Sunday, December 17, 2017
Final Push-Up Video
The final push up video seems to be going the distance here. Though things have slowed in production, I often think that I'm overthinking this one. I'm just looking for a couple of props before I move forward with it. Stay tuned.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
California to New York Part 5
Well, here's the final part of the travel doc! Hope you guys enjoyed it. It was a pretty personal story and I kind of put it out there. I figure this was great practice for any future journeys I'll go on in the future as well as any documentaries I'll shoot.
It was quite a process but I never gave up with it. Whole movie & three podcasts recorded to boot!
Turned a desperate situation into something that's memorable. Wish I could post the on-the-job films but they'll have to remain classified for now until I can get permission to post.
There was a constant anxiety on the road of the car breaking down. I can keep myself decent company too! The audio cd's helped...a lot...and the car held up beautifully though, thank God! Also, thank God for friends! They are important in life. Next time, I'll stop at one or two hotels though, if there is a next time.
Check out the final podcast in the description too if you get a chance.
Part - 5 The Final Part
Thursday, August 10, 2017
California to New York Part 4
In part 4 I stop in Michigan to visit friends & family. It was nice to make a stop back to the old country before moving onto life in a new state.
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
California to New York Part 3
Part 3 - Kentucky.
I talk about my creative future as well as my time in Tennessee. Kentucky was a good intermediate state to drive through. Stopping into a Meijers there was a nice touch of something familier again. Reasonably quick state to drive through with good weather that day 😃👍🏼
Part 3 of California to New York
Monday, August 7, 2017
California to New York Part 2
Part 2 - Introspection is now out.
In this one I stop by a good college friend's house in Tenessee to catch up and rest.
I also get introspective about the future while in a traffic jam.
This one's got heart!
P.S. Check out the podcasts that were produced during the time on the road. 'The Lost Tapes' parts 1 & 2 are in the YouTube description of Part 2's video.
-Enjoy!
Thursday, August 3, 2017
California to New York!
Finally part 1 is out!
The epic drive from California to New York begins in part 1 of 5.
Attached in part 2 will be two links to 'The Lost Tapes'. Two of three podcasts which were produced at the time of the big drive down route 66.
Enjoy and as always you can leave comments below!
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
California to New York Documentary
My new documentary/journal film California to NY will be released this year. A new trailer for it will be released soon. This film is much in the same vein of my short-short film Uhaulin' which is on my YouTube channel.
http://youtu.be/sXyefg4WUqk
It's very much a travel film.
So probably in the next few months or earlier I'll release it in 4 or 5 parts on YouTube.
It's a very personal film as it chronicles a long and insane journey from California to New York State.
I tried hard to make it entertaining but there is a lot about my life in the film. It's really about a time in ones life when there's an extreme transition.
A podcast will also accompany the film. It was made alongside while filming kind of like a deleted scene.
So be ready for that trailer soon.
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Full Written Logan Review / Major Spoilers
*Major spoilers in this review*
Ah Logan, you did it buddy. You made people care more about you, made em love ya. For that I say thank ya. The beginning Deadpool trailer pretty much felt built into this movie. Hilarious and awesome homage to Superman. Love the run down theater in the background playing Logan.
Now, one of the first things I liked about the movie is Logan getting into a bloody fight pretty much right away, firmly establishing that R rating. The tone of the film is established right away. I don't think I even remember a title sequence. Lots of yellow and orange in this movie, just like in the trailer. Logan takes care of Professor X who is going through a kind of dementia. In-between the f-bombs, which is fun and hilarious to hear Xavier say there's some good touching dialogue between the two characters that has always been implied but never said. With the exception of Logan saying them, the swearing felt a little forced at times instead of it being more organic to the dialogue and story. There is an art to cursing.
When Logan gets dragged into the inevitable conflict things start to accelerate. I gotta be honest, I thought it was pretty hardcore when Logan told Caliban to off Pierce in the middle of the desert. Logan takes no prisoners in this one. Stephen Merchant is perfectly cast in this one (just wish he had the hulk-out power from the comics). The casino scene is pretty incredible effects wise with Xavier having a breakdown, causing everyone to freeze in place including the villains out to get him.The effects in this are pretty top notch and I think that's mostly because they don't overdo it. There's no buildings getting thrown around and giant aliens or monsters, it's all pretty minimal.
In the final act, Logan must face X-24 (spoilers) his evil doppelganger, grown in a makeshift Weapon X lab in a hospital in Mexico City. That's a bit of a strike against the movie, c'mon, they grew a Weapon X24 in a hospital in Mexico and he's super badass? It all seemed very thrown together and cheap. The original Weapon X (Logan) was carefully made and trained in a Weapon-X high tech facility, and they expect us to believe that he can be beat by him? It's very thin, but I guess the director and writer were going after the metaphor of his younger, primal self fighting his older, wiser and human self so I kind of get it. I still think I would've preferred Sabretooth returning in some capacity, heck, maybe he was going to in some way but negotiations fell through with Liev Schreiber. Omega Red would've been great but would've been out of his element in Texas/North Dakota. Logan fighting himself is a big more poetic I suppose, just wish he didn't seem so cheaply made. Have the Weapons be made in an underground facility or something, not a hospital. So the film has just a couple of small flaws, just really missed opportunities to me.
It succeeds at paying tribute to the Old Man Logan storyline from the comics but that's mostly about it. I found it interesting that Xavier probably killed the X-men and not Wolvie, that was a surprising liberty with the material that worked! You CAN stray from the original material, but it's gotta work and it's gotta be good. Take notes Wolverine: Origins. It takes the theme of an unwitting soldier having to come back out of retirement, takes place in the west and the X-men were killed but that's about where the similarities end.
The final scene where Logan has to come out into his old natural forest environment for one last showdown is great and it somehow looks like exactly where they shot the similar scene in X-men 3. There's just something about Wolvie running around in berserker fury that gets me going. He doesn't the same leap move he did in X-men 3. Huge deja-vu here.
Major ending spoilers start here. When Logan has his final tussle with his younger self. It's tough to watch the final death blow. The fight is gory and well down effects wise. Probably one of the best fight cgi scenes in quite a long time. Extremely ferocious. Kinda of reminded me of the T-1000 vs's T-800 at the end of Terminator 2.
As a final note, I'm a bit biased when it comes to X-men and Wolverine movies since Wolvie's my favorite superhero. I've already watched him die in the comic and now in the movie. It's been a bit profound to watch one of my favorite characters die again onscreen. It's been a bit traumatic, that's why this review is so long. Trying to process it all hasn't been easy. It's the end of the Jackman era. I remember getting so geeked to see X-men 1 and how much suspense there was in seeing the character done right. I still get chills when I see Wolvie smoking a stoogie in a bar in Canada. He really nailed the character in that scene. X-2 the whole invasion scene in the mansion where the tank top look is firmly established. Him leaping over the mansion balcony, roaring, arms jacked and claws out, the fastball special scene in X-3, The showdown with Sabretooth in X1 and in Origins (God forgive me), in The Wolverine where he takes on The Hand and the human samurai, Days of Future Past the mob showdown scene, just so many memorable scenes from each film. Really loved that Logan finally called Xavier 'Chuck' like in the comics, so glad they finally acknowledged that. It's the end of his cinematic story arc. All the movies have led to this movie and the final moments of his death. No easter egg after the credits and it all seems so damn final.
The Man Comes Around is so fitting and perfect for the end of the movie, so glad they had a Cash song in it, especially that one.
I would've liked in a better costume, the brown and yellow, the yellow and gold (even the ones from X-men First Class). I would've liked an amazing showdown with Omega Red and maybe just one more fight with Sabretooth (either incarnation). I would've loved an Alpha Fight appearance in this one or a backstory on them in some capacity. I would've liked more of the characters trademark sayings. Sadly those things weren't mean to be, not with Jackman. He held the torch and held it high with what he was given. Can the character be performed other ways? I certainly think so, but the odds are slim that it'll be better then Jackman's performance and presence. I'd like to see a Daniel Day Lewis kind of performance that's a bit more of an outside-in method. Someone who can take it a little more over-the-top and come back to make it grounded again. A gruffer voice closer to the cartoon and a lot more cockiness. I believe it's possible. Until then though Hugh you were the best at what you did and what you did was pretty darn good!
8.9 out of 10 claws -almost perfect!! Good enough!-
-Chris C.-
Ah Logan, you did it buddy. You made people care more about you, made em love ya. For that I say thank ya. The beginning Deadpool trailer pretty much felt built into this movie. Hilarious and awesome homage to Superman. Love the run down theater in the background playing Logan.
Now, one of the first things I liked about the movie is Logan getting into a bloody fight pretty much right away, firmly establishing that R rating. The tone of the film is established right away. I don't think I even remember a title sequence. Lots of yellow and orange in this movie, just like in the trailer. Logan takes care of Professor X who is going through a kind of dementia. In-between the f-bombs, which is fun and hilarious to hear Xavier say there's some good touching dialogue between the two characters that has always been implied but never said. With the exception of Logan saying them, the swearing felt a little forced at times instead of it being more organic to the dialogue and story. There is an art to cursing.
When Logan gets dragged into the inevitable conflict things start to accelerate. I gotta be honest, I thought it was pretty hardcore when Logan told Caliban to off Pierce in the middle of the desert. Logan takes no prisoners in this one. Stephen Merchant is perfectly cast in this one (just wish he had the hulk-out power from the comics). The casino scene is pretty incredible effects wise with Xavier having a breakdown, causing everyone to freeze in place including the villains out to get him.The effects in this are pretty top notch and I think that's mostly because they don't overdo it. There's no buildings getting thrown around and giant aliens or monsters, it's all pretty minimal.
In the final act, Logan must face X-24 (spoilers) his evil doppelganger, grown in a makeshift Weapon X lab in a hospital in Mexico City. That's a bit of a strike against the movie, c'mon, they grew a Weapon X24 in a hospital in Mexico and he's super badass? It all seemed very thrown together and cheap. The original Weapon X (Logan) was carefully made and trained in a Weapon-X high tech facility, and they expect us to believe that he can be beat by him? It's very thin, but I guess the director and writer were going after the metaphor of his younger, primal self fighting his older, wiser and human self so I kind of get it. I still think I would've preferred Sabretooth returning in some capacity, heck, maybe he was going to in some way but negotiations fell through with Liev Schreiber. Omega Red would've been great but would've been out of his element in Texas/North Dakota. Logan fighting himself is a big more poetic I suppose, just wish he didn't seem so cheaply made. Have the Weapons be made in an underground facility or something, not a hospital. So the film has just a couple of small flaws, just really missed opportunities to me.
It succeeds at paying tribute to the Old Man Logan storyline from the comics but that's mostly about it. I found it interesting that Xavier probably killed the X-men and not Wolvie, that was a surprising liberty with the material that worked! You CAN stray from the original material, but it's gotta work and it's gotta be good. Take notes Wolverine: Origins. It takes the theme of an unwitting soldier having to come back out of retirement, takes place in the west and the X-men were killed but that's about where the similarities end.
The final scene where Logan has to come out into his old natural forest environment for one last showdown is great and it somehow looks like exactly where they shot the similar scene in X-men 3. There's just something about Wolvie running around in berserker fury that gets me going. He doesn't the same leap move he did in X-men 3. Huge deja-vu here.
Major ending spoilers start here. When Logan has his final tussle with his younger self. It's tough to watch the final death blow. The fight is gory and well down effects wise. Probably one of the best fight cgi scenes in quite a long time. Extremely ferocious. Kinda of reminded me of the T-1000 vs's T-800 at the end of Terminator 2.
As a final note, I'm a bit biased when it comes to X-men and Wolverine movies since Wolvie's my favorite superhero. I've already watched him die in the comic and now in the movie. It's been a bit profound to watch one of my favorite characters die again onscreen. It's been a bit traumatic, that's why this review is so long. Trying to process it all hasn't been easy. It's the end of the Jackman era. I remember getting so geeked to see X-men 1 and how much suspense there was in seeing the character done right. I still get chills when I see Wolvie smoking a stoogie in a bar in Canada. He really nailed the character in that scene. X-2 the whole invasion scene in the mansion where the tank top look is firmly established. Him leaping over the mansion balcony, roaring, arms jacked and claws out, the fastball special scene in X-3, The showdown with Sabretooth in X1 and in Origins (God forgive me), in The Wolverine where he takes on The Hand and the human samurai, Days of Future Past the mob showdown scene, just so many memorable scenes from each film. Really loved that Logan finally called Xavier 'Chuck' like in the comics, so glad they finally acknowledged that. It's the end of his cinematic story arc. All the movies have led to this movie and the final moments of his death. No easter egg after the credits and it all seems so damn final.
The Man Comes Around is so fitting and perfect for the end of the movie, so glad they had a Cash song in it, especially that one.
I would've liked in a better costume, the brown and yellow, the yellow and gold (even the ones from X-men First Class). I would've liked an amazing showdown with Omega Red and maybe just one more fight with Sabretooth (either incarnation). I would've loved an Alpha Fight appearance in this one or a backstory on them in some capacity. I would've liked more of the characters trademark sayings. Sadly those things weren't mean to be, not with Jackman. He held the torch and held it high with what he was given. Can the character be performed other ways? I certainly think so, but the odds are slim that it'll be better then Jackman's performance and presence. I'd like to see a Daniel Day Lewis kind of performance that's a bit more of an outside-in method. Someone who can take it a little more over-the-top and come back to make it grounded again. A gruffer voice closer to the cartoon and a lot more cockiness. I believe it's possible. Until then though Hugh you were the best at what you did and what you did was pretty darn good!
8.9 out of 10 claws -almost perfect!! Good enough!-
-Chris C.-
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
New Logo
Monday, February 27, 2017
Great Wall Review
Saw The Great Wall and was ready to be wow'd by the spectacle. I was, there was certainly a lot of amazing costume design and beutiful cinematography. Shot of The Wall against lush green valleys and grey mountains with the sun rising up behind it all. Really the scenery was fantastic.
Matt Damon plays a theif of some kind who has a somewhat murderous past. Unfrortunately, this past is never touched on too much so I think his character suffers a bit for it. He has a selfish partner that just wants to rob and flee.
They're captured and held prisoner by the Chinese army. During their capture, a huge monsterous force invades the walls. These creatures come out to kill when mankind becomes too greedy.
The monstrousities can only be killed if the mother is killed. It's when the monsters arrive at the walls that it becomes a nonstop monster movie. Here we get combat spectacle after spectacle.
The red and blue design on the armor is outstanding. There's plenty of great action scenes. I kind of thought there would be different monsters besides just the one kind so it can be a little repetitive. I was kind of expecting some dragons (good or bad), giants or other creatures, so I felt that was a missed opportunity storywise.
Matt Damon and his co-star (Pedro Pascal from Game of Thrones) do the most they can with the limited lines they have. Matt's irish accent is a little subtle at times and I wasn't sure what accent it was in the beginning. William Dafoe plays another fellow thief/prisoner. Again, what is his story? Unknown but he does the most with it as always. Another missing cool back story opportunity would be what is an irishman and a spaniard doing together? What was their first crime together? How did they meet? What did Damon do in the past that was so bad? These questions and more will unfortunately remain unanswered. This movie is a mostly grand adventure and spectacle with an almost love story in it. The music is stupendous.
So, everything considered...I give it a 7.8.
It's a good, entertaining time, but that's mostly it. Not much character development. It has beauty and it's well shot, great cinematography, great music but not the deepest film.
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Push Ups for The Troops - Day 5
Winter only slowed me but never stopped me!
22 soldiers a day take their own lives from PTSD, still hard to believe, but even if the number is exaggerated it still reminds of the untreated status of our troops.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Takin' a break from Push-Ups
Been a bit swaped as of late and unfortunately that's got in the way of doing my Push-Ups :/
Not to worry though, I'll be getting back to them soon. Shooting them reminds me to keep moviemaking no matter how short the movie is.
My documentary, California to New York seems to be making progress as I trim done a rough edit. It's been difficult because I used my old Hi-8 camera which I refuse to throw away. The video and audio had some serious lag and it's been a pain sinking the audio up. I won't have that problem again since I'll have my clapper and a better camera to shoot with. I've liked to film-like quality to it over sharp 720 or 1080 and above. It always feels too crisp and sharp to me. Anyway, the doc will feature an original ukulele and possibley guitar score.
I've also created my first Wix website which has been very intuitive. I've put some of my films on it you can check it out here:
I might be moving this blog to this website sooner or later but it's possible I'll keep this blog up, we'll see.
I'll keep you updated as I go!
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