Film Noir has had a long, venerated history in European and American Cinema; its roots can be traced back to German Expressionism of the 1920s—The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) being one of the finest early examples that set the tone for the dark atmosphere that permeates all well written and directed noir stories. Appearing in the U.S.

Thursday night, MAOC and OC Screenwriters gathered four preeminent  documentary filmmakers to discuss their craft.

The men and their subjects couldn't have been more different:

February 2010 Event

In conjunction with the Media Alliance of Orange County, we present a Q&A with documentary filmmakers at the Bowers Museum. 

NOTE:  Pre-registration is closed.  Please pay at the door at the event.  
Cost is $12.00 unless you present a valid Student I.D. in which case it is $5.00.

Full Details 

Well first off, if you have no idea what a steampunk story is I have to say shame on you. Where were you through the 1980's to the 1990's. To help those of you to remember the past or just to get an idea of what exactly is behind a steampunk story, check out the link to the wikipedia article on what is steampunk.       

So enough with the refresher course. Just recently I've been watching a new webisode on the internet called Riese. Located at (http://www.riesetheseries.com). It started out last year on the Chapter 1 story and then was just getting started on Chapter 2 toward the end of the year. Each chapter has at least 5-6 episodes in them which are at least 5-10 minutes long. In and of itself, that would not sound that impressive. But the cool thing about the webisode was that it was done

After 50 Years, It's Still a Classic. 

Some movies live inside us long after we see them. That’s why we check the safety lock on hotel doors before we take a shower. And why the name Norman Bates makes us smile and shiver at the same time. And why so many people assume that Anthony Perkins must have been creepy in real life because “nobody’s that good an actor!” But he was. And it helped make “Psycho” the classic it is.

If you want proof of Hitchcock’s genius on this 50th anniversary of his 1960 masterpiece, check out the 1998 word-for-word remake with Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche. The difference intimidates would-be filmmakers, who ask themselves how the exact same script can be made into such a dismal failure or become nothing less than the template for all horror films that followed. 

Reitman Vs. Sheldon Turner Controversy: We Compare The Two 'Up In The Air' Scripts

This is an interesting comparison of the versions of the script that got made into the film "Up In The Air."  This after the LA Times printed a piece suggesting that Jason Reitman wasn't giving credited co-writer Sheldon Turner his due on the awards circuit.

link

 Imagine a person who travels so much and is so emotionally unavailable that he prefers the artificial environments of airports to home.  In fact, in "Up In The Air" one of the first things we find out about Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is that all the things that might irritate us about airports - the bad food, the security measures, etc, feel like "home" to him.

Interesting character with lots of potential.

The story is adapted from a novel by  Walter Kirn.  Bingham, the main character, is a professional corporate downsizer (job terminator.)  Even more to the point, he works for a company that is hired by other companies to do their dirty work.  They come in when companies need to dump a work force and handle it for them.  Bingham has a specific and time-tested way to do this.  

What an odd little film this is.   Based on a memoir from British journalist Lynn Barber about her affair with a con artist when she was in school, the original essay was published in the literary magazine "Granta" and wasn't transformed into in a book until the film was well into production.  Begin the oddness.

Nick Hornby, who wrote the screenplay, is a well-known British novelist (High Fidelity, About a Boy) and who has had several of his books and essays turned into films but hasn't done much in the way of screenwriting.  Another oddness.

The story is straightforward.  A young girl (16) is transfixed by the attentions of an older man who sees her walking home in the rain one day.  Unknown to her initially, he is a con man who makes a living stealing art and also moving black families into housing units so when the old women who live there become afraid and want to move out, he can buy the units cheap.

Spoiler alert:  Most of this review is actually a rant about Quentin Tarantino.

Tell me honestly:  how in the world does a film like this make the best of anything list, let alone the Oscars?  Was it really such a good idea to let crap like this into consideration with the expansion from five to ten nominees?  This film and "District 9" (my review) were my two least favorite films of the group and I have no idea why they're in the list.  The only reason I watched this film was because I committed to review all the Best Picture nominees.  Next time, I'll just pass.

I'm well aware that some people have an appreciation for Mr. Tarantino's works.  I am not one of them. I've tried.  Not hard but I have tried.  

"A Serious Man" is as disturbing a film as one can imagine making.  More disturbing than "No Country For Old Men?"  Yes - blatant violence is absent from this film except for one unexpected moment that turns out to be a dream but what makes this film so hard to watch is the same thing that makes a newspaper so difficult to read - the random nature of life and the seeming non-logical nature of our existence.  

"Why me?"  Behind this simple question in this black comedy is a demon of epic proportions lurking - one we try to push out of our lives and deny.  But at the edges of a silent scream it waits doing nothing but sitting there with a smug smile and the power to completely destroy our lives. 

I saw "Up" with honestly little anticipation.  The trailers didn't intrigue me.  Not like "Wall-E."  Nothing about the movie seemed to appeal to me but really, am I the target demographic anyway?

I know Pixar is a wonderful company, with "The Incredibles" being one of my all-time favorite films, but I was never a huge fan of "Toy Story" or the other Pixar films - except as mentioned and "Monsters, Inc.".

My first thoughts were confirmed.  "Up" didn't thrill me.   It's a good film - just not wonderful.