My broadcast spot for "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

Here is a broadcast spot for "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" I cut at In Sync that went to finish...meaning that it was ultimately approved by the studio and officially used in the marketing. The direction 20th Century Fox wanted was to portray the characters of Will (James Franco) and Caesar (Andy Serkis) as equals, trying to escape and survive against unknown forces working against them. A bit of a take on the Matthew Broderick 1987 movie, "Project X".



Interesting point: as I began to reacquaint myself with the story of that film (just to post here the exact year of it's release) I wondered how much influence it actually had on "Rise". Inspired by or not, the new "Apes" still ranks as one of the best films of this year!

"1941" screening!....What?....SOLD OUT?!!

We were planning to go to a Q&A screening of "1941" at the Silent Movie Theatre this coming Sunday night and I was trying to buy tickets online, even though I kept putting it off. Well this'll teach me to never underestimate a movie I felt would certainly draw a crowd but not sell out!

Screenwriter Bob Gale with actors Nancy Allen and Eddie Deezen will be in attendance for a special Q&A after the film. This might have been the factor that caused ticket sales to advance a bit more quickly than I anticipated. The thing that sucks is this was one movie from the 70's/80's I figured Generation Pilgrim, along with other movie hipsters, couldn't ruin.

Even though I love "1941", laughing out loud never seemed to be a part of my enjoyment of the movie. Yes, it's definitely iconicly fun! But Generation Pilgrim might have actually made the movie even funnier! I can't think of a single thing they might have destroyed with their annoying laughter. But unfortunately we'll never know because of the wildly quick sell-out.

The good news is we're probably going to have our friend Paul over this coming Saturday night for dinner and a movie in the 10th Box Cinema. He's never actually seen "1941" so this could end up being our back-up screening of the film.

New site upgrade

For some time I've been trying to find a simple way to allow multiple banners to rotate at the top of this site. A number of these banners I created over the past three months have been movie anniversary specific. However with my constant desire to be current they would often only display for a week around the time of the actual anniversary release date. Not even reflecting (beyond one specific calendar day) that the release year also counts.

Event banners, like for the Oscars or Comic-Con, are obviously only intended as a limited ramp up to the actual date. But there are so many others I take a fair amount of time creating that I'd prefer to showcase longer. Now due to extensive research done by my friend Allen, more of the movies, events, pop culture happenings and acknowledgments I like to comment on can be played out on a large rotating canvas. Kind of like my own personal digital billboard, high above the streets of LA. Thanks, Allen!

Work update and the final countdown to staff!

I've been swinging between three studio feature projects over the past two weeks, taking on another forthcoming Christmas release. With a trio of broadcast spots in the mix, I'm very aware of the fact that I'm concluding my three month probationary period at In Sync.

October 5 is the 90-day mark and somewhere around that date is where I'll be signing the contract to makes everything official. The first order of business after that will be scan that first check as a staff editor to frame and proudly display on my wall at home, bringing the journey towards a goal I set my sights on 15 years ago to a successful.....oh wait, you thought I was going to say close? Nope, no way!

There's so much more to do and I am by no means stopping now! From here I'll be expanding on the goal achieved, so don't expect me to be sitting back and getting fat on contentment! LOL!

"I'll be toasting my health when 3D has gone the way of the Dodo."

Altering a line from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", we now come to the end of what producer Jeffrey Katzenberg very incorrectly predicted: "2-D films are going to be a thing of the past." [GAME SHOW BUZZER] Thank you for playing!!

Check out this revealing article which tries to sift through the who, what, where and why this flagging Hollywood juggernaut has seriously nose-dived.

Rebecca and I have been done with 3D for awhile, even though we loved seeing movies like "Tron Legacy" and "Avatar" in the format. Still scratching my head as to why some trade magazines continue to herald 3D seminars and 'all the cool opportunities 3D will be offering in the future!' when the fad is clearly just done. Yes, "Spielberg's "Tin Tin" will be premiering this December in 3D as are a few more stragglers. But what we're truly seeing right now is the death rattle of stereoscopic movies...at least until it re-fads sometime in another 30 years hence.

My eyebrows were certainly raised when Samsung started rolling out a whole line of 3D TV's. I was all 'whoa...like slow down, eh!' Soon these flat screen oddities will become dinosaurs, left out on a loading dock to be taken to the trash like those laserdiscs in the opening scene of "Back to the Future Part II". Boo-hoo. Kind of a misstep.

I KNEW IT!!!

Continuing my week-long tirade against George Lucas, check out this very revealing short film entitled "George Lucas Strikes Back". A 'what if' of why things suddenly changed in the creative process of the man who created "Star Wars". Love it!

Hitler's reaction to the new "Star Wars" Blu-ray

We've all caught various versions of this scene done with a plethora of topics....but this is definitely one of the very best, and timely!!

I hate missing the BIG stuff...

...But when the big stuff gets even BIGGER?!!!

LA Live hosted a special 30th Anniversary screening of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in downtown LA Monday night plus a special Q&A with Steven Spielberg. We'd just seen him at Comic-Con promoting "Tin Tin"...and Rebecca, our friend Paul and I had recently attended an 30th Anniversary Academy screening of "Raiders" plus a Q&A with Frank Marshall and some of the post production team. So why was this different? Not only was Spielberg but Harrison Ford showed up as a surprise guest!!! AAAHHH!!!

I knew this screening was going on this past Monday and that it sold out very quickly...even though tickets had to be claimed in some not-so seat-preferentially, guarantee-able way. My skills and abilities of keeping a hand on the pulse of special Q&A screenings has become pretty sharp. But once in a blue moon something too important to miss slips through my fingers, begging the question 'where did THAT come from?!'

Check out the posting on Hero Worship for all the details.

Recently unearthed "Star Wars" behind the scenes photos!

On a more positive note, check out this AMAZING set of never before seen behind the scenes photos from the original "Star Wars" trilogy!! Think I've seen maybe one of two of these before, the rest are completely new.

Harrison Ford sunning himself out in the sand dunes, the cast riding something that looks straight out of Major Matt Mason, and Princess Leia about to passionately kiss C-3PO! All of these pics are a true flashback to another world on the other side of the movies we love and adore.

RAPE!!!

It's time to finally take a stand against the atrocities being made of our classic "Star Wars" trilogy! George Lucas has continually fiddled with scenes in the original movies as well as the prequels...O.K. well who cares if he's messed with the prequels, but THE ORIGINALS!!!

Therefore, I am proactively asking everyone to NOT buy the new Blu-ray set being released this coming Friday. Spending money on this release would just be adding gasoline to the fire of Lucas' meddlings. So many fans bitch about all the changes and yet people come out in droves to basically say 'thank you, George Lucas for raping these classics!' Again and again and again and again and again....AND AGAIN!

Click on the Blu-ray box with the international symbol for 'NO!' slapped over it in the left column to be taken to a Facebook page called 'Boycott Star Wars Blu-ray'. After reading a posting on /Film today I was prompted to do a search for any site that might be promoting a refusal to buy the set and found this ever increasing legion of people who have had enough. Hit the 'like' button if you agree!

I LOVE the original "Star Wars" trilogy and this is certainly not a put down of that part of the franchise. But enough is seriously enough!

"Back to the Future Part II" Nike MAGS

Frank Marshall teased about this yesterday and now it's official; Nike has just released the MAG. A functioning replica of the sneaker Marty McFly wears in the 2015 sequence of "Back to the Future Part II". Definitely made me smile to see these become available along with the amount of "BTTF" love that's consistently been behind them.

There's just one catch: Nike has only made 1,500 pairs and there up for bids on eBay, 150 a day, through September 18.

O.K. so I was pretty excited for about 24 hours. Then I read the details.

Some pairs are actually going for $6,000! If I were paying that much I'd want power laces, which these don't come with. It's definitely very cool that Marty McFly's fantastic future shoe is out there and all the proceeds will be going to Team Fox for Parkinson's Disease. This is for a great cause and I completely endorse anyone with the means to buy a pair! Check out the just unveiled ad for the Nike MAG starring Christopher Lloyd and Bill Hader....oh yeah, and some basketball player.



And here's Michael J. Fox' personal endorsement of the MAG's and their connection with Team Fox.

The original "Star Trek" TV series turns 45

I would be remise if I didn't acknowledge the 45th Anniversary of the very first "Star Trek" episode which aired tonight in 1966 on NBC. SO MUCH has happened since then and there's certainly been a fair share of "Trek" movies and TV shows...good ("The Wrath of Khan", "The Voyage Home" and YES..."The Search For Spock"!) and bad (I know...don't get me started on the BAD!!)

No matter...

The original cast, the original ship, the original show; to this day, that's what it's all about! Gene Roddenberry's western trail to the stars is an icon among icons and I seriously need to pull up some of my favorite episodes online and take in the adventures of Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise the way I enjoyed them as a kid.

Goodbye, "Star Wars" prequels

Sorry, Mr. Lucas. I can no longer in good conscious own or acknowledge your overly produced, poorly scripted, and badly directed prequels that were made only to sell toys. There is a backstory to the original trilogy, but these three movies will never be my true interpretation of that mythical tale. That will stay happily in my imagination. So here I am selling my three "Star Wars" prequel DVDs at Amoeba Music, the iconic music store in the heart of Hollywood where people come to buy and sell records, CDs and DVDs.

The "Star Wars" prequels were never great and a one might ask why I even purchased these DVDs to begin with. Perhaps it was a sense of wanting to be complete or a hope that I might bond with aspects of the three-movie story arc more in time...but none of this ever happened and I was left with three movies that continued to just take up space in my collection. I slowly began to realize that I'd never watch them again. Then, a tell-all extended interview with producer Gary Kurtz revealed that George Lucas intent from the onset of producing "Return of the Jedi" in 1983 was to expand a line of toys based on the movies that would in fact eclipse the quality of the movies themselves. That became even more apparent with the release of "Episode I" in 1999.

When I watch the original trilogy I envision a somewhat different episode I, II, and III. One that follows the continuity, look and feel of "Star Wars", "Empire" and "Jedi"...not where these classic films have to be retooled to accommodate the new kids on the block. When I watch Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader in "Star Wars" I don't see older versions of Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christiansen. Instead I imagine a backstory that keeps much of it's mystery in the same way only seeing glimpses of the future war in the James Cameron "Terminator" movies does. "Terminator Salvation" went to a place where the mythology of the machines taking over was actually demystified a bit. Leaving that event up to our imagination was much more fulfilling then what any filmmaker could bring us.

The same thing holds true for George Lucas. Sometime you need to know when to stop, and I think if a lot of us knew what we'd be handed over the course of three overblown prequels I think we would have told him to go back to San Francisco and start from scratch...or even just scrap the whole thing.

I want my 'Wonder Woman' movie!

Turning away from the major disappointment that is the new Superman suit from "The Man of Steel" (I say again...God. Awful.), here's a cool article with a serious call for a Wonder Woman movie! Click on the image to read the full story on a new geek blog I just discovered on CNN.com. Hey, we're actually recognized by CNN now! WE ROCK! LOL!

Like Christopher Reeve, Lynda Carter continues to stand as the iconic bar that has been set for the character. Although since her show went off the air there hasn't been any serious re-mountings with the exception of the obviously BAD David E. Kelley attempt.

I am SERIOUSLY interested in seeing the Maid of Might hit the big screen! Of course I'm a BIG TIME Lynda Carter Wonder Woman fan, but think enough water has gone under the bridge that it's definitely time (and hugely overdue) for an epic adventure. Important note: like with Captain America, it HAS to be set during WWII!

And BTW...I was just thinking this morning...

If Marvel can do an authentic recreation of Captain America's 'a little too flag waving for Generation Pilgrim' uniform, then why can't Superman's be left alone?! Huh?!! If it's not broken don't try and fix it! I think the people who designed Henry Cavill's gear for the new movie and George Lucas should go out and have a beer together.