Friday, July 31, 2009

Shot of the Day #212: Le Chapeau Du L'Araingnee!!

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

CUT TO:

...and then I realized, "Holy shit! I didn't shave! It wont match!!!"

So with the crew on hold, I ran into the bathroom, luckily having my toiletry bag in the car from a Foxhole-Prayer workout before the weekend events, and as I pull out the 3-tiered razor to slash away...

...something....crawled across my head.

In the reflection, I noticed a small black shape criss-cross across my hat (used to hold the mane back) and then quickly skitter out of sight. Now, if I didn't see it, would I have felt it creepily speed across my head? Who knows. But as quickly as it moved, that chilly electricity shot up my back and that fucking camo hat was off my head in record time. Holy shit, that little sucker looked fierce (and not the Tyra kind).

And what do I do? I go in for the shot. Typical. But come ON, look at that thing! Jesus Christopher!

For a day that defined "Surreal" (when two different times the same line was uttered: "What the hell just happened?"), this might have no significance at all to represent the day, but it still just felt right.

Joe

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Shot of the Day #211: Baghead

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

I actually wore this during a big meeting today & barely anyone batted an eyelash.
Post-ComicCon fatigue has hit it's fever-pitch. Oof.

Joe

PS: Seems I was on TV TWICE this week and on the same day! Check out the Jimmy Fallon ComicCon piece that ran on Monday as well as the ABC news video on The Room that I have a cameo in. Top O The World, Ma.



Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Shot of the Day #210: Inside ArieScope

Shot with iphone, Click to enlarge.

Good meeting at the Ariescope offices tonight, getting prepped for a big meeting on Friday. Love working with these guys, and despite the shitty climate to make films a viable business, they still have that passion that is genuinely inspiring. Even though Im still recovering from ComicCon and on no sleep, I'm psyched for Friday.

Sorry, nothing special here, just a glimpse behind the curtain. To the right is a scaled model of one of the lifts from FROZEN (a little movie magic going on) and of course the exciting (and empty) office water cooler. Guess noone's talking about last night's episode of ENTOURAGE round these parts.

Like the Primus album..."Hey, they all can't be zingers".

Joe

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Shot of the Day #209: Suburban Assault Vehicle

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

We've seen this metal monster on our walks, but usually it's tucked away in the owner's driveway. Today, however, it was out in full fucking force. Fucking badass, huh? Almost feels like my ComicCon infected view makes me see everything with a comic-book slant; this would feel right at home in an issue of SGT. ROCK.

Something tells me that if RED DAWN actually did happen and russkies began falling from the sky, I would SO want this Inglorious Basterd on wheels to be fighting for our side.

USA! USA!!

Joe

Monday, July 27, 2009

Shot of the Day #208: Human Smoke Machines

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

Day/Night 1 of the shoot and we realized...fuck, we don't have a smoke machine. Quick fix and our professional team of smokers made for instant atmosphere for the shot. Gotta love it when necessity breeds invention.

Apologies to all lungs involved.

Long day led to a fun night, so glad to get back on the road.

Joe

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Shot of the Day #207: Homeward bound & Home-made Biscuits

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

I woke up so excited to go home, but then quickly realized...I got NOTHING by way of a decent meal while I've been out here. One of the few perks of going out of town on a business shoot/trip is that the company, within reason of course, will pay for your meals, yet I had been so fucking busy that I never got to go out ONCE. Sad but true, and I wasn't gonna let a shitty Quesadilla at the House of Blues be my last meal here. I called down to the Grant Concierge, asking: "Where is the BEST place for breakfast around here?" and the friendly voice on the other end said "Oh sir! I have just the place!" before describing a restaurant down the street called Cafe 222 that supposedly has just been voted 'The Best Breakfast in the US". SOLD. I quickly got packed up so it's one less thing to worry about upon my departure/check out at noon and headed out to get me some grub.

The place ended up being quaint but fantastic, serving up a wide array of AM delights (Pumpkin Waffles!?) but I went with the featured special, the Biscuits & Gravy with eggs and Sausage. To say it wasn't morning bliss would be a horrible lie. SO good, and so lame that it's one of my highlights of the trip. Then again...I loves me some breakfast.

If you're in San Diego, you gotta fill up at this place. Im now looking forward to next year's ComicCon JUST to go here every morning.

Homeward bound! You stay classy, Whale's Vagina. Hopefully next year I'll be back with something else cookin'.

Joe

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Shot of the Day #206: Eyes on the Eye of the storm.


Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

This is the bird's-eye view about 10 feet away from the press line outside Hall H, on the patio of the COnvention Center. Various media types & celebs walking the line to hock their wares are all around me, and I couldn't feel more out of place. Below here is where the G4 "truck farm" is rooted, with long, massively-connected production trucks wedged between these strange art structures, housing the entire G4 family during each production day as well as a craft service area. Its been a great area to be around, actually, being so close to jump into the nerd-infested waters and have sanctuary not far from the place. North of this is where the Hall H attendees are parked in a line that might be a bit less than usual but still out lengthened any line at Disney or Six Flags. All day we'd watch faces pass the window outside of our edit bay as my editor jason furiously chops away at fresh "kills", seeing all the cosplayers and CC newbies alike excited to take another ride in the entertainment world and hopefully believe in magic again. Isn't that why we're all here?

Today was a productive but wearly one, yet ended very strong and strange. I definately didn't wake up knowing where I'd be before laying my head on the pillow again, that's for sure. From The Floor, to this patio where I met some of my favorite LOST cast members (Hurley! Sawyer!! Ben!!! Richard !(?)) and saw Jimmy Fallon shoot the back of my head (wonder if that's gonna make it to air?)

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

...to the Troma Roast where I actually got up twice to stick it to Lloyd (got to tell the Vomit story, sweet!) and Green & I seemed to make it out alive (a REALLY fun event, you had to be there)...

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

...to the House of Blues around the corner from my Hotel with Adam & Rileah to see Bear and the gang perform the final night of BSG LIVE!! to a capacity crowd (and my good IndieVest pals Matt & Kevin) which was epic...until I had to leave to go back to work to approve videos. Dammit!...


...to a Roller Skating Rink with Seth Green and his lovely GF Claire who were having a Skate Party to promote the new season of ROBOT CHICKEN? Only to have it shut down after zipping around the rink for 2 songs?? DOUBLE DAMMIT!!!


...to a supposed "awesome" party w/ Green where KISS were supposed to be playing unmasked? Only to get there and find out its "Half-KISS" with Gene Simmons' kid on vocals? TRIPLE LINDY DAMMIT!!!

...

(Did I mention now my phone died so I couldn't take any more pictures to highlight our night? DAMNI-OK, I'M DONE.)

So glad to be leaving tomorrow. I think I'm officially done with ComicCon this year and I haven't even had one moment to get anything cool, let alone even SEE anything. Buh Bye.

Joe

Friday, July 24, 2009

Shot of the Day #205: Cosplay Coordination & THIRST

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Pretty much sums up the ComicCon mania here. When you can see a Cenobite and a Jedi commiserating outside Hall H deciding which panel to go to next...that's ComicCon.

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Big night tonight, had my THIRST screening with Chanwook Park in attendance, and this after a VERY long day of supervising crews, shooting AND making sure the "48 hours with Olivia" video shoot goes off without a hitch. Another successful day at the convention center, although my Supervising Producer Mike D almost got shot by one of the dick-weed security guards working the event. Hear him rant about it HERE. But again, great work all!

After we finished the Post show, I raced back to the hotel to get changed, sop the sweat from under my tits and speed back over to the theater that was playing THIRST (free tickets were given out at the G4 booth all day today). When I got there I met Liz, the friendly PR woman in charge of wrangling the whole shebang together, and I noticed that my friend Marcus' movie THE COLLECTOR was also screening tonight, as well as some other movie I have no recollection of. So between the fact that its a Friday at ComicCon (not the best night to want to watch a flick, free or not) and there's already 3 movies here to choose from, I feared the worst. What if noone came?

Well come they did (that sounded wrong) and inside the theater it was mostly full, more than I expected! Park was nowhere to be seen (he wasn't going to show up till the end) but I warmed up the crowd before the film started, informing the 2 Twilight fans in attendance that there was "No sparkling, No Teams, etc" and that fans of OLD BOY, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN & NEAR DARK were in for a treat. This would be my second time watching the film, and I was even more excited this time, especially to make sure my questions were sound and engaging, not the usual PR crap from people who don't know or care, just looking for a bite.

What was great was that instead of finding flaws in the second screening, I loved THIRST MORE this time, it was a much more enriching cinematic experience and I found so much more on this go, which only made me more psyched to meet Mr. Park and pick his brain.

As the lights went up, I rushed out to the lobby to greet the director, who i had never met prior to this. This is when Im informed that there will be a translator present during the discussion....great.

Then, as most of the crowd stayed for the Q&A, I went back to the front and began getting the crowd riled up for the director's intro. Now, let me first mention that I had always assumed his name was like it's credited Chanwook Park, however because sometimes Eastern names are said in odd orders, I had asked the PR folks from Focus Features how he liked to be referred to and someone shot back, "Park Chan Wook" so I spent days trying to make sure I said it right. SO CUT BACK TO TONIGHT: I go "Here he is, the man, the myth! Park-Chan Wook!!"

Noone comes out. Um....

Then one of the PR people raced over to me and whispered "It's Chanwook Park!" DAMNIT!!!! Glad I know this NOW!

So he finally comes out, very demure and looking tired as hell from a long day of shilling for his film in a foreign environment, translator in tow. We sit down in very uncomfortable director's chairs and begin the Q&A and already, its awkward as hell as I spew passionate, excited questions, only to have them translated in a muted, soft tone by the translator and then answered in a similar low decibel octave by Mr. Park himself. It was, at least to me up there, VERY awkward, but I think the audience got into it and enjoyed the Q&A, especially since it was past midnight and people were itching to unwind and drink. Also, I got the slightest hint that Mr. Park was not really into doing this Q&A, especially this late with some douche-bag round-eye geek (i.e. "me") and his detached mannerisms and slightly asshole-ish answers to my questions ("Actually, if you see ALL of my films you'll notice I care a LOT about sound design") left me with a slightly sour taste in my mouth, but after the day I even had, I can totally understand his feelings and attitude...I guess I just expected more out of it. But overall it was fun and I was honored to do it; afterwards many people in the crowd came up to me and complimented me on the night, saying it was infinitely better than the panel earlier in the day and that I made a great MC. Really nice of them to say that.

The night wasn't done though; I had to literally RUN about 15 blocks to get to a party G4 was covering to make sure it was OK and when I got there, covered in sweat, it seemed that the soiree was winding down, but I got to meet up with the FrightFest Lovelies who are in town, so the night was not totally lost. Whew. What's today?

Joe

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Shot of the Day #204: A Sliver of Genius

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

That there is one Peter Jackson, talking to a lucky few ComicCon attendees (and believe me, I REALLY did luck-check myself; this was beyond an honor) after a private screening of DISTRICT 9, a film he produced that might be my favorite film of the summer, and absolutely solidified a place in my top 10 of the year. Am I bias on the forthcoming film because Im in front of one of my heroes right now and still buzzing from the cozy, informal(esque) post-screening chat? No way. DISTRICT-9 will blow you away. It reminded me of the summer-movie awe on my face when I saw ALIENS as a giddy 10 year old kid, but with a modern, smart, satirical slant. But here, Mr. Jackson also discussed his new movie THE LOVELY BONES and then showed us a special trailer, which we all ate up like Whores Devores. The movie, based on a book I read last year and love, looks dark, beautiful, shocking, sweet & absolutely powerful. If it falls anywhere near HEAVENLY CREATURES, I'll be very happy.

But not as happy as I am sneaking this picture. Honestly, this man shaped my ambition to be a film director, forcing me to emulate his "Know everything, DO everything" work ethic that has gotten him to creative success from high-concept, micro-budget splatter flicks (BAD TASTE, MEET THE FEEBLES, DEAD ALIVE) to gracefully structured dramas (HEAVENLY CREATURES) to blockbuster scope (The LOTR series, KING KONG)...the man can do it all, and all in his own back yard. I remember hearing how he crashed on Mike Deluca's couch when the New Line Executive Enfant Terrible was giving Peter a shot at pitching ideas for NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, or how he made BAD TASTE over 7 years, forcing everyone in the cast to keep the same haircuts until it started to itch (figuratively...and literally) till it was completed, where the film was cut on a Movieola mini-scope in his Mum's kitchen. This was Peter Fucking Jackson...and he was 2 feet away from me.

Afterwards I got to shake his hand and give him WT2, and while I know its shameless for me to do so, that I could give him something back for all the cinematic inspirado he's provided for me with something of my own will likely be the major highlight of this whole ComicCon Hurricane. That would have been enough, right? But that he held the DVD case in his hands and said 'Oh I know this movie! You did this? Excellent!" was enough for me to walk away with a gigantic grin. He could use the movie hold open the front door to WETA and I'd be happy, and now I am.

Funny...This was just one memorable bullet point in an otherwise mentally ill day, all things considered. It was the first official day of ComicCon and our extensive coverage of the madness it holds within. Overall the production went smooth as Jazz, everyone really came together and nailed the day's events, which you can check out HERE as we trudge along it's Twilight inflected waters till Saturday night...hope we make it out alive.

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Oh, did I mention there was a GWAR show to cap the night off right?

As crazy as it's been-and it's only been one fucking day-I can't say that Day 1 hasn't been memorable. Now, will Day 2 be as exciting?

Joe

PS: Ill be twittering the shit out of ComicCon. Join me, won't you?

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Shot of the Day #203: Sea of Nerds

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

IT HAS BEGUN.

So, we're here. After taking a lovely (and traffic-free!) train ride down with the crew and checking into the US GRANT (supposedly the oldest hotel in San Diego and a damn fine place, to be sure), we got our credentials from the G4 truck farm and headed out to the Convention Center for Preview Night, which is supposed to be a light, down-low time for the media to check out the wares before Thursday's full public onslaught.

Well, not so much.

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Turns out that not only was Preview night swimming with nerds of all shapes, sizes and smells, but because the TWILIGHT: NEW MOON panel was scheduled for Thursday afternoon, Twilight Die-hards are already lined up for it....36 hours before it starts. Jesus fucking christ. I never got into the Stephanie Meyer books, I guess I like a little style and complexity with my vampire stories....thank god for THE STRAIN & THIRST to hold me over. Man, i gotta get back into TRUE BLOOD.

But inside, the floor was already packed like sardines...isn't this the SLOW NIGHT!?!? Didn't feel like it, which leads me to believe this place is going to implode before weekend's out, especially when IRON MAN 2 or AVATAR shows some footage. I fear Hall H.

After sweeping the floor for pictures to upload to the site, we got the F out to rest before the storm begins. It's gonna be a crazy week. Check out G4's coverage of Comic-con for all the goods we get...we're gonna rape the shit out of this place. Stay tuned!

Joe

One last thing...Even Mexican Wrestlers Get The Blues...in Comic-Con.

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Shot of the Day #202: Curse of the Were-Mouse

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

S'Nuff said.

Joe

PS: Comic-con starts tomorrow. Expect MUCH more photos and hopefully some colorful anecdotes to boot. It's gonna be a crazy week, so this is just the calm before the storm.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Shot of the Day #201: Asphalt Frown

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

I have no clue why, but being six feet tall, I have a slightly different vantage point than others, and walking down the block, something about this crack in the sidewalk stopped me cold. From here, it looks like the sidewalk has had a bad day. I feel ya brotha. Reminds me of a Jim Henson creation, even.

FILE UNDER: Stupid shit I stop for.

Joe

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Shot of the Day #200: Hitchcock Cameo!

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Holy shit, we made it to 200! Im sorry if the SOTD's haven't been more than Remy and Banzai pics, but it's already been a very Dickensian year thus far ("it was the best of times, it was the worst of times") and only seems to get crazier by the moment...and I just love shooting those lil finks. Next week with Comic-Con should be madtastic and very SHOT-friendly, but for now, for a small but special occasion like this, it only felt appropriate to enjoy Remy's further developing impression of one of film's Masters.
God, he's getting good at this! Ill make sure he cameos in every film from here on out.

Also, notice the guys in the background who were wrestling. Strange...and slightly gay? PDA alert boys, PDA alert.

Joe

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Shot of the Day #199: A Very Macabre Marriage

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Just got back from Adam & Jace's Wedding, what a fun time. It was a Costumed affair, but with it also being 98 degrees (the temperature, not the band, smart-ass) we tried to dress light. Bri went as a hippie (Patchoil stink and all), Remy wore one of Banzai's Frankenstein masks (worked like a charm) and I went as...well it was "classified". But the ceremony was really sweet (and salty, the most F-bombs I ever heard in someone's vows!) and the reception was relaxed, low-key and really fun. Remy was a prince and a huge hit with the gang, even got to hang out with the OTHER Snake Plissken (Collins, you rocked the look) and while we had to leave early, we all left smiling. Really fun evening had by all.

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.


Too many pictures to post, I thought I'd leave you with a very appropriate snap: Jace commanding the floor and Adam with a knife in his hand, about to commit cakeicide. Damn it was good...

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Joe

Friday, July 17, 2009

Shot of the Day #198: Crazy! (for cult)

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

What a crazy day (no pun intended), but this pretty much made it. Patrick, one of my esteemed producers here at G4, covered the CRAZY 4 CULT 3-D event at Gallery 1988 last night and brought me back this schweet GOONIES board game screen cover. It really made me smile.

Isn't today Friday??

Joe

PS: Check out more Crazy art HERE! So want....

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Shot of the Day #197: Bloody good marketing

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Got this in the mail today, courtesy of Focus Features. Movie marketing has become a very strange art-form. Usually you get a disposable chatchki [sic] that sits on your desk or counter for a few months, idly reminding you about the film its plugging but ends up in the trash after the film comes out on DVD, unless its something like the real energy drink disguised as BOOTY SWEAT from TROPIC THUNDER or a real sword from KILL BILL....or a split Kimberly Caldwell magnet from WRONG TURN 2. But mostly...it's crap.

Now my ties to the film aside (coughscreeningnextweekatcomic-concough) this blood bag from THIRST is pretty spot-on when it comes to a tie-in that actually ties in. THIS is the type of bric-a-brac Ill proudly display on my already cluttered desk.

Dare I drink it...even though it DOES have a straw...tempting.

Joe

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Shot of the Day #196: Most Unwanted of all Paperwork

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Now THIS is particularly chilling. It's one thing to be in a stale corporate building getting Remy's Birth Certificate filled out, but its another to do it right next to the Death Certificate forms. How life and death is just at arms length here. How I do NOT envy the person who has to file these.

Joe

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Shot of the Day #195: Unlikely Customers (and reading material)

Shot with iphone. click to enlarge.

Pre-screening dinner with Green, location: Canter's on Fairfax. As we walk in, Adam is scanning the tables at the historic noshery, as if he's peering around for a familiar face. "Supposedly Axl eats here all the time, like every day for a few years". Being the rock historian that he is, I take his word for it, but then Green points to a particular book on the cold-cuts side that reinforced the point. I haven't read it (Im halfway through WATCH YOU BLEED, one of the many other GnR books chronicling their rise, fall and triumphant semi-re-rise to rock stardom) but it just sticks out like a sore thumb in this otherwise extremely old-school deli restaurant. Then again, nothing says "Hair Metal" than a nice Ruben or a hot kinish. Oy.
The chain on the book is an especially nice touch.

Shot with iphone. click to enlarge.

When we sat down, it was pretty evident that there was a film shoot going on RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. Some low-budget thing with Ben (brother of Fred) Savage and the SUPER-HOT blond chick from the FRIDAY redux, here with slightly more clothing (ask me in person what was missing from her ensemble). But we weren't watching, no...we were too busy with our meals and work, yeah.

After food and script notes (heh), we walked down to the Silent Theater where we saw a micro-budget festival film that was 90% charming, sweet, funny and heartfelt...with a climax that derails the entire picture. A damn shame, I was excited to talk about it here too but that wouldn't be nice, right? Its got chops, I just hope they chop off that lame excuse of a film-school ending and work some creative magic...almost there guys, I'm rooting for ya to do the rest of the movie justice with an ending that works and doesn't feel like a Senior Thesis directorial choice for the sake of being "hip" and anti-establishment.

Joe

Monday, July 13, 2009

Shot of the Day #194: Ugh

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

You never know when auto-disaster is going to strike, especially when you drive this jalopy. The Golf has been a constant in our LA lives since we got it in 2002 when we first moved out, and the sucker has been pretty good to us, for the most part. Sure the training is bad, the transmission has been shot since 05 and it smells like a Zombie Queef (that's mostly my fault), but its been getting me from Point A to Point B for a long time and was just a matter of time till it shit the bed.

TRUTH: I HATE getting oil changes. Always feel like they are scamming me; when I go in for a simple 5-point change, I usually leave hating my life because i spent 100 + bucks on shit I dont even know for sure was broken. So I try to avoid like the Swine Flu. Yesterday it was "that time" so i went to Jiffy Lube and the nice Asian guy, also named Joe, sold me the Brooklyn Bridge and I walked out grumbling again, but hell...at least it's done right?

WRONG.

CUT TO: Today, post meeting with a possible editor for the new project at Umami Burger (the only highlight of the day, really) I went to the parking lot and tried to start the golf....and it wouldnt turn over. FUCK. Thankfully AAA came to the rescue-thank god I renewed the membership-and the driver determined it was the fuel pump that was out. Ok...fine....now take me to an auto replair place that wont bend me over Marcellus Wallace style, please. The driver didn't get the joke.

When I arrived at the shop, the familiar sights, sounds and smells of being in an auto garage flooded back; I had practically grown up in a shop at my Dad's store, so the smell of oil, rubber and metal was quite inviting. (Wow. That coule be taken in a VERY different light) but I was still very nervous, waiting for the short European gent to stick it in and twist. I was dreading the outcome.

Guess what? There is such thing as honest auto folks, because after he showed me that the fine fuck's at Jiffy Lube FORGOT TO PLUG IN MY FUEL PUMP (i think they are trying to kill me, maybe not a WT2 fan), he fixed that up, fixed a hole in my tire I didnt know I had AND evaluated my training and gave me a free esrtimate, saying "Com een any tim, I fix, no ploblem". So what I thought was going to be a thousand dollar problem ended up being a totally FREE conclusion. Now, sure...this might be a "Drug Dealer" type catch ("First one's free kid") but damn if it didn't take a huge weight off my shoulders, thinking I'd have to break the bank to fix the car.

So Monday wasn't THAT bad, all things considered.

Joe

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Shot of the Day #193: Flarebanz

Shot with iphone, click to enlarge.

On the Santa Monica park walkway for a late afternoon stroll. As the sun was bleeding into the horizon, I pulled off a few snaps of the darkening sky at magic hour, trying to find a new lens flare (I've been doing tech tests lately, trying to find a new "flare" look for the flick since Blue Flares have officially "jumped the shark") and really like this one that the iphone has upon contact with direct sunlight.

Banz got in the composition, here's the result. How regal & dignified she looks...oh my.

Joe

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Shot of the Day #192: Recycled Childhood

Shot with iphone. Click to enalrge.

Saw this while pulling out of our garage. Probably the saddest thing Ive seen in a while, the symbolism just screams for attention. Poor guy...I bet he was someone's bestest friend for a while, till they grows'd up and got into Xbox or an iphone. Made me really appreciate all the stupid little toys that Remy has in circulation right now and how they will (or wont) have a lasting impression on him.

Funny, I still have the ragged, nearly-gutted bunny that my grandparents gave me when I was his age, its mottled fun pilled and coarse...I know its just a relic from my past, but I couldnt get rid of him, let alone just dump it in a recycling bin. Something about this scene just screams 'Wrong".

I need to watch TOY STORY again.

Joe

Friday, July 10, 2009

Shot of the Day #191: Murders all around us.

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Friday evening, the start of the weekend...boy do I need it. Sure, Im still working on a ton of stuff, but its nice to know I can maybe have a few minutes here and there to relax. But as we were taking our usual walk, Bri pointed out that we were literally surrounded by black crows, and not the Robinson kind. Seriously, I expected Hitchcock to walk past us: Every tree, every phone wire, even some of the houses were COVERED with Magpies. Every so often they would swoop from one branch or wire to another, as if...they were...following us. A chill went up my spine when I looked up and the sky was littered with feathered noir...is this a sign? A dark prelude to the weekend? You know they call a grouping of crows like this a "Murder", right? In that case...we're like Angela Landsbury on a Sunday night.

Whatever the case may be, as long as one of them doesn't shit on me, we're square.



Joe

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Shot of the Day #190: Puck o' the world, Ma!

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Some cool news was announced today...looks like Im hosting and moderating a Q&A with Park-Chan Wook, the visionary director behind SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGANCE & one of my favorite films of late, OLD BOY, at Comic-con! His new film, THIRST, is coming out in a few weeks and Focus Features is putitng on a special advance screening of the movie down in San Diego, and with G4 co-sponsoring it, I was asked to be the MC of sorts. Holy scinikes. Such a wicked honor...but what if the movie...um...."Sucks"?

Thankfully there was a screening tonight, so Luke and I checked it out at the Clarity screening room with some familiar faces (Devin from CHUD and his lovely friend Lind....Collins-my evil Doppleganger, etc) and some new ones (Mali from ucrave.com, who was SUPER cool)...but when I parked, I was instructed to take the only one available...the personal space of one Pizzartiste, Wolfgang Puck. That's right, the guy who created the Goat Cheese pizza. I don't know why, but a little bit of me felt all the more special knowing I was in his space. Walked a little taller all the way into the theater, i did. But will the movie stand tall as well?

Thank god THIRST was pretty fantastic. A clever, almost Cronenbergian take on the Vampire mythos, it kept me rivetted the entire 2 1/2 running time (I hope people at SDCC stay for the whole thing!) and made me realize that shit product like TWILIGHT is good for the vampire genre...it forces real artists to look at the conventions of the mythology and create new visions of the lore, similar to films like NEAR DARK, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN & RED-BLOODED AMERICAN GIRL (a VERY overlooked 80's gem). THIRST was confounding, challenging cinema, and I walked out feeling positive the Q&A will go great.

If you're at Comic-con and need something to do on Friday night, come to the THIRST screening! I can almost guarantee...it wont suck (pun intended). Details coming, but the gist is, the screening is at 9pm in a secret location, but you can pick up free passes at the G4 booth starting Friday at 11am. First come first serve! Hope to see you there!



Joe

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Shot of the Day #189: Coolest Man In The Building (Today)

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Met a LOT of new people this week, some VERY cool folk, including an impromptu handshake with this lovely, picturesque gent with the Fantomas T shirt. NOTE: ANYONE wearing a shirt related to Mike Patton is worth the memory space taking a shot.

Meet Joe Vaux, animator par excellence and director over at FAMILY GUY, which I just found out was right across the street from our building. Juster had known him and wanted us to meet, so Joe came over and even before I could say that I knew who he was (having watched enough FAMILY GUY episodes his name was one of those staple credits you get used to seeing flash across the screen) he handed me a rolled sheet of thick paper-stock, and when unraveled, displayed a rare Vaux painting of the Griffins with a personalized signature at the bottom. Holy. Shit. What a wonderful gesture...too bad all I could offer is some of the WRONG TURN 2 buttons still languishing outside my office. We instantly hit it off and hopefully will "do lunch" especially since he's right across the way.

Very cool dude, pleased to meet him. Again, another Fantomas fan? Friend for LIFE.

Thanks Joe!

The other Joe

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Shot of the Day #188: This week in a blur.

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

...and its not even Hump Day.

Calgon, take me away!!!

Joe

Monday, July 06, 2009

Shot of the Day #187: An evening with an "Eye"


Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Had a few Coronas and an AMAZING dinner talk with one of my favorite working DP's about the new project. We had met before when he was in town for a screening of a film he did (that I absolutely LOVED) and thanks to the director of that film, he was nice enough to meet me tonight to discuss some stchuff.

The best part? We BARELY talked about the movie, mostly about the movies we love, the fellow filmmakers we admire, and just a general geeking out. That's when I know its a great connection. The beers helped, sure, but when you can really click with someone, both creatively and on a personal level, it only makes the collaboration more exciting to imagine. Plus anyone who can talk Conrad Hall, HALLOWEEN, Iron Maiden & GOONIES in the same practical breath is good peoples in my book.

Cross your fingers kids...you're gonna see some serious shit.

Joe

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Shot of the Day #186: Blood on the streets

SHot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Went out to check on our fallen feline friend today, just to make sure he/she was at least taken care of and not baking under that blanket. Thankfully I guess either Animal services came to take the body away, or maybe the family who owned the cat found it, but all that was left was a browning stain on the street, one that will haunt me every time I drive over it when we leave our place. I know...its only a cat, right? Doesn't matter...that was probably someone's friend, loved one, compatriot, family member. That the cat was just so horribly mangled, a clear hit-and-run with no regard for its life at all, makes me sick of people, especially the fucking assholes who live around us. if that was my cat...I'd be going DEATH WISH on the entire block till I found the guilty party...and bring my blowtorch.

Seriously, we're surrounded by fucktards....I can't wait to move.

So, if there was ever a better time to be played out...it's now. Rest In peace buddy.



Joe

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Shot of the Day #185: Free Freedom Fries for The 4th!

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

For our daily walk, Banz got a extra special treat in someone's spilled fries on the sidewalk. Being the 4th of July and these being "Freedom Fries" (a term SO 2001), it just felt right. Lucky dawg.

Then on the way back we found a dead cat who was hit only moments after we found it, and I had to wrap it up in a blanket, it's eyeball hanging out of the socket, bleeding everywhere, and leave the poor thing on the side of the road since Animal Services wont come till tomorrow.

Happy 4th!



Joe

Friday, July 03, 2009

Shot of the Day #184(?): Black Friday (or The Clickening)


Shot with nothing. Click to see my pain.

Why is there no picture? Well, that's because there IS no picture. Blackness.

After a long pre-weekend workday(Why is it those company-issued "half days" are always just full days compressed into half the time, equalling double the stress?), I was ready to come home, unwind and commence the Holiday weekend by setting up the laptop and uploading some pictures. I was PUMPED.

But, upon plugging in the USB cord that connects my Mac laptop to the external Hard Drive that is holding all of our stored music and pictures (especially the continuing adventures of Remy), I suddenly heard a....clicking. Not the good kind, like "Hey, I'm loading here, all good"...it was the BAD kind, like "Duh, whichwaydidhe go, GEOORRGGE, whichwaydidhegooo?"

No, all I heard, after repeated tries getting the drive to materialize on my desktop:

Thwup Thwup Thwup.....Thwup Thwup....

Shit.

So I've been trying not to freak, nope. Not gonna freak out. I'm gonna, just....enjoy the holiday weekend. Yup. Im not gonna think...about....it...*eyetwitch*

If anyone can recommend a good Data Recovery program or service, lemmie know, thanks. Now, if you will excuse me while I insert a shotgun in my ass.

Wait, can I borrow your finger for a second?

TGIF Yourself.

Joe

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Shot of the Day #183: Babylon in my Back Pocket

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

...so I was cleaning out the contents of a pair of wadded up my jeans that were left on the floor after the long Monday being a "Strip Club Scumbag" for Rifkin's LOOK TV show. What I found in that back pocket just screamed "Hollywood Babalon". Take a look.

Yes, that's fake currency we were given to distribute to the strippers in the scene, over and over again over the course of the day, so Im sure they are saturated in Stripper Stank; a pack of gum, so my breath wasn't as kickin' as some of the girls vagina (That's another story...ask Jason Miller) and of course...Ron Jeremy's business card. I feel like such a....producer.

OK...Now I should probably go burn those jeans, knowing where those fake $20's were, before Bri finds out. Not like she reads this blog...right, honey? WINK.

Joe

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Shot of the Day #182: Sky High FAIL

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

So today was supposed to be a record-setting day for ATTACK OF THE SHOW, which is fast approaching it's 1000th episode. I really like everyone who works on the show, from Kevin & Olivia to all the behind the scenes folks that make live television happen every day; its a small miracle the show has been chugging along this long to constitute a 1000th episode, but well-deserved to all involved. So part of the celebration was to be part of the Guinness Book of Worlds Records for the "World's Largest Tweet", where they hired a biplane to scrawl a Twitter message of 140 characters across the Los Angeles sky for all to see, with the G-people on-hand to record the event for official purposes. We were all told to come out at 4pm to share in the sky-sight, so I pushed all my other meetings and modified the To Do list so I could go down and...I dunno...be on-hand to show support and maybe get a SOTD snap out of it too. This was a quickly organized event and fingers were crossed that it was gonna go down without a hitch. There was an electricity in the office too, people were clearly excited to see this happen. I mean, its not every day you're in the middle of history being made. So I went down at 4pm, hoping I wouldn't miss a moment. Fortunately, I didn't...Unfortunately. noone else was outside yet. Strange.

At 4:10pm, The word was heard the plane hadn't even left. OK...shit happens.

At 4:30pm, we heard the plane JUST left, so he's a half hour late. Lame-sauce.

At 4:45pm, with people outside finally gathered to watch....no plane. Hmmm. The picture you see before you is of JP Shub, producer extrodinairre, member of the Rock band THUNDERDIKK and a huge horror and metal nerd. I was hoping for a cool shot through his GG Alin Sunglasses, but alas...no huge cloud Twit.

At 4:50pm someone said, "I just heard, the plane isn't coming", and a collective groan emanated from the group. So the producer on-hand shot some faked "ooohs" and "ahhhs", some finger pointing to the air, just in case it came later and they could punch in the B-roll in post. Smart thinking, but a buzz-kill nonetheless. Oh well...I just felt bad the Guinness people came down for nothing.

5:10pm - Back in my office and suddenly, a white streak across the sky begins to form. "It's happening!" I yelled out, and not 30 seconds later I have half the floor in my office looking outside the window, watching a HUGE "@" character being formed. Holy shit this is actually happening!!!

...and then...it just STOPPED. As if the pilot decided to just call it a day, or got the wrong directions or what-have-you. But as quickly as it started, it was over and people rifled out of my office, all with the same word: "Fail".

Then, it started again, but by now it was all "Cry Wolf", knowing it was never really going to happen. I watched for a few more minutes as the little plane cut strange hieroglyphics through the blue sky, but it was never going to be what was intended. Now it was just a cruel joke:

@AOTS 8===============>
(Its a big cock....get it?)

Here was the result:

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

It was a great idea, and the planning on AOTS's part seemed A+. Execution?
F+. Click.

Joe