If I may, please allow me to introduce you to ‘The Cat Man’ of Canne by way of Paul Trillo for Real Ideas Studio. I think you will find ‘The Cat Man’ to be a rather interesting and entertaining character as I did. But please note, his cats are not on drugs.
If you are a movie buff like I am then you will likely appreciate this wonderful little collection of behind the scenes photographs from some of the better pictures ever put on film.
“Kathleen has been preparing for her own death for over ten years when she first volunteered for hospice care. And quite uniquely, she is also a hospice volunteer. Even with a terminal illness she continues on with good humor and a buddhist-like sensibility- seeing her end as just another thing that happens – just like her fabulous dinner parties.”
This is a segment from the documentary film, “Lessons for the Living.”
In a post-apocalyptic ‘Mad Max’ like world created by the director duo the Trost Brothers problems are solved ‘Dance Dance Revoloution’ style. All you need is a bench, the backing of your crew and a bad ass eye patch. We feel strongly compelled to see this movie and maybe throw a big crazy video game dance party right afterward.
PS: This trailer is NSFW. So now you must watch it immediately.
You can’t do it. No one can.
“Try as you might, you can’t walk in a straight line without a visible guide point, like the Sun or a star. You might think you’re walking straight, but as NPR’s Robert Krulwich reports, a map of your route would reveal you are doomed to walk in circles.”
Today kids, it’s time to learn all about a hallucinogenic substance called ‘acid’.
Gary Hecker started his career as a foley artist with the movie ‘Empire Strikes Back’ and has been going strong ever since. This short documentary features Hecker at work on a few different films where he shows and explains what it takes to a professional in a very unique niche of the entertainment industry.
I think many of us have been waiting since a trailer for this appeared some weeks/months back for the full version to hit the ‘netwaves’ and here it finally is. It’s a very well crafted short documentary.
“The film attempts to understand the essence of influence, what makes a person influential without taking a statistical or metric approach.
Written and Directed by Paul Rojanathara and Davis Johnson, the film is a Polaroid snapshot of New York influential creatives (advertising, design, fashion and entertainment) who are shaping today’s pop culture.
“Influencers” belongs to the new generation of short films, webdocs, which combine the documentary style and the online experience.”
More: influencersfilm.com
Little White Lies has put it’s ‘Tron Legacy‘ issue on the stands and it looks like an extra fun issue. There are some very relevant ‘Tron-inspired’ topics in this issue including: ‘Why Hollywood stars are right to be afraid of the virtual actor’, ‘What can cinema teach us about the look and feel of our future world?’ and ‘The inside story on the making of the original TRON.’
Personally, I have never laid hands on an actual copy of Little White Lies but I’ve been told it’s a really well put together publication. As a commemorative part of this issue you can also purchase a print of the cover at the Little White Lies shop.
Steven Nicholas Smith asked strangers off the street in Philadelphia to finish the sentence ‘I Am’. He decided to delve deeper into some of the answers further, creating not only written poems but a visual metaphor of the responses. It’s a simple concept but makes for an engaging and warm video about what’s on the mind of our fellow men and women.
There are 6 more of these, all of which you can find by browsing here. As fantastic as this one is, trust me it is worth watching the other 6 for their inspirational value alone. Thank you to Danny Jelinek.
Credits for this episode:
short works by:
Justin Roiland
Robyn Von Swank
Mike McCafferty
Danny Jelinek
Jason Whetzell
Hosted by:
Sophie Kipner
Created by:
Jason Whetzell
Danny Jelinek
Associate Producer:
Sevan Najarian
“‘CITY OF LAKES’ is as much a documentary about what it means to return to the birthplace of one’s ancestors, as it is an exploration of the Hindu faith, and the rituals of a Hindu marriage. Central to this is the Ganesh puja, which in simple terms, is a prayer over a fire believed to invoke the spirit of Ganesh, a great deity and protector, who can remove all obstacles from one’s path. The puja is performed several times in the film and carries great significance to the plot and characters in both literal and metaphoric ways.”
There is a lot more to this and a much more in depth explanation at the Vimeo Page for the City of Lakes short film but the short of it is that it is a beautifully accomplished effort and it’s great to see it in full length, and in high quality on the net. I suggest plugging this one into your HDTV if you have one.
This is brought to you by the comedic-duo BriTANicK. Who at their website claim to be ‘two guys wasting their degrees’. I would say ‘hardly’ to that with material like this little gem that is smartly written and totally hilarious. Someone is going to be calling them over this one and hopefully paying them for some new material because this is good stuff.
Mike Barzman shot this experimental video at 1800 frames per second. I cannot claim to know exactly what he was trying to accomplish or say by shooting it, as he did not enlighten me via his email but I must admit that I found it fun to watch.
An MP-E 65mm lense plus a little patience and an extra ounce of ambition equals a really fun and beautiful little video from Clemento.
As I am sure you have heard from numerous other blogs, Spike Jonze has directed a short film which recently aired at the Sundance Film Festival titled ‘I’m Here‘ (sorry my headline font conversion doesn’t allow apostrophes). The film is branded content for Absolut but it looks beautiful. If brands want to throw their weight behind genuine ‘art’ for a change and allow people to flex their brain muscles a little bit, I think that could be a good thing. Jonze really is incredible. His childlike vision and appreciation for ‘wonder’ always translates beautifully into his films.
The upcoming movie Kick-Ass looks like it could be a lot of fun but one of the lead characters, Hit Girl may leave you questioning (at least on a morale/spiritual level) if a movie like this is really signaling the final downfall of Western Society.
We Have Decided Not To Die is a short film by writer/director/producer Daniel Askill. You can read an interview with Askill conducted by Sarah Runcie, the AFC Film Development Administration Officer at the We Have Decided Not To Die website. I will leave you with a pull quote explanation of the film below:
“We Have Decided Not To Die is an unusual short film. A modern day allegorical triptych, three figures under go transformation through three rituals. Though not a story in any conventional sense, We Have Decided Not To Die succeeds in taking audience on an emotional journey. Aurally intriguing, often stunning and always beautiful, Danielís short film has been winning fans from around the festival circuit.“
