Movies
My Experience on the Set of Remaindered (a Lee Goldberg Short Film)
Sep 18th
So, last weekend, I was a production assistant on a short film shot in nearby Owensboro and Henderson Kentucky. Lee Goldberg, executive producer of Diagnosis Murder, writer for Monk, Spencer For Hire, Psych, Nero Wolfe Mysteries, and a whole slew of other well known series, was the director on this project- his directorial debut from what I understand. Nicest guy you could ever ask for– very cordial on set, easy going, more than willing to sign any of his many books for you (if you ever try to get two books signed within 5 mins of each other, use a different name the second go around 
…just a really cool guy all around.
I read the script for Remaindered a few days before the first day of shooting on Friday, and I loved it. It’s comical, there’s a bit of violence, but it’s balanced so well with the light nature of the whole project that it doesn’t ever really get dark in any manner. It’s got some really nice plot twists…I remembering reading– thinking to myself, ‘this seems rather mundane– pretty standard stuff’…until the end where you sit back and smile at the smart ending. Very clever, Mr. Goldberg, very clever, indeed.
So, production assistant isn’t a very glamorous job, and I spent most of Friday night outside just waiting for something to do. I had to miss Saturday’s shooting due to issues at work I had to deal with, and Sunday was fun. I met a lot of nice people Sunday– it was definitely nicer to be inside to see some of the shooting and the whole process as it takes place, even if I was lying on the floor in the produce department cueing extras into the scene for background action. It’s always nice to get any experience possible.
I’m nearly finished with this video and film program at school, hope to move somewhere in the southwest next fall to finish a bachelor’s degree in film or something closely related. My goal is directing, but I do love cinematography- just the way they make things look really fantastic in movies and TV. God knows the raw footage looks nothing like the finished project, and that process is just exciting in a lot of ways.
I’d like to thank Rodney Newton and P.J. Starks, whom I got in touch with about taking part in this whole process. I had a small role, but like I said, any chance to get more experience is worthwhile if you ask me. I hope to get the chance to do some more projects with them in any role they’ll have me fill. Same goes for the rest of the crew- Marx, Lewis, Neil, Sharon, and all the others who couldn’t have been nicer throughout our time together on this project and others.
I’d also like to thank Lee for being a cool guy. Friday night, I approach him, all fanboy nervous (I love Monk and the Monk books he writes), my voice cracking, trying my best not to sound dumb in front of THE Lee Goldberg, and what do I do, I awkwardly mention we had chatted online twice before about his first Monk book, and how I made a big deal about how he had the character of Monk eating cereal and milk (not realizing Monk is deathly afraid of milk). Shooting was about to start again, so our conversation was kind of cut short, so I kept hoping he didn’t think I was bashing him! He took it in stride, making note that around 10, 000 people had told him about the milk thing, totally cool about all of it.
Lee did tell us some really interesting and often hilarious stories while on set…about Hollywood, his experience in writing for TV, and even some of his experiences in years past in Owensboro where he comes to work with the Mystery Writers group.
I got that first Monk book signed and got a second stand alone novel of his signed as well. Now, I just need to get a Burn Notice book signed by his talented brother, Tod Goldberg, who is also an author (of course). Someday.
Can’t wait to see the final product of a weekend of hard work by all. I have a feeling, from what I did see, that it’s going to turn out great. A totally enjoyable experience, and hopefully there will be more to come.
“Tied Up” (Music Video) by Yello
Sep 6th
Remember this song from the 80′s? It was featured in the movie, Dutch. Same band (Yello) that did Oh Yeah- that whacky song from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Dick Tracy (1990) a Flop?
Jun 22nd
Slate.com has a story on the disappointment that was DICK TRACY (1990).
I remember being so psyched to see this when I was a kid. I was living in Florida at the time…I made friends with this younger kid in the neighborhood (I was 11, I guess he was probably 8?) who was excited to see it too. But he was too hyperactive. Annoying even. My mom and I were set to go, and he showed up at the last second wanting to go too.
I remember having my Dick Tracy watch and my Dick Tracy hat and my Dick Tracy shirt on before leaving. I had all the McDonald’s collectors cups and I saved all the scratch off game pieces with the characters and a scene from the story. (I still have those in storage somewhere).
Disappointing film, no doubt, but it was an exciting time as an 11 year old who was obsessed with all things Dick Tracy.
I came home that night and played Roger Rabbit on Nintendo into the early morning hours. Good times.
The Infidel (Movie Review- Tribeca Film Festival 2010)
May 27th
Just finished THE INFIDEL, one of the selections from the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. FANTASTIC movie. Hilarious, sweet, touching, well acted, all of the above and more.
Omid Djalili plays the liberal-minded British muslim, Mahmud. He drinks every now and then, he swears, he doesn’t go to the mosque very often, he seems to be pretty laid back on the subject of religion. From the opening scene of Mahmud watching his favorite singer, 80′s glam rocker, Gary Page (a spoof on the metrosexual 80′s rock stars), it’s clear that this is going to be hilarious. Mahmud’s young daughter walks around the house spouting what sounds like terrorist rhetoric (it’s cute when the kids do it), and his wife seems to have the same laid back attitude about islam. Their son seems to be a bit more into the whole religion thing, if only to marry his sweetheart, whose mother has just married a muslim extremist and whose blessing they need to get married.
Mahmud’s mother has just died, and while going thru her house to pack things up, he sees adoption papers with his name on them. Through a very funny argument with a records clerk played by Miranda Hart (Not Going Out, Miranda), he discovers he was actually born jewish- adopted by muslim parents. He soon learns who his birth father is (by wrestling away the records from Miranda Hart, whose character is in a wheelchair), and is on his way to see him. Turns out, he’s on his deathbed and papa’s rabbi demands he be more jewish before he can see him. This leads to a very funny series of events where Mahmud befriends a jewish cab driver played by Richard Schiff, a rather non-committed jew in some aspects, though very religious in other ways. He tries to teach him the basics, from the dancing to the proper way to say “oy.” The two men become close friends, leading up to Mahmud attending a bat mitzvah where he’s forced to tell an old fashioned comical jewish story. All the while, he’s dreading the arrival of his son’s girlfriend’s new stepfather (the possible terrorist supporting cleric.)
I’ll leave the plot there, needless to say we get most funny for the first 3/4 of the film, some touching moments mixed in, and at the end it gets a bit serious with the film’s message that, well- we are who we are. We’re not all perfect religiously, we’re not all perfect people in general even, but we should embrace the various aspects of ourselves and do the best we can with it.
Great acting here by everyone. Djalili is hilarious as usual. He’s genius just standing in the shower scrubbing himself and yelling “jew, jew, jew,” as if he can clean the jew off him somehow. Schiff is nice here, also playing the funny man but doing his best to let Djalili shine throughout. And he does.
There’s a scene in the mosque, Mahmud is going to tell the imam that he’s jewish, but instead the imam presumes he’s going to tell him that he’s gay. No problem, the imam says…the koran is VERY strict on this subject, but islam is about interpretation no? The koran says the punishment for this is for brimstone to rain down from the sky, but I believe that brimstone has already rained down inside of you. And that should be good enough for allah, right? That’s satire at its best, my friends.
Very nice directing here, and the look of the film is fantastic. There’s a scene after things have gone a bit downhill for Mahmud, where he’s walking through the stalls from vendors that have been taken down, a piece of cloth is whipping in the wind as the vendor pulls it down for the day, it’s as well done visually as any scene from any number of epic films in history.
The music is brilliant throughout the film, the couple of songs from fictional rocker Gary Page are actually really catchy…I’ll admit it, I found myself trying to find these songs online. There’s some great stuff in the score that punctuates the little acts of jewishness, and those pieces scream “jew!” all over the place…the clarinet and all, it’s wonderful.
Highly recommend the film. It was a hilarious adventure they may have needed to be edited down a bit, but the pacing is nice, Djalili is perfect, you get some touchy feely stuff, you get comedy, you leave the film feeling great about life in general, 9/10 all the way. Maybe even 9.5.
You can watch The Infidel and many (all?) of the 2010 Tribeca film festival movies online or OnDemand.
http://www.tribecafilm.com/
Mongolian Death Worm- SyFy Original Movie (May 8)
May 4th
Mongolian Death Worm!
Premieres Saturday (May 
at 9/8 central on SyFy.
Steven Seagal Lawman (A&E) Giveaway (Catch the Premiere Dec 2!)
Nov 8th
To celebrate the premiere of the new A&E series, Steven Seagal Lawman, THE BLUE SITE is giving away 2 prize packs. Check the info. below and see how to enter today.
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ENTER TO WIN A STEVEN SEAGAL PRIZE PACK TO CELEBRATE THE SERIES PREMIERE OF STEVEN SEAGAL LAWMAN ON A&E
INTERNATIONAL FILM STAR AND LEGENDARY MARTIAL ARTS EXPERT DOCUMENTS HIS EXTRAORDINARY LAW ENFORCEMENT LIFE
PREMIERING WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2ND AT 10PM ET/PT ON A&E WITH
BACK-TO-BACK EPISODES
Steven Seagal’s movies have grossed more than $2 billion worldwide. He is an expert martial artist with a 7th-degree black belt in aikido. Along with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, he is considered one of the film industry’s greatest action stars. But it turns out that Steven Seagal isn’t just an action hero in the movies. For almost 20 years, Seagal has been working as a fully-commissioned deputy with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana. In fact, in addition to going out on patrol, Seagal is an expert marksman who has worked with their SWAT team and has instructed
Jefferson Parish officers in firearms and hand-to-hand combat.
Until now, Seagal has never sought attention for his work with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. However, over a span of almost two decades, he has regularly gone out on patrol and worked major cases. Each thirty-minute episode will allow fans to ride shotgun with Seagal as he and his hand-selected elite team of deputies respond to crimes-in-progress. Then, when Seagal goes off-duty, the cameras will continue following him as he pursues his many ventures – including musical performances and philanthropic efforts – in Jefferson Parish and New Orleans.
To celebrate the premiere of Steven Seagal Lawman, you can enter to win a Steven Seagal prize pack!
The lucky winners will receive:
**Steven Seagal Collection: 4 Film DVD featuring: the Fire Down Below, Above the Law and The Glimmer Man and Under Siege
**Steven Seagal Lawman long-sleeved T-shirt
**Steven Seagal Lawman Stainless Steel Drink Tumbler
SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING
See it before anybody else! AETV.com is presenting a special, one-time only video stream of the premiere episode of Steven Seagal Lawman on Wednesday, November 18, two weeks before its TV premiere! Go here for more information. (http://www.aetv.com/steven-seagal-lawman/advance-screening/)
STEVEN SEAGAL LAWMAN, airs Wednesdays at 10:00PM ET/PT only on A&E.
Visit the official site for more information and exclusive content. (http://www.aetv.com/steven-seagal-lawman/)
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HOW TO ENTER
To enter, simply comment below and tell me what your favorite Steven Seagal movie is. Two winners will be chosen at random from the comments. Must be 18 or older and a US resident. Sorry, no PO boxes. TWO winners (there are two prize packs to give away) will be chosen the day of the premiere, December 2, 2009. I will close the comments at 12AM CT Dec 3. I will EMail the winners, and you will need to reply with a US mailing address (cannot send to PO boxes unfortunately). The winner will have 1 week to reply or I will choose another winner at random. Thanks for playing, and good luck.
Be sure to check out the premiere Dec 2 on A&E or catch the first episode preview on Nov 18 at http://www.aetv.com/steven-seagal-lawman/advance-screening/
**Prizes courtesy A&E and Electric Artists**
Poker Run (2008) Horror Movie Review
Oct 26th
POKER RUN (2008)
Horror
Rated R
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1063338/
Movie Review: “POKER RUN” ruined by dumb characters, laughable script
This will contain some spoilers…
Two city dwelling laywers want to live out some adventure in their
lives, so they decide they want to buy motorcycles to attend this poker
run event with their wives. They happen upon two weirdos who just
happen to be selling 2 bikes on the cheap. The two weirdos are just as
they seem- weird. They kidnap the guys’ wives and lead the men on a
chase, making them follow clues along the way to their women.
The idea is decent, but stupid characters and a dumb plot line ruin any
good that could come out of this.
The two main characters aren’t all that likable, and they’re pretty
bland. You just don’t know anything about them outside of their broad
stereotypical traits. The younger guy is more clean cut with short
hair, the older attorney has longer hair and is a bit more on the wild
side as far as looks go. Throughout the whole ordeal, we hardly care
what happens to either of them or either of their wives.
The two villains are so over the top that no one with any brain cells
in their head would ever buy anything from them, let alone $10, 000
motorcycles, and they sure as heck wouldn’t follow these guys into the
desert for a trip together. That’s what ruins the script, the
characters keep doing stuff that makes no sense. A hallmark of bad
horror movies, of course, but better writing would have allowed us to
skip this annoying hallmark and get on with a decent storyline.
There are some inventive death scenes here, if you’re into that sort of
thing, but ultimately they serve no purpose, as most of the characters
are just so over the top that you can’t take any of them seriously. A
deranged family on vacation in cahoots with the villains, everyone
along this route seem to be in the pockets of these two guys- but why?
Money? Can they really be making that much money by selling the same
bikes over and over? The plot holes are, of course, so big that it’s
hard to suspend disbelief for even a second.
There are some tense moments, and you get a sense of the movie SAW and
a bit of Wolfcreek. It’s shot well for the most part, but the audio is,
from the version I watched, sub-par, at best. The acting is decent for
what it is- the problem comes in with the dialogue and the way some of
the characters act. Again, it’s just too over the top, so you end up
laughing at how absurd it is when I guess you’re supposed to be scared.
I’d skip this completely. It’s not a terrible movie, but it’s too far
from good to even waste the 90 mins. The synopsis sounded interesting,
but the execution falls completely flat.
Monty Python on Jimmy Fallon (3 Videos)
Oct 25th
This is a bit late to post, but it’s interesting information nonetheless. The Monty Python documentary aired in 6 parts last week on IFC. I believe it will run again over the next month, and it might be available on IFC OnDemand. I’d check into that, because it was a lot of good Python information…for example, did you know that both Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones directed Holy Grail? They both had very different styles and would often contradict each other, so the cast had issues with this…it all worked out well in the end though, as the movie was a success overall. Not to mention, it’s often listed as one of the funniest British movies ever.
Check out the Pythons below and Eric Idle singing Always Look on the Bright Side of Life with the Fallon house band, The Roots!
Monty Python Interview, Part 1 (10/14/09) [5:17]
Jimmy asks Monty Python’s John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, and Terry Jones how they would describe Monty Python and how they came up with the name.
Monty Python Interview, Part 2 (10/14/09) [3:36]
Jimmy talks to Monty Python’s Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, and Jones about their IFC documentary and the Monty Python animations.
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (10/14/09) [3:36]
Monty Python’s Eric Idle performs “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” with The Roots.
Burn Notice’s Bruce Campbell Q&A (June 1, 2009)
Jun 3rd
I recently had the opportunity to take part in a conference call with Bruce Campbell, who plays Sam Axe on USA Network’s Burn Notice. Bruce gave us some insight on Sam’s character as well as what we could expect of his character and the rest of the gang in this new season (starting tomorrow night- June 4 @ 9PM/8PM Central on USA).
Here are the two questions I asked Bruce during the call (the call took place June 1, 2009):
Moderator Thank you, and next we go to the line of Josh Bozeman with Thebluesite.com. Please go ahead.
J. Bozeman: Bruce, good to talk to you. Thanks for taking the call.
B. Campbell: You bet.
J. Bozeman: What is it like playing the comical one to Michael’s kind of straight man? It’s kind of a pattern here, you’ve got Jack Stiles and Brisco, you didn’t really have anyone to play off there, you were the main character, the main guy. What is it like playing off of him?
B. Campbell: It’s great, because he carries the show. I’m just hiding behind him, cracking jokes and getting out of there. So it’s fine to actually be the guy who doesn’t, you know, Sam can be a little snotty, he can be a little snide, he’s sort of a naysayer, and he always second guesses things that these guys do to make sure it’s safe or tactical, whereas Michael gets involved from a passionate level. He’s got to help these people, whereas Sam’s like, no, you don’t, no you don’t. So sometimes he’s the voice of reason. But it’s nice to have that difference between the characters, and Michael does have kind of his funny wit, a lot of it comes out in the voiceover that he does, but someone’s got to be the straight guy, and fortunately, it’s Michael Westen.
J. Bozeman: Good to talk to you again, Bruce. The big series you’re known for, Jack of All Trades and Brisco County, Jr., and now Burn Notice, they’re very cinematic. They’re something that you didn’t see. I know Jack of All Trades and Brisco, back in the day, you didn’t see anything like that. They were more movies than they were TV shows. Are you attracted to that sort of thing, or is it just a coincidence?
B. Campbell: It’s just the subject matter. Jack of All Trades was just kind of a pretty looking show with big props and drama, and Brisco being a western. Westerns, I’m always, I’m still looking for another western today. It’s a genre that every actor wishes they could do, and it was a really enjoyable year, running around, playing with horses, shooting guns, kissing the ladies. And some jobs are the cliché job, and that’s one of them. But every actor wants to be in a western, and so, I’m definitely attracted to certain types of material.
Now, if you recall from the end of season 2, Sam and Michael’s mother, Madeline, were trapped in Madeline’s house by a pack of goons. Sam, having little other choice, used explosives to keep the bad guys at bay and escaped intact. Turns out, this season, he’s living in a room at Madeline’s, and the house is still a wreck.
Bruce says he’d like to direct again, but you probably won’t ever see him directing an episode of Burn Notice. When asked about this by Stefan Blitz of ForcesOfGeek.com, Bruce said this:
S. Blitz Hey, Bruce. Do you plan on directing again soon, and would you possibly want to direct Burn Notice?
B. Campbell Yes, I’d like to direct another movie one day. Movies are more my bag. I’ve directed television in the past. I’ve done Hercules and Xena episodes, and even a couple of VIPs with Pamela Anderson, but I don’t think directing Burn Notice is in the cards for me because it changes the dynamics of all the actors. Directors and actors have much different, I guess, motives and goals, and I don’t want any of my directing skills to impact my relationship with the actors, which is currently very good. So I don’t really want to boss anybody around, because I think it’ll change something, so I don’t think I’m going to go there.
He also doesn’t think his good friend Sam Raimi would ever direct an episode of Burn Notice.
Emma Loggins (of Fanbolt.com): Hi again. Do you think there is any chance that Sam Raimi would ever direct an episode of the series?
B. Campbell Sam Raimi will never direct an episode of Burn Notice because it’s done too quickly. Sam is used to shooting these big, big, big, big, big movies, and it takes 100 days or more to film a two-hour piece of entertainment. We film these shows in seven days, so it’s a real different mentality of features versus television. So I wouldn’t wish that on Sam, because it’s actually a difficult challenge every week to pull these shows off, not that Spider-Man 3 isn’t, but we have a little bit of a different circumstance here.
And what can Bruce tell us about his character Sam Axe that no one else knows (not even the writers?) Back to Stefan Blitz from ForcesOfGeek.com for that one…
B. Campbell About Mr. Sam Axe? That he reads a lot. He reads fiction, because it takes away from the reality; and that his favorite book is Wuthering Heights. That Sam is a secret romantic. That’s all I can reveal. I’ll have to kill you if I tell you more.
For some reason, when Bruce Campbell says he’d tell you more but he’d have to kill you, I believe him.
Catch Bruce as good ol’ Sam Axe in the 3rd season of Burn Notice, premiers tomorrow night on USA. 9PM/8PM Central.
JEFFREY DONOVAN (Michael Westen in Burn Notice) will appear on Regis & Kelly tomorrow morning!
Below (after the cut) are a few other questions from the Q&A:
More >
Bruce Campbell from USA Network’s Burn Notice- Conference Call
Jun 1st
I took part in a conference call with Bruce Campbell this afternoon. Here are some of the notes I made. I should have the transcript and a write up tomorrow afternoon hopefully. I am thinking of starting a second site as companion to TheBlueSite based on entertainment, movies, TV, etc. Will make note of that news when it’s ready. Think of any good domain names for that sort of site?? Hit me up in the comments with any suggestions.
Here are the notes from the call. I got tired of taking notes at some point and just gave up…more tomorrow…
TV Mega Site
Bruce has been stuck in genre series. Is this change a purposeful act?
New Media Strategies. Krissie Heckins
Moderate question queue- *1
Recording, will receive copy of transcript.
NiceGirlsTV.com question 2
Question 3- Anne??
Question 4- Anthony BurnNotice.com
tvwithoutpity.com Zach Oats
expo center almost torn down. miami- shoot where else if moved?
bruce lives in oregon.
ONLY show shot regularly in miami. gov crist came to visit them to thank tham. they coould fake fl if they had to
stevie wilson latvstory.com
media blvd magazine next call
blogcritics magazine
ForcesOfGeek.com
What does Bruce know about Sam Axe that no one else knows, not even the writers per se?
Sam is a big reader of fiction and his favorite book is Wuthering Heights. He’s a secret romantic.
Evil Dead will be a remake coming up…he won’t be in it, but he will produce it. Probably will do a Bubba Hotep sequel, but he couldn’t come to agreement with director in the story, so he won’t be in it.
Vagabond, the gypsy life of an actor will be Bruce’s upcoming book in a couple of years.
Bruce has 2 previous books
deadbolt.com beer question with sams lovelife
readjunk.com—can we expect sam axe boody spray??
stu miller gunaxen.com?? beer guy again
kelly rutherford (brisco) is babe a licious to bruce
lastory.com stevie wilson
in florida- bruce has been cycling alot. exploring bike paths and such. florida is very flat. hes a new freak and craves reality= ny times and news. basketball he loves. generic guy stuff
multipleverses.com kate
bruce has his own blog
bruce talks about golden girls and how that show is an example of how tv caters to older people sometimes. not all tv is catered to 14 yr olds. usa has done a good job of doing xharacter based shows, not based on age and beauty. more mature stuff.
He will probably be in Spiderman 4, but Sam Raimi (who is a good friend) usually doesn’t let him know until the last second.
Sam will never get with Michael’s mother in Burn Notice.
NBA Finals- anyone but Kobe Bryant! He wanted Cavs to take it. He wants Orlando to knock Lakers down.
Bruce has directed Hercules, VIP, Xena, and more on TV. He doesn’t want to boss anyone around on Burn Notice, however. So, he doesn’t see himself ever directing an episode of Burn Notice.
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