Gutsy Mountain Business

Hello friends! My apologies for the pause in new posts. I’ve been too busy off making movies and swamped with Christmas things. However, I wanted to let you know that Gutsy Mountain Business will be back in action so incredibly soon! I’ve got some awesome things in the works. Be on standby for a sneak peak at a brand new short film, my new favorite music video, advances in DSLR cinematography, and perhaps best of all, a review of the absolute strangest Christmas movie I have ever seen. (Hint: That’s the poster.)

I can’t wait to get back to postin’! Until then, happy holidays!

We just started construction on the sets for my next film I’m working on, now titled Airship. Technically I’m the first assistant director, but since we have to stretch our budget, I’ll be happily slaving away on build as well. Such is indie filmmaking. I’m particularly excited to be filming on a soundstage. As long as you have a competent production designer that can deliver on the sets, it’s the way to go. It’s totally soundproof, the lights can be hung overhead, and consistent location means the hungover grips may actually show up on time. What you see will eventually be a scientist’s lab- I’ll keep posted with more pictures as it evolves.

TRUE GRIT - Dir. by the Coen Brothers

I grew up in a lil’ yee-haw cowboy town in Arizona, so it’s no surprise that a small part of me always gravitates toward Western things. While cowboys and indians aren’t for everyone, it’s hard to object to the new True Grit trailer from the brothers Coen. A dark and dusty tale about revenge and self worth? Served on a big platter of Southwest? Generously garnished with Academy Award? Sign me up.

I like that the Coens seem to have done without rhinestones, fringe, and silly saloons of Westerns past and instead focused on a more realistic and minimalist version of the Ol’ West. It will be definitely be a different film than the 1969 classic, but more accessible for a modern audience. With such high caliber actors, I expect the Coen version to be nothing less than a great movie. (I also fully expect Matt Damon to sing Glen Campbell’s song. Don’t let me down, guys.)

Talking American with the cast of Harry Potter!

This is so beyond brilliant!

I, like millions of other would-be wizards, was beyond stoked for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Especially excited, one might say. You see, many of my friends and I are in a unique position, as we are roughly the same age as Daniel and the gang. I am old enough to remember when the first book came out, yet young enough to have grown up with these characters. As the novels and books (and Emma Watson) matured in tone and topic, I did as well. Since Harry Potter is so closely aligned with my childhood, I cannot help but feel sad to see the franchise come to an end. Trust me, the metaphorical implications do not go unnoticed. For all these reasons and more, I was extremely excited about this film. My thoughts after the fact?

The Good: As a filmmaker myself, I am always blown away by the Harry Potter films. As with those that came before it, the special effects in Deathly Hallows are near-flawless. That, however, is not revolutionary in and of itself. What sets these films apart is how perfectly the effects are used to propel the story forward organically. The effects are never used to distract from plot holes or bad pacing. Here’s looking at you, Avatar. Deathly Hallows is also unique in the franchise in that it has a very limited cast. I loved seeing the Harry/Hermione/Ron dynamic in such detail, as the actors have really (and literally) grown into their roles. Finally, Deathly Hallows has one of the funniest HP scenes in memory. I won’t ruin it for you in case you live in some stunted reality where you haven’t read the book or seen the movie (though I couldn’t comprehend how that could be possible.) Just know the Polyjuice Potion shenanigans in the beginning are too fantastic.

The Bad: I doubt this movie is going to be anyone’s favorite. The compared to the other films in the series, the plot moves quite slowly without a big Act III payoff. Of course, this is being delivered in the form of another movie, so deal. What you have instead is a brooding movie building up to a huge showdown. But that’s ok! It’s Harry’s Empire Strikes Back. It’s Blake Snyder’s Dark Night of the Soul. It’s gonna kick ass soon, but we gotta’ work these problems out first. This buildup is also the cause of my biggest issue with the film- no Hogwarts. I love seeing the school of everyone’s dreams on the silver screen, but we’re going to have to wait one more movie for that. I really appreciated, however, that the filmmakers took a risk and deepened the plot through an old-timey and forgotten technique called dialogue. If you’ve never seen this a film, that alone might be worth the price of admission. (A lot of people hate that shit though, so I’ll put it under the cons.)

The Ugly: Anyone but Emma Watson.

All in all, it’s pretty silly for me to write a review of a movie I was pre-disposed to love. But it would also be silly to think there aren’t millions of fans who wouldn’t agree with me. For an additional and fantastic opinion, check out this short article from Too Beautiful to Live. Harry Potter has defined a portion of my life, so seeing these films is the closest thing I have to someone making a movie about me. All the evidence in this movie points to one more fantastic film to come, and in that sense July 2011 cannot come quick enough.

I’m sitting here at the Deathly Hallows midnight premiere with hope in my heart and a dark mark on my arm. If there were ever a night to show your allegiance, it is tonight. So why do I follow the Dark Lord? Two simple reasons- they’re better dressed, and Helena Bonham Carter. Easy choice.

In all seriousness, tonight marks the beginning of the final chapter of a cultural phenomenon. The world hasn’t seen anything like this since Star Wars, and quite frankly, it saddens me to see it go. I’ll share my thoughts on the film tomorrow!

Big news! I just found out that the next short film I’m assistant directing, Airship, has been greenlit to film on the Queen fucking Mary! In short, our producer is a champion of the cause. We are hitting up a location scout this Wednesday, so expect some pics.

KABOOM - Dir. Greg Araki
(WARNING! French trailer = NSFW!)

Yes, yes, I realize that this post falls under Trailer Tuesday. Yes, I realize that today is not Tuesday. So what if I’m late? You’re still reading, aren’t you? Ready… set… deal with it. My deepest apologies. Moving on!

This week’s trailer is a one-of-a-kind movie from Greg Araki. The film is Kaboom, and allow me to sound oh so snobbish and say I first saw this film at its premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Oh-ho, how cultured am I? I saw this with only a sentence long synopsis to go off of, and I, like the rest of the audience, had no idea what I was really in for. The festival program alluded to college students and sex, but made no mention of black magic, seeing the future, unsolved murder, secret cults, lesbian witches, or recreational drug use. Coincidentally, the trailer doesn’t touch on most of these things either. Then again, even I wouldn’t know where to start marketing this film.

I’ve had Kaboom on my mind since I worked that Train video last week. I was talking movies with my friend Austin, who told me about being construction coordinator on the latest Greg Araki film. Naturally, I was stoked to tell him I had seen it. If you’ve seen the film, it will surprise you 0% that the conversation immediately swayed to how incredibly good looking the entire cast is.

I would definitely recommend tracking a copy of this movie down. There is buzz about a small theatrical release in January, but don’t wait till then. Netflix has it available now. As long as you don’t expect high art, I promise you will have a blast watching this film. In case you do watch it, leave me a comment on what you think!