Music Videos -- Marina & The Diamonds

Link: I Am Not a Robot
Site: YouTube
Length: 3:37

I had to share this little video that my good friend Derek Jeter put up on his Blog the other day of the ever wonderful Marina & The Diamonds. I have been digging her sound since Derek first introduced us over iChat transfer and it has been a magical ride watching her career bloom. I found her new video to be splendid and in the world we live in where everyone with a built in iSight is making talking to yourself legit, I found this video as a great example of how to take that same style of "looking in the mirror" filmmaking and making it something fantastic. Of course, this was shot in beautiful HD and not on a MacBookPro so the quality reflects the artist and the filmmaker, Rankin. I heart Marina.

Film Review -- Star Trek (PG-13)

Directed by J.J. Abrams
Released May 8, 2009

Star Trek was one of those movies I saw was coming out and wanted to see right away. However, about ten movies got in the way and I always put Star Trek off as an "I'll see it later" film. But with it being out in theaters for almost two months, I started to worry my local twelve-plex was going to stop showing the film with summer blockbusters bursting on the scene (Transformers 2 with over $200 million in the first week? WOW!). So I buckled up, shut up and went to see the two-hour adventure with a bag of Jiffy Pop in Magical Sara's purse (recession woes).

What I got was pretty much what I expected. I had enough trusted friends tell me that this was a good movie that I knew it would be in fact a good movie. And it was. Nevertheless, what I got in the theatre was probably more entertaining than this film. NOT TO DOWN TALK THIS ACTION FLICK - it was good. But the antics in the seats around me were too much to not divert my attention away from Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Kirk (Chris Pine) at least for a little while. I will focus on two great spectators: 1. The ULTIMATE Trekkies in front of us and 2. The BRAINIAC young Trekkie behind me.

The ULTIMATE TREKKIES were unreal. There were three of them. They knew every quote to the film. They clapped more than they blinked. Their collective hard-on for the film started off painfully annoying and ended leaving me wondering, "Have they seen this movie ten times or have they just seen every episode of the series ten times?"

The BRAINIAC YOUNG TREKKIE had some great play by play: "Saturn is the second largest planet in the Solar System" and "Did you know Gravity would pull Kirk at the speed of 9.8 meters per second per second making him accelerate at an incredible velocity that would make pulling his shoot after dropping this distance from U.S.S. Enterprise nearly impossible?" (Impossible for anyone but Captain Kirk of course). I couldn't see his face - but I imagined he was just like that little kid in Jerry Maguire. You know the quote, "Did you know the human head weighs eight pounds?" I have often been compared to this little egg head.

But it was these two groups who reminded me who Star Trek is for and why, although I do not hang on Sulu's every word or marvel at Scotty's ability to beam, the show and many films have an incredible power for those more brainy on this Earth. Indeed, J.J. Abrams (LOST) did a great job of mixing the brains of Spock with the braun of Kirk. I only wish there was a cameo from the PRICELINE NEGOTIATOR!

For you Trekkies, I am glad your show has been revived from the shaky-camera, low budget film of the past. Congratulations - after 43 years since your epic show first began - Star Trek might finally be cool.

3 out of 4

Film Review -- Year One (PG-13)

Directed by Harold Ramis
Released June 19, 2009

For all of you who read this that haven't seen the movie yet, congratulations! You've just saved yourself a bunch of money. This movie had about 8 laughs total. Jack Black plays the same exact character he's played in every other movie he has done and Michael Cera plays the same role he created on Arrested Development. Hank Azaria and Oliver Platt offer the only few bright spots in this movie, but their short roles aren't worth the admission. If you are a die hard Black or Cera fan then by all means rent this one. Otherwise save your money. In short Year One equals garbage!

0 out of 4
(Review by Chris)

Editor's Note: Glad to have Chris back destroying films he does not like and giving out advice to those wanting to save money in hard economic times. Welcome back, Chris.

Film Review -- Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (PG-13)

Directed by Michael Bay
Released June 24, 2009

Sequels are tricky like Penn and Teller. For a film to match what was achieved during the original or rise above the often lofty expectations can be like finding the white whale or beating breaking DiMaggio’s hitting streak. I watched James Cameron’s Termanator and Termanator 2: Judgement Day earlier in this week and became enthralled with the idea that Transformers and Transormers 2 director Michael Bay (Bad Boys I and II, Pearl Harbor, The Rock) could do what Cameron did. Cameron needed seven years to make Termenator 2 which made people praise the sequel like never before. Walking in the footprints of god-like director Francis Ford Coppola (Godfather I and II) who also only needed two years to make what many call “The greatest sequel of all time” –Many aka They, Bay did not delay the super hyped Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. Two summers ago Bay’s Transformers bulldozed Hollywood with its unseen special effects and young star power.

Transformers originated in the mid 1980s as an animated TV series aimed towards kids all over the world. In 1986 the animated Transformers movie was released which nourished fans and featured the voices of stars like Orson Wells, Leonard Nimoy, and Robert Stack. Yes, I left Judd Nelson out on my list of “stars” in the film. The fact that it took twenty years for another major motion picture to be released about the noble and evil alien/robots from space is remarkable. Transformers fan base is bigger than the Joaquin “El Chopo” Guzman’s bankroll. From baby boomers to kids whose births were announced via text message, everyone wants to see change. Whether it’s a car, jet, helicopter, motorcycle, boom box, or a shiny eighteen wheeler, we see the transformation from familiar to foreign.

I sat in a crowded IMAX theatre in Torreon, Mexico and observed the children who were going to fall asleep, and the girlfriends who were humoring their man. The mass advertizing was a success and the people came. From the start of the film’s destruction of Shanghai our attention was in Bay’s hands. It was so crowded that I could feel the excitement from the surrounding seats. As a crane turned super unicycle destroyed the ten year old Pudong cityscape and battled with U.S. elite military unit, the “ooohhs” and “ahhhhhs” were only drowned out by the THX sound. Old characters Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) and Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) are revisited along with fan favorite Autobot Bumble Bee (Mark Ryan). The writers do an impeccable job of keeping the same diversity within the Transformers genre. I recall a friend of mine last year ignorantly griping about the comedic elements in Bay’s first Transformers. My friend also does not remember the 80’s and how everything including television shows like Transformers and G.I. Joe needed funny characters and jokes. The writers of Transformers 2 do a better job creating humor than in the 2007 film. More comedic characters like Jolt (Anthony Anderson) and his twin Skids (Tom Kenny) along with funny scenes (mom eating pot brownies, and dogs/decepticons humping, fraternity party) keep viewers laughing between gasps. There are no awkward Jar Jar Binks (Star Wars Episode 1) characters or unbelievable plot twists (Weekend at Bernie’s II).

The plot of Transformers 2 is just as far-fetched and open ended as the 2007 film, however the writing was superior. One of my favorite actors John Turturro (Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Betta Blues, Miller’s Crossing, The Big Lebowski , The Bronx is Burning) was able to continue his role as Agent Simmons who is a hilarious caricature of a federal agent. He starts by working at his mother’s deli in Brooklyn, and ends by being one of the films heroes in Egypt. Whether the action took place in Asia or Africa the Autobots and Decepticons war destroys skyscrapers, forests, bridges, submarines, landmarks and aircraft carriers on a grand scale. Michael Bay and his team of writers do a great job bringing everything to the screen. Jaw-dropping lucid special effects that has never been seen, Megan Fox in naughty positions and tight outfits, Optimus Prime getting dirty and whooping ass while talking trash make Transformers 2: Rise of the Fallen a must see. Like The Simpsons there are jokes your children will not understand, but the violence is unrealistic and there is little blood. Parents bring your kids! Kids bring your parents!

3.75 out of 4 (needed more Megan Fox time)
(Review by Thomas Demerath)

News -- Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson has left this world - sure to be moving on to a better world maybe in another universe. The King of Pop is gone. RIP, Mr. Thriller.

Site Update -- Sold Out

I hear 'em crying, "You gon' sell out!" Ya damn right. I done sold out before and re-caught the same night. Straight hopped the next flight, too Icey for sunlight. Dunkin' without Sprite, yeah you heard me dirty! I'm from the Show-Me State, show me seven I'll show you eight. Karats in one Ring, heavily starched jeans, representin' St. Louis everytime I breathe. Every city I touch down and I bob and weave, ay. -Cornell "Nelly" Haynes, Jr.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I admit I have steered away from independent film making and took a position working with the Washington Redskins as a TV Producer for the Redskins Broadcast Network. We have a daily feed of videos here and I will keep you up to date once my own TV show Inside the Redskins starts airing in the Washington D.C. area. Life here is sweet, I love DC, I love the NFL and I am doing more editing/producing than I could have ever imagined a year out of college. No more internships for this guy (hopefully). And it is not that I have said goodbye to film - but this position was far too lucrative to turn away. I will still do my best to frequent the cinema (Up was a recent love of mine and Land of the Lost was nothing special). However, you most likely noticed that I had slowed down well below a snail's pace with my reviews anyhow so I am most likely writing this post to myself. I am feeling a void in my life that I believe revolves around my lack of writing. And I do live a 5 minute walk from a movie theatre and I am seeing more movies than ever so expect the reviews to continue. Believe it or not though, I do have the last film I will most likely make in my Boston University career and I would like to share it with you.

Slowpoke is a film shot entirely in High Definition using a shnazzy new Panasonic P2 Card reading mammoth camera. The film was conceptualized by a new good friend of mine Joe LaRocca who is seriously passionate about film making and from watching him first hand, I can tell he will be a great director for this world. For once I was not the editor on this masterpiece but I did get to get my hands dirty as the Director of Photography. Working with the HD camera for a short fiction film was a great time and the final product is a pretty high quality masterpiece of sorts. See if you can decipher the riddle of Joe LaRocca's Slowpoke.

Link: Slowpoke
Site: YouTube
Length: 9:50

For more Joe LaRocca goods, check his website at LaRoccaFilms.com