Line Cinema’s Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne will be honored at the event on Friday, Oct. 5, at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.
The 45th New York Film Festival, presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, is sponsored by Sardinia Region Tourism and The New York Times. The screening of Underworld is made possible through the generosity of the Ira M. Resnick Foundation. Tropical Analysis has been organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Os Filmes do Serro. Chinese Modern is sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office New York.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center was founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, to recognize and support new directors, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of film. Advancing this mandate today, the Film Society hosts two distinguished festivals: the New York Film Festival, which annually premieres the best films from around the world and has introduced the likes of François Truffaut, R.W. Fassbinder, Jean-Luc Godard, Pedro Almodóvar, Martin Scorsese, and Wong Kar-Wai to the United States, and New Directors/New Films, co-presented by the Museum of Modern Art, which focuses on
emerging film talents. Since 1972 when the Film Society honored Charles Chaplin, the annual Gala Tribute celebrates an actor, filmmaker or industry leader who has helped distinguish cinema as an art form. Additionally, the Film Society presents a year-round calendar of programming at its Walter Reade Theater and offers insightful film writing to a worldwide audience through Film Comment magazine.

I will post the actual lineup in a later post, perhaps tomorrow!

What's your problem? Go see HOT ROD!!!

OK. What's the problem here, yo?
Why the heck aren't you people out there seeing Hot Rod? It's not only one of the funniest movies I've seen all year, it's one of the funniest movies I've seen in ages.
Utterly without irony, Hot Rod wallows in the glorious trash of the 80s, from re-creating the "I'm so angry I could DANCE!" sequence from Footloose to dressing up the Queens of the Stone Age in full 80s regalia for the climax.
And yet, it's more than that. It's a loving send-up of those inspirational sports movies. And a family comedy. And it's got real, actual pathos and humanity (courtesy of the mighty Ian McShane and the always-spectacular Sissy Spacek).
The movie opened a dismal 9th. After Transformers, which opened a month ago. Freakin' Underdog beat it. Seriously, what's wrong with the world?
The film is directed by Akiva Schaffer of the Lonely Island team (the folks who brought us "Dick in a Box" and "Lazy Monday") and written by supergenius Pam Brady (South Park, Team America: World Police, Kid Notorious, Mr Wong). If that's not pedigree enough for ya, it was originally supposed to star Will Ferrell. You know, that really funny guy from Anchorman and Talladega Nights? He ended up serving as executive producer when it became apparent that he was too old and fat to play Rod Kimble.
Instead, they got Lonely Island (and now SNL)'s Andy Samberg to play the title role. And while they lucked out in not getting a fat, overrated blowhard like that Ferrell guy to be in it (he's sunk so low since not getting the Rod role that he's doing internet videos with Adam McKay's kid), it's the supporting cast that shines in Hot Rod.

Isla Fisher is so damn adorable in this movie. She's pure and sweet and wholesome without ever once getting annoying or remotely near anything like the manure the Disney channel shovels into American households each day. I feel bad that the first thing I really noticed her in was The Wedding Crashers, because she's got skills. I watched The Lookout this weekend and loved her in that, too. She's great in everything. And she's bearing Ali G's child. Need I say more about her greatness?

That's Bill Hader, Jorma Taccone, Samberg and Danny R McBride as the stunt team. Samberg's lucky to be surrounded with guys like that. They're all ace comedic actors, and their total lack of fear and ego made each of their characters all the more real. Each of them is given a chance to shine, and they more than rise to the occasion. Bill Hader is gonna be a household name soon enough, with his performance in Superbad looming on the horizon. In this film, he's a gloriously dumb freak with a mullet and a job at the local ice rink. He's Rod's mechanic and...when things are at their lowest for Rod, he provides the voice of reason that only a guy tripping balls with a piece of metal stuck in his head can provide. Jorma Taccone's Kevin is the moral rock of the team, even if he'd rather be serenading his stuffed animals with George Michael songs. And Danny R McBride's Rico dishes out one of the best beatdowns on screen this year, whupping Ken Kirzinger's keister with a road cone in a green tea-fueled rage.
It's dumb, yes. Completely dumb. But, that didn't stop Napoleon Dynamite from becoming a cultural phenomenon. And this is a better film. It's funnier, it has better performances, and it's got a heart three times bigger than the Grinch's after he gets to the top of the mountain (and I ain't talkin' bout no crappy Jim Carrey Grinch, either).
And yet...you people still haven't seen it.

Why? What's wrong with Hot Rod? He didn't rape your childhoods. He never touched your girlfriend in her bikini area. And he's certainly a courteous houseguest when he stops over (unless he's with his dad -- in which case, move the lamps).
Why no love for Hot Rod??? I'm not the only person who's noticed. Ben Lyons over at E!online has wondered exactly why this film hasn't caught on. Sure, it's bound to be a cult hit. And sure it's going to spawn at least four careers (five if Chester Tam gets the notice he deserves for the absolutely hilarious Richardson).
Five years from now, very few of us will be able to say we saw Hot Rod when it first opened. Rest assured, other people will try, but they'll be fronting. A $5 million opening for a wide-release picture is kinda pitiful. And that means it doesn't have long before it hits second run and DVD, where I assure you it will become a classic.
At least Roger Ebert gets it. But with a dearth of bad reviews (check out MetaCritic or Rotten Tomatoes to see how ugly it's gotten), people aren't exactly flocking to the theaters.
Do you REALLY want to be one of the late-comers to the party? Or would you rather be a pioneer? Get your butt in the theater and see it. And listen to this on the way...


For more information about Hot Rod (or to buy a SWEET Team Rod t-shirt), visit Stuntman Forever or the official site

Oh, and PS...I love Will Ferrell. I was just poking fun.

Arctic Tale Hits a Berg

I had the misfortune of seeing this 'documentary' yesterday and I must say it SUNK. Between the comments of one, Queen Latifah and the personification of every single action of the animals in the film, this was one monotonous whale.

The start was fine, typical wildlife film. Soon, however, we were hearing about the FEELINGS behind each of the animals instincts! Imagine, a walrus depressed for lack of a comfortable sleeping place! THE HORROR!

Additionally, one would think that given this film was in participation with the folks at National Geographic the footage of the animals would be top-notch. Nay, say I. The footage, though amazingly close at times, looked to be the quality produced from my cell phone's camera! Grainy, dark, hard to watch!

See this movie at your own risk. Kids will undoubtedly enjoy the prancing of the baby animals but parents can expect a long long 83 minutes, narrated with comments such as, "When your mother is a polar bear and she calls you, you BEST be coming."

Pax

THE DARK KNIGHT teaser is gone!

And so is http://www.whysoserious.com.
In its place? Well, you can still get pics of the folks who participated in the ComiCon festivities (shame on Collider for thinking there were none -- do they even pay attention?) via whysoserious' brand-new redirect: http://www.rent-a-clown.com/.
As for the teaser...well, it's still out there. You just have to get creative (potentially copyright infringing) in looking for it.

That darn Joker is at it again! UPDATED -- The Aftermath!!!

Well, the teaser trailer's not that far off (in fact, footage from the ComiCon presentation's been popping up periodically on YouTube), but the Joker's got a mission for the folks out at SDCC...
The trail begins at THIS SITE...
So, what do you see there? Well, the old Uncle Sam recruiting poster...just, um...enhanced...

...and there are some instructions scrawled underneath...

...and even a satellite photo if you can't figure out where you're headed...

How do I know it's SDCC? Well, the map coordinates are kinda spot on...

Oddly enough, if you look it up on Google Earth, there's even a photograph someone uploaded at the EXACT SPOT everyone's supposed to meet. So, here's what you're looking for (if you're reading this blog and in San Diego)...

I'm sure SOMEONE out there will post something about the fun and games tomorrow...

UPDATE:
So, the event WAS at ComiCon (big surprise there), and you can find information about it on the whysoserious site.

Or, if you're lazy, you can go directly to

The Wannabes

or

Surveillance

to see more of the fun.

And, as an added bonus, the teaser trailer went live today, as well (on the whysoserious site...what, you thought you could get away from it?). It's not nearly as mindblowing as the teaser for Batman Begins, but this one's just a taste...and we've got a full year before we see the finished product...

Goodbye, Harry Potter...

You know...it's over.
Yeah, we've got two more movies to wait for. But, it's over.
I was confronted with exactly this feeling after watching Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Something beloved is finished. We're not getting any more. Strangely, I never feel this way about comic cancellations, but with book and movie series I get a little twinge of sadness.
There aren't any more Harry Potter books forthcoming. And while I enjoyed the hell out of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I'm saddened that I finished it so fast.
I picked the book up last night at the big Borders event. There were about 900 people there, some in costume, some dorks, some kids, some moms, some of pretty much everyone. I people watched for a good long time, enjoyed the atmosphere, and chatted with all the Borders folk I know. And it occurred to me as I was walking up to the store that I was whistling John Williams' "Hedwig's Theme". So, officially count myself as a Potter dork.
No, I wasn't in costume. Shut up.
I went home after a couple hours of people watching, sat down and read for a few minutes before I realized that it was already late and I wasn't gonna finish the book that night.
When I woke up, I was even more reluctant to dive in. Two hours got me halfway through the book before I set off to have fun with my day. Too fast. Needed a break.
I meandered around town, wandered, talked to people, had lunch, watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix again, and generally avoided all but the most perfunctory occasional reading. People kept asking how it was when they saw I was carrying the book with me.
Chances are, you don't give a crap what I say, you're either gonna read the book or you won't. At this point, it's a culturual thing. But let me tell you, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is not only a worthy conclusion to the series, it's quite possibly the best book in the series.
After the events of his sixth year at Hogwarts, Harry and his friends have decided to skip their final year in favor of a dangerous quest to find all of Voldemort's horcruxes (objects he's fragmented his soul into) and stop his reign of terror once and for all.
Where at times in the last two books, I felt that Rowling was kinda losing the way, the final volume not only nails the dismount, it shows that the whole routine was pretty close to flawless. There's a ton of loose ends that get cleared up. There's actually a sense of finality to the proceedings. Things are coming to a close and everyone knows it.
Where some of the previous volumes got very internalized and talky, this book is almost wall-to-wall action. From the opening ambush to the final fatal battle, you're on the edge of your seat, flipping pages like crazy.
The body count is DEVASTATING. The stakes are high, and not everyone makes it out in one piece (A few fan favorites might be on the butcher's bill, too. Don't get too attached to ANYONE.). Damn near every minor character in the series gets a hero moment where they get to shine.
That's all I'm telling you about the plot. No spoilers. No hints. Nuts to that...read the damn book.
I just don't know what in the world they can cut out to make this movie-length. They might finally have to split the book in half. It's just huge and involving and there's less fat available to edit out.
That's about what we have left at this point. The movies. And then it really is over.
Much as I'm saddened by that prospect, I'm glad that people forced me to read the first couple of books. I've had a great time with them. And I'm pleased as punch with how it turned out. Sure, I'd like it to go forever, but that's not quite how life works, now is it?
Harry and Ron and Hermione have been my friends for the last four years, and I'm sad to know I'll never hear from them again. But I think I'm better off having read their exploits. In a few years' time, I look forward to revisiting their adventures at Hogwarts. Until then, well, it's time to look for something else to get attached to.
Thanks, JK. You've filled another Muggle with joy. Now, write something new and fun. Maybe we'll all be hooked again.

My ramblings on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Hmmm.
What to say about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?
Hmmm...
Well, they cut a lot out. But, the book was 896 pages. To cover it fully, with every detail intact, would take days. At two hours and 18 minutes, they've pared the story down to its bare bones, trading internal monologue and political maneuvering and teen romance for action.
We lose a lot of character beats for supporting characters as well. This means very little at all of Tonks, only a few moments with Luna Lovegood and all of Ron Weasley's big moments disappear with the Quidditch (there's broom flying aplenty, but none for the sake of the game in the film). Harry and Cho's romance is whittled down to a handful of fleeting moments that doesn't even whet your appetite.
If that's going to spoil your appreciation of the fifth film in the Harry Potter franchise, don't even bother going. Keep to your books and appreciate them for what they are. You're likely never going to be happy with the films, anyway.
If you're looking for one of the most fast-paced films in the franchise (nearly dizzyingly so) or some harrowing wizard-on-wizard combat? Well, they've got your number exactly.
David Yates, the director of this fifth film in the continuing adventures of Harry Potter, has a background in British television. He's never helmed a production like this. He's more than up to the task, keeping things lean and focussing the film almost entirely on Harry. He is our hero, after all. That makes the film more like a typical American film than the previous chapters, but it's not like they're ever going to win converts to the series at this point. You're either watching them or you aren't.

The film starts out with Harry at his lowest point. Cedric Diggory is dead. Harry feels responsible. He's isolated once again from the wizarding world and he feels miserable. He's tortured mercilessly by his cousin Dudley and his crew (Dudley now sporting the costume of a chav and looking much the worse for it). Bad things happen, and Harry is whisked away from Privet Drive by the Order of the Phoenix (waste no time in getting that title in!).
Harry's reunited with his friends and presented with a new nemesis: the Ministry of Magic themselves. Turns out that Harry's claims of the return of Voldemort aren't believed by the folks at the top, and they'll stop at nothing to squash out any word of the return of He Who Must Not Be Named.
In pursuit of that, the Ministry forces Dumbledore to accept a new teacher at Hogwarts. Dolores Umbridge, as brought to shocking pink life by Imelda Staunton, is every bit as iron, unbending and unflinchingly evil as she was on the written page. But there's a bit of humanity to the teensy despot now. I almost felt sorry for her. (Damn you and your acting skills, Imelda Staunton!)
Umbridge starts tightening her fist, enforcing the Ministry's new draconian vision. And that vision doesn't include learning any sort of defense against the Dark Arts (Why would anyone need to defend themselves? Rubbish idea, if you ask me). The students take it upon themselves to have a secret class, with Harry teaching what he's learned from fighting for his life over the last four years.
It's with Dumbledore's Army that the film misses out on some of its best potential material. However, we do end up with a training montage, and that has to mean something, right? Can't have an action movie without a montage, I say.
The kids get pretty darn good at their combat spellcraft, and that's a good thing because we're whisked into the finale very, very quickly.
How's the finale? Well, it's big. Really darn big. The Death Eaters really see action this time (the bulk of their attack on the Quidditch World Cup cut out of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), fighting both the D.A. kids and the Order of the Phoenix. And the results are more intense than anything in the series thus far (and earning the film a PG-13 rating).

What's good?
Hmmm. Well, every moment that Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman or Maggie Smith is on screen, to be sure. They've brought their A games, and consequently, they raise the bar for the rest of the cast, who seem more than adequate to keep up. Staunton as Umbridge, of course. She's so close to how I envisioned the character in the book that she made my flesh crawl. She's the perfect combination of malevolent menace and sickeningly proper ettiquette. I really wish we saw more of Michael Gambon as Dumbledore, but he's damn near pushed out of the film until the end.
Jason Isaacs, of course. He's almost always great, though. Ralph Fiennes turns to subtlety to embody the ultimate evil of Lord Voldemort, not going over the top one wee bit. That's left to the batshit crazy Helena Bonham-Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, who gets precious little screen time, but wrings gallons of madness out of her brief moments.
The kids are growing into fine little actors themselves, and Daniel Radcliffe shows signs that his career is going to continue long after he puts the Potter character to rest. Rupert Grint has already proven that, but gets so little time in this one. The budding Ron-Hermione romance is hinted at, but nothing else. Emma Watson also suffers from near-deletion. If she and Ron aren't right next to Harry, they're not in the movie. Evanna Lynch does a marvelous job with her few scenes as Looney Luna Lovegood. She's creepy and weird to the nth degree with seemingly little or no effort.
The humor. This is a really funny chapter in the series. And considering how dark and violent it gets, the humor is a welcome respite from the gloom that the series is delving into.
The effects work is generally good, though I found the centaurs and Grawp a wee bit cartoonish. The final fight is amazing, though. Throwing in visualizations was very necessary, and Yates and company managed to make the wizarding duels exciting and harrowing.

What's not so good?
Well, cutting out three quarters of the book. Duh.
You miss out on a lot of great character moments. "Weasley is our king." The twins' exit from the school (since they've NEVER had Peeves in the films, this was bound to be weaker for his loss). Harry's romantic confusion (though, in his credit, Radcliffe manages to convey some of that without the setup).
The flying scenes. Remember where I said the effects work was generally good? Well, the flying scenes look like they were shot before Star Wars and before Superman: The Movie. The compositing is sloppy -- not even TV quality by today's standards.

You don't need me to recommend the film to you. Either you're going to see it or you're not. You made that decision years ago. While stripped down to its bare bones, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix gets it all pretty close to right. The big moments are all there (including that dreaded third act death). It's just the little things that you end up missing.