Becoming 21 is like Peter Parker getting bitten by a radioactive spider, except you suddenly have the power to purchase alcohol, not crawl on walls. After the hazy summer that I turned 21 I had a foreboding feeling in my stomach that could not be attributed to alcohol. College graduation was quickly approaching, but I had no career prospectives. The reckless days of intoxicating myself with my parents money now seemed distant. It was the end of my Tom Sawyer lifestyle.
As I sipped on my eight dollar gin and tonic I was stricken by a sudden longing for the high school life that I dreaded in the past. I came home to my small apartment filled with comics, dvd’s, and a stack of unread text books to finally realize that I haven’t accomplished shit in the past four years in San Francisco. I was a jobless scumbag, a malfunctioned gear in the social machine, a poster boy for the apathetic tail end of Generation Y.
At some point in our youth we accept the notion that “the world is a cruel place, so fuck it.” We are all caught in the rip tide of American drug culture and making excuses. The growing discontent for the world that we were not trained to inherit from our parents has clouded the vision of our dreams and aspirations. We have indulged ourselves in hedonistic pleasures so much that our senses are too numb to realize that we have been heading in the wrong direction for years. Wake up.
The film industry has never been a financially reassuring career path for naive aspiring college graduates with little to no money to begin with. And to make things worse the ominous storm of the economic recession has clouded the sunny streets of Hollywood also. Keen competition keeps employment numbers down all the while professionals from every aspect of film making are losing their jobs. With the advent of such depressing trends film makers from around the globe have turned to new innovative distribution strategies where cost is kept to a minimum while exposure to the masses are emphasized. The lack of jobs and the difficult nature of entering the film industry have given birth to a new generation of film makers who act independently to gain the attention of big studios and producers.
The ever-increasing digital format has created a divide between traditional film makers who prefer the expensive film format while new younger film makers have found the digital format to be cheap and easy to edit. This is not to say that new film makers are not filming on film stock, but rather that they are almost forced into digital due to the nature of the film industry. The digitization of our society is an inevitable outcome, and the new generation of film makers are utilizing this phenomenon very well. The barriers to enter the film industry have caused aspiring film makers (students and independents alike) to seek fame and notice though the internet. YouTube has been the target of many independent film makers and studios to promote their work in order to gain a wider audience. The new innovative distribution strategy of uploading quality short films has caused a surge of underground film makers to create channels and viewing communities to share their work. Experience the YouTube Renaissance.
Bitch
Directed by Dom Bridges
A young man buys a tin of tuna, and gets a lot more than he was expecting in this funny take on an old urban myth.
Find our more at http://www.dombridges.com/
This film is distributed by Future Shorts. For any inquiries, please get in touch at distribution@futureshorts.com.
Tilt-shift time-lapse or “fake miniatures” is the next big thing in animation, and this Sydney-based photographer is the master of it. Using a variety of techniques, this short film hopes to encourage you to to take a second look at places that are familiar to them.
See more of the director’s films and photographs on his website: http://keithloutit.com/
And at Partizan: http://www.partizan.com/partizan/comm…
The Lost Tribes of New York City
Directed by Andy and Carolyn London
Urban Anthropologists, Andy and Carolyn London interview some of New York City’s more overlooked citizens and transform them into the very pillars of the city in this brilliant animation.
10 Minutes
Directed by Ahmed Imamovic
This short film, as its title indicates lasts only 10 minutes, but it tells a much longer story which unravels only in our imagination upon seeing the end of the film. While 10 minutes in someone’s life mean nothing, they can be fatal in another: a boy and his loving family, tragedy in a war-torn city, death and destruction. All in just ten minutes.
PIXELS
Written and Directed by Patrick Jean
Director of Photograhy : Matias Boucard
SFX by Patrick Jean and guests
Produced by One More Production
New York invasion by 8-bits creatures.
Please Say Something
Directed by David O’Reilly
Set in the distant future, this is the story of a troubled relationship between an abusive Mouse and his wife, an intensely emotional cat.
See more from the director:http://www.davidoreilly.com/
Winner of the Golden Bear for best short film at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival
This Is Me
Directed by Sam Arthur
Bertie is in a coma whilst his wife enjoys the high life. Witness the rise and fall of this couple living under the Heathrow airport flight path. Based on a real phenomenon airlines would rather we didn’t know about, this film is a little thing with a lot of impact.
In 1971 Philip Zimbardo conducted a psychological experiment where he divided up a group of 24 volunteers consisting of undergraduate students into 2 groups: the guards and the prisoners. The students were chosen from a larger group of 70 due to the fact that they were the most psychologically sound. Although the volunteers were never trained in any way the students performed their roles very well, especially the guards. As the guards became more and more accustomed to their roles they began to abuse and demoralize the prisoners. The experiment had to be shut down after only 6 days because of the disturbing reality of the situation. After witnessing these normal citizens become into monsters Zimbardo came to the conclusion that although none of us are inherently “evil,” we are capable of committing atrocious acts when we are placed in certain situations via the “Lucifer effect.”
There are 2 sides to human beings just as there are in coins. Every single one of us lives with this duality while some of us make the unconscious decision to embrace a certain side. Depending on our lives and environments we are all capable of becoming Mother Teresas or Hitlers.
In the new Marvel comics series Nemesis Millar answers the question thats been on everyone’s mind: What if Bruce Wayne became twisted and insane after the sudden death of his parents? In Millar’s world the smartest caped bad ass is a psychotic supervillain who has been breaking down and killing public figures of the law. Nemesis is the anti-Batman of Marvel that highlights Wayne’s intensity, but with different motives and targets (This would be such a sick movie. Time to bring back the Christian Bale from “American Psycho”). Essentially Nemesis will explore the flip side of Wayne’s psyche (Keep in mind that these are merely similarities and concepts, the story has nothing to do with Bruce Wayne). The devilish game of cat and mouse begins Wednesday the 24th as Nemesis looks towards Washington D.C. as a possible target of his torments.
Heres a promotional poster for Nemesis with the caped villain posing like the joker, scary.
Has the music industry betrayed your expectations? Are you unhappy with what you hear on the radio? Luckily, on March 9th, 2010 Sony Music will release a 12 track album by the one and only “Voodoo Child.” The previously unreleased record titled “Valleys of Neptune” explores Hendrix’s blossoming creativity during the transition phase between the original 3 piece (Hendrix, Mitchell, Redding), and his solo career supported by Billy Cox. And to make matters even more awesome “Valleys of Neptune” also feature cover songs that were recorded by Hendrix during the production of “Axis: Bold as Love,” one of which is none other than Cream’s epic “Sunshine of Your Love.”
“My brother Jimi was at home in the studio. Valleys of Neptune offers deep insight into his mastery of the recording process and demonstrates the fact that he was as unparalleled a recording innovator as he was a guitarist. His brilliance shines through on every one of these precious tracks,” – Janie, Jimi’s sister
Hopefully the posthumous album will allow Ol’Jimi to finally get a Guitar Hero game of his own. (Sadly, this is the only way modern youths can learn about the golden age of Rock.)
February 2nd, 2010 marked the beginning of the end of the popular LOST series. Many fans, including myself have anticipated an ending since the 4th season, but the heads of ABC had money on their minds as they impeded the inevitable end to the series and kept feeding ambiguous ellipsis to loyal viewers. Luckily, the despised writing team of LOST was able to create a story arc that still retained the mysteries of the 1st and 2nd seasons while creating new challenges and dilemmas for the survivors to face. With many mixed symbols and scenes that probably foreshadow the conflicts to come, the 2 hour premier was a great start to a promising final season.
LOST has a tradition of presenting new perplexing elements and figures to the plot, and they did so once more as Hiroyuki Sanada (Ringu, The Last Samurai, Speed Racer) was introduced as a Japanese leader of the others at the temple. It is admirable of the staff to promote a very international cast, but this one’s going to be a tough one to explain for even the most able minded LOST cryptanalysists (I guess that’s the beauty of LOST). The unexplainable parts of the early plot line of the season increases as the english hating Japanese leader and his posse of others show the survivors their miracle spring (Ben was probably saved this way also. Are you getting any bright ideas Sawyer?)
As Juliet is killed off (Still up in the air, as the writers just love to bring back “dead” characters) we are left wondering what “worked.” (And if anything scandalous happened in Oahu that might have gotten Elizabeth Mitchell potentially cut from the cast, or possibly “V”) The only logical plot scheme we can assume is that the explosion prevented the Swan from ever getting built, therefore ensuring a safe landing for Oceanic Flight 815. Destiny, however seems to have played out as the survivors are still on the island in the present timeline. Regardless of the final fate of Juliet, her death will surely have Jack and Sawyer scrambling for Kate’s attention. Luckily for Jack, the friendly Australian flight attendant seems to have joined the others at the temple.
The only thing we can be sure of is that the epic struggle between Good and Evil (Jacob and his friend, the black smoke monster) will bring an ending to LOST filled with more biblical components and mythological signs to explain the enigma we know as the “Island.” (Remember Locke explaining backgammon to Walt in the pilot episode? Cool, right?)
Early December last year the Vatican released a 12 track playlist off of their new album titled “Alma Mater.” The Holy Playlist features a variety of genres and artists as well as the voice of the pope himself speaking in 5 languages over Gregorian chants. The most significant contributor to the record is surprisingly “Changes” by Tupac (Hip-hop Heads rejoice). The late rappers anthem of his desire to change the lives of urban youth has been praised by Father Giulio Neroni, the artistic director of the church publisher St Paul’s Multimedia who compiled the songs for “Alma Mater.” Other modern contributions include “He Doesn’t Know Why” by the Fleet Foxes and “Uprising” by Muse.
“The genres are very different from each other, but all these artists share the aim to reach the heart of good minded people,”
-The Vatican
The new hip Catholic church promises to blast “Changes” in St. Peters Square as soon as the Pope Mobile is tricked out with 24′s. Pope Benendict was approached with a hydraulics option, but turned it down after claiming it was the work of the devil.
I wonder if the Pope has an iPod (Popepod or iPope)?
In remembrance of the worst decade since the 30′s and 80′s. Reflecting back at our generation’s defining decade, the cleverly named “Naughties” is a span of 10 years in which a newly formed MTV generation struggled to find a place in a jobless economy. It’s hard to measure the worth of a decade because as time progresses the standards of society changes with it. Although in some senses we belittle the demeanor and morals of “generation X.” (Mainly because we’re Y) Our generation can very well be the poster children of social degradation. Technological innovations during the naughties gave us worthless internet celebrities, auto-tune, myspace, and now we are entering a new decade with more dependance on technology than ever. So was this the worst decade of modern humanity? Are the naughties a precursor to the rapture? For the few who read this and thought otherwise: You sir, are part of the problem.
The digitization of everything has created a superficial society that lost touch with itself. With the inability to create real “human” relationships more people are succumbing to apathy. We are becoming mindless automatons controlled by Iphones and PDA’s. It’s ironic how the Information Age that linked citizens and countries together ended up alienating ourselves from others. Are you lost in the digital labyrinth?
As our morals and ethics dissolve in the soup of our own stupidity I somehow feel compelled to look up and start praying. Call me a pessimist, but we’re fucked. The unimaginable shit storm that might follow our decade just might prove the Mayans to be right. We are basically headed straight for the impending disaster lemming style. Might as well join in on the “fun.”
A week prior to my return I was practically destitute in San Francisco with decreasing funds and no means of getting back home. My daily diet consisted of bread, bacon, and beer (quite possibly the back bone of our great nation: The 3 B’s). Despite my dietary shortcomings I was able to “earn” a B on my botched final research project with false data. At the end of the week some flights opened up for $50. Somehow, it all ended up working out, some naive believers might call it a Christmas miracle. Strange and wonderful things happen this time of year when folks head home to tell the guy upstairs happy birthday (phone calls just don’t cut it).
Upon arriving at LAX the surprisingly warm and dry weather quickly rendered my thick parka useless. The usual eccentric bunch of San Franciscan hipsters were suddenly replaced by Mexican cowboys and under dressed orange women sporting stilettos. My usual demeanor of a smug artsy type crumbles in the presence of some of these no non-sense 24 hour party people. The smell of booze and marijuana gets stronger as I approach my hometown. Sorry Jesus, but I’m celebrating your birthday with sin. Cheers to you sir for taking part.
The weather is frightful, but the people are warm. The duality of the holidays creates the miracles that we remember for the rest of our lives. It’s that moment where everything is consumed by the utter bliss of human relationships and our inhibitions wash away in the form of wine, beer, and cheap vodka. Heres some things to enjoy during everyone’s favorite time of year.
It’s not the greatest Christmas song, but it’s one of the funniest music videos I’ve seen.
The Holiday Booze
If you’re going to get drunk on Christmas Eve do it right. Little elves are hard at work brewing these bad boys just for you. The holiday spirit must be embraced and felt by all the senses starting with taste. Douse your palette with a Full Moon or Celebration Ale and you’ll be feeling as jolly as St. Nick himself. In the case that you’re feeling like the grinch and want to purchase some Coronas just remember that Santa’s watching (Straight to the “Naughty List.” Here’s a lump of coal for your mug).
The Vince Guaraldi Trio
No matter how old you are everybody is familiar with the gentle jazzy sounds of the Vince Guaraldi Trio in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It’s the sounds that make us reminisce about our Christmas past, lets us enjoy our Christmas present, and allows us to ponder about our Christmas future. And hey, if Charlie Brown can have a Merry Christmas anyone can.
Christmas Movies
Granted that there are many films that many consider to be “Christmas Classics,” but they tend to lack an appeal to younger generations (via you, the reader). So screw the classics and go rent, download, or swoop on: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Elf, Die Hard, Bad Santa, Home Alone, How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Or you can just be a pussy and watch “Miracle on 34th St.” Here’s a trailer for a Holiday movie you might have not seen before.
Well, whatever you do go embrace your holiday spirit.
Bonus Material: Here’s one for the heart broken few.
